Paddlesworth (near Snodland), Kent Genealogy

England   Kent    Kent Parishes



Parish History
Paddlesworth St Benedict is a redundant Anglican Church in the village of Paddlesworth near Snodland. The building is in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust and is designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building. British listed building

Churches Conservation Trust

Paddlesworth became an extra parochial place when the church closed in 1678; the small settlement around the 11th century church was wiped out in 1349 by the Black Death.

The church building was used for agricultural building before 1935 when it was restored as a church. Further restoration has since taken place to preserve it.

It stands on the Pilgrim's way used by travellers from Winchester Cathedral to the shrine at Canterbury Cathedral.St Benedict's Church Paddlesworth

See Edward Hasted The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 4 (1798), pp. 471-473. Date accessed: 9 September 2013. at British History Online and Kent Churches website

Paddlesworth near Snodland should not be confused with Paddlesworth (near Folkstone), Kent

Civil Registration
This parish was from 1837 in the Malling 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
Family History Library film numbers

Contributor: Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts, non conformist and other types of church records, such as parish chest records. Add the contact information for the office holding the original records.

Census records
Census returns for Snodland and Paddlesworth, 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
Malling 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
PADDLESWORTH, an ancient parish, in the union of Malling, hundred of Larkfield, lathe of Aylesford, W. division of Kent, 6¼ miles (S. W.) from Rochester; united at an early period to that of Snodland.

Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.


 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain