Harwich St Nicholas Essex Family History Guide
Harwich St Nicholas is a chapelry of Dovercourt Ancient Parish in Essex.
Alternative names: Harwich, St Nicholas
Parish church:
Parish registers begin:
- Parish registers: 1559
- Bishop’s Transcripts: 1800
Nonconformists include: Baptist, Independent/Congregational, Primitive Methodist, Society of Friends/Quaker, and Wesleyan Methodist.
Table of Contents
Adjacent Parishes
- Dovercourt
- Walton, Suffolk
- Shotley, Suffolk
- Trimley St Mary, Suffolk
- Felixstowe, Suffolk
Parish History
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
HARWICH, a sea port town, a parish, and a subdistrict, in Tendring district, Essex.
The town stands at the NE extremity of the county, and at the terminus of a branch of the Eastern Union railway, on a point of land projecting northward into the month of the conjoint estuary of the Stour and the Orwell, 1½ mile by water WNW of Landguard Fort, 5 N of the Naze, and 18 ENE of Colchester.
It appears to have been of Roman origin; but it derived its present name-originally Hare-wich or Here-wich, signifying the “castle of an Army” from a Saxon or a Danish camp. A quondam road into it had vestiges of an ancient stone pavement; bore the Roman appellation of “the Street;” and passed remains of a Roman camp, with a rampart from 10 to 15 feet high, and a fosse 45 feet wide, and 4 feet deep, extending from the S side of the town to Beacon Hill field. Roman relics also have been found to the W at Dovercourt; and a second Roman rampart ran from that of the Roman camp to the top of Beacon Hill.
A battle was fought in the adjacent waters, at the month of the Stour, in 885, between the fleet of King Alfred and sixteen Danish ships; when the latter were defeated, and all captured. A town, called Orwell, stood then, or soon afterwards, on ground about 5 miles distant which became eroded by the sea, and is now represented by a shoal called the West Rocks; and, on the decay of that town after the Norman invasion, Harwich rose into importance.
Queen Isabella and Prince Edward, in 1326, landed here from Hainault, with 2, 750 soldiers, and marched hence to Bristol to make war against the King. Edward III., in 1338, embarked here, with 500 ships, on his first expedition against France. The French, in the following year, with 11 galleys, appeared before the town, and made an unsuccessful attempt to fire it.
Edward III., in 1340, when 400 French ships had assembled at Sluys to intercept an English expedition, set sail from Harwich against them, with the result of achieving a remarkable victory over them in a great sea battle. Henry VIII. was here in 1543; Elizabeth, in 1561; and Charles II., in 1666.
A Spanish fleet appeared off the Harbour, in 1625, causing considerable alarm; and some of the naval engagements between the English and the Dutch, in the time of Charles II., took place at such near distances as to be visible to spectators on the cliffs.
The town was fortified against the Dutch in 1666; and remains of the works then formed were plainly seen at an extraordinary ebb tide in 1784. William III., George I., and George II. sailed from Harwich on their respective tours to the Continent. Frederick, Prince of Wales, was here in 1728; the Princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, on her way to be married to George III., landed here in 1761; and the corpse of Queen Caroline, on its way to be interred at Brunswick, was taken on board a frigate here in 1821.
The site of the town is low, with well defined shore and pleasant environs. The esplanade, or green, extending towards the Beacon Hill, and the Stone quay, near the lighthouses, afford pleasant sea walks. The Beacon Hill divides Harwich haven from Walton bay toward the Naze; rises to a considerable height; and commands a very fine view.
The Beacon Cliff, on the seaward face of the hill, makes a very steep descent; had formerly a signal House and a semaphore which, with a great portion of the cliff itself, have been submerged; consists largely of London clay, charged with fossils; has a height of 50 feet; and, till recently, suffered much from erosion by the sea, which wore away 80 feet of it between 1756 and 1804, and 350 feet between 1804 and 1841.
A tract, called the Vicar’s field, has disappeared since 1807; and part of a battery, built at the beginning of the present century, on a spot then considerably distant from the shore, was swept away in 1829. An inroad by the sea was threatened also at Lower Dovercourt, and would have been disastrous to the town, but has ceased to be dreaded.
