Place:Taverham, Norfolk, England

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

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

Taverham is a village and civil parish in Norfolk, England. It is approximately 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Norwich. Taverham sits on the River Wensum.

In 2001 Taverham had, according to the UK census, a population of 10,233. It has seen recent population growth with the building of Thorpe Marriott, a new residential development that straddles the boundary with the neighbouring village of Drayton. By 2013, the area of Taverham had a population of over 14,100 (estimate).

The patron saint of Taverham is St. Walstan who according to legend lived and worked in the village in the 11th century. The first recorded mention of Taverham is thought to have been made in the time of Edward the Confessor (1003-1066). It also appears in the Domesday Book of 1086.

A school existed in Taverham very early on, from at least the 13th century.

In the 19th century Taverham was a major producer of paper. Some of the paper which was produced at Taverham Mill was used in producing The Times (newspaper), Bank of England banknotes and the Oxford English Dictionary. It also served the University Press at Cambridge. In 1830 the paper mill was attacked during the Swing Riots; a gardener, Robert West, was transported to Australia for his part in the riot. The mill closed in 1899.

A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Taverham from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1871-72:

"TAVERHAM, a parish and a hundred in Norfolk. The parish lies on the river Wensum, 6 miles NW of Norwich [railway] station; and is in St. Faiths [registration] district. Post town, Drayton, under Norwich. Acres: 2,099. Real property: £2,330. Population: 212. Houses: 40. The manor, with [Taverham] Hall, belongs to the Rev. J. N. Micklethwait. There is a large paper-mill. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Norwich. Value: £329. Patrons: the Bishop of [Norwich] and the Rev. J. N. Micklethwait. The church is plain, and has a round tower with octagonal top. There is a national school."

Research Tips

• GENUKI provides a list of references for Taverham. Some entries lead to free online transcriptions of registers and censuses.
• GENUKI also supplies a map illustrating the individual parishes of Taverham Hundred. Parishes labelled with letters should be identifiable from the Ordnance Survey Map of 1900.
• 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.