Bletchingley, Surrey Genealogy

England   Surrey   Surrey Parishes



Parish History
BLETCHINGLEY (St. Mary), a parish, and formerly a borough and market-town, in the union of Godstone, First division of the hundred of Tanbridge, E. division of Surrey, 21 miles (S.) from London; comprising 5370 acres, whereof 220 are common or waste; and containing 3546 inhabitants. This town, which is pleasantly situated on the road from Godstone to Reigate, is of considerable antiquity; a castle was erected here soon after the Conquest, by Gilbert, Earl of Clare, which was demolished by Prince Edward, after the battle of Lewes, in 1264, and the foundations alone are now remaining. Fairs are held on May 10th and Nov. 2nd, for horses, hogs and lean-cattle. Shortly after quitting the London and Brighton railway near Reigate, the South-Eastern railway at this place enters a tunnel 1080 yards in length. A bailiff and other officers are appointed at the court leet of the lord of the manor. The borough received the elective franchise in the 23rd of Edward I., from which time it continued to return two members to parliament, until its disfranchisement by the act of the 2nd of William IV., cap. 45. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £19. 19. 4½., and in the gift of H. Chawner, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £1185, and there are 90 acres of glebe. The church is a spacious and venerable structure, in the early English style of architecture, with a low tower: the south chancel is entirely occupied by a magnificent monument to the memory of the first Sir Robert Clayton, Knt., and his lady, whose effigies in white marble stand on a projecting base; the knight is represented in his robes, as lord mayor of London. There are several other monuments, of which the principal is that of Sir William Bensley, Bart., R.N., by Bacon. John Thomas, Bishop of Rochester, and Sir Thomas Cavendish, master of the revels to Henry VIII., were also interred here; the former was at one time incumbent, as was also Archbishop Herring. There is a place of worship for Independents. Thomas Evans, in 1633, founded a free school for 20 boys, and endowed it with land now producing £20 per annum. The town is near a Roman road; and at Pendhill, in the parish, some workmen in 1813 discovered part of the foundations of a Roman bath, the different apartments in which were paved, and some of the walls lined with tiles. The union workhouse is a spacious building near the town, erected in 1839.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis (1848), pp. 282-286.

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
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

Link to the Family History Library Catalogue showing the film numbers in their collection

Census records
FamilySearch Records includes collections of census indexes which can be searched online for free. In addition 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.

Images of the census for 1841-1891 can be viewed in census collections at Ancestry (fee payable) or Find My Past (fee payable)

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

Ancestry UK Census Collection

Find my Past census search 1841-1901

for details of public houses in the 1881 census

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. Find my Past 1911 census search

Poor Law Unions
A parish workhouse existed in the parish in the 1790's; an index for the parish records has been prepared by volunteers at the Surrey History Centre, 130 Goldsworth Road, Woking, Surrey GU21 6ND ref(BG5/55/1-14)

Godstone 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
Contributor: Add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.