Kent Parish Churches. GENUKI Parish Database and Locator. Photos of Churches, Kent.

Kent Churches.

Churches were an important part of our ancestors life. When they were baptised, married or in death.  Church registers are among the most important in tracing our ancestors.

For the NW Kent area the Society Gazetteer at North West Kent FHS has photographs and details of 249 Church of England Churches, plus a separate list of Roman Catholic Churches. There are also details of the administration units.

At Kent Churches John Viger's site has photographs and details of churches for all of Kent. Primarily the interior of the churches are shown. There is also information about when built and if restored.

On the same site at Churches are links to photographs of churches in many other counties E.g. Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Leicestershire, Norfolk, Rutland Churches, Suffolk.

Friends of Kent Churches has photographs of the churches in the Anglican Parishes of the Diocese of Canterbury. It covers such areas as Dover, Thanet, Maidstone,  Romney, Ashford and many more. Though these are outside the NW Kent area our ancestors in Kent came from and moved to many areas of the county.

GENUKI Parish Database and Locator.

If you are looking for a church or parish in Kent or if you can't find your ancestor in the church you expected them to be in and you have to start searching nearby parishes the GENUKI Parish Database could be of help. It gives the approximate location of the parishes that existed around 1837. It will also give other parishes within a three mile radius of any given parish. It is also Free to use.

Photos of Churches, Kent. 

Photos of Churches - Kent also contains old and contemporary photographs of Churches and other places of Worship in Kent, such as Beckenham, Eltham, Farningham and many other places.

Farningham and Eynsford Local History Society. St. Martin of Tours, Eynsford, St. Peter & St. Paul, Farningham and St. Botolph, Lullingstone. Museum of English Rural Life. The Workhouse. Victorian Times.

Farningham and Eynsford Local History Society.

The Farningham and Eynsford LHS covers the ancient parishes of Eynsford (including Crockenhill), Farningham,  Lullingstone and Maplescombe, Kent. There is an outline illustrated history of each of the areas. Details of the archives of the Society that can be consulted. Bulletins of the Society can be downloaded either in PDF or DOC versions. There are also details of the many publications published by the Society.

The site gives a link to United Benefice of Eynsford, Farningham and Lullingstone at Eynsford, Farningham and Lullingstone Churches   There are many photographs and outline histories of the parish churches of St. Martin of Tours, Eynsford, St. Peter & St. Paul, Farningham and St. Botolph, Lullingstone and if any of your ancestors where baptised, married or buried at any of these churches it is worth looking at the site.

Museum of English Rural Life.

For most people an agricultural labourer of 'Ag Lab' will feature in their family tree. The The Museum of English Rural Life is a site that will give you a lot of information about their life, working conditions and much more. Their are photographs and details about farm workers and farmers, craftsmen, women and children as well as the home life of Ag Labs.  

At Archive and Museum Catalogue you can search the holdings of the museum which will give you a picture and a description. Yon can search clothing, tools, implements and more everyday items used on farms and by Ag Labs as well as farmers.

The Workhouse.

Another thing that many of us will share in our history is someone who will have been in the workhouse. At The Workhouse-Indoor Paupers there are several accounts from people who had to go into a workhouse. The accounts will give you a good idea of what they were really like. There is much more that you can find on this site. The rules people had to live by, medical provision and much more.

Victorian Times.

If you would like more detailed information about your Victorian Ancestors  1837 Victorian Times 1901 will give you a wealth of information about their life. The site contains reports and prints from Victorian times . To give a few examples:

London, Chatham and Dover Railway - accident at Beckenham (engraving) Author: Illustrated London News Published: 1866.

A view of the low moral and physical condition of the agricultural labourer. Author: Osborne, Sidney Godolphin, Lord. Pub 1844. Gives a detailed breakdown of the wages of an Agricultural Labourer, Francis Horlock, in the 1840's. It also gives details of what the wages was spent on and how much each item cost.

The moral and physical condition of the working classes employed in the cotton manufacture in Manchester. Author: Kay-Shuttleworth, James Phillips, Sir. Published: 1832. An account, by one of the leading social reformers, of general condition of the working classes in Manchester.

Hop picking in Kent, The Museum of Kent Life. Rural Conflict and Strikes in the Hop Gardens of Kent. Old Pictures of Hop Picking and of some villages - Kent. Hop Picking In Bexley. Hop Picking in Marden, Kent. English Hops - History of Cultivation from the Earliest times-a free to down load pdf copy of a 1919 book. Salvation Army and the hop fields 1886.

Hop Picking - Museum of Kent Life.

