Place:Surrey, England

Watchers
NameSurrey
Alt namesSRYsource: Curious Fox: UK Counties and Shires [online] (2002).
TypeHistoric county, Administrative county, Modern county
Coordinates51.2°N 0.05°W
Located inEngland
See alsoLambeth (metropolitan borough), London, Englandmetropolitan borough to which part was transferred in 1900
Southwark (metropolitan borough), London, Englandmetropolitan borough to which part was transferred in 1900
Wandsworth (metropolitan borough), London, Englandmetropolitan borough to which part was transferred in 1900
Kingston upon Thames (London Borough), Greater London, EnglandLondon borough to which part transferred in 1965
Merton (London Borough), Greater London, EnglandLondon borough to which part transferred in 1965
Richmond upon Thames (London Borough), Greater London, EnglandLondon borough to which part transferred in 1965
Sutton (London Borough), Greater London, EnglandLondon borough to which part transferred in 1965
Croydon (London Borough), Greater London, EnglandLondon borough to which part transferred in 1965
Contained Places
Area
Addington ( - 1965 )
Addiscombe ( - 1965 )
Belmont ( - 1965 )
Berrylands ( - 1965 )
Brixton ( - 1889 )
Chessington ( - 1965 )
Colliers Wood ( - 1965 )
Dulwich ( - 1889 )
Earlsfield ( - 1889 )
Elephant and Castle ( - 1889 )
Furzedown ( - 1965 )
Gipsy Hill ( - 1889 )
Kenley ( - 1965 )
Kennington ( - 1855 )
Kingston Vale ( - 1965 )
Motspur Park ( - 1965 )
Norbiton ( - 1965 )
Norbury Park
Norbury ( - 1965 )
Peckham ( - 1889 )
Selsdon ( - 1965 )
Shirley ( - 1965 )
South Croydon ( - 1965 )
South Norwood ( - 1965 )
St. Helier ( - 1965 )
St. Johns ( - 1889 )
Stockwell ( - 1889 )
Tulse Hill ( - 1889 )
Vauxhall ( - 1889 )
Waddon
Walworth ( - 1889 )
Waterloo ( - 1889 )
West Norwood ( - 1889 )
Borough (county)
Croydon ( - 1965 )
Kingston upon Thames ( - 1965 )
Borough (metropolitan)
Bermondsey (metropolitan borough) ( - 1889 )
Lambeth ( - 1889 )
Richmond ( - 1965 )
Southwark ( - 1889 )
Wandsworth (metropolitan borough) ( - 1889 )
Borough (municipal)
Barnes ( - 1965 )
Beddington and Wallington ( 1915 - 1965 )
Epsom and Ewell ( 1934 - )
Godalming
Malden and Coombe ( 1866 - 1965 )
Mitcham ( - 1965 )
Reigate ( 300 - )
Surbiton ( - 1965 )
Sutton (parish) ( - 1965 )
Sutton and Cheam ( 1928 - 1965 )
Wimbledon ( - 1965 )
Cemetery
Camberwell Old Cemetery ( 1856 - 1889 )
West Norwood Cemetery ( 1836 - 1889 )
Chapelry
Hatcham ( - 1889 )
City district
Battersea ( - 1889 )
Civil parish
Abinger
Addington ( - 1965 )
Addlestone
Albury
Artington ( - 1908 )
Ash and Normandy ( 1869 - 1955 )
Ash
Ashtead
Banstead
Beddington ( - 1965 )
Betchworth
Bisley
Bletchingley
Botleys and Lyne
Bramley
Brockham
Buckland
Burstow
Busbridge ( 1933 - )
Byfleet
Camberley
Capel
Caterham
Chaldon
Charlwood
Cheam ( - 1965 )
Chelsham and Farleigh ( 1969 - )
Chelsham
Chertsey
Chiddingfold
Chipstead
Chobham
Churt ( 1933 - )
Cobham
Compton
Coombe (Kingston upon Thames) ( - 1965 )
Coulsdon ( - 1965 )
Cranleigh
Crowhurst
Croydon St. John the Baptist ( - 1965 )
Croydon ( - 1965 )
Cuddington
Deptford St. Paul ( - 1889 )
Dockenfield ( 1894 - )
