Loughton, Essex Genealogy

England Essex   Essex Parishes



Parish History
Loughton All Saints is an Ancient Parish in the county of Essex.

The church in it's present form is the result of alteration in 1846 but retains original 13th century features from it's predecessor.

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 original parish church of ST. NICHOLAS stood beside Loughton Hall. After the building of the new parish church of St. John in 1846 most of the old church was demolished, but the chancel was preserved as a mortuary chapel until 1877 when it also was removed. The old church consisted of nave, chancel, north aisle, south porch, and weather-boarded tower with shingled spire. Nave and chancel were of the same width (about 18 ft.) and together measured about 60 ft. in length. A sketch of 1821 shows a large 15th-century window at the east end of the chancel. This is said to have been replaced before the final demolition of the church by an iron window. In the south wall of the chancel there was a two-light window, and also a low-side window. The aisle of the church measured about 18 ft. by 54 ft. At its east end there was a chapel divided from the rest of the aisle by a wooden screen with a central doorway. The tower was of two stages, the lower of which projected to allow space for a vestry. Julia Stokesby, by her will proved 1384, left 20s. to the work of the church. The form of the bequest suggests that building operations were then in progress. The will of John Stoner (proved 1540) directed that he should be buried in the chapel of Our Lady in the parish church of Loughton. George Stoner, son of John, similarly directed (1558) that he should be buried in the 'new chapel' in the church. This chapel was probably that at the east end of the aisle which was later regarded as the private chapel of the lord of the manor. William Harryson of Loughton by his will proved 1540 left 40s. towards the building of the steeple. (fn. 77) The tower and spire were repaired in 1737. General repairs to the church were carried out in 1825-7 and 1829.

From: A History of the County of Essex: Volume 4: Ongar Hundred (1956), pp. 121-123. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=15598&amp;amp;strquery=loughton Date accessed: 26 January 2011.

Much of the housing in Loughton was built in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, with significant expansion in the 1930s. The Great Eastern Railway Company would not offer workmen's fares to and from Loughton, so development was of a middle-class character. Loughton was a fashionable place for artistic and scientific residents in Victorian and Edwardian times, and a number of prominent residents were also socialists, nonconformists, and social reformers. Debden is a post-war development intended to ease the chronic housing shortage in London in the 1940s

From 1900 to 1933, Loughton was governed by the Loughton Urban District Council. From 1933 to 1974 together with Buckhurst Hill and Chigwell it formed the Chigwell Urban District. Since 1996, Loughton has had its own town council.

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 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
Epping 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.