on your CD

Each month we look at the regional resources that can help you find your forebears

Surrey

ala

my

Surrey’s two genealogical societies and its top-class history centre can help guide you back through time, says Jonathan Warren

The lock keeper's cottage at Papercourt Lock on River Wey Navigation

Haymaking in Holmwood

Park in Surrey, 1909

Steamboats in the Lock in East Mosely, 1896Surrey

Merton, Richmond, Southwark, Sutton and Wandsworth.

West Surrey FHS Chairman, Sue Turner, says these boundary changes can cause confusion, offering the example of this reply, given by noted genealogist Cliff Webb, to a seemingly simple question about the parish of Deptford: “Parish boundaries do sometimes cross county boundaries, and county (and parish) boundaries change. Thus, the ancient parish of Deptford (with its St Nicholas church) was partially in Kent and partially in Surrey. The Surrey bit was a manor called Hatcham, an area more often now known as New Cross.

“In 1730 the parish of Deptford (which had grown very populous) was split and the church of St Paul was built in the Surrey ‘bit’. In 1889, the whole of Deptford was incorporated into

Doyle wrote The Hound of the Baskervilles while living in Hindhead; Daniel Defoe was educated in Dorking; Lewis Carroll is buried in Guildford – also the birthplace of P G Wodehouse; H G Wells wrote The War of the Worlds while living in Woking (commemorated today by a Martian tripod sculpture); and Aldous Huxley was born in Godalming.

Shifting boundariesCounty boundaries have moved over the years, and parts of what was once Surrey are now in Greater London. Indeed, researchers with Surrey interests may well discover that relevant material is held not just at the major county record office, but also at the London Metropolitan Archives and borough archives in Croydon, Kingston, Lambeth,

the Great Fire of London, Reigate quarries supplied stone for the rebuilding work.

Surrey has been the home of many influential public figures. From the world of literature alone, its many claims to fame include William Cobbett, author of Rural Rides, who was born in Farnham in 1763; Arthur Conan

S urrey is home to vast swathes of mature woodland and noted beauty spots such as

Box Hill and Leith Hill, much of it protected by the Metropolitan Green Belt. Today, partly thanks to its close economic ties with London and an emphasis on financial services, Surrey has the highest GDP per capita and, famously, the highest proportion of millionaires in Britain.

The Wey Navigation, begun in 1635 and in more or less continuous use until 1969, was one of England’s first canal systems linking the river Wey from Guildford to the Thames, becoming a vital economic lifeline to London. Although cloth production dwindled during the 16th century, the 17th century saw rapid increases in production of copper, brass and, later, paper and gunpowder, and following

Timeline: Surrey history1619 George abbot,

the son of a Guildford clothworker and archbishop of Canterbury, founds abbot’s Hospital, an almshouse in Guildford that is still operating.

1647 The first manifesto of what becomes known as the leveller movement is drafted at Guildford. Two years later the Diggers establish a communal settlement at St George’s Hill, before being driven out by local landowners.

1780 The inaugural running of the Epsom Derby is held. It is won by the horse Diomed, owned by Sir Charles Bunbury, who collects prize money of £1,065 15s.

pHo

TolI

Bra

ry/T

HE

arT

arC

HIv

E/C

oBI

S

West Surrey FHS Chairman Sue

Turner says: “The most important

tip for any researcher is to check

the original record. The WSFHS

indexes and transcriptions can be

wonderful at directing you to the

source record, but one should

always confirm the information

by viewing the original for oneself.”

Watch out!

1497 During the Cornish rebellion, 15,000 rebels heading for london enter Surrey, briefly occupying Guildford before marching on to Blackheath where they are then crushed by a royal army.

A 19th-century painting of Epsom Derby by Theodore Gericault

Who Do You Think You Are? Christmas 201082

Pottery making in the village of Oxshott, c1910

photographs; and the diaries of William Bray of Shere, which include a reference to his playing baseball near Guildford in 1755 – believed to be the earliest known manuscript reference to the game!

Parish recordsParish material for both rural Surrey and much of metropolitan Surrey is held here, while the London Metropolitan Archives has parish records for parts of north-east Surrey (which formed the borough of Spelthorne post-1965). As an alternative source of BMD information, you could try the Centre’s complete set of Gentleman’s Magazine from 1731 to 1842.

Team Leader of Heritage Public Service, Julian Pooley, says: “The lists of births, marriages, deaths, bankruptcies and military

what was once Surrey. Indeed, East Surrey FHS Chairman, Joanna Grant, says members are currently transcribing a number of different records held at the Croydon Local Studies Library.

