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England London  Borough of Lewisham

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



History
The London Borough of Lewisham is a London borough in south London, England and forms part of Inner London. The principal settlement of the borough is Lewisham. The local authority is Lewisham London Borough Council and it is based in Catford. The borough was formed in 1965, by the London Government Act 1963, as an amalgamation of the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of Lewisham and the Metropolitan Borough of Deptford, which had been created in 1900 as divisions of the County of London.

Because of the typical bureaucratic hacking of ancient boundaries all in the name of modernization, genealogists will need to be aware that older records could be found under the county of Kenty, as well as encroaching into the former environs of the previous Greater London.

The Prime Meridian (O degrees of longitude) passes through Lewisham. The former districts of Blackheath, Goldsmiths, and the University of London are located within the borough.

Lewisham was most likely to have been founded by a pagan Jute, Leof, who settled (by burning his boat) near St Mary's Church (Ladywell) where the ground was drier, in the 6th century. As to the etymology of the name, Daniel Lysons (1796) wrote:

"In the most ancient Saxon records this place is called Levesham, that is, the house among the meadows; leswe, læs, læse, or læsew, in the Saxon, signifies a meadow, and ham, a dwelling. A Latin legal record, dated 1440, mentions a place in Kent as Levesham which may refer to Lewisham. It is now written, as well in parochial and other records as in common usage, Lewisham." "Leofshema" was an important settlement at the confluence of the rivers Quaggy (from Farnborough) and Ravensbourne (Caesar's Well, Keston), so the village expanded north into the wetter area as drainage techniques improved.

King Alfred was Lord of the Manor of Lewisham, as is celebrated by a plaque in Lewisham Library.

The Manor of Lewisham, with its appendages of Greenwich and Combe, was given by Elthruda, King Alfred's niece, to the abbey of St. Peter at Ghent, of which Lewisham then became a cell, or an alien priory. This grant is said to have been confirmed by King Edgar in 964, and by Edward the Confessor in 1044, with the addition of many privileges.

In the mid-17th century, the then vicar of Lewisham, Abraham Colfe, built a grammar school, a primary school and six almshouses for the inhabitants.

In the 17th century the Manor of Lewisham was purchased by George Legge, later Baron Dartmouth. His son William was raised by Queen Anne to several positions of honour and trust, and was a member of her privy council; and on 5 September 1711, was ennobled as Viscount Lewisham, and Earl of Dartmouth. His grandson George, Lord Dartmouth, obtained from King Charles II[he had been dead for ages] the privilege of holding a fair twice a year, and a market twice a week, upon Blackheath in the parish. The fair used to be held on 12 May and 11 October, but in 1772 it was discontinued, (except for the sale of cattle) by the Earl of Dartmouth, as lord of the manor.[5] The village of Lewisham had its nucleus in its southern part, around the parish church of St Mary, towards the present site of University Hospital Lewisham. The centre migrated north with the coming of the North Kent railway line to Dartford in 1849, encouraging commuter housing. The Official Illustrated Guide to South-Eastern and North and Mid-Kent Railways of June 1863, by George Measom, describes Lewisham as follows: 'Lewisham Station, situated on the slope of an eminence admist picturesque scenery, beautiful green meadows rising abruptly to the summit of the hill on the left, dotted with handsome residences and gardens, while the Common is seen intersected by various cross roads and studded with country inns and houses on the low ground or valley to the right. The area of the parish is 5,789 acres... Lord of the manor, the Earl of Dartmouth to whom it gives the title Viscount'.

Lewisham was administratively part of Kent until 1889, and then formed part of the Metropolitan Borough of Lewisham in the County of London until 1965.

The town center was hit by a V-1 flying bomb in 1944: there were over 300 casualties including 51 fatalities, and it devastated the high street, which was fully restored by the mid-1950s. This horrific event is commemorated by a plaque outside the Lewisham Shopping Center (opened in 1977). The plaque was on the pavement outside the Marks and Spencers store in the main shopping precinct. However, suffering wear and tear, the local authority arranged for it to be mounted to the façade. In 1955 Sainsbury's opened a store in Lewisham which was reported to be Europe's largest self-service supermarket, with 7,500 square feet of retail space, although the one now incorporated in the 1977 shopping center is much smaller. The area at the north end of the High Street was pedestrianised in 1994. It is home to a daily street market and a local landmark, the clock tower, completed in 1900 to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897. The police station, opened in 2004 to replace the station in Ladywell, is officially the largest in Europe.

