Brighton, Sussex Genealogy

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



History
The first settlement in the Brighton area was Whitehawk Camp, a Neolithic encampment on Whitehawk Hill which has been dated to between 3500 BC and 2700 BC. It is one of six cause-wayed enclosures in Sussex. Archaeologists have only partially explored it, but have found numerous burial mounds, tools and bones, suggesting it was a place of some importance. There was also a Bronze Age settlement at Coldean. Brythonic Celts arrived in Britain in the 7th century BC, and an important Brythonic settlement existed at Hollingbury Camp on Hollingbury Hill. This Celtic Iron Age encampment dates from the 3rd or 2nd century BC and is circumscribed by substantial earthwork outer walls with a diameter of c. 1,000 feet (300 m). Cissbury Ring, roughly 10 miles (16 km) from Hollingbury, is suggested to have been the tribal "capital".

Later, there was a Roman villa at Preston Village, a Roman road from London ran nearby, and much physical evidence of Roman occupation has been discovered locally. From the 1st century AD, the Romans built a number of villas in Brighton and Romano-British Brythonic Celts formed farming settlements in the area. After the Romans left in the early 4th century AD, the Brighton area returned to the control of the native Celts. Anglo-Saxons then invaded in the late 5th century AD, and the region became part of the Kingdom of Sussex, founded in 477 AD by king Ælle.

By the time of the Domesday survey in 1086 it was a fishing and agricultural settlement, a rent of 4,000 herring was established, and its population was about 400. Its importance grew from the Norman era onward. By the 14th century there was a parish church, a market and rudimentary law enforcement (the first town constable was elected in 1285). Sacked and burnt by French invaders in the early 16th century—the earliest depiction of Brighton, a painting of c. 1520, shows Admiral Pregent de Bidoux's attack of June 1514—the town recovered strongly based on a thriving mackerel-fishing industry.

From the 1730s, Brighton entered its second phase of development—one which brought a rapid improvement in its fortunes. The contemporary fad for drinking and bathing in seawater as a purported cure for illnesses was enthusiastically encouraged by Dr Richard Russell from nearby Lewes. He sent many patients to "take the cure" in the sea at Brighton, published a popular treatise on the subject, and moved to the town soon afterwards (the Royal Albion, one of Brighton's early hotels, occupies the site of his house).

The arrival of the London and Brighton Railway in 1841 brought Brighton within the reach of day-trippers from London. The population grew from around 7,000 in 1801 to more than 120,000 by 1901. Many of the major attractions were built during the Victorian era, such as the Grand Hotel (1864), the West Pier (1866), and the Palace Pier (1899). Prior to either of these structures, the famous Chain Pier was built, to the designs of Captain Samuel Brown. It lasted from 1823 to 1896, and is featured in paintings by both Turner and Constable.

From the middle 1950's onward, Brighton has come to be known as the Queen city of the South Coast of England.

Cemeteries (Civil)
Brighton has a number of major civil cemeteries. The Brighton City Council website provides access to each location:


 * Brighton - Hove Cemeteries

Woodvale Crematorium Lewes Road Brighton BN2 3QB Phone: +44 1273 604020

Woodland Valley Cemetery Warren Rd Brighton BN2 6DX Phone: +44 1273 604020

Brighton and Preston Cemetery 241 Hartington Rd Brighton BN2 3PA

Clayton Woods Natural Burial Ground Brighton Road Clayton, West Sussex BN6 9PD Phone: +44 1273 843842

Woodingdean Lawn Memorial Park Warren Rd Brighton BN2 6DD

Hove Cemetery North 8 Rowan Ave, Hove BN3 7JG

Florence Place Jewish Cemetery Florence Pl Brighton BN1

Newhaven Cemetery Nore Down Cottage Lewes Rd Piddinghoe, Newhaven BN9 9AD Phone: +44 1273 514114

St. Michael's and All Angels Cemetery 4GB, Church Ln Southwick, Brighton BN42

Parishes
Brighton's Anglican churches follow::

Bishop Harrington Memorial Nevill Avenue, Brighton and Hove Hove, East Sussex BN3 7NH Phone: +44 1273 732965

