Welcome to the Family History Social

New online release of Norfolk Parish Records with images 

 

St Mary Magdalene, Sandringham

 

TheGenealogist has added over 1.54 million individuals to their Norfolk Parish Record Collection and so increasing the coverage of this Eastern English county for family researchers to find their ancestors' baptisms, marriages and burial records. 

 

These records are released in association with the Norfolk Record Office and have the benefit of high quality images to complement the transcripts, making them a valuable resource for those with ancestors from this area.

 

This new addition to the ever growing Parish Records collections on TheGenealogist are for fully searchable records of church registers from parishes in Norfolk. With records that reach back to the mid 16th century, this release allows family historians to find the names of forebears, their parents’ forenames, the father’s occupation (where noted), and the parish that the event took place in. Parish Records are one of the most important records for family historians to use when researching our ancestors, as they cover vital events before the introduction of civil registration for England and Wales in 1837.

 

This latest addition brings the total number of individuals in the parish records for Norfolk on TheGenealogist to over 11.5 million.

 

Example from the Parish of Sandringham in Norfolk

As an example we can find the one time owner of the Sandringham estate, many years before it became the royal residence that it is today. In the Elizabethan era a manor was built on what is the site of the present house. By the 18th century, it had come into the possession of the Hoste Henley family who were descendants of Dutch refugees. In 1771 Henry Cornish Henley cleared the site to build a Georgian mansion, Sandringham Hall. 

 

Using the Parish Records on TheGenealogist we are able to find the burial record for this gentleman and see that it was in 1773. It would seem that Henley died before the House was completed and so then it passed to his son, who would eventually sell it to a neighbour.

 

Burial transcript for Henry Cornish Henley November 1773 at St Mary Magdalene, Sandringham

 

Entry in the Parish Burial Register at Sandringham for Henry Cornish Henley, November 1773

These new parish records are available as part of the Diamond Subscription at TheGenealogist.

This new release covers the following parishes: 

 

