Place:West Molesey, Surrey, England

Watchers
NameWest Molesey
TypeCivil parish
Coordinates51.395°N 0.353°W
Located inSurrey, England
See alsoElmbridge Hundred, Surrey, Englandancient county division in which it was located
Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, Englandancient parish of which it was part
Kingston Rural, Surrey, Englandrural district of which it was part 1894-1895
East and West Molesley, Surrey, Englandurban district of which it was part 1895-1933
Esher, Surrey, Englandurban district in which it was located 1934-1974
Elmbridge District, Surrey, Englanddistrict municipality covering the area since 1974
source: Family History Library Catalog


West Molesey is the western part of Molesey, a town in Surrey, England on the southern bank of the River Thames. Since 1965 Molesey has been divided between East Molesey in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and West Molesey located in the municipal district of Elmbridge which remained in Surrey.

For more information see Wikipedia in which the description of East and West Molesey is combined.

Although East Molesey and West Molesey were merged for the earlier part of the 20th century, they were previously consided separate civil parishes and individual chapelries in the ecclesiastical parishes of Kingston upon Thames and Walton on Thames respectively. (Source: A Vision of Britain through Time)

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

"MOLESEY, or MOULSEY (WEST), a village and a parish in Kingston [registration] district, Surrey. The village stands near the river Thames, 1¼ mile W by N of Hampton Court [railway] station, and 3¾ W by S of Kingston; is a small but pleasant place; and has a post office under Kingston, London, SW. The parish comprises 650 acres. Real property: £2,824. Population: 459. Houses: 98. The property is divided among a few. The manor belongs to Lord Hotham and Lady Berkeley. Molesey Grove was, for many years, the residence of the Right Hon. J. Wilson Croker. There are several other good residences, and some market gardens. The living is a [perpetual] curacy in the diocese of Winchester. Value: £100. Patron: Mrs. Croker. The church was rebuilt in 1843, and enlarged in 1860; retains the tower of a previous edifice; comprises N aisle, and chancel; and contains a later English font. Charities about £30."

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.