Wandsworth, London Borough Genealogy

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



History
As with all the other London Boroughs, Wandsworth Borough was organized by the central UK Government in 1965. It includes the former areas of Wandsworth, plus the Metropolitan Borough of Battersea. Previously Wandsworth and Battersea were part of the County of Surrey. Included are web sites for the County of Surrey that should be of major help in researching family history

At the time of the Domesday Book (1086), the manor of Wandsworth was held partly by William, son of Ansculfy, and partly by St Wandrille's Abbey. Its Domesday assets were 12 hides, with 5½ ploughs and 22 acres (89,000 m2) of meadow. Since at least the early 16th century, Wandsworth has offered accommodation to consecutive waves of immigration, from Protestant Dutch metalworkers fleeing persecution in the 1590s to recent Eastern European members of the European Union.

Between Wandsworth town center and the river is the site of Young & Co's Ram Brewery. Traditional draught beer was produced on the site for 425 years starting from 1581, making the Ram Brewery the oldest site in Britain at which beer had been brewed continuously. Shire horse-drawn brewery drays were still used to deliver beer to local pubs. Brewing by Young's stopped in September 2006 when Young & Co merged its operations with Charles Wells of Bedford, brewing does continue on the site by a master brewer albeit in small amounts. A planning application to redevelop the site for residential and shopping/leisure "mixed use" was submitted in 2012.

Wandsworth gas plant was built in 1834 against the River Thames near Wandsworth Bridge. The undertaking became the Wandsworth and Putney Gaslight and Coke Company in 1854 and was incorporated by Act of Parliament in 1856. Coal for making coal gas was brought by sea from North East England and unloaded on the Thames beside the gasworks. The firm grew by a series of mergers and takeovers so that by 1936 it served a considerable area of south-west London. The company's name evolved each time it merged with or took over neighboring gas companies, but from 1936 it was the Wandsworth and District Gas Company. The company was nationalised in 1949 and became part of the South Eastern Gas Board.

Wandsworth has a low foreign born population, compared to London as a whole, at 28.1%. The most prevalent foreign born population is South African. According to recent studies, 78% of the population was White, 9.6% Black and 6.9% South Asian.

Cemeteries (Civil)
Putney Vale Cemetery Stag Ln Wimbledon SW15 3DZ Phone: +44 20 3959 0090

St Mary's Cemetery Bolingbroke Grove Wandsworth SW11 1HE

Wandsworth (Earlsfield) Cemetery (Commonwealth War Graves) 32 Magdalen Rd London SW18 3ER Phone: +44 20 8871 7820

Parishes
The Wandsworth Borough Council keeps a listing of the Anglican parishes within the boundaries of the Borough. Visit:

www.wandsworth.gov.uk/directory/13/places_of_worship/category/97.

Non Conformists
Other Christian and non-christian groups follow:


 * Baptist


 * Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints


 * Evangelical


 * Iglesia Ni Cristo (Philippines)


 * Jehovah's Witnesses


 * Lutheran


 * Methodist


 * Potters House Church


 * Redeemed Christian Church of God


 * Roman Catholic


 * Salvation Army


 * Trinity Road Chapel


 * Seventh Day Adventist

There are a number of communities of non Christian religions including the following:


 * Buddhist


 * Scientology


 * Confucian


 * Jewish


 * Muslim


 * Sikh

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the UK government from July 1837 to the present day. Prior to that, the only available records were those kept by the ecclesiastical bodies. As the Borough of Wandsworth was previously considered part of Surrey County, there is a link to the Surrey County records below.


 * Wandsworth Council BMD records


 * BMD certificates: Wandsworth


 * UKBMD: Wandsworth Registration District


 * Surrey County Council BMD records

Local Histories

 * The Wandsworth History Society


 * Wandsworth Council local history and heritage


 * VisionofBritain: Wandsworth


 * History of Wandsworth by Daniel Lyons


 * Wandsworth History by Patrick Looey

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Oldmapsonline: Wandsworth


 * Google Maps: Wandsworth town


 * Wandsworth Council maps


 * Hiddden London: Wandsworth Gazetteer


 * GENUKI Wandsworth 1868 gazetteer

Newspapers

 * The Wandsworth Guardian


 * The London Evening Guardian, Wandsworth edition


 * Newspapers.com: Battersea and Wandsworth

Occupations
Wandsworth Borough used to be the power house of London for manufacturing and energy production.

Between Wandsworth town center and the river is the site of Young & Co's Ram Brewery. Traditional draught beer was produced on the site for 425 years starting from 1581, making the Ram Brewery the oldest site in Britain at which beer had been brewed continuously. Shire horse-drawn brewery drays were still used to deliver beer to local pubs. Whilst brewing by Young's stopped in September 2006 when Young & Co merged its operations with Charles Wells of Bedford, brewing does continue on the site by a master brewer albeit in small amounts. A planning application to redevelop the site for residential and shopping/leisure "mixed use" has been submitted.

Wandsworth gas plant was built in 1834 against the River Thames near Wandsworth Bridge. The undertaking became the Wandsworth and Putney Gaslight and Coke Company in 1854 and was incorporated by Act of Parliament in 1856. Coal for making coal gas was brought by sea from North East England and unloaded on the Thames beside the gasworks. The firm grew by a series of mergers and takeovers so that by 1936 it served a considerable area of south-west London. The company's name evolved each time it merged with or took over neighboring gas companies, but from 1936 it was the Wandsworth and District Gas Company. The company was nationalized in 1949 and became part of the South Eastern Gas Board. The power plant was shut down in the early part of the twentieth century, and is now a leisure park.

Today Wandsworth and Battersea industrial activities are primarily warehousing and distribution centers, and most opportunities are in these fields.

A high proportion (82.6%) of Wandsworth's workforce is economically active compared to its Inner London neighbors. According to the UK 2011 census, 71 per cent of the borough's usual residents were employed, compared with 62 per cent nationally. Just over half - 51 per cent - of employed people work in professional and associate professional and technical occupations compared to 30 per cent in England and Wales. This ranks Wandsworth seventh nationally. However most of this activity in not within the Borough.

Although relatively small in terms of numbers, 2.5% of usual residents in employment worked in real estate activities, ranking 6th nationally. Information and communication was also a significant industry of employment, with 9.1% of those in employment compared to 6.9% in London and 4.0% in England and Wales.

Societies

 * FamilyHistory Today: Battersea


 * West Surrey family history through churches


 * East Surrey FHS


 * West Surrey FHS

Archives

 * The National Archives: Wandsworth


 * The Wandsworth Council: Archives


 * Newspaperarchives: Putney and Wandsworth newspaper archives


 * The National Archives: Battersea

Websites

 * Wikipedia: London Borough of Wandsworth


 * Wikipedia: Wandsworth


 * Wikipedia: Battersea


 * Surrey County Council