Ratcliffe, Middlesex Genealogy

England   Middlesex   Middlesex Parishes   Ratcliffe

Parish History
RATCLIFFE, a hamlet, partly in the parish of Limehouse, but chiefly in that of Stepney, union of Stepney, Tower division of the hundred of Ossulstone, county of Middlesex, 1 mile (E.) from London; containing 11,874 inhabitants. The name appears to be a corruption of Redcliff, an appellation probably derived from the red cliff or bank of the Thames, which river flows on the south. In Camden's time this was only a village inhabited principally by seafaring men, but it afterwards much increased in size and population, and the Highway, a broad street formerly planted on each side with elm-trees, at present consists of lines of houses, and extends to Limehouse. The Eastern Institution, in the Commercial-road, for the promotion of literature and science, was established in 1839 by a proprietary of shareholders: the building is of handsome appearance, with a portico of stone, and comprises reading and committee rooms, with a spacious hall for the delivery of lectures, and the performance of concerts. A district church, dedicated to St. James, was erected in 1838 by parliamentary grant; it is a neat building of brick, in the early English style, with a low spire, and contains 1200 sittings, of which 360 are free. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Bishop of London. —See Stepney.

1. Samuel Lewis, ed. A Topographical Dictionary of England 638-640. (London: S. Lewis and Co., 1848), Online | here, (accessed: 03 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.