Hop Picking was a major industry in Kent, important to Kentish growers and to those employed, many from the East End of London. At Museum of Kent Life there are photographs and details of hop picking in Kent. Plus a map showing where hops were grown. Though the site is aimed at schools it is a good site to visit if any of your ancestors were involved in growing or picking hops.

An Introduction to Rural Conflict and Strikes in the Hop Gardens of Kent.

At Hop Picking in Kent there are many photographs and details of the conditions and disputes that occurred in the past. This site does contain adverts, but not of the pop up variety.

Hop Picking - A personal view.

Those who were involved in Hop Picking were not all from the East End of London. At  Hop Picking in Kent - a Personal View there are some details of local Kent people who worked in the hop gardens.

Old Pictures of Hop Picking - Kent

At Old Pictures of Hop Picking - Kent there are photographs dating from the early 1900's. On the same site at Old Kent Photographs of various villages dating from the early 1900's.

Hop Picking In Bexley.

Now a London Borough Bexley was formerly in Kent. At  Hop Picking Bexley there are some details of the hops fields in the area.

Marden Kent.

At Hop Picking in Marden, Kent there is an interesting story of a family from Deptford who would go hop picking in Marden. It contains many interesting facts about the hop pickers.

English Hops - History of Cultivation from the Earliest times. George Clinch FSA Scot FGS circa 1919. Free to down load

This is a pdf copy of an illustrated book detailing the history of hops from the 1500's. It contains many interesting illustrations of hop picking and the people involved as well as many other details. If you ancestors were involved in this occupation it is worth while down loading this book. It can be found at English Hops

Salvation Army in the hop fields.

The  Salvation Army Heritage Centre has an excerpt from an article from All the World dated October 1886 about the hop fields in Kent.

Kemsing Heritage Centre - WWI Kent Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD), Patients, Staff and photographs from 1914. Celebrating the Census conference – 1 October 2011. Kew. What did you do for the Festival of Britain?

Kemsing Heritage Centre - WWI Kent Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD), Patients, Staff and photographs from 1914.

In 1914 the Kent Voluntary Aid Detachment  set up hospitals to cope with the large number of casualties from the Western Front, many types of building were offered as accommodation, from private houses to village halls.

Kemsing Heritage has details of the VAD at Kemsing and can be found at Kemsing VAD Hospital Patients and Staff names are given as well as photographs of both.

There are also details of fallen soldiers on the Kemsing War Memorial and names the residents of Kemsing in 1939 based the Electoral Roll for 1939. 

Celebrating the Census conference – 1 October 2011. Kew.

Interested in the Census and the information it can give?  The National Archives is holding a one day conference at Kew on Saturday 1 October 2011. It is for anyone who wants to know more about the census – from genealogists to local and social historians.

All aspects of the census will be looked at - what the censuses can tell us about our ancestors and society through the ages. Speakers include specialist staff from The National Archives, academics and professional genealogists. Ancestry, Findmypast and Genesreunited will also be offering hands-on workshops on census searching.

Tickets cost £30.00 each. Earlybird rate tickets cost £25.00 each - must be booked by 31 July 2011. Full details can be found at National Archives - Celebrating the Census

What did you do for the Festival of Britain?

The Festival of Britain took place in 1951. The main exhibition site was at South Bank, London. Other exhibitions were held in other parts of the country such as Poplar, Battersea Park and Scotland.  This was the first major events in Britain after WWII and many people went along to enjoy the festival.

The Southbank Centre has now put out a request for memories, personal photographs, film, letters, postcards, diaries or other personal writing about at any of the Festival events that took place at the Southbank Centre or anywhere else around the country. It is a time that is now passing into history and any memories or letters postcards etc will make an important contribution to the history of those days.  Full details can be found at Festival of Britain

On  28 August 2011  The South Bank Centre is holding at The Front Room at QEH  a Memories and Memorabilia Roads Sunday where you can bring along your Festival of Britain memorabilia to share with experts, and swap memories and stories of 1951 with others over tea and cake. Details at Memories and Memorabilia Roads

National Police Officers Roll of Honour and Remembrance - Metropolitan Police and Kent Police from 1829. UK Government Web Archive has had its billionth hit. Possible Kent Community History network

National Police Officers Roll of Honour and Remembrance - Metropolitan Police and Kent Police.

