Core Districts

45% of Wood households residing in Essex before 1800 were in four Registration Districts: Billericay, Chelmsford, Maldon, and Ongar. Within these Districts, Seventy-one parishes account for the majority of records relating to the Wood families of Essex, including birth, death, marriage, property, and Wills.  These four Districts are statistically representation of the rest of Essex, but not perfectly representative of Essex.  For example, while these four Districts cover the main centers of Catholicism and Quakerism, important centers of Baptists and Congregationalists fall  outside of this footprint, places such as Wendon Lofts, Castle Hedingham, and Colchester.  An other wrinkle is farmers with the surname of Wood who are spread throughout Essex.