The Royal Colony of North Carolina - Parishes 1715 to 1775




The Royal Colony of North Carolina

North Carolina Parishes - 1715 to 1775
In 1701, the North Carolina General Assembly passed the Vestry Act to make the Church of England as the official church for the province. No copy of this Act has survived, and most historians assert that the Lords Proprietors probably disallowed it. In 1711, the North Carolina General Assembly passed another Vestry Act as above, but no copy of this Act has survived, and again, most historians assert that the Lords Proprietors probably disallowed it. In 1715, the North Carolina General Assembly passed the same Vestry Act as was passed in 1711, and this Act was signed into law. Click Here to read the entire Vestry Act of 1715. In 1741, the North Carolina General Assembly passed an updated Vestry Act, and this Act was signed into law. Click Here to read the entire Vestry Act of 1741. In 1754, the North Carolina General Assembly passed another update to the Vestry Act, and this Act was signed into law. Click Here to read the entire Vestry Act of 1754. North Carolina did not embrace the Church of England parishes to the extent that South Carolina did. The North Carolina parishes were simply ecclesiastical divisions of the Church of England to help build churches and to pay for their ministers. South Carolina also used the "parish system" to serve as election precincts and to raise the local militia, in addition to their ecclesiastial purpose.
Maps Showing the Known Parishes in North Carolina
1729	1740	1750	1760	1770	1775
Alphabetical Listing of all Known Parishes in North Carolina 1715 to 1775
Parish	Year Created	Year Abolished	Original County	Final County	Notes
Berkeley Parish	<1741	1776	Perquimans	Perquimans	Was Perquimans Parish.
Christ Church Parish	<1741	1776	Craven	Craven	Was Craven Parish.
Craven Parish	1715	<1741	Craven	Craven	Renamed to Christ Church Parish before 1741
Currituck Parish	1715	1776	Currituck	Currituck
Dobbs's Parish	1755	1776	Rowan	Surry	First of two Parishes in Surry County, when it was created in 1771.
Eastern Parish	1715	c.1715	Chowan	Chowan	Very soon renamed to St. Paul's Parish.
Edgecombe Parish	1732	1776	Edgecombe	Halifax
Elizabeth Parish	1774	1776	Edgecombe & Halifax	Edgecombe & Halifax	Only known Parish that spanned two counties.
Granville Parish	1758	1776	Granville	Granville	Carved out of St. John's Parish, which became Bute County.
Hyde Parish	1715	<1741	Hyde	Hyde	Renamed to St. George's Parish before 1741
Northwest Parish	1727	1776	Bertie	Northampton
Perquimans Parish	1715	<1741	Perquimans	Perquimans	Renamed to Berkeley Parish before 1741.
St. Andrew's Parish	1729	1776	Tyrrell	Tyrrell
St. Barnabas's Parish	1759	1776	Hertford	Hertford	Was St. George's Parish in Northampton County.
St. Bartholomew's Parish	1771	1776	Chatham	Chatham
St. David's Parish	1754	1776	Cumberland	Cumberland
St. Gabriel's Parish	1750	1776	Duplin	Duplin
St. George's Parish	<1741	1776	Hyde	Hyde	First of three Parishes with the same name.
St. George's Parish	1750	1776	Anson	Anson	Second of three Parishes with the same name.
St. George's Parish	1758	1759	Northampton	Northampton	Renamed to St. Barnabas's Parish when Hertford County was created in 1759.
St. James's Parish	1729	1776	New Hanover	New Hanover	St. Philip's Parish was carved out in 1741.
St. John's Parish	1715	1776	Carteret	Carteret & Onslow	First of three Parishes with the same name.
St. John's Parish	1715	1776	Pasquotank	Pasquotank	In 1756, St. Peter's Parish was abolished and merged with St. John's Parish.
St. John's Parish	1746	1776	Granville	Bute	Third of three Parishes with the same name.
St. Jude's Parish	1771	1776	Surry	Surry	Second Parish created for Surry County.
St. Luke's Parish	1753	1776	Rowan	Rowan
St. Margaret's Parish	1771	1776	Wake	Wake
St. Martin's Parish	1734	1776	Bladen	Bladen	First of three Parishes with the same name.
St. Martin's Parish	1762	1776	Mecklenburg	Mecklenburg	Second of three Parishes with the same name.
St. Martin's Parish	1774	1776	Martin	Martin	Third of three Parishes with the same name.
St. Mary's Parish	1756	1776	Edgecombe	Edgecombe
St. Matthew's Parish	1752	1776	Orange	Orange
St. Michael's Parish	1760	1776	Pitt	Pitt
St. Patrick's Parish	1756	1776	Johnston	Dobbs	Carved out of St. Stephen's Parish.
St. Paul's Parish	c.1715	1776	Chowan	Chowan	Originally named Eastern Parish of Chowan Precinct, renamed very soon thereafter.
St. Peter's Parish	1715	1756	Pasquotank	Pasquotank	Abolished in 1756 and merged into St. John's Parish.
St. Philip's Parish	1741	1776	New Hanover	Brunswick
St. Stephen's Parish	1746	1776	Johnston	Johnston
St. Thomas's Parish	1715	1776	Beaufort	Beaufort	First of two Parishes with the same name.
St. Thomas's Parish	1768	1776	Tryon	Tryon	Second of two Parishes with the same name.
Society Parish	1741	1776	Bertie	Bertie	Was Southwest Parish.
Southwest Parish	1715	1741	Chowan	Bertie	Renamed to Society Parish in 1741.
Unity Parish	1771	1776	Guilford	Guilford