Bethersden, Kent, England Genealogy

England

Kent

Kent Parishes

Bethersden

Guide to Bethersden, Kent ancestry, family history, and genealogy: parish register transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Bethersden, Kent, England
Bethersden St Margaret Kent
Type	Ancient Parish
Civil Jurisdictions
Hundred	Chart and Longbridge
County	Kent
Poor Law Union	West Ashford
Registration District	West Ashford
Records begin
Parish registers: 1556
Bishop's Transcripts: 1563
Ecclesiastical Jurisdictions
Rural Deanery	Charing
Diocese	Canterbury
Province	Canterbury
Legal Jurisdictions
Probate Court	Court of the Archdeaconry of Canterbury
Location of Archive
Kent Record Office

Parish History

BETHERSDEN (St. Beatrice), a parish, in the union of West Ashford, hundred of Chart and Longbridge, lathe of Shepway, E. division of Kent, 6 miles (W. S. W.) from Ashford. Here is a place of worship for Particular Baptists.

Bethersden is a village and civil parish in the Ashford district of Kent. Bethersden Wikipedia

Bethersden St Margaret is an Ancient Parish, a map of the parish boundary may be viewed at A church near you.

The church of St Margaret, Church Hill, Bethersden has been designated as a grade I listed building British listed building

Also in the village is the Baptist church (Union Chapel) which dates from the 1790's desire and the 1804/5 building prior to 1806 dedication. Church website

See also Kent Archeology Society and Edward Hasted The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 7 (1798), pp. 485-496 at British History Online and Kent Churches website

Bethersden was previously well-known for producing Marble and was a centre of the Kentish wool trade. Lovelace Place in Bethersden was the birthplace of 17th-century poet Richard Lovelace.

Resources

Civil Registration

See West Ashford Registration District Ashford 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. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.

Church records

Bethersden parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

FS PRs = England, Kent, Parish Registers, 1538-1911 (FamilySearch) - free

FS Canterbury PRs = England, Kent, Canterbury Parish Registers, 1538-1986 (FamilySearch) - free

FS BTs = England, Kent, Bishop's Transcripts, 1560-1911 (FamilySearch) - free

FS = FamilySearch - free

FREG = FreeREG - free

FMP Kent = Kent Baptisms, Marriages, Burials (FindMyPast) - ($)

FMP Canterbury = Kent Canterbury Archdeaconry Baptisms, Marriages, Burials (FindMyPast) - ($)

FMP East Kent = East Kent Marriage and Burial Indexes (FindMyPast) - ($)

BOYD = England, Boyd's Marriage Indexes, 1538-1850 (FindMyPast) - free

IGI = International Genealogical Index (FamilySearch) - free

FS Catalog PRs = FamilySearch Catalog Parish registers - free

FS Catalog BTs = FamilySearch Catalog Bishop's transcripts - free

Bethersden Online Parish Records
	Baptisms		Marriages		Burials
	Indexes	Images	Indexes	Images	Indexes	Images
FS PRs	1538-1911		1538-1911		1538-1911
FS Canterbury PRs	1538-1986		1538-1986		1538-1986
FS BTs		1560-1911		1560-1911		1560-1911
FS	1538-1975		1538-1973		1538-1991
FREG	1538-1900s		1538-1900s		1538-1900s
FMP Kent	1538-1988		1538-1997		1538-2010
FMP Canterbury	1538-1918		1538-1934		1538-1998
FMP East Kent			1538-1754		1813-1841
BOYD			1538-1850
IGI
FS Catalog PRs
FS Catalog BTs

To find the names of the neighboring parishes, use England Jurisdictions 1851 Map. In this site, search for the name of the parish, click on the location "pin", click Options and click List contiguous parishes.

Kent Online Parish Clerks has indexes available for select parishes. Records are also available at the Kent Archives.

Land Tax

Images Bethersden for are available at FamilySearch Records see England, Kent, Land Tax Assessments (FamilySearch Historical Records) 1780-1831

Census records

Census returns for Bethersden 1841-1891

FamilySearch Records includes collections of census indexes which can be searched online for free. In addition FamilySearch Centres offer free access to images of the England and Wales Census through FHC Portal Computers here have access to the Family History Centre Portal page which gives free access to premium family history software and websites that generally charge for subscriptions.
Category:England Family History Centres to locate local Family History Centres in UK
Introduction to Family History Centers to locate outside UK.
Many archives and local history collections in public libraries in England and Wales offer online census searches and also hold microfilm or fiche census returns.

Images of the census for 1841-1891 can be viewed in census collections at Ancestry (fee payable) or Find My Past (fee payable)

The 1851 census of England and Wales attempted to identify religious places of worship in addition to the household survey census returns.

Ancestry UK Census Collection

Find my Past census search 1841-1901

Poor Law Unions

West Ashford Poor Law Union, Kent

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.

See England, Kent, Wills and Probate (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Local Family History Centre

Canterbury Family History Centre, Kent

Maidstone Family History Centre, Kent

• FHC Portal This centre has access to the Family History 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.

• England Jurisdictions 1851
• Vision of Britain