Acle, Alby, Aldborough, Aldeby, Alderford, Antingham, Ashwellthorpe, Ashwicken with Leziate, Aslacton, Aylmerton, Aylsham, Babingley, Bacton, Banham, Banningham, Barford, Barney, Barton Bendish St Andrew and St Mary with All Saints, Bebingley, Beechamwell (alias Beachamwell), Beeston Regis, Belaugh, Billingford, Bixley, Blakeney, Blickling, Blofield, Bodney, Booton, Boughton, Bracon Ash, Bradfield, Brampton, Brancaster, Braydeston, Breckles, Briston, Brooke, Brundall, Buckenham, Bunwell, Burgh St Margaret and Billockby, Burgh St Peter, Burlingham St Edmund, Burnham Deepdale, Caister next Yarmouth, Caistor St Edmund with Markshall, Calthorpe, Carleton Rode, Castle Acre, Castle Rising, Castleacre, Caston, Chedgrave, Clippesby, Cockley Cley, Cockthorpe, Colkirk and Colkirk with Oxwick, Colney, Coltishall, Corpusty, Costessy, Cromer, Crownthorpe, Croxton, Denver, Dersingham, Dickleburgh with Langmere, Didlington, Diss, Docking, Downham Market, Drayton, Dunston, Earlham St Anne with St Elizabeth, Earlham St Mary and Earlham with Bowthorpe, East Carleton, East Dereham, East Tuddenham, Eaton St Andrew and Christchurch, Eccles, Edgefield, Edingthorpe, Erpingham, Fakenham, Felthorpe, Fersfield, Field Dalling, Filby, Flitcham, Flordon, Fordham, Foulsham, Framingham Earl, Freethorpe, Fundenhall, Gately, Gayton, Gayton Thorpe, Gaywood with Bawsey and Mintlyn, Geyton Thorpe, Gimingham, Gissing, Glandford, Great Ellingham, Great Hautbois, Great Hockham with Little Hockham, Great Massingham, Great Melton, Great Moulton St Michael with Little Moulton, Great Plumstead, Great Snoring, Great Witchingham with Little Witchingham, Great Yarmouth, Great Yarmouth St Andrews, Great Yarmouth St Nicholas, Great Yarmouth St Peter, Gresham, Grimston, Griston, Guestwick, Hackford, Hackford with Whitwell, Haddiscoe, Hales, Hampstone, Hapton, Hardley, Hargham, Hassingham, Haveringland, Heacham, Heckingham, Heigham Holy Trinity, Heigham St Barnabas with St Bartholomew, Heigham St Philip, Heigham St Thomas, Hellesdon, Hempnall, Hempstead by Holt, Hempton, Hevingham, Hickling, Hillington, Hingham, Hockering, Hockwold cum Wilton, Holme Hale, Holme next the Sea, Holt, Honingham, Horning, Horsford, Horsham St Faith and Newton St Faith, Howe, Howe with Little Poringland, Hunstanton St Edmund, Ickborough, Illington, Ingworth, Itteringham, Kelling, Kempston, Ketteringham, Kilverstone, King’s Lynn St John the Evangelist, King’s Lynn St Margaret with St Nicholas, Kirby Bedon, Kirstead with Langhale, Knapton, Lakenham (old) St John, Lakenham St Alban, Lammas with Little Hautbois, Langley, Limpenhoe, Lingwood, Little Barningham, Little Cressingham, Little Ellingham, Little Massingham, Little Plumstead, Little Snoring, Little Walsingham, Little Witchingham, Ludham, Martham, Mattishall, Mautby, Merton, Mile Cross St Catherine, Morley St Botolph with St Peter, Morningthorpe, Morton, Morton On The Hill, Moulton St Mary, Mulbarton, Mundesley, Narborough, Needham, New Buckenham, New Catton Christ Church, New Catton St Luke, New Lakenham St Mark, Newton Flotman, North Creake, North Elmham, North Lopham, North Tuddenham, North Walsham, North Wootton, Northwold, Norton Subcourse, Norwich St Andrew, Norwich St Augustine, Norwich St Benedict, Norwich St Catherine Mile Cross, Norwich St Clement with St Edmund, Norwich St Etheldreda, Norwich St George Colegate, Norwich St Giles, Norwich St Helen, Norwich St James with Pockthorpe, Norwich St John de Sepulchre, Norwich St John Timberhill with All Saints and St Michael at Thorn, Norwich St Julian, Norwich St Martin at Oak, Norwich St Martin at Palace, Norwich St Mary Coslany, Norwich St Mary in the Marsh, Norwich St Mary Magdalene with St James the Great with Pockthorpe, Norwich St Michael Coslany, Norwich St Paul, Norwich St Peter Mancroft, Norwich St Peter Parmentergate, Norwich St Saviour, Norwich St Stephen, Oby, Old Buckenham, Old Catton, Old Lakenham (St John with All Saints), Ormesby St Margaret with Scratby, Oulton, Overstrand, Oxwick All Saints, Paston, Poringland, Postwick, Pulham St Mary Magdalene Alias Pulham Market, Quidenham, Rackheath, Raveningham, Redenhall with Harleston and Wortwell, Reepham with Kerdiston, Ridlington, Ringstead St Andrew, Ringstead St Peter, Rollesby, Roughton, Roydon, Runcton Holme with South Runcton and Wallington, Runton, Saham Toney, Sandringham, Saxthorpe, Scottow, Scoulton, Sea Palling, Sedgeford, Seething, Shelfanger, Sheringham, Shimpling, Shingham, Shipdham, Shouldham, Shropham, Sidestrand, Snetterton, Snettisham, South Lynn All Saints, Southrepps, Spixworth, Sporle with Palgrave, Sprowston and Beeston St Andrew, Stalham, Stanhoe with Barwick, Stiffkey, Stoke Holy Cross, Stow Bedon, Stradsett, Strumpshaw, Suffield, Sutton, Swaffham, Swafield, Swainsthorpe, Swannington, Swanton Abbot, Tacolneston, Talconeston, Tharston, Thetford St Cuthbert, Thetford St Mary, Thetford St Peter, Thompson, Thorpe Abbotts, Thorpe Episcopi, Thorpe Hamlet, Thorpe Market, Thorpe next Haddiscoe, Threxton, Thurlton, Thurne with Ashby and Oby, Thwaite All Saints, Titchwell, Tivetshall St Mary and St Margaret, Toft Monks, Toftrees, Tottenhill, Tottington, Trowse, Trunch, Watlington, Watton, Weeting, Wells next the Sea, Wendling, Wereham, West Lexham, West Lynn, West Newton with Appleton, West Tofts, Westacre, Weston Longville, Weybourne, Wheatacre, Wickmere with Wolterton, Wilby, Winfarthing, Winterton with East Somerton, Witton (near Blofield), Witton (near North Walsham), Wolferton, Wood Dalling, Wood Norton, Woodton, Wormegay, Worthing, Wreningham, Wymondham.

 

TheGenealogist completes Norfolk Parish Records

• Over 6.23 million new searchable Norfolk Parish Records released in partnership with the Norfolk Record Office
• This final tranche includes over 5.95 million records for Norfolk
• Plus more than 276,000 records relating to the boundary areas of Suffolk
• Adding to the 3.6 million individuals already released earlier

TheGenealogist has successfully completed a project to release over 9.8 million fully searchable records for the registers of baptisms, marriages, marriage banns and burials for Norfolk with images of the original registers. It is now easier than ever to research Norfolk ancestors in the parish registers of this Eastern English county. With some of the surviving records reaching back as far as the early 1500s, this is a fantastically rich resource for family historians to use for discovering Norfolk ancestors. Released in partnership with The Norfolk Record Office, the registers of baptisms, marriages, burials and banns of marriage cover the majority of parishes in the Diocese of Norwich. This also includes a number of Suffolk parishes in and near Lowestoft that make up the deanery of Lothingland. Also covered by this release are the parishes in the deanery of Fincham and Feltwell that were part of the Diocese of Ely in south-west Norfolk.    

