Hougham, Kent Genealogy

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

Parish History
HOUGHAM (St. Lawrence), a parish, in the union of Dover, partly in the hundred of Bewsborough, lathe of St. Augustine, and partly within the jurisdiction of the Cinque Port liberty of Dover, E division of Kent; comprising a small part of the town of Dover. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans.

Hougham Without is a civil parish in the Dover District of Kent, see Hougham Without Wikipedia

Hougham St Lawrence (sometimes St Laurence) is an Ancient Parish which includes Poulton. A map of the parish boundary is available at A church near you Edward Hasted describes Poulton or Polton The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 9 (1800), pp. 444-451. Date accessed: 15 August 2013. at British History Online

The civil parish of Hougham Without (to distinguish from Hougham-in-Dover, Kent) includes Church Hougham site of the parish church and West Hougham collectively known as Hougham.

The church dates from 1100-1150 and was restored by Messenger in 1866. The Parish Church of St Lawrence Hougham Without, Church Lane, Hougham Without has been designated as a grade I listed building British listed building See Kent Churches website

The modern parish is part of the Alkham with Capel le Ferne and Hougham benefice.

See Edward Hasted, The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 9 (1800), pp. 451-462 at British History Online

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

Land Tax

 * Images for both Hougham and Poulton are available at FamilySearch Records see England, Kent, Land Tax Assessments - FamilySearch Historical Records 1780-1832.

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