The Norwood Society

Find out where to turn to for help in researching your family or local history project

We are regularly approached by members of the public who are interested in local institutions, streets, shops etc. in days gone by. There are some excellent reference libraries in south London that may be helpful.

  • www.lambeth.gov.uk/Services/LeisureCulture/...
    This is the link to the Lambeth Archives that are housed in the Minet Library, 52 Knatchbull Road, London SE5 9QY, 020 7926 6080
  • http://www.museumofcroydon.com/
    The Museum of Croydon is the place to research Croydon, its history and its people. Museum of Croydon, Clocktower building, Katharine Street, Croydon, CR9 1ET. Tel: 020 8253 1022. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - for enquiries relating to archive collections or the history of Croydon, email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  • www.bromley.gov.uk/info/...
    Bromley Local Studies Library & Archives has resources going back hundreds of years on topics related to Bromley & its environs. High Street, Bromley BR1 1EX, 020 8461 7170, email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  • homepages.gold.ac.uk/genuki/LND/boro-lib.htm
    Lists the present-day boroughs of Greater London together with the counties which originally contained their current area, with links to their websites. For each there is a link to libraries, archives and local studies, with street address.

Researching the local and family history of Norwood: Norwood, as most areas, has an interesting and full history, but there is always much more to be discovered. Our archive is stored in the Upper Norwood Library with limited access, and over time has become depleted. This article is intended to help by pointing those seeking  information to find the answers for themselves. It is by no means exhaustive and assumes some access to online resources which in reality is necessary, and inevitably saves time.  An essential  starting point for family history research is to talk to relatives and seek out family documents, and the same can also be true for local history by talking to local people. All of Norwood was in the old county of Surrey and therefore the principal family history society for the area is the East Surrey family History Society (http://eastsurreyfhs.org.uk/)

Read more: Archives and Information

Pauper Burials in All Saints churchyard, Beulah Hill, London SE19 3LS

This analysis of the paupers buried in All Saints churchyard has been carried for the Norwood Society by Stephen Oxford

St Luke, Lower Norwood, Surrey (now St Luke, West Norwood, London SE27) Burial Register, 1825-1894

The analysis of the Burial registers of St Luke, Lower Norwood has been prepared by Francis Howcutt and is also available on the Howcutt web site. The Norwood Society is grateful for permission to publish this work on the Society’s website so that it is available to a greater number of researchers.

The parish register records everyone buried at St Luke’s, the first burial being on 3 October 1825 and the final one on 7 September 1894. The majority were interred in the churchyard. However, some coffins were deposited in a crypt beneath the church building itself and are now stacked behind a wall at the southern end of that area. The churchyard has been legally closed, so no further burials may take place there apart from cremated remains. 

Read more: St Luke’s Burial Register