HISTORY HOUSE
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History House is primarily about the county of Essex but there are many other interesting things on History House including tips, advice, and resources to help you research your ancestors; and interesting and unusual stories from British history.
5,260 pages on the website - and more to come.
Colchester Castle 1892
Reproduced courtesy of The Francis Frith Collection.
Essex has a fascinating past: 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. Dip into the history of its towns, villages, parishes, and its people with History House.
Detailed information on each town and village in Essex is available through the A to Z directory.
Each location's page includes extracts from the 1848, 1863 and 1874 county directories which detail the history of the location and a list of the main inhabitants. A useful resource for tracking movements of your ancestors between the ten-yearly census.
Other useful information may include voters in elections, education and schooling, criminal cases, paupers and workhouses, and suggestions on other websites which may help you.
Ongoing project to create a list of Essex court cases with the names of those involved. Information extracted from 19th century newspaper reports and gaol calendars. Also a guide on how to find information on your criminal ancestors in Essex.
Index to the names of Essex police officers from 1840 - 1910, and a guide on how to find more information on your police ancestors in Essex.
The Essex Record Office 'ERO' are custodians of the parish registers of Essex. Ancestry.co.uk have now transcribed the entire collection of Essex parish registers. Search now on Ancestry for your Essex ancestors. Then on the results page click on ‘request image’ and you will be taken to the ERO website where you can purchase an image of the relevant page.
Visit our Parish Registers of Essex page for more information.
Newspaper archives are now a very important source of information for researching your family tree.
Try our example search to help you discover if your ancestors are in the British Newspaper Archive.
Chelmsford Prison (Springfield)
A description of Chelmsford Prison in 1842 and 1848.
The earthquake of 1884
How Essex was hit by the strongest earthquake in England's history.
1939 Register
Researching your ancestors in the 1939 Register.
Essex Images for Family History
Adding location images to your family tree.
Buried in wool
At look at why your ancestors may have been 'buried in wool'.
Did Prince Albert really save Queen Victoria from assassination?
The truth behind the film and television series.
The first terrorist attack on London's Underground.
The tube has been a target for terrorists for over 130 years.
When German U-Boats sailed into British ports
The day a U-Boat was moored by the Tower of London.
When researching for this website we often find a little snippet of information on a location or subject which may be of interest. Some are quirky, some show that there is nothing new in this world, and some about the attitudes and morals of the time. Here are some examples, or look at our index to snippets.
Two Zeppelins on bombing missions brought down in Essex villages