Sevenoaks Weald, Kent Genealogy

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

Parish History
SEVEN-OAKS (St. Nicholas), a market-town and parish, and the head of a union, in the hundred of Codsheath, lathe of Sutton-at-Hone, W division of Kent, 17½ miles W from Maidstone, and 24 SE by S from London. The town on the ridge of hills separates the Upland from the Weald or southern part. The Baptists have two places of worship, and the Supralapsarians and Wesleyans one each. There were incumbencies (chapels built) at Riverhead (by 1848) and at Weald (1822 as well, lying within the ancient parish of St Nicholas, Sevenoaks (both of which, see).

Sevenoaks Weald is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks district of Kent. Sevenoaks Weald Wikipedia

Sevenoaks Weald St George was formed as a chapel of ease to Sevenoaks, Kent so that local parishioners did not have to make the long climb to St Nicholas Sevenoaks. It was constructed in 1821 and the churchyard and building were the gift of the Lambarde family.

The chapel became a parish in 1861 and the extension of the building in 1871 was designed by T.G.Jackson in the Diocese of Rochester; a map of the parish boundary may be found at A church near you.

The Church of St George Sevenoaks Weald has been designated as a grade C listed building British listed building See Kent Churches website

Long Barn, located in the village of Sevenoaks Weald, Kent, is a Grade II listed property and the former home of Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson. The house is also notable for having famous residents like Douglas Fairbanks and Charles Lindbergh at various times.

Civil Registration
See Sevenoaks Registration District 1837-1941 Tonbridge 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
Sevenoaks Weald 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.

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

Bishop's transcripts of Sevenoaks, 1816-1890

Includes some transcripts from the District chapelry of Sevenoaks Weald.

Kent Archives Office reference: DRB/RT2/330/1-10

See also England, Kent, Parish Registers and Bishop's Transcripts (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Census records
Census returns for Sevenoaks 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
Sevenoaks 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
Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.


 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Local Family History Centre
Orpington Family History Centre, Kent is within reach of the Sevenoaks district, located adjacent to Orpington Station.