Chingford

The once sparsely populated parish of Chingford had three centres, Chingford Green, Chingford Hatch, and Chingford Mount. Although the coming of the railway in 1873 stimulated house building, it was not until the late 1920s that the population started to expand and much of Chingford as we now know it was built.

Until 1894 the civil parish of Chingford was in the County of Essex
From 1894 to 1938 it formed the Chingford Urban District
From 1938 to March 1965 it formed the Municipal Borough of Chingford
From April 1965 is has been part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest
Waltham Forest Archives holds a complete series of minutes for the former Borough/District Councils.


Census

1841-1911 Available on-line at subscription sites and FamilySearch 1841-1911 Available on-line at subscription sites (free in Waltham Forest and Essex libraries) and FamilySearch
Pieces:
  • 1841: HO107/341
  • 1851: HO107/1770
  • 1861: RG9/1063
  • 1871: RG10/1639
  • 1881: RG11/1736
  • 1891: RG12/1361
  • 1901: RG13/1637
  • 1911: RG14/9770-74

Cemeteries & Grave yards

All Saint's Church (the Old Church), Chingford, and St Peter & St Paul's Church have grave yards. Some Monumental Inscriptions and Burial Registers have been transcribed by WFFHS and are available to search on-line. Chingford Mount Cemetery, was opened in 1886 by the Abney Park Cemetery Company. Records are held at the cemetery offices, and a copy of many of the records while in the ownership of Abney Park is available at Waltham Forest Archives. A small batch of Monumental Inscriptions have been transcribed by WFFHS and are searchable on-line. Some cemetery registers are available on Ancestry up to the 1950s.
  • Monumental inscriptions (select Chingford Mount Cemetery)
  • Cemetery Registers: Grave registers and day books. (specify Keyword: Chingford)
  • A copy of the day book and register of burials is available in Waltham Forest Archives under C34.9 CM1 [R1-50]
  • Various items including some purchase registers, cash books, right of burial certificates, and specifixation for renvation of the South Lodge in Hackney Arhives under D/B/ABN/3

Church History

The ancient parish church is the one dedicated to All Saints, commonly known as the Old Church. It was for some time in poor repair, covered in ivy and called the "green" church. In 1844 it was replaced by the new church of St Peter and St Paul on Chingford Green though some services continued to be held at the Old Church. In 1904 the roof colapsed. Miss Louisa Boothby Heathcote wanted the church restored and with the incumbent paid for the work. The church was re-dedicated on 3rd November 1930. This parish includes both the old church and the new church, the dedication having been transferred and the old church reverting to an earlier dedication to All Saints. St Francis church was also in this parish. Chingford expanded later than places to the south and St Edmund's was not built until 1938. St Francis opened in Hawkwood Crescent in December 1951 but had closed by 2003.
Chingford was in the Diocese of London until 1846, the Diocese of Rochester until 4th May 1877, the Diocese of St Albans until 23rd Jan 1914, and is now in Diocese of Chelmsford.
The Diocesan repository for most of the Chelmsford Diocese records is the Essex Record Office, however registers from the Waltham Forest Deanery are held at the Waltham Forest Archives.

Books:
  • All Saints: Chingford Old Church, by the Chingford Historical Society, pub 1958 & 1980
  • Ss Peter & Paul: Chingford Parish Church, by the Chingford Historical Society, pub 1984
  • St Edmund: A History of St Edmund's 1904 - 1979, by Andrew Setchfield, pub 2014

The Roman Catholic diocese was the Diocese of Westminster but has been in the Diocese of Brentwood, since it was established on 20th July 1917.
The church of Our Lady of Grace & St Teresa of Avila was built in 1930.

Non-conformist churches
  • Chingford Harch Weslyan chapel was built in 1862, and enlarged 1905. New building probably registered for marriages 23 Apr 1949
  • Plymouth Bretheren chapel in Kings Head Hill, built 1880
  • Congregational chapel, South Chingford built 1901
  • Weslyan Methodist chapel in Station Road, built in 1905. Registered for marriages 17 Dec 1906. New building substituted 1 Dec 1927.
  • Congregational chapel in Buxton Road, built 1910
  • South Chingford Methodist Church, New Road. New building registered for marriages 18 Apr 1935. Minuest & Correspondence in Waltham forest Archives C85.14
  • South Chingford Brotherhood (Emberson memorial Hall), registered for marriages 22 Mar 1954, no longer used 26 Jan 1987

British History Online: Churches: Chingford

Church Records

Details of Waltham Forest Archives' holdings are listed here.

