Discover your married ancestors while searching records from 149 parishes in Kent from 1538 to 1987. Build your family history from details you find, such as your ancestor’s name and spouse’s name, and, in later records, your ancestor’s occupation and father’s name.
Each record comprises a transcript of the original marriage register. The amount of information listed varies, but the records usually include a combination of the following information about your ancestor:
Name
Birth year
Marriage date
Marriage place
Spouse’s name
Later records may include additional details, for instance
Occupation
Residence
Spouse’s occupation
Spouse’s residence
Father’s name
Spouse’s father’s name
Names of witnesses
Notes
The record set comprises over 360,000 marriage records from 132 parishes in Kent. These records date from 1538 to 1987. Kent is a county in the southeast of England. It borders London, Essex, Surrey, and Sussex, and nominally France, midway through the Channel Tunnel. Maidstone is the county town of Kent.
Transcripts were created by Val Brown and Kent Family History Society from parish registers. For events that occurred prior to the introduction of civil registration in 1837, parish registers are the best resource for discovering your ancestors. Registration of life events – births, marriages, and deaths – began in the Church of England in 1538. In 1754, Lord Hardwicke’s Marriage Act passed in order to prevent clandestine marriages. This act declared that those of all denominations, except Jews and Quakers, were obligated to register their marriage with the Church of England. For this reason, even if your ancestors were Roman Catholic or non-conformist, Church of England registers are a relevant and valuable resource.