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England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
East Mersea St Edmund, King & Martyr

 

The Parish

The parish of East Mersea lies in eastern Essex forming the eastern half of the island of Mersea and thus part of Essex's North Sea coast. East Mersea is situated around 9 miles south of the town of Colchester but only a little over 2 miles southwest of the port of Brightlingsea across the River Colne, a land journey of many miles. East Mersea is a rather scattered community with farms dotted across much of the parish which can be found at the end of a dead-end lane running eastwards from the B1025 which forms the causeway across to Mersea Island. Situated in much reclaimed land East Mersea would have had a diverse economy, grazing marshes, arable farming as well as all the benefits of the sea, fishing & shell-fishing, the oysters are a local speciality, as well as wildfowling. Today East Mersea has some tourism attracted by the wild and open landscapes of the island, a haven for wildlife. As a coastal community numerous small man-made drains take water off to the nearby North Sea. East Mersea is sited at between sea-level and a maximum of 16 metres in a rather flat landscape, it is only in the western half of the island that a 20-metre contour can be found. East Mersea parish was typically sized for its county, covering just over 1,800 acres it would have supported a population of around 300 parishioners. In Domesday times East Mersea was unusual in still being held by a Saxon, one Swain, reflecting its remote location away from mainstream activity, the parish could offer 8 ploughs as well as small woodlands and meadows but did possess 4 fisheries reflecting today's activities through the ages.


The Church

St Edmund's church lies to the west of most properties in East Mersea, sitting on the eastern side of Church Lane which runs southwards from the main island crossing road. The church is almost totally from the Perpendicular period of architecture and therefore from the 15th century in the main. The main structure of nave & chancel is augmented by a four-bay northern arcade showing typical Perpendicular designs as well as the big western tower, buttressed, battlemented and having a stair-turret protruding. As is fairly normal there were later changes, in this case mainly replacement of fenestration in the 18th century. The church is almost totally screened by tall trees as one heads down Church Lane, a crossroads of unmade tracks, just before Cooper's Beach Holiday Park, gives access to a churchyard protected by a low picket fence. There are a number of trees within which do somewhat restrict the angles available for photography.


The Records

Register No Covering Dates Deposited With Register Style Quality Standard Comments
1 1754 - 1837 Essex Record Office Bishop's Transcripts on loose-leaf folios Grade 4 Register - there are notable quality issues with this register which may have resulted in many misreads Sadly all the marriage registers prior to 1837 were destroyed by damp in 1940, the few entries listed are all that are available on the extant BTs which are markedly deficient in their preservation and coverage


Langenhoe St Mary
Langenhoe St Mary
Brightlingsea All Saints
West Mersea St Peter & St Paul
St Osyth St Peter & St Paul

 

Register Reference Date Groom Forename Groom Surname Groom Status Groom Abode Bride Forename Bride Surname Bride Status Bride Abode
26/11/1755 Thomas ELLIS   Colchester Mary MILBANKS    
29/09/1801 Isaac MOSS     Susan THEOBALD    
15/11/1801 William SADLER   West Mersea Susan BAKER    
20/03/1802 William CLARKE     Elizabeth BUNCE    
02/06/1802 Charles ROGERS   Sherburn, Yorkshire Elizabeth Shorting WARD Single  
21/10/1802 Samuel CLARKE Single   Mary MERRY Widow  
25/10/1802 Thomas WARD Single West Mersea Deborah BUSS Single  
26/04/1803 John HASLET Single   Susannah RIDLEY Widow  
26/06/1803 John BAKER Single   Elizabeth WRIGHT Single  
20/07/1803 William ROSE Single   Sarah CADMORE Single  
17/01/1804 William BUTCHER Single   Hannah COX Single  
09/01/1806 Samuel CANT Single   Elizabeth AGNIS Single  
14/02/1806 Joseph BACON Single   Elizabeth PEDNEY Single  
18/02/1806 William APPLETON Single   Charlotte WOOLSEY Widow  
24/04/1806 William RANDAL Single   Hannah WARD Single  
01/05/1806 Edmund RAVEN Single   Elizabeth BARBER Single  
06/06/1806 William COLLINS Single   Lydia BYFORD Widow  
30/09/1806 William THEOBALD Single   Elizabeth MANNING Single  
25/12/1806 William THORNDICK Single   Elizabeth DUTCHIT Single  
1 27/07/1813 Alexander JERMAYN Single Layer De La Haye Jane Shorting WARD Single  

Corrections to Tinstaafl Transcripts