Plaistow St Mary, Essex Genealogy

England   Essex   Essex Parishes

Parish History
Plaistow St Mary was created a chapelry in 1844 from and lying within the boundaries of West Ham, Essex Ancient Parish.

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.

Plaistow (pronounced /ˈplɑːstoʊ/ PLAH-stoh) is a place in the London Borough of Newham in east London. It formed part of the County Borough of West Ham in Essex until 1965.

Plaistow is a mainly residential area, including several council estates; the main road is the A112, and is alternately named Plaistow Road, High Street, Broadway, Greengate Street and Prince Regent Lane. It contains relatively few shops and amenities, but does boast the historic Black Lion public house, said to have links to the infamous 18th century highwayman Dick Turpin.

Here is an 1848 historical perspective of this chapelry:

"PLAISTOW, a ward and district chapelry, in the parish and union of West Ham, hundred of Becontree, S. division of Essex, 5 miles (E. by N.) from London. It comprises 1967a. 2r. 14p., of which about 500 acres are under cultivation, or occupied with houses and gardens, and the remainder is chiefly marshy pasture; on the south is the Thames, and on the west Bow creek. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £150; patron, the Vicar of West Ham. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, was completed in 1830, at an expense of £4800, towards which the Parliamentary Commissioners contributed £2300; it is a neat edifice in the later English style. There are places of worship for Independents and Wesleyans. The distinguished Edmund Burke resided here for some time."

From: Samuel A. Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 573-576. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51215 Date accessed: 12 April 2011.

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 Plaistow St Mary See also other churches in the Plaistow area

St Mary's Rd Baptisms 1830-1968 Marriages 1845-1977 Burials 1830-1972: ERO Baptisms 1968- date Marriages 1977- date: Not deposited

St Andrew Barking Rd Baptisms 1870-1968 Marriages 1872-1974: ERO

St Katharine Chapman Rd Built 1891 Demolished 1965

St Martin Boundary Rd Baptisms 1898-1901 and all Marriages with St Andrew Baptisms 1901-1911: 1914-1943 ERO

St Philip (and St James) Whitwell Rd Baptisms 1903-1972 Marriages 1974-1983: ERO Burials allotted area at: The East London Cemetery Plaistow Baptisms 1972- date Marriages 1983- date: Not deposited

Congregational Chapel Baptisms 1833-1837: PRO

Independent Chapel Swanscombe St Baptisms 1860-1882: LMA

Methodist Chapel Pelly Rd/Harold Rd/High St Baptisms 1897-1947: NEW

Wesleyan Methodist Chapel High St Marriages 1899-1940: ERO

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
West Ham 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.