Bexley

"Bexley is a neat village and parish in the lathe of Sutton-at-Hone; the parish is partly in the hundred of Ruxley, and extends into that of Lessness. The village is 12 miles E. by S. from London, and 3 W. from Dartford - situated in an open and healthful part of the county. Camden, the celebrated antiquary and historian, was proprietor of this manor; he bequeathed it, for the endowment of a professorship in history, to the university of Oxford. The church, dedicated to Saint Mary, contains some ancient and curious monuments : the living is a vicarage; the Right Hon. Nicholas Vansittart, who on retiring from the chancellorship of the exchequer was created Baron Bexley, is patron. A national school, established here in 1809, for sixty boys and the same number of girls, is supported by voluntary subscription and an endowment of £8 per annum; there are also alms-houses for twelve poor persons."  Pigot's Directory, 1839

Placename Origin

Bexley = Clearing marked by a box-tree. OE byxe leah

Administrative Units

Bexley fell within the Hundred of Ruxley. Its 19th century Registration District & Poor Law Union was Dartford.
Probate Jurisdiction was Shoreham to 1845, PCC 1846-57.

Bexley included Bexleyheath, Lamorbey, and the part of Welling south of Watling St.

Census Publications

• 1851 Name Index and Page Images published on CD-Rom as part of CD8 (Dartford Registration District).
• 1851 Name Index (only) published on microfiche as part of Volume V (Dartford Registration District).

For ordering details see Census Publications.

Churches and Chapels (pre-1910)

Church of England

1. St Mary (Ancient Parish church) 
2. Lamorbey, Holy Trinity Halfway St.
3. St John Park Hill Rd.
4. Bexleyheath, Christ Church The Broadway.

Baptist

1. Baptist: The Broadway, Bexleyheath.  Established 1827, demolished 1956.   Original registers from 1827.
2. Trinity Baptist The Broadway, Bexleyheath.

Independent/Congregational

1. Congregational: Chapel Rd, Bexleyheath.  Built 1853-4, demolished 1987. No information on registers
2. Congregational: Now URC, Hurst Rd.  (1890).   Original registers from 1890.

Wesleyan/Methodist

• Wesleyan North St, Bexleyheath.

For project purposes this parish is also covered by Woolwich & District FHS.