History of West Tilbury

Tilbury Fort - entrance gate
©John Winfield
Photograph by kind permission of John Winfield,
contributor to the Geograph Project

White's Directory of Essex 1848

TILBURY,(WEST) a small village at the head of a small creek on the Thames, nearly two miles north of that river, >>more.

White's Directory of Essex 1848 - list of inhabitants.

Post Office Directory of Essex 1874

Post Office Directory of Essex 1874 - list of inhabitants.

West Tilbury Criminal Cases

Court cases involving West Tilbury residents - ongoing project >>more.

Places to visit

Tilbury Fort - Artillery Fort built in 1672-83 with later additions.

Daniel Defoe's description of Tilbury Fort in 1722

West Tilbury 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 one for West Tilbury.

More local history sources

Ebay is now a great source for old images of Essex towns and villages. If you're looking for pictures to add to your family tree album, then try one of the auctions, or there are several 'Buy It Now' shops offering postcards which have been touched up and improved - so if you're unsure about bidding, try these. Link already formatted for Essex. Browse through or type the name of the location in the Ebay search box. >>

Also on Ebay are legal documents on vellum. This link is formatted for Essex. (Sometimes I think these should be in an archive.) >>

Books featuring West Tilbury from Abebooks. Just click the logo. The search terms are already formatted for West Tilbury.

Search for West Tilbury census returns at ancestry.co.uk.

1841 England Census | 1851 England Census | 1861 England Census
1871 England Census | 1881 England Census | 1891 England Census
1901 England Census

The Essex Record Office: an excellent starting point for research. The ERO has an online catalogue by the name of SEAX and a database of Parish Records held in the ERO. Access to both via their home page.

1881 Ordnance Survey Map from the British History Online web site (Essex: 084, Ordnance Survey 1:10,560: Epoch 1.0).

Ordnance Survey - type the place name in the gazetteer search box to view detailed map of West Tilbury.

Heritage Gateway. Database of national and local records of England's historic sites and buildings. Includes records and photographs of all listed buildings, and historical and archaeological information on locations throughout England.