Great Maplestead, Essex Genealogy

England Essex   Essex Parishes



Parish History
Great Maplestead St Giles is an Ancient parish in Essex.

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.

MAPLESTEAD, GREAT (St. Giles), a parish, in the union of Halstead, hundred of Hinckford, N. division of Essex, 2¼ miles (N. by W.) from Halstead; containing 452 inhabitants. This place is supposed to have derived its name from the number of maple-trees that formerly grew here. The parish is intersected by the river Colne, and comprises 1902a. 3r. 3p., of which 1440 acres are arable, 320 pasture, and 115 woodland and plantations; the soil is rich. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £8. 3. 4.; patron, R. Myall, Esq.; impropriator, the Rev. J. Sperling. The impropriate tithes have been commuted for £335, and the vicarial for £175; the impropriate glebe comprises 88 acres, and the vicarial one acre. The church is a small ancient edifice, with a square tower, and attached to the south side is a chapel belonging to the proprietor of Dynes Hall, and containing two costly monuments of the family of Deane.

From: Samuel A. Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 251-253. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51132&amp;amp;strquery=great maplestead Date accessed: 16 February 2011.

Great Maplestead is a village and a civil parish in the Braintree District, in the English county of Essex. It is near the town of Halstead and the villages of Sible Hedingham and Little Maplestead.

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 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
Halstead Poor Law Union, Essex

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.