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Offline Valda

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A GUIDE TO BURIALS IN THE LONDON AREA
« on: Tuesday 01 September 09 13:15 BST (UK) »

A GUIDE TO BURIALS IN THE LONDON AREA




Records of London burials can be difficult to trace. Surviving parish and cemetery burial registers are held in different locations and there is no central index. Some records are online, many are not.



The guide is divided into the following sections



CIVIL REGISTRATION AND CHURCH OF ENGLAND PARISHES (PAGE 1)

ANGLICAN CHURCH BURIAL REGISTERS BACKGROUND INFORMATION (PAGE 1)

ANGLICAN CHURCH BURIAL REGISTERS DEPOSITED IN RECORD OFFICES (PAGE 1)

UNDEPOSITED ANGLICAN REGISTERS (PAGE 1)

ONLINE SOURCES FOR ANGLICAN CHURCH BURIAL REGISTERS (PAGE 1)

INDIVIDUAL PARISH CHURCH BURIALS ONLINE (PAGE 1)

MONUMENTAL INSCRIPTIONS ONLINE (PAGE 1)

OTHER USEFUL WEBSITES (PAGE 1)

FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETIES AND PUBLICATIONS (PAGE 2)

NON-CONFORMIST BURIAL GROUND REGISTERS HELD AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND ONLINE (PAGE 2)

NONCONFORMIST BURIAL REGISTERS DEPOSITED IN LOCAL ARCHIVES (PAGE 2)

ROMAN CATHOLIC REGISTERS (PAGE 2)

JEWISH CEMETERY REGISTERS (PAGE 2)

CIVIC CEMETERIES BACKGROUND INFORMATION (PAGE 2)

THE GEOGRAPHY OF LONDON - LOCAL AUTHORITY ADMINISTRATION IN LONDON (PAGE 2)

CIVIC CEMETERIES LISTED BY LONDON BOROUGHS (PAGE 2-4)

WHO MIGHT BE MISSING FROM CHURCH OF ENGLAND BURIAL REGISTERS (PAGE 4)




Click on any of the blue underlined hyperlinks in the guide to view the information you are interested in.





CIVIL REGISTRATION AND CHURCH OF ENGLAND PARISHES



Civil registration commenced on 1st July 1837. Over the years with the growth and movement of the population the civil registration districts have altered. TOWER HAMLETS local registrar’s office illustrates this point by showing a timeline of the changes to registration districts and sub-districts now within its area. 


REGISTRATION DISTRICTS IN LONDON up to 1965 and from 1965–1974 on the Genuki website tracks the changes made up to 31st March 1974 and also has a very useful downloadable place name index which includes the registration district each place was registered in. 

ENGLAND JURISDICTIONS FOR 1851 is a map of the counties of England produced by Family Search. The map shows various levels of county division including parish and civil registration districts. The parish map shows all the ecclesiastical parishes (Church of England) in each county.


As London grew it absorbed areas of the surrounding counties. Between 1889 and 1965 practically all of Middlesex, parts of north Kent and Surrey and west Essex became part of the County of London and later Greater London.

FAMILY SEARCH aims to have information on each Church of England (or Anglican) Church and its parish (the information is still being added to) in each historic county.


CITY OF LONDON

COUNTY OF MIDDLESEX 

COUNTY OF ESSEX 

COUNTY OF KENT 

COUNTY OF SURREY 

 
GENUKI is also a useful website for information about individual parishes.


Civil registration districts should not to be confused with church parishes of the same name since all registration districts covered wider areas and contained many churches and places. LONDON/SURREY REGISTRATION DISTRICTS/CHURCHES attempts to detail the Anglican churches (only) found in 36 London Registration Districts.

Westminster Archives GUIDE on Anglican Churches and which civil registration districts of Westminster they were in.
 





