Ebony, Kent Genealogy

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

Parish History
EBONY (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Tenterden, partly in the hundred of Tenterden, Lower division of the lathe of Scray, W division, but chiefly in the hundred of Oxney, lathe of Shepway, E division, of Kent, 4 miles SE from Tenterden. Ebony is a hamlet within the civil parish of Stone-cum-Ebony on the Isle of Oxney in the Ashford district of Kent; see Ebony, Kent Wikipedia and Stone-cum-Ebony Wikipedia Isle of Oxney Wikipedia

Ebony St Mary the Virgin was formed as a chapelry within Appledore, Kent Ancient Parish in the Diocese of Canterbury; a map of the parish boundary may be found at A church near you.

The original church was on a site some way away but the settlement moved to Reading Street and the original church abandoned. In 1858 the present church was moved stone by stone and erected to a similar design as the original which is referred to in the list of churches from 1070 AD for Kent.

There is now no evidence of the Isle in the tidal River Rother on which the church stood other than in the place name.

The modern parish is part of the Wittersham and Ebony benefice, fortnightly services are held in the church.

The parish church of St Mary the Virgin, Stone-cum-Ebony has been designated as 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. 493-497 at British History Online and Kent Churches website

Civil Registration
This parish was part of Tenterden registration district Tenterden Registration District Ashford 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
Ebony parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

Kent Online Parish Clerks (OPC) Original deposited registers were formerly held at:

Centre for Kentish Studies, County Hall, Maidstone, Kent ME14 1XX

From Spring 2012 material formerly held at Centre for Kentish Studies, County Hall, Maidstone, Kent ME14 1XX is available at Kent History and Library Centre see Kent Archives which also enables a search of the catalogue for Kent Archives material deposited at Canterbury Cathedral Archives

Family History Library film numbers
 * See also England, Kent, Parish Registers and Bishop's Transcripts (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Land Tax

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

Census Records
Census returns 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

 * Tenterden 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