Place:West Lexham, 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

West Lexham is a village and former civil parish in Norfolk, England. It is 5.9 miles (9.5 km) north of the town of Swaffham, 30.6 miles (49.2 km) west northwest of Norwich and 105 miles (169 km) northeast of London. Because the population of West Lexham at the 2011 UK census was less than 100, it has been included in the count for the neighbouring civil parish of Sporle with Palgrave.

The village has formed part of the civil parish of Lexham since 1935. Lexham is part of the District of Breckland. Local government responsibilities are shared between the parish, district and county councils.

The village lies about 0.5 miles (0.80 km) east of the A1065 Mildenhall to Fakenham road. The nearest railway station is at King’s Lynn for the Fen Line which runs between King’s Lynn and Cambridge.

West Lexham is the birthplace of Philip Skippon (c. 1600, West Lexham, Norfolk – c. 20 February 1660) who was an English soldier who fought in the English Civil War. He rose to the rank of Major General in the Parliamentarian New Model Army and was one of Oliver Cromwell's most senior generals. He fought at several major battles of the Civil War and before that had been a professional soldier in various wars in mainland Europe.

Research Tips

• GENUKI provides a list of references for West Lexham. Some entries lead to free online transcriptions of registers and censuses.
• A map illustrating the individual parishes of Launditch 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.