General Chat

Hi I suppose there are many of you on here with London ancestors, and if, like me you arent from London yet have London roots, then you should be proud to be a Londoner by ancestry. I am an eigth London as my great gran was born in Islington. But how many of you have had problems with tracing London ancestors because of the vast amount of people there? Ben

Ben I don't think its the vast numbers, its being able to pick out the RIGHT one and with so many different parishes cheek by jowl, not to mention people who forget where they were born between one census and the next!!! My two London brick walls are: a) great-grandma's 2nd marriage Emma Moore, b. Cambridge, married in Islington to Thomas Matthews in 1865. Thomas was born in Whichford, Warwickshire (which has made tracing his family much easier, especially as father was called Emmets). Thomas died May 1879. Emma turns up 1881 census in Greenwich married to 2nd husband John Garvie. No marriage in GRO indexes at all - I checked right up to JGarvie's death in 1909. No marriage in Islington parish church, where Emma and Thomas were married. No marriage in Greenwich parish church. 2nd brick wall Husband's family. Great-great grandfather James Carter was James Mccarthy in 1861 and Dennis McCarthy on his marriage cert in 1848 and his son's birth cert 1866. James/Dennis and his wife Elizabeth Alice nee Goodwin say on censuses they were born in London but I can't find any baptisms for them. Elizabeth consistently says she was born Long Acre. James/Dennis says he was born Marylebone or Holborn. nell

On the other hand, there's a wealth of info - photos, books etc on London, and you have tons of genealogy resources in London - I've been to Islington Local History Centre, Family Records Centre and London Metropolitan Archives in one day as they are all nearby. Camden Archives is a short bus ride away. My grandmother was born in Georges Road, Lower Holloway, Islington and my Norfolk grandfather lodged in Forston Street in Islington when he was working at the Cannon Brewery and Gordon Tanqueray distillers. They married and lived in Stoke Newington and the picture framer's shop where my dad was born is still in Stoke Newington church street, now a bicycle shop.

Husband's London lot are the mysterious McCarthy/Carters who ended up running the Pakenham Arms pub, where my mother in law was born. The Pakenham is still there, near the FRC, and I have a photo of the entire family (great-grandparents and their 5 children and their spouses and families) taken on the occasion of a family christening on the roof of the pub. In the background is the Mount Pleasant postal sorting office. Mother-in-law's mother came from a pub running/coopers family, who originated in Surrey and a Jewish branch who were fishmongers in Middlesex Street (Petticoat lane) and in St Giles in the Fields. The better off ones retired to Paddington & Marylebone.

If you include Greater London, I have relatives who settled in Vestry Cottage, Old Burying Ground (lovely address, lol) Richmond on Thames, Surrey. As I live 32 minutes from Kings X all this is quite handy for me, as is Kew. nell

After months for searching at the London Metropolitan Archives and Westminster Archives, and the FRC I am still unable to find my 4xgreat grandfather, yet I have found a brother for him on 1851 census in Paddington. My gg gran was born illegitimately in Sussex, then her mum moved to London when she was a baby and got married, and her birthplace was given as London on censuses, so that was to cover up the illegitimacy fact, but she was still a Londoner, as she had been bought up there and spent the rest of her life there. My ancestors also tend to pick two particular churches in London to marry or have children. One in Hackney, one in Westminster. Ben

My research has taken me to many London Borough Archives including Holborn Library, Bancrost Library in Mile End and Lambeth Archives. My research has taken me to a couple of London cemeteries including Highgate Cemetery when my gg grandparents are buried, the one I just mentioned actually, with her husband, whose parents are buried in the St Pancras & Islington Cemetery. It has also taken me to the streets where they lived and I have been inside churches where they were baptised, married, you name it.

Benjamin It's great that although lots of buildings have been blitzed, pulled down, rebuilt etc, many of the original churches or houses or streets where our relatives lived still exist. I was quite excited when I found that my Norfolk grandfather was lodging across the road from a house where my husband's gt grandparents lived. nell

Can't believe its just Benjamin and me that have London ancestors????!!!!!!!!!!

hi nell, mine are londoners, my nan came from the west end of london,kings x, grandads family all come from chiswick, I was born in isleworth, lived in brentford. jean

Benjamin and Nell I didn't add as I thought I would bore everyone. Three of my main lines are Londoners. The fourth, my mother's father and ancestors are from Scotland. I was born and brought up in Islington. I can trace my paternal line (Durant) from Islington, via Bermondsey, back to Poplar in 1824 where I have hit the great brick wall. My father's maternal (Frizel) line I have back to 1836 and have stopped there at the moment. That line is Westminster area. Sure there is a connection back to 1760 but have a generation missing. My mother's maternal line I have back to 1793 verified. Once again Westminster until 1841 where they turn up in Clerkenwell. I am still hoping that originally they all come from little villages where I can get them back a bit further Trying to trace ancestors in London is so frustrating but oh when you finally find them so rewarding. Jean x.

My London ancestors have pretty locative surnames. My Coombs ancestors who came from the Soho, Holborn areas of London will no doubt be of Somerset origin as Coombs is a Somerset surname. Once I do trace them back, it will probably be easier as Jean said. Helen, yes a lot of streets and churches where our London ancestrors were born do exist. One does, Colville Place right near Tottenham Court Road, but a few of the houses were bombed during the war and the house my gg grandad was born in was one of them. Grrrr. Ben