Census information is Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

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A GUIDE TO BURIALS IN THE LONDON AREA
« Reply #1 on: Tuesday 01 September 09 13:21 BST (UK) »

A GUIDE TO BURIALS IN THE LONDON AREA




ANGLICAN CHURCH BURIAL REGISTERS BACKGROUND INFORMATION



Before the 1850s most burials took place in churchyards though some institutions had their own burial grounds. Every inhabitant of a parish had a right to be buried in their parish churchyard or burial ground. Before the 1840s most people were buried in Anglican (Church of England) churchyards, though some non-conformist churches also had burial grounds. During larger epidemics further burial sites would be set aside for the duration of the deaths.  By the late C18th as London churchyards increasingly became overcrowded private speculators offering cheaper burials bought burial grounds from non-conformist chapels. Though the survival of Anglican Church registers is relatively good many of these other burial grounds have no surviving records.

By the 1840s city churchyards and burial grounds were overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of bodies needing to be buried. They were considered major health risks and were increasingly closed to new burials. By the early 1850s following the Burial Act of 1852, the majority of churchyards in the areas nearest the City of London were closed or would be closed within the next few years. THE TIMES newspaper listed some of the closures as they took place.



Some examples of C19th descriptions of London churchyards


St Anne Soho Westminster a churchyard of half an acre.

It is estimated that in this small ground and the vaults under the church 110,240 bodies were interred during 160 years.
The ground is very full, and is considerably raised above its original level; it is overlooked by houses thickly inhabited. The inhabitants of the neighbourhood have frequently complained of the past and present condition of this place.



St Giles in the Fields

It is full of coffins, up to the surface. Coffins are broken up before they are decayed, and bodies are removed to the "bone house" before they are sufficiently decayed to make their removal decent. The effect upon the atmosphere, in that very densely populated spot, must be very injurious.


St Mary Whitechapel

It appears almost impossible to dig a grave in this ground without coming into contact with some recent interment, and the grave digger's pick is often forced through the lid of a coffin when least expected, from which so dreadful an effluvium is emitted, as to occasion immediate annoyance; most of the graves are very shallow, - some entire coffins, indeed, are to be found within a foot and a half of the surface.



By 1895 Isabella Holmes for the London County Council had found the location of nearly 500 burial grounds, churchyards and civic cemeteries in the city and suburbs of London, of which 364 still existed at least in part, 90 of which were public gardens. In 1895 only 41, largely civic cemeteries were still in use. The county of London in 1895 was around 119 square miles in size and Isabella didn’t count in her list any just beyond its boundaries. Greater London formed in 1965 is just over 300 square miles in size.
There is a short video on YOU TUBE about London’s Lost Burial Grounds


Detailed information about London churchyards and burial grounds by geographic region and parish is given at LONDON BURIAL GROUNDS which has background information and modern photographs (though not of individual gravestones). Many London churchyards and burial grounds have been lost mainly through redevelopment or some from bombing during World War Two. The London Burial Grounds website gives present and past information on each churchyard and burial ground.
LONDON GARDENS ONLINE includes information on some surviving churchyards.
When churchyards and crypts were cleared the remains were reburied in mass graves in civic cemeteries. A more modern example is the crypt of ST MARYLEBONE 


As the population of London continued to grow throughout the nineteenth century, beginning largely in the 1840s, large non-denominational civic cemeteries were created and further churchyards in increasingly urbanised areas were closed to new burials. Throughout the twentieth and twenty first centuries further civic cemeteries and crematoriums were established. The records for these civic cemeteries and crematoriums are usually held by the London boroughs that now manage them or by companies where the cemetery and crematorium is privately owned.


Churches where burials have ceased in churchyards may still continue to maintain registers of burial services where the service is held at the church with the interment taking place at the cemetery, though this is not always clearly stated in the registers themselves. Increasingly in urban areas most services were held at the cemetery chapels. 






