London Westminster & Middlesex Family History Society

Welcome to the London Westminster & Middlesex Family History Society

The London Westminster & Middlesex Family History Society was formed in 2001 from an amalgamation of two former societies: the London & North Middlesex FHS (formed in 1978) and the Westminster & Central Middlesex FHS. The Society's area now comprises the City of London, the City of Westminster and the London Boroughs of Barnet, Brent, Camden, Enfield, Haringey, Harrow and Islington, together with parts of Ealing and Hillingdon. We aim to bring together all those family historians with ancestors in the area or who live in the area. Beginners and experienced researchers are invited to join us.

Monthly meetings are held at three branches at which talks of genealogical or local interest are given. Each branch has experienced members from whom advice and assistance may be sought. Members are welcome to attend at all three branches, which meet in Barnet, Rayners Lane and our Virtual Branch which meets on Zoom. 

The Society publishes a quarterly journal entitled METROPOLITAN free to members, containing news of Society activities and project work, articles and correspondence. Members may publish requests for research help in the Help! section of the journal or as Letters to the Editor.

In common with most other family history societies we play our part in transcribing and indexing public records, both national and local, which have a bearing on family history. This work adds to the number of indexes and other aids which facilitate family history research.

Our AGM is held in Central London, usually in March. Branches participate in local Borough events to attract public interest and the Society has a presence at several Family History Fairs.

What we are not

Not all Family History Societies are the same, so it is worth mentioning that we are a small voluntary group, with no premises of our own and no paid or professional staff. We have no central library or archives and the only research data we have is that in the Members' Area of this website. This comprises a small amount of parish information, some census indexes and quite a good number of indexes to Memorial Inscriptions and Burials, plus other guidance books. We cannot undertake research or answer specific genealogical questions. We may be able to point you in the right direction, but you should find that all the principal repositories for London, Westminster and Middlesex records are listed here on this site.

A note about our area

Despite our title, we do not cover the whole of the old historic County of Middlesex, which ceased to exist in 1965 with the reorganisation of London local government. Other parts of Middlesex are represented by the West Middlesex FHS and the East of London FHS. Details of our respective areas are shown here.

A further complication flows from the administrative boundary changes that occured in 1965. The London Borough of Barnet incorporated High (or Chipping) Barnet, East Barnet and Totteridge which were historically in Hertfordshire. At the same time, Potters Bar (the old South Mimms parish) which had been part of Middlesex, transferred to Hertfordshire. The City of London (the 'square mile') has remained much as it always has done, but we do not cover those parts of historic Surrey (such as Southwark) which were at one time administered as part of the 'County of London'. Also the modern City of Westminster now includes Paddington and Marylebone.

Officers of the Society and Committee Members

To contact any of the Society Officers, please see contact information here.

The Society is a member of the Federation of Family History Societies, Friends of Islington Museum, Friends of TNA and affiliated to the Enfield Arts Network.