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Essex Records Office
Review by Beccy

The Essex Record Office is one of the oldest county record offices in the country and was established before the Second World War to hold the archives of the county of Essex. Many of the records were created by official bodies in the current administrative county such as the Essex Quarter Sessions, the Boroughs of Colchester and Maldon, Poor Law Unions, as well as local churches, magistrate courts, local authorities, societies, organisations and businesses. The Essex Record Office is also the record office for the diocese of Chelmsford, which covers the whole of the ancient county of Essex from West Ham to the Suffolk and Cambridgeshire borders. This means that we hold records of the Church of England parishes within the diocese, including registers of baptisms, marriages and burials.

As well as official records, there are those created by families and individuals, these can include manorial and estate records from the 16th century onwards, as well as records of people’s childhoods, education and memories of their lives.

The oldest document in the Essex Record Office is an Anglo-Saxon charter dating from 962 during the reign of King Edgar.

• Heritage history of the county
• Food and drink available
• Readers ticket required
• Open Mon 9am-8:30pm, Tue 9am-5pm, Fri & Sat 9am-4pm

Comments: "This is a place for 'a particular kind of research' as the secretary firmly informed me and as such not to be considered a library. Great if you want to look up the history of a piece of land or your family lineage, not so great if you’re just looking for something to kill a few hours."

	Essex Records Office Wharf Rd Chelmsford Essex Tel: 01245 244644 www.essexcc.gov.uk/ero

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