Fakenham, Suffolk Genealogy

Guide to Fakenham, Suffolk ancestry, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Parish History
FAKENHAM MAGNA (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Thetford, hundred of Blackbourn, W. division of Suffolk, 5 miles (S. S. E.) from Thetford. Fakenham Magna St Peter is an Ancient parish in the county of Suffolk. Prior to 1837 the parish was in the Diocese of Norwich; subsequently it transferred to the Diocese of Ely.

Resources
If you live in Suffolk you will have access to a variety of resources at local archives and libraries. For those who live further afield, one can access microfilm and online records at Family History Centres. Refer to Suffolk_in_the_FHL_Catalog and in the FamilySearch Catalogue for available records.

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.


 * Thetford 1837-1938
 * Bury St Edmunds 1939-1974

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

To find the names of the neighboring parishes, use England Jurisdictions 1851 Map. In this site, search for the name of the parish, click on the location "pin", click Options and click List contiguous parishes.

Records are also available at the Suffolk Record Office.

Poor Law Unions
Thetford Poor Law Union

See also England Norfolk Poor Law Union Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Norfolk Poor Law Unions

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Suffolk 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