Place:Brighton, Sussex, England

Watchers
NameBrighton
Alt namesBrightelmstonesource: Canby, Historic Places (1984) I, 123
Brighthelmstonsource: Blue Guide: England (1980) p 90
Brighthelmstonesource: Family History Library Catalog
Bristelmestunesource: Canby, Historic Places (1984) I, 123
Brithelmestonsource: Blue Guide: England (1980) p 90
Kemp-Townsource: Family History Library Catalog
TypeBorough (county)
Coordinates50.833°N 0.167°W
Located inSussex, England
Also located inEast Sussex, England     (500 - )
See alsoLewes Rape, Sussex, Englandrape in which it was located
Whalebone Hundred, Sussex, Englandhundred in which it was located
Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, Englandunitary authority of which it is the major part
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog


the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Brighton is a seaside resort on the south coast of England that, since 1997 has been part of the unitary authority of city of Brighton and Hove, located 47 miles (76 km) south of London.

Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age, Roman and Anglo-Saxon periods. The ancient settlement of "Brighthelmstone" was documented in the Domesday Book of 1086. The town's importance grew in the Middle Ages as the Old Town developed, but it languished in the early modern period, affected by foreign attacks, storms, a suffering economy and a declining population. Brighton began to attract more visitors following improved road transport to London and becoming a boarding point for boats travelling to France. The town also developed in popularity as a health resort for sea bathing as a purported cure for illnesses.

In the Georgian era, Brighton developed as a fashionable seaside resort, encouraged by the patronage of the Prince Regent, later King George IV, who spent much time in the town and constructed the Royal Pavilion in the Regency era. With the arrival of the railways in 1841, it became a popular destination for day-trippers from London. Many of the major attractions were built in the Victorian era, including the Metropole Hotel, Grand Hotel, the West Pier, and the Brighton Palace Pier. The town continued to grow into the 20th century, expanding to incorporate more areas into the town's boundaries before joining the town of Hove to form the unitary authority of Brighton and Hove in 1997, which was granted city status in 2000. Today, Brighton and Hove district has a resident population of about 290,395 and the wider Brighton and Hove conurbation has a population of 474,485 (2011 census).

Early history

For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Brighton.

Research Tips

  • The West Sussex Record Office is located in Chichester. Because it holds the records of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester, which covers the whole of Sussex, it has church records relating to both parts of Sussex.
  • An on-line catalogue for some of the collections held by the West Sussex Record Office is available under the Access to Archives (A2A) project (a nationwide facility housed at The National Archives, Kew).
  • West Sussex Past - database of 2 million records from West Sussex heritage organizations.
  • The Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies' Sussex Collection (PDF). This is a 9-page PDF naming the files relating to Sussex in their collection-a possible first step in a course of research.
  • The National Library of Scotland has a website which provides maps taken from the Ordnance Survey England & Wales One-Inch to the Mile series of 1892-1908 as well as equivalent maps for Scotland itself. The immediate presentation is a "help" screen and a place selection screen prompting the entry of a location down to town, village or parish level. These screens can be removed by a click of the "X". The map is very clear and shows parish and county boundaries and many large buildings and estates that existed at the turn of the 20th century. Magnification can be adjusted and an "overlay feature" allows inspection of the area today along with that of 1900. The specific map from the series can be viewed as a whole ("View this map") and this allows the inspection of the map legend (found in the left hand bottom corner. Becoming familiar with the various facilities of these maps is well worth the trouble.