Rayleigh, Essex Genealogy

England   Essex   Essex Parishes



Parish History
Rayleigh Holy Trinity is an Ancient Parish in Essex.

A church existed on the site in Saxon times and the present building has a Norman chancel. The bell tower was built in the 15th century and includes stone taken from the castle when that fell into disuse. The church has an impressive Tudor brick porch. The Gothic Revival architect C.C. Rolfe restored the chancel in 1873.

The parish church of Saint Michael and All Angels is in Sir Walter Raleigh Drive near Sweyne School. It was built in the 1950s when Rayleigh expanded considerably. It has a multi-purpose building which is used by other local groups as well as the church.

Our Lady of Ransom Catholic Church is on London Hill, not far from Rayleigh railway station.

The United Reformed Church is on Crown Hill.

The Baptist Church is in the High Street.

The Methodist Church is on the Eastwood Road.

Grange Free Church is on London Road, at the junction with Langdon Road.

The name "Rayleigh" is Saxon in origin and is cognate to the German place name Rehlach of the same meaning. According to the English Place Names Society, "Rayleigh" derives from "raege", and "leah", meaning "Female roe-deer stream" or "she-goat stream'". According to the Rayleigh Civic Society, "Roa" is a Saxon word for Roebuck and "Lea" a pasture probably for goats.

In any case, the connection with deer continued through the centuries. Lands around Rayleigh were used as Royal hunting forests for many hundreds of years. A deer was included in the coat of arms of Rayleigh Urban District Council, and in the early 2000s, a new pub was named the "Roebuck".

The Domesday Book mentions Rayleigh as having a number of villagers and smallholders, plus two slaves. Pigs, cattle, horses and goats were kept here. In addition 6 arpents (2 ha) of vines were grown, producing "20 measures of wine".

Between the Norman Conquest in 1066 and the compiling of the Domesday Book (20 years later), Rayleigh Castle was built, making it one of the few Norman castles mentioned in the book and therefore one of the earliest Norman castles in England. The castle was built by Swein (other spellings are Sweyn, Sweyne, Suen), son of Robert FitzWimarc. (These names are commemorated today in Rayleigh in the naming of the two secondary schools: Sweyne Park School and FitzWimarc School.)

The civil parish of Rayleigh became part of Rochford Rural District in 1894. In 1929 it was combined with Rawreth to form the Urban District of Rayleigh, which was abolished in 1974 when the area became part of the District of Rochford.

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
Rochford 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.