Greenhithe, Kent

Historical Description

Greenhithe, an ecclesiastical parish in Swanscombe parish, Kent. The parish lies on the river Thames, and has a station on the S.E.R., 19 miles from London. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office. A number of villa residences are in it, and have recently been increased, and a handsome row of them, semi-detached and in the Italian style, forms a picturesque terrace, and commands a charming view. Ingress House-on an eminence originally called Ince Grice, and once belonging to the Dartford nuns-is an elegant mansion in the Tudor style; was bnilt by the late Alderman Harmer with materials from Old London Bridge; passed into the possession of the Umfrevilles, and stands amid tastefully disposed grounds. The making of Roman cement, and the working of chalk and lime are carried on. The chalk pits are very extensive, and some of them have depths of from 100 to 150 feet. The Erebus and Terror, under Sir John Franklin and Captain Crozier, sailed on their well-known fatal expedition in 1845 from Greenhithe. Several training ships lie off Greenhithe. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Rochester; value, £180. Patron, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. The church was built in 1856, and is in the Decorated English style. There are Wesleyan, Congregational, and Roman Catholic chapels. A village club, with good library and reading-room, was built in 1883.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Church Records

Findmypast have the following online for Greenhithe, St Mary: baptisms 1861-1887, marriages 1858-1919

Findmypast have the following online for Greenhithe, St Mary the Virgin: baptisms 1857-1915, marriages 1858-1935, burials 1925-1947

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Greenhithe from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Greenhythe)

Maps

Online maps of Greenhithe are available from a number of sites:

• Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• Google Streetview.
• National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
• OpenStreetMap.
• old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
• Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)

Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Kent newspapers online:

• Kent & Sussex Courier
• Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald
• Dover Express
• Kentish Gazette
• Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald
• Kentish Chronicle
• Maidstone Telegraph

Visitations Heraldic

The Visitation of Kent, 1619 is available on the Heraldry page, as is also The Visitation of Kent, 1663-68.