Place:Burstow, Surrey, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Burstow is a village and civil parish since 1974 in the Tandridge District of Surrey, England. Its largest settlement is Smallfield. Smallfield is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) ENE of Gatwick Airport and the M23 motorway, 7.5 miles (12.1 km) southwest of Oxted and 1.8 miles (2.9 km) east of Horley. Crawley in Sussex is a nearby large commercial town, 3.7 miles (6.0 km) southwest of the village of Burstow and 5 miles (8.0 km) southwest of Smallfield. The parish is towards the southern edge of the London commuter belt; some residents commute to the capital by road or rail from here. London is 24.5 miles (39.4 km) to the north and Horley railway station is accessible.

Burstow was part of the Reigate Rural District from 1894 until 1933 when it was split between Dorking and Horley Rural District and Godstone Rural District. Most of Burstow was absorbed into the Tandridge District in 1974, but a part of the parish was transferred to Sussex.

John Flamsteed, astronomer and cleric was rector of Burstow from 1684 until his death in 1719. He was appointed in 1675 by Charles II to be the first Astronomer Royal. His accurate measurements of star positions and the movements of the moon, made in the newly opened Observatory at Greenwich, contributed to making possible the safe navigation of shipping around the world. Flamsteed is buried in Burstow Church and a star that commemorates him is in the large window above the altar.

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 Burstow