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England London Boroughs  Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames

Guide to The Royal London Borough of Kingston upon Thames history, family history, and genealogy parish registers, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.



History
As with all other London Boroughs created in 1965, Family History researchers need to understand that this is a melding of many historic areas without consideration to history or family research. Researchers should plan on using old Surrey county records, as well as referring to the old Boroughs' towns and villages as listed below.

This area of the London Suburbs has major historic significance, dating to before the conquest of William the Conqueror. Many of the major Saxon kings had their coronations here, as identified below, using the ancient coronation seat shown in the main heading. It was later thought that the coronations were conducted in the chapel of St Mary, which collapsed in 1730, and a large stone recovered from the ruins has been regarded since the 18th century as the Coronation Stone. It was initially used as a mounting block, but in 1850 it was moved to a more dignified place in the market before finally being moved to its current location in the grounds of the guildhall.

Kingston was called Cyninges tun in AD 838, Chingestune in 1086, Kingeston in 1164, Kyngeston super Tamisiam in 1321 and Kingestowne upon Thames in 1589. The name means 'the king's manor or estate' from the Old English words cyning and tun. It belonged to the king in Saxon times and was the earliest royal borough. The first surviving record of Kingston is from AD 838 as the site of a meeting between King Egbert of Wessex and Ceolnoth, Archbishop of Canterbury. Kingston lay on the boundary between the ancient kingdoms of Wessex and Mercia, until in the early tenth century when King Athelstan united both to create the kingdom of England. Probably because of the town's symbolic location, several tenth-century kings were crowned in Kingston, Æthelstan in 925, Eadred in 946 and Æthelred in 978. Other kings who may have been crowned there are Edward the Elder in 902, Edmund in 939, Eadwig in 956, Edgar in about 960 and Edward the Martyr in 975.

For much of the 20th century, Kingston was a major military aircraft manufacturing center specializing in fighter aircraft – first with Sopwith Aviation, H G Hawker Engineering, later Hawker Aircraft, Hawker Siddeley and eventually British Aerospace. The renowned Sopwith Camel, Hawker Fury, Hurricane, Hunter and Harrier were all designed and built in the town and examples of all of these aircraft can be seen today at the nearby Brooklands Museum in Weybridge. Well known aviation personalities Sydney Camm, Harry Hawker and Tommy Sopwith were responsible for much of Kingston's achievements in aviation. British Aerospace finally closed its Lower Ham Road factory in 1992; part of the site was subsequently redeveloped for housing but the riverside part houses a community center and sports complex. The growth and development of Kingston Polytechnic and its transformation into Kingston University has made Kingston a university town.

Surbiton is a smaller adjacent town. The present-day town came into existence after a plan to build a London-Southampton railway line through nearby Kingston was rejected by Kingston Council, who feared that it would be detrimental to the coaching trade. This resulted in the line being routed further south, through a cutting in the hill south of Surbiton. Surbiton railway station opened in 1838, and was originally named Kingston-upon-Railway. It was only renamed Surbiton to distinguish it from the new Kingston railway station on the Shepperton branch line, which opened on 1 January 1869. The present station has an art deco façade.

As a result, Kingston is now on a branch line, whereas passengers from Surbiton (smaller in comparison) can reach London Waterloo in about 15 minutes on a fast direct service; as well as places further afield, including Portsmouth and Southampton.

The place names of towns and villages now within the Borough are listed:


 * Berrylands
 * Canbury
 * Chessington
 * Coombe
 * Hook
 * Kingston upon Thames
 * Kingston Vale
 * Malden Rushett
 * Motspur Park
 * New Malden
 * Norbiton
 * Old Malden
 * Seething Wells
 * Surbiton
 * Tolworth

Cemeteries (Civil)
Kingston Cemetery and Crematorium


 * Bonner Hill Rd
 * Kingston upon Thames KT1 3EZ
 * Phone: +44 20 8546 4462

Long Ditton Cemetery


 * 92 Rectory Ln
 * Long Ditton, Surbiton KT6 5HW
 * Phone: +44 1372 474474

Cuddington Cemetery


 * 17 Lindsay Rd
 * Worcester Park KT4 8LF
 * Phone: +44 20 8644 9437

Burvale Cemetery


 * 149 Burwood Rd
 * Hersham, Walton-on-Thames KT12 4AR
 * Phone: +44 1372 474474

Sunbury Cemetery


 * 28 Green Way
 * Sunbury-on-Thames TW16 6NW
 * Phone: +44 1784 446379

Parishes
All Saints


 * 14-16 Market Place
 * Kingston upon Thames KT1 1JP
 * Year built: 1120
 * Phone: +44 20 8546 5964

