BY the time you have found your x5 great grandparents (around 150 years ago) you will potentially have a list of 148 ancestors – and of course it doubles up with every further generation!

The chances are that one of your ancestors will have either visited or lived in the capital city.

Population movement in the 19th century was massive, helped primarily by the growth of rail travel and the surge of city development during the industrial revolution. For many, London was a huge attraction, and even if whole families did not move there, there were thousands of young, single people who were eager to seek work as servants in the capital’s homes.

But as in most cities there were areas of imposing housing and others -such as London’s East End – where there was horrendous poverty, crime and early mortality.

Three of my ancestors lived in Wiltshire, Kent and Lincolnshire, but as the 19th century progressed all made their way to the capital, if not to seek their fortune, at least to find some meaningful employment. Through the Census records I was able to discover that my Lincolnshire ancestor had moved to London and married a postman; my Wiltshire ancestor became a gardener at a posh house in Wandsworth, while my ancestor from Kent trained as a publican near St Paul’s Cathedral.

But apart from the fairly straightforward Census records, tracing your London ancestor can be a bit of a minefield. There are millions of records and hundreds of archives. There are now some excellent on-line catalogues you can consult, but in the main, the records (particularly church records) need to be researched in their individual repositories - a time-consuming and expensive means of research.

The genealogist’s problems are compounded by the sheer complexity of the parochial and civil governance of the capital. Before you start searching it is worth reading the notes on the GENUKI site to get an overview of London’s administrative units: http://homepages.gold.ac.uk/genuki/LND/ The site has links to maps of London and its constituent areas.

When looking for parish records also bear in mind that since each parish within the City of London comprises at most a few streets, the parishes are usually known by the name of the church, NOT the location. The Gendocs web page contains a list of churches, amongst many other useful guides, including a Victorian street index: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/hitch/gendocs/index.html

You can undertake a free census search of names in the capital from 1841 to 1901 by logging on to: www.londoncensus.co.uk/census_search.htm The search is free and downloads of the actual data are available for a fee.

A must-visit site is the London Metropolitan Archives: www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/leisure_heritage/libraries_archives_museums_galleries/lma/
Its pages give an insight into its massive range of archives along with practical advice on making the most of a visit to LMA, and a database of its most popular genealogical sources.

The National Archives site at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ will also lead you to a wealth of a material and research guides.

There are hundreds more excellent internet sites, but the ones listed above will give you a good start. The key to London research is to be armed with a good map; know which parish you are looking for, and with a bit of luck you will reap your rewards.

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