The clay of Beacon Cliff, when exposed to the air, gradually hardens into a kind of stone; and this was used as the building material of Orford and Framlingham castles, and was used sometime also for paving. A petrifying spring formerly flowed at the N skirt of the Beacon.
The town consists of three main streets, and some smaller ones and lanes. It was formerly enclosed by a wall, with four principal and three subordinate gates; and it had a castle, block Houses, and an admiralty House; but all these have disappeared.
The railway to it leaves the main line at Manningtree; was opened in 1854; and has stations at Mistley, Bradfield, Wrabness, and Dovercourt.
The town hall is used for petty sessions and for county courts. The coastguard station was built in 1858; and is a fine suite of Houses, in the form of a square. There is a custom House; and there were formerly a jail and a theatre.
St. Nicholas church was built, in 1210, by Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, as a chapel of ease to Dovercourt; was rebuilt, on a much larger scale, in 1821; is a brick edifice, in the pointed style, 100 feet by 60; consists of nave, chancel, aisles, and porch, with tower and spire; and contains the grave of Sir W. Clarke, secretary-at-war, killed in action at sea, in 1666.
There are chapels for Independents, Baptists, Wesleyans, and Primitive Methodists.
There are also a Corporation school and a national school; and the former educates 32 boys, nominated by the town council.
The town has a head post-office, a railway station with telegraph, a banking office, and two chief inns. Markets are held on Tuesdays and Fridays; and there were formerly two fairs.
Harwich long depended for prosperity on its being the packet station to Holland, Germany, and Sweden, on great transit of passengers going to the Continent, or coming from it, especially during the French war, on a government dockyard establishment, together with the presence of large garrisons here and at Landguard, and on its having the only roadstead capable of affording secure shelter between Yarmonth and the Thames; but, since 1815, owing to quicker communication from other ports, the removal of the government works and garrison, and the extension of the Harbour at Lowestoft, it has suffered great declension.
A thriving fishery, too, was long carried on here, and employed 78 vessels, averaging about 40 tons each, in 1778; but this also has fallen off, and had only 10 vessels in 1833.
Yet, in consequence of improvements on its harbour, of the opening of the railway to it, of the resort of families for sea bathing, and of other causes, the town has been finding some compensations for its losses. A Roman cement trade is carried on to the extent of employing a great number of vessels in dredging for cement stone on the West Rocks. Ship building likewise is carried on; and there is a dockyard, from which several third rates have been launched.
Steamers sail daily to Ipswich, and regularly to London, Antwerp, and Rotterdam. A yacht club was founded in 1843; is under royal patronage; holds regattas annually; and gives prizes to successful competitors. Well contrived baths, bathing-machines, and excellent accommodations exist for the use of summer visitors.
The harbour is protected, on the E, by a northerly bend of the coast, on the W, by a Southerly projection of land; and it has a depth of water always available to vessels of large tonnage, and commands a magnificent opening to the sea. A grant of £50,000 was made by parliament, in 1844, and was followed by additional grants in subsequent years, for forming a breakwater from Beacon Cliff to divert the current towards Landguard Point, for so dredging the shoals at the harbour’s entrance as to admit first class vessels, for building a wall at the base of the cliff, to prevent the farther encroachment of the sea, and for making a walk, upwards of a mile long, from the end of the breakwater to the esplanade.
About £20,000 also were expended by the corporation prior to 1862, in making large enclosures of land from the harbour, forming quays along the entire N front of the town, and constructing a pier there approachable by vessels at all states of the tide.
Large sums were spent also in 1866-8, in constructing two protection groins seaward, the one 1,350 feet from the beach end, the other 1,000 feet from a point at Felixstow. A redoubt is a little above the esplanade; and there were two lighthouses, the low and the high, to direct vessels past the Andrews, a sandband or bar reaching from Landguard Fort to the Rolling Grounds, where there is good anchorage.
The low lighthouse is near the beach; and is of white brick, and 45 feet high. The other is nearer the town; was built, in 1818, by General Rebow; and is of grey brick, octagonal, and 95 feet high. But both lighthouses, owing to growth of Landguard Point, became gradually useless prior to 1865; and two iron Ones, in lieu of them, have been erected on Dovercourt beach. The port has Mistley, Holland, Thorpe, and Walton for sub ports.
The vessels belonging to it, at the beginning of 1863, were 67 small sailing vessels, of aggregately 2,064 tons; and 49 large ones, of aggregately 4,979 tons.
