Cobham, Kent Genealogy

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

Parish History
COBHAM (St. Mary Magdalene), a parish, in the union of North Aylesford, hundred of Shamwell, lathe of Aylesford, W division of Kent, 5 miles S by E from Gravesend.

Cobham is a village and civil parish in the Gravesham district of Kent, the village was used as a setting in the Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens, see Cobham, Kent Wikipedia

Cobham St Mary Magdalene is an Ancient Parish in the Diocese of Rochester Cobham Deanery; a map of the parish boundary is available at A church near you.

The church dates from 1220 in part with an addition in 1365 and a later tower and restored in 1880 with a new chancel arch. The building has been designated as a grade I listed building by English Heritage. The Parish Church of St Mary Magdalene British Listed Building

See also Kent Archaeological Society and Edward Hasted, The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 3 (1797), pp. 404-442 at British History Online and Kent Churches website

This parish should not be confused with Cobham, Surrey.

Civil Registration

 * North Aylesford Registration District
 * Strood Registration District
 * Strood and Hoo Registration District
 * Chatham Registration District

and registrations from July 1837 to the present day are held at:

Medway district The Register Office Northgate Rochester ME1 1LS Telephone 01634 338902 Fax 01634 338913 register.office@medway.gov.uk

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
Cobham parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

Kent Online Parish Clerks (OPC)

Census records
Census returns for Cobham 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

 * North Aylesford Poor Law Union, Kent (renamed Strood)

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

 * Gillingham Family History Centre, Kent
 * 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

Websites
Cobham on GENUKI