Dorking Rural (parish) ( 1894 - 1933 )
Dorking
Dunsfold
Earlswood
East Clandon
East Horsley
East Molesey ( - 1965 )
Effingham
Egham
Elstead
Epsom ( 800 - )
Esher
Ewell
Ewhurst
Farleigh
Farnham Rural (parish) ( 1894 - 1933 )
Farnham
Felbridge ( 1953 - )
Fetcham
Frensham
Frimley
Gatton
Godalming Rural
Godalming
Godstone
Great Bookham
Guildford Holy Trinity
Guildford St. Mary ( - 1908 )
Guildford ( 1257 - )
Ham ( - 1965 )
Hambledon
Hascombe
Headley
Holmwood ( 1933 - )
Hook ( - 1965 )
Horley
Horley
Horne
Horsell
Kew ( - 1965 )
Kingswood
Laleham ( 1965 - present )
Leatherhead
Leigh
Limpsfield
Lingfield
Long Ditton
Merrow
Merton ( - 1965 )
Mickleham
Milton ( 1933 - )
Mitcham ( - 1965 )
Newdigate
Newington ( - 1889 )
Nutfield
Ockham
Ockley
Old Malden ( - 1965 )
Oxted
Penge ( - 1900 )
Peper Harow
Pirbright
Puttenham
Pyrford
Redhill
Reigate ( 300 - )
Richmond ( - 1965 )
Sanderstead ( - 1965 )
Seale
Send and Ripley
Shackleford ( 1933 - )
Shalford
Shepperton
Shere
St. Martha
Staines ( 1965 - present )
Stanwell ( 1965 - present )
Stoke d'Abernon
Stoke next Guildford
Streatham ( - 1889 )
Sunbury ( 1965 - present )
Sunningdale ( - 1995 )
Sutton (parish) ( - 1965 )
Tandridge
Tatsfield
Thorpe
Thursley
Tilford ( 1933 - )
Titsey
Tongham
Wallington ( - 1965 )
Walton on Thames
Walton on the Hill
Wanborough
Warlingham
West Clandon
West Horsley
West Molesey
Weybridge
Windlesham
Wisley
Witley
Woking
Woldingham
Wonersh
Worplesdon
Wotton
County town
Guildford ( 1257 - )
District
New Cross Gate ( - 1889 )
District municipality
Elmbridge District ( 1974 - )
Epsom and Ewell District ( 1974 - )
Guildford District ( 1974 - )
Mole Valley District ( 1974 - )
Reigate and Banstead District ( 1974 - )
Runnymede District ( 1974 - )
Spelthorne District ( 1974 - )
Surrey Heath District ( 1974 - )
Tandridge District ( 1974 - )
Waverley District ( 1974 - )
Woking District ( 1974 - )
Former parish
Merstham
Morden ( - 1965 )
Purley ( - 1974 )
Southwark Christchurch ( - 1899 )
Southwark St. John Horsleydown ( - 1900 )
Southwark St. Olave ( - 1900 )
Southwark St. Saviour ( - 1889 )
Southwark ( - 1889 )
Waverley
Former village
Anerley ( - 1889 )
Mortlake ( - 1965 )
Hamlet
Hackbridge ( - 1965 )
Wyke
Hundred
Blackheath Hundred
Brixton Hundred
Copthorne Hundred
Effingham Hundred
Elmbridge Hundred
Farnham Hundred
Godalming Hundred
Godley Hundred
Kingston Hundred
Reigate Hundred
Tandridge Hundred
Wallington Hundred
Woking Hundred
Wotton Hundred
Inhabited place
Bagshot
Brockham
Brookwood
Burpham
Burrowhill
Catteshall
Chelmsham
Chilworth
Claremont
Coombe (Croydon) ( - 1965 )
Copthorne
Deepcut
Dippenhall
Donkey Town
Haslemere
Hindhead
Horne
Horsley
Knaphill
Laleham
Lightwater
Limpsfield
Little Bookham
Lyne
Mayford
Meadvale
Merstham
Mersthaw
Milford
Mugswell
Newdigate
Norwood ( - 1889 )
Onslow Village
Ottershaw
Oxshott
Pitch Place
Poyle
Pryford
Salfords
St Johns
Stanwell Moor
Stanwell
Stoughton
Sunbury on Thames
Sunningdale ( - 1995 )
Sutton (near Woking)
Tadworth
Tilford ( 1933 - )
Upper Halliford
Wandsworth (metropolitan borough) ( - 1889 )
Wellhall
West Byfleet
West End
West Humble
Whiteley Village
Whyteleafe
Windlesham
Wood Street
Woodhatch
Woodmansterne
Locality
South Wimbledon ( - 1965 )
Military base
Deepcut
Witley Camp
Neighborhood
Hatcham ( - 1889 )
New Cross ( - 1889 )
Roehampton ( - 1889 )
Telegraph Hill ( - 1889 )
Tooting Bec ( - 1889 )
Tooting Graveney ( - 1889 )
Parish
Alfold
Ashford ( 1965 - )
Barnes ( - 1965 )
Bermondsey ( - 1894 )
Camberwell ( - 1889 )
Chessington ( - 1965 )
Clapham ( - 1889 )
Lambeth ( - 1889 )
Littleton ( 1965 - present )
Merton and Morden ( - 1965 )
Putney ( - 1889 )
Rotherhithe ( - 1889 )
Shepperton ( 1965 - )
Southwark St. George the Martyr ( - 1889 )
Thames Ditton
Wandsworth ( - 1889 )
West End
Parish (ancient)
Abinger
Addington ( - 1965 )
Addlestone
Albury
Artington ( - 1908 )
Ash and Normandy ( 1869 - 1955 )
Ash
Ashtead
Banstead
Battersea ( - 1889 )
Beddington ( - 1965 )
Betchworth
Bisley
Bletchingley
Brixton ( - 1889 )
Buckland
Burstow
Byfleet
Capel
Caterham
Chaldon
Charlwood
Cheam ( - 1965 )
Chertsey
Chiddingfold
Chobham
Cobham
Compton
Coulsdon ( - 1965 )
Cranleigh
Crowhurst
Croydon St. John the Baptist ( - 1965 )
Croydon ( - 1965 )
Cuddington
Dorking
Dunsfold
Earlswood
East Clandon
East Horsley
Effingham
Egham
Elstead
Epsom ( 800 - )
Esher
Ewell
Ewhurst
Farleigh
Farnham
Fetcham
Frensham
Gatton
Godalming
Godstone
Great Bookham
Guildford Holy Trinity
Guildford St. Mary ( - 1908 )
Guildford ( 1257 - )
Hambledon
Hascombe
Horley
Horsell
Kingston upon Thames ( - 1965 )
Laleham ( 1965 - present )
Leatherhead
Leigh
Lingfield
Long Ditton
Merrow
Merton ( - 1965 )
Mickleham
Mitcham ( - 1965 )
Newington ( - 1889 )
Nutfield
Ockham
Ockley
Old Malden ( - 1965 )
Oxted
Peper Harow
Puttenham
Redhill
Reigate ( 300 - )
Sanderstead ( - 1965 )
Seale
Send and Ripley
Shalford
Shepperton
Shere
St. Martha
Staines ( 1965 - present )
Stanwell ( 1965 - present )
Stoke d'Abernon
Stoke next Guildford
Streatham ( - 1889 )
Sunbury ( 1965 - present )
Sutton (parish) ( - 1965 )
Tandridge
Tatsfield
Thorpe
Titsey
Wallington ( - 1965 )
Walton on Thames
Walton on the Hill
Wanborough
Warlingham
West Clandon
West Horsley
Weybridge
Wisley
Witley
Woking
Woldingham
Wonersh
Worplesdon
Wotton
Registration district
Bermondsey Registration District ( 1837 - 1889 )
Camberwell Registration District ( 1837 - 1889 )
Chertsey Registration District ( 1837 - 1934 )
Croydon Registration District ( 1837 - 1934 )
Dorking Registration District ( 1837 - 1934 )
East Surrey Registration District ( 2000 - 2008 )
Epsom Registration District ( 1837 - 1934 )
Farnham Registration District ( 1837 - 1934 )
Godstone Registration District ( 1837 - 1934 )
Guildford Registration District ( 1837 - 1934 )
Hambledon Registration District ( 1837 - 1934 )
Kingston Registration District ( 1837 - 1934 )
Lambeth Registration District ( 1837 - 1889 )
Mid Surrey Registration District ( 1996 - 2000 )
Newington Registration District ( 1837 - 1869 )
North Surrey Registration District ( 1996 - 2008 )
Reigate Registration District ( 1837 - 1934 )
Richmond Registration District ( 1837 - 1934 )
Rotherhithe Registration District ( 1837 - 1869 )
