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England London Boroughs  Borough and City of Westminster

Guide to The London Borough and City of Westminster, history, family history, and genealogy parish registers, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records. Lewisham

History
The City of Westminster is an Inner London borough which also holds city status. It occupies much of the central area of Greater London including most of the West End. It is to the west of and adjoining the ancient City of London, directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and its southern boundary is the River Thames. The London borough was created with the 1965 establishment of Greater London. Upon its creation, it inherited the city status previously held by the smaller Metropolitan Borough of Westminster from 1900, which was first awarded to Westminster in 1540.

Aside from a number of large parks and open spaces, the population density of the district is high. Many sites commonly associated with London are in the borough, including St. James's Palace, Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, and 10 Downing Street. The borough is divided into a number of localities including the ancient political district of Westminster around the Palace of Westminster; the shopping areas around Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Bond Street; and the night-time entertainment district of Soho.

The origins of the City of Westminster pre-date the Norman Conquest of England. In the mid-11th century, King Edward the Confessor began the construction of an abbey at Westminster, only the foundations of which survive today. Between the abbey and the river he built a palace, thereby guaranteeing that the seat of Government would be fixed at Westminster, and inevitably drawing power and wealth west out of the old City of London.

For centuries Westminster and the City of London were geographically quite distinct. It was not until the sixteenth century that houses began to be built over the adjoining fields, eventually absorbing nearby villages such as Marylebone and Kensington, and gradually creating the vast Greater London that exists today.

Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries abolished the abbey at Westminster, although the former abbey church is still called Westminster Abbey. The church was briefly the cathedral of the Diocese of Westminster created from part of the Diocese of London in 1540, by letters patent which also granted city status to Westminster, a status retained after the diocese was abolished in 1550. The Westminster Court of Burgesses was formed in 1585 to govern the Westminster area, previously under the Abbey's control. The City and Liberties of Westminster were further defined by Letters Patent in 1604, and the court of burgesses and liberty continued in existence until 1900, and the creation of the Metropolitan Borough of Westminster.

The present-day City of Westminster as an administrative entity with its present boundaries dates from 1965, when the City of Westminster was created from the former area of three metropolitan boroughs: St Marylebone, Paddington, and the smaller Metropolitan Borough of Westminster, which included Soho, Mayfair, St. James's, Strand, Westminster, Pimlico, Belgravia, and Hyde Park. This restructuring took place under the London Government Act 1963, which significantly reduced the number of local government districts in London, resulting in local authorities responsible for larger geographical areas and greater populations.

Cemeteries (Civil)
Brockley and Ladywell Cemetery


 * 113 Brockley Grove
 * London SE4 1DZ
 * Phone: +44 20 8314 3210

Grove Park Cemetery


 * Marvels Ln
 * London SE12 9PU
 * Phone: +44 20 8314 9635

Hither Green Cemetery


 * London SE6 1TW

For further information on cemeteries and crematoria in the Lewisham London Borough, please contact the following web address: https://www.lewisham.gov.uk/myservices/birthsdeathsmarriagesCP/deaths/Pages/cemeteries-and-crematoriums.aspx.

Parishes
St Stephen and St Mark


 * Lewisham High St
 * London SE13 5AF
 * Phone: +44 20 8318 1295

St Swithin


 * 191 Hither Green Ln
 * Lewisham, London SE13 6QE
 * Phone: +44 20 8852 5088

St Mary the Virgin


 * 346 Lewisham High St
 * London SE13 6LE
 * Phone: +44 20 8690 3298

St Laurence Catford


 * 37 Bromley Rd
 * London SE6 2TS
 * Phone: +44 20 8698 9706

St Paul's


 * Mary Ann Gardens
 * Deptford, London SE8 3DP
 * Phone: +44 20 8692 7449

Church of the Good Shepherd


 * Handen Rd
 * Lee, London SE12 8NR
 * Phone: +44 20 8318 2363

St John's


 * St John's Vale
 * London SE8 4EA
 * Phone: +44 7786 160993

St Margaret's


 * Lee Terrace
 * Blackheath, London SE13 5DL
 * Phone: +44 20 8318 9643

All Saints


 * All Saints Dr
 * Blackheath, London SE3 0TY
 * Phone: +44 20 8852 4280

St Andrew the Apostle


 * Sandhurst Rd
 * Catford SE6 1XD
 * Phone: +44 20 8697 2600

St Hilda's


 * Brockley Road
 * Crofton Park, London, SE23 1PL
 * Phone: +44 20 8699 1277

St Michael's and All Angels


 * Champion Crescent
 * Sydenham SE26 4HH
 * Phone: +44 20 8778 4563

Non Conformists
Other Christian and non Christian religious groups follow:


