Brightling, Sussex Genealogy

England   Sussex     Sussex Parishes



Parish History
BRIGHTLING (St. Thomas à Becket), a parish, in the union of Battle, partly in the hundred of Henhurst, but chiefly in that of Netherfield, rape of Hastings, E. division of Sussex, 4 miles (N. W.) from Battle.

Brightling St Thomas a Becket is an Ancient Parish in East Sussex.

Church history Brightling St Thomas a Becket

The Parish Church of St Thomas a Becket has been designated as a grade I listed building British listed building

See Brightling Sussex Online Parish Clerks (OPC)

The graveyard contains the 25 feet high pyramid tomb of local landowner John 'Mad Jack' Fuller, (1757–1834) MP for Sussex whose eccentric folly building even caused the local pub to be removed to allow for his pyramid. See also Brightling Wikipedia



The mausoleum pyramid has been desingated a Grade II* listed mausoleum British listed monument

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.

This parish was part of Battle Registration District from 1837.

Ceertiificates may be obtained from

East Sussex County Council

The Register Office Town Hall Grove Road Eastbourne BN21 4UG

Phone: 01323 464780

Fax: 01323 431386

Email:eastbourne.registrar@eastsussex.gov.uk

Church records
parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

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.

Link to the Family History Library Catalogue showing the film numbers in their collection

Census records
FamilySearch Centres offer free access to images of the England and Wales Census through FHC Portal Computers here have access to the Family History Centre Portal page which gives free access to premium family history software and websites that generally charge for subscriptions.

to locate local Family History Centres in UK

to locate outside UK. Many archives and local history collections in public libraries in England and Wales offer online census searches and also hold microfilm or fiche census returns.

The 1851 census of England and Wales attempted to identify religious places of worship in addition to the household survey census returns.

Prior to the 1911 census the household schedule was destroyed and only the enumerator's schedule survives.

The 1911 census of England and Wales was taken on the night of Sunday 2 April 1911 and in addition to households and institutions such as prisons and workhouses, canal boats merchant ships and naval vessels it attempted to include homeless persons. The schedule was completed by an individual and for the first time both this record and the enumerator's schedule were preserved. Two forms of boycott of the census by women are possible due to frustration at government failure to grant women the universal right to vote in parliamentary and local elections. The schedule either records a protest by failure to complete the form in respect of the women in the household or women are absent due to organisation of groups of women staying away from home for the whole night. Research estimates that several thousand women are not found by census search.

Poor Law Unions
Battle Poor Law Union, Sussex

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Sussex 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