The vessels which entered, in 1862, were 43 British vessels, of aggregately 3,998 tons, from foreign ports; 34 foreign vessels, of aggregately 2,571 tons, from foreign ports; 544 sailing vessels, of aggregately 35,626 tons, coastwise; and 1 steam vessel, of 383 tons, coastwise.
The vessels which cleared, in that year, were 4 British vessels, of aggregately 132 tons, to British colonies; 3 British; vessels, of aggregately 528 tons, of foreign ports; 68 foreign vessels, of aggregately 4,087 tons, to foreign ports; and 352 sailing vessels, of aggregately 14,944 tons, coastwise. The amount of customs in 1867 was £9,810.
The borough is of the same extent now as before the reform act; consists of the parishes of Harwich and Dovercourt; and is the same parliamentarily and municipally. It sent two members to parliament in the time of Edward III.; it then suffered a suspension of the franchise; it sent two members from the time of James I. till 1867; it was then reduced to sending only one; and it is now governed by a mayor, 4 aldermen, and 12 councillors.
Acres, 1,836 of land, and 1,470 of water. Real property in 1860, £15,489; of which £100 were in gas works. Borough income, in 1855, £1,208. Electors, in 1868, 389. Pop. in 1851, 4,451; in 1861, 5,070. Houses, 811.
The parish bears the name of St. Nicholas; was originally a part of Dovercourt; and is still, in some respects, a hamlet of that parish.
Acres, 340; of which 250 are water. Real property, £9,219. Pop. in 1851, 3,383; in 1861, 3,839. Houses, 579.
The living is a vicarage, annexed to the vicarage of Dovercourt, in the diocese of Rochester.
Leake, the master gunner of England, was a native; and the Marquis of Downshire takes from the town the title of Baron.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].
A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848
HARWICH, a sea-port, borough, and market-town, having separate jurisdiction, locally in the hundred of Tendring, union of Tendring, N. division of Essex, 42 miles (N. E. by E.) from Chelmsford, and 72 (N. E. by E.) from London; containing 3829 inhabitants.
The name of this place, which is expressive of circumstances connected with its early history, is by Camden derived from the Saxon Harewic, signifying a station or harbour for soldiers; and by the same authority it is supposed that, during the time of the Romans, the counts of the Saxon shore had a stronghold here, in which a force was stationed to repel the Saxons and the Danes, who at that time made frequent incursions.
This opinion is in some degree confirmed by the remains of a Roman camp and tumulus in the vicinity of the town, near which coins and fragments of tessellated pavements have been found at various times; and by the discovery of teeth and bones of large animals in the southern cliff, which are by some antiquaries thought to be the remains of elephants brought into England by the Emperor Claudius.
After the departure of the Romans, Harwich, with the district adjoining, was wrested from the Britons by Erchenwine, or Erchwine, a Saxon chief, who held it under Octa, grandson of Hengist. In 885, a considerable battle was fought near this port, between the fleet of Alfred and sixteen Danish ships, which terminated in the entire defeat and capture of the latter.
In 1326, Prince Edward and his mother Queen Isabel, landed here from Hainault, with a force of 2750 soldiers, and being joined by several of the nobility, and headed by Thomas de Brotherton, Duke of Norfolk, then lord of the manor and resident in the town, proceeded to Bristol, to make war against the king.
In 1338, the same prince, now Edward III., embarked at the port with a fleet of 500 sail, manned with archers and slingers, on his first expedition against France; and in the year following, the French, in retaliation, made an unsuccessful attempt with eleven galleys to set fire to the town.
In 1340, the French navy, consisting of 400 ships, having been stationed near Sluys, in Flanders, to intercept the king’s passage to France, Edward assembled here his naval forces, and, sailing on Midsummer eve, and forming with the northern squadron under the command of Lord Morley, encountered the enemy, destroyed one-half of their ships, and killed or captured nearly 30,000 of their men.
Henry VIII. visited Harwich in 1543; and in 1553 preparations were made here for the reception of Philip, King of Spain, on his arrival to celebrate his nuptials with Mary, Queen of England. Queen Elizabeth was sumptuously entertained in 1561 by the corporation, who escorted her as far as the windmill on her return.
