Horsham, Sussex Genealogy

England   Sussex     Sussex Parishes



Parish History
HORSHAM (St. Mary), a borough, market-town, and parish, and the head of a union, in the hundred of Singlecross, rape of Bramber, W. division of Sussex, 29 miles (N. E.) from Chichester, and 36 (S. S. W.) from London; There are places of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends, Independents, and Wesleyans; and a Roman Catholic chapel.

Horsham St Mary the Virgin is an Ancient parish in West Sussex. Other places in the parish include: Broadbridge Heath, Southwater, Roughy, and Roffey.

From this parish were formed subsequent ecclesiastical parishes in the town and extensive parish.For an introduction the parish development see Horsham church history

The ancient parish of St Mary Horsham St Mary

The Ancient Parish Church of St Mary has been designated as a grade I listed building British listed building

Subsequent parishes developed in Horsham see:

Horsham Holy Trinity

Horsham St Mark Carfax

Horsham St John Broadridge Heath

Horsham St Leonard

Horsham St Mark, North Heath Lane

Horsham Sussex Online Parish Clerks(OPC)

Horsham St John the Evangelist Chapel see List of demolished worship places in West Sussex

See also:

Roffey All Saints which was formed from this parish Sussex Online Parish Clerks (OPC) and Roffey St Andrew Methodist Church Sussex Online Parish Clerks (OPC)

Southwater Holy Innocents Sussex Online Parish Clerks (OPC) Southwater Wikipedia Southwater Sussex Online Parish Clerks (OPC)

See also All Saints Church Roffey Wikipedia and list of places to worship in Horsham district Wikipedia

Horsham Wikipedia and A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 553-557. here

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.

From 1837 this parish was in the Horsham registration district Certificates can be ordered from West Sussex Centralised Certificates Office Registration Service West Sussex Record Office County Hall Chichester PO19 1RN Phone: 01243 642122

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

Roffey registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

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

Horsham St. Mary records held at West Sussex Record Office Bap 1540-1962 Marr 1541-1965 Bur 1540-1931 Bishop’s transcripts 1571-1883

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
Horsham 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