South East Surrey Registration District ( 1996 - 2000 )
St. George Southwark Registration District ( 1837 - 1869 )
St. Olave Southwark Registration District ( 1837 - 1889 )
St. Saviour Southwark Registration District ( 1837 - 1889 )
Surrey Mid Eastern Registration District ( 1934 - 1996 )
Surrey North Eastern Registration District ( 1934 - 1996 )
Surrey North Western Registration District ( 1934 - 1996 )
Surrey Northern Registration District ( 1948 - 1965 )
Surrey Registration District ( 2000 - )
Surrey South Eastern Registration District ( 1934 - 1996 )
Surrey South Western Registration District ( 1934 - 1996 )
Surrey Western Registration District ( 1996 - 2008 )
Wandsworth Registration District ( 1837 - 1889 )
Rural district
Bagshot Rural ( 1933 - 1974 )
Chertsey Rural ( 1894 - 1933 )
Croydon Rural ( 1894 - 1915 )
Dockenfield Rural ( 1894 - 1895 )
Dorking Rural ( 1894 - 1933 )
Dorking and Horley Rural ( 1933 - 1974 )
Egham Rural ( 1894 - 1906 )
Epsom Rural ( 1894 - 1933 )
Farnham Rural ( 1894 - 1933 )
Godstone Rural ( 1894 - 1974 )
Guildford Rural ( 1894 - 1974 )
Hambledon Rural ( 1894 - 1974 )
Kingston Rural ( 1894 - 1895 )
Reigate Rural ( 1894 - 1933 )
Suburb
Anerley ( - 1889 )
Barnes ( - 1965 )
Canbury ( - 1965 )
Carshalton ( - 1965 )
Chessington ( - 1965 )
Coombe (Kingston upon Thames) ( - 1965 )
East Molesey ( - 1965 )
East Sheen ( - 1965 )
Hackbridge ( - 1965 )
Ham ( - 1965 )
Hook ( - 1965 )
Kew ( - 1965 )
Long Ditton
Merton Park ( - 1965 )
Mitcham ( - 1965 )
Molesey ( - 1965 )
Mortlake ( - 1965 )
Motspur Park ( - 1965 )
New Malden ( - 1965 )
Old Malden ( - 1965 )
Petersham ( - 1965 )
Purley ( - 1974 )
Raynes Park ( - 1965 )
Sanderstead ( - 1965 )
Selsdon ( - 1965 )
Stoneleigh
Surbiton ( - 1965 )
Thames Ditton
Tolworth ( - 1965 )
Wimbledon ( - 1965 )
Worcester Park
Urban district
Banstead
Beddington and Wallington ( 1915 - 1965 )
Carshalton ( - 1965 )
Caterham and Warlingham ( 1929 - 1974 )
Caterham
Chertsey
Coulsdon and Purley ( 1915 - 1965 )
Dorking
Epsom and Ewell ( 1934 - )
Epsom ( 800 - )
Esher and the Dittons ( 1895 - 1933 )
Farnham
Frimley and Camberley ( 1894 - 1974 )
Ham ( - 1965 )
Haslemere
Malden and Coombe ( 1866 - 1965 )
Merton and Morden ( - 1965 )
Penge ( - 1900 )
Sunbury ( 1965 - present )
Sutton (parish) ( - 1965 )
Sutton and Cheam ( 1928 - 1965 )
Walton and Weybridge ( 1933 - 1974 )
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog
the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Surrey is a county in the southeast of England and also one of the home counties bordering Greater London. Surrey shares borders with Kent to the east, East Sussex to the southeast, West Sussex to the south, Hampshire to the west and southwest and Berkshire to the northwest. The county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits extra-territorially at Kingston upon Thames, which is administered as part of Greater London since 1965. With a resident population of 1.1 million, Surrey is the most densely populated and third most populated county in the southeast region of the United Kingdom, after Kent and Hampshire.

