Norfolk, England Genealogy

England Norfolk

Guide to Norfolk ancestry, family history and genealogy parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

'''Norfolk is a maritime county located in the middle eastern part of 'England'. '''

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"NORFOLK, a maritime county in the E of England; bounded on the N W by the Wash, which divides it from Lincolnshire; on the N and the N E by the Northsea; on the S E by Breydon-water and the river Waveney, which divide it from Suffolk; on the S by the river Waveney, a short artificial line and the river Little Ouse, which divide it from Suffolk; on the S W and the W by the rivers Old Welney and Nen, and a short artificialline, which divide it from Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire... Its greatest length, from E to W, is 60 miles; its greatest breadth, from N to S, is 40 miles; its meanbreadth is about 29 miles; its circuit is about 200 miles; and its area is 1, 354,301 acres...

"The county contains 743 parishes, parts of 3 others, and 7 extra-parochial places... all in the diocese of Norwich. The assizes are held at Norwich; and quarter-sessions, at Norwich, Swaffham, and Walsingham...  The places of worship, in 1851, were 719 of the Church of England, 49 of Independents, 67 of Particular Baptists, 3 of General Baptists, 6 of New Connexion General Baptists, 15 of Baptists undefined, 15 of Quakers, 7 of Unitarians, with 1, 213 of Wesleyan Methodists, 1 of New Connexion Methodists, 254 of Primitive Methodists, 2 of Bible Christians, 2 of the Wesleyan Association, 44 of Wesleyan Reformers, 2 of Lady Huntingdon's Connexion, 1 of Sandemanians, 1 of the New Church, 19 of isolated congregations, 13 of Latter Day Saints, 6 of Roman Catholics, and 2 of Jews...

"Population in 1801, 273,479; in 1821, 344,368; in 1841, 412,664; in 1861, 434,798. Population of the registration county in 1861, 427,466."

The above extract comes from: John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72). For the full account go to Vision of Britain.

Research Tools
Indexes to pre 1857 Norfolk probate records are available online by the Norfolk Record Office at NROCAT. Click on Set searches, then Wills &amp; other probate records. Also, sometimes better results are achieved if only the surname is entered. Creative search terms is the key to finding results in this marvelous data base.

Jurisdictions
Use an interactive mapto find jurisdictions for each parish in Norfolk. From this map you will be able to determine the Civil Registration District, Deanery, Poor Law Union, Hundred, Probate District, of every parish.

Civil Districts
When civil registration of births, marriages and deaths began in 1837, Norfolk was divided into a number of registration districts, each containing several parishes. The index to the civil records gives the name of the district where an event took place. Click here to see a list of the civil districts in Norfolk and the parishes covered by each. Read more about England Civil Registration.

Probate Jurisdictions
Before 1858, every town and parish in Norfolk was under the probate jurisdiction of several ecclesiastical courts. To read more about probate records and see a list of Norfolk towns and parishes and the probate courts that had jurisdiction over them, go to Norfolk Probate Records.

Maps

 * Norfolk VilliageIndex by Hundreds
 * Abandoned Communites of Norfolk
 * Map of Parishes courtesy of the Norfolk Family History Society
 * Ordinance Survey 2011 + 1988 aerial provided by Norfolk County Council

Websites
To view an excellent list of web sites and/or web pages for Norfolk and many of its parishes, visit FHLFavorites.info and/or FHLFavorites.com.


 * Norfolk Resources and help pages on RootsChat Norfolk Resources and help pages. (Free).


 * Some Norfolk Family Names
 * Norfolk Public Houses: Provides an ever expanding record of all Norfolk Public Houses and their Licensees.
 * A good website for research within the county or general help on the ground is Norfolk Tours. Also for help organising trips to Norfolk to see the sites.
 * Norfolk County Council has a collection of images and archive materials from the Norfolk Record Office.
 * Norfolk County Record Office
 * Norfolk Genealogical Resources: Part of theBritishIsles GenWeb Project
 * Norfolk Transcription Archive is a free site with transcriptions searchable by either Surname or Parish.

Wiki articles describing online collections are found at:


 * England, Norfolk, Church of England Archdeacon's Transcripts (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * England, Norfolk, Church of England Bishops' Transcripts (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * England Norfolk Marriage Bonds (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * England Norfolk Monumental Inscriptions (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * England Norfolk Non-Conformist Church Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * England, Norfolk, Church of England Parish Registers (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * England Norfolk Poor Law Union Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * England Norfolk Register of Electors (FamilySearch Historical Records)