Census information is Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

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A GUIDE TO BURIALS IN THE LONDON AREA
« Reply #2 on: Tuesday 01 September 09 13:27 BST (UK) »

A GUIDE TO BURIALS IN THE LONDON AREA




ANGLICAN CHURCH BURIAL REGISTERS DEPOSITED IN RECORD OFFICES



The GUILDHALL LIBRARY and the LONDON METROPOLITAN ARCHIVES jointly hold a large proportion of the deposited church registers for the City of London and the historic county of Middlesex (excluding Westminster). The LMA also hold registers for areas of Surrey and Kent which became part of the newly formed county of London in 1889 (Battersea, Bermondsey, Camberwell, Deptford, Greenwich, Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark, Wandsworth and Woolwich), but not the areas of Essex, Kent and Surrey which became part of Greater London in 1965.
LONDON GENERATIONS is the London Metropolitan Archives online index for parish registers and also includes a guide to which areas are in which present day Greater London Boroughs.
The London Metropolitan Archives GUIDE to parish registers and the Guildhall Library LIST of parishes in the City of London


WESTMINSTER ARCHIVES GUIDE lists the parish registers deposited at this archive. These church registers (excluding Bishops Transcripts held at the London Metropolitan Archives) are not at present online.



These county archives hold the deposited registers for areas of their counties which became part of Greater London in 1965.


ESSEX RECORD OFFICE holds most of the deposited registers for present day London boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Havering, Newham and Redbridge. The exception is the London borough of WALTHAM FOREST where registers are deposited with the local borough archives. For a subscription Essex Record Office has unindexed images of parish registers online. SEAX Essex Record Office online index


SURREY HISTORY CENTRE GUIDE lists the parish registers deposited at this archive. These church registers (excluding Bishops Transcripts held at the London Metropolitan Archives) are not at present online, but will be online by 2013 on the subscription website ANCESTRY.




THE CENTRE FOR KENTISH STUDIES holds copies of parish registers in the London boroughs of Bexley and Bromley. The deposited registers are held by the local archives of the London boroughs of BEXLEY and BROMLEY. The county record office has produced a GUIDE to parish registers which lists the whereabouts of deposited registers.



LOCAL LONDON BOROUGH ARCHIVES


The local archives and history centres in the present day thirty two London boroughs may have produced transcriptions and indexes of the parish registers and monumental inscriptions and will have microfilmed copies of the parish registers for their areas and in some cases the actual original deposited registers. Some examples of historic parish registers deposited in local London Archives include


All Saints Isleworth - Hounslow Local Studies Library

St Luke Charlton – Greenwich Heritage Centre

St Margaret Lee – Lewisham Local History and Archives Centre

St Paul Hammersmith – Hammersmith and Fulham Archives and Local History Centre


The GUIDE on the Rootschat London and Middlesex boards to London Archives and useful information leaflets, lists all the London borough archives and gives the link to their websites. Many though not all have either online indexes or lists of the parish registers and indexes they hold.



 


Census information is Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

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A GUIDE TO BURIALS IN THE LONDON AREA
« Reply #3 on: Tuesday 01 September 09 13:31 BST (UK) »

A GUIDE TO BURIALS IN THE LONDON AREA




UNDEPOSITED ANGLICAN REGISTERS


Not all churches have deposited their records. This is a short list of only some of the oldest and most important London Anglican churches where historical registers still remain with the church.



ALL HALLOWS BARKING BY THE TOWER
Guildhall Library has microfilm copies or the registers 1558-1899. The church’s burial registers are indexed on the National Burial Index 1813-1861


DULWICH COLLEGE CHAPEL


LINCOLN’S INN CHAPEL HOLBORN 


ST GILES IN THE FIELDS 
The London Metropolitan Archives holds copies of the registers on microfilm.


ST JOHN THE BAPTIST ELTHAM 
Indexes and transcripts are held at Greenwich Heritage Centre


ST MARY ABBOTS KENSINGTON
Details of TRANSCRIPTS held elsewhere


ST NICHOLAS CHISWICK
Microfilm copies 1678-1900 are held at Hounslow Local Studies Library


ST PETER AD VINCULA (Chapel Royal of the Tower of London)



Westminster Archives GUIDE for a full list of registers in the Westminster area that are not deposited.






