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England London Boroughs  Borough and City of Westminster

Guide to The London Borough and City of Westminster, history, family history, and genealogy parish registers, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records. Lewisham

History
The City of Westminster is an Inner London borough which also holds city status. It occupies much of the central area of Greater London including most of the West End. It is to the west of and adjoining the ancient City of London, directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and its southern boundary is the River Thames. The London borough was created with the 1965 establishment of Greater London. Upon its creation, it inherited the city status previously held by the smaller Metropolitan Borough of Westminster from 1900, which was first awarded to Westminster in 1540.

Aside from a number of large parks and open spaces, the population density of the district is high. Many sites commonly associated with London are in the borough, including St. James's Palace, Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, and 10 Downing Street. The borough is divided into a number of localities including the ancient political district of Westminster around the Palace of Westminster; the shopping areas around Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Bond Street; and the night-time entertainment district of Soho.

The origins of the City of Westminster pre-date the Norman Conquest of England. In the mid-11th century, King Edward the Confessor began the construction of an abbey at Westminster, only the foundations of which survive today. Between the abbey and the river he built a palace, thereby guaranteeing that the seat of Government would be fixed at Westminster, and inevitably drawing power and wealth west out of the old City of London.

For centuries Westminster and the City of London were geographically quite distinct. It was not until the sixteenth century that houses began to be built over the adjoining fields, eventually absorbing nearby villages such as Marylebone and Kensington, and gradually creating the vast Greater London that exists today.

The historic core of Westminster is the former Thorney Island on which Westminster Abbey was built. The abbey became the traditional venue of the coronation of the kings and queens of England from that of Harold Godwinson (1066) onward.

From about 1200, near the abbey, the Palace of Westminster became the principal royal residence, marked by the transfer of royal treasury and financial records to Westminster from Winchester. Later the palace housed the developing Parliament and England's law courts.

Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries abolished the abbey at Westminster, although the former abbey church is still called Westminster Abbey. The church was briefly the cathedral of the Diocese of Westminster created from part of the Diocese of London in 1540, by letters patent which also granted city status to Westminster, a status retained after the diocese was abolished in 1550. The Westminster Court of Burgesses was formed in 1585 to govern the Westminster area, previously under the Abbey's control. The City and Liberties of Westminster were further defined by Letters Patent in 1604, and the court of burgesses and liberty continued in existence until 1900, and the creation of the Metropolitan Borough of Westminster.

The present-day City of Westminster as an administrative entity with its present boundaries dates from 1965, when the City of Westminster was created from the former area of three metropolitan boroughs: St Marylebone, Paddington, and the smaller Metropolitan Borough of Westminster, which included Soho, Mayfair, St. James's, Strand, Westminster, Pimlico, Belgravia, and Hyde Park. This restructuring took place under the London Government Act 1963, which significantly reduced the number of local government districts in London, resulting in local authorities responsible for larger geographical areas and greater populations.

Cemeteries (Civil)
City of Westminster Cemetery


 * 31 Uxbridge Rd
 * London W7 3PP
 * Phone: +44 20 8992 2924

East Finchley Cemetery


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

Brompton Cemetery


 * Fulham Rd
 * Kensington, London SW10 9UG
 * Phone: +44 20 7351 1689

Mill Hill Cemetery


 * 89 Milespit Hill
 * London NW7 2RR
 * Phone: +44 20 8567 0913

Tower Hamlets Cemetery and War Memorial


 * Southern Grove
 * London E3 4PX
 * Phone: +44 20 8983 1277

Kensal Green Cemetery


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

Nunhead Cemetery


 * Linden Grove
 * London SE15 3LP
 * Phone: +44 20 7732 9535

Paddington Old Cemetery


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

Highgate Cemetery


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

Parishes
St Matthews'


 * 20 Great Peter St
 * Westminster, London SW1P 2BU
 * Phone: +44 20 7222 3704

St Margaret's Westminster


 * St Margaret St
 * Westminster, London SW1P 3JX
 * Phone: +44 20 7654 4840

Westminister Abbey


 * 20 Deans Yd
 * Westminster, London SW1P 3PA
 * Opened: 1090 AD
 * Phone: +44 20 7222 5152

St Anne's


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

St Mary's


 * 1LG, St Mary's Square London
 * Phone: +44 20 7723 1968

St Clemens'


 * Central Church of the Royal Air Force
 * Strand, London WC2R 1DH
 * Phone: +44 20 7242 8282