In some of the naval engagements between the English and the Dutch, in the reign of Charles II., the contending parties approached so near to the town as to render their operations visible to the spectators on the cliffs.
When Harwich was fortified against the Dutch in 1666, Charles II., having proceeded from Newmarket to Landguard fort, sailed hither in his yacht, accompanied by the Dukes of York, Monmouth, Richmond, and Buckingham, and, with others of his suite, attended divine service at the parish church; in the evening the royal party embarked for Aldborough, whence they proceeded by land to Ipswich.
William III., George I., and George II., visited Harwich on their respective tours to the continent; and the Princess of Mecklenburgh-Strelitz landed at the port on her arrival in England to celebrate her nuptials with King George III.
In 1808, the Countess de Lille, consort of Louis XVIII., the Duke and Duchess of Angoulême, the Count and Countess de Damas, and others of the nobility of France, seeking an asylum in this country, during the sway of Napoleon Buonaparte, arrived here in the Euryalus frigate, commanded by the Hon. Captain Dundas.
On the 16th of August, 1821, the remains of Queen Caroline, consort of George IV., were brought to the place, whence they were conveyed by the Glasgow frigate to be interred at Brunswick.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848
A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848
HARWICH is situated on a peninsular projection at the north-eastern extremity of the Essex coast, bounded on the east by the North Sea, and on the west and north by the estuaries of the Stour and the Orwell, which, uniting previously to their influx into the sea, form a spacious and secure harbour, nearly three miles in breadth.
The town is in general well built, and consists principally of three streets: an act of parliament was obtained in 1819, for watching, paving, and lighting it, and for supplying the inhabitants with water. An assembly and a reading room were lately erected in West-street, and a theatre was opened in 1813. The foundations of a castle and fortifications, by which the town was defended, might be seen previously to the encroachment of the sea, at an extraordinary tide in 1784; but of its ancient walls and gates, with the exception of a very small portion serving to indicate their former strength, the memorial is preserved only in the record of tolls, levied in the reign of Edward III. for their repair. Harwich is much resorted to during the season for bathing; and hot and cold baths, arranged with every accommodation, are supplied from a large reservoir of sea water: there are also bathing-machines near the jetty.
The harbour is protected on the east by the isthmus on which the town is built, verging towards the north, and on the west by a similar projection of the coast towards the south. The entrance is defended by Landguard fort, erected on the eastern promontory of the opposite coast; by a large martello tower; and by a number of shoals near the fort, which so much contract the passage as to admit only of one large vessel at a time, rendering the harbour difficult of access, except to expert navigators.
Though of unequal depth, the harbour and the bay together form a capacious roadstead for the largest ships of war, 100 of which were assembled here during the war with Holland, in the reign of Charles II., exclusively of their attendant vessels, and 300 or 400 sail of vessels carrying coal.
To facilitate the entrance into the harbour by night, two lighthouses were erected, under letters-patent of Charles II.: in the eastern part of the town, where they are situated, is a convenient stone quay, and near it a delightful promenade called the Esplanade. By means of these lights, vessels are guided off a sand-bank named the “Andrews,” forming a bar across the entrance to the harbour from Landguard fort into the Rolling grounds, from which the passage leading into good anchorage is safe.
The custom-house establishment consists of a collector, comptroller, and other officers. The trade of the port principally arises from the quantities of stone obtained here, from which cement is manufactured; about 100 small vessels and boats being employed in and near the harbour in dredging for stone for making it.
The North Sea fishery, though it has materially declined, still affords employment to a considerable number of vessels; and a constant traffic is carried on, by means of steamers and wherries, with Ipswich and Manningtree. The number of vessels of above 50 tons’ burthen is 61, and their aggregate tonnage 5497.
Ship-building is carried on to a good extent, the dockyard here being provided with launches, storehouses, and other requisites; several third-rate and other vessels have been built, and a patent-slip has been constructed, on which ships of very large burthen may be hauled up for repair with great facility.
The manufacture of copperas from stones that are found in abundance on the shore, was carried on in the seventeenth century, about which time an attempt was made to obtain potash from various sea-weeds. The market-days are Tuesday and Friday; the fairs, principally for toys, are on May 1st, and October 18th, each for three days.
The borough was first incorporated by charter of Edward II., which was renewed, with additional privileges, by James I., through the interest of Sir Edward Coke, and confirmed by Charles II.
