Whitchurch, Middlesex Genealogy

England   Middlesex   Middlesex Parishes   Whitchurch

Parish History
Whitchurch which is otherwise known as Little Stanmore Parish (1558). "STANMORE, LITTLE (St. Lawrence), a parish, in the union of Hendon, hundred of Gore, county of Middlesex, ½ a mile (N. W.) from Edgware; containing 830 inhabitants. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of the Armstrong family: the great tithes have been commuted for £36. 10., and the incumbent's for £415. The church, situated half a mile from the village, was rebuilt, with the exception of the tower, about 1715, by the Duke of Chandos, whose splendid mansion of Canons was in the parish. The internal decorations were completed in 1720. The ceiling and walls were painted by Laguerre. On one side of the altar is a painting of the Nativity, and on the other a Dead Christ; behind it is a recess for the organ, supported by columns of the Corinthian order, and in the back ground are paintings of Moses receiving the Law, and Christ preaching. Handel, who resided at Canons as chapel-master, is said to have composed his sacred drama of Esther for the consecration of Stanmore church; the anthems used in it were composed by him, and the morning and evening services by Pepusch. On September 25th, 1790, a grand miscellaneous concert of sacred music, selected from Handel's works, was performed to his honour in the church. A vault was constructed on the north side of the chancel by the Duke of Chandos, for the interment of his family; and in a large chamber over it is a monument to his ancestor, James, first duke. The free grammar school was established and endowed by Sir Lancelot Lake, in 1656; the income is £50 per annum. Almshouses for seven persons were founded in 1640 by Dame Mary Lake, having an endowment of about £45 per annum.—See Edgware."

1. Samuel Lewis, ed. A Topographical Dictionary of England 183-186. (London: S. Lewis and Co., 1848), Online | here, (accessed: 17 May 2010).

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.

Church records
To find the names of the neighbouring parishes, use England Jurisdictions 1851. In this site, search for the name of the parish, click on the location "pin", click Options and click List contiguous parishes.

Contributor: Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts, nonconformist and other types of church records, such as parish chest records. Add the contact information for the office holding the original records. Add links to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection.

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Middlesex Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

Poor Law Unions
Contributor: Add information about the pertinent poor law unions in the area.

Maps and Gazetteers
Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.
 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
Contributor: Add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.