St James' Picadilly


 * 197 Picadilly
 * St. James's, London W1J 9LL
 * Phone: +44 20 7734 4511

St Peter's


 * 119 Eaton Square
 * Belgravia, London SW1W 9AL
 * Phone: +44 20 7235 4482

St James the Less


 * 4 Moreton St
 * Pimlico, London SW1V 2PS
 * Phone: +44 20 7630 6282

St Matthew's


 * 29 St Petersburgh Pl
 * London W2 4LA
 * Phone: +44 20 7229 2192

St John's Wood


 * Lord’s Roundabout
 * London NW8 7NE
 * Phone: +44 20 7586 3864

St Paul's


 * 32a Wilton Pl
 * Knightsbridge, London SW1X 8SH
 * Phone: +44 20 7201 9999

All Soul's


 * Langham Pl
 * Marylebone, London W1B 3DG
 * Phone: +44 20 7580 3522

St Marylebone


 * 17 Marylebone Rd
 * Marylebone, London NW1 5LT


 * Phone: +44 20 7935 7315

All Saints'


 * 7 Margaret St
 * Fitzrovia, London W1W 8JG
 * Phone: +44 20 7636 1788

St George's


 * The Vestry
 * 2A Mill St, Mayfair, London W1S 1FX
 * Phone: +44 20 7629 0874

Non Conformists
Other Christian and non Christian religious groups follow:


 * American International
 * Baptists
 * Evangelical
 * Christ the King Church
 * Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
 * Church of Christ, Scientist
 * Evangelical
 * Greek Orthodox Cathedral
 * Hillsong Church
 * Lutheran
 * Methodist
 * Pentecostal Church
 * Roman Catholic
 * Russian Orthodox Cathedral
 * Seventh Day Adventist
 * United Reformed Church

Non Christian populations include:


 * Baha'i
 * Buddhist
 * Confucian
 * Hindu
 * Jews
 * Muslims
 * Sikhs

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the UK government, from July 1837 to the present day. Previous to that date, records were primarily kept by local parishes, and by other ecclesiastical bodies.


 * UK General Registry Office, Westminster


 * ukbmd.org: Middlesex BMD records

Local Histories

 * british history on line: Westminster


 * british history on line: Harrow and Pinner


 * London and Westminster city and suburbs by John Timbs


 * The Story of Parliament in the Palace of Westminster by John Field


 * Harrow through Tiime by Don Walter<br.

Maps and Gazetteers

 * mapit: Westminster City and Borough


 * google maps; City of Westminster


 * hidden london: Ebury


 * hidden london: Soho


 * hidden london: Covent GArden

Newspapers
The Westmisnter area of Greater London has been the core of the British Newspaper Industry, and all the National local papers are to be found here. These would include the following (not exclusive):


 * The Daily Mail


 * The Daily Mirror


 * The London Evening Post


 * The Financial Times


 * The Sun


 * The Daily Express

Occupations
Lewisham borough is highly accessible to most parts of London. It is well located for access to markets and jobs in central London, Canary Wharf and other emerging development areas of the Thames Gateway, and southwards to Bromley, Croydon and the Gatwick area. The areas connectivity in terms of both transport and broadband is its most significant economic asset.

Lewisham’s local businesses are predominantly small or SME businesses, providing a ready demand for office space. The main sectors are retail, business services and construction, with a small but growing creative sector clustered around Goldsmiths, University of London and built around their graduates.

Goldsmiths, University of London together with Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance and Lewisham College (one of England’s highest performing FE Colleges) create a strong HE and FE resource for the borough with significant potential as economic drivers.

There is a strong entrepreneurial spirit in Lewisham with higher rates of self employment in comparison to others in the region. However, business survival rates are lower than the regional average and fewer businesses grow (in terms of employment). Lewisham has the smallest proportion of residents working in banking, finance and insurance and the highest proportion (39%) working in public administration, education and health. Nearly 70% of working residents travel outside of the borough for work, with the majority to central London.

Lewisham Borough is a major location for employment in the commercial shopping arena. Lewisham's commercial area is one of the largest in south-east London. Lewisham Shopping Center, opened in 1977, has 70 stores and is over 330,000 square feet. Shops include Marks & Spencer, W H Smith, Sainsburys, H&M, TK Maxx, JD Sports, BHS, SportsDirect.com, Argos and Boots.[13] The centre is between Molesworth Street (a dual carriageway section of the A21) and Lewisham High Street, but most shoppers enter and leave on the High Street. Lewisham Market and the Library are outside the shopping centre in the High Street. Since the Docklands Light Railway extension reached Lewisham, the centre has had an increase in customers. The centre is the major shopping centre in the borough of Lewisham. Also part of the complex is the Lewisham House office tower, the tallest building in the borough and formerly occupied by Citibank. There are proposals to convert this brutalist skyscraper to flats.

Societies

 * Lewisham Local History Society


 * Northwest Kent Family History Society

Archives

 * Lewisham Borough Archives


 * The National Archives: Lewisham


 * The National Archives: Deptford


 * Kent County Archives

Web Sites

 * wikipedia: Lewisham


 * wikipedia: London Borough of Lewisham


 * wikipedia: Deptford


 * Kent County Council