Research Tips:
Parish Boundaries

Another common puzzle is when ancestors lived in Norton End but they may be found listed in Baldock, Willian, Norton or Bygrave records. This is because Norton End was at the north end of Church Street and, although a small area, extended into all four parishes.

For example, if someone was born in the Orange Tree pub they were recorded as being born in Willian, meaning Willian parish not Willian village.

Someone born across the road from the Orange Tree was born in Baldock. A few yards east of this pub, a birth would be recorded as in Norton parish and a few yards further east again, it would have been Bygrave parish.