Kidbrooke, Kent Genealogy

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

Parish History
KIDBROOKE, a liberty, and anciently a parish, in the union of Lewisham, lathe of Sutton-at-Hone, W division of Kent, 2 miles SSW from Woolwich.

Kidbrooke is a district in the London Borough of Greenwich Kidbrooke Wikipedia

The ecclesiastical parish history of Kidbrooke is fragmented over centuries. A manuscript of the 12th century, Textus Roffensis, which relates to the Diocese of Rochester the 'Chapel of Chitebroc' is mentioned in connection with the 'Church of Cerlentune'. Apparently it was then a Chapel-of-Ease to Charlton Parish Church. From a Charter dated 1206 it appears that Kidbrooke became an independent parish in the latter half of the century. The right of appointing the priest at that time belonged to Cecilia Countess of Hereford, but was later given to the prior and convent of Saint Mary Overie, Southwark. Early in the fifteenth century the Prior and Convent appropriated the income of the Rectory for the private use of the Monastery. Consequently no regular officiating priest was afterwards appointed to the Parish of Kidbrooke until 1876. This ancient church was dedicated to St Nicholas.

Kidbrooke was therefore an extra parochial place for a large part of the 19th century. Two churches were then built:

St James was built originally in 1866-1867 By Newman and Billing as a 1.000 seat Gothic style church. Shortly after the church was completed in 1881 serious subsidence occurred in the chancel and the east wall and parts of the north and south walls had to be demolished and rebuilt. Further and more serious damage occurred in the Second World War when first a land mine and later a V2 rocket destroyed the octagonal stone spire, the nave roof, windows and much of the interior. The church was rebuilt and refurbished in 1951.



The church of St James has been designated as a grade listed building British listed building

St Nicholas built in 1953 and consecrated on the feast of St Nicholas 6 December 1953. This became an independent parish in 2003.

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Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day.
 * See England Civil Registration for online resources and information.

Church Records
Kidbrooke is an extra parochial area and the closest ecclesiastical parish is Charlton next Woolwich.
 * Extra-parochial areas were not attached to parish churches.
 * The residents went to a church of their choosing outside of the parish boundaries.

Census Records
Census returns for Kidbrooke 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 FamilySearch Center Portal Computers here have access to the FamilySearch Centre Portal page which gives free access to premium family history software and websites that generally charge for subscriptions.
 * Category:England FamilySearch Centres to locate local FamilySearch Centres in UK
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Images of the census for 1841-1891 can be viewed in census collections at Ancestry (fee payable) or Findmypast (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

 * Lewisham 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.

Maps and Gazetteers
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 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain