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England London Boroughs  Southwatk

Guide to London Borough of Southwark history, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.



History
The London Borough of Southwark in south London, England, forms part of Inner London and is connected by bridges across the River Thames to the City of London. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas were amalgamated under the London Government Act 1963. All districts of the area are within the London postal district. It is governed by Southwark London Borough Council.

Southwark is sited on a previously marshy area south of the River Thames. Recent excavation has revealed prehistoric activity including evidence of early ploughing, burial mounds and ritual activity. The area was originally a series of islands in the River Thames. This formed the best place to bridge the Thames and the area became an important part of Londinium, owing its importance to its position as the endpoint of the Roman London Bridge. Two Roman roads, Stane Street and Watling Street, met at Southwark in what is now Borough High Street. Archaeological work at Tabard Street in 2004 discovered a plaque with the earliest reference to 'Londoners' from the Roman period on it. Londinium was abandoned at the end of the Roman occupation in the early 5th century and both the city and its bridge collapsed in decay. Archaeologically, evidence of settlement is replaced by a largely featureless soil called the Dark Earth which probably (although this is contested) represents an urban area abandoned.

Southwark appears to recover only during the time of King Alfred and his successors. Sometime about 886, the burh of Southwark was created and the Roman city area reoccupied. It was probably fortified to defend the bridge and hence the reemerging City of London to the north. This defensive role is highlighted by the use of the bridge in 1016 as a defense against King Sweyn and his son King Cnut by Ethelred the Unready and again, in 1066, against Duke William the Conqueror. He failed to force the bridge during the Norman conquest of England, but Southwark was devastated.

Southwark appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as held by several Surrey manors. Its assets were: Bishop Odo of Bayeux held the monastery (the site of modern Southwark Cathedral) and the tideway – which still exists as St Mary Overie dock; the King owned the church (probably St Olave's) and its tidal stream (St Olave's Dock); the dues of the waterway or mooring place were shared between King William I and Earl Godwin; the King also had the toll of the strand; and 'men of Southwark' had the right to 'a haw and its toll'. Southwark's value to the King was £16. Much of Southwark was originally owned by the church—the greatest reminder of monastic London is Southwark Cathedral, originally the priory of St Mary Overie.

During the early Middle Ages, Southwark developed and was one of the four Surrey towns which returned Members of Parliament for the first commons assembly in 1295. An important market occupied the High Street from some time in the 13th century, which was controlled by the City's officers—it was later removed in order to improve traffic to the Bridge, under a separate Trust by Act of Parliament of 1756 as the Borough Market on the present site. The area was renowned for its inns, especially The Tabard, from which Geoffrey Chaucer's pilgrims set off on their journey in The Canterbury Tales.

In 1599 the Globe Theater, in which Shakespeare was a shareholder, was erected on the Bankside in the Liberty of the Clink. It burned down in 1613, and was rebuilt in 1614, only to be closed by the Puritans in 1642 and subsequently pulled down not long thereafter. A modern replica called Shakespeare's Globe, has been built near the original site. The impresario in the later Elizabethan period for these entertainments was Shakespeare's colleague Edward Alleyn, who left many local charitable endowments, most notably Dulwich College.

On 26 May 1676, ten years after the Great Fire of London, a great fire broke out, which continued for 17 hours before houses were blown up to create fire breaks. King Charles II and his brother, James, Duke of York, were involved in the effort.

There was also a famous fair in Southwark which took place near the Church of St George the Martyr. William Hogarth depicted this fair in his engraving of Southwark Fair (1733).

Southwark was also the location of several prisons, including those of the Crown or Prerogative Courts, the Marshalsea and King's Bench prisons, that of the local manors courts e.g. Borough Compter, The Clink, and the Surrey county jail originally housed at the White Lion Inn (also called informally the Borough Jail) and eventually at Horsemonger Lane Jail.

One other local family is of note, the Harvards. John Harvard went to the local parish free school of St Saviour's and on to Cambridge University. He migrated to the Massachusetts Colony and left his library and the residue of his will to the new college there, named after him as its first benefactor. Harvard University maintains a link, having paid for a memorial chapel within Southwark Cathedral (his family's parish church), and where its UK-based alumni hold services. John Harvard's mother's house is in Stratford upon Avon.

In 1836 the first railway in the London area was created, the London and Greenwich Railway, originally terminating at Spa Road and later extended west to London Bridge.

In 1861, another great fire in Southwark destroyed a large number of buildings between Tooley Street and the Thames, including those around Hays Wharf (later replaced by Hays Galleria) and blocks to the west almost as far as St Olave's Church.

The first deep-level underground tube line in London was the City and South London Railway, now the Bank branch of the Northern line, opened in 1890, running from King William Street south through Borough to Stockwell. Southwark, since 1999, is also now served by Southwark, Bermondsey and London Bridge stations on the Jubilee line.

Tower Bridge, the Millennium Bridge, Blackfriars Bridge, Southwark Bridge and London Bridge all connect the City of London to the borough. The skyscraper Shard London Bridge is currently the tallest building in the EU. The Tate Modern art gallery, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, the Imperial War Museum and Borough Market are also within the borough. At one mile (1.6 km) wide, Burgess Park is Southwark's largest green space.

