West Tarring, Sussex Genealogy

England   Sussex

Parish History
West Tarring St Andrew is an Ancient Parish in West Sussex. Other places in the parish include: Heene, Salvington, Durrington, West Worthing, and Tarring. TARRING, WEST, (St. Andrew,) a parish, in the hundred of Tarring, rape of Bramber, W. division ofSussex, 1½ mile (N. W.) from Worthing; containing,with the hamlet of Salvington, 567 inhabitants. This was anciently a place of much importance, and in the time of Offa, King of Mercia, appears to have had a church or monastery, in honour of St. Andrew, some remains of which might be traced in a free chapel that continued here till the reign of Edward III. Henry VI.granted the inhabitants a market, long since discontinued.The living consists of a sinecure rectory valued in the king's books at £22. 13. 4., and a vicarage consolidated with the rectory of Patching, valued at £8. 13. 4., and in the patronage of the Archbishop of Canterbury.The rectorial tithes have been commuted for £445 andthe vicarial for £110. 15.; the rectorial glebe consistsof 1¼ acre, and the vicarial of nearly an acre. The church is in the early English style, with later additions,and consists of a nave, aisles, and chancel, with a lofty tower surmounted by a handsome octagonal spire. The ancient parsonage-house was formerly of much greater size, and is thought to have been a manor-house or palace occasionally inhabited by Thomas a Becket, who is said to have brought from Italy the fig-tree from which the whole parish has been abundantly stocked.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 300-303. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51328 Date accessed: 08 May 2011.

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.

Poor Law Unions
East Preston Poor Law Union, Sussex

Sutton (East Preston) Poor Law Union, Sussex

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Sussex 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. A Site with an interest in [West Tarring Sussex].