Burnham Overy, Norfolk Genealogy

England   Norfolk

Parish History
Burnham Overy St Clement is an Ancient Parish in the Diocese of Norwich.

Burnham Overy is a civil parish on the north coast of Norfolk, England. In modern times a distinction is often made between the two settlements of Burnham Overy Town, the original village adjacent to the parish church and now reduced to a handful of houses, and Burnham Overy Staithe, a rather larger hamlet about 1 mile (2 km) away and next to the creek-side harbour.

St. Clement's Church, on the bank of the Burn, is from the 13th century and has a Norman central tower that was lowered one storey in the 17th century. The building was originally cross-shaped with the tower at the centre. After several alterations to the layout over the years, now the large tower divides the church in two and forms a vestry.

Burnham Overy lies between the larger village of Burnham Market, less than 1 mile (2 km) to the west, and Holkham, some 3 miles (5 km) to the east. Burnham Thorpe, the birthplace of Horatio Nelson, lies 1 mile (2 km) to the south-east. According to various letters and documents, it is stated that Nelson learned to row and sail a dinghy at Burnham Overy Staithe, at the age of 10, two years before joining the Navy. The larger town of King's Lynn is 20 miles (30 km) to the south-west, whilst the city of Norwich is 30 miles (50 km) to the south-east.

For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk.

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
Contributor: Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts, non conformist and other types of church records, such as parish chest records. Add the contact information for the office holding the original records. Add links to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection

Census records
Contributor: Include an overview if there is any unique information, such as the census for X year was destroyed. Add a link to online sites for indexes and/or images. Also add a link to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection.

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Norfolk 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
Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.
 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
Contributor: Add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.