Maldon St Mary, Essex Genealogy

England Essex



Parish History
Maldon St Mary is an Ancient parish in the county of Essex.

A church has occupied this site since Saxon times. The church tower was used as a burning beacon by local sailors sailing up the Blackwater and when it collapsed during the reign of James I, in 1605, a petition was sent to the king asking for its rebuilding. The work was undertaken and completed in 1638. In 1730 the burning beacon was replaced by the a white shingle spire.

The church has many Norman survivals but has continued to be remodelled including in the 21st century. In 1991 a window was dedicated by the Bishop of Chelmsford on the 11th August 1991 as part of Maldon's year long celebration of the millennium of the Battle of Maldon 991. Having forsaken the advantage which the Saxon thane Byrthnoth held over the raiding Vikings in the interest of "fair play", Byrthnoth and his men were savagely slaughtered and the town put to waste. St Mary's is built on the site of a Saxon wooden church, which was completely razed after the battle. The new "Octagon" building has been added to the site.

The parish is part of the diocese of Chelmsford. 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.

Maldon's name comes from Mael meaning 'meeting place' and dun meaning 'hill', so translated as "meeting place on the hill". East Saxons settled the area in the fifth century and the area to the south is still known as the Dengie peninsula after the Dæningas. It became a significant Saxon port with a hythe or Quayside and artisan quarters. Evidence of imported pottery from this period has been found in archaeological digs. From 958 there was a royal mint issuing coins for the late Anglo-Saxon and early Norman kings.

It was one of the only two towns in Essex (Colchester was the other), and King Edward the Elder lived here while combating the Danish settlers who had overrun North Essex and parts of East Anglia. A Viking raid was beaten off in 924, but in another raid in 991 the defenders were defeated in the Battle of Maldon and the Vikings received tribute but apparently did not attempt to sack the town. It became the subject of the poem The Battle of Maldon.

According to the Domesday Book there were 180 townsmen in 1086. The town still had the mint and supplied a warhorse and warship for the king's service in return for its privileges of self-government. The town was awarded a charter by Henry II in 1171, stating the rights of the town as well as defining its borders and detailing its duty to provide a ship for the monarch "when necessary".

There were strong urban traditions with two members elected to the Commons and three guilds which hosted lavish religious plays until they were suppressed by Puritans in 1576. Then, until 1630, professional actors were invited to perform plays, which were also stopped by Puritans. From 1570 to about 1800 a rival tradition of inviting prominent clergy to visit the town also existed. In 1629 a series of grain riots took place, led by the wife of a local butcher

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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
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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
Maldon 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
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 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
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