Camden, London Borough Genealogy

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



History
As with the other London Boroughs, the British Government action of 1965 destroyed all traces of the original settlements from the point of view of Family History. The borough was created from the former area of the metropolitan boroughs of Camden, Hampstead, Holborn, and St Pancras,. Researchers should instead consider researching Camden and St Pancras in the original county of Middlesex.

EARLY HISTORY:

The earliest known settlement was on the high lands of Hampstead Heath and dates back to the Mesolithic age around 7000BC. For many centuries the area remained heavily forested, with fertile land drained by the Fleet, Tyburn and Westbourne rivers, and other streams.

From the Roman city of Londinium legions used a great highway leading to the west that is now High Holborn and Oxford Street. Watling Street, another Roman road leading to St Albans, forms the western boundary of the borough and is known today as Edgware Road, Kilburn High Road and other local names. Other Roman roads probably passed through Hampstead and Highgate.

The Saxons later built their city Ludenwic to the west of Londinium, on a site which excavations have recently confirmed as stretching from the Thames through Covent Garden to around the Kingsway and Holborn areas. Early charters from that period include boundaries that, over a thousand years later, still form part of the boundaries of the present borough.

In 959AD King Edgar granted to Westminster Abbey land that lay south of the 'wide army street' of High Holborn, including the old wooden church St Andrew on 'Holebourne'. The Anglo-Saxon name of burna, a stream, and hol, a hollow, provided the original name of Holborn, while the lower part was a tidal creek known in Anglo-Saxon as a fleot which later became the Fleet River.

The Domesday Survey of 1086 was the first systematic attempt to describe the communities; who owned them, their value and how many people worked the land. The manors of Tothele [Tottenham Court], Rugmere, St Pancras, Hampstead, and Holborn are recorded as small hamlets where the inhabitants ploughed the land and kept pigs in the forests.

The spread of London continued outside the city walls, along High Holborn and to the south towards the river Thames. John de Kirkby built a house and chapel in the 13th century, which later became the London palace of the Bishops of Ely. John of Gaunt, Elizabeth I, Richard III and Henry IV were among the many famous visitors and guests.

HOLBORN:

Around Holborn, London's legal quarter developed from the 14th century, lawyers often gathering together in 'Inns' for training and support, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn are examples which still exist.

To the west, the leper hospital of St Giles was established in 1117 by Queen Matilda and remained as a hospital until the 16th century on a site that is bounded by today's St Giles High Street, Charing Cross Road and Shaftesbury Avenue. The present St Giles in the Fields Church, built in 1734, is probably the third on the site and its parish was once one of the most overcrowded and insanitary in London. The first outbreak of the Great Plague of 1665 occurred nearby and the parish was one of the worst affected.

BLOOMSBURY:

Blemundsbury, now Bloomsbury, was named after William de Blemund who acquired land there in 1201. The manor passed to Lord Southampton and later to the Duke of Bedford who began to develop a series of graceful squares and streets for the fashionable and wealthy. Bedford Square 1775-1783 remains one of the most attractive and complete 18th-century squares in London.

Authors and artists later settled here including Virginia Woolf and other members of the Bloomsbury Group. Famous buildings in the area include the British Museum, the University of London and some of its colleges.

The village around the manor house of Tottenham Court disappeared under 19th and 20th-century developments around Euston Road and Hampstead Road, leaving only the name of the road leading to it. To the west Fitzrovia grew piecemeal from the mid-18th century onwards although only gaining its current name in the 1940s. An area of craftsmen, writers and artists, it shared with Soho a very bohemian atmosphere.

KING'S CROSS:

King's Cross was previously known as Battle Bridge until 1830, when a short-lived monument to George IV was erected at the junction of Euston, Gray's Inn and Pentonville Roads. Euston Road, initially called the New Road from Paddington to Islington and London's first by-pass road, was opened in 1756. Lord Somers was a landowner who took advantage of its construction to develop his fields as Somers Town.

The area later became home for many refugees from the French Revolution and people fleeing from Spanish-ruled lands, particularly from South America. It is now home to the new British Library on Euston Road, opened in 1998.