Civil Registration

Chingford was in the following Registration Districts:
July 1837 until March 1965: Epping
April 1965 onwards: Waltham Forest

Gazetteers & Directories

Pigot's, White's, and Kelly's Essex and London postal district directories all provide a description of a developing area from 1839 up to the second world war. Leyton was included in Stratford directories  1887-8, and Walthamstow directories 1889. From 1891 Kelly's published local street directories for Leyton & Leytonstone.
Guildhall Library:
Waltham Forest Local Studies Library:
Chingford & Sewardstone Directory 1907
Directory of Woodford, Buckhurst Hill, Chingford & Wanstead 1895?
Woodford, Buckhurst Hill, Loughton & Chingford directory 1909 - 1939
Kelly's Essex Directory 1870 - 1937 with gaps
White's Essex Directory 1848, 1863
Pigot's London & Provincial Commercial Directory 1832-34

Kelly's Essex directories may be found in:
Valence Library: 1862, 1874, 1878, 1894, 1908 (MF), 1926, 1922, 1929 (& Herts), 1937
Romford Library: 1878, 1882, 1886, 1890, 1899, 1904 (& Norfk & Sufk), 1906, 1910, 1912, 1922, 1926, 1929, 1933, 1937
Ilford Central Library: 1855 (& Herts), 1866, 1878, 1882, 1886, 1890, 1894, 1895, 1896, 1899, 1902, 1906, 1908, 1912, 1914, 1917, 1922, 1926, 1929, 1933, 1937
Some of these directories are searchable in the Leicester University Historical Durectories Collection.

Health

From 1875 Chingford formed part of the Epping Rural Sanitary District
Medical Officer of Health reports for Chingford can be found in Waltham Forest Archives 1897 to 1964.
Waltham Forest Medical Officer of Health reports may also be found in Waltham Forest Archives 1965 to 1972.
There is patchy coverage on-line in the Wellcome Trust Library from 1897.
Walthamstow Sanitorium & Hospital for Infectios Diseases was opened in Hale End Road in 1901. Under the NHS it ceased to deal with just infectious diseases or solely for Walthamstow or Leyton residents. On 5th Jujne 1958 the new Outpatient department opened at Chingford Hospital at a cost of £24,000. X-rays and treatment were available here allowing people to get treatment without going outside the borough.

Hundreds

Chingford was a member of the Waltham Hundred

Land and Farms

Chingford was late to urbanise compared to neighbouring Walthamstow which can make it more interesting to look at land ownership and the farms that existed beforehand. Two books published by the Chingford Historical Society may be of use:

  • Chingford Field Names by A.J.Britton (1970)
  • Chingford Farms by Morna Daniels (2004)
The London Borough of Waltham Forest has planning application records back to 1st July 1948. Stub entries appear to go back to the 1980s on the planning web site. Detailed information goes back less than 20 years.


Manors


Maps


Newspapers

  • Essex Newsman available on British Newspaper Archive 1870-1950
  • Essex Standard available on British Newspaper Archive 1831-1900
  • Essex Herald available on British Newspaper Archive 1828-1899
  • Waltham Forest Guardian from 1965

Population


Police

In 1815 the Vestry voted a sum for the erection of a Lock Up. Chingford was included in the Metropolitan Police District in 1840 with constables under the control of the Waltham Abbey station. A police station was erected in 1887 and the Lock Up demolished. The police station was demolised and a new one built on the site in 1975.

Poor Houses, Poor law etc.

In 1813 a workhouse was established near the junction of what is now The Ridgeway and Endlebury Road. In 1836 Chingford joined the Epping Poor Law Union which had a workhouse at The Plain, Epping. Further details of the Epping Union can be found on www.workhouses.org.uk
Five alms houses wee erected in 1959 by voluntary subscription, and enlarged in 1887

Registers of Electors

Registers up to 1970 are available to search at the Essex Record Office and registers for 1918 and 1929 are on-line.
  • Southern division of Essex 1833-1868 (Q/RPr 1)
  • West Essex division 1868-1885 (Q/RPr 2)
  • Western Essex or Epping Division 1885-1888 (Q/RPr 3)
  • Epping or Western Essex Division 1889-1915 (C/E 1/2)
  • Epping Division or Epping Constituency 1918-1970 (C/E 2/3 & C/E 4/5)
Registers from 1970 are held by the Waltham Forest Archives.

Services

  • Fire Brigade: The Chingford Fire Brigade was formed in 1895 and was based on the corner of Bull Lane (Kings Road) and Pretoria Road. In 1924, the brigade motorised their horse drawn appliance. In 1929, a new fire station was opened next to the Town Hall (also opened that year) on The Ridgeway to allow for bigger appliances. The current building dates from 1957 and allowed the town hall annexe to be opoened.
  • Gas: In 1902 the village was lighted by gas from the Chigwell, Loughton and Woodford Gas Co..
  • Water: Water was suppllied by the East London Water Works Co. from the pumping station in Chingford Lane, erected in 1884.
  • Sewerage: A sewage pumping station was opened at Mansfield Hill in 1894, belonging to the Epping Rural Sanitary Authority.

Transport

The Railway made it to Chingford in 1873 with a stationd at Kings Road (Bull Lane). The intention had been to continue the line to High Beech. Attempts were made to gain authrity to extend the line through the forest, in 1873 and 1883 but these failed to gain approval. In 1882 there were proposals to extend to Waltham Abbey via Hwakwood, Chingford plain, and Sewardstone Green. In the end it only got as far as the present Chingford station, built for through traffic.
Trams arrived at Chingford mount in 1905, and were electric from the start. Before then there was no street transport. When buses started travelling to north Chingford they avoided the Mount as it was too steep and took an alternative route up. An accident in 1960 perhaps proved this.

Societies