History House - the history of Essex

Welcome to History House

Photo of Maldon, Market Hill 1909, ref. 62102
Maldon, Market Hill 1909
Reproduced courtesy of Francis Frith.

From the haunting scenery of the salt marshes to its fields and picturesque villages, and from the River Thames to Britian's first capital and oldest recorded town, Essex has a fascinating past. Dip into the history of its towns, villages, parishes and its people with History House.

Feature Articles
Explore some of the history of Essex

Body snatching in a country churchyard.

The gruesome story of body snatching at Little Leighs when 'churchyards yawn and graves give up their dead'. >>more

More Feature Articles

Essex Court Cases

New ongoing project to create a list of court cases and those involved taken from newspaper reports. >> more information on this project.

Recommended Books

Looking for books on Essex? Our Book Shop powered by Amazon.co.uk. is set up to to provide you with a wide selection of books on Essex History, British History, Genealogy and researching the history of your house.

Take browse through the Book Shop

Alternatively, if you are seeking used, rare and out of print books then try Abebooks. They bring together independent booksellers from all around the world. You can access their search engine at AbeBooks.co.uk, or through each of our location pages.

Essex in 1722

Daniel Defoe's Essex Tour

Daniel Defoe

In 1722 Daniel Defoe set off of a tour of the eastern counties of England. His account of his journey provides not only a description and history of a some of the largest towns of Essex, but also provides lively insights into the economic and social activities of its inhabitants: oyster fishing, game shooting on the marshes; and the marrying habits of those living in the marsh areas. He also provides a compelling account of the siege of Colchester during the English Civil War. >> Tour through the Eastern Counties of England, 1722

Essex A to Z

Alphabetical List of Essex towns and villages

Includes White's 1848 Directory which details the history of the location and a list of the main inhabitants. Only the history of Colchester remains to be transcribed.

The 1874 directory is now also being transcribed.

St Nicholas' Church, Kelvedon Hatch

Visit our featured location of
Kelvedon Hatch which includes a tour of the village in 1871.

History News

Read the latest history news for Essex and UK, covering all aspects of history and sources to aid research.

Snippets

When researching for this website we often find a little snippet of information on a location or subject which may be of interest. Here's some:

Somnambulism - the danger of sleep walking in Great Waltham (1871)
Sensational literature corrupts a boy in Epping (1879)
Man sells his wife at Chipping Ongar (1823)
Hit and run incident causes death at Braintree (1834)
Gentlemen riot over food bill at Rayleigh (1805)
Policeman accidently drowned at Burnham (1851)
Church spire collapses at Halstead (1844)
11 year old boy sentenced to death at Chelmsford (1800)
Stisted labourers ready to strike for beer (1917)
Road Rage - it's not only a modern problem (1804)
Farm labourers riot at Myland (Mile-End) (1830)
60 year old robber recognised at Ardleigh (1840)

Manningtree, Brook Street c1953. (Neg. M127003) © Copyright The Francis Frith Collection 2008. http://www.francisfrith.com
Brook Street, Mannigtree c1953
Reproduced courtesy of The Francis Frith Collection.

About History House

History House seeks to provide free information on the history of Essex and to help you research your family history. The entire White's Directory of Essex 1848 has been transcribed and I am currently working on the Post Office Directory 1874. It is hoped that other directories will follow. History House is researched and written by Phil George (Keldon).

Contact History House to include your web site on our A to Z list of Essex locations if it contains historical information.