Norfolk (old) County, Massachusetts Genealogy

United States Massachusetts  Norfolk (old) County

Norfolk (old) County was one of the four original Massachusetts Bay Colony counties. It was created in 10 May 1643. It included these six towns:


 * Haverhill (now in Essex County, Massachusetts including present-day towns of Haverhill, Methuen, and the northern part of Lawrence in Massachusetts, and Atkinson, Hampstead, Plaistow, and part of Salem in New Hampshire)
 * Salisbury (now in Essex County, Massachusetts including present-day towns of Salisbury (or Colchester), Amesbury, and Merrimac, Massachusetts|Merrimac]] in Massachusetts, and Newton, South Hampton, and part of Seabrook in New Hampshire)
 * Exeter (now in Rockingham County, New Hampshire including present-day towns of Exeter, Brentwood, Epping, Fremont, Newmarket, and South Newmarket)
 * Hampton (now in Rockingham County, New Hampshire including present-day towns of Hampton, Danville, Hampton Falls, Kensington, Kingston, East Kingston, North Hampton, and parts of Rye and Seabrook)
 * Portsmouth (now in Rockingham County, New Hampshire including present-day towns of Portsmouth (or Strawberry-bank), Greenland, New Castle, Newington, and part of Rye)
 * Dover (now in Strafford County, New Hampshire including present-day towns of Dover (or Cocheco), Durham, and Stratham)

Discontinued. Old Norfolk County was mostly discontinued 22 January 1679/1680 when the Province of New Hampshire was formed. The northern four towns were transferred to New Hampshire. The towns of Haverhill and Salisbury were added to Essex County, Massachusetts for court purposes. But the government permitted deeds to be recorded in Norfolk (old) County records as late as 1714 from all parts of the old county.

Records. Land deeds 1639-1678 of the old Norfolk County and her towns are housed at the Essex County Registry of Deeds in Salem, Massachusetts. These deeds were abstracted and published in:


 * "Old Norfolk County Records," Essex Antiquarian 1, no. 2 (February 1897): 19-24 continued in additional issues. Each volume indexed. Part of NEHGS American Ancestors Search. ;.