St Benet Gracechurch with St Leonard Eastcheap, London Genealogy

England London  London Parishes  St Benet Gracechurch with St Leonard Eastcheap

Parish History
St Benet Gracechurch with St Leonard Eastcheap, the church of is situated at the southwest corner of Fenchurch Street and Grace Church Street, near the office of Lombard Street. It derives its name from its dedication to St. Benedict, or Bennett, and its vicinity to the grass market, which was anciently held before its western door. The old church was destroyed by the great fire in 1666, and rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren. It is a handsome church, and of the harmonious proportions of a double cube, being 60 feet in length, 30 and breath, and 32 in height, the 2 feet in height being allowed by our great master to compensate for optical defect. It is a richly ornamented after the fashion of the day, as Hanson molded wainscot, carved pulpit and altar, and a richly carved font. It was finished for divine service in 1685. The exterior is finished by a handsome Corning's, a lofty blocking course, and light balustrade. The tower begins from the ground, like all of Wren's, and the tower above the is lofty and obeliscal, beginning from five small porticos and finishing with a ball and vane.

The church of St. Leonard Eastcheap, was also destroyed at the same time, and the present church is now the parochial church of the two united parishes. It is a rectory, patronage of which appears to have remained in the dean and chapter of St. Paul's; but as the patronage of the rectory of St. Leonard was anciently in the priors and content of Canterbury and since the Reformation, in the dean and chapter of that city, of which it is one of the 13 players within the city, the presentation is alternately with St. Paul's in Canterbury.

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 neighboring 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.

1638 Inhabitants List

 * Inhabitants of London in 1638 - St Bennet Gracechurch, courtesy: British History Online
 * Inhabitants of London in 1638 - St Leonard, Eastcheap, courtesy: British History Online

1666 Hearth Tax

 * Hearth Tax: City of London 1666 - St Benet Gracechurch, courtesy: British History Online
 * Hearth Tax: City of London 1666 - St Leonards Eastcheap, courtesy: British History Online

Add unique information about the censuses. Add links to online census records, and/or link to the Family History Library

Church Records
Contributor: Include an overview if there is any unique information, such as the census for X year was destroyed. Add a link to online sites for indexes and/or images. Also add a link 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 London 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

 * London Family History Centre Catalogue (St Benet Gracechurch Parish records)
 * London Family History Centre Catalogue (St Leonard Eastcheap Parish records)
 * Society of Genealogists Library Catalogue (to narrow results, conduct subject searches for 'London St Benet Gracechurch or 'London St Leonard Eastcheap')