Cemeteries (Civil)
Hendon cemetery and crematorium


 * Holders Hill Rd
 * London NW7 1NB
 * Phone: +44 20 8359 3370

New Southgate Cemetery and Crematorium


 * Brunswick Park Rd
 * New Southgate
 * London N11 1JJ
 * Phone: +44 20 8361 1713

Parishes
Christ Church, Barnet


 * St Albans Rd
 * Barnet EN5 4LA
 * Phone: +44 20 8449 0832

Holy Trinity, Lyonsdown


 * 18 Lyonsdown Rd
 * New Barnet, Barnet EN5 1JE
 * Phone: +44 20 8216 3786

St Margaret of Antioch


 * 1 Station Rd
 * Edgware HA8 7JE
 * Phone: +44 20 8952 4066

St Peter's


 * 113 Barnet Rd
 * Watford EN5 3FJ
 * Phone: +44 20 8449 0980

St John the Baptist


 * Church House
 * 2 Wood St
 * Barnet EN5 4BW
 * Phone: +44 20 8447 0350

St Mary the Virgin


 * Church Hill Rd
 * Barnet EN4 8XD

St Mark's


 * 56 Pearson Cl
 * Barnet EN5 5HY
 * Phone: +44 20 8440 7490

St Paul's


 * Woodland Rd
 * Arnos Grove N11 1PN
 * Phone: +44 20 8361 1946

All Saints'


 * 122 Oakleigh Rd N
 * London N20 9EZ
 * Phone: +44 20 8445 8388

St Mary the Virgin


 * Hadley Green Rd
 * Barnet EN5 5PZ
 * Phone: +44 20 8449 9441

St Stephen's


 * 150 Bells Hill
 * Barnet EN5 2SL, UK

Oakleigh


 * 168-170 Oakleigh Rd N
 * London N20 0UG
 * Phone: +44 20 8368 4021

St James the Great


 * Friary Rd
 * London N20 0NP

St Mary-at-Finchley


 * 26 Hendon Ln
 * London N3 1TR
 * Phone: +44 20 8248 3818

Christ Church


 * The Green
 * Arnos Grove N14 7EG
 * Phone: +44 20 8886 0384

Non Conformists
Other Christian and non Christian religious groups follow:


 * Baptists
 * Evangelical
 * Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
 * Christian Spiritualist
 * Evangelical
 * Greek Orthodox
 * Iglesia na Christi (Phillipine)
 * Lutheran
 * Methodist
 * Roman Catholic

Non Christian populations include:


 * Buddhists
 * Hindu
 * Jews
 * Muslims
 * Sikhs

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the UK government, from July 1837 to the present day.

Barnet has its own BMD records office, as follows:


 * Town Hall
 * The Burroughs
 * London NW4 4BG
 * Phone: +44 20 8359 6400

Another useful site follows:


 * UK BMD org: Barnet registration district

Local Histories

 * Barnet histories and traditions


 * Britannica.com: Barnet history


 * Barnet then and now by Yasmine Webb


 * Barnet and Hadley Through Time by Robert Bard

Maps and Gazetteers

 * openstreetmap.org: Barnet Borough


 * google maps: Barnet


 * francis frith: old maps of Barnet


 * Barnet gazetteer


 * genuki.org: Chipping Barnet Gazetteer

Newspapers

 * The Times, Barnet

All the major London dailies cover Barnet.


 * The London Evening Standard; Barnet edition


 * The Guardian


 * The Times


 * The Express


 * The Daily Mail

Occupations
Barnet is essentially welded to the City of London, and, as such, offers opportunities in the major fields of banking, finance, insurance,stockbroking, education, and governance. It is, however, a community of haves and have-nots, with many menial positions catering to the larger offices. There are also many positions available in the hotel and food industries.

Societies

 * London Westminster & Middlesex Family History Society


 * West Middlesex Family History Society


 * National Archives: Barnet History

Archives

 * Barnet Archives


 * Barnet photos archives


 * The National Archives: Barnet Borough

Web Sites

 * wikipedia; London Borough of Barnet


 * Barnet Council


 * links to old Middlesex


 * Hertfordshire COunty Council