Meopham, Kent Genealogy

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

Parish History
MEOPHAM (St. John the Baptist), a parish, in the union of North Aylesford, hundred of Toltingtrough, lathe of Aylesford, W division of Kent, 5½ miles S from the town of Gravesend.

Meopham is a village and civil parish in the Gravesham district of Kent Meopham Wikipedia Meopham St John the Baptist is an Ancient Parish and the village and civil parish has one of the longest village streets in Kent. The linear village extends seven miles in length and includes the settlements of Hook Green, The Street (Dodmore), Meopham Green, Culverstone, Camer (Camer Park) and the neighbouring ancient parish of Nursted, Kent (Nurstead Court). The church dates from 1320-1325 and was rebuilt in 1326 after an earthquake and subsequently restored in 1858 and 1874. It is designated as a grade I listed building by English Heritage.

The parish church of St John the Baptist has been designated as a grade I listed building British listed building See Edward Hasted, The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 3 (1797), pp. 356-367 at British History Online and Kent Churches website The Mount Zion Baptist Church dates from 1828 and is in Meopham Green; the South Street Baptist Church is in Culverstone and the Roman Catholic Church of St Paul was consecrated in 1965.

Civil Registration

 * North Aylesford Registration District
 * Strood Registration District
 * Strood and Hoo Registration District
 * Chatham 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
Meopham parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

International Genealogical Index: Christenings 1561-1871 Batch (C135001, C135002, C135004) Marriages 1575-1743; 1747-1837 Batches (M135001, M135002)

Census Records
Census returns for Meopham 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