Bayfield, Norfolk Genealogy

Guide to Bayfield, Norfolk ancestry, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Parish History
BAYFIELD (St. Margaret), a parish, in the union of Erpingham, hundred of Holt, W. division of Norfolk, 2¾ miles (N. W.) from Holt. The ancient Bayfield Parish church has been in ruins since at least 1845, and probably since the mid 1700s; although one source claims in has been in ruins since the Civil War (1642-1651). "The church is within the emparked Bayfield estate, close to the present Hall, and there is no public access." At one time there would have been an associated graveyard with the Bayfield Parish church, but any evidence of it, like the parish church records, have long since disappeared. It is of note though that on the road from Letheringsett to Bayfield, before you get to where you can see, off in the distance, the ruins of St Margaret's ---there is, on the opposite side of the road, a small modern estate graveyard containing about 50 or so graves.

"The church is known to have been in use in 1603 but was probably abandoned soon after."

"John and Eleanor Jermy of Norwich became owners of Bayfield Hall about 1620. Their eldest son Robert was soon sent off to London to study Law at the Middle Temple and while in London he became a Purictan with extreme views. When, in 1642, the Civil War started, between King Charles I and Parliament. Robert joined Cromwell's forces and became an officer of mounted trooops in Norfolk. Soon he became a commissioner dealing with land confiscated from Royalists. He was also chairman of the committee examining clergy and schoolmasters about their faith and their politcal views. This committee had the power to eject clergy and schoolmasters from their jobs if they failed to agree to follow the new decrees of Parliment."

"In 1650, a year after the execution of King Charles I, Robert Jermy wrote to the authorities in London to say that there was a serious Royalist conspiracy in North Norfolk and insurrection had broken out. The Goverment sent 4000 foot soldiers and three judges who sentenced twenty-four men to death. These included William Hobart who was a son of the lord of the manor at Holt." Also at this time Thomas Louther, the rector at neighboring Letheringsett made a huge donation to Cromwell's funds.

"When the Restoration came, with the return of Charles II in 1660, Robert Jermey obtained leave to go overseas. He was back in Engalnd a year or so later when he is recorded as now being lord of the manor of Bayfield...Robert Jermy now presented bond as rector of Bayfield and of Letheringsett, whose old rector, Louther, was no longer living...Robert Jermy's signature appears in the earliest Letheringsett marriage register of 1653, as a JP."

Robert Jeremy died in 1677, but the "Jermys continued at Bayfield until 1766 when the estate was sold to trustees, to be held for Elizabeth, wife of Paul Jodrell and daughter of Richard Warner of North Elmham."

Formerly Bayfield was a parish in and of itself until it started being covered under other parishes jurisdictions. "All the Registers belonging to Bayfield have disappeared." However it is of note that a steady list of rectors for Bayfield from 1320-1744 has been identified.

The transfer of Bayfield Hall and its estate from the Jermys to the Jodrells is also within a few decades of Bayfield being mentioned as being under the jurisdictionof nearby parishes. If you believe your ancestor was in Bayfield prior to 1766, first rule out the "easier to search" parish records of nearby Letheringsett, Glandford and Blakeney; then consider searching the manorial records generated by the Jermy family.

Regarding Bafield jurisdictions in the 1700s and later, it appears that at first Bayfield was under Glandfords jurisdiction. Each of the Glanford Archdeacon Transcripts bills state "Glandford" on them until the year 1732 when a bill states "Glandford w Bayfield". For mid 1700 marraiges look for Bayfield brides amoungst the Blakeney Parish records. In 1825 Letheringsett's St. Andrew Parish Baptismal Register refers to an abode as the "Extraparochial Parish of Bayfield"

In 1756 Thomas Nuthall leased Bayfield Hall from John Michell. In 1766 John Michell, Esquire died at Bayfield and was buried at Letheringsett where their is a memorial to him. Later his body later moved to Forcett in Yorkshire. John Michell was the second son of Simon Michell Counsellor at Law of Dorton in the County of Bucks. 1766 is also when the Bayfield estate was sold to trustees.

Historian Margaret Bird, editor of The Diary of Mary Hardy 1773-1809, notes that during the time period of Mary Hardy's diary, Bayfield was still a parish for administrative purposes, if not ecclesiastical purposes. Some Bayfield residents are mentioned in the four volume work, as the Hardy's spent many years in the bordering parish of Letheringsett.

"The Norfolk Record Office holds the Bayfield Tithe Map of 1839"

In 1845 a description is found in William White's History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Norfolk, in which it states that the parish was united with Glandford and only had 21 souls.

In more recent times (by early 1900s) Bayfield was once again united to Glandford and the two ran a civil parish called Glandford-cum-Bayfield. Both the Glanford Parish Church (St. Martins) and a Bayfield Parish Church (St. Margarets) are found on Bayfield Hall and its Estate. Both churches were ancient parishes, and both ended up in a ruins condition. However, in about 1882 Sir Alfred Jodrell, Baronet, inherited the estate and set about rebuilding the Glandford Parish (and also contributing to some other parishes) but he did not rebuild the ruins of the Bayfield St Margarets church, which, even today, remains in ruins. (Map that illustates this.)

"Sir Alfred [Jodrell] always planned to provide work for the people on his estate, and he built many good houses for them before councils took on house building. He had the fine wall built round Bayfield Park and said he intended to carry it on down to Glandford to give employment, but then the 1914-18 war came. When his mother was alive a garden party at Bayfield was a feature of local life." The Jodrell's were in Bayfield until 1929 when Sir Alfred died.

Today the Civil Parish of Letheringsett with Glandford covers all of what was the Parish of Bayfield on the 1851 England Jurisdiction map as "the parish of Bayfield was officially united with Letheringsett in 1927."

Resources
If you live in Norfolk or near Blakeney then you will have access to a variety of resources; however, for those who live further afield, one can access online records at FamilySearch and other sites mentioned on this page. Additional records (microfilm and online) can be viewed at Family History Centers. Refer to and  in the FamilySearch Catalog for available records.

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.

Census records
The census listings in the FamilySearch 1841 British collection catagorize residents of Bayfield as Glandford Cum Bayfield.

Manorial Records

 * Manorial Court Rolls for Bayfield with Glandford, 1708-1925.

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

Websites

 * Bayfield Hall
 * Art Cafe- Glanford - this cafe and the nearby Wildflower Center and antique shop are the closest things there are to being on the Bayfield Estate and near it's ancient parish, unless you count the main road from Letheringsett to Glanford from which the ancient parish ruins can be seen. There is a permissive footpath from the Cafe, along the River Glaven, that comes out at the Glandford Ford, Shell Musemuen and Glandford Parish Church.
 * Bayfield on GenUKI