- source: Family History Library Catalog
- source: Family History Library Catalog
The Local Government Act of 1894 introduced the principle of dividing the counties into municipal and county boroughs (which had existed before) and also into urban districts and rural districts. It was felt that urban and rural districts would require slightly different forms of local administration. A number of parishes in existence up and down the country covered substantial areas of countryside as well as their more built-up cores. These parishes were separated into their urban portions, which usually became "urban districts", and their rural sectors which joined a group of neighbouring parishes to make up a "rural district". In most cases the rural sectors were given names that indicated the town from which they had been carved. Hence, Farnham Rural (parish) was established in 1894 out of the part of the earlier parish of Farnham that was deemed to be rural.
When it was constituted, Farnham Rural (parish) surrounded the town of Farnham (see the Ordnance Survey map of Surrey of 1900) and also absorbed the earlier parish of Waverley. It included the villages and hamlets of Tilford, Wrecklesham, Hale and Badshot Lea. In 1902, 1914, 1924 and 1933, tranches of the rural parish were absorbed into Farnham. When the final tranche was transferred Farnham Rural (parish) was left with a sector on the southeast of the town in which the village of Tilford was located (see the Ordnance Survey map of Surrey of 1933). At this point Farnham Rural (parish) was abolished and the remainder of the area was renamed Tilford parish.
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.
Parishes in the Alton Hundred of Hampshire and the Farnham Hundred of Surrey have been omitted from the Victoria County Histories. This may be because they were set up later than the other hundreds.
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