By the act of the 5th and 6th of William IV., cap. 76, the corporation now consists of a mayor, 4 aldermen, and 12 councillors; the mayor and late mayor are justices of the peace, and the total number of magistrates is 12. Harwich first sent members to parliament in the 17th of Edward III., but discontinued till the 12th of James I., since which time it has made regular returns.
The right of election was formerly vested in the mayor, aldermen, and capital burgesses, 32 in number; but, by the act of the 2nd and 3rd of William IV., cap. 45, it was extended to the £10 householders of the borough, the limits of which contain 1461 acres. The mayor is returning officer.
The mayor and eleven of the corporation, until the passing of the Municipal act, which abolished admiralty jurisdictions, possessed conjointly the powers of the court of admiralty, with all its privileges and profits, without accounting to the exchequer; and at the admiralty sessions the mayor was usually preceded by a person bearing a silver oar.
A court of record used to be held under the charter of Charles II., every Tuesday, for the recovery of debts not exceeding £100; but from the expensiveness of the proceedings, it has fallen into disuse.
The powers of the county debt-court of Harwich, established in 1847, extend over part of the registration district of Tendring. There are petty-sessions weekly. A new guildhall was erected a few years since, of which the lower part is used as a prison for the borough, chiefly for the confinement of prisoners previously to their committal to the county gaol, and the upper is appropriated to the holding of the courts, and to the transaction of public business.
In the old guildhall, a small brick building, were several buckets bearing the arms and names of members of the corporation, among which were those of Sir Edward Coke, attorney-general in the time of James I.; Christopher Monk, Duke of Albemarle; Colonel Sir Charles Lyttleton, governor of Landguard fort in the reign of Charles II.; Sir Harbottle Grimstone, master of the rolls in the same reign; the Duke of Schomberg; Lord Bolingbroke; and Edward, Earl of Oxford.
Harwich comprises the parishes of All Saints Dovor-Court, containing 813, and St. Nicholas, 3016 inhabitants. The living of Dovor-Court is a vicarage, with the perpetual curacy of St. Nicholas’ annexed, valued in the king’s books at £5. 0. 10., and in the patronage of the Crown; net income, £221; impropriator, N. G. Garland, Esq.
The church contains several ancient monuments, and was celebrated for a rood held in high veneration, for the destruction of which three men from Dedham, who had stolen it from the church and burnt it, were hanged in 1532.
The church of St. Nicholas, rebuilt in 1820, at an expense of £18,000, is a handsome edifice in the later English style, with a lofty embattled tower: in the chancel are three finely-painted windows, presented by John Hopkins, Esq., and containing severally the arms of that gentleman, those of the town, and of Dr. Howley, then Bishop of London; among the monuments is a well-sculptured bust of Sir William Clarke, secretary-at-war to Charles I. and II.
There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, and Wesleyans.
A fine spring of water, which was much esteemed for its medicinal properties, and possessed a petrifying quality, is noticed in the Philosophical Transactions for the year 1669.
Quantities of amber, and, according to some, ambergris, are occasionally met with on the shore; and in the vicinity of Landguard fort, transparent pebbles are found, which were formerly set in rings by the inhabitants.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848
Parish Registers
Hampshire Allegations for Marriage Licences 1689 to 1837
The following have been extracted from Allegations for Marriage Licences in the county of Hampshire. Parishes without a named county are parishes within the county of Hampshire.
FARMER, George, junr., of Harwich, co. Essex, & Fanny Whitehead, of Portsmouth, sp., at Alverstoke or Gosport, 13 Nov., 1746.
Howe, Philip, of Harwich, co. Essex, & Mary Ann Tonge, of Havant, 21, at H., 26 Apl., 1791.
Source: Hampshire Allegations for Marriage Licences Granted by the Bishop of Winchester. 1689 to 1837 Published 1893 Editor: William John Charles Moens
Parish Records
FamilySearch
Administration
- County: Essex
- Civil Registration District: Tendring
- Probate Court: Court of the Archdeaconry of Colchester
- Diocese: Pre-1846 – London, Post-1845 – Rochester
- Rural Deanery: Pre-1847 – Tendring, Post-1846 – Harwich
- Poor Law Union: Tendring
- Hundred: Harwich Borough
- Province: Canterbury