Langham, Essex Genealogy

England Essex   Essex Parishes   Langham

Parish History
Langham, is a village and a parish in Lexden district, Essex. The village stands near the river Stour, at the boundary with Suffolk, 3 miles NW by N of Ardleigh railway station, and 7 miles NNe of Colchester. There is a Baptist chapel.

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

Poor Law Unions
Lexden and Winstree Poor Law Union, Essex

The courts baron recorded at the Rectory manor from 1543 were probably medieval in origin. They regulated customary land until 1924, by which date all copyholds had been enfranchised. The courts were held at Glebe Farm, sometimes called the manor house, from 1769 to 1843, but in 1859 were held at the Anchor inn in Stratford St. Mary. There were two surveyors of highways in 1646. In 1677 the constables were paid from the rates. The parish cage was apparently next to Langham Moor where a Cage field survived in 1838. A policeman lived at the Moor in 1881. In 1776 a poor rate raised £194 17s. 8d. Expenditure had risen to £1,530 17s. 1d. by 1801, but thereafter declined, averaging c. £705 between 1802 and 1816. The average then rose to c. £1,034 between 1817 and 1836. Relief per head of population was about average for the hundred. In 1813 regular outdoor relief was given to 78 people and another 15 were relieved in the parish workhouse. Another 36 received occasional relief in or out of the workhouse. The workhouse may have been at Adelphi Cottages at Langham Moor where bread was distributed to the poor in the early 19th century; Workhouse field lay nearby in 1834. Both the building and the field had passed into private hands by 1837. Keepers Cottage, formerly Old Workhouse Farm, may have been another work- house. It had been converted to a labourer's cot tage by1841.

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