Examples of famous people to be found in these records include:

Edith Cavell, the First World War Nurse executed by the Germans for treason was born in the South Norfolk village of Swardeston. Her baptism can be found in the register of Swardeston for February 1866 where her father was the vicar and performed the christening ceremony. With a single click family historians can see an image of the actual entry in the parish register.

Edith Cavell's baptism record in the Norfolk Parish Registers on TheGenealogist

Likewise, Horatio Nelson - who would grow up to become perhaps Britain’s best known naval hero of all time - was also baptised by his clergyman father. In Nelson’s case it was in the the village of Burnham Thorpe on the North Norfolk coast in 1758.

Horatio Nelson's baptism 1758 in the Norfolk Parish Records on TheGenealogist

Another British seafaring hero, whose baptism can be found in the Norfolk parish records on TheGenealogist, is Henry George Blogg. He would grow up to become known as the “Greatest of the Lifeboatmen” and be highly decorated. In his case, however, it was not his father that baptised him. His entry in the register reveals a less than auspicious entry of this Norfolk hero into the world - the vicar wrote in the parish register of Cromer that Henry was “base born”. Blogg, however, became a skilled seaman and a lifeboatman. For the many rescues, that he took part in as the coxswain of the Cromer lifeboat, he was awarded the gold medal of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution no less than three times and also the RNLI silver medal four times. He was also honoured with the George Cross from the King, the British Empire Medal, and a series of other awards.

Norfolk Parish Registers on TheGenealogist: Record of Henry Blogg's baptism 1876

Five years after his birth, Henry’s mother, Ellen Blogg, married a fisherman called John Davies. It was this stepfather that taught Henry how to fish and the skills that he needed to be a highly competent seafarer. The marriage banns for Henry’s mother and stepfather can be found in the Banns book for the parish, within the new records on TheGenealogist. Their actual marriage can also be found recorded in the parish register for Cromer included in this new release.

Banns of Marriage records from the Norfolk Parish Registers on TheGenealogist

To search for your Norfolk ancestors go now to: TheGenealogist

TheGenealogist and the Norfolk Record Office have announced that they have signed an agreement to make Norfolk parish and other historical records available online for the first time. The registers of baptisms, marriages, burials and banns of marriage feature the majority of the parishes in Norfolk.

On release the searchable transcripts will be linked to original images of baptism, marriage and burial records from the parish registers of this East Anglian county

• Some of the surviving records are from the early 1500s

• These vital records will allow family history researchers from all over the world to search for their Norfolk ancestors online for the first time

Famous people that can be found in these records include:

- Samuel Lincoln, the great-great-great-great-grandfather of Abraham Lincoln, 18th President of the United States of America, can be discovered in the baptismal records of St Andrew, Hingham in Norfolk for the 24th August 1622. At some point his entry has been highlighted with a star.

- Vice Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson, who lost his life at the Battle of Trafalgar. This impoverished clergyman’s son can be discovered in the register for Burnham Thorpe in 1758. There his father, as rector of the parish, would have officiated at all the baptisms that year in this church with his name appearing at the bottom of the page.

Viewing an image of the actual parish register reveals that the young Horatio Nelson was firstly baptised privately in October 1758, just a week after being born and then given a second “public baptism” in the middle of November. This practice was carried out for sickly babies who were not expected to survive and begs the question of how different British history would have been had he died as an infant. Fascinatingly, by looking at the actual image of the page there are some additions to his entry that have been penned in the margin years later. These notes, reputedly to be by his brother the Rev William Nelson, 1st Earl Nelson, celebrated the honours that his brother received in his adult life. He ends it with the latin quote “caetera enarret fama” which translates as “others recount the story”.

Burnham Thorpe Church, Norfolk. Horatio Nelson’s baptismal place.

Photograph: John Salmon

In addition to those from the Diocese of Norwich the coverage also includes some Suffolk parishes in and near Lowestoft that fall into the deanery of Lothingland and also, various parishes from the deanery of Fincham and Feltwell, that part of the Diocese of Ely that covers south-west Norfolk.

Nigel Bayley, Managing Director of TheGenealogist said: “With this collection you will be able to easily search Norfolk records online for the first time. From the results a click will allow you to view high quality digital images of the original documents. Joining our already extensive Parish Record collection on TheGenealogist, this release will be eagerly anticipated by family and local historians with links to Norfolk”

Gary Tuson, County Archivist at The Norfolk Record Office said: “The Norfolk Record Office is pleased to be working with TheGenealogist, a commercial company helping to make these important records available to a worldwide audience.”