Dulwich, Surrey Genealogy

England   Surrey   Surrey Parishes

Parish History
DULWICH, a village, a suburban tract, and three chapelries in St. Giles-Camberwell parish, Surrey. The village stands at the southern outskirts of London, 4½ miles S of St. Paul's Cathedral. The suburban tract or hamlet includes the village, together with a plentiful sprinkling of fine villas. A college was founded and endowed by Alleyn, for certain beneficiaries; was reconstituted by act of parliament, in 1858 to be mainly educational; comprises an upper school for 230 boys, a lower school for 200 boys, a chapel, a lecture-theatre, a laboratory, a library, a board-room, play-fields, and reserved ground for boarding - houses. The buildings were re-erected in 1865-9. The three chapelries are Dulwich College, East Dulwich, and Dulwich-St. Stephen, the last one constituted in 1868. There is a Wesleyan chapel here. )

Church records
Camberwell was an extensive parish with numerous chapels and chapelries dotting its boundary. By 1900, there were over 20 chapelries attached to this village.

Here are some online records available for the mother or ancient parish (St Giles):

Camberwell: Dulwich College Chapel Burials 1616-1980 Greater London Burials (£)

Contributor: Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts, non conformist 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

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.

Census records
FamilySearch Centres offer free access to images of the England and Wales Census through FHC Portal Computers here have access to the Family History Centre Portal page which gives free access to premium family history software and websites that generally charge for subscriptions.

to locate local Family History Centres in UK

to locate outside UK.

Many archives and local history collections in public libraries in England and Wales offer online census searches and also hold microfilm or fiche census returns.

The 1851 census of England and Wales attempted to identify religious places of worship in addition to the household survey census returns.

Prior to the 1911 census the household schedule was destroyed and only the enumerator's schedule survives.

The 1911 census of England and Wales was taken on the night of Sunday 2 April 1911 and in addition to households and institutions such as prisons and workhouses, canal boats merchant ships and naval vessels it attempted to include homeless persons. The schedule was completed by an individual and for the first time both this record and the enumerator's schedule were preserved. Two forms of boycott of the census by women are possible due to frustration at government failure to grant women the universal right to vote in parliamentary and local elections. The schedule either records a protest by failure to complete the form in respect of the women in the household or women are absent due to organisation of groups of women staying away from home for the whole night. Research estimates that several thousand women are not found by census search.

Poor Law Unions
Camberwell Poor Law Union, Surrey

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Surrey 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
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

 * St Giles and St Matthew Churches, Camberwell, London (official website). History, photographs, guide to parish registers at LMA, visitor directions, service time.