Colchester St Mary Magdalen, Essex Genealogy

England Essex  Essex Parishes

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

It appears from a charter of Henry II that Eudo Dapifer, the founder of St. John's Abbey, founded this hospital at the direction of Henry I. This king, after Eudo's death, in his grant to the abbey of the manor of Brightlingsea reserved a rent of £6 yearly from it for the use of the infirm of the hospital, and placed them under the charge of the abbot. Stephen granted to them in alms 14 acres of land for which they had been accustomed to pay 3s. 5d. yearly to the farm of Colchester. Henry II confirmed the grant of £6 yearly from Brightlingsea; and by another charter ) he confirmed to the abbot the charge of the hospital. Richard I on 8 December, 1189, granted to the lepers a fair yearly on the vigil and the day of St. Mary Magdalen. These grants to the hospital were confirmed by later kings in 1268, 1336, 1378 and 1400. The master of the hospital was rector of the church of St. Mary Magdalen in Colchester, in which capacity he claimed 14 acres of land in the suburbs in 1254. Hospitals: St Mary Magdalen, Colchester', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 2 (1907), pp. 184-186. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=39863 Date accessed: 08 February 2011.

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.

Originally built on part of St John's Abbey cemetery around AD 1150, contains work from every century since. It was declared redundant in 1956 and then used as a St John Ambulance depot until 1975 when it was converted in to a masonic centre.

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.