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.
Did your ancestor live in one of the Core Districts?
| Parish | District |
|---|---|
| Bowers Gifford | Billericay |
| Brentwood | Billericay |
| Childerditch | Billericay |
| Downham | Billericay |
| Dunton | Billericay |
| East Horndon | Billericay |
| Great Burstead | Billericay |
| Hutton | Billericay |
| Ingrave | Billericay |
| Laindon | Billericay |
| Little Burstead | Billericay |
| Little Warley | Billericay |
| Mountnessing | Billericay |
| Pitsea | Billericay |
| Ramsden Bellhouse | Billericay |
| Ramsden Crays | Billericay |
| Shenfield | Billericay |
| South Weald | Billericay |
| West Horndon | Billericay |
| Boreham | Chelmsford |
| Buttsbury | Chelmsford |
| Chelmsford | Chelmsford |
| East Hanningfield | Chelmsford |
| Freyerning | Chelmsford |
| Good Easter | Chelmsford |
| Great Baddow | Chelmsford |
| Great Waltham | Chelmsford |
| Ingatestone | Chelmsford |
| Little Baddow | Chelmsford |
| Little Laver | Chelmsford |
| Little Waltham | Chelmsford |
| Margaretting | Chelmsford |
| Roxwell | Chelmsford |
| Sandon | Chelmsford |
| Stock Harward | Chelmsford |
| Widford | Chelmsford |
| Woodham Ferrers | Chelmsford |
| Writtle | Chelmsford |
| Bradwell Juxta Mare | Maldon |
| Burnham | Maldon |
| Goldhanger | Maldon |
| Great Totham | Maldon |
| Heybridge | Maldon |
| Latchingdon | Maldon |
| Maldon | Maldon |
| Mayland | Maldon |
| Mundon | Maldon |
| St Lawrence | Maldon |
| St Mary | Maldon |
| St Peter | Maldon |
| Steeple | Maldon |
| Tillingham | Maldon |
| Tollesbury | Maldon |
| Tolleshunt Knight | Maldon |
| Tolleshunt Major | Maldon |
| Abbess Roding | Ongar |
| Blackmore | Ongar |
| Bobbingworth | Ongar |
| Chipping Ongar | Ongar |
| Doddinghurst | Ongar |
| Fyfield | Ongar |
| Greenstead (nr Ongar) | Ongar |
| High Ongar | Ongar |
| Kelvedon Hatch | Ongar |
| Moreton | Ongar |
| Nevestock | Ongar |
| Stanford Rivers | Ongar |
| Stapleford Abbots | Ongar |
| Stapleford Tawney | Ongar |
| Stondon Massey | Ongar |
| Theydon Mount | Ongar |
The Heart of Essex
The outline of the four contiguous Registration Districts of Billericay, Chelmsford, Maldon and Ongar forms a island in the Heart of Essex that accounts for the majority of records related to Wood.