Bromley, Kent Genealogy

A guide to genealogy in Bromley in Kent with information on where to find birth, baptism, marriage, death and burial records; census records; wills; cemeteries; maps; etc..

Bromley is a former historic market town, formerly in Kent, England, and was an important coaching stop. In 1965 the entire surrounding area was formed into the London Borough of Bromley, which has its administrative headquarters in the town of Bromley.



Church records
See the individual ecclesiastical parishes:


 * Bromley Holy Trinity, Kent


 * Bromley St Peter and St Paul, Kent

Civil Registration
See Bromley Registration district.

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.

Deposited Parish registers are held at Bromley Archives reference P 47C 1843-1976

Bromley Central Library Telephone: 020 8460 9955 e-mail: localstudies.library@bromley.gov.uk

Family History Library film numbers:

The extent of the Parish boundary from Central Bromley to include Page Heath part of Bickley, Southborough the ancient hamlet of Skim Corner and as far south as the Keston parish boundary to include Sheepwash Cottage and the course of the adjacent River Ravensbourne as well as the Bromley Parish Boundary to include Barnet Wood the Rookery and parts of Hayes Lane, Masons Hill, Waldo Road was extensive and the growth in population of the parish was rapid as these areas became developed into adopted streets and roads.

The 1801 census of Bromley hints at the low population of this area; John Dunkin an author wrote in 1815 that there were 25 houses on the common and its borders but noted that by 1850 the population of Bromley asa whole had increased from over 2,000 to more than 4,000. Bromley South Railway Station on the site of a former gravel pit was operating in 1858.

Frank Jessup's History of Kent records that from 1851 population of 4,100 by 1871 had risen to 10,700 and in 1881 to 15,200 and 1901 27,400.

Holy Trinity registers reflect this growth the address of "Builder's Field" denotes the building of roads of houses; Skym or Skim Corner ceases to be a hamlet and is part of Jackson's Road (named after the eponymous George Jackson shopkeeper) replacing the earlier 1st Skim Corner Road and2nd Skim Corner Road found as abodes in the early years registers.

The Commons included Shooting Common (originally for archery contests) and that part of Coopers Farm which formed Bromley Race Course; other references are to Bromley Common Village. To the South east of the Church Brewery Road adjacent to Pembury House introduces a growth in trades from maltsters (implying a malting floor) Brewers, Coopers and draymen reflecting another growth in local housing.

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

Census Records
The Kent Online Parish Clerk transcript of the rare survival 1801 census for Bromley includes the Bromley Common area.

The ecclesiastical parish was extensive and included a large area of what is now considered central Bromley with the construction of roads and streets. The Common also included Bromley Race Course; noted for the severity of it's steeplechase which had a high human and equine casualty and fatality rate.

Census returns for Bromley 1841-1891

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 the UK
 * Introduction to Family History Centers to locate outside UK.
 * Many archives and local history collections in public libraries in England and Wales offer on-line 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

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.


 * Find my Past 1911 census search

Poor Law Unions

 * Bromley Poor Law Union

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

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

Local Family History Centre
Orpington Family History Centre, Kent is within the London Borough of Bromley, located adjacent to Orpington Station and on major bus routes through the borough.


 * 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.