Shadwell, Middlesex Genealogy

England   Middlesex   Middlesex Parishes

Parish History
SHADWELL (St. Paul), a parish, in the union of Stepney, Tower division of the hundred of Ossulstone, county of Middlesex, 1½ mile (E. by S.) from London; containing 10,060 inhabitants. This place, formerly called Chadwelle, took its name from a spring dedicated to St. Chad: previously to the year 1669, it was a hamlet or chapelry in Stepney, but it was then made a distinct parish by act of parliament. It is situated on the northern bank of the river Thames, and comprises several streets which are lighted with gas. The inhabitants are supplied with water from the East London works. That portion of the parish lying near the river, called Lower Shadwell, is chiefly inhabited by ship-chandlers, biscuit-bakers, provision merchants, mast-makers, sail-makers, anchor-smiths, coopers, and other traders connected with the shipping interest. There are also some roperies. Shadwell is within the jurisdiction of the Thames Police-office. The living is a discharged rectory; net income, £352; patron, the Dean of St. Paul's. The church is a handsome modern edifice, with a tower of stone surmounted by a small elegant spire, and occupies the site of the old structure. There are places of worship for Independents, Primitive Methodists, and Wesleyans. The parochial school, established in 1699, was rebuilt on an enlarged scale in 1837, and is now conducted on the national plan; the Protestant dissenters' original charity school, situated in Shakspeare's-walk, was founded in 1712. Ten almshouses were built for the widows of seamen with funds bequeathed by Capt. James Cooke, and his wife Alice; but being without endowment, they fell into decay. John Carr having left property for the poor, vested in the purchase of £7300 three per cents., almshouses have been erected and endowed for 30 widows of poor seamen. Matthew Mead, a celebrated dissenting minister, was appointed to the cure of the chapel at Shadwell, by Cromwell, in 1658, and was ejected for nonconformity in 1662; his son Richard, an eminent physician, was born in the parish.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis (1848), pp. 51-56. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51265 Date 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
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Census records
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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.

Maps and Gazetteers
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 * England Jurisdictions 1851
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Web sites
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