East Grinstead Sussex Family History Guide

East Grinstead is an Ancient Parish and a market town in the county of Sussex.

Other places in the parish include: Burliegh Arches Manor, Clarkes Manor, and Ashurst.

Alternative names:

Parish church:

Parish registers begin:

Parish registers: 1662
Bishop’s Transcripts: 1606

Nonconformists include: Baptist, Countess of Huntingdon Methodist, General Baptist, Independent/Congregational, Roman Catholic, Society of Friends/Quaker, Strict Baptist, and Wesleyan Methodist.

Table of Contents

Adjacent Parishes

Cowden Kent
Horsted Keynes
Horne Surrey
Forest Row
Godstone Surrey
Tandridge Surrey
Lingfield Surrey
Hartfield
Worth
West Hoathly

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

GRINSTEAD (EAST), a town, a parish, a sub-district, a district, and a hundred, in Sussex.

The town stands on an eminence, contiguous to the Three-Bridges and Tunbridge-Wells railway, near the source of the river Medway, and not far from Ashdown forest, 30 miles S by E of London.

It is surrounded by fine scenery; is proverbial for salubrity; consists chiefly of one main street; contains many old timbered houses; was once a seat of assizes; is now a seat of petty sessions and county courts; is a borough by prescription, and sent two members to parliament from the time of Edward II., but was disfranchised by the act of 1832; and has a head post office, a railway station with telegraph, two banking offices, two chief inns, a church, two dissenting chapels, a free grammar school, national schools, a college or hospital, a workhouse, and a literary association.

A market for corn is held every Thursday; a market for cattle, on the last Thursday of each month; and fairs, for cattle, on 21 April and 11 Dec. Many of the inhabitants are employed in two breweries, in brick and tile works, and in a parchment manufactory.

The branch railway hither leaves the main line at Three Bridges station; is 8 miles long; was opened in 1855; and has stations at Rowfant and Grange Road.

The church was rebuilt at the close of last century; was twice rebuilt at previous periods; has a lofty pinnacled tower, which figures strikingly in distant views; and contains a brass of 1505, and the tomb of Speaker Abbott, the first Lord Colchester.

The grammar school was founded in 1708 by Robert Payne, Esq., and has £44 from endowment. The national schools were erected in 1861, and are a handsome pile. Sackville College was founded in 1608, by the second Earl of Dorset; stands on high ground, commanding noble views toward Ashdown forest; forms a quadrangle with apartments for a number of poor unmarried men and women; includes a hall and chapel, rebuilt since 1848; and has an endowed income of £217.

The workhouse was built in 1859, and has capacity for 260 inmates. The literary association was formed in 1862, and has a good library.

The parish includes the hamlets of Ashurst and Forest Row, and the manor of Brockhurst. Acres, 15, 071. Real property, £14, 346. Pop. in 1851, 3, 820; in 1861, 4, 266. Pop., 783.

There are six manors, held by Earl Gage, Lord Amherst, Earl Delawarr, A. G. Biddulph, Esq., A. F. Meyrick, Esq., and W. Pearless, Esq.

The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Chichester. Value, £320. Patrons, the heirs of the late Dowager Countess Amherst.

The vicarage of Forest Row is a separate benefice.

The sub-district contains also the Surrey parish of Lingfield. Acres, 24, 081. Pop., 6, 468. house, 1, 203.

The district comprehends likewise the sub-district of Withyham, containing the parishes of Withyham and Hartfield; and the sub-district of Worth, containing the parishes of Worth, Crawley, and West Hoathly. Acres, 61, 317. Poor rates in 1863, £9, 425. Marriages in 1862, 87; births, 429, of which 28 were illegitimate; deaths, 263, of which 90 were at ages under 5 years, and 10 at ages above 85. Marriages in the ten years 1851-60, 756; births, 4, 144; deaths, 2, 365.

The places of worship in 1851 were 11 of the Church of England, with 4, 427 sittings; 2 of Independents, with 250 s.; 4 of Lady Huntingdon’s Connexion, with 990 s.; 4 of Baptists, with 1, 072 s.; and 3 of Wesleyans, with 290 s.

The schools were 25 public day schools, with 1, 303 scholars; 21 private day schools, with 362 s.; and 22 Sunday schools, with 1, 567 s.

There are four workhouses in respectively East Grinstead, Lingfield, Hartfield, and Worth.

The hundred is in the rape of Pevensey, and is conterminate with East Grinstead parish.

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

Parish Records

FamilySearch

Administration

County: Sussex
Civil Registration District: East Grinstead
Probate Court: Court of the Bishop (Episcopal Consistory) of Chichester for the Archdeaconry of Lewes
Diocese: Chichester
Rural Deanery: 1846-1858 – Lewes, Pre-1846 – South Malling
Poor Law Union: East Grinstead
Hundred: East Grinstead
Province: Canterbury