Faversham, Kent Genealogy

England   Kent    Kent Parishes



Parish History
FAVERSHAM, or Feversham (St. Mary), a seaport, market-town, and parish, having separate jurisdiction, and the head of a union, locally in the hundred of Faversham, Upper division of the lathe of Scray, E. division of Kent, 9 miles (W.) from Canterbury, 18 (E. N. E.) from Maidstone, and 47 (E.) from London, on the road to Dovor. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, and Wesleyans.

Faversham St Mary of Charity is an Ancient Parish in the market town of Faversham. See Faversham Wikipedia for a history of the town, Faversham Abbey and the parish church.

The church originates from the 14th and 15th centuries but in 1755 was rebuilt and in 1797 the mediaeval tower was pulled down and replaced. Sir George Gilbert Scott restored the church 1873-1875.

The church is designated grade I by English Heritage.British listed building

It is one of the few churches in England to contain the reputed tomb of a King; King Stephen was buried here in 1154 and the tomb commemorates his burial at Faversham Abbey.

See Edward Hasted The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 6 (1798), pp. 318-371 at British History Online and Kent Churches website

From the Ancient parish was formed:

Faversham St John the Evangelist (1881) The Church of St John the Evangelist, Church Road, Faversham has been designated as a grade II listed building British listed building See Kent Churches website

Two mission churches, the Church of St Saviour, Cyprus Road Faversham has been designated as a grade II listed building British listed building

Civil Registration
See Faversham Registration District

Kent County Council

Registration Services Invicta House County Hall Maidstone Kent ME14 1XX Telephone 08458 247 400 http://www.kent.gov.uk are developing online search for all birth marriages and deaths as a result of a community volunteer effort. Not all events are capable of search but the index is updated annually. 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:

Kent Online Parish Clerks (OPC)

International Genealogical Index :

Partridge Lane Independent Christenings 1790-1837 Batch (C068241)

Union Chapel Water Lane Christenings 1822-1837 Batch (C068261)

Wesleyan Chapel Christenings 1814-1837 Batch (C068251)

Family History Library film numbers See also England, Kent, Parish Registers and Bishop's Transcripts (FamilySearch Historical Records)

From Spring 2012 material formerly held at

Centre for Kentish Studies,County Hall,Maidstone,Kent ME14 1XX

is available at Kent History and Library Centre see Kent Archives which also enables a search of the catalogue for Kent Archives material deposited at Canterbury Cathedral Archives

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

Land Tax
Images for Faversham Land Tax Assessments 1739-1762

Images for Faversham are also available at FamilySearch Records see England, Kent, Land Tax Assessments (FamilySearch Historical Records) 1780-1831

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. Kent Census

Poor Law Unions
Faversham 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 Gillingham 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