Brenzett, Kent Genealogy

England   Kent     Kent Parishes



Parish History
BRENZETT (St. Eanswith), a parish, in the union of Romney-Marsh, partly in the hundred of Aloesbridge, but chiefly in the liberty of Romney-Marsh, lathe of Shepway, E. division of Kent, 4½ miles (N. W. by W.) from Romney. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans. Brenzett is a village and civil parish in the Shepway district of Kent, see Brenzett Wikipedia

Brenzett St Eanswith is an Ancient Parish in Romney Marsh. The church is supported by the Romney Marsh Historic Churches Trust.

Brenzett St Eanswith with Snargate, Kent is a parish in the Diocese of Canterbury and part of the benefice of Appledore with Brookland and Fairfield and Brenzett with Snargate.

The church is dedicated to St Eanswyth, a saxon princess, granddaughter of Ethelbert the first Christian King of Kent, who founded a nunnery at Folkestone. She served her noviciate in Normandy, and became the founder and Abbess of the nunnery of Peter and Paul, which was built in 630.

The church belonged to the Abbey of Gynes in Artois Flanders in the 13th century, and passed into the hands of Henry V c 1415.

It was heavily restored in 1876, but by 1902 had fallen into a state of bad repair. The chancel and bell-turret had to be dismantled and rebuilt. It has an original 13th century priest's door and some Norman herring-bone masonry.

The church of St Eanswith, Church Lane, Brenzett has been designated a grade II* listed building British listed building

See Edward Hasted The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 8 (1799), pp. 388-394 at British History Online and Kent Churches website

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

Kent Online Parish Clerks (OPC)

England, Kent, Parish Chest (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Alphabetical index of marriages taking place in Romney Marsh parishes, extracted from registers held at the Centre for Kentish Studies

Parishes covered Brenzett, Brookland, Burmarsh, Dymchurch, Fairfield, Hope All Saints, Ivychurch, Lydd, New Romney, Newchurch, Old Romney, Snargate, Snave and St Mary in the Marsh. Marriages were no longer solemnized at Fairfield after 1853 and there is only one entry in the register for Hope All Saints.

Brenzett 1756-1815 P46/1/5 1815-1836 P46/1/6 1838-1911 P46/1/7

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

Digital images are derived from 1987 microfilming at Kent Archives reference Q/RPL/51

Census records
Census returns for Brenzett 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. to locate local Family History Centres in UK 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

Prior to the 1911 census the household schedule was destroyed and only the enumerator's schedule survives.

The 1911 census of England and Wales was taken on the night of Sunday 2 April 1911 and in addition to households and institutions such as prisons and workhouses, canal boats merchant ships and naval vessels it attempted to include homeless persons. The schedule was completed by an individual and for the first time both this record and the enumerator's schedule were preserved. Two forms of boycott of the census by women are possible due to frustration at government failure to grant women the universal right to vote in parliamentary and local elections. The schedule either records a protest by failure to complete the form in respect of the women in the household or women are absent due to organisation of groups of women staying away from home for the whole night. Research estimates that several thousand women are not found by census search. Find my Past 1911 census search

Poor Law Unions
Romney Marsh 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
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