Place:South Elmham St. Nicholas, Suffolk, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

South Elmham St. Nicholas was one of "The Saints" (see below), a group of parishes in Suffolk near the border with Norfolk. The current hamlet is in the civil parish of South Elmham All Saints and St. Nicholas in the Waveney District. South Elmham St. Nicholas was merged with South Elmham All Saints in 1737.

the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

The "Saints" are a group of parishes (usually with a village) in Suffolk, England, between the rivers Blyth and Waveney near to the border with Norfolk. The parishes are all named after their general area of South Elmham (to the west) or Ilketstall (to the east) plus the saint to which their parish church is dedicated. Known by locals as 'up the Parishes' the area is found between the small towns of Halesworth, Harleston, Bungay and Beccles.

During World War II signposts were removed which resulted in many US Airman having difficulty finding the way back to RAF Bungay at Flixton and other local airfields including Metfield. Ilketshall is named after the 'hall of Alfkethill'. South Elmham comes from the Anglo-Saxon "hamlet where elms grew" and is first mentioned in Domesday Book of 1086 as "Almeham". North Elmham is in Norfolk, thirty miles away.

The formal names of each of "the Saints" parishes are as follows:

• South Elmham All Saints (also known as All Saints, South Elmham--with or without the comma. It combined with South Elmham St. Nicholas in 1737)
• South Elmham St. Cross (also known as St. Cross, South Elmham and as Sancroft St George or, simply, Sancroft).
• South Elmham St. James (also known as St. James, South Elmham--with or without the comma)
• South Elmham St. Margaret (also known as St. Margaret, South Elmham--with or without the comma)
• South Elmham St. Mary (also known as St. Mary, South Elmham and, more often, as Homersfield)
• South Elmham St. Michael (also known as St. Michael, South Elmham--with or without the comma)
• South Elmham St. Nicholas (also known as St. Nicholas, South Elmham which combined with South Elmham All Saints in 1737 and where the church no longer exists)
• South Elmham St. Peter (also known as St. Peter, South Elmham--with or without the comma)
• South Elmham All Saints and St. Nicholas (also known as All Saints and St. Nicholas, South Elmham--with or without the comma, replaced South Elmham All Saints and South Elmham St. Nicholas in 1737)
• Ilketshall St. Andrew (also known as St. Andrew, Ilketshall--with or without the comma)
• Ilketshall St. John (also known as St. John, Ilketshall--with or without the comma)
• Ilketshall St. Lawrence (also known as St. Lawrence, Ilketshall and Stone Street)
• Ilketshall St. Margaret (also known as St. Margaret, Ilketshall--with or without the comma)
• Flixton (near Bungay) is generally grouped within the Saints

Each of the villages were ancient or ecclesiastical parishes and to the present also constitutes a civil parish, apart from South Elmham All Saints and South Elmham St. Nicholas, which are now joined together in the South Elmham All Saints and St Nicholas parish within Waveney District.

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