Witham, Essex Family History Guide

Witham is an Ancient Parish and a market town in the county of Essex.

Alternative names:

Parish church:

Parish registers begin:

Parish registers: 1650
Bishop’s Transcripts: 1800

Nonconformists include: Independent/Congregational, Particular Baptist, Roman Catholic, Society of Friends/Quaker, and Wesleyan Methodist.

Table of Contents

Adjacent Parishes

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

WITHAM, a small town, a parish, a sub-district, a district, a hundred, and a division, in Essex.

The town stands on the Roman road from London to Colchester, at an intersection of railways, near the influx of the Podsbrook rivulet to the Blackwater, 8 miles NE of Chelmsford.

It was built and fortified by Edward the Elder; passed to Eustace of Boulogne, the Knights Templars, and the Knights of St. John; was a seat of assizes in 1568.

It is now a seat of petty-sessions; consists chiefly of one long street; and has a head post-office, a r. station with telegraph, a banking office, a good inn, a police station, a literary institution, an ancient church, partially built of Roman bricks, a church of 1842, built at a cost of £5,000, a handsome Independent chapel, rebuilt in 1840, three other dissenting chapels, a Roman Catholic chapel, national and British schools, two suites of alms-house s with £80 and £172 a year, a workhouse of 1838, built at a cost of £6,850, some general charities, a weekly market on Tuesday evenings, and fairs on Whit-Friday and Whit-Saturday.

The parish comprises 3,633 acres. Real property, £15,629. Pop. in 1851, 3,303; in 1861, 3,455. Pop., 674. There are four manors.

The living is a vicarage, with All Saints chapelry, in the diocese of Rochester. Value, £473. Patron, the Bishop of R.

The sub-district contains 7 parishes. Acres, 17,251. Pop., 6,947. Houses, 1,443.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].

Bankrupts

Below is a list of people that were declared bankrupt between 1820 and 1843 extracted from The Bankrupt Directory; George Elwick; London; Simpkin, Marshall and Co.; 1843.

Butler George, Witham, Essex, builder, March 10, 1843.

Collis Christ. Annet, Chipping hill, Witham, Essex, victualler. Dec. 7, 1838.

Fairhead David, Witham, Essex, baker, Dec. 11, 1838.

Perry William, Witham, Essex, coachmaker, May 14, 1830.

Pitstow John, jun., Witham, Essex, miller, April 6, 1822.

Whale William, Witham, Essex, victualler, March 27, 1827.

Youngman Philip, Witham. Essex, bookseller and stationer, March 18, 1826.

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.

HUNTER, John, junr., of Portsea, Esq., W., & Amelia Anna Hubbard, of Whitham, co. Essex, 21, sp., at P., 1 March, 1809.

Source: Hampshire Allegations for Marriage Licences Granted by the Bishop of Winchester. 1689 to 1837 Published 1893 Editor: William John Charles Moens