While local history collections are maintained by various county libraries, the Surrey History Centre in Woking is the most

important port of call. Alongside genealogical sources, there are collections here of national importance, such as the family

papers of Lewis Carroll; garden plans, watercolours and photographs by Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932) of Godalming, one of the most well-known garden designers; the Robert Barclay collection of Surrey illustrations; the Philip Bradley Collection of fairground

the new county of London as part of the Borough of Greenwich, and Deptford was always part of Greenwich registration district. To make matters worse, when the Greater London Council was formed in 1965, the area once called Hatcham was transferred to the new London Borough of Lewisham, while the rest of

Deptford went to the London Borough of Greenwich. That’s just one tiny example of some of the complexities!” says Sue.

If this sounds bewildering, don’t panic: both major county societies produce indexes, parish guides, finding aids and transcriptions, covering all of

1803 The Surrey Iron railway opens between Croydon and Carshalton. The first public railway in the world, the train of wagons are drawn along the iron track by horses.

1914 World renowned Surrey-based piano makers, John Broadwood and Sons, begin making aircraft bodies and ammunition boxes for the war effort.

1889 The Shah Jehan mosque is built in Woking. This remains the oldest purpose-built muslim place of worship in Britain.

The Surrey History Centre in Woking is the most important archive

GET

Ty Im

aG

ES/a

lam

y

We’ve teamed up with the WSFHS who have provided their complete 1851 Census Index for Western Surrey, normally priced at £6. The principal index lists 92,000 names, giving full name, age, birthplace and folio number. There’s also 72 parish indexes with alphabetical listings of family groups (with the same details as above), plus an indexed list of addresses, including public houses, mills, factories etc. your CD also includes a complete list of the parishes covered by the Index.

1851 cEnSuS indEx

promotions in each monthly issue are often overlooked by genealogists. The correspondence pages and detailed obituaries that were a feature of the late 18th and early 19th century are a goldmine for family and local historians.”

The Centre’s military collections include the vast Queen’s Royal Surrey Regiment archive, spanning four centuries and 45 metres of shelving, comprising battalion War Diaries, private journals, official photograph albums and even recordings of veterans’ reminiscences.

The Centre has records from many Surrey institutions, such as the Royal Philanthropic School at Redhill, Reed’s School at Cobham (formerly the East London

Woking's Shah Jehan Mosque

83Who Do You Think You Are? Christmas 2010

around britain

A Surrey farm hand instructing two volunteers in 1951

Travelling family in the snow in Surrey, c1900

Surrey

Trouble- SHooTingHow do i get my free CD-rom to run?your CD-rom should start up automatically on a pC. If it doesn’t, follow the advice below. mac users have to click on ‘WDyTya_mac’ to open it.

What if i still can’t get it to work?If the CD-rom will still not run and your screen shows an error message, visit our website for further instructions. Go to www.whodoyou thinkyouaremagazine. com/discfaq.

Why can’t i open the PDF files?If one of the pDFs won’t open, the first thing to do is make sure you have the latest version of adobe acrobat, available free at www.adobe.com.

What if i still can’t open the PDFs?If you still can’t open the pDF files, visit our website for further instructions. See www.whodoyouthinkyouare magazine.com/discfaq for more information and solutions to common problems. you can also email us at: editorial@bbcwhodoyouthinkyouare.com.

This month’s free CD-rom is packed with complete products to further your Surrey research, worth a combined total of £23.98. The disc also boasts a generous sample of material from the Surrey History Centre (SHC), including photographs and documents, items from their extensive regimental collections, as well as indexes to some unique institutions.

1851 Censusprovided by West Surrey FHS, this complete census index for Western Surrey lists some 92,000 names. Normally priced at £6, the data includes full name, age, birthplace and folio number, and, alongside the principal name index, there’s also parish by parish

indexes, plus an index of West Surrey places. please note that, while the birth-place index available on the original society CD is NoT included here in order to save space, you can still locate birthplaces using the ‘Find’ tool.

Croydon parishesWe’ve also teamed up with East Surrey FHS this month, and inside you’ll find complete transcriptions of parish registers for the church of St James, in Croydon Common, covering burials (between 1829 and 1866) and baptisms (1829- 1906), worth £4.

Surrey History Centre The first of three sections on the CD with material drawn from the Surrey History Centre’s archives, showcasing their photographic and parish register collections.

regimental collectionsSamples from the SHC’s vast archive of The Queen’s royal Surrey regiment and its predecessors, which spans four centuries and occupies 45 metres of shelving in the archive strongrooms. Items include a battalion diary entry from the first day of the Somme and poW registers from both world wars.

