Pembury, Kent Genealogy

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



Parish History
PEMBURY (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Tonbridge, hundred of Washlingstone, lathe of Aylesford, W division of Kent, 3½ miles SE from Tonbridge.

Pembury is a village and civil parish in the Tunbridge Wells district of Kent. Pembury Wikipedia It included the hamlets of Upper Green, Lower Green, Hawkwell, Bo-Peep and Romford, the modern settlements of Woodhill Park, Ridgeway and Beagleswood were developed in the 20th century.

Pembury St Peter is an Ancient Parish with two Anglican churches both dedicated to St Peter and both parish churches.

The Old Church of St Peter Old Church Road has been designated as a grade I listed building British listed building See Kent Churches website

The Upper church of Pembury St Peter, Hastings Road, Pembury has been designated as a grade II* listed building British listed building dates from 1846-1847 as a chapel of ease later parish church. See Kent Churches website

See Edward Hasted, The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 5 (1798), pp. 260-272. Date Accessed: 9 September 2013. at British History Online

The former workhouse for Tonbridge Poor Law Union, Kent at Pembury became a hospital in 1938 (Pembury County Hospital )and now houses Pembury Hospital Wikipedia.

The chapel at Pembury Hospital, Tonbridge Road, Pembury has been designated as a grade II listed building British listed building and is a surviving example of a dedicated former workhouse and later hospital chapel commemorating staff and with several original features from the 1860s Gothic style construction and interior.

Civil Registration
See 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
Pembury parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

Land Tax

 * Images for the Borough of Sun Light Leigh, Borough of Tipperidge, Pembury available at FamilySearch Records see England, Kent, Land Tax Assessments - FamilySearch Historical Records 1780-1832


 * Images for Brenchley, Kent, Horsmonden, Kent Pembury, Kent and Yalding, Kent available at FamilySearch Records see England, Kent, Land Tax Assessments - FamilySearch Historical Records 1780-1832

Non-Conformists (All other Religions)

 * 1717 England & Wales, Roman Catholics, 1717 at FindMyPast ($), index and images

Census Records
Census returns for Pembury 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

 * Tonbridge 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