The Ancient Parish of Finchley
Church End, East Finchley, Finchley Central, part of Hampstead Garden Suburb, North Finchley and Woodside Park are all places in the Ancient Parish of Finchley, which was part of the Finsbury division of the Ossulstone hundred subdivision of Middlesex. Civil Parishes took over from Ancient Parishes in the 1860s, followed by Urban District Councils in 1894 and then London Boroughs in 1965. Finchley now forms part of the London Borough of Barnet.
Surrounding Finchley are the Hertfordshire parishes of Totteridge and Chipping Barnet and the Middlesex parishes of Friern Barnet, Hornsey, St Pancras, Hampstead and Hendon.
The Society has produced a Parish Guide to Finchley.
St Mary, Hendon Lane, Finchley
A church was mentioned at Finchley in 1274 and was dedicated to St Mary some 80 years later. The oldest parts of the current building date from around 1400.
Records of St Mary, Finchley, including registers of baptisms (1558-1970); banns (1754-1812); marriages (1558-2005); burials (1558-1843) confirmations and church services are at London Metropolitan Archives, Ref: DRO/032.
All Saints, Durham Road, East Finchley
This church was built in 1891 with a chapelry taken from Holy Trinity and St James, Muswell Hill
Records of the parish of All Saints, East Finchley, including registers of baptisms (1893-1959); banns (1954-1966); marriages (1901-1958); papers relating to parish boundaries and papers of church societies are at London Metropolitan Archives, Ref: DRO/039
Christ Church, High Road, North Finchley
This church was begun in 1867 by the Rev. Henry Stephens and plans for the building from this time are at LMA, Ref: DL/A/K/09/10/043. Registers were deposited at London Metropolitan Archives in 2017 but are as yet uncatalogued. They include register of baptisms (1872-1963); banns (before 1990) and marriages (1872-1982. There is a thesis The History of Christ Church, North End, Finchley by Miss Cooke in the archive of Christ Church School at BLSA, Ref: 23382.
Holy Trinity, Church Lane, East Finchley
This church was established in 1846. Parts of the parish were later assigned to All Saints, East Finchley and St Jude’s, Hampstead Garden Suburb.
Records of the parish of Holy Trinity, Finchley, including registers of baptisms (1846-1985); banns (1847-1983); marriages (1847-1970); burials (1849-1976); indexes to graves in the churchyard; booklets on the history of the church and parish and press cuttings are at London Metropolitan Archives, Ref: DRO/TRI2.
St Barnabas, Holden Road, Woodside Park
This parish was formed from that of Christ Church with a bit from St John, Whetstone. The Register of Services at BLSA runs from 1886-1983.
Records of the parish of St Barnabas including registers of baptisms (1914-1952 and banns (1949-1974) are at Barnet Local Studies and Archives.
St John the Apostle, Whetstone
This was built as a chapel of ease to Finchley in 1836, gaining its own parish in 1876. Despite having burial records, St John has no burial ground.
Records of the parish of St John the Apostle, Whetstone, including registers of baptisms (1834-1968); banns (1958-1970); marriages (1848-1973); burials (1835-1922); Vestry and Parochial Church Council minutes are at London Metropolitan Archives, Ref: DRO/057.
St Luke, Mountfield Road, Finchley
This parish was created in 1904 from those of St Mary and St Paul. The parish merged with St Paul in 1985 to become St Paul with St Luke. St Luke’s church was demolished in 2006.
Records of the parish of St Luke, Finchley, includes registers of baptisms (1905-2001); banns (1905-1982); marriages (1905-1992) and more are at London Metropolitan Archives, Ref: DRO/172.
St Paul, Long Lane, Finchley
This was set up as a daughter parish to St Mary in the 1880s. The church was refurbished in 1980 using money from the sale of the original Church Hall and Sunday School buildings, which were demolished and flats built in their place. In 1985 St Paul merged with St Luke’s parish.
Records of the parish of St Paul, Finchley, includes parish registers of baptisms (1886-1948); banns (1887-1991); marriages (1887-1978); confirmation (1886-1991), Parochial Church Council minutes, parish societies including Sunday School and Finchley Community Work are at London Metropolitan Archives, Ref: DRO/173.
