Ashen, Essex Genealogy

England   Essex   Essex Parishes

Parish History
ASHEN, a parish, in the union of Risbridge, hundred of Hinckford, N. division of Essex, 2½ miles (S. W. by S.) from Clare; comprising by measurement 1574 acres, and containing 321 inhabitants. The village is pleasantly situated on elevated ground, commanding fine prospects; and the parish is richly wooded. John Elwes, celebrated for his great wealth and penurious habits, was proprietor of the manor of Ashen, to which he succeeded on the decease of his uncle, Sir Harvey Elwes. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £8, and in the patronage of the duchy of Lancaster: the tithes have been commuted for £390, and there are 16 acres of glebe. The church is an edifice of small dimensions, chiefly of stone, with a square embattled tower, and contains several monuments of great antiquity. According to Bishop Tanner, here was a priory of Augustine friars in the seventeenth of Edward II.

From: 'Ashcombe - Ashill', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 85-88. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50763 Date accessed: 30 March 2011.

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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Census records
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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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