Cemeteries (Civil)
Croydon Cemetery and Crematorium


 * Mitcham Road
 * London CR9 3AT
 * Phone: +44 20 8684 3877

Queen's Road Cemetery


 * Queen's Rd
 * Croydon CR0 2PR

Bandon Hill Cemetery


 * Plough La
 * Wallington SM6 8JQ
 * Phone: +44 20 8647 1024

Bromley Hill Cemetery


 * Bromley Hill
 * Bromley BR1 4JU
 * Phone: +44 1689 853617

Hither Green Cemetery


 * 206 Verdant Ln
 * London SE6 1LL
 * Phone: +44 20 8314 9635

Parishes
St Michael's


 * 7 Poplar Walk
 * Croydon CR0 1UA
 * Phone: +44 20 8680 2848

St Mary the Blessed Virgin


 * Addington Village Rd
 * Croydon CR0 5AS
 * Opened: 1080 A.D.
 * Phone: +44 1689 842167

St Matthew's


 * 1 Chichester Rd
 * Croydon CR0 5NQ
 * Phone: +44 20 8688 5055

St George's


 * Elstan Way
 * Croydon CR0 7QJ
 * Phone: +44 20 8654 8747

Croydon Minster


 * Church St
 * Croydon CR0 1RN
 * Phone: +44 20 8688 8104

St Stephen's


 * 9 Warwick Rd
 * Thornton Heath CR7 7NH
 * Phone: +44 20 8684 3820

St Augustine's


 * St. Augustines Ave
 * South Croydon CR2 6BA
 * Phone: +44 20 8688 4715

St Peter's


 * St Peter's Rd
 * Croydon CR0 1HH
 * Phone: +44 20 8688 4715

St Mary Magdalen with St Martin's


 * Hereford Court, 18 Canning Rd
 * Croydon CR0 6QD
 * Phone: +44 20 8654 3459

Non Conformists
Other Christian groups follow:


 * Baptists
 * Christian Science
 * Church of Christ
 * Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
 * Jehovah's Witnesses
 * Methodist
 * Pentecostal
 * Presbyterian
 * Rehoboth International Christian Center
 * Roman Catholic
 * Salvation Army
 * Seventh Day Adventists
 * Unitarian

Non Christian faiths include the following:


 * Ba'Hai
 * Buddhist
 * Hindu
 * Jewish
 * Muslim
 * Sikh

Civil Registration
Croydon has its own Registry Office:


 * Croydon Town Hall
 * Fell Rd
 * Croydon CR0 1NX
 * Phone: +44 20 8726 6300

Other useful sites for area BMD records follow:


 * ukbmd.org: Surrey


 * Surrey Count yCouncil BMD records

Local Histories

 * British History on line: Croydon


 * visionofbritain.org.uk History of Croydon


 * Croydon Airport and the Battle for Britain by Douglas Cluett


 * Croydon and Waddon by Raymond Wheeler


 * Croydon; the Golden Years by A. Lax

Maps and G azetteers

 * viamichelin maps: Croydon


 * streetmapof.co.uk: Croydon


 * oldmapsonline: Croydon


 * visionofbritain.org: Croydon Gazetteer


 * Croydon Council: Highway Gazetteer

Newspapers

 * The Croydon Guardian


 * The Croydon Advertiser


 * Your Local Guardian: Croydon


 * The Evening Standard for Croydon

Occupations
Croydon has a diverse economy with the service and retail sectors now dominating over the town's historical market status, and providing the majority of occupational opportunities. It is today served well by its extensive rail network centering on East and West Croydon stations, from where London Overground, First Capital Connect and Southern operate to most parts of Greater London, Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire and the East of England. With the A23, M23 and M25 orbital motorway intersecting Croydon to the South East, it is the principal gateway of the motorway network from the East Sussex area of the South Coast.

London Gatwick Airport is located to the direct south of the town and has scheduled flights to destinations within Europe, North America and Asia, and although it has tough competition from the even bigger London Heathrow Airport to the west it has managed to stay the UK's second busiest airport. The town has since 2000 had a tram network which has been highly successful, carrying more than 24 million passengers a year. The network has four lines with destinations including New Addington to Wimbledon, Beckenham to West Croydon, Elmers End to Therapia Lane, and Elmers End to West Croydon. Croydon is one of only five London boroughs not to have any form of London Underground services.

These good transport links have been a major factor contributing to the growth of Croydon, and have led to the town becoming a major center for distribution. Retail is another major service and employer in the town center, with a retail economy which has experienced a boom resulting in several new shops. North End is Croydon's main shopping street, with the Whitgift and Allders situated on it. The town centre also includes the famous Surrey Street market, one of the only lasting town centre markets in the Croydon and South London areas, and over 3 indoor shopping centres. The Whitgift Center and the newest Centrale center. Park Place will re-establish Croydon as one of the UK's top shopping areas. Plans include the construction of a new shopping centre to replace St George's Walk and older properties on George Street. The proposed redevelopment of Park Place by Minerva and Lend Lease will create a one million square foot destination with over 130 shops, cafes and restaurants, anchored by a new department store which the council hopes will be John Lewis. Other tenants interested have included Habitat, Borders and Gap. Improvements will see Queen's Gardens completely remodelled, together with the construction of a fully integrated public transport hub to include a new bus interchange and tram stop. The building of Park Place will create Europe’s largest covered retail area.

Croydon is one of the largest financial centers in the south east outside London and is also home to many legal and insurance firms. Croydon is a major office area in the south east of England, being the largest outside of Central London. In 2007, Croydon leapt up the annual business growth league table, with a 14% rise in new firms trading in the borough after 125 new companies started up, increasing the number from 900 to 1,025, enabling the town, which has also won the Enterprising Britain Award and "the most enterprising borough in London" award, to jump from 31 to 14 in the table.

Societies

 * East Surrey Family History Society; Croydon Group


 * Surrey County history Societies

Archives

 * Croydon Council Archives


 * The National Archives; Croydon Museum


 * newspaperarchives.com: Croydon

Web Sites

 * Croydon Council


 * Surrey County Council


 * London Councils