Little Baddow, Essex Genealogy

England Essex

Parish History
Little Baddow is an Ancient Parish in the county of Essex. Other places in the parish include: Middle Mead.

The name Baddow comes from an Old English word meaning 'bad water', although this probably refers to the meadow area in Great Baddow as opposed to any water mass in Little Baddow. The village is positioned on one of the many elevated hills in Essex. The manor was once a possession of Robert the Bruce.Thomas Hooker who founded the Colony of Connecticut lived in the village as a child and was a school teacher there before going to Holland and then to New England. The diocese of Chelmsford was created in 1914, prior to this Essex parishes were in the jurisdiction of the Bishops of London until 1845 when they transferred to the diocese of Rochester. The diocese of Chelmsford has 474 parishes and 600 churches and is the second largest region in the church of England outside London.

BADDOW, LITTLE (St. Mary), a parish, in the union and hundred of Chelmsford, S. division of Essex, 5 miles (E. N. E.) from Chelmsford; containing, with the hamlet of Middle Mead, 592 inhabitants. It is bounded on the north by the navigable river Chelmer, on which are two large flour-mills with convenient quays. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £8. 2. 2.; patron and impropriator, Col. Strutt, who is also patron of the rectory, which is a sinecure valued at £7. 13. 4. The impropriate tithes have been commuted for £358, the vicarial for £197. 5. 6., and the rectorial for £126. 17.: the rectorial glebe comprises 40, and the vicarial 5, acres. The church is an ancient edifice, with a tower at the west end, and consists of a nave and chancel, in which latter is a stately monument of marble to Henry Mildmay, of Graces. Here is a place of worship for Independents. In 1717, Edmund Butler bequeathed 160 acres of land and 36 acres of woodland, for the clothing and education of children of this parish and that of Boreham; the whole is now let for £130 per annum; and to this income are added £11, the rent of two cottages, and £15. 1., annual dividends on three and a half per cent. stock.

From: 'Babcary - Badgeworth', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 124-128. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50773 Date accessed: 21 February 2011.

The village and civil parish are part of the Chelmsford District of Essex County council.

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.

Church records
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Census records
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Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Essex Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

Maps and Gazetteers
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 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
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