Parishes
The parish formed the backbone of local government. Of the over one hundred parishes that made up metropolitan London in the eighteenth century, the records of three have been comprehensively digitised for this project. These parishes were chosen for the quality of their records and the extent to which they exemplify different parts of London - Westminster, the City and the East End. The poor law and rating records relating to several other parishes, created by other projects, have also been included.
St Clement Danes, St Dionis Backchurch, and St Botolph Aldgate in dark red, and St Luke Chelsea and St Martin in the Fields in blue, mapped onto John Rocque's, London, Westminster and Southwark, 1746. © Motco 2001 (base map only).
St Botolph Aldgate
Location, Local Government, Population, Distribution of Wealth, Economy, Housing, Poor Relief and Charities, Crime and Policing.
St Clement Danes
Location, Local Government, Population, Distribution of Wealth, Economy, Housing, Poor Relief and Charities, Crime and Policing.
St Dionis Backchurch
Location, Local Government, Population, Distribution of Wealth, Economy, Housing, Poor Relief and Charities, Crime and Policing.
Additional Parish Sources
- St Botolph Aldgate, Parish Registers, 1681-1709
- St Luke Chelsea, Workhouse Register, 1743-1769, 1782-1799
- St Martin in the Fields, Settlement Examinations, 1725-1795
- St Martin in the Fields, Workhouse Register, 1725-1824
- Westminster Rating Books, 1749-1818
If you are just getting started you may wish to consult the Research Guides provided; read the article on How to interpret an Eighteenth-Century Manuscript; and review the descriptions of the individual Document Types.
For a detailed reading list on these subjects, see the London Lives Bibliography.