Sutton Valence, Kent Genealogy

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

Parish History
Sutton Valence (historically Town Sutton or Sutton Hastings) is a village and civil parish in the Maidstone district of Kent, see Sutton Valence Wikipedia.

Sutton Valence St Mary the Virgin is an Ancient Parish in the Diocese of Canterbury since 2008 Deanery website; the chapelry of East Sutton, Kent was formed from this parish. A map of the parish boundary may be viewed at A church near you

The church of St Mary the Virgin, Chart Road, Sutton Valence is a Grade II listed building designated by English Heritage British listed building and replaced the first church on the site which was built in 1070 and demolished in 1823. The present church took over five years to build and retains Norman features. The church was later extended and restored.

See Edward Hasted, The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 5 (1798), pp. 364-375. Date accessed: 14 November 2013. at British History Online and Kent Churches website

Civil Registration
This parish was in the Hollingbourne 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. 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
Sutton Valence parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

To find the names of the neighboring parishes, use England Jurisdictions 1851 Map. In this site, search for the name of the parish, click on the location "pin", click Options and click List contiguous parishes.

Kent Online Parish Clerks has indexes available for select parishes. Records are also available at the Kent Archives.

Land Tax
Images for Sutton Valence are available at FamilySearch Records see England, Kent, Land Tax Assessments - FamilySearch Historical Records 1780-1832

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. 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. 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
[Hollingbourne 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

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