Place:Thurning, 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

Thurning is a small village and civil parish in Norfolk, England and the District of North Norfolk, near the border with the Broadland District. The population at the 2011 UK census was less than 100 and is counted with that of the neighbouring civil parish of Hindolveston.

Thurning lies near Corpusty, seven miles (11 km) south of Holt, and nine miles (14 km) northwest of Aylsham.

The parish has no substantial settlements and consists chiefly of farms and houses which are well spaced from each other. It does include the small hamlet of Craymere Beck.

In 1659, Peter Elwin of Thurning (1623–1695) married Anne Rolfe, the elder daughter of Thomas Rolfe, who was the son of John Rolfe and his wife Pocahontas. John Rolfe was originally from Heacham in Norfolk, and his granddaughter Anne was brought up there.

Parish registers survive only from the early 18th century. Registers deposited in the Norfolk Record Office are for baptisms (1707, 1715–2006), marriages (1717–1739, 1758–2004), burials (1716–2006) and banns (1758–1822). However, some Archdeacons' and Bishops' transcripts survive, copies of register entries for years as far back as 1600.

In 1883, the chief crops were wheat, roots, barley and hay. Lieutenant-Colonel W. E. G. L. Bulwer was the lord of the manor. The principal residents were listed as Jas. Gay Esq. J.P., residing at Thurning Hall, Rev. John Fenwick, B.D., J.P., rector, Robert Brownsell, William Brownsell, Frederick Faircloth, Henry Hall, and Alfred Clark of Wood Dalling, farmers, George Burton, gamekeeper, William Harvey, farm bailiff, and Edwd. Poynton of Craymere, blacksmith.

At the census of 1891, the following surnames are recorded in the parish: Adams, Aldis, Allen, Barnes, Baxter, Breeze, Brownell, Clitheroe, Cottrell, Cozens, Faircloth, Frances, Frost, Gay, Girling, Hall, Hardingham, Hazelwood, Hipkin, Howell, Hubbert, Keeler, Knowles, Ladell, Lease, Meadows, Partridge, Plane, Plattan, Poynton, Ray, Scarff, Sexton, Shave, Shuton, Southgate, Strutt, Twiddy, and Wright.

For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Thurning, Norfolk. This is only a selection of the many notes in the Wikipedia article.

Research Tips

• GENUKI provides a list of references for Thurning. Some entries lead to free online transcriptions of registers and censuses.
• A map illustrating the individual parishes of Eynesford or Eynsford Hundred may be useful.
• 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.