St. Bartholomew's Ann St Brighton BN1 4GP Phone: +44 1273 620491

Church of the Annunciation 89 Washington St Brighton BN2 9SR Phone: +44 1273 681341

Church of the Good Shepherd 272 Dyke Rd Brighton BN1 5AE Phone: +44 1273 882987

St. Cuthman's Whitehawk Way Whitehawk, Brighton, Sussex BN2 5HE

St. John the Evangelist Knoyle Rd Brighton BN1 6RB Phone: +44 1273 553311

St. Luke's' 64 Old Shoreham Rd Brighton BN1 5DD Phone: +44 1273 557772

St. Martin's Lewes Rd Brighton BN2 3HQ Phone: +44 1273 604687

St. Margaret's The Green Brighton BN2 7HA Phone: +44 1273 309216

St. Matthias' 45 Hollingbury Park Ave Brighton BN1 7JQ Phone: +44 1273 507326

St. Nicholas' Church St Brighton BN1 3LJ Phone: +44 7746 198026

St. Mary's Kemptown 61 St. James's Street Kemptown, Brighton BN2 1PR Phone: +44 1273 698601

St. Peter's York Pl Brighton BN1 4GU Phone: +44 1273 698182

Non Conformists
Brighton (and Hove) is a very diverse area, with many races and religions in the community. These include:


 * Baptist
 * Church of Christ the King
 * Catholic
 * Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
 * Coptic Orthodox
 * Evangelical
 * Greek Orthodox
 * Jehovah's Witnesses
 * Methodist
 * Plymouth Brethren
 * Unitarian

There are a number of communities of non Christian religions including the following:


 * Buddhist
 * Scientology
 * Confucian
 * Jews
 * Muslim
 * Sikh

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.


 * Brighton and Hove City Council BMD
 * UKBMD: Brighton
 * National Archives BMD

Local Histories

 * localhistories: Brighton
 * Brightonhistory.org
 * A History of Brighton and Hove by Ken Fines
 * Brighton, a very peculiar history by David Arscott

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Google maps: Brighton
 * tourism maps: Brighton
 * oldmapsonline: Brighton and Hove
 * visionofbritain: Brighton Gazetteer
 * brightonhistory: Brighton Gazetteer

Newspapers

 * The Argus
 * The University of Brighton, The Badger
 * The South Coast Leader

Occupations
In 1985, the Borough Council described three "myths" about Brighton's economy. Common beliefs were that most of the working population commuted to London every day; that tourism provided most of Brighton's jobs and income; or that the borough's residents were "composed entirely of wealthy theatricals and retired business people" rather than workers.

Brighton has been an important center for commerce and employment since the 18th century. It is home to several major companies, some of which employ thousands of people locally; as a retail center it is of regional importance; creative, digital and new media businesses are increasingly significant.

Brighton's largest private sector employer is American Express, whose European headquarters are at John Street. As of 2012, about 3,000 people work there. Other major employers include Lloyds Bank, Asda (which has hypermarkets at Hollingbury and Brighton Marina), Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach Company and call-center operator Inkfish. In 2012, it was reported that about 1,500 of Gatwick Airport's 21,000 workers lived in the city of Brighton and Hove.

Brighton also provides considerable opportunities in the education sector, primarily at the University of Brighton. Its design center is renowned throughout the UK.

Brighton is a popular destination for conferences, exhibitions and trade fairs, and has had a purpose-built conference center—the Brighton Center.

Finally, Brighton has always provided many occupational opportunities in the tourism center. Since the mid-1900's Brighton has marketed itself as the queen of south coast resorts, and thousands of tourists arrive each year to savor the beach, the many arcades, and the beautiful inland countryside.

Societies

 * Sussex Family History Society
 * Brighton and Hove family history
 * Brighton Archaeology Society

Archives

 * Brighton and Howe Archives
 * University of Brighton Design Archives
 * My Brighton and Hove Archives
 * Brighton Museums Archives

Web Sites

 * wikipedia: Brighton
 * Brighton and Hove City Council
 * East Sussex County Council