Historic Norfolk
Our ancestors did not pay much heed to parish and administrative boundaries in their daily activities. While they might have lived in one village or town, the church of a neighbouring parish may have been physically closer to their residence and thus more convenient for them to frequent. Nevertheless, over the centuries the county of Norfolk has been divided for administrative, political and sociological reasons.
Family historians may find the explanatians given here helpful in both tracing Norfolk ancestors and in understanding the historical and social-political development of regions and places in Norfolk.
The County of Norfolk
Shows the entire county of Norfolk and includes a description from White's Directory written in 1841
» County
Norfolk Registration Districts
IThere were many changes to these districts over the years, some being abolished and merged with their adjoining districts and others re-named. At the time the Poor Laws was enacted in 1836 there were 24 Superintendents' Registration Districts each of which contained a number of sub-districts.
This section includes a description and explanation of how Norfolk was divided into Registration Districts together with a list of the 24 Registration Districts extant in 1836.
» Norfolk Registration Districts
Norfolk Hundreds
Hundreds were an administrative area consisting of a group of parishes which were used prior to the establishment of the Registration Districts.
Norfolk Parishes
This section acts as a finding aid for family historians wanting to find details about Norfolk parishes. It includes an alphabetical list of more than 740 parishes showing which Poor Law Union/Registration District each came under in 1836 together with links to external web-pages related to each parish.