Laindon, Essex Genealogy

England   Essex   Essex Parishes



Parish History
Laindon St Nicholas is an Ancient Parish in the county of Essex. Basildon was a chapelry of Laindon. Other places in the parish include: Langdon Clay.

The exact date of construction of the present St Nicholas Church is not known but it is believed to have been built during the 13th Century. The present church, or at least, the nave, must have been standing by 1254, when the first recorded rector, Richard de List, is known to have been at St Nicholas, although nothing else is known of him.

The diocese of Chelmsford was created in 1914, prior to this Essex parishes were in the jurisdiction of the Bishops of London until 1845 when they transferred to the diocese of Rochester. The diocese of Chelmsford has 474 parishes and 600 churches and is the second largest region in the church of England outside London.

LAINDON (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the union of Billericay, hundred of Barstable, S. division of Essex, 4 miles (S. by E.) from Billericay; containing, with the chapelry of Basildon, 568 inhabitants. This parish, which, from the clayey nature of the soil, obtained the appellation of "Laindon-Clay," comprises 2372 acres, whereof 26 are waste; it forms a tract of flat marshy land which has been rendered arable, producing abundant crops. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £35. 6. 8., and in the gift of the Bishop of London: the tithes of Laindon and Basildon have been commuted for £800; the glebe of Laindon comprises 30 acres, and that of Basildon 23 acres. The church, situated on rising ground, is an ancient edifice, with a tower of wood and a small spire, and consists of a nave, south aisle, and chancel. About two miles distant is the chapel of Basildon. A national school is endowed with £20 per annum.

From: 'Laceby - Lambeth', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 1-6. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51088&amp;amp;strquery=laindon Date accessed: 04 February 2011.

Laindon is a town located in the west of the Basildon district of Essex, England, of which it is part for adminstrative purposes..

It is located north of Laindon railway station on the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway. South of the railway station and line is Langdon Hills. Laindon and Langdon Hills are part of the Basildon post town.[1]

Until its abolition in 1937, there was a Laindon parish. In 1931 it covered an area of 2,049 acres (8.29 km2) and had a population of 4,552. 100 years earlier, in 1831, the population was 412 and the area covered was 4,680 acres (18.9 km2).[2] Three detachments of the parish were removed in 1880 and 1889.

To the south-west of Laindon, the Dunton Plotlands was an area of small plots of land used as weekend cottages or smallholdings during the mid twentieth century.

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.

Church records
Contributor: Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts, non conformist and other types of church records, such as parish chest records. Add the contact information for the office holding the original records. Add links to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection

Online images are available Seax - Essex Archives Online From the Essex Record Office

Census records
Contributor: Include an overview if there is any unique information, such as the census for X year was destroyed. Add a link to online sites for indexes and/or images. Also add a link to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection.

Index for the Census may be searched at FamilySearch Historical Records

http://www.1881pubs.com/ for details of public houses in the 1881 census

Poor Law Unions
Billericay Poor Law Union, Essex

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Essex Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

Maps and Gazetteers
Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.


 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
Contributor: Add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.