Hendon St Mary, Middlesex Genealogy

England   Middlesex   Middlesex Parishes

Parish History
HENDON (St. Mary [1653]), a parish, and the head of a union, in the hundred of Gore, county of Middlesex, 7 miles (N. W.) from London; containing 3327 inhabitants. This place was in the tenth century given by Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, to the abbots of Westminster, who had a palace here, the remains of which have been converted into a private mansion. The village is pleasantly situated on an eminence, in a small vale watered by the river Brent, over which is an ancient bridge of stone; the houses are irregularly built. The parish contains numerous villas, and abounds with rural walks and agreeable scenery. On Highwood Hill is a mansion in which Lord William Russell resided previously to his arrest, now occupied by Lady Raffles; and near it is a mineral spring impregnated with cathartic salt. Hendon Place, the seat of Lord Tenterden, and once a banqueting-house belonging to Queen Elizabeth, is a handsome mansion, consisting of a centre and two wings, with a magnificent ball-room attached by a light arcade; the grounds have a fine undulated surface, and are enriched with some noble timber: a remarkably beautiful cedar here is said to have been planted by Elizabeth. A court leet for the manor is held on the Tuesday before Whitsuntide, and a court baron occasionally. The parishioners are exempt from all tolls throughout England, an immunity of which the farmers avail themselves in sending hay to Smithfield.

The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £15, and in the patronage of J. Masterman, Esq., with a net income of £1280; impropriators, J. Fletcher, Esq., and others. The great tithes have been commuted for £1771. 7. 7., and the vicarial for £848. 10.; there are 4½ acres of glebe. The church is a spacious structure in the decorated English style, with some small Norman remains, and a square embattled tower: the altar-piece is finely sculptured, and the east window embellished with a well-executed painting of the Last Supper, and other subjects; there are several ancient monuments, and a Norman font. In the churchyard is a mausoleum to the late Mr. Rundell, the goldsmith, of Ludgate-hill. A church was erected at Mill-Hill, in the later English style, chiefly at the expense of the late William Wilberforce, Esq.; it is dedicated to St. Paul, and the living is in the gift of the Vicar. There are places of worship for Independents and Wesleyans. A schoolroom for boys was erected by John Bennet, Esq., on a piece of land given by Garrick, the actor, then lord of the manor. Robert Daniels, Esq., of London, in 1681 bequeathed £2000 for the erection and endowment of an almshouse for ten aged men and women, with which sum 132 acres of land were purchased; and six almshouses were erected in 1696, by Thomas Nichol, who endowed them for aged persons. At Mill-Hill is the Protestant Dissenters' grammar school, founded in 1807, on the site of the residence of Peter Collinson, Esq., an eminent naturalist, at an expense of £25,000. The poor-law union of Hendon comprises eight parishes or places, and contains 15,444 inhabitants. At a place called the Hyde, in the parish, a gold coin of one of the Cæsars was found a few years since. William Rawlinson, Esq., a master in chancery, and keeper of the seals; Dr. Edward Fowler, Bishop of Gloucester; Charles Johnson, a dramatic author; Dr. James Parsons, anatomist and antiquary; Sir Joseph Ayloff, vice-president of the Society of Antiquaries; and other eminent persons, have been interred here.

1. Samuel Lewis, ed. "Hemley - Hendon," In A Topographical Dictionary of England 474-478. (London: S. Lewis and Co., 1848), Online | here, (accessed: 27 April 2010).

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.

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
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

Web sites

 * Sketch of Hendon Parish Church, courtesy: London Ancestor