Wandsworth Historical Society

The archaeology and history of the Borough of Wandsworth

Battersea : Balham : Putney : Tooting : Wandsworth Town

A few front covers

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LBSCR staff
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Roehampton Village
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Roehampton pubs
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Putney 1851
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Villas and Mansions
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Lost Fishing Village
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Roomy Villas

Publications Past and Present

Publications Index

A comprehensive index entitled WHS Local History Publications 1955-2021: over six decades of outstanding research appears on the WHS website, www.wandsworthhistory.org.uk and may be downloaded for free.

Current Publications Available for Purchase

Email Neil Robson (020neil119@gmail.com) to discuss an order. Cheques made payable to the 'Wandsworth Historical Society' should be sent to WHS, 119 Heythorp Street, London SW18 5BT. On-line payment preferred.

Our Flagship Publication "The Wandsworth Historian"

Cost Postage
The Wandsworth Historical Society publishes a twice-yearly journal, The Wandsworth Historian. £3
per copy
£3
per copy
The 'Wandsworth Historian' digital archive 1971-2021. Click [HERE] for more details. £5 n/a

Wandsworth Papers

Author Title Pub Date Ref Cost Postage
Keith Bailey

The Staff of the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway in Battersea and Wandsworth 1856-1901The Staff of the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway in Battersea and Wandsworth 1856-1901 by Keith Bailey tells the story of the many thousands of nineteenth-century railway workers who were located in our area. Using surviving personnel records the writer paints a fascinating picture of the lives, careers and misdemeanours of a whole host of men and women who made an incalculable contribution to the well-being and efficiency of everyday Victorian life.

2018 32 £5 £4
Maggie Jones and others Putney Remembers the Men of the First World War: St Mary's roll of honour 2017 30 £5 £3
Dorian Gerhold

Roehampton VillageIt traces the story of the village from its origins as a row of cottages on former common land in about 1600 through several major transformations to the present day. Existing buildings include the King's Head, the former Montague Arms, the terraced houses of Medfield Street and Holy Trinity church.

2016 29 £5 £3
Dorian Gerhold Pubs of Putney and Roehampton 2013 27 £4 £3
Dorian Gerhold Wandsworth's Lost Fishing Village 2012 25 £8 £3
Dorian Gerhold Pubs of Wandsworth 2012 23 £4 £2.50
Dorian Gerhold Putney and Roehampton in 1665: a street directory and guide 2007 16 £9.50 £4
Dorian Gerhold John Corris's Map of Wandsworth in 1787 - This is the book that is the key to the map below. 2002 11 £3.50 £3
Dorian Gerhold Roehampton in 1617: the village surveyed 2001 8 £3 £3

Other publications

Title Cost Postage
William Field's Photographs of Putney, Dorian Gerhold and Michael Bull (compilers) £8 £4
Stanford's map of south-west London in 1862 (north part) £4 £2.50
Stanford's map of south-west London in 1862 (south part) £4 £2.50

Wandsworth Paper: Putney - 1851

In the mid-1970s the Wandsworth Historical Society organised a practical history-research workshop which focussed on analysing the enumerators' local returns for the census of England held in 1851. The result was a significant insight into the social structure of the inhabitants of Putney in the mid-Victorian period, how they earned their living, how they travelled around, and how they spent their free time.

Click [HERE] to access the fully-searchable digitised copy of the original booklet.

Wandsworth Paper: Villas and Mansions of Roehampton and Putney Heath

The Wandsworth Historical Society is committed to making its earlier publications more readily available for historical researchers right across the world. The highly significant study named above was completed by Dorian Gerhold in 1997 and is still the subject of the continuing interest.

Click [HERE] to access this fully-searchable version of the original book.

The following notes are particularly significant in the light of our approaches to renew permission to use the various images once again:

  • The map on p. 4 is sourced from the collection of Dorian Gerhold, and replaces the original version which was provided by the British Library.
  • It has not proved feasible to reproduce fig. 20 which originally appeared on p. 45.
  • Figs 23, 24, 30, 38, 39 & 40 are reproduced 'by permission of the London Borough of Merton'.
  • Fig. 42 should now be more accurately attributed to Historic England, ref. BB83/01621.
  • Obtain a copy of "The Map of Georgian Wandsworth"

    Corris map

    In 1787 the significant landowner, the second Earl Spencer, commissioned the cartographer, John Corris, to draw a plan of all his holdings and rights within the parish of Wandsworth. The result is the most detailed map we have of the area in the Georgian period, with many of the parcels of land meticulously marked and all the buildings shown to a sound accuracy even in the built-up area. As part of its remit to widen people's knowledge of Wandsworth's past the WHS has published a careful reproduction of the original in the British Library, printed in full colour and measuring 41cm by 47cm.






    Copies cost just £8 post free, and are available by sending a cheque for that amount to WHS, 20 Cromer Villas Road, London SW18 1PN. Please make your cheque payable to the 'Wandsworth Historical Society' and remember to include your full address. Alternatively, email 020neil119@gmail.com for details of how to pay online.

    There is also an informative book for sale which complements the map. See Wandsworth Paper No. 11 in the table above.

    Research Guides

    In line with the Society's commitment to make its earlier publications more readily available to enthusiasts we have created digitized versions of two definitive research guides which we first published in the 1980s.

    Click [HERE] to access Directories by Rita Ensing.

    Click [HERE] to access Building and Architectural History by Keith Bailey.

    Both of these guides are now searchable documents. Present-day readers are reminded that the names of some of the archives mentioned in them have changed since they were first published.

    The Wandsworth Local History Collection (WLHC), or 'Wandsworth Collection', is now the Wandsworth Heritage Service, and the Greater London Record Office (GLRO) is now the London Metropolitan Archives; neither has changed its location, unlike the Surrey Record Office (now the Surrey History Centre at Woking).

    The Wandsworth Heritage Service now has photocopies of relevant pages from many of the early directories, such as Pigot & Co.'s, up to 1845.

    Wandsworth Paper: The Building of the Southfields Grid c.1860-1910

    It was in 2003 that the Society published this highly significant study by Keith Bailey on the evolution of this Edwardian suburb in the southern part of Wandsworth. In view of the continuing interest in his paper, the WHS has decided to re-release it in digital form.

    Click [HERE] to open this fully-searchable version of the original text.

    Roomy Villas: the story of Southfields Grid and its surroundings by Neil Robson

    Now available on line for free

    It is nearly twenty years since Roomy Villas first made its appearance, and over that time this account of the history of the Southfields Grid area from the 1880s has proved exceptionally popular. As a result its author has decided to place the book in the public domain and make a digitised version of the original easily available at no cost to anyone who may be interested.

    To access your copy for free just click on this link [HERE]. The text is now fully searchable, and you can even download and save the complete book if you wish.