Family Histories:
The information on the Fairhead Family has been gathered for over forty years. The original researcher was one Albert Edward Fairhead (1902 - 1976). He had hired a boat on the Norfolk Broads for a week's holiday; on handing the keys over to the next family at the end of the week he discovered that they were also called Fairhead. This prompted him to wonder, were they related?
After this he embarked on journeys to all of the local churches and then to record offices, and before he died in 1976 he had printed a series of booklets detailing all of the information he had discovered. To make this easier to handle, and to give the reader a sense of identity, he split the family into different sections which were named after individuals or areas where they lived, etc.
The downloadable files on this site are based on these booklets, with all subsequent information fitted into the jigsaw as and when it has become known. We are publishing them on the web in an effort to widely spread the state of the current research and to stimulate people to fill in the gaps in our knowledge. The files deal with each generation in turn, keeping each family in the same order.
If you have any new or updated information, please email Richard, our archivist, at archivist@fairhead.org.uk. Please include as much detail as possible - including scans of birth, death and marriage certificates if you have them.
Download the family history booklets:
The booklet files are in PDF format. To view them you will need to have a PDF reader such as Adobe Reader installed on your computer. If you do not have this you can download it for free by clicking on the 'Get Adobe Reader' button. (The pictures are viewable in a standard browser.)
There are three main groups of families: Suffolk & Norfolk, Essex, and London. It is hoped one day to link all of the books together. The 'Book no.' refers to the number of the publication in the Fairhead history booklet series.
| Family group | Book no. | History booklet name | Booklet last updated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suffolk & Norfolk |
8 | The Suffolk Weavers: Words Pictures |
August 2011 |
| 5 | The Parish Clerks: Words Pictures |
August 2011 | |
| 1 | The Three Brothers: Words Pictures |
August 2011 | |
| 2 | The Bricklayers: Words Pictures |
August 2011 | |
| 6 | The Five Sons of James | August 2011 | |
| Essex | 7 | The Essex Farmers: Words Pictures |
August 2011 |
| 4d | The Shoemakers of Rayleigh: Words Pictures |
August 2011 | |
| 4b | Thomas, the Gardener, of Marks Tey: Words Pictures |
August 2011 | |
| 4c | The Drapers of Ilford: Words Pictures |
August 2011 | |
| London | 3 | The Fayerhodes of Ludgate Hall | June 2008 |
| 10c | The Family at Marylebone | January 2011 | |
| 4a | The London Butchers: Words Picture |
August 2011 | |
| Other | 10a | The East Coast Mariners | August 2011 |
| 10b | The Sunderland Family | August 2011 |
We have some miscellaneous booklets, including two "Don't Know" pages; any information that could help to classify the information in those would be most welcome.
| Booklet name | Booklet last updated |
|---|---|
| Don't Knows (UK & Australia) | August 2011 |
| Don't Knows (North America) | August 2011 |
| Various East Coast Families | August 2006 |
| The Origin: Words Pictures |
August 2006 |
| The First 100 Years | June 2008 |
| The Fairhairs | August 2006 |
| Hereditary Factors | August 2006 |
Finally we have some other booklets written by Albert. Though not 'Fairhead' related, they are included here for completeness.
| Booklet name | Booklet last updated |
|---|---|
| The Ditchingham That I Knew: Words Pictures |
June 2007 |
| My Impressions of Iceland: Words Pictures |
June 2007 |
SMALLPRINT: All files linked from this page are available to download free for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons License. If you copy, distribute, display, or make derivative works from these files, you must acknowledge the Fairhead Family Fellowship as the source in a reasonably prominent manner.