First Essex arose from an amalgamation of Eastern National and Thamesway Buses.
First Essex was originally part of the Eastern National Omnibus Company, founded in 1929, nationalised in 1949 and privatised in a management buyout in October 1986.
In 1990, Eastern National was sold to Badgerline (who became part of FirstGroup in 1995) and split - the depots in North Essex continuing to operate as Eastern National and those in South Essex being transferred to a new division, Thamesway.
Both were later amalgamated again and rebranded First Essex.

First Essex was criticised by passengers and members of the Southend Area Bus Users' Group for withdrawing services which it considered no longer economically viable when Southend Borough Council withdrew bus subsidies as part of budget cuts in 2005.
First said it was due to low passenger numbers, even when parts of the route were profitable.
Further criticism came from passengers when First Essex and Arriva Southend decided to withdraw their "Day Rover" ticket, which allowed unlimited journeys on the day of purchase on buses operated by both companies, regardless of which company issued the ticket, so that day tickets could only be used on the buses of the company that issued them.
They replaced it with a more expensive "Octopus" ticket, issued by and can be used on any buses operated by companies running in the general Southend area.
First Essex arose from an amalgamation of Eastern National and Thamesway Buses. First Essex was originally part of the Eastern National Omnibus Company, founded in 1929, nationalised in 1949 and privatised in a management buyout in October 1986. In 1990, Eastern National was sold to Badgerline (who became part of FirstGroup in 1995) and split - the depots in North Essex continuing to operate as Eastern National and those in South Essex being transferred to a new division, Thamesway. Both were later amalgamated again and rebranded First Essex.
First Essex was criticised by passengers and members of the Southend Area Bus Users' Group for withdrawing services which it considered no longer economically viable when Southend Borough Council withdrew bus subsidies as part of budget cuts in 2005. First said it was due to low passenger numbers, even when parts of the route were profitable. Further criticism came from passengers when First Essex and Arriva Southend decided to withdraw their "Day Rover" ticket, which allowed unlimited journeys on the day of purchase on buses operated by both companies, regardless of which company issued the ticket, so that day tickets could only be used on the buses of the company that issued them. They replaced it with a more expensive "Octopus" ticket, issued by and can be used on any buses operated by companies running in the general Southend area.
First Essex