St Peter's


 * London Rd
 * Kingston upon Thames KT2 6QL
 * Phone: +44 20 8546 3212

St John's


 * St John the Evangelist
 * Grove Ln, Kingston upon Thames KT1 2SU
 * Phone: +44 20 8546 9882

St Peter's


 * London Rd
 * Kingston upon Thames KT2 6QL
 * Phone: +44 20 8546 3212

St George's


 * 127 Hamilton Ave
 * Surbiton KT6 7QA
 * Phone: +44 20 8391 5682

St Mary the Virgin


 * The Avenue
 * Worcester Park KT4 7HL
 * Phone: +44 20 8337 4026

Non Conformists
The following other Christian denominations and religions are also represented in Harrow Borough:


 * Baptists
 * Evangelical
 * First Church of Christ Scientist
 * Jehovah's Witness
 * Kingston Spiritualist Church
 * Methodists
 * Plymouth Brethren
 * Presbyterians
 * Roman Catholics
 * Seventh Day Adventist

Non Christian populations include:


 * Buddhists
 * Confucian
 * Hindus
 * Jews
 * Muslim
 * Sikh

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths, have been kept by the UK government from July 1837 to the present day.


 * Kingston upon Thames Borough BMD records


 * Surrey County Council BMD records


 * freebmd.org: Kingston upon Thames Borough BMD records


 * ukbmd.org: Kingston upon Thames Registration District

Local Histories

 * localhistories.org: Kingston upon Thames


 * Kingston upon Thames Borough History Center


 * Kinston upon Thames through Time by Tim Everson


 * Secret Kingston upon Thames by Julilan McCarthy


 * Surbiton through Time by Tim Everson

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Kingston upon Thames Borough Council: maps


 * opnestreetmap.org: Kingston upon Thames Borough


 * google maps: Kingston upon Thames Borough


 * hidden london: Kingston upon Thames gazetteer


 * hidden london: Hook gazetteer


 * hidden london Tolworth gazetteer


 * hidden london: SUrbiton Gazetteer

Newspapers

 * The Surrey Comet; Kingston edition


 * The London Evening Standard: Kingston Edition


 * get west london: Kingston news


 * The Independent: Kingston Edition

Occupations
Historically Enfield was a community of mechanical and engineering technicians. For many years, the Royal Small Arms factory was located there, as were a number of other specialty engineering and manufacturing firms.

The world's first solid state circuitry color televisions were manufactured by Ferguson at their now closed plant in Enfield. The first mass-produced dishwasher was manufactured in Hotpoint's now closed Enfield plant. The Barclays Bank branch in Enfield was the first place in the world to have an ATM or cash machine.

However these are all gone, and Enfield is primarily a bedroom city for Greater London. The only real occupations now available locally are in the retail and service areas.

In 2007, Enfield Town center completed a major redevelopment project under the name PalaceXchange while retaining the Palace Gardens Shopping Center. An extension was added to the existing retail area with many new shops, and a second multi-storey car park was built along with a new road layout.

A major redevelopment of Edmonton Green including the shopping center, and adjacent municipal housing over a wide area, started in 1999. This is still on-going, and provides new housing, health facilities, a new leisure center, a supermarket, and many other civic features.

Many local activities are located around the A10 road, on the sites of former industrial enterprises, which has a number of large retail outlets and a large multiplex Cineworld cinema.

Societies

 * Kingston Local History Society


 * East Surrey Family History Society


 * West Surrey Family History Society

Archives

 * Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames Archives


 * The National Archives: Kingston History Center


 * Kingston University Archives


 * The National Archives: Surbiton

Web Sites

 * wikipedia: Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames


 * wikipedia: Kingston upon Thames


 * wikipedia: Surbiton


 * Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames Council


 * Surrey County Council