Ardleigh, Essex Genealogy

England   Essex



Parish History
Ardleigh St Mary the Virgin is an Ancient Parish. Other places in the parish include: No Man's Land. Ardleigh is a village and civil parish in Essex, England. It is located 7 km (4 miles) northeast of Colchester and is 42 km (26 miles) northeast from the county town of Chelmsford. The village is in the district of Tendring and the parliamentary constituency of North Essex. The village has its own Parish Council.

Here is an 1848 historical perspective on this parish by the topographer Samuel A. Lewis:

"ARDLEIGH (St. Mary), a parish, in the union and hundred of Tendring, N. division of Essex, 4¾ miles (N. E.) from Colchester; containing 1605 inhabitants. This parish, which comprises 4953 acres, is situated on the road from Colchester to Harwich, and has a station of the Colchester and Ipswich railway, midway between the stations of Colchester and Manningtree. A fair is held on September 29th. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £11. 0. 10., and in the patronage of the Crown; net income, £258. The church is an ancient structure partly rebuilt of brick, with the original square embattled tower of stone. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans. In 1571 William Littlebury bequeathed a farm called Wrabnass, now let for £250 per annum, for the instruction of boys of Ardleigh, Dedham, and other places adjacent."

From: Samuel A. Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 66-69. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50758 Date accessed: 30 March 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
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. 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 Images available for Ardleigh St Mary the Virgin and Ardleigh Wesleyan Methodist Church

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
Tendring 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.