St Mary Abchurch with St Lawrence Pountney, London Genealogy

England London  London Parishes  St Mary Abchurch with St Lawrence Pountney

Parish History
"St Mary Abchurch with St Lawrence Pountney, the church of, situated near the south end of Abchurch Lane, Cannon Street, and derives its name and addition, from having been dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and Ab or Up church, from its greater elevation than most of its neighbourhood. A church, similarly dedicated, stood upon this site in very early times, for we find that in 1448, the patronage of it was in the Prior and Canons of St Mary Overy, but falling to the crown in the reign of Elizabeth, her majesty granted the perpetual advowson to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge...

"The ancient church was destroyed by the great fire in 1666, and the present edifice erected shortly afterwards by Sir Christopher Wren. The parish of St Lawrence Pountney was united to this parish after the fire, and the church of that small parish was consequently not rebuilt.

The church is a rectory, in the city, diocese and archdeaconry of London, and in the patronage of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.

James Elmes, M.R. I. A., Architect. In “A Topographical Dictionary of London and its Envirions,” (London: Whittaker, Treacher and Arnot, 1831). Adapted.

During the seventeenth century, foundlings discovered in St Mary Abchurch Parish often received the surname Abchurch.

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 neighboring 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.

Census records

 * Inhabitants of London in 1638 - St Laurence Poultnies, courtesy: British History Online
 * Inhabitants of London in 1638 - St Mary Abchurch, courtesy: British History Online

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.

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

 * Society of Genealogists Library Catalogue (to narrow results, conduct a subject search for 'London St Mary Abchurch' or 'London St Lawrence Pountney')