Tunstead, Norfolk Genealogy

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

Parish History
TUNSTEAD (St. Mary), a parish, in the Tunstead and Happing incorporation, hundred of Tunstead, E. division of Norfolk, 3¼ miles (N. E. by E.) from Coltishall. Tunstead St Mary is an Ancient parish in the Waxham deanery of the Diocese of Norwich. Prehistoric artifacts have been found in Tunstead, such as a Mesolithic flaked axe and two blade like flakes. However there are not enough finds to suggest an early settlement, even though a Roman road passed close by through Sloley. Tunstead probably became a settlement in Anglo Saxon times, albeit a rather scattered one in clearings in the then extensive woodland. Its name derives from the Old English tun (meaning enclosure, settlement or farm) and stede (meaning place) (Source: Tunstead &amp; Sco-Ruston website)

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.


 * Tunstead 1837-1869
 * Smallburgh 1870-1938
 * North Walsham 1939-1974

Church Records
parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

Norfolk Record Office reference PD 285/ 1-7, 9

Non-Conformist Records

 * 1717 England & Wales, Roman Catholics, 1717 at FindMyPast ($), index and images
 * 1613-1901 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index (dates may vary by parish)

Census Records
http://www.btinternet.com/~e.c.apling/1891Census/Tunstead.htm transcript of 1891 census

Poor Law Unions
For Tunstead and Happing see http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Smallburgh/

Norfolk Poor Law Unions

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

 * Norfolk: Tunstead on GenUKI
 * Tunstead St Mary on A Church Near You
 * Tunstead on Norfolk Churches
 * Tunstead Village website