The Police Roll of Honour Trust website honouring Police Officers who have fallen in the line of duty has a list of the Officers of the Metropolitan Police from 1829 to the present who are included, with additional details, in the Book of Remembrance at the Metropolitan Police Memorial at the Peel Centre, Hendon, which was compiled by the Trust. These include Officers who were at Deptford, Woolwich Arsenal and Greenwich. It can be found at Metropolitan Police Officers

Police Officers of Kent Police from 1829 can be found at Kent Police  details of pre 1829 deaths of Peace Officers of London Parishes, Night Watch and Public/Police Offices killed prior to the formation of the Metropolitan Police in 1829 can be found at Pre 1829 Police and those who lost their lives  by Enemy Action while Off Duty or where Duty Status is Unknown can be found at WW II Casualties

Details of the Roll of Honour, how it started and developed can be found at  Police Memorial

UK Government Web Archive has had its billionth hit.

Sometimes one of the difficulties in researching family history is to find out where the records are that you need. This is something that the National Archives is aware of. There is also another potential problem for the future in that more and more information and records are digital and the National Archives are also attempting to preserve such records.

Oliver Morley, Chief Executive and Keeper, The National Archives, said: 'In the digital age, government chooses to communicate its messages to the public through the web. Without the UK Government Web Archive, there is a risk these important records would disappear completely, leaving a black hole for researchers of the future. The billion pages of digital material in the archive are an important part of our country's historical and cultural inheritance and deserving of the same respect we show paper records.'

The UK Government Web archive regularly crawls up to a 1,000 websites. It is growing at a rate of one terabyte (1,000GB) a month and is 40 terabytes in total - around eight times the size of the English-language Wikipedia. It has around three million unique monthly users. Full details can be found at UK Government Archive

At Catalogues and-online records can be found such information as Accessions to Repositories, annual listing of new documents and collections,  Access to Archives (A2A)catalogues describing archives held throughout England and Wales, Archive contact details,  Hospital Records Database and much more.

In Kent there is a growing awareness of of the need for researchers to be able to locate records to see 'what is where' The Centre of Kentish Studies has started to look at the possibility of centralising into one location on the Internet information on various groups in Kent.  An initial meeting of interested organisations, family history societies, local history societies has been held to start to look into this.

There is a possibility of setting up a ‘Kent Community History network’ which would act as a gateway to include History societies in Kent and link with their own web pages This could be a way to ensure that someone researching family or local history can find where such information could be accessed. 

Northfleet History Group. North West Kent FHS Workshops for Members. London Fire Brigade Photo and Image Library from 1860

Northfleet History Group.

The Northfleet History Group website is a site worth looking at if you had ancestors or family who lived in the area. There a some photographs of Northfleet and details of the talks being held. You can also read postings on the forum. Many of them are about the history of the area and personal recollections about people and business going back in time.

North West Kent FHS Workshops for Members.

The NWKFHS has started to run a series of Workshops for members. Held at the Society Library at Summerhouse Drive, Joydens Wood Estate, Bexley, DA5 2EE. The number of people at each workshop is kept to a maximum of 10.

Some of the workshops held to date have been 'sell outs' with reserve list having to be set up and some workshops being run twice to cater for the interest. Dr Alan Stapleton has ran a workshop on ‘An overview and getting started on Family Tree Maker’ and Jean Stirk has ran a workshop on ‘Reading old documents’

David Cufley, President of the Society, is running a workshop on 20th July,  ‘Drawing charts and trees by hand as a research tool' Though this one is fully booked David is running a second one on the 27th July. However, this one is also nearly fully booked. Cost have been kept low, £5 per workshop to enable as many as possible to take advantage of these workshops.

If you are a member interested in future workshops or would like to see how family history societies can help you in many different ways with your research more details can be found at NWKFHS Library Workshops While you are on the site why not look at the Library page at NWKFHS Library or the research page at NWKFHS Research Service to see some of the other ways that you can be helped by a Family History Society.

London Fire Brigade Photo and Image Library.

Many of the former Kent Parishes are now South East London Boroughs. Many records that apply to them can be found in 'London' records, archives and websites. The London Fire Brigade Photo Library is an example.

Here you can find photographs of Fire stations/crew and equipment. There are over 200 of the period 1860 - 1920 and there are many hundreds of photos of the years after 1920. These include those of Blackheath, Eltham etc. The images are free to view, though if you want copies there is a charge.  

If you had ancestors or family who worked in the London Fire Brigade area from 1860 onwards this site will give you important photographic background information on the men and the service.

Also on the London Fire Brigade site at London Fire Brigade History can be found a history of the Fire Brigade and fire fighting in London from the Great Fire of London through the first Fire Brigades in the 19th Century to the World War II and today.. You can find galleries that illustrate the Uniforms, Equipment and Fire Engines past and present.

Kent Police Museum, Tonbridge (Kent) Historical Society Free to view photographs of Tonbridge from the early Victorian Times and much more. Another Kent Stray. Rose Amelia, Nee Hooper, Wallis. Died Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada born 1897 Belvedere, Kent.

Kent Police Museum.

If your ancestor or a family member was in the Kent Police the Kent Police Museum site is worth while looking at.  It has a history of the Kent Constabulary from its formation in 1857. Photographs of some of the orginal stations and some 90 photo's of Police Constables, some from the late Victorian times.

Tonbridge (Kent) Historical Society.

Tonbridge History has hundreds of photographs of Tonbridge from the early Victorian Times onwards. There are also articles and much more, such as  pages from the Headmaster's Log of events at St Stephen's Boys School in Waterloo Road, Tonbridge, with entries covering the school years 1884-5 and 1885-6, pages from the 1914 Almanac published by the Tonbridge Free Press, the town's local newspaper, listing significant events in the town between December 1912 and November 1913, plus two advertisements and a telephone directory. There is also an interesting series of maps that show the developement of the Town from the 1700's to the present. A site that provides a lot of free information, photographs about the area and its people.

Another Kent Stray. Rose Amelia, Nee Hooper, Wallis. Died Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada born 1897 Belvedere, Kent.

Rose Amelia Wallis (nee Hooper) On Sunday December 9 1991 Rose Amelia Wallis, aged 94, passed away peacefully at Donwood Personal Care Home. ...born March 16, 1897, in Belvedere, Kent, England, the second daughter of Alice Churchill and Henry Willats Hooper...she emigrated to Minot, North Dakota in 1917 and came to Winnipeg...to join her father. They lived at Morse Place where they had a market garden, nursery and greenhouses... Husband George predeceased her in 1971. Her three brothers and three sisters also predeceased her....she leaves...: two daughters. 

Her parents were Henry Willats Hooper, son of Peter Hooper, a Draper and Marian Alice Hodgkin Churchill, daughter of  Thomas Churchill an Engineer. They were married at   Plumstead St Nicholas on 29th January, 1888.

In 1891 they were living at 18 Glenister Road Greenwich with their first daughter, Alice.

In 1901 They were living at 5 Caversham Terrace, Belvedere, Erith, Kent:

Henry Hooper Head 31  Male Battersea London England
Maria Hooper Wife 33  Female Greenwich Kent England
Alice Hooper Daughter 12  Female Greenwich Kent England
George Hooper Son 9 Male Charlton Kent England
Henry Hooper Son 7 Male Belvedere Kent England
Frederick Hooper Son 5 Male Belvedere Kent England
Rose Hooper Daughter 4 Female Belvedere Kent England 
Vera Hooper Daughter 2 Female Belvedere Kent England
Florence Hooper Daughter 7 Weeks Female Belvedere Kent England

Free to access British and Irish volunteers in the Spanish Civil War. Free index of British Militia Service Records 1806-1915. The Orpington, Kent, History Site. Goudhurst, Kent, Local History Society. Goudhust Railway Station. Disused Stations site.

Free to access British and Irish volunteers in the Spanish Civil War.

The National Archives is making available the records of a list of over 4,000 British volunteers who joined the fight against fascism in Spain. There is also a roll of honour of those killed in action.

You can either browse all the records or search for an individual. The records are arranged alphabetically and you can request them to be downloaded through the normal check out on the site. The download of the requested files is free. Along with details of the records and their historic perspective the records can be found at  Documents Online

British Militia Service Records 1806-1915.

The National Archives in association with findmypast is releasing the records of over half a million men who served in the Militia between 1806-1915. The forerunner to the British Territorial Army, the Militia was a voluntary part-time force of working men from a wide range of professions. The Militia Attestation Papers in WO 96 were filled in at recruitment, providing unique descriptions of the recruits' personal appearance, and most were annotated with the date of discharge so that they form a record of service.
You can search a free index which gives Surname, first name, Year of birth and place of birth on findmypast at Militia Service Records you will have to pay if you wish to see further details.

Orpington  History.

The The Orpington History Site is one of the few places that can be found on the Internet that allows you to discover historical information about Orpington and its people. The site states "As far as we know there is not one single point (on the Internet) for people to explore the history of Orpington and its surrounding areas. Our objective and aim is to enable and embellish this site to achieve that objective". The site contains some illustrated articles about Orpington in the past and photographic galleries with photo's from the Victorian time onwards. There is also a time line guide which outlines the historical development of Orpington.

Goudhurst, Kent, Local History Society.

