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Norfolk

A county of England, lying on the German Ocean; bounded by Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, and Suffolk. It extends 70 miles in length and 40 in breadth. It contains 33 hundreds, 1 city, 32 market towns, and 660 parishes. The face of this county varies less than in most tracts of equal extent in England. Not one hill of any considerable height is to be seen in the whole county; yet, in most parts, its surface is broken into gentle swells and depressions. At the western extremity is a considerable tract of flat fenny land, which is part of the Bedford Level; and, on the east, a narrow tract of marshes runs from the sea, near Yarmouth, to some distance up the country. Between Lincolnshire and the western extremity, is a broad but shallow arm of the sea, called the Wash. [Barclay's Complete and Universal English Dictionary, 1842] Map showing location of Norfolk

What's New in this Norfolk section of Genuki.

These pages about genealogical resources in Norfolk are part of GENUKI, which is the UK and Ireland Genealogy Service. David Hawgood's book about GENUKI is online. Please tell us if you find a Norfolk section elsewhere, so that it can then be directly linked from these Norfolk pages. We also welcome your help with such things as transcriptions.

Apart from GENUKI Norfolk, remember to look at these pages:

  • The GENUKI pages for Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire and Suffolk, as the county boundary has changed in places over the years.
  • The thousands of other GENUKI pages, via the [GENUKI] link at the top of all of the Norfolk pages. They contain information about other counties, and general information such as research tips, national record offices, etc. They may contain information about Norfolk, or of interest to Norfolk researchers, for example Methodist or Maritime records.
  • If you are just starting your research, have a look at the GENUKI page about Getting Started in Genealogy and Family History.
These pages are for personal use only. They may not be copied, and the links within them may not be harvested for use on your own web pages. Please see the Copyright Notice.

Copyright © Pat Newby and Mike Bristow
October 2014

Towns and Parishes

Information Related to All of Norfolk

Administrative Areas

Administration took place at several levels, such as for a parish, for a group of parishes, or for all of Norfolk. When parishes were grouped together, the parishes included in the groups varied depending on what was being administered. For example the parishes in a hundred were not the same as those in a deanery, an archdeaconry, a poor law union, a petty sessional division, etc.

Archives and Libraries

Bibliography

Cemeteries

Census

Church Directories

Church History

Church Records

Civil Registration

Correctional Institutions

Pigot's Directory of Norfolk 1830
Page 557: Norwich and Neighbourhood.
"In the parish of Saint Andrew is an old building, formerly used as a prison, but which is now converted into an extensive tobacco and snuff manufactory; this building attracts much notice from the singular construction of its north wall, which is faced with black flints, so admirably squared and regularly put together, as scarcely to admit the edge of a knife between the joints. The new city gaol is situated outside the walls, near St. Giles' gates, and is most admirably constructed and well regulated; the front elevation is massy, and well accords with the purpose for which it is intended; the prison is plentifully supplied with water, by means of a pump attached to the tread-mill; it was erected at an expense of £24,000, and the prisoners in the city bridewell were removed to it on the 18th February, 1829."
Hunt's Directory of East Norfolk with parts of Suffolk 1850
Page 8: Norwich - The Castle.
"The County Gaol and House of Correction, erected in the year 1828, at an expense of £50,000, is a strong commodious building, admirably adapted to fulfil the purposes for which it is set apart, the main body of the gaol is supported by wings containing 240 cells, and the governor's house being in the centre, the whole of the prisoners are more immediately under his surveillance."
William White's History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Norfolk 1883
Page 38: "There is only one prison for the whole county, the Castle, at Norwich, which, under the Prisons Act, is under the control of the Government. There are lock-ups in most of the places where petty sessions are held. There is a reformatory at Buxton, near Aylsham, and an industrial school for girls at Fakenham."
NRO Leaflet Prisons and Prisoners in Norfolk
The institutions and their records.
Executions in the Norfolk Circuit 1735-1799
See Norfolk (for executions in Norwich), King's Lynn, and Great Yarmouth.
Executions in England and Wales 1800-1899
See the various links under "19th century", and search for Norfolk executions.
See also Court Records.

Court Records

See also Correctional Institutions.

Description and Travel

Directories

Emigration and Immigration

Genealogy

Heraldry

Historical Geography

Land and Property

Maps

Medical Records

Military History

Military Records

Names, Geographical

Names, Personal

Newspapers

Obituaries

Occupations

Politics and Government

Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc

Population

Population of Norfolk, 1801-1991
Compiled from the census returns.
Pond, C. C.
Internal Population Migration and Mobility in Eastern England in the 18th century.
[ISBN: 0950224502, University of Cambridge Thesis, 1980-81]
Pound, John F.
Population in the 16th Century.
In "An Historical Atlas of Norfolk" edited by Peter Wade-Martins.
[ISBN 0903101602, Norwich; Norfolk Museums Service in association with the Federation of Norfolk Historical and Archaeological Organisations, 1994]
Wright, John
Population Change 1801-1851.
In "An Historical Atlas of Norfolk" edited by Peter Wade-Martins.
[ISBN 0903101602, Norwich; Norfolk Museums Service in association with the Federation of Norfolk Historical and Archaeological Organisations, 1994]

Probate Records

Schools

UK Schools Database list of Norfolk Schools
These are modern schools, which usually do not have information about their history, past pupils, etc.
See also the Towns and Parishes pages,
where there may be more information about the history of schools.

Societies

These societies cover Norfolk, or an area of the county. There are many societies for individual towns and villages. See the Towns and Parishes pages, which is where those societies will be shown.

Voting Registers

Workhouses

See Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc