England, Kent, Bishop's Transcripts - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
This collection consists of bishop's transcripts from the county of Kent for the years 1560-1911. The originals are held at Kent Archives Office. Availability of records may vary by year and locality.

Beginning in 1598, every parish priest of the Church of England was supposed to make a copy of his parish register and send it to send to the archdeacon or bishop every year. Termed either archdeacon’s or bishop’s transcripts, these copies were generally produced in the same form as a regular parish transcript. Many priests stopped producing these transcripts with the beginning of civil registration in 1837, but they did not fully disappear until after 1870.

As bishop’s transcripts generally contain more or less the same information as parish registers, they are an invaluable resource when parish records have been damaged, destroyed, or otherwise lost. However, because bishop's transcripts are, as their name implies, copies of the original records, they are more liable to contain errors than parish registers might be.

Most collections of bishops’ transcripts have been preserved, and their condition is relatively good considering the age of the records and their storage conditions over the centuries. Many collections have also been copied to microfilm or microfiche.

One of the 39 historic counties of England, Kent is a coastal county located in southeastern England. Much of the northeastern portion of the county is now incorporated into the Greater London metropolis. For a list of parishes which historically made up this county, see the Kent Parishes page.

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before beginning a search in these records, it is best to know the following information:
 * Full name of the individual
 * General location of the event
 * Approximate date

View the Images
View images in this collection by visiting the :
 * 1) Select County
 * 2) Select Parish
 * 3) Select Event Type and Year Range (with Volume) to view the images.

Some of the records in this collection may be written in an old script that can be challenging to read. Refer to BYU’s Script Tutorial for assistance with reading the records.

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images. Keep track of your research in a research log.

I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * If a christening record is found, use the information to search for a birth record
 * If the parents are listed, look for the family in cencuses
 * If a marriage record is found, use the names of the bride and groom to find the new family in censuses
 * Family members often appear on an individual's vital records, such as in the role of witnesses to a marriage
 * If a burial record is found, search for a death record
 * Death and burial information could lead to probate, will, and land records
 * Continue to search the index for people with the same surname to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives

I Can’t Find the Person I’m Looking For, What Now?

 * Check for variants of given names and surnames. An individual might have been listed under a middle name, a nickname, or an abbreviation of their given name
 * Spelling was not standardized for much of the period of this collection, so names were often spelled as they were pronounced. Pay attention to how the name should have been pronounced and try spelling variations that could have that pronunciation
 * Vary the search terms. For example, search by either the given name or surname
 * Expand the date range to return a broader list of possible matches. This is especially useful in searching baptismal records, as it was not unusual for a child to be baptized weeks or even months after birth
 * Search the records of nearby locations. For this particular collection, this step may require finding records in the bordering English counties of Sussex to the south, Surrey and Middlesex to the west, or Essex across the estuary of the River Thames to the north. If the individual lived in the northwestern area of Kent, a thorough search of London records might be necessary.

Known Issues with This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them to [mailto:support@familysearch.org support@familysearch.org]. Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.

"England, Kent, Bishop's Transcripts, 1560-1911" Index and Images. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : accessed 2017. Citing Church of England. Kent Archives Office, Maidstone.
 * Collection Citation:

Top of Page