St Giles without Cripplegate, Middlesex Genealogy

Guide to St Giles without Cripplegate, Middlesex ancestry, family history, and genealogy: Parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Parish History
St Giles-without-Cripplegate is a Church of England church in the City of London, located within the modern Barbican complex. When built it stood without (that is, outside) the city wall, near the Cripplegate. The church is dedicated to St Giles, patron saint of beggars and cripples. It is one of the few medieval churches left in the City of London, having survived the Great Fire of 1666. There was a Saxon church on the site in the 11th century but by 1090 it had been replaced by a Norman one. In 1394 it was rebuilt in the perpendicular Gothic style. The church has been badly damaged by fire on three occasions: In 1545, in 1897 and during an air raid of the Blitz of the Second World War on the night of 24 August 1940. German bombs completely gutted the church but it was restored using the plans of the reconstruction of 1545.

Timeline

 * 1000s - first mentioned
 * 1940 - bombed in London Blitz; later rebuilt

1831 description
'St Giles without Cripplegate, the church of, [is considered a London City parish although it] is situated without the walls of London and at the southwest corner of Fore Street nearly opposite the entrance of Red Cross Street and Whitecross Street. It defines its name from having been dedicated to [a] S[ain]t. of that name, who was a native of Athens and flourished about the year 700 of the Christian era, it was abbot of Nismes, in France and its position from its situation (sic). This church was built and founded about the year 1090, by Alfune the first master of St. Bartholomew's hospital, and was destroyed by fire in 1545. The present structure was then erected, which is one of the few churches in the city to escape the great fire of 1666. It is of the pointed or English style of architecture, is 174 feet in length, 63 and breadth, and 32 in height. The site of this parish was anciently a fen or moor, and its houses and gardens were accounted a village without the Wall of London called Mora whence the district called the Moor and Moorfields. This village increased greatly and was constituted a prebend of St. Paul's Cathedral. Part of the ancient city wall is still remaining on the south and east sides of the churchyard, particularly one of the bastions, which is close against the back part of Barbers Hall, in Monkwell Street.

'In this church are deposited the mortal remains of many eminent authors; among which are, Speed, the historian and topographer; Fox, the author of The Book of Martyrs; Glover, the Antiquary; and, above all, Milton, the author of Paradise Lost. The patronage of this church was originally in private hands, till it descended to Alemund, who granted it, after the deaths of himself and Hugh, his only son, to the dean and chapter of St. Paul's... The church is a vicarage in the city and Archdeaconry of London.'

St Giles without Cripplegate Parish belonged to Cripplegate Ward. Lambe's Chapel belonged to this parish.

1848 description:

St. Giles, without Cripplegate is a parish, in the City of London Without the Walls. The patron is the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's, the appropriators.

Published histories
Several histories have been published about this parish, including:


 * Baddeley, John James. An Account of the Church and Parish of St. Giles, without Cripplegate, in the City of London. Compiled from Various Old Authorities, Including the Churchwardens' Accounts, and the Vestry Minute Books of the Parish. London: J.J. Baddeley, 1888. Digital versions at Google Books; Internet Archive.


 * Miller, William. London Before the Fire of 1666: With an Historical Account of The Parish, The Ward, and the Church of St. Giles without Cripplegate. Brought Down to the Present Time. London: J.H. Woodley, 1867. Digital versions at Google Books; Internet Archive.

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.

1541 Subsidy

 * 1541 London Subsidy Roll, Cripplegate Ward - Seynt Giles without Crepulgateat British History Online

1547 Subsidy

 * St Giles, Cripplegate, Cripplegate Ward, London (The National Archives, Ref: E179/145/142); copy:.

1564 Subsidy

 * St Giles without Cripplegate, Cripplegate Ward, London (The National Archives, Ref: E179/145/220); copy:.

1576 Subsidy

 * 1576 London Subsidy Roll, St Gyles P{ar}ishe and Adhuc St Gyles at Alan H. Nelson website

1582 Subsidy

 * 1582 London Subsidy Roll, Cripplegate Ward - St Giles Parisheat British History Online

1600 Subsidy

 * 1600 - Lay Subsidy Returns for London, Middlesex, Surrey (north) 1593-1600: ffynnesberrye and Wentoxebarne lib{er}tye, Grubstreete, Grubstreete w{i}thin ffynnesburue and Wenloxebarne lib{er}tie adhuc, Whitecrostreete, Goldingelane, Oldestreete (TNA E179/142/234) at Alan H. Nelson website - free

1638 Inhabitants List



 * Inhabitants of London in 1638 - St Giles without Cripplegateat British History Online

1645 Subsidy

 * St Giles, Cripplegate, Cripplegate Ward Without, London (The National Archives, Ref: E179/147/590 Part 9); copy:.

1666 Hearth Tax

 * Hearth Tax: City of London 1666 - St Giles (without) Cripplegateat British History Online

1693-1694 Four Shilling in the Pound Aid

 * St Giles Cripplegate at British History Online - free.

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.

Over the years, St Giles without Cripplegate has belonged to several civil registration districts:

There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.

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

Before 1858, St Giles without Cripplegate fell under the jurisdiction of the Court of the Peculiar of the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral. From 1858 to the present, refer to the Principal Probate Registry.

Go to London Probate Records to find the names of the courts having secondary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

Cemetery








Manorial Records
Records survive for Finsbury Manor (1332-1793) in St Giles without Cripplegate Parish. The Manorial Documents Register will help you locate these records.

Records of the Poor
During the seventeenth century, officials gave some foundlings discovered in St Giles Cripplegate Parish the unique surname Cripplegate.

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

Websites

 * Sketch of St. Giles Cripplegate Parish Churchat London Ancestor
 * London Family History Centre Catalogue
 * (to narrow results, conduct a subject search for 'London St Giles without Cripplegate')