Tower of London, London Genealogy

Parish History
TOWER OF LONDON, an extra-parochial place, a royal palace and fortress, in Whitechapel district, Middlesex; 1 mile ESE of St. Paul's, London.

The Tower of London is on the eastern side of the city, by the side of the Thames, between the eastern end of Lower Thames Street and St. Katherine's.

The earliest account of any fortification on this site was a small fortress, by William the Norman [Conqueror] in 1076, who...also built in 1078 that portion which is called the White Tower. In 1239 Henry III added to its fortifications, [and was built up, until the] present area of the Tower, within the walls, is 12 acres and five poles, and the circuit outside of the ditch, 1052 feet. The principal objects of curiosity within the Tower are the menagerie of wild beasts in the Lion Tower, the Jewel Office, the armory, the White Tower, the ancient chapel and church (see St Peter ad Vincula), the record office, Beauchamp Tower, the bloody Tower, traders bridge, and the Mint... The Tower is still used as a state prison and is under the government of the Duke of Wellington, Constable, General William Loftus, Lt.; Lt. Colonel Sir F.H. Doyle, Bart. Deputy Lt.; Captain John H. Elrington, Fort Major; the Rev. Andrew Irvine, M.A., chaplain; Charles Murray, Esq., Gentleman Porter; Joseph Turtle, Gentlemen Jailor; Berg Tompkins, M.D., physician;..."

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
The Tower of London is an extra-parochial place. For church records, look at surrounding parishes.

To find the names of the neighboring parishes, use England Jurisdictions 1851 Map. In this site, search for the name of the parish, click on the location "pin", click Options and click List contiguous parishes.

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
Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.


 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Websites
GENUKI