Felsted, Essex Genealogy

England   Essex   Essex Parishes



Parish History
FELSTED (Holy Cross), a parish, in the union of Dunmow, hundred of Hinckford, N. division of Essex, 4 miles (E. S. E.) from Dunmow; containing 1798 inhabitants.

From: Lewis, Samuel A., A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848).

Felsted Holy Cross is an Ancient parish in Essex. The village has links to Lord Riche who founded the public school, The Felsted School, in 1564, and is buried in Holy Cross Church. Lord Riche was an important benefactor of the Felsted church. The school also has links to Oliver Cromwell, who sent his sons there. The valley between Little Dunmow and Felsted was the location for the only sugar beet factory in Essex, which is now being redeveloped for housing in a community called Flitch Green.

Felsted is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Felesteda, Felstede and Phensteda in the Hundred of Hinckford, where it was held by Earl Ælfgar as five hides in the time of King Edward. In 1086, Felstead was part of the land of La Trinité of Caen, who held four hides. The fifth hide was no longer in this manor as King William gave three virgates to Roger God-save-the-ladies and the fourth to Geoffrey fitzSalomon

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.

Felsted (sometimes spelt 'Felstead') is a village that lies in the north west of Essex in England, south of the A120 and is located near Braintree, Great Dunmow and Chelmsford. It lies on the north bank of the River Chelmer as it leaves Great Dunmow and turns south towards Chelmsford.

It is a village and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex County 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, 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
Dunmow 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.