Hoxton St John, Middlesex Genealogy

England   Middlesex   Middlesex Parishes  London   London Parishes   Hoxton St John

Parish History
The following two treatises are, respectively, an 1848 and an 1870 historical view of Hoxton St John the Baptist chapelry (district church), lying in the civil parish borough of St Leonard Shoreditch.

HOXTON (St. John the Baptist), a district parish, in the union of Shoreditch, Tower division of the hundred of Ossulstone, county of Middlesex, half a mile (N. E.) from London. This place, originally a hamlet in the parish of St. Leonard, Shoreditch, having become an extensive and populous district, was constituted a parish by act of parliament in 1830. It is divided into the Old Town and New Town; the former containing a number of ancient and spacious houses, many of which have fallen into decay, and some have been converted into private lunatic asylums: the New Town consists of numerous well-formed streets and neat ranges of modern buildings, occasionally interspersed with cottages; it is well paved, lighted with gas, and amply supplied with water. The principal manufactories are for machinery of various kinds, pins, vinegar, &amp;c.: there is an extensive saw-mill; and on the banks of the Regent's canal, which passes through the northern part of the parish, are lime and coal wharfs.

The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £450; patron, the Archdeacon of London. The church was erected in 1826, by the Parliamentary Commissioners, at an expense of £13,000, and is a handsome edifice of light brick, with a cornice and ornaments of stone, and a steeple consisting of successive stages of campanile turrets crowned by a dome. A church, called Christ Church, was erected in the New North Road, by means of the Bishop of London's fund, and was consecrated June 22nd, 1839; it is a neat building in the early Norman style, and contains 1200 sittings, nearly half of which are free. A district has been assigned to it, and the living has been augmented to £400 per annum out of the Canonry and Prebend Suspension Fund; patron, the Bishop. A third church was completed, in Hoxton New Town, in 1847; it is a neat edifice of Kentish ragstone in the pointed style, with a spire. There are places of worship for Independents, Wesleyans, and Methodists of the New Connexion; and the ancient cemetery of the Jews is in the parish. Viscountess Lumley founded and endowed almshouses for six aged persons, which were rebuilt in 1822.

The Haberdashers' almshouses were founded in 1692, by Robert Aske, who endowed them with estates for the support of 20 poor members of that company, and for the maintenance and education of 20 boys, sons of freemen of the company; the old buildings were taken down in 1825, and the present handsome structure erected on the site. The premises occupy three sides of a quadrangular area, and contain a chapel with a portico of the Grecian-Doric order, having near it apartments for the chaplain and schoolmaster, a schoolroom and dormitory for the boys, and domestic offices; the wings, in front of which is a colonnade, are appropriated to the aged men, who have each a separate house, and are in other respects comfortably provided for. William Fuller, Esq., in 1795, founded and endowed almshouses for twelve aged women, and by additional endowments accommodation is now afforded for twenty-eight. Almshouses near Gloucester-terrace were founded in 1749, by Mrs. Mary Westby, who endowed them for ten aged women.¹

HOXTON, a quondam hamlet, seven chapelries, and two sub-districts in Shoreditch parish and district, Middlesex. The quondam hamlet is now part of the metropolis; occupies the space between the old Roman road. now called Old Street road, and the Regent's canal; lies averagely 1 ½ mile NE by N of St. Paul's; is within the jurisdiction of the central criminal court; contains the station of the N division of the metropolitan police; and has a post office, of the name of Hoxton-New-Town, and several receiving post offices, under London N. It was known at Domesday as Hocheston; it has, since about 1810, become closely built and populous; and it is divided into Old and New towns, the former of which contains some old houses, while the latter is entirely modern. Balmes' House, or Whitmore, in the Old town, was once a moated mansion, and was converted into a private lunatic asylnm. The Haberdashers' alms houses, in Hoxton, were erected in 1692, and endowed with a legacy of £30,000 by Robert Aske, Esq.; were rebuilt, in 1825; are now a handsome edifice, forming three sides of a quadrangle, with a chapel and a bronze statue of Aske; and have an income of £3,550. Fuller's alms houses, for 28 aged women, were founded and endowed in 1795; Westby s alms houses, for 10 aged women, were founded in 1749; Lady Lumley's alms houses, for 6 aged persons, were rebuilt in 1822; and there are also Badger's and Baremere's alms houses. The workhouse, belonging to St. Luke, Middlesex, is in the New town; and, at the census of 1861, had 694 inmates.

Hoxton, in the early part of the 17th century, was regarded as a country village, appears to have been a favourite resort of the citizens, and was famous for cakes and ale, and for custards. The manor has belonged, since before the Norman conquest, to the Dean and Chapter of St. Pauls. The Rev. John Newton lived in Charles square.-The chapelries are St. John and Trinity, constituted in 1829; Christchurch, in 1841; St. Andrew, in 1861; St. Saviour, in 1862; St. Anne and St. Mary, in 1865. Pop. of St. J., 20,579; of T., 6,511; of C., 7,610; of St. And., 7,000; of St. S., 5,675; of St. Anne, 5,145; of St. M., 6,300. Five of the livings are vicarages, and two p. curacies, in the diocese of London. Value of St. J., £780.; of T., C., and St. S., each £420; of the others, each £200. Patron of St. J., the Archdeacon of London; of T., the Bishop of L.; of C., the Vicar of St. John; of St. And., Trustees; of St. S. and St. Anne, alt. the Crown and the Bishop; of St. M., the Lord Chancellor. St. John's church was built in 1826, at a cost of £13, 000; and has a tower with stages of turrets, and a terminal cupola. An Independent chapel, inlieu of the Barbican one, and at a cost of £6, 000, was built in 1868. There are numerous dissenting chapels, a Jews' synagogue, and several national and other public schools.-The sub-districts are H. New Town and H. Old Town: and they are divided by a line drawn through Pitfield street, Critchill place, and New North road. Acres, of H N. T-, 130. Pop. in 1851, 23,505; in 1861, 26,516. Houses, 3,182. Acres, of H. O. T., 116. Pop. in 1851, 17,431: in 1861, 25,777. Houses, 3,233.²

1. Samuel Lewis, ed. A Topographical Dictionary of England 566-569. (London: S. Lewis and Co., 1848), Online | here, (accessed: 28 April 2010).

2. John Marius Wilson, “Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales,” (Edinburgh: A, Fullerton & Co., 1870). Online | here.

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
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.

Contributor: Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts, nonconformist 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.

Census records
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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.

Poor Law Unions
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Maps and Gazetteers
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 * England Jurisdictions 1851
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Web sites
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