Streatham St Leonard, Surrey Genealogy

England   Surrey Here is a Comprehensive List of Chapels and District Churches within St Leonard Streatham.

Parish History
STREATHAM (St. Leonard), a parish, in the union of Wandsworth, E. division of the hundred of Brixton and of the county of Surrey, 6 miles (S. by W.) from London; containing 5994 inhabitants. This parish, which derives its name from its situation near the great Roman road from London to Arundel, extends along the principal road to Brighton for nearly three miles, and comprises 2832 acres, of which 221 are common or waste. The houses, mostly modern, are well built, and the parish contains a number of villas and stately mansions, particularly in the neighbourhood of the common, between which and the lower part of the village was an ancient mansion of red brick, the residence, about half a century ago, of Lord William Russell. Streatham Park, where Dr. Johnson spent much of his time, was the seat of Mrs. Thrale, afterwards Madame Piozzi. The neighbourhood is richly wooded, and diversified with hills and valleys; and the air, which is considered particularly salubrious and invigorating, combined with other local advantages, has rendered the village the favourite residence of many opulent families. A mineral spring was discovered in 1660, which is still held in esteem, being highly efficacious in scorbutic eruptions, and in many other cases. The manufacture of silk has been introduced. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £18. 13. 9., and in the gift of the Duke of Bedford: the tithes have been commuted for £1200, and the glebe contains 1½ acre. The ancient church, with the exception of the tower, which is of flint and surmounted by a spire, forming a picturesque object in the landscape, was taken down in 1830, and handsomely rebuilt upon an enlarged scale in the later English style. On the upper part of Brixton Hill, about 100 yards to the east of the high road, is a church dedicated to Christ, which was consecrated Nov. 19th, 1841, and is in the Eastern or Byzantine style, with a campanile tower; the cost, amounting to £8000, was raised by subscription, aided by a grant of £1300 from the Church Commissioners. The living is in the Rector's gift. In Upper Tooting is another incumbency [chapel]. There are places of worship for Independents and Wesleyans; and four almshouses for aged women have been lately erected in the Elizabethan style, by a bequest from the late Mrs. Henry Thrale, of Streatham Park. Dr. Hoadley, Bishop of Bangor, was rector of the parish.

From: Samuel A. Lewis A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 246-250. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51314 Date accessed: 13 April 2011.

Also consider the following treatise for a hamlet within the jurisdiction of Streatham St Leonard with its accomanying chapel:

TOOTING, UPPER, a hamlet, in the parish of Streatham, union of Wandsworth, E. division of Brixton hundred and of the county of Surrey, 6¾ miles (S. S. W.) from London. This village, which is also designated Tooting-Beck, is well sheltered from the north winds; and the salubrity of the air, the purity of the water, and its dry gravelly soil, have made it the residence of several respectable families. In that part adjoining Balham-Hill, a hamlet in the same parish, is a proprietary episcopal chapel, dedicated to St Mary, built by the inhabitants, at an expense of nearly £7000, by the year 1808, and since greatly enlarged; it will accommodate about 1000 persons: over the altar is a painted window.

In 1855, a district chapel was built, called Holy Trinity in Upper Tooting, in the parish of Streatham.

From: 'Tonbridge - Topsham', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 372-377. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51349 Date accessed: 13 April 2011.

John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870)

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
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Census records
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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
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 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
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