Tower of London, Middlesex, England Genealogy

Tower of London

Guide to Tower of London, Middlesex ancestry, family history, and genealogy: Parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

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Type	Extra-parochial
Civil Jurisdictions
County	Middlesex
Hundred	Ossulstone (Tower Division)
Poor Law Union	Whitechapel
Registration District	Whitechapel
Records Begin
Parish registers	1538
Bishop's Transcripts	None
Ecclesiastical Jurisdictions
Rural Deanery	Not Applicable
Diocese	Not Applicable
Probate Court	Search the courts of the surrounding parishes
Archive
Middlesex Record Office

Parish History

Tower of London, parish, Middlesex, Tower Hamlets parliamentary borough, London,(including Old Tower Without). The parish contains the fortress of the same name, founded by William the Conqueror, probably on the site of an older fortress; once a fortress, a royal residence, a court of justice, and a prison, it is now a Government storehouse and armoury.^[1]

1848 parish description: St. Peter ad Vincula, Tower is a Tower parish. It is adjacent to the City of London, in the hundred of Ossulstone, Middlesex. The patron is the Constable of the Tower of London.^[2]

The Chapel Royal within the The Tower of London is extra-parochial (see below). It is sometimes known as St Peter Ad Vincula and is ancient in its origins, pre-dating the year 1520 when it was rebuilt and still remains today.

[The] Tower of London, ..is on the eastern side of the city, by the side of the Thames, between the eastern end of Lower Thames Street and St. Katherine's.

The earliest account of any fortification on this site was a small fortress, by William the Norman [Conqueror] in 1076, who,... [a]lso built in 1078 that portion which is called the White Tower... In 1239 Henry III added to its fortifications, [and was built up, until the] present area of the Tower within the walls, is 12 acres and five poles, and the circuit outside of the ditch, 1052 feet. The principal objects of curiosity within the Tower, are the menagerie of wild beasts in the Lion Tower, the Jewel Office, the armory, the White Tower, the ancient chapel and church (see St Peter ad Vincula), the record office, Beauchamp Tower, the bloody Tower, traders bridge, and the Mint... The Tower [wa]s still used as a state prison and is under the government of the Duke of Wellington...^[3]

Resources

Find Neighboring Parishes

Use England Jurisdictions 1851 Map

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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

Tower of London 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

Census Records

1547 Subsidy

Tower Ward (The National Archives, Ref: E179/145/146), Copy: FS Library Film 2228700.

1620 Subsidy

Ossulstone Hundred, Tower Division: The Tower Hamlets and Whitechapel (The National Archives, Ref: E179/142/254); transcript by Charles Edward Banks: FS Library Film 1550095 item 20.

1666 Hearth Tax

Hearth Tax: Middlesex 1666: Tower of London Liberty at British History Online - free.

Census records from 1841 to 1911 are available online. For access, see England Census Records and Indexes Online. Census records from 1841 to 1891 are also available on film through a FamilySearch Center or at the FamilySearch Library.

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.

Cemetery

Findagrave is an international database of cemetery interments. In some cases there are photographs and comments regarding the deceased's family. It is a collaborative project, meaning any volunteer may add names and photos. As of 2016 it contained over 150 million burial records and 75 million photos. ^[4]

(43+ entries)

Maps and Gazetteers

Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.

Websites

Tower of London on GENUKI

References

↑ Barholmew, John, Gazetteer of the British Isles, 1887. Adapted. Date accessed: 25 January 2014.
↑ Lewis, Samuel A., A Topographical Dictionary of England, (1848). Adapted. Date accessed: 26 December 2013.
↑ James Elmes, A Topographical Dictionary of London and its Environs (London: Whittaker, Treacher and Arnot, 1831). Adapted.
↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Find_a_Grave

[1] Barholmew, John, Gazetteer of the British Isles, 1887. Adapted. Date accessed: 25 January 2014.

[2] Lewis, Samuel A., A Topographical Dictionary of England, (1848). Adapted. Date accessed: 26 December 2013.

[3] James Elmes, A Topographical Dictionary of London and its Environs (London: Whittaker, Treacher and Arnot, 1831). Adapted.

[4] ttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Find_a_Grave

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