Years ago, I transcribed from Long Melford marriages from the mid-1740s, and I haven’t been back since (apart from a trip to Long Melford Hall with my mum!). That’s all changed, as I’ve started to transcribe the earliest-surviving register for the parish, which dates from the late 1500s and goes up to the mid-1700s.
The early pages are quite challenging – please check my notes to see what I’ve been up against! It’s a large parish with a big population, and in the pages of the register, you’ll find members of the gentry from the Martin and Clopton families, jostling alongside wealthy clothiers and their weavers. Long Melford is next door to Sudbury, and sits on the Essex border, beside Foxearth, Liston, and Borley. Its Suffolk borders are next to Glemsford, Stanstead, Shimpling, Alpheton, Lavenham, and Acton. So if you’ve been hunting a missing ancestor from any of those places, you might find them here.
For your delectation and delight, here are over 1,100 baptisms for Long Melford, from 1560 to 1585. Lots more to follow soon!
Birthing scene from the Wellcome Collection. Frustratingly, few mother’s names are recorded with this set of baptisms, despite the crucial role that women play – giving birth, attending birth, and caring for the infants.