Today, administrative Surrey is divided into eleven districts: Elmbridge, Epsom and Ewell, Guildford, Mole Valley, Reigate and Banstead, Runnymede, Spelthorne, Surrey Heath, Tandridge, Waverley, and Woking. Most of these non-metropolitan districts are formally known as "boroughs", though some go by the description "district".

Services such as roads, mineral extraction licensing, education, strategic waste and recycling infrastructure, birth, marriage, and death registration, and social and children's services are administered by Surrey County Council.

The London boroughs of Lambeth, Southwark, Wandsworth, and small parts of Lewisham and Bromley were in Surrey until 1889. The boroughs of Croydon, Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Sutton and Richmond upon Thames (south of the River Thames) were part of Surrey until 1965, when they too were absorbed into Greater London. In the same year, the county gained its first area north of the Thames, the Spelthorne District, from defunct Middlesex. As a result of this gain, modern Surrey also borders on the London boroughs of Hounslow and Hillingdon.

Surrey is noted for being a particularly wealthy county due in large part to its proximity to nearby London and Heathrow and Gatwick airports along with access to major arterial road routes (including the M25, M3 and M23 motorways) and frequent rail services into Central London. It has the highest GDP per capita of any English county.

Local government

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

The Local Government Act 1888 reorganised county-level local government throughout England and Wales. Accordingly, the administrative county of Surrey was formed in 1889 when the Provisional Surrey County Council first met. The county council assumed the administrative responsibilities previously exercised by the county's justices in quarter sessions. The county had revised boundaries, with the northeast of the historic county bordering the City of London becoming part of a new County of London. These areas now form the London Boroughs of Lambeth, Southwark and Wandsworth, and the Penge area of the London Borough of Bromley. At the same time, the borough of Croydon became a county borough, meaning it was outside the jurisdiction of the county council.

For purposes other than local government the administrative county of Surrey and county borough of Croydon continued to form a "County of Surrey" to which a Lord Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum (Chief Magistrate) and a High Sheriff were appointed.

Surrey had been administered from Newington since the 1790s, and the county council was initially based in the "sessions house" there. As Newington was in Southwark, and thus included in the County of London, it lay outside the area administered by the council, and a site for a new county hall within the administrative county was sought. By 1890 six towns were being considered: Epsom, Guildford, Kingston, Redhill, Surbiton and Wimbledon. A decision to build the new County Hall at Kingston was made in 1891, but this site would also become overtaken by the growing London conurbation and by the 1930s most of the north of the county had been built over, becoming outer suburbs of London, although continuing to form part of Surrey administratively.

