Gray's Inn, Middlesex, England Genealogy

England

Middlesex

Middlesex Parishes

Gray's Inn

Guide to Gray's Inn, Middlesex ancestry, family history, and genealogy: Parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Gray's Inn
Type	Extra-parochial
Civil Jurisdictions
County	Middlesex
Hundred	Inns of Court and Chancery
Poor Law Union	Holborn
Registration District	Holborn
Records Begin
Parish registers	1695
Bishop's Transcripts	For records see surrounding parishes
Ecclesiastical Jurisdictions
Rural Deanery	Not Applicable
Diocese	Not Applicable
Probate Court	Search the courts of the surrounding parishes
Archive
Middlesex Record Office

Parish History

Gray's Inn, is on the north side of Holborn, opposite Middle Row, and on the west side of Gray's Inn Lane. Gray's Inn derives its name from having been formerly the residence of the ancient and noble family of Gray of Wilton, who, in the reign of Edward III, demised it to several students of law. It occupies the site of the mansion of the ancient manor of Portpool, one of the prebends belonging to St Paul's Cathedral, which, in 1515, becoming residence of the before mentioned family, it received from it the name of Gray's Inn. It reverted, however, to the monks till the dissolution of the religious houses, when it was granted by Henry VIII, in 1541, to the students and their successors.

The principal entrance to Gray's Inn is from Holborn, and it consists of several spacious courts, a large square, opening into Gray's Inn lane, some airy gardens wherein was the favourite summer house of Sir Francis Bacon, and two very handsome rows of new buildings northward. It is one of the four inns of court, and is inhabited by barristers, solicitors and students of law, and by gentlemen of either professions and of independence, for the sake of studious retirement.

Gray's Inn Chapel was established in 1695. It was an extra-parochial place exempt from jurisdiction.

Resources

Find Neighboring Parishes

Use England Jurisdictions 1851 Map

• Type the name of the parish in the search bar
• Click on the location pin on the map
• Choose Options from the pop up box
• Click "List Contiguous Parishes" to find the neighboring parishes
  

Civil Registration

Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day.

• See England Civil Registration for online resources and information.
  
  

Church Records

The Church of England (Anglican) became the official state religion in 1534, with the reigning monarch as its Supreme Governor.
Non-Conformist refers to all other religious denominations that are not the official state religion.

Church of England

Due to the increasing access of online records:

• Individual parish coverage for databases in this table are inconsistent and should be verified
  
• Dates in the following table are approximate
  

Hover over the collection's title for more information

Gray's Inn Online Parish Records
Collections	Baptisms		Marriages		Burials
	Indexes and images	Indexes only	Indexes and images	Indexes only	Indexes and images	Indexes only
FamilySearch Collections-Middlesex	1500s-1900s	-	1500s-1900s	-	1500s-1900s	-
FamilySearch Parish Registers-Middlesex	1500s-1900s	-	1500s-1900s	-	1500s-1900s	-
Bishop's Transcripts - FamilySearch Catalog	1700s-1800s	-	1700s-1800s	-	1700s-1800s	-
FreeREG	-	1500s-1900s	-	1500s-1900s	-	1500s-1900s
Findmypast-Middlesex ($)	-	1500s-1900s	-	1500s-1900s	-	1400s-1900s
Findmypast (Westminster)-Middlesex ($)	-	1500s-1900s	-	1500s-1900s	-	1400s-1900s
Findmypast Banns-Middlesex ($)	-	-	-	1700s-1800s	-	-
Ancestry-London Church of England BMD (Early) ($)	1500s-1800s	-	1500s-1800s	-	1500s-1800s	-
Ancestry-London Church of England BMD (Late) ($)	1800s-1900s	-	1700s-1900s	-	1800s-2000s	-
Ancestry Marriage Bonds and Allegations-London and Surrey ($)	-	-	1600s-1900s	-	-	-
Ancestry-England & Wales, Birth, Christening, Marriage and Death Indexes ($)	-	1500s-1900s 1500s-1900s	-	1500s-1900s 1500s-1900s	-	1500s-1900s
Databases with Known Incomplete Parish Coverage
Boyd's Marriage Indexes-FMP (Free)	-	-	-	1500s-1800s	-	-
National Burial Index-FMP (Free)	-	-	-	-	-	1600s-1800s

Other Websites These databases have incomplete parish coverage.

• Joiner Marriage Index - Middlesex ($)
• The Genealogist Parish Registers - Middlesex ($)
• UK Websites for Parish Records - Links to online genealogical records
• Online Genealogical Index - Links to online genealogical records

Nonconformist Records

"Nonconformist" is a term referring to religious denominations other than an established or state church. In England, the state church is the Church of England.

• 1717 England & Wales, Roman Catholics, 1717 at Findmypast - index & images ($); coverage may vary
• England Roman Catholic Parish Marriages at Findmypast — index & images ($); coverage may vary

Census Records

Census records from 1841 to 1921 are available online. See England Census for more resources.

1693-1694 Four Shilling in the Pound Aid

• Gray's Inn at British History Online - free.

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.

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