IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0074 DRO/005
Held at: London Metropolitan Archives
Title: SAINT GILES, SOUTH MIMMS: HERTFORDSHIRE
Date(s): 1558-1969
Level of description: Collection
Extent: 4.92 linear metres (112 files).
Name of creator(s): Parish of St Giles, South Mimms | Church of England
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
The parish of South Mimms was the most northerly parish in Middlesex, and its borders formed the county borders. It was around 6,386 acres in size and was surrounded by Northaw, North Mimms, Ridge, Chipping Barnet, Enfield, and Monken Hadley. The parish included the modern areas of Potters Bar and High Barnet.
The first mention of churchwardens is found in 1580. Churchwardens were elected by the vicar and the Vestry. Vestry meetings appear to have been held infrequently until 1812, when they were held eighteen times a year until 1834, when they dropped to four or five times a year. Meetings were held in local inns until 1804 when they were held either at the church or the workhouse. From 1724 two overseers of the poor were elected, in 1801 a parish doctor was appointed, and a beadle was employed from 1812. Vagrancy was a problem in the area and there was a high demand for outdoor relief. In 1724 a workhouse was established in Blackhorse Lane. A surveyor of highways is first mentioned in 1752, although a salaried surveyor responsible for the whole parish was not employed until 1793. The parish joined Barnet Poor Law Union in 1835.
A church in South Mimms is first mentioned in 1140. The present church of Saint Giles dates to the thirteenth century, with fourteenth and sixteenth century extensions and restorations dating to the 1870s.
A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5: Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham (1976).
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Records of the Parish of Saint Giles, South Mimms, including registers of baptisms, banns, marriages, confirmations and burials; registers of services; papers relating to the benefice and tithes; Churchwarden's accounts, inventories and papers relating to the maintenance of the church building; Vestry meeting minutes; papers of the Overseers of the Poor including accounts, grants to the poor, settlement certificates and papers regarding the workhouse; minutes, accounts and correspondence of the Surveyors of Highways; papers of parish charities; papers of the South Mimms Church of England School; enclosure award for South Mimms; photographs of the church; minutes of the Parochial Church Council; papers relating to the maintenance of the church, church hall, vicarage and churchyard; and maps of parish boundaries.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
Records arranged in 11 sub-fonds: A: Incumbent; B: Churchwardens; C: Vestry; D: Overseers of the Poor; E: Surveyors of Highways; F: Charities; G: Schools; H: Enclosure; I: Miscellaneous; J: Parish Administration; K: Church Buildings and Parish Boundaries.
Conditions governing access:
Files DRO 5/A1/1-4, 7-11, 15-16 and DRO 5/A3/1-2 are not available or unfit for consultation, please use microfilm.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copyright for these records rests with the depositor.
Physical characteristics:
Some records are unfit for consultation, please use microfilm.
Finding aids:
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
Deposited in March 1950.
ALLIED MATERIALS
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Date(s) of descriptions: March to April 2010.