Harbledown, Kent Genealogy

England   Kent   Kent Parishes



Parish History
HARBLEDOWN (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of Bridge, hundred of Westgate, lathe of St. Augustine, E. division of Kent, 1 mile (W. S. W.) from Canterbury.

Harbledown is a village which is now contiguous with the city of Canterbury but anciently was a village close to the city. The civil parish of Harbledown and Rough Common is in the City of Canterbury district of Kent. See Harbledown Wikipedia which describes the parish church of St Michael and All Angels and the Ancient hospital of St Nicholas (now in use as alm houses).

Harbledown St Michael and All Angels is an Ancient Parish in the Diocese of Canterbury. The west is the extensive extra parochial area of Dunkirk, Kent and the neighbouring parish registers such as Harbledown are significant for those living in the extra parochial area.

The Church of St Michael and All Angels, Church Hill Harbledown has been designated as a grade II listed building British listed building See Kent Churches website

The Old Leper Church of St Nicholas Harbledown has been designated as a grade I listed building British Listed Building and is part of the 1840 rebuilding of the Hospital buildings as alm houses. Founded in 1080 by Archbishop Lanframe the hospital served two purposes, as a hospital church for lepers and as a final stopping place for pilgrims travelling to the City of Canterbury. See Kent Churches website

See also Kent Archaeological Society and Edward Hasted The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 9 (1800), pp. 7-21. at British History Online

Civil Registration
See Bridge 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)

Family History Library film numbers See also England, Kent, Parish Registers and Bishop's Transcripts (FamilySearch Historical Records)

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

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

Land Tax
Images for Harbledown Parish ( Borough of Harbledown) are available at FamilySearch Records see England, Kent, Land Tax Assessments (FamilySearch Historical Records) 1780-1832

See also images for Land tax assessments for the borough of Tunford, including the parishes of Thannington, Harbledown, and Chartham, 1780-1832

Census records
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.

The 1851 census of England and Wales attempted to identify religious places of worship in addition to the household survey census returns.

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. 

Poor Law Unions
Bridge 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