Keston, Kent Genealogy

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

Parish History
KESTON, a parish, in the union of Bromley, hundred of Ruxley, lathe of Sutton-at-Hone, W. division of Kent, 5 miles (S. by E.) from Bromley.

Keston is a place in the London Borough of Bromley Keston Wikipedia

Keston is an Ancient Parish in the Diocese of Rochester; a map of the parish boundary is available at A church near you

Keston Parish Church has been designated as a grade B listed building British listed building

Following bomb damage in World War II to the church wall excavation found evidence of an earlier wall likely to have been constructed in the 11th century. below the footing of the wall Romano British burials were found indicating that the site In the traditional place by the East Wall, South Side, are the remains of a piscina basin damaged, in all probability, by Cromwellian soldiers. In the mid 17th century Puritan mobs damaged churches throughout the land and Keston did not escape. Parish records record…….. ‘1645. On the 23rd April our church was defaced, our font throwne down and new formes of prayer appointed’. The chancel is known as a ‘weeping chancel’, in that it is not built in line with the nave but is inclined to the North side. This was customary in the building of ancient churches, following the tradition that Christ’s head fell on his right shoulder when on the cross. The church has no dedication.

See Kent Archeological Society and Edward Hasted, The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 2 (1797), pp. 37-46 at British History Online and Kent Churches website

Within the parish boundary is the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel Prospect Place (now Croydon Road) which dates from 1828.

Civil Registration
See Bromley Registration district

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
Keston 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.

Kent Online Parish Clerks has indexes available for select parishes. Records are also available at the Kent Archives.

Land Tax
Images for Keston are available at FamilySearch Records see England, Kent, Land Tax Assessments - FamilySearch Historical Records 1780-1831

Census records
Census returns for Keston 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
Included in the parish records 1709-1754 under Bromley Archives reference P/208/12/1 Accounts including assessments, the appointment of overseers, and Burial Register, 1732-7, 1744-5

For post 1844 records see Bromley Poor Law Union

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

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

Extract from A Topographical Dictionary of England

KESTON, a parish, in the union of Bromley, hundred of Ruxley, lathe of Sutton-at-Hone, W. division of Kent, 5 miles (S. by E.) from Bromley. Samuel A. Lewis, A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 659-663

Local Family History Centre
Orpington Family History Centre, Kent is within the London Borough of Bromley, located adjacent to Orpington Station and on major bus routes through the borough.


 * 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.

Websites

 * Kent Online Parish Clerks
 * History of Keston