Local History Sources for Kent
Including church warden accounts, borough customs and seals
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O famous Kent!"
What county hath this isle that can compare with thee?
That hath within thyself as much as thou canst wish:
Thy rabbits, venison, fruits, thy sorts of fowl and fish;
As what with strength comports, thy hay, thy corn, thy wood, -
Nor anything doth want that anywhere is good." Michael Drayton (1563-1631)
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Anglo-American Legal Tradition
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Contains digital images of a wide range of document series from The National Archives (TNA)
For example: Exchequer: Accounts Various: The Jews
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Kent Archaeological Society learned journal – see also KAS below. KAS Archaeologia Cantiana (Arch. Cant.) is the KAS journal from 1858 to the present (with a three-year rolling embargo for non-KAS members). Searchable volumes contain transcriptions/translations or extracts of original medieval and Tudor documents.
For example, inventories of the Maison Dieu and St Martin’s Priory in Dover and the Benedictine priory on Sheppey are in Archeologia Cantiana 7 (1868).
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Arthur Percival was a resident of Faversham from 1956 to his death in 2014. He was fascinated by the town and its history. His archive of material is currently stored at the Faversham Fleur de Lis Museum in Preston Street, Faversham. The archive comprises different types of resources, for example photographic, digital and paper records.
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Churchwardens’ Accounts for Kent Parishes in Archaeologia Cantiana:
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Leveson-Gower, G. "Churchwardens' Accounts, Edenbridge." Archaeologia Cantiana 21 (1895): 118-125.
Mackeson and S. Robertson. "Hythe Churchwardens' Accounts for the Year 1412-13." Archaeologia Cantiana 10 (1876): 242-249.
Vallance, A. "Eltham Churchwardens Accounts. Communicated, with Introduction and Notes." Archaeologia Cantiana 47 (1935): 71-102.
Vallance, A. "Eltham Churchwardens' Accounts." Archaeologia Cantiana 48 (1936): 120-150.
Walter, John, Rev. "Churchwardens' Accounts at Rainham, Kent in the Reigns of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth, A.D. 1517-19, and 1565-69." Archaeologia Cantiana 15 (1883): 333-337.
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British Association for Local History hosts links for local historians, a general, short but regularly updated directory
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Mary Bateson. Borough Customs, Pt. I (London: Selden Society,1904), and Pt. II, vol. 21 AS (London: Selden Society,1906),
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Gale Pedrick, Borough Seals of the Gothic Period (London: Dent, 1904): contains examples from Kent and comparable examples nationally.
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Boys’ Collections for a History of Sandwich with notices of the other Cinque Ports … and Richborough, published 1792
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There are only a small number of their volumes online and sadly not much on Kent.
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Canterbury Amateur Film Archive
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Tim Jones, Senior Lecturer at CCCU, uploads a range of vintage films on the Canterbury area. There is a search feature on his blog.
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National database hosted by University of Warwick searchable by county, parish, etc.
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Clergy of the Church of England Database
National database searchable by diocese, e.g. Canterbury, from 1540 to 1840
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Weekly searchable blog on the Centre’s activities and more widely on Kent and Canterbury history.
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DEEDS: Deeds of Early England Data Set
University of Toronto research project to create a database of information taken from medieval property exchange documents
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Searchable database. See also Open Domesday
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England’s Immigrants, 1330-1550
AHRC project 2012-2015 on Resident Aliens in the Late Middle Ages, searchable by place, e.g. Sandwich (272 entries), as well as origin and name.
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Everyday Life and Fatal Hazard in Sixteenth-Century England derived from English Coroners’ Reports.
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The database will include Kent and although is not yet online it will be useful in time.
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Kent.gov.uk searchable website for the Kent Historical Environment Record (HER), formerly the sites and monuments record, search by keyword, place name, or record number for archaeological sites, buildings and finds in Kent.
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Called 'Living standards and material culture in English rural households,' this Leverhulme funded project on non-elite country households is to include Kent. The last blog was in 2019.
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Hasted’s History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent, published c.1800 (12 vols)
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Examines medieval seals and the fingerprints of those who made them.