In 1960 the report of the Herbert Commission recommended that much of north Surrey (including Kingston and Croydon) be included in a new "Greater London". The recommendations of the report were enacted in highly modified form in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. The areas that now form the London Boroughs of Croydon, Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Sutton and that part of Richmond south of the River Thames were transferred from Surrey to Greater London. At the same time part of the county of Middlesex, which had been abolished by the legislation, was added to Surrey. This area now forms the borough of Spelthorne.

Further local government reform under the Local Government Act 1972 took place in 1974. The 1972 Act abolished administrative counties and introduced non-metropolitan counties in their place. The boundaries of the non-metropolitan county of Surrey were similar to those of the administrative county with the exception of Gatwick Airport and some surrounding land which was transferred to West Sussex.

History

Wikipedia covers the history of Surrey from Roman times up to the 20th century, as well as shorter sections on its geography and culture.

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.)

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.

Greater London Research Tips

A reminder that Greater London was not formed until 1965 and covers a much greater territory than its predecessor, the County of London formed in 1900. The City of London was only a part of the County of London. A map of the boroughs of Greater London is reproduced on all Greater London borough pages. A map of the boroughs of the smaller County of London is reproduced on all County of London borough pages.


Researching ancestors in London will probably be more successful than researching ancestors in the rest of England, particularly for the period before 1837 and the advent of civil registration. Baptisms, marriages and burials are available online for County of London parishes, and possibly for parishes throughout Greater London as well.

  • Anglican Parishes in London is a wiki here on WeRelate listing the places of worship of the established church throughout London. The churches are grouped within the post-1965 boroughs and for each is the street address, a link to the Booth Map (inner boroughs only), the time span for which the database AIM25 holds records, the FamilySearch Wiki link (see below), the Wikipedia link, and further notes. This is a work-in-progress and not all churches are listed as yet, but it is a guide to a great deal more information on those for which information has been gathered.
  • The London Metropolitan Archives (40 Northampton Road, Clerkenwell, London EC1R 0HB) holds records relating to the whole of Greater London. Ancestry (subscription necessary) has produced transcriptions and provides images of lists of baptisms, marriages, and burials in churches across Greater London. Many of these lists start in 1813 and stretch into the 20th century; some start even earlier.

Maps

  • A street-by-street map of London (both sides of the Thames, and stretching from Limehouse, Stepney and Greenwich in the east to Hyde Park and Kensington in the west) drawn by Edward Mogg in 1806. Blows up to a very readable level. Highly recommended viewing. Shows named areas on the edge of the County of London (1900-1965) as the small villages they were in 1800. Streets in the City are named, but churches are missing.
  • The Phillimore Atlas and Index of Parish Registers edited by Cecil Humphery-Smith and published by Phillimore & Co Ltd (edition of 1995) provides a map of the City of London indicating all the parishes and includes dates of commencement of registers for parishes formed before 1832.
  • Wikipedia has an expandable map of the area of devastation of the 1666 fire. The map includes the location of Pudding Lane where the fire started.
  • A map of London in the 1890s provided by the National Library of Scotland. There are a few steps between the home page index and the individual maps which may be difficult to follow for those who don't know London, but the maps themselves are produced at the scale of 5 feet to the mile on the original and are very clear. Houses on streets are marked, but not numbered.
  • Ordnance Survey map of London 1900 (provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time) showing London parishes just after the reorganization of 1899. The map was originally drawn over a street map at a scale of 1 inch to the mile and can be blown up to inspect a single borough. Only the major streets are marked and are only visible at maximum magnification. The City of London is an inset in the top right hand corner.
  • Ordnance Survey map of Middlesex 1900 (provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time) showing the parishes remaining in Middlesex after the reorganization of 1899 when much of the former area of Middlesex had been transferred into London.
  • Ordnance Survey map of Surrey 1900 (provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time) showing Surrey parishes (chiefly Southwark) just after the reorganization of 1899 when the most urban parts of Surrey were transferred into London.
  • Ordnance Survey map of Kent 1900 (provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time) showing Kent parishes just after the reorganization of 1899 when the western part of Kent had been transferred into London.
  • Ordnance Survey map of Essex 1900 (provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time) showing Essex parishes (West Ham, East Ham, Ilford) which were absorbed into Greater London in 1965.

