Southfleet, Kent Genealogy

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

Parish History
Southfleet is a village and civil parish within the Borough of Dartford in Kent Southfleet Wikipedia.

Southfleet St Nicholas is an Ancient Parish in the diocese of Rochester.

The Church of St Nicholas Church Street Southfleet has been designated as a grade I listed building British listed building

SOUTHFLEET (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the union of Dartford, hundred of Axton, Dartford, and Wilmington, lathe of Sutton-at-Hone, W. division of Kent, 3½ miles (S. W.) from Gravesend; containing, with the hamlets of Betsome, Hook-Green and Westwood, 667 inhabitants. This was a place of importance during the heptarchy, when it was called Sudfleta; and from its proximity to the old Watling-street, its distance from the station Durobrivis (Rochester), and the numerous Roman relics found on the spot, it is supposed to have been known long before the heptarchy, and to occupy the site of the Vagniacæ of Antoninus.The parish comprises 2541a. 2r. 30p., of which 229 acres are in wood. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £31. 15., and in the gift of the Bishop of Rochester: the tithes have been commuted for £872, and the glebe contains 6 acres. The church is principally in the decorated English style, and exhibits many marks of antiquity, including six stone stalls underpointed arches, a piscina, a window of stained glass, and a font much admired for its curious workmanship. A school is endowed with a rent-charge of £20.

A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 149-152. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51289 Date accessed: 18 November 2013.

See Edward Hasted [The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 2 (1797), pp. 421-440. Date accessed: 21 October 2013. at British History Online and Kent Churches website

See Southfleet North West Kent Family History Society which includes other places of worship and Southfleet St Nicholas

Civil Registration
See Dartford 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
Southfleet parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

To find the names of the neighboring parishes, use England Jurisdictions 1851 Map. In this site, search for the name of the parish, click on the location "pin", click Options and click List contiguous parishes.

Kent Online Parish Clerks has indexes available for select parishes. Records are also available at the Kent Archives.

Census records
Census returns for Southfleet 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
Dartford 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
Orpington 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
SOUTHFLEET (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the union of Dartford, hundred of Axton, Dartford, and Wilmington, lathe of Sutton-at-Hone, W. division of Kent, 3½ miles (S. W.) from Gravesend.

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


 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain