SOUTHMINSTER, a village, a parish, and a sub-district, in Maldon district, Essex. The village stands at the terminus of the South Essex railway, 9 miles SE of Maldon; and has a post-office under Maldon, a literary institute, and a fair on 20 Sept. The parish comprises 6,261 acres of land, and 1,440 of foreshore. Real property, £10,649. Pop., 1,424. Houses, 326. The property is much subdivided. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Rochester. Value, £418.* Patron, the Charterhouse, London. The church is ancient, cruciform, and good. There are chapels for Independents and Baptists, national and British schools, and charities £41.—The sub-district contains six parishes. Acres, 21,923. Pop., 4,639. Houses, 989.

(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))