Romford, Essex Family History Guide

Updated onOctober 17, 2024

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Romford is an Ecclesiastical Parish and a market town in the county of Essex, created in about 1840 from a chapelry in Hornchurch Ancient Parish.

Other places in the parish include: Harrold’s Wood, Noak Hill, Harrolds Wood, Prospect Place, Harrold Wood, Hare Street, and Collier Row.

Alternative names:

Parish church:

Parish registers begin:

Parish registers: 1561
Bishop’s Transcripts: 1766

Nonconformists include: Baptist, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Independent/Congregational, Particular Baptist, Society of Friends/Quaker, and Wesleyan Methodist.

Table of Contents

Adjacent Parishes

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

ROMFORD, a town, a parish, a sub-district, and a district, in Essex.

The town stands on a small affluent of the river Thames, and on the Eastern Counties railway, 12 miles ENE of Bishopsgate, London

It occupies the site of the Roman Durolitum; is the capital of the liberty of Havering-atte-Bower; is also a seat of quarter sessions, petty sessions, and county courts, and a polling-place.

It consists chiefly of two streets, crossing each other at right angles; contains many excellent houses and good shops; underwent much improvement and extension, with alignments for several new streets, prior to 1868; is managed by a local board of health; and has a head post-office, a railway station with telegraph, a banking office, several inns, a town hall, a corn exchange, a court-house, three churches, three dissenting chapels, a Roman Catholic chapel, a mechanics’ institute, an endowed school with £65 a year, five other public schools, a workhouse, alms-houses with £423 a year, and other charities £72.

St. Edward’s church was rebuilt in 1850; is in the decorated English style, of Kentish rag, with Bath stone dressings; and consists of nave, aisles, chapels, and chancel, with tower and spire 162 feet high.

St. Andrew’s church was built in 1862, at a cost of £4,500; is also in the decorated English style; and consists of nave, S aisle, and chancel, with bell-turret.

The Independent chapel was built in 1812, in lieu of a previous one at Havering-Well; and has an endowment of £95 a year.

The workhouse was built in 1838, at a cost of £9,500; and has accommodation for 500 inmates. A weekly market is held on Wednesday; and a fair on Midsummer-day.

There are extensive malting and brewing establishments, agricultural-implement works, and foundries. Pop. of the town in 1851, 3,791; in 1861, 4,361. Houses, 890.

The parish includes the hamlets of Collier-Row, Hare-Street, Noak-Hill, and Prospect-Place; and was ecclesiastically divided, in 1862, into the sections of St. Edward and St. Andrew. Acres, with Havering-atte-Bower parish, 9,173. Real property of R. alone, £19,055; of which £308 are in gas-works. Pop. in 1851, 5,868; in 1861, 6,604. Houses, 1,270.

The manor belonged to the Mowbrays; and passed, through the Berkeleys and others, to the Newmans. Gidea Hall is an old mansion, where Sir Anthony Cooke entertained Queen Elizabeth. Dagnan Park is the seat of Sir A. Neave, Bart.; Priests, of O. Mashiter, Esq.; and Marshalls, of D. M’ Intosh, Esq. Market-gardening is carried on.

The living of St. Edward is a vicarage united with the chapelry of Noak Hill, and that of St. Andrew is a rectory, in the diocese of Rochester. Value of the former, £700; of the latter, £150. Patron of both, New College, Oxford.

A church and a national school are at Noak-Hill.

Quarles, the poet, was born in the old manor-house of Stewards; and Repton, the landscape gardener, resided in Hare-Street.

The sub-district contains also the parishes of Havering-atte-Bower and Dagenham, and comprises 15,781 acres. Pop., 9,741. Houses, 1,909.

The district comprehends also the sub-district of Barking-Town, containing the wards of Barking-Town and Ripple; the sub-district of Ilford, containing the wards of Great Ilford and Chadwell; and the sub-district of Hornchurch, containing the parishes of Hornchurch, Upminster, Cranham, Great Warley, Rainham, and Wennington.

Acres, 48,244. Poor-rates in 1863, £17,896. Pop. in 1851, 24,607; in 1861, 26,965. Houses, 5,410. Marriages in 1863, 125; births, 980, of which 52 were illegitimate; deaths, 612, of which 257 were at ages under 5 years, and 24 at ages above 85. Marriages in the ten years 1851-60, 1,228; births, 8,905; deaths, 5,182.

The places of worship, in 1851, were 17 of the Church of England, with 6,096 sittings; 6 of Independents, with 1,695 s.; 6 of Baptists, with 1,080 s.; 5 of Wesleyans, with 812 s.; 2 undefined, with 300 s.; and 1 of Latter Day Saints, with 16 s.

The schools were 22 public day-schools, with 2,060 scholars; 46 private day-schools, with 914 s.; 23 Sunday schools, with 2,277 s.; and 4 evening schools for adults, with 50 s.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].

Bankrupts

Below is a list of people that were declared bankrupt between 1820 and 1843 extracted from The Bankrupt Directory; George Elwick; London; Simpkin, Marshall and Co.; 1843.

Collis George, Romford, Essex, ironmonger and auctioneer, June 1, 1827.

Collis George, Romford, Essex, ironmonger and auctioneer, May 17, 1839.

Gillham Charles, Romford, Essex, wine merchant, Nov. 15, 1831.

Glanham John Hassall, Romford, Essex, grocer, May 29, 1829.

Jones Richard, Romford, Essex, grocer, June 17, 1826.

Joyner Joseph; Robert Surridge; and Joseph Sumpner Joyner; Romford,
Essex, bankers, Feb. 25, 1826.

Marks Mark, Romford, Essex, slopseller, Nov. 23, 1822.

Orbell George, Romford, Essex, horse dealer, Aug. 28, 1838.

Orbell Henry, Romford, Essex. innkeeper, Aug. 28, 1838.

Rayson Thomas, Romford, Essex, innkeeper, March 31, 1837.

Savill Charles, Romford, Essex, grocer and cheesemonger, Feb. 12, 1839.

Warwick William Alfred, Romford, Essex, wine merchant, Aug. 10, 1832.

Parish Registers

Hampshire Allegations for Marriage Licences 1689 to 1837

The following have been extracted from Allegations for Marriage Licences in the county of Hampshire. Parishes without a named county are parishes within the county of Hampshire.

MORRISON, Charles, of Romford, co. Essex, and serjeant in the 6th Reg. of Dragoons, 38, b., & Ann Colson, of Otterbourne, 30, sp., at O., 22 May, 1799.

Source: Hampshire Allegations for Marriage Licences Granted by the Bishop of Winchester. 1689 to 1837 Published 1893 Editor: William John Charles Moens