Place:West Ham, Essex, England

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NameWest Ham
Alt namesCounty Borough of West Hamsource: before 1965
Hamsource: Family History Library Catalog
Newhamsource: Family History Library Catalog
West Hamsource: Wikipedia
TypeParish, Borough (county)
Coordinates51.5383°N 0.0145°E
Located inEssex, England     ( - 1965)
See alsoBecontree Hundred, Essex, Englandancient hundred in which it was located
Newham (London Borough), Greater London, EnglandLondon borough to which it was transferred in 1965
source: Family History Library Catalog
the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

West Ham is a district and a former parish and borough now in "East London", located 6.1 mi (9.8 km) east of Charing Cross, forming the centre to western part of the modern London Borough of Newham. West Ham was part of the county of Essex, but for administrative purposes has been part of Greater London since 1965, following the passing of the London Government Act 1963.

West Ham was formed when the older territory of Ham was sub-divided in the 12th century. Originally a civil parish, and ultimately a county borough, West Ham was an administrative unit, with largely consistent boundaries, from the 12th century to the formation of Newham in 1965.

The area lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea. It is bordered by Stratford and Canning Town, Poplar and Bromley by Bow. Green Street is the boundary between West Ham and East Ham.

For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article West Ham.

For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article County Borough of West Ham.

Research Tips

West Ham was in the West Ham Registration District in Essex from the start of civil registration in 1837 until it was transferred into Greater London in 1965. Since 1965 it has been in the registration area for the London Borough of West Ham.

  • Essex Record Office handles Essex archives within the county. The address is Wharf Road, Chelmsford, Essex CM2 6YT.
  • The Essex Society for Family History covers topics of genealogical interest throughout the present County of Essex (i.e. excluding the western area now in Greater London). Subscription necessary.
  • GENUKI provides a list of towns and parishes leading to pages for individual parishes with useful local information for genealogists and family historians.
  • Wikimedia Commons has a set of maps of the old hundreds of Essex. These do not show the individual parishes within the hundreds.
  • For very detailed investigation Wikimedia Commons also has a series of 176 part maps of the Ordnance Survey 1st series 1:10560, Map of Essex
  • FamilySearch lists its collections of church records and vital records along with those provided by other organizations, both commercial and voluntary.
  • The commercial website FindMyPast also has a collection of wills and newspaper transcriptions, as well as the "1939 Register" (an equivalent to the census gathered at the beginning of World War 2).
  • A Vision of Britain through Time is a website produced by the Department of Geography of the University of Portsmouth. It outlines all parishes as they were in the 19th century.
  • British History Online has transcribed eight volumes of the Victoria County History project for Essex. Seven of these cover the history of parts of the county in great detail, although the project is incomplete for Essex as a whole. Ownership of land through the centuries can often be traced here. The volumes of note are as follows:
Volume 4, Ongar Hundred, including Chipping and High Ongar, Chigwell, Stondon Massey and Theydon Bois (26 parishes in all).
Volume 5, Becontree Hundred outside Greater London. A thematic account of the growth of metropolitan Essex since 1850. Also contains topographical accounts of Barking, Ilford, Dagenham and other areas of Essex now within Greater London.
Volume 6, parishes of Becontree Hundred now within the London boroughs of Newham, Waltham Forest and Redbridge. These include West and East Ham, Walthamstow and Wanstead.
Volume 7, Covers the ancient parishes, formerly within the Liberty of Havering-atte-Bower and now within the London borough of Havering, and those in Chafford hundred in western Essex now bordering London. It includes accounts of Hornchurch, Romford, Havering.
Volume 8, accounts of the parishes of Chafford and Harlow Hundreds, including Brentwood, Harlow and Thurrock.
Volume 9, the Borough of Colchester, describes the life of the oldest and for long the largest town in Essex from the Iron Age to 1990.
Volume 10, Lexden Hundred (part), includes Dedham, Earls Colne and Wivenhoe and other parishes to the north and west of Colchester.
  • As of June 2019 Ancestry (Worldwide subscription required) includes Essex, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812, these early records are from parish registers of baptisms and burials during the years 1538–1812, and marriages during the years 1538-1754. These are in addition to their previous holdings:
  • Essex, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1918: 3,937,941 records
  • Essex, England, Church of England Marriages, 1754-1935: 1,968,439 records
  • Essex, England, Church of England Deaths and Burials, 1813-1994: 730,118 records
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at West Ham. 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.