Great Sampford, Essex Genealogy

England   Essex   Essex Parishes



Parish History
Great Sampford St Michael 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.

SAMPFORD, GREAT (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of Saffron-Walden, hundred of Freshwell, N. division of Essex, 3¾ miles (N. E. by E.) from Thaxted; containing 877 inhabitants. The parish comprises 2247a. 2r. 29p., of which 1620 acres are arable, 426 meadow and pasture, and 104 woodland. The surface is pleasingly undulated, and the scenery enriched with ornamental wood; the soil is luxuriantly fertile, and along the borders of the Freshwell rivulet are fine tracts of meadow and pasture land. The village contains some good houses. The straw-plat manufacture has been lately introduced, and affords employment to several of the inhabitants. The living is a vicarage, with that of Hempstead annexed, valued in the king's books at £18, and in the patronage of Sir William Eustace, K.C.H.; appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury. The great tithes for both parishes have been commuted for £1185. 3. 2., and those of the vicar for £360; the appropriators have 206½ acres, and the vicar 16½ acres, of glebe. The church, situated on an eminence, is a handsome structure in the decorated English style, with a square embattled tower strengthened by buttresses; the interior is rich in details, and contains some stone stalls of beautiful design. There is a place of worship for Baptists.

From: Samuel A. Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 11-15. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51254&amp;amp;strquery=sampford Date accessed: 15 February 2011.

Great Sampford is a village and civil parish on the B1053 road and the B1051 road in the Uttlesford District, in the English county of Essex. The village includes a primary school, two places of worship and a pub. It is located near the towns of Thaxted, Saffron Walden and Haverhill.

RAF Great Sampford was used by the USAAF and was USAAF Station 359 The station opened 14th April 1942and was closed 12th April 1948 when the land reverted to agriculture. Taxiways runways and some technical buildings (derelict) remain visible. Despite the name RAF Great Sampford the airfield lay largely outside the parish boundary and in the parish of Radwinter, Essex

Bombing raids upon the nearby RAF Debden meant that some 200 bombs fell in the nearby villages, including at least two huge parachute mines, and two German airmen, parachuting from their burning bomber after a raid on RAF Debden, landed at Great Sampford where they were captured. They fared better than a squadron-mate who, landing at nearby Finchingfield, Essex, broke his leg when he hit the war memorial!

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

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.