Brabourne, Kent Genealogy

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

Parish History
BRABOURNE (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of East Ashford, franchise and barony of Bircholt, lathe of Shepway, E. division of Kent, 7 miles (E. by S.) from Ashford. There is a chapel for Calvinistic Baptists. Brabourne is a village and civil parish in the Ashford district of Kent, see Brabourne Wikipedia and grew asa settlement in East Brabourne around the parish church.

Brabourne Lees is a village within the civil parish of Brabourne, see Brabourne Lees Wikipedia

Brabourne St Mary the Virgin is an Ancient parish in the Diocese of Canterbury; it is part of the Smeeth (St. Mary) with Monks Horton and Stowting and Brabourne benefice benefice website See A20 churches website

The Norman church dates from 1144 and is one of the oldest church buildings still in use for worship in England.

The church tower was restored in 1923-1924.

See Edward Hasted The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 8 (1799), pp. 14-27 at British History Online and Kent Churches website

Brabourne Lees nearby in the parish has a Zion Strict Baptist Chapel.



Civil Registration
See East Ashford 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
Brabourne 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 Brabourne and Brook available at FamilySearch Records see England, Kent, Land Tax Assessments (FamilySearch Historical Records) 1780-1831

These images are derived from 1987 microfilm at Kent Archives, Maidstone, England.

Brook and Brabourne are in the hundred of Cocklescombe.

Kent Archives Office reference: Q/RPL/55

The images refer to the East Brabourne part of the parish.

Edward Hasted describes the villages "That part of it which is within the borough of Cocklescombe, is in the hundred, and within the liberty of the royal manor of Wye".

From: The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 8 (1799), pp. 14-27 at British History Online

Images for Brabourne and Hastingleigh 1780-1831are derived from 1987 microfilm at Kent Archives Office reference DRB/RT43-44. Land tax assessments for Brabourne and Hastingleigh, Kent, 1780-1831 Family History Library BRITISH Film 1469808 Items 1-2

The images refer to the West Brabourne part of the parish; Edward Hasted refers to "Combe, Bedlestone, the hamlet of West Braborne-street and Hampton"

The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 8 (1799), pp. 14-27 at British History Online

Poor Law Unions
East Ashford 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