Clapham, Sussex Genealogy

England   Sussex



Parish History
Clapham St Mary the Virgin is an Ancient parish in West Sussex.

CLAPHAM, a parish, in the union of Sutton, hundred of Brightford, rape of Bramber, W. division of Sussex, 5 miles (N. W.) from Worthing; containing262 inhabitants. The parish is situated on the road from Portsmouth, by way of Arundel, to Brighton; and comprises about 1735 acres, of which 550 are arable,300 pasture, 505 down, and 380 wood. Michelgrove, the principal estate, was for centuries the property and residence of the Shelley family, of whom Judge Shelley entertained Henry VIII. at his magnificent house here;it subsequently became the property of R. W. Walker,Esq., who in 1828 sold it to the Duke of Norfolk, by whom the mansion, erected by the Shelleys, was taken down. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £14; net income, £120; patron, his Grace; impropriators, for a moiety of the tithes, amounting to £120, Merton College, Oxford. The church is in the early English style, with later additions, and was repewed in 1819, at the expense of Mr. Walker; in the chancel are several interesting monuments to the Shelley family.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 616-620. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50879 Date accessed: 08 May 2011.

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
West Sussex Record Office has deposited parish Registers Bap1687-1909 Marr 1692-1969 Bur 1685-1998

Bishop's Transcripts 1571-1899

Contact West Sussex Record Office 3 Orchard Street Chichester West Sussex PO19 1DD Phone: 01243 753602 Fax: 01243 533959 Email: records.office@westsussex.gov.uk

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

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.

Poor Law Unions
Sutton (East Preston) 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

Web sites
Contributor: Add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.