Army listsTo tie in with these regimental archives, we also have complete pDF versions of the official First World War officers’ army lists for both the East Surrey and royal West Surrey regiments, provided by your old Books & maps and normally priced at £6.99 each.

Surrey institutions a sample of the SHC’s material relating to institutions, including a transcribed index to Chertsey Workhouse’s admission and discharge books (1894-1932, including more than 28,000 names), and an index to the admissions registers for the royal philanthropic School in redhill (founded in 1788, and includes more than 7,000 names).

linksall the most useful sites for tracing your family history in Surrey.

on your free CD-roMwhat rEcordS arE includEd

inSTruCTionS For WinDoWS* Insert disk into cd drive if the disk does not start up

automatically, double-click on WDYTYA_pc.exe to open the menu screen

Follow on-screen instructions* Windows Vista support not guaranteed

inSTruCTionS For MAC oSX insert disk into cd drive locate the disk icon on your

desktop and double-click to open double-click on WDYTYA_mac Follow on-screen instructions

GET

Ty Im

aG

ES/S

urr

Ey H

ISTo

ry C

ENTr

E

Who Do You Think You Are? Christmas 201084

Cyclists on London Road in Camberley, 1909

Apples being gathered at Jacksbridge Farm, Lingfield in 1937

Industries (formerly Fuller’s Earth Union Ltd) at Nutfield and Redhill, the Dorking Greystone Mine Company, the lathe and machine tool manufacturers Drummond Brothers of Guildford, Vulcanised Fibre Ltd of Shalford

and Dennis Specialist vehicles of Guildford, who made fire engines, buses and utility vehicles throughout the

20th century. The Centre also holds collections relating to the local brewing industry, pottery manufacture, foundries and forges, aircraft manufacture and parachutes (from the GQ Parachute Company in Woking), and the world-famous Broadwood Piano factory.

The excellent www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk is a great place to find out more about Surrey’s social, economic and industrial history, and search various databases, including the Surrey History Centre collections, six Surrey museums, local history collections and Surrey’s Historic Environment Record.

index the Centre’s Quarter Sessions papers between 1780 and 1820, which include lists of printers, dissenting congregations, barge owners, freeholders, jurors and gamekeepers.

Julian says: “So far we’ve come

across one case of bestiality, many indecent exposures, a bit of sedition, lots of bastardy and desertion cases, one case of anti-semitism and thousands of thefts – which often led to transportation to Australia.”

rural recordsThe county was, and still is, pretty rural and records of agricultural practices have survived, such as lavender farming, cider making, beekeeping and farming in general. The Centre holds important archives of nurserymen, such as Waterers of Bagshot and Jackmans of Woking, and manorial records dating as far back as the 13th century, which contain much genealogical information.

Other records peculiar to specific areas and industries include those from Laporte

ancestors who were either patients or staff at these institutions.”

A team of volunteers is currently creating an index to the thousands of patients treated at Brookwood mental hospital between 1867 and 1910. 26 of the 65 case books have been completed, representing some 6,000 names.

Other ongoing projects include the Surrey Tithe Project, a volunteer scheme that aims to transcribe tithe apportionments for all tithe districts within the modern county, and Surrey History Trust volunteers have nearly completed a project to

Orphan Asylum), and the Royal Alexander and Albert School at Gatton, all of which took children from across the country. Surrey also had more mental hospitals than most other counties, due largely to its proximity to London.

Julian says: “We succeeded in saving huge quantities of administrative and clinical records when these hospitals closed and, together with the records of private asylums inspected by the Surrey justices from 1774, they are providing family historians with rich and vivid accounts of

Turn over for our directory of archives and resources

Julian pooley says: “parish

registers are of course the

backbone to any family history

research, but they should not

only be used to search for

specific references to family

members. The demographics

of a parish can tell us as much

about our ancestors and the

environment they lived in,

the quality of their lives, the

industries and occupations

of their neighbours and also

give us clues as to why they

either stayed in the area or

moved away.”

The Centre holds records dating as far back as the 13th century

pHo

TolI

Bra

ry/G

ETTy

Ima

GES

85Who Do You Think You Are? Christmas 2010

around britain

dirEctory

A farmer with two young lambs at Anchor Farm in Blindely Heath, 1937

The Rural Life Centre in Tilford

Surrey

Surrey History Centre 130 Goldsworth Road,Woking, Surrey GU21 6ND 01483 518737 shs@surreycc.gov.uk www.surreycc.gov.uk/surreyhistorycentre

