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Essex Look-up Exchange

The following is a list of reference works on Essex which volunteers are willing to search for specific entries. To ask for a look-up, please click on the name by the reference. Requests should be specific: give as much detail as you can. Abuses of the kindness of these volunteers will probably cause them to withdraw their names so please don't ask for all references to a common name, or for time-consuming research. Volunteers may or may not be willing to obtain copies of the relevant pages. If they are, expect to reimburse expenses.

Many Family History Societies produce publications related to their county. You may want to consider purchasing your own copy of relevent resources to aid your research or maybe support research in this area by joining the society. Details can be found at their respective web-sites or see Genuki's Family History Society listings. For Essex, the relevant society is the Essex Society for Family History.

Title Volunteer
Pigot's National & Commercial Directory for Essex 1839 - Please note, this directory is arranged by township, then by occupation, then by surname. John Hitchcock or Sue Lote
The Essex "Whoandwhere" 1909 - a muster roll of prominent men and women and leading residents in the county of Essex. Entries vary from just a name and address to 200 word life histories. Hugh Smith
Essex Worthies - a biographical companion to the county (William Addison, 1973). Contains about 450 mini-biographies of historical families and individuals. Hugh Smith
Kelly's Directory 1922 for Woodford, Loughton, Chignford & Buckhurst Hill: private residents and businesses. It gives head of each house, and address. Kristy McCarrick
Who's Who in Essex 1935 (Ebenezer Baylis & Son Ltd). Biographical entries for about 1000 people "who have conducted the County's affairs and administered its religions, professional and business life" Hugh Smith
Colchester Quakers by Stanley H.G. Fitch - contains information on individuals and families from 1600s to 1837. Cornelia
Parish Register Transcription Society Catholic Marriage Index - marriages in Essex and London from the 18th Century to the 1870s Linda Smith
Aldham Parish Registers: C 1677-1879, M 1677-1935, B 1723-1944. Linda Collie
Ashdon Parish Registers: M 1557-1812. June Greenough
Ashingdon Parish Registers: M 1568-1835. June Greenough
Bowers Gifford Parish Registers: M 1559-1812. June Greenough
Boxted Parish Registers: M 1559-1837. June Greenough
Braintree Parish Registers: C 1740-1859, M 1837-1891. Dennis W. Galley
Chappel St Barnabas Parish Registers: C 1764-1998, M 1754-1956, B 1764-1963. Linda Collie
Chelmsford Parish Registers: M 1539-1770, 1771-1837. June Greenough
Coggeshall Parish Registers: C 1813-1841, M 1813-1837. Dennis W. Galley
Gestingthorpe Parish Registers: M 1626-1672, 1727-1837. June Greenough
Great Canfield Parish Registers: M 1539-1812. June Greenough
Great Hallinbury Parish Registers: M 1661-1837. June Greenough
Great Horkesley Parish Registers: M 1538-1836. June Greenough
Great Leighs Parish Registers: M 1560-1837. June Greenough
Great Waltham Parish Registers: CMB 1566-1707; CMB 1703-1782; C,B 1783-1812; M 1756-1812; C 1813-1855. N.B. Great Waltham is not Walthamstow, Waltham Abbey or Waltham Holy Cross so please do not send requests concerning those areas. Liz Holliday
Great Tey St Barnabas Parish Registers: C 1665-1984, M 1665-1933, B 1714-1874. Linda Collie
Halstead Parish Registers: C 1694-1812, M 1694-1800, B 1713-1812. Dennis W. Galley
Hazeleigh Parish Registers: C 1573-1661, 1675-1812; M 1589-1634, 1737-1748; B 1584-1662, 1674-1812. June Greenough
High Easter Parish Registers: C,M,B 1654-1815; M and banns 1754-1787 Liz Holliday
High Laver Parish Register transcripts: M 1616-1838 and 1868-1894; B 1614-1812
High Laver tithe Award Map Index 1847
Liz Holliday
Kelvedon Hatch Parish Registers: M 1561-1665, 1669-1836. June Greenough
Little Horkesley Parish Registers: M 1568-1835. June Greenough
Little Laver Parish Register transcripts: M 1842-1856; B 1813-1837 and 1881-1899. Liz Holliday
