Birch, Essex Genealogy

England   Essex   Essex Parishes



Chapel History
An early 19th century discripton by Samuel A. Lewis is:

BIRCH, GREAT AND LITTLE (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Lexden and Winstree, Colchester division of the hundred of Lexden, N. division of Essex, 5¼ miles (S. W.) from Colchester, containing 794 inhabitants.

From: Lewis, Samuel A., A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848).

The small medieval church of ST. PETER, Birch Road, stood on an elevated site until 1849 when it was in a dilapidated condition and demolished.

LITTLE BIRCH. The church existed by the 11th century. From: 'Birch: Churches', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 10: Lexden Hundred (Part) including Dedham, Earls Colne and Wivenhoe (2001), pp. 50-53.

Birch was built in 1849 as union of both Great and Little Birch parish churches, funded by C.G. Round. It is considered the ancient parish of Birch St Peter. By 1736, Little Birch St Mary was united for Great Birch St Peter to become the main parish.

Birch is a village and civil parish in Essex, England. It is located approximately 8 km (5 miles) southwest of Colchester and 27 km (17 miles) northeast of the county town of Chelmsford. The village is in the borough of Colchester and in the parliamentary constituency of North Essex. There is a Parish Council.

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.

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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
Lexden and Winstree Poor Law Union, Essex

Great and Little Birch were combined for parish government from the 18th century or earlier. In 1757 teams of farmers and labourers from both parishes were set up for highway maintenance. In 1783 there were 31 ratepayers and 20 outdwellers. In 1836 at a vestry seven of the principal inhabitants elected 2 church- wardens, 7 overseers, 2 assessors, 2 surveyors, and 2 constables. In 1726 a woman was paid £4 4s. for cures and physic for the poor. Bread was bought for the poor in 1779 with the proceeds of a fine levied on an unlicensed beerseller. In 1835 the overseers' purchases included loaves and flour; illness and unemployment were fre- quently recorded. In 1758 a workhouse was built on land near Great Birch church leased from William Round. In 1838 C. G. Round sold the workhouse to Lexden and Winstree poor law union. The building survived in 1999, called Church Cottages. Birch's rate of poor relief expenditure per head of population was about average for Lexden hundred. In 1608 the 'towne house called Stocke house' belonging to Great Birch parish was leased, presumably to raise money for poor relief. In 1776 costs were £239, and in the period 1783-5 averaged £224 a year. In 1801 they were £946, equivalent to 33s. 9d. a head. Between 1802 and 1815 they fluctuated between £419 and £822, except for 1812 when they reached £1,103 (41s. 2d. a head). In the period 1816-22 they ranged between £1,000 and £1,207 and in the period 1823-35 between £615 and £971. In 1836 they were £819 (21s. 11d. a head).

From: 'Birch: Local government', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 10: Lexden Hundred (Part) including Dedham, Earls Colne and Wivenhoe (2001), pp. 50. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=15148&amp;amp;strquery=birch Date accessed: 11 February 2011.

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.