Discover your ancestors in the Church of England’s parish registers for baptisms, banns, marriages, and burials for churches in the historic Archdeaconry of Canterbury. These images are included in the Kent parish records collection.
Discover your ancestors in the Church of England’s parish registers for baptisms, banns, marriages, and burials for churches in the historic Archdeaconry of Canterbury. These images are included in the Kent parish records collection.
This browse provides images of the original parish registers, which can be searched by parish. The amount of available information within these registers varies between the different types of records:
Baptisms
First name(s)
Last name
Birth date
Baptism date
Place
Father’s first name(s)
Mother’s first name(s)
Residence
Profession
Name of the officiator for the ceremony
Remarks
Banns
First name(s)
Last name
Dates the banns were announced
Place
Marriage year
Spouse’s first name(s)
Spouse’s last name
Groom’s parish
Bride’s parish
Announcer of the banns
County
Marriages
First name(s)
Last name
Birth year
Marriage date
Place
Spouse’s first name(s)
Spouse’s last name
Groom’s age
Groom’s father’s first name(s)
Groom’s father’s last name
Bride’s age
Bride’s father’s first name(s)
Bride’s father’s last name
Witnesses
Occupation of bride and groom
Occupation of bride’s and groom’s fathers
Residence at the time of marriage for both bride and groom
Officiator of the ceremony
Burials
First name(s)
Last name
Birth year
Death year
Age
Burial date
Burial place
County
Up to 1841, Canterbury was the only archdeaconry in the diocese of Canterbury. After 1841, the diocese was divided into two archdeaconries: Canterbury in the east and Maidstone in the west. In 2011, the Archdeaconry of Ashford was created and the archdeaconry boundaries were redrawn.
All parishes located within the Archdeaconry of Canterbury that gave consent for online publication are included within these records. Please note that four parishes withheld consent for publishing images of their records: Cheriton St Martin, Harbledown St Michael, Ramsgate St Luke, and Shepherdswell (also known as Sibertswold) St Andrew. Original records for each of these four parishes can be consulted on microfilm at Canterbury Cathedral Archives.
Three ancient Thanet parishes can be found under the names St John in Thanet, St Lawrence in Thanet, and St Peter in Thanet (rather than under Margate, Ramsgate, and Broadstairs respectively).
As well as Church of England parish registers, we are also publishing a register of baptisms at the Buckland (Dover) Workhouse between 1855 and 1912. These are worth looking through if your ancestors were from anywhere within the extensive catchment area of Dover Union: the parishes of Alkham, Buckland, Capel le Ferne, Charlton by Dover, Coldred, Denton, Dover, Guston, Hougham, East Langdon, Lydden, Oxney in Dover, Poulton, Ringwould, River, St Margaret at Cliffe, Shepherdswell (Sibertswold), Temple Ewell, Westcliffe, West Langdon, Whitfield, and Wootton.
These records include baptisms up to 1912, banns and marriages up to 1928, and burials up to 1988. Later baptisms, banns, marriages, and burials are not currently being published for reasons of data protection and personal privacy.
We are pleased to be working in association with Canterbury Cathedral Archives to bring you this significant resource for family history research in Kent, which is part of the Canterbury Collection.
Baptisms
Edmund John James Reid’s baptism register can be found within these records. Reid, a detective inspector, was the head of the criminal investigation division of Metropolitan Police’s H Division in 1888 during Jack the Ripper’s reign of terror in Whitechapel. As such, he was the officer in charge for the murders of Emma Elizabeth Smith and Martha Tabram.
From the records we learn that Reid’s baptism occurred on 4 October 1846 at Centerbury, St Alphege. His parents’ names were John and Martha. They resided on Palace Street and his father was a greengrocer.
Banns
The banns register for Robert Augustus de Lasaux, famous as an English cricketer, can be found within these records. On 13 February 1873, he married Louisa Dadds. Their banns were read on 19 January, 26 January, and 2 February of 1873. Their banns entry includes information regarding the status of the bride and groom: Robert was a bachelor and Louisa was a widow.
Marriages
The register for Robert Cushman’s first marriage can be found within these records. Cushman was a significant organizer of the 1620 voyage of the Mayflower. He acted as the Chief Agent in London for both the Leiden Separatist contingent and the Plymouth Colony. From his marriage record, we learn that he married Sara Reder on 31 July 1606 at Canterbury, St Alphege. Sara lived within the precinct of Christ Church. There is a handwritten note alongside this entry in the marriage registry: “Probably the ‘Apostle’ of the Pilgrim Fathers, 1620.”
Burials
Within these records you can find the burial entry for the English landscape painter Thomas Sidney Cooper. He was especially known for his depictions of farm animals in his paintings. From the records, we learn that he died in 1902 and was buried on 13 February 1902. By looking at the image of the original register, we discover that he was residing at Harbledown at the time of his death. Cooper had purchased land in Harbledown in 1848. The house he built there was named “Vernon Holme,” in homage of his early patron, Robert Vernon.