Sussex, or South Saxon Country, was also the arrival county of the Normans in 1066. Most arrivals today come in at London Gatwick Airport just outside the new town of Crawley. Sussex lies south of London and Surrey, with Hampshire on the west, and Kent to the east, with the English Channel as a southern coastline.
Stretching nearly 80 miles across, Sussex has often been run from two centres, both ecclesiastically and civilly, either side of the Greenwich Meridian. West Sussex is run from Chichester; East Sussex from Lewes, whose larger neighbour, Brighton and Hove, has recently become a city.
Sussex Family History Group covers the whole county with six meeting groups and links with other local societies. It has a quarterly journal and an active emailing list and welcomes new members, resident or not, especially if they are keen to promote family history in Sussex.