St Mary Le Strand, Middlesex Genealogy

England   Middlesex   Middlesex Parishes   St Mary Le Strand

Parish History
'St Mary-le-Strand, the church of, is situated in the middle of the Strand opposite the south end of Drury Lane, and nearly opposite Somerset House.

'The original church belonging to this parish is mentioned so early as 1222, when it was called St Mary, and the Innocents of the Strand. It then stood in a spacious church yard, on the south side of the Strand, where the eastern wing of Somerset House is now built; but was taken down, as is mentioned in the preceding article [see St Mary Staining], and that of St John the Baptist, in the Savoy, (see those articles,) by order of Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, to make way for his palace, named after him, Somerset House. The parishioners used the chapel of St John aforesaid, till the act of parliament passed for erecting the fifty new churches, when the first stone of this building was laid on the 25th of Feb. 1714, and was finished and consecrated on the 1st Jan. 1723, when instead of its ancient name, it was called St Mary-le-Strand. This church was the first of the fifty new churches, and was erected from the designs of James Gibbs, architect, to the church of St Martin in the Fields.

'The church is a rectory, in the diocese of London, in the county and archdeaconry of London, in the county and archdeaconry of Middlesex, and in the patronage of the Lord Chancellor.'

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

 * 1605-1625 - Greenstreet, James. 'Marriages at St. Mary le Strand, London, from A.D. 1605,' The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, 1605-1609: Vol. 18, No. 1 (Jan. 1887):36-40; 1609-1614: Vol. 18, No. 2 (Apr. 1887):69-73; 1614-1619: Vol. 18, No. 3 (Jul. 1887):107-113; 1619-1625: Vol. 18, No. 4 (Oct. 1887):153-159. Digital versions at Internet Archive - free; New York Family History ($);.
 * 1606-1625 - Pruyn, John V.L. 'Weddings at St. Mary le Strand, London, from A.D. 1606 to 1625,' Genealogist, N.S. 4 (1887):34-41, 108-115; Vol. 5 (1888):108-116.
 * 1650s - 'Commonwealth Civil Marriages at St. Mary le Strand, London,' Genealogist, N.S. 10 (1894):225-229.

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

Websites

 * St Mary le Strand (official website). Tips for family historians, history, photographs, visitor directions.