Census information is Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk


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A GUIDE TO BURIALS IN THE LONDON AREA
« Reply #4 on: Tuesday 01 September 09 13:34 BST (UK) »

A GUIDE TO BURIALS IN THE LONDON AREA




ONLINE SOURCES FOR ANGLICAN CHURCH BURIAL REGISTERS




FAMILY SEARCH England Deaths and Burials 1538-1991 is a free index from The Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS), also known as Mormons.
The LDS has many family history centres around the world. You can order and use their microfilms for a small charge. A list of their CENTRES   
It is worth checking their catalogue to see which parish and cemetery registers they hold on microfilm in their FILM CATALOGUE 



The National Burial Index 3 (NBI) CD was released March 2010 has relatively poor coverage of the London area. See the FEDERATION OF FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETIES website for coverage.   
Some of the indexes from the NBI are also on FINDMY PAST though not all Family History Societies have allowed their indexes from the NBI to be transferred to this website.


Findmypast Parish Records Collection 1538-2005 includes the following indexes

WESTMINSTER PARISH REGISTERS 1539-1945 Findmypast aims to index and put images onto the internet of parish registers deposited at Westminster Archives.

MIDDLESEX PARISH REGISTERS 1538-1890
Most if not all of these parish registers are held by the London Metropolitan Archives which is in partnership with Ancestry, so these can only be indexes or transcripts

BOYD'S LONDON BURIALS 1538-1872 on Findmypast is an index largely of adult male burials. The index was completed in 1934 and is by no means comprehensive (only 243,000 entries).
 
ST LEONARD'S SHOREDITCH Burials 1805-1858 and Workhouse Deaths 1820-1828
The records are held at the London Metropolitan Archives which is in partnership with Ancestry, so these can only be indexes or transcripts 

Findmypast CITY OF LONDON burial registers index (excluding St Peter Ad Vincula) also includes five in Southwark across the river Thames from the City and some non-conformist burial grounds. Work is on-going to extend the index back to 1754.
The CITY OF LONDON burial index can also be found on British Origins



Ancestry's THE LONDON DIGITALISATION PROGRAMME aims to index and put images onto the internet of parish registers deposited at the Guildhall Library and the London Metropolitan Archives. Parish registers include those for the City of London, now known as the square mile and the parishes included in the County of London established in 1889 and the whole of the County of Middlesex. Other Anglican parishes are included in the project where the London Metropolitan Archives hold Bishops Transcripts for that parish such as registers held at Westminster Archives. . Bishops' Transcripts were the annual returns of baptisms, marriages and burials submitted by the parish to the bishop. The survival rate of BTs is far less comprehensive. Some parishes have no BTs or a surviving run of only a few years which may be intermittent. As BTs are copies of the registers they are not without errors and omissions though occasionally they may contain more information than found in the register.
The London Metropolitan Archives Guide for Ancestry users A TO Z of London parishes (those on Ancestry that are deposited at the LMA and those that are not in the areas of the County of London formed in 1889). London parishes arranged by current LONDON BOROUGH

LONDON EXTRACTED PARISH RECORDS is a miscellaneous collection of records on Ancestry that includes some burials. SURREY EXTRACTED PARISH RECORDS includes some parish registers in Greater London and formerly historic Surrey.
 
