Place:Esher, Surrey, England

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Esher in Surrey is an outlying suburb of London, and with Esher Commons at its southern end, the town marks one limit of the "Greater London Built-Up Area". It is between 13 and 15.4 miles southwest of Charing Cross, (a point from which distances from Central London are measured).

Esher has a linear commercial high street and is otherwise suburban in density, with varying elevations, few high rise buildings and very short sections of dual carriageway within the ward itself. Esher covers a large area of 9.3 km2 (3.6 sq mi). In the south it is bounded by the A3 Portsmouth Road which is of urban motorway standard and buffered from the town by Esher Commons.

Esher is bisected by the A307, historically the Portsmouth Road, which forms its high street for approximately 1 mile (1.6 km). Esher railway station (served by the South West Main Line) connects the town to London Waterloo [railway station].

Esher was part of the urban district Esher and the Dittons Urban District from 1895 until 1933. In 1933 the name of the urban district was changed to Esher Urban District and the area of the urban district expanded to include four other local villages:

• Cobham
• East Molesey
• Stoke d'Abernon
• West Molesey

Since 1974 it has been part of the non-metropolitan Elmbridge District of Surrey.

A 19th century description

A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Esher from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:

"ESHER, a village, a parish, and a [registration sub-district], in Kingston [registration] district, Surrey. The village stands on high ground, adjacent to the river Mole, about a mile S of the Southwestern railway, and 4¼ SW of Kingston; and has a head post office, a station with telegraph on the railway, a good inn, and a fair on 4 Sept. It was known at Domesday as Aissele; it figured prominently, for some time, in connexion with a neighbouring episcopal palace; and it now presents a pleasant appearance, and has charming environs. The parish comprises 2,079 acres. Real property: £9,027. Population: 1,460. Houses: 254. The property is much subdivided. Esher Palace stood on the bank of the Mole; was erected, in the latter part of the 15th century, by Bishop Waynflete of Winchester; underwent repair and reconstruction by Wolsey, on his appointment to the see of Winchester; became his retreat, on his disgrace at court; passed, under Bishop Gardner, to the Crown; was given, by Elizabeth, to Lord Howard of Effingham; went, through various possessors, to the minister Henry Pelham; and passed first to Lord Londes, and then to the Spicers. The estate, in 1865, had lately been sold; and the park was then about to be disposed for villa residences. No part of the palace now exists except a square tower with octagonal turrets at the corners, and a central gateway. The present mansion stands on higher ground; bears the name of Esher Place; is entirely modern; and commands a rich view over the valley of the Thames. A neighbouring well is popularly called Wolsey's, but does not seem to have any true claim to the name. The surrounding grounds are beautiful; and they retain some features of an elaborate care with which they were formerly laid out."

Surrey Research Tips

Government

Administrative boundaries of the county of Surrey (Surrey History Centre. The centre has a website with a number of useful indexes--titheholders in various parishes, deaths at the county gaol, etc.)

• In 1889 the County of London was created, and the areas of the modern London boroughs of Lambeth, Southwark and Wandsworth were removed from Surrey. The records of these areas are held either by the London Metropolitan Archives or by the local boroughs, but the Surrey History Centre holds pre-1889 Quarter Sessions records for this area.
• Also in 1889, Croydon was made into a county borough exempt from county administration. Croydon became a London borough in 1965, and most Croydon records are held by the Croydon Local Studies Library and Archives.
• In 1965 more of Surrey was lost to London, with the creation of the London boroughs of Kingston, Merton, Richmond, Sutton and an expanded Croydon. For these areas, records are held by the local boroughs (either in their archives or local studies libraries) or the Surrey History Centre. The London Metropolitan Archives may also have some material.
• In 1965 Staines and Sunbury were transferred from Middlesex to Surrey. In 1974 these areas became the new District of Spelthorne. Most records relating to the former Middlesex area are held by the London Metropolitan Archives.
• In February 2020 FindMyPast announced it had added a substantial number of baptisms, marriages and burials to its database for Surrey. FindMyPast is a pay website.

Registration Districts

• Registration Districts in Surrey from their introduction in 1837 to the present. By drilling down through the links you can follow any parish through the registration districts to which it was attached.

GENUKI provisions

The website GENUKI provides a very comprehensive list of reference sources for the County of Surrey. It includes:

• Archives and Libraries
• Church record availability for both Surrey and the former Surrey part of Greater London
• 19th century descriptions of the ecclesiastical parishes
• Lists of cemeteries
• Local family history societies
• A list of historic maps online

History

• The Victoria History of the County of Surrey is a series of three volumes available online through British History Online. The volumes were written over the past hundred or so years by a number of authors and cover various sections of Surrey. A list of the volumes and what each contains can be found under the source Victoria History of the County of Surrey. Both volumes 3 and 4 contain areas which are part of Greater London and parts of modern Surrey.

Maps

• The National Library of Scotland has a website which provides maps taken from the Ordnance Survey England & Wales One-Inch to the Mile series of 1892-1908 as well as equivalent maps for Scotland itself. The immediate presentation is a "help" screen and a place selection screen prompting the entry of a location down to town, village or parish level. These screens can be removed by a click of the "X". The map is very clear and shows parish and county boundaries and many large buildings and estates that existed at the turn of the 20th century. Magnification can be adjusted and an "overlay feature" allows inspection of the area today along with that of 1900. The specific map from the series can be viewed as a whole ("View this map") and this allows the inspection of the map legend (found in the left hand bottom corner. Becoming familiar with the various facilities of these maps is well worth the trouble.
• Victoria County History chapter on Ash