Croydon St John the Baptist, Surrey Genealogy

England   Surrey   Surrey Parishes   Croydon St John the Baptist

Parish History
'CROYDON St John the Baptist, a market-town and a parish, and the head of a union, in the First division of the hundred of Wallington, E. division of Surrey, 9½ miles south of London.

Two additional churches were, in 1827-9, erected, one on Croydon common, dedicated to St James; the other is at Beulah Hill, Norwood. Another church, a district chapel, dedicated to St John, was erected at Shirley, in 1836.

There are places of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends, Independents, and Wesleyan Methodists. The Society of Friends have a large establishment, removed to this place, in 1825, from Clerkenwell, where it had existed for more than a century, for the maintenance and education of 150 boys and girls. The hospital of the Holy Trinity was founded in 1596three sides of a quadrangle, in which is a small chapel, is a handsome specimen of the domestic style prevailing at the time of its erection. Davy's almshouses, for seven aged men and women, were founded in 1447, by Elias Davy, citizen of London, who endowed them with land, now producing about £180 per annum: the premises were rebuilt about 80 years since. The Little Almshouses, containing originally nine rooms, were erected principally with money given by the Earl of Bristol, in consideration of land inclosed on Norwood common; they have been enlarged by the addition of fifteen apartments, at the expense of the parish, for the poor. In 1656, Archbishop Laud gave £300, which sum, having been invested in the purchase of a farm and in the funds, produces £62 per annum, applied to the apprenticing of children. Henry Smith, of London, in 1627 left lands and houses yielding an income of £213, of which about £150 are distributed among the inmates of the Little Almshouses; and there are various other charitable bequests for the relief of the poor. The union of Croydon contains 11 parishes or places, and contains a population of 27,721.

'On a hill towards Addington is a cluster of 25 tumuli, one of which is 40 feet in diameter; they appear to have been opened, and, according to Salmon, to have contained urns. On Thunderfield common is a circular encampment, including an area of two acres, surrounded by a double moat. At Duppas Hill, it is said, a tournament took place in 1186, when William, only son of John, the 7th earl Warren, lost his life. In 1719, a gold coin of the Emperor Domitian was found at Whitehorse farm, in the parish, where also, some years ago, a gold coin of Lælius Cæsar, in good preservation, and several others, were discovered; and in digging for a foundation in the town, in 1791, two gold coins of Valentinian, and a brass coin of Trajan, were found.'

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.

Church records
Contributor: Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts, non conformist and other types of church records, such as parish chest records. Add the contact information for the office holding the original records. Add links to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Surrey 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

Web sites
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