Dunkirk, Kent Genealogy

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

Parish History
DUNKIRK VILLE, an extra-parochial liberty, in the union of Faversham, hundred of Westgate, lathe of St. Augustine, E division of Kent, 5 miles W by N from Canterbury. Dunkirk is a village and civil parish in the Swale district of Kent, see Dunkirk Kent Wikipedia

Dunkirk Christ Church was formed as an Ecclesiastical parish in 1841.

The church was dedicated on 10 June 1841 by the Archbishop of Canterbury and was the work of architect John Whichcord. The 1838 Courtenay riots in Dunkirk, an extra parochial area which was deprived, caused the creation of the parish to meet the needs of local people. For a history of the riots see Battle of Bossenden Wood Wikipedia

The walls contain flints from the Canterbury City walls the gift of the Archbishop of Canterbury and removed during renovation of the city walls.

The church is designated Grade II listed building by English Heritage and was declared redundant in 1988 and is now a private residential dwelling.British listed building See Kent Churches website

Civil Registration
See Faversham Registration District

Kent County Council

Registration Services Invicta House County Hall Maidstone Kent ME14 1XX Telephone 08458 247 400 http://www.kent.gov.uk are developing online search for all birth marriages and deaths as a result of a community volunteer effort. Not all events are capable of search but the index is updated annually. 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
Dunkirk parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

Kent Online Parish Clerks (OPC)

Land Tax
Images for Dunkirk are available at FamilySearch Records see England, Kent, Land Tax Assessments - FamilySearch Historical Records 1780-1831

Census Records
Census returns for Dunkirk 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.

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.
 * Category:England Family History Centres to locate local Family History Centres in UK.
 * Introduction to Family History Centers to locate outside UK.

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

 * Faversham 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
 * Gillingham 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