Keston, Kent Genealogy

England   Kent



Parish History
Keston is a place in the London Borough of Bromley Keston Wikipedia

Keston is an Ancient Parish in the Diocese of Rochester; a map of the parish boundary is available at A church near you

Keston Parish Church has been designated as a grade B listed building British listed building

Following bomb damage in World War II to the church wall excavation found evidence of an earlier wall likely to have been constructed in the 11th century. below the footing of the wall Romano British burials were found indicating that the site

In the traditional place by the East Wall, South Side, are the remains of a piscina basin damaged, in all probability, by Cromwellian soldiers. In the mid 17th century Puritan mobs damaged churches throughout the land and Keston did not escape. Parish records record…….. ‘1645. On the 23rd April our church was defaced, our font throwne down and new formes of prayer appointed’. The chancel is known as a ‘weeping chancel’, in that it is not built in line with the nave but is inclined to the North side. This was customary in the building of ancient churches, following the tradition that Christ’s head fell on his right shoulder when on the cross. The church has no dedication.

See Kent Archeological Society and Edward Hasted The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 2 (1797), pp. 37-46 at British History Online and Kent Churches website

See Keston North West Kent Family History Society and Keston Parish Church

Within the parish boundary is the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel Prospect Place (now Croydon Road) which dates from 1828

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
International Genealogical Index Christenings 1541-1875 Batches (C131521, C131522) Marriages 1540-1752; 1754-1876 Batches (M131521, M131522)

Deposited Parish registers are held at Bromley Archives reference P 208

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

The Keston Composite Register Bromley Archives reference P 208/1/1 includes Keston Baptism Register, 1541-1685; Marriage Register, 1540-1682; and Burial Register including two victims of the plague 1666, 1542-1685

A further composite register Bromley Archives register reference P 208/1/2 includes Keston Baptism Register, 1683-1812; Marriage Register, 1690-1752; Burial Register 1690-1812. This includes a variety of other records relating to the parish including a 1637 copy of a lease to the rector (Bromley Archive reference P 208/21/2) and a manuscript of burials for 1738-1744 (Bromley Archive reference P208/12/1

This register contains collations, 1545-1800; list of rectors, 1602-1868; copy of clerk's fees c.1636 and following the burials of 1757, memoranda concerning the erection of a new font, 1716; building of a barn and stable, 1729; additional pews, 1732; erection of a gallery for young men and servants, 1733; and the conversion of the spring head into a parish well to be called the Archdeacon's Well, 1736

Family History Library film numbers England, Kent, Land Tax Assessments

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

Census records
Census returns for Keston 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.