Penge, Surrey Family History Guide

Penge St John is an Ecclesiastical Parish in the county of Surrey, created in 1851 from Battersea St Mary Ancient Parish.

Alternative names: Penge

Parish church: St John

Parish registers begin:

  • Parish registers: 1850
  • Bishop’s Transcripts: None

Nonconformists include:

Adjacent Parishes

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

PENGE, a village and a chapelry in Battersea parish, Surrey. The village stands adjacent to the boundary with Kent, to the London and Brighton railway, and to the London, Chatham, and Dover railway, near the Crystal Palace, 4 miles NNE of Croydon; includes new streets on what was formerly a common with picturesque oaks; and has a post-office, of the name of Penge, under London SE, and railway stations with telegraph, of the names of Penge-Bridge and Penge-Lane.

The chapelry contains also the Crystal Palace, with its r. station, and the Anerley hotel and tea gardens, with their r. station; and it ranks politically as a hamlet of Battersea. Acres, 840. Pop. in 1851, 1,169; in 1861, 5,015. Houses, 668. Pop. in 1868, nearly 10,000. Villas are very numerous; and King William IV.’s naval asylum, the Watermen’s alms-houses, and the North Surrey industrial school are here.

The naval asylum is for decayed widows of naval officers, and was founded by Queen Adelaide. The Watermen’s alms-houses were built in 1850, at a cost of £5,000; and comprise 41 residences. The industrial school is for the parishes north-ward to the Thames; occupies a plot of 7 acres, with farm and kitchen garden; and, at the census of 1861, had 748 inmates.

The chapelry is threefold, consisting of Penge-proper, Upper Penge, and one formed in 1868. The livings are p. curacies in the diocese of Winchester. Value of Penge, £750; of Upper Penge, £800. Patrons of both, Trustees. Penge church, or St. John’s, is a modern edifice, in the decorated English style; and consists of nave, aisles, transepts, and chancel, with tower and spire.

There are chapels for Independents, Baptists, and Wesleyans, and national schools.

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

Parish Records

FamilySearch

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

England, Surrey, Penge – Census – 1851 – Indexes ( 1 )
1851 census [index], registration district, Croydon
Author: Lippett, Brenda

England, Surrey, Penge – Church records ( 3 )
Parish registers of Christ Church, Penge, 1885-1907
Author: Church of England. Christ Church (Penge, Surrey)

Parish registers of Holy Trinity, Penge, 1874-1907
Author: Church of England. Holy Trinity Church (Penge, Surrey)

Parish registers of St. John’s, Penge, 1850-1906
Author: Church of England. St. John’s Church (Penge, Surrey); Kent Archives Office; Central Library (Bromley, England)

England, Surrey, Penge – Church records – Indexes ( 1 )
Computer printout of Penge, St. John, Surr., Eng

England, Surrey, Penge – Directories ( 1 )
The Crystal Palace District handbook and directory for Sydenham, Forest-Hill, Penge, Dulwich and Beckenham

England, Surrey, Penge – History ( 1 )
Penge : from a hamlet, once part of Battersea in Surrey, to a London suburb : a story of some of the people and the surrounding district
Author: Pullen, Doris E. (Doris Evelyn), 1920-

England, Surrey, Penge – Land and property ( 1 )
Deeds of Elham, Penge and Ramsgate, 1799-1930

England, Surrey, Penge – Medical records ( 1 )
Royal Asylum at Penge 1899 : list of inmates, list of those subscribing and donating to the institution
Author: Docklands Ancestors

England, Surrey, Penge – Occupations ( 1 )
Royal Asylum at Penge 1899 : list of inmates, list of those subscribing and donating to the institution
Author: Docklands Ancestors

Maps

Vision of Britain historical maps

Administration

  • County: Surrey
  • Civil Registration District: Croydon
  • Probate Court: Pre-1846 – Court of the Archdeaconry of Surrey, Post-1845 – Court of the Bishop of London (Episcopal Consistory)
  • Diocese: Pre-1846 – Winchester, Post-1845 – London
  • Rural Deanery: Pre-1846 – Southwark, Post-1845 – None
  • Poor Law Union: Croydon
  • Hundred: Brixton
  • Province: Canterbury