The site at Goudhurst, Kent LHS has a photo gallery of the Village dating from the Late Victorian times, there is also a history of the church with photographs.

At Goudhust Railway Station there are photographs of the station some dating from 1892 when it was first opened. They are on the Disused Stations site.  An invaluable site if you are looking for the Victorian/Edwardian railway stations that now no longer exist as stations  that your ancestors may have used or worked at.  

The Weald of Kent, Genealogy, Photographs, Maps, Kent, Surrey and Sussex. Kent Stray. Meopham, Kent, Historical Society. Lionel Gordon Inwood, Chatham, Ontario born Greenwich, Kent, England. Coal Posts ('Coal and Wine Tax Posts'). Bromley, Orpington, Kent. The Serving Soldier-Boer War, Gallipoli etc accounts and photographs.

The Weald of Kent, Surrey and Sussex.

"This site catalogues the people, places, maps, drawings, engravings, books, writings and numerous lists and directories... into an integrated database of information about one of the most attractive parts of England - The Weald of Kent, Surrey and Sussex".

It is certainly worth a visit, some of the NW Kent area is covered, Brasted, Edenbridge, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Wrotham etc. The Weald of Kent, Surrey and Sussex   

On the site at  family Records there are many family trees and other genealogical information on families. There are innumerable photographs from the Victorian/Edwardian times of many of the villages and towns at Photographs There are copies of Hasted's  The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent for various villages amongst other information in the Documents section, plus maps, some dating from the 1700's of the Weald.  

Meopham Historical Society.

The Meopham Historical Society If your ancestors were from or lived in Meopham, this is a good place to start looking for details about the village. At Display Panels there are photographs and details of various people and places in Meopham's history. There is an historical chronology of Meopham and contains not only the history and development of the village but also some details on some of the prominent people of the village from Victorian times. At Photo Index there are many photographs from various periods of time.

Kent Stray. Lionel Gordon Inwood, Chatham, Ontario born Greenwich, Kent, England. 

Inwood, Lionel Gordon of Chatham (Ontario) passed away... January 5, 2000. Born in Greenwich, England, 85 years ago, son of the late Charles John Inwood and Gertrude Elizabeth Hilling. Mr. Inwood came to Canada in 1928... His wife the former Norma Weir predeceased in 1990... Predeceased by one brother Eric.

Lionel's parents Charles John Inwood and Gertrude Elizabeth Hilling Married at St Jude, Peckham, Southwark on 24th July 1909. The addresses given at the time were 95 Clifton Crescent, Camberwell for John and 7 Kings Road, Peckham for Gertrude. Lionel was born in 1914.

The 1911 Census shows the following details:

Leylang Road New Cross
INWOOD, Charles Head Married M 25 1886 Warehouseman And Salesman Rotherhithe Surrey   
INWOOD, Gertrude Wife Married 1 years F 22 1889  Bermondsey Surrey
INWOOD, Eric Son  M 0 (8 MONTHS) 1911  Deptford Surrey.

Coal Posts ('Coal and Wine Tax Posts'). Bromley, Orpington, Kent.

A fascinating survival from the 1860's and earlier. These were at one time a familiar site to our ancestors around London and NW Kent and other surrounding counties.

The posts set up under the London Coal and Wine Duties Continuance Act, 1861, though some were set up under earlier Acts. The City of London had  the right of 'metage' (measuring) of coal and other commodities such as wine since medieval times  The City was  permitted to set up a Boundary Stone  where any turnpike road, public highway, railway or canal entered the District where taxes were payable on goods coming into the city.

The surviving boundary stones define the London district after it was changed in 1861. Most of the posts were erected by the sides of roads, but little coal  came into London by road or canal most being brought into London by sea. It was not until later in the nineteenth century that the railways became the most important means of transporting coal.  At Coal Posts Bromley, Kent There are photographs of 23 surviving posts and at City of London Coal Posts there is a list of the location of 211 Posts.

The Serving Soldier.

If you have not visited this site yet and you have ancestors or family who served in the British armed forces it will provide a wealth of photographs and accounts. There are many photographs of daily life for the soldiers at Gallipoli, accounts of those involved in the Boer War, for example an  album belonging to Emily Seabroke Cooper who served in Imperial Yeomanry Hospital Deelfontein and at MacKenzies Farm, Maitland Camp, Capetown, during the Second Boer War.

There is a collection of letters from Arthur Bryant to his parents which describes his experiences as a Royal Flying Corps trainee in Shoreham in Sussex during 1918. A scrapbook of naval surgeon Basil Alderson in 1938.  There is much more to browse at the Serving Soldier