Hornchurch, Essex Genealogy

England   Essex   Essex Parishes



Parish History
Hornchurch St Andrew is an Ancient Parish in essex and includes modern Ardleigh Green, Elm Park, Emmerson Park &amp; Harold Wood within the parish bounday.

During World War I and World War II nearby Hornchurch Airfield was an important RAF station; it was known as RAF Suttons Farm during WWI, with its HQ as far away as Upminster Hall. During WWII, the airfield was known as RAF Hornchurch, and was home mostly to a number of Spitfire squadrons, with an advanced sub-station at Rayleigh. The land has since been reused for a large housing development and Hornchurch Country Park. Like most suburbs of London, Hornchurch had been entirely rural until the arrival of the railway which spurred huge property development during the early 1900s. Whole estates were constructed such as Emerson Park to the north. Development was fuelled further by the arrival of the electrified District Line during the 1930s with inter and post war housing developments south and west of Hornchurch in places such as Elm Park.

Hornchurch is an Anglicised version of the Latin Monasterium Cornutum, a term that was also applied to the mother Abbey in Savoy. The earliest recorded use here was in 1222, meaning 'church with horn-like gables' and it was recorded as Hornechurch in 1233. The horned bull's head mounted on the eastern end of St Andrew's Church, near the town centre dates from much later; around the 18th Century.

Hornchurch originates from around the 12th century when Henry II gave 1,500 acres (6.1 km2) to the hospice of St Nicholas and St Bernard, Mountjoux, in Savoy as a gift. A prosperous priory and church were established in Hornchurch, near the parish church, but the monks were forced out during the 14th century when a new law banned foreign land ownership. The lands were then given to Lord Chancellor William of Wykeham who made major renovations to the church. He subsequently gave Hornchurch to endow New College, Oxford, which still owns all the local church lands and buildings. Due to this, Saint Andrew's church was not adopted into the Diocese of Chelmsford until agreement was reached in the 1930s. The parish remains staffed by a Vicar temporal and his curates.

The diocese of Chelmsford was created in 1914, prior to this Essex parishes were in the jurisdiction of the Bishops of London until 1845 when they transferred to the diocese of Rochester. The diocese of Chelmsford has 474 parishes and 600 churches and is the second largest region in the church of England outside London.

Historically, the parish was conterminous with the Royal Manor and Liberty of Havering-atte-Bower, with Hornchurch village - then known as Suttons Manor, located in the south of the area. From the time of Edward the Confessor, the land was in Royal ownership - passing to William the Conqueror at the conquest. In 1086, the name Havering was applied to the entire district. Hornchurch Urban District was formed in 1926 from part of Romford Rural District. In 1934 it was enlarged to include Upminster, Cranham, and North Ockendon although none are today considered part of Hornchurch. The council offices were located at Langtons until 1965 when the present-day London Borough of Havering was formed.

Hornchurch is a large suburban town in northeast London, England and part of the London Borough of Havering. It is located 15.2 miles (24.5 km) east-northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the locally important district centres identified in the London Plan. It comprises a number of shopping streets and a large residential area. It historically formed a large ancient parish in the county of Essex that became the liberty of Havering. The economic history of Hornchurch is underpinned by a shift away from agriculture to other industries and the growing significance of nearby Romford as a market town and centre of administration. As part of the suburban growth of London in the 20th century, Hornchurch significantly expanded and increased in population, becoming an urban district in 1926 and has formed part of Greater London since 1965.

Contributor: Please Add separate linked pages for each of the churches in Hornchurch (see Church Records).

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

Online images are available Seax - Essex Archives Online From the Essex Record Office

St Andrew High St Baptisms 1567-1895 Marriages 1576-1885 Burials 1576-1898: ERO Later records: Not deposited

Holy Cross Park Lane Baptisms 1926-1987 Marriages 1928-1985: ERO

St Alban (Roman Catholic) Langdale Gardens Elm Park Formed 1939

St George Kenilworth Gdns Built 1935 as chapel-of-ease to St Andrew

St Mary Mother of God (Roman Catholic) Hornchurch Rd Formed 1931

St Nicholas Elm Park Baptisms 1942-1979 Marriages 1947-1989: ERO

St Peter Gubbins Lane Harold Wood Baptisms 1895- date Marriages 1939- date: Not deposited

Census records
Contributor: Include an overview if there is any unique information, such as the census for X year was destroyed. Add a link to online sites for indexes and/or images. Also add a link to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection.

Index for the Census may be searched at FamilySearch Historical Records

http://www.1881pubs.com/ for details of public houses in the 1881 census

Poor Law Unions
Romford Poor Law Union, Essex

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Essex 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.