 * Baptists
 * Evangelical
 * Christ Rock Ministries
 * Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
 * Evangelical
 * Lutheran
 * Methodist
 * Roman Catholic
 * Seventh Day Adventist
 * The Bear Church
 * United Reformed Church

Non Christian populations include:


 * Buddhist
 * Hindu
 * Jews
 * Muslims
 * Sikhs

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the UK government, from July 1837 to the present day. Previous to that date, records were primarily kept by local parishes, and by other ecclesiastical bodies.

Lewisham Borough has its own Register Office. The address follows:


 * 368 Lewisham High St
 * London SE13 6LQ
 * Phone: +44 20 8690 2128

Other useful sources follow:


 * Kent County Council BMD records


 * ukbmd: Lewisham Registration District


 * bmd-certificates: Lewisham District

Local Histories

 * british history on line: Lewisham


 * british history online: Deptford


 * Lewisham Council: Local History and Heritage


 * History of the BOrough of Lewisham by Leland Duncan


 * Images of London: Lewisham


 * Old Deptford History

Maps and Gazetteers

 * google maps: Borough of Lewisham


 * old maps on line: Lewisham


 * francis frith: old maps of Deptford


 * hidden london: Deptford Gazetteer


 * hidden london: Lewisham gazetteer

Newspapers

 * South London Press and Mercury


 * old newspapers: Lewisham


 * The Independent: Lewisham Edition


 * London Evening Standard: Deptford

Occupations
Lewisham borough is highly accessible to most parts of London. It is well located for access to markets and jobs in central London, Canary Wharf and other emerging development areas of the Thames Gateway, and southwards to Bromley, Croydon and the Gatwick area. The areas connectivity in terms of both transport and broadband is its most significant economic asset.

Lewisham’s local businesses are predominantly small or SME businesses, providing a ready demand for office space. The main sectors are retail, business services and construction, with a small but growing creative sector clustered around Goldsmiths, University of London and built around their graduates.

Goldsmiths, University of London together with Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance and Lewisham College (one of England’s highest performing FE Colleges) create a strong HE and FE resource for the borough with significant potential as economic drivers.

There is a strong entrepreneurial spirit in Lewisham with higher rates of self employment in comparison to others in the region. However, business survival rates are lower than the regional average and fewer businesses grow (in terms of employment). Lewisham has the smallest proportion of residents working in banking, finance and insurance and the highest proportion (39%) working in public administration, education and health. Nearly 70% of working residents travel outside of the borough for work, with the majority to central London.

Lewisham Borough is a major location for employment in the commercial shopping arena. Lewisham's commercial area is one of the largest in south-east London. Lewisham Shopping Center, opened in 1977, has 70 stores and is over 330,000 square feet. Shops include Marks & Spencer, W H Smith, Sainsburys, H&M, TK Maxx, JD Sports, BHS, SportsDirect.com, Argos and Boots.[13] The centre is between Molesworth Street (a dual carriageway section of the A21) and Lewisham High Street, but most shoppers enter and leave on the High Street. Lewisham Market and the Library are outside the shopping centre in the High Street. Since the Docklands Light Railway extension reached Lewisham, the centre has had an increase in customers. The centre is the major shopping centre in the borough of Lewisham. Also part of the complex is the Lewisham House office tower, the tallest building in the borough and formerly occupied by Citibank. There are proposals to convert this brutalist skyscraper to flats.

Societies

 * Lewisham Local History Society


 * Northwest Kent Family History Society

Archives

 * Lewisham Borough Archives


 * The National Archives: Lewisham


 * The National Archives: Deptford


 * Kent County Archives

Web Sites

 * wikipedia: Lewisham


 * wikipedia: London Borough of Lewisham


 * wikipedia: Deptford


 * Kent County Council