Cowden, Kent Genealogy

England   Kent    Kent Parishes



Parish History
COWDEN (St. Mary Magdalene), a parish, in the union of Seven-Oaks, hundred of Somerden, lathe of Sutton-at-Hone, W. division of Kent, 9 miles (W.) from Tonbridge-Wells.

Cowden is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks district of Kent see Cowden Wikipedia

Cowden St Mary Magdalene is an Ancient Parish; although it is in the county of Kent it is a parish in the Diocese of Chichester Sussex see Church website and a parish boundary map may be found at A church near you The parish boundary forms part of the county boundary with neighbouring Lingfield, Surrey and East Grinstead, Sussex Hartfield, Sussex Withyham, Sussex

The church of St Mary Magdalene Church Street Cowden has been designated as a grade B listed building British listed building

The Church of the Holy Trinity Cowden Markbeech (Cow Lane Hever Kent) dates from 1852 and has been designated a grade C listed building British listed building The Church of Holy Trinity forms a united benefice with Hever, Kent and Four Elms see Markbeech Wikipedia and Four Elms Wikipedia and Benefice website

Cowden North West Kent Family History Society Cowden St Mary Magdalen

See also Edward Hasted The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 3 (1797), pp. 203-210. here and Kent Churches website

Civil Registration
See Sevenoaks Registration District 1837-1941

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

Kent Online Parish Clerks (OPC)

International Genealogical Index Christenings 1566-1812 Batches (C130991, C130992, C130994) Marriages 1566-1836 Batches (M130991-M130994)

East Sussex record Office holds:


 * Cowden Kent Wesleyan Methodist Baptisms 1828-1839

Census records
Census returns for Cowden 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. 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.

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
Penshurst Poor Law Union,Kent until 1836

Sevenoaks 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
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

Local Family History Centre
Orpington Family History Centre, Kent is within reach of the Sevenoaks district, located adjacent to Orpington Station.