Biddenden, Kent Genealogy

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

Parish History
BIDDENDEN (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Tenterden, hundred of Barclay, Lower division of the lathe of Scray, W division of Kent, 5 miles E by N from Cranbrook. There is a meeting-house for dissenters. Biddenden is a village and civil parish in the Ashford district of Kent Biddenden Wikipedia Biddenden All Saints is an Ancient Parish. The church is mediaeval built originally in the 13th century with 14th and 15th century additions. The conjoined twins Mary and Eliza Chulkhurst "The Biddenden Maids" 1100-1134 are commemorated in the village sign. Biddenden Maids Wikipedia

Find Neighboring Parishes
Use England Jurisdictions 1851 Map
 * Type the name of the parish in the search bar
 * Click on the location pin on the map
 * Choose Options from the pop up box
 * Click "List Contiguous Parishes" to find the neighboring parishes

Civil Registration
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.

Registration Districts

 * 1837-1941 Tenterden Registration District
 * 1941-1998 Ashford Registration District

Church Records
The Church of England (Anglican) became the official state religion in 1534, with the reigning monarch as its Supreme Governor. Non-Conformist refers to all other religious denominations that are not the official state religion.

Church of England
Due to the increasing access of online records: Hover over the collection's title for more information Other Websites These databases have incomplete parish coverage.
 * Individual parish coverage for databases in this table are inconsistent and should be verified
 * Dates in the following table are approximate
 * Joiner Marriage Index - Kent ($)
 * Online Genealogical Index - Links to online genealogical records
 * The Genealogist Parish Registers - Kent ($)
 * UK Websites for Parish Records - Links to online genealogical records

Non-Conformists (All other Religions)

 * 1717 England & Wales, Roman Catholics, 1717 at FindMyPast ($), index and images (coverage may vary)

Census Records
The 1851 census of England and Wales attempted to identify religious places of worship in addition to the household survey census returns.
 * Census returns for Biddenden 1841-1891
 * Ancestry UK Census Collection
 * FindMyPast Census

Land Tax

 * England, Kent, Land Tax Assessments - FamilySearch Historical Records Biddenden 1780-1831

Poor Law Unions

 * Tenterden 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.


 * 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

Websites

 * All Saints, Biddenden A Church Near You
 * All Saints, Biddenden British Listed Buildings
 * All Saints, Biddenden Kent Churches
 * Biddenden British History Online
 * Biddenen HistoryThe History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 7 Author Edward Hasted Year published 1798 Pages 130-141
 * Biddenden Parish Kent Online Parish Clerks