Hougham-in-Dover, Kent Genealogy

England   KentEngland    Kent Parishes

Parish History
HOUGHAM (St. Lawrence), a parish, in the union of Dovor, partly in the hundred of Bewsborough, lathe of St. Augustine, and partly within the jurisdiction of the cinque-port liberty of Dovor, E. division of Kent. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans.

Hougham in Dover Christ Church is an Ecclesiastical Parish formed in 1844 from part of the Hougham, Kent Ancient Parish.

The Church stood on the Folkestone Road and was demolished for residential development.

In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Hougham like this:

HOUGHAM, a village, a parish, and a sub-district, in Dover district, Kent. The village stands near the Southeastern railway, 1 mile from the coast, and 2½ WSW of Dover. The parish contains also the hamlets of Hougham-Court and West Hougham, and the western outskirts of the town of Dover; and is partly within Dover borough. Post town, Dover. Acres, 3, 275; of which 280 are water. Real property, exclusive of the part within Dover borough, £3, 700. Pop. of the whole, in 1851, 2, 639; in 1861, 3, 372. Houses, 389. The increase of pop. was caused by building operations of a Freehold Land Society, and by the opening of three new brickfields. Pop. of the part within Dover borough, in 1861, 2, 800. Houses, 285. The Heights barracks, the Citadel Engineers' barracks, the Western Heights hospital, the Drop redoubt, the Married Soldiers' quarters, and the Kent Artillery Militia stores are here; and, at the census of 1861, they aggregately had 1, 263 inmates. The property is much subdivided. The chapelry of Christ Church, or of Hougham-in-Dover, is within the parish; was constituted in 1844; and contained 1,803 of the pop. in 1861. The parochial living is a vicarage, and that of Christ Church is a p. curacy, in the diocese of Canterbury. Value of the former, £185; of the latter, not reported.* Patron of the former, the Archbishop of Canterbury; of the latter, Trustees. The parochial church is early English, and has been partially restored. and enlarged. The church of Christ Church is good.—The sub-district contains twelve parishes and an extraparochial tract. Acres, 19, 821. Pop., 8, 242. Houses, 1, 301

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

Census records
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.

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

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.

Poor Law Unions
Dover 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