Registration Districts

  • Registration Districts in London, Registration Districts in Middlesex, Registration Districts in Surrey, Registration Districts in Kent, and Registration Districts in Essex are lists of the registration districts used for civil registration (births, marriages and deaths, as well as the censuses). There are linked supporting lists of the parishes which made up each registration district, the dates of formation and abolition of the districts, the General Register Office numbers, and the local archive-holding place. This work has been carried out by Brett Langston under the agency of GENUKI (Genealogy United Kingdom and Ireland) and UKBMD - Births, Marriages, Deaths & Censuses on the Internet, and has been updated into the 21st century. If the only information about an individual has been obtained from UKBMD, the name of the registration district is considered a "placename" within WeRelate and can be used to provide a broad estimate of the location.

Cemeteries

  • Deceased Online includes four of the "Magnificent Seven" cemeteries (Brompton, Highgate, Kensal Green, and Nunhead) in its inventory of 65 London cemeteries. Transcripts for Abney Park are free with registration online at www.devsys.co.uk/ap/. Ancestry (international subscription necessary) has "London, England, City of London and Tower Hamlets Cemetery Registers, 1841-1966". That leaves West Norwood without comprehensive online access to burial records. (Deceased Online and Ancestry may have increased their provision since this was written in 2016.)
  • As of October 2019 Ancestry has a file titled "England & Scotland, Select Cemetery Registers 1800-2016" which includes Abney Park Cemetery, Greenford Park Cemetery, Acton Cemetery, Ealing & Old Brentford Cemetery, Havelock Norwood Cemetery, Hortus Cemetery, South Ealing Cemetery, Queens Road Cemetery, and Chingford Mount Cemetery.
  • The City of London Cemetery, at Manor Park, near Wanstead in the London Borough of Redbridge also contains remains transferred from former parishes in the City of London whose graveyards have been replaced by streets and commercial buildings.
  • Brookwood Cemetery, beyond the Greater London borders in Surrey, was opened in 1854 for burials for Londoners. See the Wikpedia article.

Other online sources

  • See the FamilySearch Wiki under "London" and also under "Middlesex", "Surrey", "Essex" and "Kent" for key information about Greater London's jurisdictions and records, plus links to indexes, reference aids and Family History Library holdings.
  • GENUKI has a long list of websites and archive holders in addition to London Metropolitan Archives above. (The list from GENUKI is not maintained so well that there is never a dead link in it. However, it is often worth googling the title given on the page just in case the contributor has reorganized their website and GENUKI has not picked it up.)
  • GENUKI also has a list of the Archives and Local Studies Libraries for each of the boroughs of Greater London.
  • The London Encyclopaedia by Ben Weinreb and Christopher Hibbert. An e-book available online through Google, originally published by Pan Macmillan. There is a search box in the left-hand pane.
  • London Lives. A very useful free website for anyone researching their London ancestors between the years 1690-1800. This is a fully searchable edition of 240,000 manuscripts from eight archives and fifteen datasets, giving access to 3.35 million names.
  • London Ancestor, a website belonging to one of the London family history societies, has a list of transcriptions of directories from the 18th century, listing in one case "all the squares, streets, lanes, courts, yards, alleys, &C. in and about Five Miles of the Metropolis..." In other parts of the same website are maps of various parts of 19th century London and Middlesex.
  • The proceedings of the Old Bailey, London's central criminal court, 1674-1913. A fully searchable edition of the largest body of texts detailing the lives of non-elite people ever published, containing 197,745 criminal trials held at London's central criminal court. This website is free to use.
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Surrey. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.