Hawkhurst, Kent Genealogy

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

Parish History
HAWKHURST (St. Lawrence), a parish, in the union of Cranbrooke, partly in the hundred of Henhurst, rape of Hastings, E. division of Sussex, but chiefly in the hundred of East Barnfield, Lower division of the lathe of Scray, W. division of Kent, 8 miles (S. E.) from Lamberhurst. Here is a place of worship for Wesleyans.

Hawkhurst is a village and civil parish in the Tunbridge Wells borough in Kent see also Hawkhurst Wikipedia.

The Parish of Hawkhurst St Lawrence is within the Diocese of Chichester but part of the Deanery in the Weald since 2008 Deanery website. A part of the parish boundary extends into the county of Sussex and neighbours Ticehurst, Sussex and Hurst Green which is in Etchingham, Sussex A map of the parish boundary is available at A church near you

The parish church of St Lawrence (sometimes Laurence) is to the south of the village in the The Moor, the other part of the village settlement Highgate had a chapel of ease All Saints until that was declared redundant in 2004.Kent Churches website



St Lawrence was built on the site in the 12th century although the present church was mostly added from 1450 when the church was enlarged and a tower added.

From 1944 flying bomb damage until 1957 restoration the church was not used.

The church of St Laurence, Horns Road, Hawkhurst has been designated as a grade I listed building British listed building

See also the survey of St Laurence Kent Archeological Society and Edward Hasted The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 7 (1798), pp. 142-157. at British History Online and Kent Churches website

The Church of All Saints, Rye Road, Hawkhurst has been designated as a grade II listed building British listed building

The village also includes the Roman Catholic church of St Barnabas, a Baptist church and a Methodist chapel.

Civil Registration
This parish was in the Cranbrook registration district.

See Maidstone 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
Hawkhurst 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.

Records are also available at the West Sussex Record Office and The Keep (which houses the collections of the East Sussex Record Office).

Census records
Census returns for Hawkhurst 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 UK Introduction to Family History Centers 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

Poor Law Unions
Cranbrook 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 collections using the portal.

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