Great Grimsby St Mary and St James, Lincolnshire Genealogy

England   Lincolnshire   Lincolnshire Parishes

Parish History
The Ancient Parish of Great Grimsby whose church dates from the early 13th century in part. The church was extended in 1906 and 1920 by the addition of chapels and was restored after World War II bomb damage.

Originally called Great Grimsby to distinguish it from the village of Little Grimsby, Lincolnshire in the early nineteenth century the fishing port and market town grew rapidly and rail travel increased its importance as home of a large trawler fleet. The town is known as Grimsby the older appellation is now archaic.

The development of the town was accompanied by growing church building for many faiths

GRIMSBY, GREAT (St. James), a borough, sea-port, market-town, and parish, in the union of Caistor, wapentake of BradleyHaverstoe, parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln, 16 miles (S. E.) from Hull, 35 (N. E. by N.) from Lincoln, and 161 (N.) from London. There are places of worship for Baptists, Primitive Methodists, and Wesleyans.

Civil Registration
This parish was in the Grimsby sub-district of Caistor registration district.

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
Many records are available at the Grimsby Central Library (see below).

Material deposited at Lincolnshire Archives, St Rumbold Street,Lincoln,Lincolnshire,LN2 5AB,England Enquiries: lincolnshire.archives@lincolnshire.gov.uk The website enables you to view a PDF file for all records held for each parish as part of continuing efforts to provide an online catalogue

The digitisation of parish records for the county now offers images via the Lincs to the past website (July 2011). Use advanced search terms at Search Lincs to the past to search for available images for parish registers and other records for this parish with images. Advance search terms Grimsby St James Par 1 will identify available images.

Link to the FamilySearch Catalogue showing the film numbers in their collection

Census records
See Lincolnshire Census

Poor Law Unions
Caistor Poor Law Union,Lincolnshire

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

Newspaper Archives
Local newspapers going back over 100 years are archived on microfiche at Grimsby Central Library (see below). The Grimsby Telegraph also publish a regular special called 'Bygones' which is full of old photographs, stories, nostalgia and reader requests.

Record Office
Grimsby Central Library's first floor has plenty or resources for family historians, including the Grimsby Telegraph Archives, old phone books and trade directories, graveyard indexes, old maps, census and parish records and books on local history. Many resources include the surrounding villages, for example there is an index and map for the graveyard at North Thoresby, Lincolnshire parish church.

Grimsby Central Library Town Hall Square, Town Hall Street, Town Centre, Grimsby DN31 1HG 01472 323 600

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