East Smithfield Liberty, Middlesex Genealogy

England   Middlesex   Middlesex Parishes   East Smithfield Liberty

Parish History
East Smithfield Liberty, or, otherwise called St Botolph Without Aldgate, was known and called by that name. It lay partly within the City of London and partly in the county of Middlesex.

"East Smithfield is the area in front of the Royal Mint, and the St Katherine Dock's Office, and the street and avenues on the northern sides of those docks. Although it is now a close and confined nieghbourhood, it was in the reign of Henry III an open field, on which was held an annual fair for fifteen days at Whitsuntide, from the Eve of Pentecost to the Octaves of trinity. In the Library of East Smithfield a court-leet and court-baron are held, wherein pleas to the amount of forty shillings are held, nuisances presneted, and other similar judicial acts."

James Elmes, M.R. I. A., Architect. In “A Topographical Dictionary of London and its Envirions,” (London: Whittaker, Treacher and Arnot, 1831).

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.