Erith, Kent Genealogy

England   Kent England    Kent Parishes



Parish History
ERITH (St. John the Baptist), a parish, in the union of Dartford, hundred of Lessness, lathe of Sutton-At-Hone, W. division of Kent, 2¼ miles (N.) from Crayford.

Erith is a district in the London Borough of Bexley see Erith Wikipedia which contains a list of places of worship.

Erith St John the Baptist is an Ancient Parish which included Lessness-Heath, Picardy, Northumberland-Heath, and Beadonwell; the parish church of St John the Baptist has been designated asa grade II* listed building British listed building

See Edward Hasted The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 2 (1797), pp. 227-263 at British History Online and Kent Churches website

From this parish were formed

Belvedere All Saints Nuxley Road Belvedere All Saints and Kent Churches website

Christ Church Erith Christ Church and Kent Churches website

See Erith North West Kent Family History Society for other places of worship and Erith St John the Baptist

The Baptist church at Lessness Heath dates from 1805.

Civil Registration
See Dartford 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
Kent Online Parish Clerks (OPC)

International Genealogical Index 1625-1752 (Extracts); 1625-1752; 1813-1873 Batches (P020571, C020572, C020572) Marriages 1625-1758; 1813-1863 Batches (M020571, M020572)

See also Lessness Heath Baptist 1808-1832 (Births) Batch (C093971)

Bexley Local Studies and Archive Centre is the Diocesan Record Office for all the Church of England Parishes within the London Borough of Bexley reference PA137 St John's, Erith 1625-1996

Family History Library film numbers

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

Census records
Census returns for Erith 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

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
Dartford 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
Orpington 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