The archives and History research Guides page includes information about parish, census and poor law records, plus wills, roman Catholic and Jewish records, romany & Traveller sources, and military material. ‘Search for archives and Books’ contains links to a guide to parish registers, online indexes to specific records, and other finding aids. There’s also a collections index, with more detailed information available through the Collection Catalogue, while you can search and view various databases via www.exploring surreyspast.org.uk. London Metropolitan Archives 40 Northampton Road, Clerkenwell EC1R 0HB 0207 332 3820 ask.lma@cityoflondon.gov.uk www.lma.gov.uk

The lma’s website is not very intuitive, but includes helpful research guides and the london Generations database, which will help you track down digitised sources from former Surrey parishes, much of which is now accessible via ancestry.co.uk West Surrey FHS Mrs Ann Sargeant, 21 Sheppard Road, Basingstoke RG21 3HT secretary@wsfhs.org www.wsfhs.org

Holds monthly meetings at Camberley, Farnham, Guildford, Walton on Thames, Woking and pyrford. The quarterly journal Root and Branch is sent free to all members, and they maintain a reference library and produce a huge number of indexes and transcriptions of parish registers, wills, mIs, and BmD indexes. The Society’s 1851 Census index (on this issue’s CD-rom) includes an up-to-date list of all their CD publications, while the excellent website has lots of useful guides and free finding aids.

East Surrey FHS Cobham Close, South Wallington,Surrey SM6 9DS secretary01@eastsurrey fhs.org.uk www.eastsurreyfhs.org.uk

Holds meetings at Croydon, lingfield, richmond, Southwark and Sutton. The research Centre in lingfield has computers and fiche readers, Society publications (their parish register transcriptions for St James, Croydon Common are included on your CD-rom), plus expert advice. members offer a post/email research service, for a small charge, and the website has lots of useful information, including a list of parishes covered.

Banstead Local History Centre Banstead Library, The HorseshoeBolters Lane, Banstead, Surrey SM7 2AW 0300 200 1001 email via online form www.surreycc.gov.uk/bansteadlocalhistory

a number of Surrey libraries have local history centres (listed right), all of which can be contacted via the number above or emailed using the online form. Sources vary but all have census and parish material (though the original parish records are at the Surrey History Centre), fiche/film readers and computer access, while some also have maps, directories, photographic collections and newspapers. This branch covers Banstead, Burgh Heath, Chipstead, Hooley, Kingswood, lower Kingswood, Netherne-on- the-Hill, preston, Tadworth, Tattenhams, Walton-on- the-Hill and Woodman-sterne.

Cranleigh Local & Family History Centre Cranleigh Library, High Street,Cranleigh GU6 8AE www.surreycc.gov.uk/cranleighlocalhistory

Covers the parishes of Cranleigh, Shamley Green, Ewhurst, Dunsfold, alfold and Bramley.

Epsom & Ewell Local and Family History Centre Ewell Library, Bourne HallSpring Street, Ewell,Epsom KT17 1UF www.surreycc.gov.uk/epsomandewelllocalhistory

Covers Epsom, Ewell, langley vale, Stamford Green, Stoneleigh, and Woodcote.

Hayward Memorial Local History Centre Lingfield Library, The Guest House, Vicarage Road, Lingfield RH7 6HA www.surreycc.gov.uk/

lingfieldlocal history

Covers Blindley Heath, Crowhurst, Dormansland, Felbridge,

Felcourt, Haxted, Horne, lingfield and South Godstone.

archives & resources in Surreywhat’s available in the region

ala

my

/GET

Ty Im

aG

ES

Horley Local History Centre Horley Library, Victoria Road,Horley RH6 7AG www.surreycc.gov.uk/horleylocalhistory

Covers Horley, Burstow, Charlwood, Horne, Salfords and Smallfields.

Caterham & District Local History Centre Caterham Valley Library, Stafford Road, Caterham CR3 6JG www.surreycc.gov.uk/caterhamlocalhistory

Covers Caterham, Chaldon, Chelsham, Farleigh, Godstone, Tatsfield, Titsey, Warlingham, Whyteleafe and Woldingham.

Redhill Centre for Local & Family History Redhill Library, Warwick Quadrant, Redhill RH1 1NN www.surreycc.gov.uk/redhilllocalhistory

Covers redhill, reigate, Bletchingley, Buckland, Earlswood, Gatton, leigh, merstham, Nutfield, Salfords and Sidlow.

Surrey Advertiser Index www.newspaperdetectives.co.uk

This useful site created by Brian Faulkner contains a name index to the Surrey Advertiser. Surrey Museums www.surreymuseums.org.uk

a directory of over 40 museums across the county, including the rural life Centre (www.rurallife.plus.com/rlc) and Spelthorne museum (www.spelthornemuseum.org.uk).

Who Do You Think You Are? Christmas 201086