 




Census information is Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

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A GUIDE TO BURIALS IN THE LONDON AREA
« Reply #5 on: Tuesday 01 September 09 13:37 BST (UK) »

A GUIDE TO BURIALS IN THE LONDON AREA





INDIVIDUAL PARISH CHURCH BURIALS ONLINE



If anyone knows of any others please send me a pm


City of London parish registers (there were well over a 100 churches just in the ‘square mile’ of the City)



ALL HALLOWS BREAD STREET 1538-1851 and ST JOHN THE EVANGELIST FRIDAY STREET 1653-1822 published 1913


CHRIST CHURCH NEWGATE 1538-1754 published 1895


DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH AUSTIN FRIARS 1571-1874 includes monumental inscriptions published 1884


ST ANTHOLIN BUDGE ROW 1538-1754 and ST JOHN THE BAPTIST ON WALLBROOK 1682-1754 published 1883


ST BENET 1619-1837 and ST PETER PAUL’S WHARF 1607-1837 published 1909


ST BOTOLPH BISHOPGATE 1628-1752 published 1889


ST DIONIS BACKCHURCH 1538-1758 published 1878


ST HELEN’S BISHOPGATE 1575-1853 published 1904


ST MARTIN OUTWICH 1670-1852 published 1905


ST MARY THE VIRGIN ALDERMARY 1558-1754 published 1880


ST MARY LE BOWE CHEAPSIDE 1538-1697 united with the other two parishes 1627-1812 and alone 1813-1852, ALL HALLOWS HONEY LANE 1538-1851 and ST PANCRAS SOPER LANE 1538-1849 published 1914


ST MARY WOOLNOTH and ST MARY WOOLCHURCH HAW 1538-1760 published 1886


ST MICHAEL CORNHILL 1546-1754 published 1882


ST MILDRED BREAD STREET 1670-1858 and ST MARGARET MOSES FRIDAY STREET 1558-1850 published 1912


ST NICHOLAS ACONS 1539-1812 published 1890


ST OLAVE HART STREET 1563-1700 published 1916


ST PAUL’S CATHEDRAL 1766-1899 published 1899


ST PETER’S UPON CORNHILL 1538-1774 published 1877

 
ST STEPHEN’S WALBROOK 1557-1716 united with ST BENET SHEREHOG 1716-1860 published 1919 


ST THOMAS THE APOSTLE 1558-1754 published 1881


ST VEDAST FOSTER LANE 1558-1836 and ST MICHAEL LE QUERN 1685-1836 published 1902
 

TEMPLE CHURCH 1628-1825

 





Census information is Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

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A GUIDE TO BURIALS IN THE LONDON AREA
« Reply #6 on: Thursday 24 December 09 13:24 GMT (UK) »

A GUIDE TO BURIALS IN THE LONDON AREA





INDIVIDUAL PARISH CHURCH BURIALS ONLINE



If anyone knows of any others please send me a pm


Registers from parishes formerly in the county of Middlesex which became part of London either in 1889 or 1965



CHARTERHOUSE CHAPEL 1695-1812 includes monumental inscriptions published 1892


ST JAMES CLERKENWELL 1551-1754 published 1884


ST JAMES HAMPTON HILL 1864-2000 includes monumental inscriptions


ST JOHN HAMPSTEAD 1813-1816 (so far)


ST MARY ABBOTS KENSINGTON 1539-1675 published 1890


ST LEONARDS SHOREDITCH 1558-1640 A-M and N-Z


SOMERSET HOUSE CHAPEL 1714-1776 published 1862
 

ST MARGARET’S WESTMINSTER 1539-1660 published 1914


ST MARTIN IN THE FIELDS 1550-1619 published 1898


ST PAUL’S COVENT GARDEN 1653-1752 and 1753-1853 published 1908 and 1909


WESTMINSTER ABBEY (ST PETER’S) 1606-1875 published 1876

 





Census information is Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

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A GUIDE TO BURIALS IN THE LONDON AREA
« Reply #7 on: Thursday 24 December 09 13:26 GMT (UK) »

A GUIDE TO BURIALS IN THE LONDON AREA




INDIVIDUAL PARISH CHURCH BURIALS ONLINE



If anyone knows of any others please send me a pm


Registers from parishes formerly in the county of Kent which became part of London either in 1889 or 1965



