Question

Brick wall - St Stephen's, Ewhurst, Sussex.

Brick wall.

Help please to find the names dob etc. of

Father, Mother and Wife of William Crisford (Crisford-358)

Husband of Margery (Unknown-428075)

married about 1500 in St Stephen's, Ewhurst, Sussex.

Answer 1

As far as I can see the parish registers for Ewhurst don't begin until 1558.  A search in the online catalogue at The Keep in Brighton produces two Wills for George Crisford of Ewhurst and William Crisford of Ewhurst but these are dated 1575 and 1589 - wrong time-frame I realise but could hold some information.  Only other suggestion I can think of is checking the Court Rolls.

Answer 2

Thanks for the reply.

Are the relevant Court Rolls kept at ESRO?

If so, what would I ask them for, please?

Comments

Most of them are at East Sussex Record Office. The National Archives maintains a very helpful "Manorial Documents Register" - you can find the details here:

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/c?_sf=textstman&_tn=Ewhurst&_naet=M&_st=mdrc

Looks like Ewhurst parish contained seven separate manors - Ewhurst, Pollingfold, West Pollingfold, East Pollingfold, Coneyhurst, Baynards & Somersbury. It would be helpful if you could discover which manor your ancestor held land in.

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There is only one reference to Ewhurst, Sussex.

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F254902

The others you mention are not Sussex but Surrey and Hampshire. Having no experience in this type of research what is my next move, please?

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Sorry you're absolutely right! And it looks like you are in luck, because there are quite a few surviving records from the Manor of Ewhurst.

I would advise you start by looking at the court rolls of 1440 and 1524-28 which are held (oddly by not uncommonly) not in the home county record office but in Essex Record Office. if you fancy a trip to Chelmsford, you should be able to order the documents in advance just by quoting the reference number D/DL M69 and the name "Manor of Ewhurst, Sussex"

There's a chance that your Crysford family members will be shown there - it may give you more information about dates when they took possession of property and what and where the property was.

After that you can trawl through the records in this series at the East Sussex Record Office - they look like they hold quite a lot of material from this manor all the way from 1326 to 1900. i wouldn't be surprised if you found various references to your family in these records, which might help to piece together some details of their lives and property through the centuries.