ST PANCRAS:

A little to the north of King's Cross is one of the borough's oldest buildings, St Pancras Old Church in Pancras Gardens. Its exact origin is unknown but parts of it date from the 13th and 14th centuries, although older Roman tiles and bricks have been used in its construction. The church and the former borough were named after Pancratius, a young boy martyred in Rome for his religious beliefs in 303. Much of its churchyard now lies under the railway lines into St Pancras Station.

CAMDEN TOWN:

At the heart of the borough lies Camden Town. Named after Charles Pratt, the first Earl Camden, who started its development in 1791, Camden Town began life as little more than a handful of buildings beside a main road. Camden Town's expansion as a major centre came with the opening of the Regent's Canal to traffic in 1820

Improvements to transport provided employment for the local population, which, by the end of the 19th century, had grown significantly. Many streets were changed when new housing developments and schemes were introduced in the 1960s. The conversion of Camden Lock's wharves and warehouses on the Regent's Canal to craft markets in the 1970s ensured Camden Town's future as one of London's top tourist attractions.

Chalk Farm was originally a farmhouse and later a tavern set in fields. Soon after 1840 housing and shops were developed in Regent's Park Road but the building still survives as a restaurant.

Cemeteries (Civil)
Hampstead Cemetery


 * Fortune Green Rd
 * West Hampstead, London NW6 1DR
 * Phone: +44 20 7527 8300

Highgate Cemetery


 * Swain's Ln
 * Highgate, London N6 6PJ
 * Phone: +44 20 8340 1834

Islington and St Pancras Cemetery


 * 78 High Rd
 * London N2 9AG
 * Phone: +44 20 7527 8300

Paddington Old Cemetery


 * Willesden Ln
 * Kilburn, London NW6 7SD
 * Phone: +44 20 8937 1200

Kensal Green Cemetery


 * Harrow Rd
 * London W10 4RA
 * Phone: +44 20 8969 0152

East Finchley Cemetery


 * 122 E End Rd
 * London N2 0RZ
 * Phone: +44 20 8567 0913

Hoop Lane Cemetery


 * Hoop Ln
 * London NW11 7NL
 * Phone: +44 20 8455 2569

Liberal Jewish Cemetery


 * 2 Tower Rd
 * London NW10 2HP

Willesden New Cemetery


 * Franklyn Rd
 * Willesden, London NW10 9TE

Willesden Cemetery


 * 26 Beaconsfield Rd
 * London NW10 2HR
 * Phone: +44 20 8950 7767

Parishes
St Michael's


 * Camden Town
 * London NW1 9LQ

St Alban's


 * 18 Brooke St
 * London EC1N 7RD
 * Phone: +44 20 7430 2551

St Luke's


 * Oseney Cres
 * Kentish Town, London NW5 2AT
 * Phone: +44 20 7916 0050

St Giles in the Fields


 * 60 St Giles High St
 * London WC2H 8LG
 * Phone: +44 20 7240 2532

St Andrew, Holborn


 * 5 St Andrew St
 * London EC4A 3AF
 * Phone: +44 20 7583 7394

St Peter's


 * Belsize Square
 * London NW3 4HJ
 * Phone: +44 20 7586 6522

St Anne's, Soho


 * 55 Dean St, Soho
 * London W1D 6AF
 * Phone: +44 20 7437 8039

St Mary Magdalene


 * Munster Square
 * London NW1 3PH
 * Phone: +44 7572 822237

Holy Trinity


 * Finchley Rd
 * London NW3 5HT
 * Phone: +44 20 7435 0083

St Martin's


 * 43 Vicar's Rd
 * London NW5 4NN
 * Phone: +44 20 7485 3807

St Pancras New Churchyard


 * Euston Rd
 * Bloomsbury, London NW1 2BA
 * Phone: +44 20 7388 1461

St Mark's


 * Myddelton Square
 * Clerkenwell, London EC1R 1XX
 * Phone: +44 20 7837 1861

St Saviour's


 * 30 Warwick Ave
 * London W9 2PT
 * Phone: +44 20 7723 1968

Christ Church


 * Down St
 * Mayfair, London W1J 7AN
 * Phone: +44 20 7629 5885

St Mary Woolnoth


 * 1 King William St
 * London EC3V 9AN
 * Phone: +44 20 7626 9701

St Barnabas


 * 23 Addison Rd
 * Kensington, London W14 8LH
 * Phone: +44 20 7471 7000

St Pancras Old Church


 * Pancras Rd
 * Camden Town NW1 1UL
 * Reputed to have opened: 314 AD
 * Phone: +44 20 7424 0724

Non Conformists

 * American International
 * Antioch Orthodox
