Billericay

Coordinates: 51°37′41″N 0°25′06″E / 51.628°N 0.4184°E / 51.628; 0.4184

Billericay (ⁱ/bɪləˈrɪkiː/ BIL-ə-RIK-ee) is a town and civil parish in the Basildon borough of Essex, England. It lies within the London Basin, and constitutes a commuter town 28 miles (45 km) east of central London. The town has three secondary schools and a variety of open spaces. It is thought to have been occupied since the Bronze Age.

History

Some of the earliest records of human occupation of Billericay are the burial mounds in Norsey Wood: evidence of occupation in the Bronze and Iron Ages. Evidence of Roman occupation has been found at a number of locations in the town and there may have been a small cavalry fort at Blunts Wall.

The Saxons did not settle in the centre of Billericay. They established themselves two miles south, at Great Burstead. In the late 10th century it was known as 'Burhstede'. Billericay was not mentioned in the Domesday Book, as it lay within Great Burstead. At this time the parish church for Billericay was at Great Burstead.

Billericay (UK Parliament constituency)

Billericay was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

It returned Conservative MPs at every election except 1966.

Boundaries

1950-1955: The Urban Districts of Billericay, Benfleet, Canvey Island, and Rayleigh.

1955-1974: The Urban Districts of Billericay and Brentwood.

1983-1997: The District of Basildon wards of Billericay East, Billericay West, Burstead, Laindon, Wickford North, and Wickford South, and the Borough of Thurrock wards of Corringham and Fobbing, Orsett, Stanford-le-Hope, and The Homesteads.

1997-2010: The District of Basildon wards of Billericay East, Billericay West, Burstead, Laindon, Pitsea East, Pitsea West, Wickford North, and Wickford South.

For the 2010 general election, this seat was effectively merged with Basildon to form a new constituency of Basildon and Billericay.

History

Billericay has elected somewhat colourful characters to Westminster, namely Harvey Proctor, the right-wing MP who resigned after homosexual sex charges, and Teresa Gorman, the Maastricht rebel who stood down after accusing the Commons Standards and Privileges committee of sexism over questions surrounding her registered business dealings.

Essex

Essex /ˈɛsᵻks/ is a county in England, immediately north-east of London. It borders the counties of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south and London to the south-west. The county town is Chelmsford, which is the only city in the county. Essex occupies the east of the pre-England Kingdom of Essex. As well as rural areas, the county also includes the Lakeside Shopping Centre, London Stansted Airport and the new towns of Basildon and Harlow.

History

The name Essex originates in the Anglo-Saxon period of the Early Middle Ages and has its root in the Old English Ēastseaxe (i.e. the "East Saxons"), the eastern kingdom of the Saxons (cf. Middlesex and Sussex) during the Heptarchy. Originally recorded in AD 527, Essex occupied territory to the north of the River Thames, incorporating all of what later became Middlesex (which probably included Surrey) and most of what later became Hertfordshire. Its territory was later restricted to lands east of the River Lea.Colchester in the north east of the county is Britain's oldest recorded town, dating back to before the Roman conquest, when it was known as Camulodunum and was sufficiently well-developed to have its own mint. In AD 824, following the battle of Ethandun, the kingdoms of the East Saxons, the South Saxons and the Kentish were absorbed into the kingdom of the West Saxons, uniting Saxland under King Alfred's grandfather Egberht. In changes before the Norman conquest the East Saxons were subsumed into the Kingdom of England and, following the Norman conquest, Essex became a county.

Essex, Massachusetts

Essex is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, 26 miles (42 km) north of Boston. The population was 3,504 at the 2010 census.

The central village areas of Essex and South Essex make up the census-designated place of Essex.

History

Essex was incorporated as a town in 1819. It was previously a part of the town of Ipswich and was then called Chebacco Parish. The first European settlers arrived in 1634. At that time, the land formed part of an area inhabited by Native Americans of the Agawam tribe. The name Chebacco is Agawam in origin and refers to a large lake whose waters extend into neighboring Hamilton. Conomo Point, the easternmost part of the town, is named for the Sagamore or Chief of the Agawams, Masconomo, the leader of the tribe in the late 17th century. Early on, Chebacco Parish lobbied for status as an independent town, asking for permission to build a meeting house. In colonial times, the existence of a meeting house in a settlement conferred de facto autonomy, so Chebacco Parish was denied permission to build such a structure. Popular history tells that one written dictate was issued stating that "no man shall raise a meeting house", so the residents of the settlement interpreted it as to mean that women would be allowed to do so. It is reported that a local woman, Madam Varney, assembled the town's women and construction of a meeting house was carried out by them while the men looked on. Jeremiah Shepard was a minister at the church in Chebacco Parish from 1678 to 1680. He was succeeded by John Wise, who was pastor of Chebacco Parish from 1680 to his death in 1725.

Essex (provincial electoral district)

Essex is a provincial electoral district in southwestern, Ontario, Canada. It elects one member to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

It existed from 1867 to 1874 and was re-created in 1999 from Essex South, Essex—Kent and Windsor—Sandwich.

When the riding was recreated, it included all of Essex County except for Windsor, Old Tecumseh, St. Clair Beach, Leamington and Mersea Township.

In 2007, it lost the parts of Tecumseh that had since been amalgamated (South Sandwich Township).

Member of Provincial Parliament

This riding has elected the following members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

Election results

1999-present

1867-1871

2007 electoral reform referendum

Sources

Coordinates: 42°07′41″N 82°47′13″W / 42.128°N 82.787°W / 42.128; -82.787