Genealogy

Was your ancestor from Great Yarmouth?

Great Yarmouth Borough Council is not the main source of information for tracing ancestors or for studies of genealogy in general.

These notes describe some of the main sources for tracing a family tree as they relate to Great Yarmouth. All the notes are available on line from the Norfolk Records Office – see the list of useful addresses at the end of these notes. A good starting point is the free leaflet 'Brief Notes On Tracing Your Family Tree' which is available as a hard copy or on line at the Norfolk Records Office site.

Civil Registration

Indexes to births, marriages and deaths in England and Wales from 1837 onwards are available via good libraries: they are known as the St Catherine's House indexes. They are held by the Norfolk Studies Library . The Superintendent Registrar for Great Yarmouth has indexes to these events in the Great Yarmouth area from 1837 to the present day.

Census Returns

Census returns for the Great Yarmouth area are held at Great Yarmouth Library, the Norfolk Studies Library and the Family Records Centre of the Public Records Office in London.

Parish Registers

Parish registers for Great Yarmouth are available on fiche at the Norfolk Record Office and at Great Yarmouth Library. The parish registers were badly damaged in the Second World War and some were too fragile to be filmed. Most of the gaps can be filled using contemporary copies of which there are two series: the Weekly Register Bills and the Archdeacon's or Bishop's Transcripts. These are available on fiche at the Norfolk Record Office. However, no marriages are recorded on these transcripts later than 1841.

There was only one parish church in Great Yarmouth - St Nicholas - until 1714. In that year St George's Chapel was founded but it has no separate registers until the late 19th century - before that all Anglican baptisms, marriages and burials in Great Yarmouth are to be found in the Great Yarmouth St Nicholas registers.

The Free Churches

The registers of many 'Free' or 'Nonconformist' churches before 1837 are now at the Public Record Office. The Norfolk Family History Society has microfilm copies: these are only available to members of the Society. All entries in these registers have been put onto the Mormon International Genealogical Index (abbreviated to IGI) available in the Norfolk Studies Library. The Norfolk Record Office has registers or other records for some Great Yarmouth free churches including the Society of Friends (Quakers) and the Congregational Church founded in 1643. Baptisms and deaths recorded in the Congregational Church book have been printed by the Norfolk Record Society (volume XXII).

Churchyards and Cemeteries

A transcription of monumental inscriptions in St Nicholas churchyard is held by Great Yarmouth Library: this includes many headstones that have since been cleared away.

The Market Gates Cemetery was used mainly by Nonconformists. There is a copy of the burial register for the period 1828 to 1864 on microfilm at the Norfolk Record Office.

From 1856 churchyards in large towns were not normally used for burials and cemeteries were established instead. Burial registers for cemeteries in Great Yarmouth, Gorleston and Caister-On-Sea are on fiche at the Norfolk Record Office down to 1987. The original registers are at Great Yarmouth Town Hall.

Wills

Wills indexes covering the whole country from 1858 onwards are held by the Norfolk Studies Library. Most Great Yarmouth wills were proved at the Norwich Probate Registry. The Norfolk Record Office has copies of these wills between 1858 and 1948.

Before 1858, wills were proved in church courts. Great Yarmouth wills might be proved by the courts of the Archdeaconry of Norwich, the Consistory Court of Norwich or the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. Wills proved in the first two of these courts are at the Norfolk Record Office, wills proved in the last court are at the Public Record Office.

Apprentices

Apprenticeship indentures enrolled in the Great Yarmouth Borough archives for 1563-1663 have been published by the Norfolk and Norwich Genealogical Society now known as the Norfolk Family History Society. Those for 1666-1856 are available on fiche at the Norfolk Record Office.

The Merchant Navy

Many Great Yarmouth men were, of course, in the Merchant Navy but few records are held locally. In theory, there should be records of all merchant navy crew from 1747 at the Public Record Office, but few ports have records surviving from before 1800 - there are none for Great Yarmouth before this date. Because the 19th century crew lists are so enormous the Public Record Office has only kept a sample of the crew lists made after 1860: most of the others are at the Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada. The Public Record Office publishes a free leaflet describing Merchant Navy Records.

Records of the Poor

No records relating to the poor survive among the Great Yarmouth parish records. The Great Yarmouth Borough archives include the following, all available on film at the Norfolk Record Office:

• Overseers accounts 1599-1652, 1727-1833 (these do not normally give the names of paupers)

• Index of people ordered to be returned by the overseers 1720-1725

• Index of people issued with removal passes 1773-178

• Register of illegitimate children 1793-1797

• Settlement and bastardy bonds 1640-1699

Great Yarmouth had a workhouse in the Market Place from the 17th century and a new one was built in 1839, now the Northgate Hospital. No admission or discharge records are known to have survived for either workhouse.

Schools

As a county Borough, Great Yarmouth council had responsibility for schools. Records survive from 1870 onwards: there is a list of the schools in the Guide to Great Yarmouth Borough Records pages 44-45. Records of the Bluecoat Charity School include admission registers 1713-1889 and are also among the Borough archives. Records of Great Yarmouth Grammar School include admission registers from 1863 onwards. All these school records are held at the Norfolk Record Office

Rating Lists (Valuation Lists)

These list properties and their rateable values – not occupiers or ratepayers. Great Yarmouth rate books (of various kinds) survive from 1741 onwards. Those for 1741-1861 are on fiche at the Norfolk Record Office and at Great Yarmouth Library. Rate books between 1861 and 1899 are at the Norfolk Record Office, but are not available on fiche. Some more recent rating lists are still held by Great Yarmouth Borough Council.

Before 1835 ratepayers' names are listed in alphabetical order (of tenant rather than owner) and the location of the property within the ward is not given. After 1835 the location is provided and from 1855 the arrangement is by street rather than by ratepayers' name.

Registers of Electors and Poll Books

Registers of electors for Great Yarmouth 1832-1948 are held at the Norfolk Record Office. After 1948, Great Yarmouth was no longer a county borough and registers of electors are with the Norfolk County series, also in the Norfolk Record Office. Registers from 1966 are at the Norfolk Studies Library.

Before the Secret Ballot Act of 1870, voting was a public act and printed Poll Books were issued after each election showing how everyone had voted. Poll books for Great Yarmouth are held at Great Yarmouth Library and at the Norfolk Studies Library.