Downe, Kent Genealogy

England   Kent



Parish History
Downe is a village in the London Borough of Bromley Downe Wikipedia and includes Down House the former home of Charles Darwin Down House Wikipedia which has been proposed as World Heritage Site. The house has been restored and is open to the public.

Downe Bank Wikipedia lies between Downe and Farnborough.

Downe St Mary the Virgin was formed as a chapelry in Orpington, Kent Ancient Parish and dates from the 13th century. A map of the parish boundary is available at A church near you

See Kent Archeological Society and Edward Hasted The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 2 (1797), pp. 54-59 at British History Online and Kent Churches website

The village and civil parish is 3.5 miles southwest of Orpington and was home to Charles Darwin. Down House was home to Darwin for 40 years until his death in 1882.

The neighboruring estate of the Avebury family was in Farnborough, Kent and both John Lubbock 1st Baron Avebury and Sir John Lubbock 3rd Baron Avebury resided within the parish.

See Downe North West Kent Family History Society and Downe St Mary the Virgin

Civil Registration
See Bromley Registration district

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
Deposited Parish registers are held at Bromley Archives reference P 123

Bromley Central Library Telephone: 020 8461 7170 Fax: 020 8466 7860 e-mail: localstudies.library@bromley.gov.uk

International Genealogical Index Batch C165281 post 1812 This extraction batch is from microfilm of the Bishop's Transcripts for the parish for years 1813 - 1835,1849 - 1858 and1875 for baptismal entries only derived from Genealogical Society of Utah filming of the Bishop's Transcript series for the diocese at Kent Archives in 1987. The Microfilm includes Baptisms, burials and marriages, 1813-1835; baptisms and burials, 1849-1858, 1875, 1893, 1898-99, 1903 and spelling variation of the parish name is found in the Family History Library Catalogue for the 1987 microfilming. This variation is present in transcription also. It is advisable to check primary record sources for the parish as some entries as extracted in the International Genealogical Index contain some transcription errors.

Kent Online Parish Clerks (OPC) Research is underway during 2012 to begin to prepare transcript material for a variety of record sources in relation to Downe by volunteers working in the Bromley Archives.

Family History Library film numbers See also England, Kent, Parish Registers and Bishop's Transcripts (FamilySearch Historical Records)

From Spring 2012 material formerly held at Centre for Kentish Studies,County Hall,Maidstone,Kent ME14 1XX is available at Kent History and Library Centre see Kent Archives which also enables a search of the catalogue for Kent Archives material deposited at Canterbury Cathedral Archives

Contributor: Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts, non conformist and other types of church records, such as parish chest records.

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

Census records
Census returns for Downe 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. to locate local Family History Centres in UK 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

for details of public houses in the 1881 census

Prior to the 1911 census the household schedule was destroyed and only the enumerator's schedule survives.

The 1911 census of England and Wales was taken on the night of Sunday 2 April 1911 and in addition to households and institutions such as prisons and workhouses, canal boats merchant ships and naval vessels it attempted to include homeless persons. The schedule was completed by an individual and for the first time both this record and the enumerator's schedule were preserved. Two forms of boycott of the census by women are possible due to frustration at government failure to grant women the universal right to vote in parliamentary and local elections. The schedule either records a protest by failure to complete the form in respect of the women in the household or women are absent due to organisation of groups of women staying away from home for the whole night. Research estimates that several thousand women are not found by census search. Find my Past 1911 census search

Poor Law Unions
Bromley Poor Law Union

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)

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

Local Family History Centre
Orpington Family History Centre, Kent is within the London Borough of Bromley, located adjacent to Orpington Station and on major bus routes through the borough.


 * 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 collections using the portal.

Web sites
Contributor: Add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.