How big was/is London really?

[andrewalston]

When my ancestors lived in London late 1700s the only county it had spread into was Middlesex.

So Southwark was in Middlesex when Chaucer was writing Canterbury Tales? I don't think so!

Maybe your family begat all those cabbies who famously refuse to go sarf of the river!

[Rena]

When my ancestors lived in London late 1700s the only county it had spread into was Middlesex.

So Southwark was in Middlesex when Chaucer was writing Canterbury Tales? I don't think so!

Maybe your family begat all those cabbies who famously refuse to go sarf of the river!

lol - "coachman in London" as per a Yorkshire baptism record.  Parents earlier marriage eventually found in St George Church, Hanover Square, London.

[Chilternbirder]

All of my "London" ancestors seem to have had records which put them in the appropriate part of Middlesex. The confusing bit is where Boroughs or registration disricts are also parish names so you aren't always sure if two records refer to the same person. (Don't start me on the errors this has caused on some published trees in Ancestry)

Early modern London would be the City and small parts of Middlesex, Surrey and Kent. Various rural settlements like Hackney and Walthamstow only gradually became absorbed. At what point the residents started thinking of themselves as Londoners is an interesting piece of human geography but probably beyond our reckoning. Romford certainly, as a market town in its own right, with a hinterland across the new county boundary has hung on to a "county" identity far later than Ilford or Walthamstow.

I don't normally watch Eastenders but from what I remember of the intro Walford is probably west of the Lea so in Middlesex not Essex.

For geneological purposes I would try and keep to parish level where possible but would never consider "London" as going beyond the current congestion charge zone.

EDIT - correcting typo

[coombs]

My ancestor born in 1860 was deffo born in an area what was considered "London" by then, as said he was born in Colville Place, near Tottenham Court Road. His daughter, my great gran was born Sep 1889 in south Islington, several months after the County Of London was created.

In the 1860s her mother lived in Stoke Newington and Bow, which was on the fringes of the conurbation back then.

[Ruskie]

A good way to look at this is via maps. A journey through time:

http://mapco.net/london.htm

[Smokey20]

.....places like Dagenham and Romford are within the county but many people from them still call themselves Essex people. Even if born in the County Of London, which Dagenham and Romfordcome under.

I lived in Upminster and Romford, and have Dagenham as the registration district listed on my passport, but always say i was born in Essex. 😀

[Chilternbirder]

A good way to look at this is via maps. A journey through time:

When it comes to what people put in records it is as much a matter of perception and how people think of themselves.

[Redroger]

London has not always been the Capital has it?

Romans Colchester then Londinium (London) and York,
Late Saxon (Wessex) Winchester

Remember though that there was no real integration of England between the Romans leaving early 5th century and the Norman invasion 11th century.

[coombs]

I wonder if there has been any precise boundary for London.

In 1750 the built up area stretched to Shoreditch and Bethnal Green in the east, Southwark to the south, Westminster to the west and Clerkenwell to the north. I would count anyone born in that urban sprawl at that time as Londoners. The City is what the conurbation grew out of.

In 1850 it stretched to Hackney and Stoke Newington to the north east, Bow to the east, Bermondsey to south east, Camberwell to the south, Kensington to the west and Islington to the north. I would count anyone born in that urban sprawl at that time as Londoners.

Today when I go to London it does feel like a city in a huge orchard in many areas. Views from the DLR make the East End look like towerblocks and motorway systems and factories are built in the forest.