ST MARGARET LEE 1579-1754 published 1888


ALL SAINTS ORPINGTON 1560-1754 published 1895




Registers from parishes formerly in the county of Surrey which became part of London either in 1889 or 1965



ST MARY THE BLESSED VIRGIN ADDINGTON 1559-1812 online transcription published in 1907 (in a volume with other parish transcriptions)


ALL SAINTS KINGSTON UPON THAMES 1850-1901
 

ST LAWRENCE MORDEN 1634-1812 online transcription published in 1901 (includes monumental inscriptions)


ST MARY’S RICHMOND UPON THAMES 1583-1720 and 1720-1780 online transcription published in 1903 and 1905 


ALL SAINTS SANDERSTEAD 1567-1812 online transcription published in 1908 (in a volume with other parish transcriptions)


ST NICHOLAS SUTTON 1636-1812 online transcription published in 1915


ALL SAINTS WANDSWORTH 1603-1787 online transcription published in 1889

 





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A GUIDE TO BURIALS IN THE LONDON AREA
« Reply #8 on: Thursday 24 December 09 13:28 GMT (UK) »

A GUIDE TO BURIALS IN THE LONDON AREA





MONUMENTAL INSCRIPTIONS



Westminster Archives GUIDE to monumental inscription transcriptions held for Westminster churches.




MONUMENTAL INSCRIPTIONS ONLINE



If anyone knows of any others please send me a pm



City of London


CHURCHYARD INSCRIPTIONS OF THE CITY OF LONDON published 1910
 

ST OLAVE’S JEWRY published 1887




Churchyards formerly in the county of Middlesex which became part of London either in 1889 or 1965



A Collection of Curious and Interesting Epitaphs, Copied from the Monuments of Distinguished and Noted Characters in the Churches and Churchyards of EDMONTON, ENFIELD, FRIERN BARNET, HADLEY, HORNSEY and TOTTENHAM published 1875


A collection of curious and interesting epitaphs copied from the Monuments of Distinguished and Noted Characters in the ANCIENT CHURCH AND BURIAL GROUNDS OF ST PANCRAS published 1869


A Collection of Curious and Interesting Epitaphs, Copied from the Monuments of Distinguished and Noted Characters in the Cemeteries and CHURCHES OF ST PANCRAS published 1872


ALL HALLOWS TOTTENHAM

 


Churchyards formerly in the county of Kent which became part of London either in 1889 or 1965



CHARLTON: NEAR WOOLWICH full and complete copies of all the inscriptions in the old parish church and churchyard, together with notes on the history of the manor and of the families connected with the place published 1908


KENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY has some churchyard monumental inscriptions online which were transcribed mostly between the 1760s and 1923. They do not purport to be full transcriptions of all the gravestones found in each churchyard.
They include St Mary’s Bexley (?), St George’s Beckenham (1922), St Peter & St Paul Bromley (1914), St Luke’s Charlton (1908), St Nicholas Chislehurst (1890), St Nicholas Deptford (pre 1880), St John the Baptist Erith (1885),  St Margaret’s Lee (1830), St Mary’s Lewisham (1889?), All Saints’ Orpington (1919), St Mary Cray (1921), St Paul Cray (1921), St Bartholomew’s Sydenham (1974), St John the Baptist West Wickham (1891), St Mary’s Woolwich (1893)




Churchyards formerly in the county of Surrey which became part of London either in 1889 or 1965



ST JOHN THE BAPTIST CROYDON parish church online transcription published in 1818


CROYDON online transcription published 1883 and includes ADDINGTON, BEDDINGTON and SHIRLEY


ST MARY LAMBETH online transcription published in 1826


ST MARY NEWINGTON PART 1 A-I online transcription published in 1880

 


LOOKUPS OFFERED


Churches formerly in the county of Essex which became part of London in 1965



ST THOMAS NOAK HILL burials 1841-1920 and monumental inscriptions







Census information is Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk