Kent Church Records

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Church Records

Canterbury Cathedral - Portal Nave Cross-spire Original Records Records of the Church of England parishes are deposited in several record repositories in Kent.  The first two in the list hold the records of the majority of parishes, and the others hold records for specific areas.  Click on a repository link to go to their website and online catalogues: The Centre for Kentish Studies, Maidstone Canterbury Cathedral Archives, Canterbury London Metropolitan Archives, London Lewisham Local Studies and Archives, Lewisham (holds the records of the parishes of Lee and Lewisham only) Greenwich Local History Library (holds the records of Charlton by Greenwich only) Medway Area Archives Office, Rochester, at Strood. (they have indexes and images of numerous records, including parish registers, searchable online) Parish Registers Images of many of Kent's parish registers are available online at findmypast and at FamilySearch: 1538-1986 England, Kent, Canterbury Parish Registers, 1538-1986 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images 1560-1904 Kent Bishop's Transcripts, 1560-1904 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images Kent Online Parish Clerks has transcribed many records of interest to genealogists. Baptisms 1530-1922 Kent Baptisms at findmypast - Index and Images $ 1538-1975 England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images includes 4,008,751 Kent baptisms. Formerly known as the International Genealogical Index. These databases are free on FamilySearch. Coverage. 101 Kent parishes are indexed in Kent Baptisms (£). 292,808 Kent entries are included in England & Wales Christening Records, 1530-1906 at Ancestry (£). Formerly known as British Isles Vital Records Index - 2nd Ed. Coverage. Marriages 1530-1922 Kent Marriages and Banns at findmypast - Index and Images $ 1538-1973 England Marriages, 1538-1973 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images includes 1,710,700 Kent entries. 32% of Kent's parishes are indexed in Boyd's Marriage Index (£). Coverage. 47,403 Kent entries are included in England & Wales Marriages, 1538-1940 at Ancestry (£). Formerly known as British Isles Vital Records Index - 2nd Ed. Coverage. Burials 1530-1922 Kent Burials at findmypast - Index and Images $ Burials from 44 Kent places (156,783 entries) are included in the National Burial Index (£). Coverage. 1538-1991 England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images includes 1,825,326 Kent burials. Marriage Licences 1115-1906 Britain, Marriage Licences at Findmypast - index and images ($) 88,166 Canterbury marriage licences are indexed in Boyd's Marriage Index at Findmypast ($) covering the years 1568 to 1751. Canterbury marriage licences have been published: 1568-1618 at Internet Archive - free. 1619-1660 at Internet Archive - free. Diocese of Rochester marriage allegations (1637-1639, 1715-1716, 1731-1742, 1748-1798) have been digitized, but not indexed. The images are included in the 1538-1911 England, Kent, Parish Registers, 1538-1911 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images References

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