IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0074 P86/MRY
Held at: London Metropolitan Archives
Title: SAINT MARY, LEWISHAM: LEWISHAM HIGH STREET, LEWISHAM
Date(s): 1703-1921
Level of description: Collection
Extent: 2.71 linear metres
Name of creator(s): Parish of St Mary, Lewisham | Church of England
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
There has been a place of worship on the site for over a thousand years. The current church was built between 1774 and 1777 and was damaged by fire in 1830. The churchyard was closed for burials in 1856. By 1881 Lewisham had become a suburb of London and its population had increased significantly. It was therefore decided to enlarge and alter the building. Further changes were made in 1995.
The Board of Guardians for the parish of Saint Mary, Lewisham, administered poor relief under the Local Act 54 Geo. III c.43 (18 May 1814). The Board of Guardians was dissolved under the Local Government Act 1899.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Records of the parish of Saint Mary, Lewisham, including registers of baptisms, burials, and marriages; and minutes of the parish Board of Guardians.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
The records have been sorted into categories which reflect divisions between the different functions and operations of the parish and its administration. Order within these categories reflects chronology.
Conditions governing access:
Available for general access.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copyright to these records rests with the depositor.
Physical characteristics:
Fit
Finding aids:
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Archival history:
A fire at the church on 26 December 1830, destroyed or damaged a large number of the early registers. There are none extant for the period before 1830: a few undamaged registers and damaged fragments of registers survive and transcripts were made between 1835 and 1851 from these fragments.
Immediate source of acquisition:
Records P86/MRY/1-42 deposited by the Vicar on 16 February 1956. Records of the Board of Guardian of the Parish of St Mary, Lewisham transferred from the records of the Board of Guardians of Lewisham Union, January 1971.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Related material:
For records of Lewisham Union see Lewisham Board of Guardians ref. LBG. Damaged fragments of the original parish registers have been deposited in the Lewisham Public Libraries Local History and Archives Department, Manor House, Lee.
Publication note:
The Lewisham Antiquarian Society published in 1891, The Register of Marriages, Christenings and Burials in the Church of Saint Mary, Lewisham, Kent (being such portions of the Registers as were saved from the fire of 1830) from 1558 to 1750, edited by Leland Lewis Duncan. A copy, reference 60.531 (ST.M), is available on the open shelves in the LMA Information Area.
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Date(s) of descriptions: April to June 2010.