Little Leighs Parish Registers: M 1680-1837. June Greenough
Loughton Parish Registers: M 1675-1837. June Greenough
Magdalen Laver Parish Register transcripts: M 1557-1836.
Magdalen Laver tithe Award Map Index 1847
Liz Holliday
Mount Bures CMB 1550-1900 Diane
Navestock Parish Registers: M 1538-1812. June Greenough
Panfield Parish Registers: M 1570-1830. June Greenough
Rayne Parish Registers: M 1558-1836. June Greenough
Ridgewell C 1563-1865, M 1562-1837, B 1563-1888, Banns 1754-1812 Brenda Lyons
Roxwell Parish Registers: M 1559-1837. June Greenough
South Hanningfield C 1813-1900 Diane
Stambourne C 1559-1898, M 1559-1836, B 1559-1956, Banns 1755-1872 and 1874-1930 Brenda Lyons
Steeple Bumpstead C 1676-1939, M 1676-1944, B 1676-1970. Note that some of the early pages are faded and unreadable. Karen
Stisted Parish Registers: C 1765-1843, M 1755-1837, B 1765-1859. Dennis W. Galley
Twinstead Parish Registers: C 1570-1718, M 1568-1718, B 1567-1837. June Greenough
Wakes Colne CMB 1550-1900 Diane
Wakes Colne Parish Registers: M 1605-1836. June Greenough
Walthamstow Parish Registers: M 1650-1837. June Greenough
Widford Parish Registers: M 1619-1837. June Greenough
Woodford Parish Registers: M 1638-1837. June Greenough
Wormingford Parish Registers: M 1559-1837. June Greenough
Writtle Parish Registers: M 1634-1827. June Greenough
Earls Colne (St Andrew) Memorial Inscriptions Tamara Weller
Parish Census Listings 1695-1840
Parish Census Listings 1797-1831
Sue Lote
Census returns, 1841 to 1901. As much information as possible should be supplied: at least, full name and approximate age. Sylvia Quinn
1881 complete census Karen Archer, Dianne, Howard Archer or Lisa Feasey
1891 Essex census: no indexes, so an address must be supplied. Judy Ayres
1891 Essex census: name required, age and area helpful Census Barlow
Northern Border Parishes 1851 census index Sue Lote
Dunmow 1861 census returns Barbara Tunley
Epping 1851 and 1861 census returns Barbara Tunley
Halstead 1851 census index Sue Lote
Magdalen Laver 1851 census returns Liz Holliday
Maldon 1851 census index Sue Lote
Bradley UK database. Thousands of references to this surname. John Bradley
Name Index to Poor Law and Settlement Papers Sue Lote
Complete set of Elizabethan wills at Chelmsford as transcribed by Dr. F.G.Emmison (various publishers) and also his transcripts of wills from the Bishop of London's consistory court (now at Chelmsford). This jurisdiction is that of the Essex Archdeaconry of the Diocese of London, i.e. Essex plus what are now small parts of E. Herts (15-20 parishes) and S.E. Cambridgeshire (3 parishes). Bocking and two other parishes that formed a Peculiar of the Archdiocese of Canterbury are probably not included. Testators and witnesses are indexed. Dates: ca.1557 to 1605. Tony Fox
Coggeshall wills from the Archdeaconry of Colchester: index 1688-1773 and 1782-1857, extracts 1784-1857. The index includes everyone named in the wills - testators, legatees, tenants, witnesses, etc. - over 1100 persons in all. Now also available on a web page. Maureen Bryson
Histories:
  • Victoria County History (except bibliography volumes, which contain no personal names anyway).
  • Philip Morant's History of Essex
  • Draft local history of Cranham, containing 400 pre-census personal names (not bad for a parish of fewer than 150 before 1850!). Included are workhouse inmates, the more well-to-do, and the occupants of any class of grave.
  • Upminster, various notes.
Tony Fox

Please contact Peter Alefounder (alefounder@one-name.org) if you are willing to add your name to this list. Give the full title(s) of any reference you are prepared to check. Suitable items would include tax lists, electoral rolls, directories, census indexes, indexed parish registers etc. It would help, for automatic sorting of email, if you include "[E]" in the subject line. This should ensure that your message is recognised as being important, and not as junk mail or "spam", of which I get a great quantity.

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