St Mary in the Marsh, Kent Genealogy

Guide to St Mary in the Marsh, Kent ancestry, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Parish History
ST. MARY'S, a parish, in the union and liberty of Romney-Marsh, though locally in the hundreds of Newchurch and Martin-Pountney, lathe of Shepway, E division of Kent, 2¼ miles N from New Romney.

St Mary in the Marsh is a village and civil parish in the Shepway district of Kent, see St Mary in the Marsh Wikipedia

St Mary in the Marsh St Mary the Virgin is an Ancient Parish in Romney Marsh and in the Diocese of Canterbury; a map of the parish boundary may be found at A church near you.

Parts of the church dates from 1133 and this church replaced a Saxon church, "Siwold's Circe" on the site. The Church is supported by the Romney Marsh Historic Churches trust. The church, in common with other Romney Marsh churches, was used for smuggling.

The Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, Pickneybush Lane, St Mary in the Marsh has been designated as a grade I listed building British listed Building

Author Edith Nesbit who lived in nearby St Mary's Bay in two converted RAF huts the "Long Boat" and the "Jolly Boat" is buried here, her grave headboard is designated as a grade II scheduled monument British listed building register. Her "Railway Children" novel was adapted as a screen play.

John Coleman VC (12 July 1798 – 21 May 1858) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was born here.

See Kent Archaeological Society and Edward Hasted, The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 8 (1799), pp. 406-409. Date accessed: 11 November 2013. at British History Online and Kent Churches website

St Mary in the Marsh was partly in the hundred of St Martins Pountney see Edward Hasted, 'The hundred of St Martins Pountney: Introduction', "The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent": Volume 8 (1799), pp. 399-400 at British History Online

The ruined church of Hope All Saints and its parish were incorporated into the parish of St Mary in the Marsh in 1934. The Ruins of the Church of All Saints Hope, St Mary in the Marsh have been designated as a grade II listed building British listed building see New Romney with Hope, Kent See Edward Hasted, "The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent": Volume 8 (1799), pp. 415-420 at British History Online

Civil Registration
See Romney Marsh 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
St Mary in the Marsh parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

Original deposited registers were formerly held at:

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

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

Family History Library film numbers


 * See also England, Kent, Parish Registers and Bishop's Transcripts (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Non-Conformists (All other Religions)

 * 1717 England & Wales, Roman Catholics, 1717 at FindMyPast ($), index and images (coverage may vary)

Census Records
No microfilm census collection is currently identified; an online census search is likely to be quicker for Romney Marsh parishes.

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

 * Romney Marsh 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