St Helen Bishopsgate, London Genealogy

London St Helen Bishopsgate ancestry, family history, and genealogy research page. Guide to parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Timeline

 * 1100s - first mentioned
 * 1992-1993 - church badly damaged by IRA bombs; later fully restored

1831 description
"St Helen Bishopsgate, the church of, is situated nearly in the middle of great St. Helens. It derives its name from its being dedicated to St. Helen's, the mother of Constantine the great, and escaped the great fire in 1666. You prepared and the new tower built in 1669, and contains many curious monuments among which is that of Francis Bancroft, who founded the alms houses called after his name. The patronage of his church appears to have been very anciently in lay hands, for in the reign of Henry the second, Randolph and his son, Robert, granted it to the dean and chapter of St. Paul's, by whom it was afterwards granted to William Fitzwilliam, who, in 1212 founded the priory of St. Helen, and conferred advowson of the church on prior S. and nuns, in whom it continued till the suppression of their convent in 1539 when it devoled to the crown. In 1551, Edward VI granted it to Ridley, Bishop of London and his successors, which was confirmed by Queen Mary, in 1553; but it appears to have again reverted to the crown; for in 1568, Queen Elizabeth granted it, by lease to Caesar Aldermary Thomas Colcel in trust for the parishioners, for a term of 21 years. This church is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry of London..."

St Helen Bishopgate belonged to Bishopsgate Ward.

1848 description:

St. Helen, Bishopsgate, 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
St Helen Bishopsgate parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

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.

Records are also available at the London Metropolitan Archives.

1541 Subsidy

 * 1541 London Subsidy Roll, Bishopsgate Ward - The Parisshe of Saynt Ellynat British History Online

1547 Subsidy

 * St Helen, Bishopsgate Ward, London (The National Archives, Ref: E179/145/139); copy:.

1564 Subsidy

 * St Helen, Bishopsgate Ward, London (The National Archives, Ref: E179/145/220); copy:.

1582 Subsidy

 * 1582 London Subsidy Roll - St Ellyns Parisheat British History Online



1625 Subsidy

 * St Helen, Bishopsgate Ward, London (The National Archives, Ref: E179/147/511); copy:.

1638 Inhabitants List

 * Inhabitants of London in 1638 - St Helen Bishopsgateat British History Online

1666 Hearth Tax

 * Hearth Tax: City of London 1666 - St Helen Bishopsgateat British History Online

1801 Census
The 1801 Census exists and is held at The British Library.

1821 Census
The 1821 Census exists and is held at The British Library.

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 Peculiar of the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral. 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.

Cemetery


A survey of monumental brasses, published 1891, is available online - free.

A 1924 survey of (1) monuments within the church, (2) floor slabs within the church, (3) monuments in the churchyard, and (4) monuments now disappeared, is available online - free. Brass rubbings and monument sketches are also included.

(15+ entries)

Records of the Poor
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

Websites

 * St Helen's Bishopgate (official website). Photographs, history, visitor directions.
 * London Family History Centre Catalogue
 * (to narrow results, conduct a subject search for 'London St Helen')