St Michael Bassishaw, London Genealogy

England London  London Parishes  St Michael Bassishaw

London St Michael Bassishaw family history and genealogy research page. Guide to parish registers (baptisms, christenings, marriages, and burials), civil registration (births, marriages, and deaths), census records, history, wills, cemetery, online transcriptions and indexes, an interactive map and website resources.

Parish History
"St Michael Bassishaw, the church of, stands on the western side of Basinghall Street, and derives its name from its dedication to St Michael the Archangel, and its addition from Basing's Haw or hall [See Basingahll Street)]. The ancient church was originally founded in the year 1140, and was then in the patronage of the prior and canons of St Bartholomew, in Smithfield. [From] about 1430, it fell to the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's in whose patronage it has continued...

"The old church, which was a beautiful specimen of the ecclesiastical architecture of our ancestors, was entirely destroyed by the fire of London, and the present building was erected in its stead, from the designs of Sir Christopher Wren. It is a plain and useful structure, of brick and stone, of no very striking character. The church is a rectory in the city, diocese and arhcdeaconry of London and in the patronage of the Deans and canons of St Paul's."

St. Michael Bassishaw Parish was part of Bassishaw Ward.

1848 parish description St. Michael, Bassishaw is a parish, of the city of London Within the Walls. The patron is the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul’s. It is a parish within the poor-law union of the City of London.

Church records
Publications of the Harleian Society Parish Register Series published the parish registers from 1538 to 1735.

Webb published an index to burials for the years 1813 to 1853.

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, Bassishaw Ward - Parish of St. Michael Bassishaw, courtesy: British History Online

1582 Subsidy

 * 1582 London Subsidy Roll, Bassishaw Ward - St Michaells, courtesy: British History Online

1621 Subsidy

 * St Michael Bassishaw, Bassishaw Ward, London (The National Archives, Ref: E179/147/488); copy:.

1625 Subsidy

 * St Michael Bassishaw, Bassishaw Ward, London (The National Archives, Ref: E179/147/548); copy:.

1638 Inhabitants List

 * Inhabitants of London in 1638 - St Michael Bassishaw, courtesy: British History Online

1641 Subsidy

 * St Michael Bassishaw, Bassishaw Ward, London (The National Archives, Ref: E179/147/566); copy:.

1666 Hearth Tax

 * Hearth Tax: City of London 1666 - St Michael Bassishaw, courtesy: British History Online

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.

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

Before 1858, fell under the jurisdiction of the Court of the Archdeaconry of London. In practice, many residents left their wills in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury from the 1700s through 1858. 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.

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

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
 * (to narrow results, conduct a subject search for 'London St Michael Bassishaw')