Hayes, Kent Genealogy

England   Kent

Parish History
Hayes St Mary the Virgin is an Ancient Parish. Although some 13th century features remain the church has been extensively restored and added to not least in 1856 and 1862 by Sir George Gilbert Scott and the later 1879 addition designed by his son. Further 20th century restoration and addition took place.

Both William Pitt the Elder, 1st Earl of Chatham (1708–1778), and William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) lived at Hayes Place. The house was demolished in 1933 and the site redeveloped, but roads in the area bear witness to them: Chatham and Pittsmead Avenues are two examples. Prior to being demolished, Hayes Place was owned by the Hambro family (of banking fame) and a couple of roads bear the family names.

There are memorials within the church for both Pitts There is also a memorial to Sir Vicary Gibbs, Lord Chief Justice of England in 1814. There is an imposing wall monument, a white marble cartouche with drapery, to Ann Cleaver who died in 1737. The earliest brasses are of five priests – John Ostler (1461), John Andrew (1479), John Heygge (1523), Robert Garrett (1566) and John Hoare (1584).

In the churchyard stands the imposing memorial to Sir Everard Hambro as well as the graves of many other notables, including General Alexander Mackenzie Fraser (1809). There is also the grave of 9yr old John Panis of the North American Panis tribe, brought to this country as a slave in 1763.

Civil Registration
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
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. Add links to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection

Census records
Contributor: Include an overview if there is any unique information, such as the census for X year was destroyed. Add a link to online sites for indexes and/or images. Also add a link to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection.

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


 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
Contributor: Add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.