Colchester St Nicholas, Essex Genealogy

England Essex  Essex Parishes

Parish History
Colchester St Nicholas is an Ancient Parish in the town and was one of twelve parishes created within the walls of this township.

St Nicholas church formerly stood on the High Street. The original church was 12th century and the church was rebuilt in the 14th century, and restored again between 1875-76 by Sir George Gilbert Scott. The church had the highest spire in Colchester. The church was demolished in 1955 by the Church of England authorities.

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.

Here are the twelve ancient parishes comprising Colchester Township:


 * All Saints- 1708
 * St. Botolph - 1560
 * St. Giles - 1593
 * St. James - 1609
 * St. Leonard, or the Hythe - 1542
 * St. Mary Magdalen - 1708
 * St. Mary-at-the-Walls - 1559
 * St. Martin - 1622
 * St. Nicholas - 1541
 * St. Peter - 1611; FHL has Bts only
 * St. Runwald - 1598
 * The Holy Trinity - 1696

In addition, the following five parishes and chapels are found without the walls, but lying within Colchester Parish boundaries; they were:


 * Bere-Church- 1664
 * Greenstead -1576; FHL has Bts only from 1800
 * Lexden - 1560
 * MileEnd - 1800
 * Stanway All Saints - 1845

Here is an 1848 historical perspective by the topographer, Samuel A. Lewis.

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
Colchester 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.