Leigh, Kent, England Genealogy
Guide to Leigh, Kent ancestry, family history, and genealogy: parish register transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.
| Leigh | |
| |
| Leigh St Mary Kent | |
| Type | Ancient Parish |
| Civil Jurisdictions | |
| County | Kent |
| Hundred | Codsheath |
| Poor Law Union | Sevenoaks |
| Registration District | Sevenoaks |
| Records Begin | |
| Parish registers | 1593 |
| Bishop's Transcripts | 1716 |
| Ecclesiastical Jurisdictions | |
| Rural Deanery | Malling |
| Diocese | Pre-1845 - Rochester; Post-1844 - Canterbury |
| Province | Canterbury |
| Probate Court | Courts of the Bishop (Episcopal Consistory) and Archdeaconry of Rochester |
| Archive | |
| Kent Record Office | |
Parish History
LEIGH (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Seven Oaks, partly in the hundred of Somerden, but chiefly in that of Codsheath, lathe of Sutton-at-Hone, W division of Kent, 3¾ miles W from Tonbridge. This parish, from various ancient records, appears to have been formerly of considerable importance, and to have included a portion of that of Penshurst.[1]
Leigh, historically spelled Lyghe, is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks district of Kent.
Leigh (pronounced Lye) St Mary is an Ancient Parish which includes Hollanden in the Diocese of Rochester; a map pf the parish boundary is available at A church near you.
The church was originally built in the 13th century, a fire during the reign of Henry VII destroyed part of it and restoration has taken place in subsequent centuries.
In 1860-61 the church underwent considerable reconstruction. At the time, the chancel was the responsibility of the Lay Rector, who in this case was Lord de Lisle, while the parish was responsible for the rest of the building. The two parties employed different architects; Lord de Lisle using George Devey, and the parish Charles Bailey, a cousin of Thomas Farmer Bailey, the owner of Hall Place. The two architects used different types of stone, as is obvious when viewing the outside of the building.
Further rebuilding between 1889 and 1892 was undertaken.
See Edward Hasted, The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 3 (1797), pp. 258-275 at British History Online and Kent Churches website
The church of St Mary Leigh has been designated as a grade II* listed building British listed building
Penshurst Airfield later RAF Penshurst is within the parish and was used in both World Wars and closed in 1946, it included a period as an alternate civil aviation landing for Croydon Airport in bad weather. In the Second World War it served as an emergency landing ground.RAF Penshurst Wikipedia
Resources
Find Neighboring Parishes
Use England Jurisdictions 1851 Map
- Type the name of the parish in the search bar
- Click on the location pin on the map
- Choose Options from the pop up box
- Click "List Contiguous Parishes" to find the neighboring parishes
Cemeteries
- Memorial Inscriptions of St. Bartholomew, Leigh, Kent(*) at FamilySearch Catalog - images
Civil Registration
See Sevenoaks Registration District 1837-1941 Tonbridge Registration District
Kent County Council (KCC) has a certificate centre at the Mansion House in Tunbridge Wells which holds all the completed registers for Kent since 1 July 1837 and can supply a certified copy of any Kent birth, death or marriage entry from any register within its custody or a Kent civil partnership registration from the government online database.
The Mansion House (Certificate Centre)
Grove Hill Road
Tunbridge Wells
Kent TN1 1EP
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day.
- See England Civil Registration for online resources and information.
Church Records
The Church of England (Anglican) became the official state religion in 1534, with the reigning monarch as its Supreme Governor.
Non-Conformist refers to all other religious denominations that are not the official state religion.
Church of England
Due to the increasing access of online records:
- Individual parish coverage for databases in this table are inconsistent and should be verified
- Dates in the following table are approximate
Hover over the collection's title for more information
| Leigh Online Parish Records | ||||||
| FamilySearch Collections-Kent | ||||||
| Parish Registers-Kent | ||||||
| Bishop's Transcripts - FamilySearch Catalog | ||||||
| FreeREG | ||||||
| Findmypast-Kent ($) | ||||||
| Findmypast Banns-Kent ($) | ||||||
| Ancestry-Church of England BMD-Kent ($) | ||||||
| Ancestry-England & Wales, Birth, Christening, Marriage and Death Indexes ($) | 1500s-1900s |
1500s-1900s |
||||
| Databases with Known Incomplete Parish Coverage | ||||||
| Boyd's Marriage Indexes-FMP (Free) | ||||||
| National Burial Index-FMP (Free) | ||||||
Other Websites
These databases have incomplete parish coverage.
- Joiner Marriage Index - Kent ($)
- Online Genealogical Index - Links to online genealogical records
- The Genealogist Parish Registers - Kent ($)
- UK Websites for Parish Records - Links to online genealogical records
Nonconformist Records
"Nonconformist" is a term referring to religious denominations other than an established or state church. In England, the state church is the Church of England.
- 1717 England & Wales, Roman Catholics, 1717 at Findmypast - index & images ($); coverage may vary
- England Roman Catholic Parish Marriages at Findmypast — index & images ($); coverage may vary
Census Records
Census records from 1841 to 1921 are available online. See England Census for more resources.
Poor Law Unions
Probate Records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Kent Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.
Local FamilySearch Centre
- FamilySearch Center Portal This centre has access to the FamilySearch Centre Portal page which gives free access in the centre to premium family history software and websites that generally charge for subscriptions.
- Publication of the restricted access images England, Kent, Wills and Probate - FamilySearch Historical Records and England, Kent, Land Tax Assessments - FamilySearch Historical Records means that it is advisable to telephone the centre to reserve a computer if you wish to view these
Maps and Gazetteers
Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.
Websites
References
- ↑ Lewis, Samuel A., A Topographical Dictionary of England(1848), pp. 62-65. Date accessed: 19 August 2013.