Westbere, Kent Genealogy

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

Parish History
WESTBERE (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Blean, hundred of Bleangate, lathe of St. Augustine, E division of Kent, 3½ miles NE by E from Canterbury.

Westbere is a village and civil parish in the Canterbury district of Kent.

Westbere All Saints was an Ancient Parish in the Westbere deanery of the Diocese of Canterbury in the County of Kent; a map of the parish boundary is available at A church near you

The Parish church of All Saints, Church Lane, Westbere has been designated as a grade I listed building British listed building

See also Kent Archeological Society and Edward Hasted, The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 9 (1800), pp. 68-74. Date accessed: 2 December 2013. at British History Online and Kent Churches website

Civil Registration
See Bridge 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
Westbere parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

Parish registers for Westbere, 1577-1952 Microfilm of original records in possession of Canterbury Cathedral Archives, The Precincts, Canterbury, Kent. The parish church is known as All Saints'. Canterbury Cathedral Archives no.: U3/145/1/1-10, D4.

Archdeacon's transcripts, 1560-1812; Bishop's transcripts, 1602-1912 Microreproduction of original records housed at the Canterbury Cathedral Archives, Canterbury, Kent. Some early pages damaged. The church was named All Saints. Canterbury Cathedral Archives nos.: DCa/BT/206; DCb/BT1/252; DCb/BT2/319

Land Tax
Images for the Borough of Roushburne are available at FamilySearch Records see England, Kent, Land Tax Assessments - FamilySearch Historical Records 1780-1831

The images identify the parish of Westbere, Division of St Augustine as included in this borough Land Tax.

Further images series for Westbere 1780-1832 are also found.

Known Issues
England Vital Records Index - FamilySearch Historical Records known issue England Easy collection Indexing Project Batch 100354-3 Incorrect parish names entered also affects Swingfield, Kent

Ripple, Kent,

Ramsgate Holy Trinity, Kent Error caused by incorrect place data entry field for four parishes in items on same film FHL BRITISH Film 1836032.

Census records
Census returns for Westbere 1851-1891

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.

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

 * Blean 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