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Kent Archaeological Society:
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KAS is a charity founded in 1857 to advance knowledge of Kent archaeology and history, see its journal Archaeologia Cantiana above. Here are its key links for medieval and early modern Kent history:
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Kent extracts from the Pipe Rolls
KAS Summaries from medieval & Tudor PCC and CCC wills
KAS Kentish Documents c.1530-1810 – A Transcription Project
KAS Kent Hundred Rolls
Kent County Council Heritage Maps
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Includes historic map views from 1871 onwards.
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Kent War Memorials Transcription Project
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A website run by Maureen Rawson with extracts from pre 1858 Kent wills, quarter sessions and parish records
Kent History and Library Centre
KHLC in Maidstone is the county archive and holds the largest collection of documents relating to Kent, including parish, manorial, tithe, and probate records. KHLC are very friendly and helpful. Searchable catalogue.
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Available for the Darent Valley and some other areas in Kent
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Digital literary mapping project, pilot on Dickensland organised by Carolyn Oulton, CCCU.
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Kent Quarter Sessions and Court Files, 1600-1883
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Browsable image collection comprising of order books, indictments, minute books. sessions rolls or files [including petitions, depositions, jury lists and examinations] as well as any other documents that were lodged with the clerk of the peace. Available via www.familysearch.org
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The History of the Town and Port of Dover, published 1813.
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Some Kent sources within its national remit.
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Abstracts of Kent wills from various Archaeologia Cantiana volumes
Medway Council Heritage Services
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City Ark: Medway Archives Service includes records, some digitized documents, and some images (e.g. pdfs of parish records from Archdeaconry of Rochester from sixteenth century onwards).
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‘Unchaining the Library’: a University of Kent, MEMS postgraduate student initiative to provide links to online freely available resources; with a Forum for people to ask questions and offer information:
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Merchant Fleet of Late Medieval and Tudor England, 1400-1580
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Searchable database, by ship, master, homeport and destination, if known.
Gale Pedrick, Monastic Seals of the XIIIth Century (London: De La More, 1902) contains examples from Kent and comparable examples nationally, on Internet Archive
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Wide range of digitised maps for the United Kingdom
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Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England, database searchable by region (including Kent) and location, e.g. Canterbury, of people who lived between the late sixth and the late eleventh centuries. Gives charter references for searching Electronic Sawyer.
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This site aims ‘to produce the most comprehensive interpretation of the Peasants' Revolt to date.’ Still early days, but this database will grow, so it is worth checking.
The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674-1913
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A few cases involving people from Kent or the location of part of the offence were tried at the Old Bailey, London’s Central Criminal Court (searchable database).
Provides background information and useful websites for those seeking to research a broad range of sources from the criminal justice system, 1361-1971.
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The RMRT website contains a gazetteer, archaeological and historical primary and secondary sources relating to the area.
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Gillian Draper and Frank Meddens, The Sea and the Marsh: The Medieval Cinque Port of New Romney (London; Pre-Construct Archaeology, 2009)
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Listed buildings, famous visitors and reminscences among other things.
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Volumes are online, but contain little on Kent (but see Borough Customs above).
Stephen Hipkin’s article in Agricultural History Review, 61
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For those interested in the early modern grain trade involving Kent, London and the Continent
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The taxatio searchable database contains the valuation, plus related details, of the English and Welsh parish churches and prebends listed in the ecclesiastical taxation assessment of 1291-2.
Testamenta Cantiana (Kent Wills)
Leland L. Duncan, Testamenta Cantiana (London: Mitchell, Hughes and Clarke, 1906), a series of extracts from fifteenth and sixteenth century Kent wills arranged by parish that relate to church buildings, fixtures and fittings.
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Registrum Roffense, contains records, charters etc for the diocese of Rochester, published 1769
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Victoria County History
VCH was set up in 1899 as a project to cover the history of every English county, still going strong.
Victoria County History: Kent: volume 2 contains amongst other subjects, information and references covering religious houses in medieval Kent.
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WIRG searchable database allows access to the Wealden Iron Research Group’s files collected since 1968 on two thousand years of iron smelting on the Weald
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