Ryarsh, Kent Genealogy

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

Parish History
RYARSH (St. Martin), a parish, in the union of Malling, hundred of Larkfield, Upper S division of the lathe of Aylesford, W division of Kent, 6¾ miles NW by W from Maidstone.

Ryarsh is a village and civil parish in the Tonbridge and Malling district of Kent Ryarsh Wikipedia

The building of the M20 motorway has divided the village and civil parish of Ryarsh from Ryarsh St Martin Church, the 12th century Ancient Parish church. A map of the parish boundary is available at A church near you

The church has been designated Grade II* by English Heritage and has a prominent south east stair tower taller than the tower. The church was enlarged and restored in the 15th century and the interior restoration is 19th century.

The Church of St Martin, Church Road, Ryarsh has been designated as a grade II* listed building British listed building

See Kent Archaeological Society and Edward Hasted, The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 4 (1798), pp. 488-496. Date accessed: 30 September 2013. at British History Online and Kent Churches website

Civil Registration
This parish was from 1837 in the Malling registration district

See Maidstone 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.

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
Ryarsh parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

Land Tax

 * Images for Ryarsh are available at FamilySearch Records see England, Kent, Land Tax Assessments - FamilySearch Historical Records 1780-1831

Census Records
Census returns for Ryarsh 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.
 * 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.

Poor Law Unions

 * Malling 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.

Local Family History Centre

 * 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 collections using the portal.

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