South Weald, Essex Genealogy

England   Essex   Essex Parishes



Parish History
South Weald St Peter is an Ancient parish in Essex and is a Grade 2* listed building which originally dates back to Norman times but was rebuilt in 1869 to the existing plan. The tower is 16th century.

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.

The Ancient parish of South Weald, comprising 5,089 a. (2,059.5 ha.), lay at the northern end of Chafford hundred, about 30 km. northeast of London. The soil is mainly London Clay, with Boulder Clay in the north and Bagshot Beds in the east. This was an ancient forest area, as the name Weald indicates, and it is still well wooded. It was sparsely settled until the 12th century, when a township began to develop along the London-Chelmsford road at Brentwood, where a chapel was built in or after 1221 and a market was opened by 1227. From the 17th century Brentwood 'hamlet', which included the town and the adjoining rural areas to the north and west, was virtually independent for civil purposes, and in 1837 it became a separate district chapelry. Brentwood urban district, formed in 1899, was conterminous with the chapelry, covering 460 a. It was enlarged in 1934 to 18,269 a. (7,393.4 ha.) by the inclusion of the whole of South Weald, Hutton, and Ingrave, and parts of 12 other parishes, and in 1974 became part of the new Brentwood district, which has an area of 36,378 a. (14,722 ha.).

From: South Weald and Brentwood', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 8 (1983), pp. 74. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=63842&amp;amp;strquery=south weald Date accessed: 03 February 2011.

Brentwood originated as an ancient parish of 460 acres (1.86 km²). In 1891 the population was 4,949. Under the Local Government Act 1894, the Brentwood parish formed part of the Billericay Rural District of Essex. In 1899 the parish was removed from the rural district and formed the Brentwood Urban District. In 1934 the parish and district were enlarged by gaining Hutton, Ingrave and South Weald.The district was abolished in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, and Brentwood urban district was joined with the parishes of Ingatestone and Fryerning, Mountnessing, Doddinghurst, Blackmore, Navestock, Kelvedon Hatch, and Stondon Massey to form the Brentwood district with a total area of 36,378 a. In 1976 the new district was divided into 18 wards, with 39 councillors. The district council has always had a Conservative majority. In 1993, Brentwood gained borough status.

In 1917, the parish church was awarded cathedral status, then between 1989 and 1991 the building was modified to appear in an Italianate Classical style. Brentwood Cathedral is currently the seat of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Brentwood.

Brentwood is a town, the principal settlement of the Borough of Brentwood, part of Essex in England. It is located in the London commuter belt, 20 miles (30 km) east north-east of Charing Cross in London and near the M25 motorway.

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

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
Billericay 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.