Place:Bowthorpe, Norfolk, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

Bowthorpe was an ancient or ecclesiastical parish in Norfolk and also a civil parish until 1935 when it was absorbed into the neighbouring parish of Costessey. Wikipedia describes the housing estate which is the modern Bowthorpe, a western suburb of Norwich.

A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Bowthorpe from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:

"BOWTHORPE, a parish in Forehoe [registration] district, Norfolk; on the river Yare, 3 ½ miles W of Norwich. Post Town: Colney, under Norwich. Acres: 645. Population: 21. Houses: 4. The living is a donative, annexed to the vicarage of Earlham, in the diocese of Norwich. The church was desecrated in the 17th century."

Bowthorpe was also considered to be part of the "County of the City of Norwich". (Source: GENUKI's map showing the parishes contained)

Research Tips

• GENUKI provides a list of references for Bowthorpe. Some entries lead to free online transcriptions of registers and censuses.
• GENUKI also supplies a map illustrating the individual parishes of Forehoe Hundred.
• GENUKI also advises that the following lists for Norfolk are to be found in FamilySearch:

• England, Norfolk, Parish Registers (County Record Office), 1510-1997
• England, Norfolk Archdeacon's Transcripts, 1600-1812
• England, Norfolk Bishop's Transcripts, 1685-1941
• England, Norfolk Marriage Bonds, 1557-1915
• England, Norfolk Non-conformist Records, 1613-1901

• Ancestry.co.uk has the following lists as of 2018 (UK or worldwide Ancestry membership or library access required). With the exception of the index to wills these files are browsible images of the original documents. The files are separated by type and broken down into time periods (i.e., "Baptism, Marriages, and Burials, 1535-1812" is more than one file). The general explanatory notes are worth reading for those unfamiliar with English parish records.

• Index to wills proved in the Consistory Court of Norwich : and now preserved in the District Probate Registry at Norwich
• Norfolk, England, Bishop's Transcripts, 1579-1935
• Norfolk, England, Church of England Baptism, Marriages, and Burials, 1535-1812
• Norfolk, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1915
• Norfolk, England, Church of England Deaths and Burials, 1813-1990
• Norfolk, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1940

• FindMyPast is another pay site with large collection of parish records. As of October 2018 they had 20 types of Norfolk records available to browse including Land Tax Records and Electoral Registers.