 * Baptist
 * Catholic Apostolic
 * Christ Church
 * Ethiopian Christian Fellowship
 * Evangelical
 * Greek Orthodox
 * Lutheran
 * Methodist
 * Pentecostal
 * Salvation Army

Additionally the following non-Christian groups have assemblies in Camden Borough:


 * Baha'i
 * Buddhist
 * Hindu
 * Jewish
 * Muslim
 * Sikh

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths records have been kept by the UK government since July 1837 to the present day. Prior to that, local parishes of the Episcopal Church, and other religious organizations, were the only repositories of this information.


 * Camden Council BMD records


 * ukbmd.org: Camden Council records


 * freebmd.org: Camden Records

Local Histories

 * Camden Borough Council: Camden Borough History


 * Camden Town Book by John Richardson


 * Camden Town; Dreams of Another London by Tom Bolton


 * The History and Traditions of St Pancras by Thomas Coull


 * Hampstead and Highgate through History by Robert Bard

Maps and Gazetteers

 * maplord.com: Camden Town and Borough


 * Camden Council Maps


 * hidden london: Camden Town Gazetteer


 * vision of britain: St Pancras Gazetteer


 * hidden london: West Hampstead


 * hidden london: Chancey Lane, Holborn

Newspapers
All the major London papers are available in Camden Borough. For local news, the following might be helpful:


 * Camden New Journal


 * London Evening Standard; Camden edition


 * Metro News: Canden Town

Occupations
Although Camden is a small borough in terms of size, it is the third largest contributor to London’s economy and provides around 1% of Britain’s economy. Thus the Borough provides employment opportunities in many diverse fields.

Camden is famous for its street markets. These date from the 1970s or later, except for Inverness Street market, which for over a century was a small food market serving the local community, though by 2013 all foodstuff and produce stalls had gone, leaving only touristy stalls. Camden Lock market proper started in a former timber-yard in 1973, and is now surrounded by five more markets: Buck Street market, Stables market, Camden Lock village, and an indoor market in the Electric Ballroom. The markets are a major tourist attraction at weekends, selling goods of all types, including fashion, lifestyle, books, food, junk/antiques and more bizarre items; they and the surrounding shops are popular with young people, in particular those searching for "alternative" clothing. These all provide opportunities for employment in the local area.

According to City of London statistics, Camden is the third largest economy in London and seventh largest in UK. Businesses are concentrated popularly in areas such as higher education, legal section, business service sector, hotel and tourism sector, retail, media and leisure sector.

As the legal system developed in the UK, members tended to be part of large groups known as "Inns" with offices for specific legal groups therin. Today, the Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. All barristers must belong to one such association Camden Town is famous for these groups, with  Lincoln's Inn being one of the most famous. Thus there are major opportunities in the Borough for Barristers, Solicitors, Law Clerks, and legal secretaries.

Societies

 * London, Westminster, and Middlesex FHS


 * Camden History Society


 * West Middlesex FHS

Archives

 * Camden Borough Council Archives


 * The National Archives: Camden Archives Center


 * The National Archives: Hampstead Borough


 * The National Archives: Holborn


 * The National Archives: St Pancras Borough

Web Sites

 * Camden Borough Council


 * London Borough of Camden: wikipedia


 * Camden Town: wikipedia


 * St Pancras: wikipedia


 * Hampstead London: wikipedia


 * Holborn, London: wikipedia