Great Dunmow, Essex Genealogy

England   Essex   Essex Parishes



Parish History
Great Dunmow St Mary the Virgin is an Ancient Parish in Essex.

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.

DUNMOW, GREAT (St. Mary), a parish, and the head of a union, in the hundred of Dunmow, N. division of Essex, 12½ miles (N. N. W.) from Chelmsford, and 37½ (N. E. by N.) from London; containing 2792 inhabitants. It is supposed by Bishop Gibson to be the site of the Roman station Cæsaromagus, and this conjecture has been adopted by other antiquaries; coins have been discovered at several places near the town, and the road leading from it to Colchester, which was probably Camalodunum, displays some indications of Roman construction. At the time of the Norman survey it was the chief place in the hundred to which it gives name, and in 1250 it was made a market-town: it is agreeably situated near the river Chelmer, and consists mainly of two streets. Formerly the manufacture of baize and blankets was carried on very extensively; at present there is only a small establishment for making sacking and coarse cloth. The market, which was on Saturday, has been discontinued; but there are fairs on May 6th and Nov. 8th, for cattle. The inhabitants obtained a charter of incorporation from Philip and Mary, which was confirmed by Elizabeth, the government being vested in a recorder, bailiff, and twelve burgesses; but the officers do not now possess magisterial authority, and the only duty they perform is the appointment of a constable, bread-weighers, and leather-sealers, which takes place on the Tuesday after Michaelmas-day. The powers of the county debt-court of Dunmow, established in 1847, extend over the registration-district of Dunmow. The petty-sessions for the division are held here. The parish is of considerable extent, comprising 6661 acres, of which 144 are common or waste; on the banks of the Chelmer are some of the finest meadows in the county, and the soil is generally fertile. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £18. 13. 4.; patron, the Bishop of London; impropriator, Sir G. H. W. Beaumont, Bart.: the great tithes have been commuted for £1510, and the vicarial for £580; the glebe contains half an acre, with a house. The church is a spacious edifice in the decorated and later English styles, consisting of a nave, aisles, and a chancel with a fine window: it has many ancient and interesting monuments. Here are places of worship for Particular Baptists, the Society of Friends, and Independents; and an almshouse for ten poor persons. The union comprises 25 parishes or places, and contains a population of 19,884.

From: Samuel A. Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 102-105. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50930&amp;amp;strquery=dunmow Date accessed: 18 February 2011.

Great Dunmow is a town in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. Originally the site of a Roman settlement on Stane Street, the town thrived during the Middle Ages. Many buildings survive from this period, including a sixteenth century town hall.

The town is famous for its four-yearly ritual of the "Flitch Trials", in which couples must convince a jury of six local bachelors and six local maidens that they have never wished themselves un-wed for a year and a day. If successful the couple are paraded through the High Street and receive a flitch of bacon. The last flitch trials were held in the town in the summer of 2008, with the next scheduled for 2012. The custom is ancient, and is mentioned in the Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale in Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales.

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 Union
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.