Ratcliffe St James Middlesex Family History Guide

Ratcliffe St James is an Ecclesiastical Parish in the county of Middlesex, created in 1840 from part of Stepney St Dunstan Ancient Parish and part of Limehouse St Anne Ecclesiastical Parish. 

Alternative names: Ratcliff

Parish church:

Parish registers begin:

  • Parish registers: 1840
  • Bishop’s Transcripts: None

Nonconformists include: Independent/Congregational and Society of Friends/Quaker.

Adjacent Parishes

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

RATCLIFF, a hamlet, a chapelry, and a sub-district, in Stepney and Limehouse parishes, Stepney district, Middlesex.

The hamlet lies on the river Thames, opposite the Pool, and on the Blackwall railway, 2¼ miles E by S of St. Paul’s, London; was anciently called Red-clyve or Redcliff; took that name from a quondam cliffybank of the Thames; was a mere village, inhabited chiefly by seafaring men, in the time of Camden; suffered devastation by fire in 1794.

It is now a compact-suburb of the metropolis; has a main street, formerly called Ratcliff Highway, and formerly planted on each side with elm-trees; contains Albert-square, York-square, and Regent’s canal basin; and has a post-office under London E, a church, several dissenting chapels, a literary institution, several public schools, and a workhouse.

The church was built in 1838, at a cost of £4,000; is in the early English style; and contains 1,022 sittings. The literary institution was established in 1839, and belongs to a body of shareholders.

The hamlet comprises 78 acres of land and 11 of water in Stepney, and 35 acres of land and 8 of water in Limehouse. Real property, £52,578; of which £1,084 are in the railway . Pop. in 1851, 15,212; in 1861, 16,874. Houses, 2,246.

The chapelry is less extensive than the hamlet, and was constituted in 1839. Pop. in 1861, of the Stepney portion, 6,518; of the Limehouse portion, 1,927. Houses, 881, and 191. The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of London. Value, £300. Patron, the Bishop of London.

The sub-district is conterminate with the hamlet.

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

Parish Records

FamilySearch

England, Middlesex, Ratcliff – Census ( 1 )
Census returns for Ratcliff, 1841-1891
Author: Great Britain. Census Office

England, Middlesex, Ratcliff – Church records ( 4 )
Births, marriages, and burials, 1656-1821
Author: Society of Friends. Ratcliff Monthly Meeting (England)

Church records for Queen Street Meeting House (Ratcliff), 1698-1837
Author: Queen Street Meeting House (Ratcliff : Independent)

Church records for Rose Lane Chapel (Ratcliff), 1785-1837
Author: Rose Lane Chapel (Ratcliff : Independent)

St. James, Ratcliff, baptisms registers, 1841 to 1913 (excluding 1884 to 1897)
Author: Legon, James William; Church of England. St. Jame’s Church (Ratcliff, Middlesex)

England, Middlesex, Ratcliff – Church records – Indexes ( 2 )
Computer printout of Stepney, Ratcliff Queen Street Independent, Lond., Eng

Computer printout of Stepney, Ratcliff Rose Lane Independence, Lond., Eng

England, Middlesex, Ratcliff – Civil registration ( 1 )
Death registers, 1894-1911
Author: Ratcliff Workhouse (Middlesex)

England, Middlesex, Ratcliff – Land and property ( 2 )
Choice scraps of London : extracts
Author: Merchant Taylors’ Company (London); Glass Sellers’ Company (London); Shop Keepers’ Company (London); Writers of Court Letters’ Company

Statement of several sums of land tax redeemed, 1838
Author: Ratcliff (Middlesex)

England, Middlesex, Ratcliff – Poorhouses, poor law, etc. ( 3 )
Admission and discharge register, 1839-1853
Author: Ratcliff Workhouse (Middlesex)

Death registers, 1894-1911
Author: Ratcliff Workhouse (Middlesex)

School records, 1710-1939
Author: Ratcliff Charity School

England, Middlesex, Ratcliff – Schools ( 1 )
School records, 1710-1939
Author: Ratcliff Charity School

England, Middlesex, Ratcliff – Taxation ( 2 )
Land tax assessment for Ratcliff, 1730-1930
Author: Great Britain. Court of Quarter Sessions of the Peace (Middlesex)

Statement of several sums of land tax redeemed, 1838
Author: Ratcliff (Middlesex)

Maps

Vision of Britain historical maps

Administration

  • County: Middlesex
  • Civil Registration District: Stepney
  • Probate Court: Court of the Commissary of the Bishop of London (London Division)
  • Diocese: London
  • Rural Deanery: Not created until 1858
  • Poor Law Union: Stepney
  • Hundred: Ossulstone (Tower Division)
  • Province: Canterbury