Halstead Holy Trinity, Essex Genealogy

England   Essex   Essex Parishes



Parish History
Halstead Holy Trinity is an Ecclesiastical Parish in the county of Essex, a district church, created in 1844 from Halstead, Essex Ancient Parish.

The town is situated in the Colne Valley, and originally developed on the hill to the north of the river. The name Halstead is said to have derived from the Old English hald (refuge, shelter, healthy) and stede (site, place or farm), meaning 'healthy farm' 'safe place' or 'place of refuge'.

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.

A district parish, named the Holy Trinity, was constituted in October 1844, under the act 6th and 7th Victoria, cap. 37; it comprises part of the town, from which it extends nearly two miles. The church is a very handsome and spacious edifice in the early English style, with a spire 150 feet in height, and cost about £5000. The living is a perpetual curacy, endowed by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners with £150 per annum, and in the patronage of the Bishop of London. At Greenstead-Green is a district church, dedicated to St. James, which was consecrated in Oct. 1845. It is a beautiful structure in the same style, built at the expense of Mrs. Gee, of Colne House, on a site presented by Mrs. Brewster, and has a tower which forms a conspicuous object for miles round; the fittings-up of the interior are exceedingly good, and at the east end is a window of stained glass. The total cost, including the endowment, schools, and parsonage, amounting to £8000, was defrayed by Mrs. Gee. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Bishop of Rochester. There are places of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends, and Independents. A free grammar school, founded by Lady Ramsey in 1594, is endowed with a rent-charge of £20, and a house for the master. The family of Martin, in 1573, left lands producing £130 per annum, and Mrs. Holmes, in 1783, £4000 three per cents., for the benefit of the poor. The union comprises 16 parishes or places, and contains a population of 17,691. Thomas Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury in the reign of Edward IV., a distinguished patron of literature, was a native of Halstead.

From: Samuel A. Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 379-383. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50999&amp;amp;strquery=Halstead+St Andrew Date accessed: 16 February 2011.

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
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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
Halstead 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
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 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
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