History of Brightlingsea

Brightlingsea, Sailing Barges 1907, Essex
Reproduced courtesy of The Francis Frith Collection.

Feature articles

All Saints Church, Brightlingsea, contains unique memorials to parishioners who have lost their lives at sea - 213 memorial tiles, to be exact. >>more

White's Directory of Essex 1848

BRIGHTLINGSEA, a considerable fishing village on the eastern side of the estuary of the river Colne, 10 miles South East by South of >>more.

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

White's Directory of Essex 1863

White's Directory of Essex 1863 - list of inhabitants.

Post Office Directory of Essex 1874

Post Office Directory of Essex 1874 - list of inhabitants.

Brightlingsea Criminal Cases

Court cases involving Brightlingsea residents - ongoing project >>more.

Images and Maps

Images and maps of Brightlingsea supplied by Francis Frith.

My Brightlingsea Ancestors

Are your ancestors from Brightlingsea? Why not tell us their story: My Ancestors.

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 Brightlingsea from Abebooks. Just click the logo. The search terms are already formatted for Brightlingsea.

Search for Brightlingsea 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

'Jacobes', Brightlingsea. First recorded in 1315.
Has a rare c.16 polygonal brick stair-turret.
©Robert Edwards
Photograph by kind permission of Robert Edwards,
contributor to the Geograph Project

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.

Explore the Brightlingsea Town Guide with sections on family trees, old photographs and a maritime history of Brightlingsea.

Brightlingsea is one of the Cinque Ports, apart from Town Guide above, additional information appears on the Cinque Port Liberty.

1881 Ordnance Survey Map from the British History Online web site (Essex: 037, Ordnance Survey 1:10,560: Epoch 1.0).

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

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.