Whitstable, Kent Family History Guide

Whitstable is an Ancient Parish in the county of Kent.

Other places in the parish include: Harwich.

Parish church:

Parish registers begin:

  • Parish registers: 1549
  • Bishop’s Transcripts: 1564

Nonconformists include: Independent/Congregational, Primitive Methodist and Wesleyan Methodist.

Adjacent Parishes

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

WHITSTABLE, a small town, a parish, a sub-district, and a hundred, in Kent.

The town stands on the coast, at the terminus of the Canterbury and Whitstable railway, and on the Kent Coast line of the London, Chatham, and Dover railway, 6 miles NNW of Canterbury; is long and straggling; carries on a great oyster fishery, and a considerable coal-trade; and has a post-office under Canterbury, a r. station with telegraph, a large coast guard station, an ancient church, a Primitive Methodist chapel, endowed schools, and a fair on the Thursday before Whitsunday.

The parish includes part of Harwich hamlet; and comprises 3,610 acres of land, and 465 of water. Real property, £12,732; of which £50 are in gasworks. Pop. in 1851, 2,746; in 1861, 3,675. Houses, 730. The increase of pop. arose from extension of the shipping-trade. The property is much subdivided.

Tankerton Castle is the seat of W. Ellis, Esq. Salt-works and copperas-works are on the shore. Ancient remains are on a sea-bank in Tankerton bay; and Roman pottery has been found in dredging for oysters.

The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Canterbury. Value, £160. Patron, the Archbishop.

The sub-district includes Seasalter and Swalecliff; is in Blean district; and comprises 8,543 acres. Pop. in 1851, 4,162: in 1861, 5,221. Houses, 1,031.

The hundred is in St. Augustine lathe, and comprises 6,335 acres. Pop. in 1851, 3,406. Houses, 636.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].

Parish Records

FamilySearch

England, Kent, Whitstable – Cemeteries ( 1 )
Burials in the burial ground of Whitstable, Kent, 1901-1902

England, Kent, Whitstable – Census ( 1 )
Census returns for Whitstable, 1851-1891
Author:    Great Britain. Census Office

England, Kent, Whitstable – Church records ( 5 )
Archdeacon’s transcripts, 1563-1812; Bishop’s transcripts, 1611-1906
Author:    Church of England. Parish Church of Whitstable (Kent)

Parish register extracts, 1559-1854
Author:    Church of England. Parish Church of Whitstable (Kent)

Parish registers for St. Peter’s, Whitstable, 1917-1951
Author:    Church of England. St. Peter’s Church (Whitstable, Kent)

Parish registers
Author:    Kent Family History Society; Kent Family History Society. Global Branch (England)

Whitstable, Kent County, England, parish register transcripts : christenings, 1556-1730, marriages, 1662-1734, burials, 1556-1656
Author:    Mulvey, R., Mrs.

England, Kent, Whitstable – Directories ( 2 )
Directory of Canterbury : and neighborhood, with Faversham, Herne Bay, Whitstable, and all villages within a circuit of six miles from Canterbury

Stapleton & co.’s topographical history and directory of Canterbury : Faversham, Herne-Bay, Sittingbourne, Whitstable, Boughton, Bridge, Fordwich, Greenstreet, Herne-Street, Milton, Ospringe, Sturry, Westbere including accurate and copious traditional, antiquarian, descriptive, historical, topographical, statistical, local, and interesting notices of the above places

England, Kent, Whitstable – Land and property ( 6 )
Chestfield estate papers, 1913-1921

Deeds of Stockbury and Margate, 1750-1964

Deeds of the Canterbury and Whitstable railway, 1826-1894

Deeds of Whitstable and Chislet, 1667-1811

Deeds of Whitstable and Seasalter, 1612-1823

Robert Sebre and Robert Petman [bond, 1715]

England, Kent, Whitstable – Taxation ( 2 )
Land tax assessments for the borough of Harwich, 1780-1831
Author:    Great Britain. Court of Quarter Sessions of the Peace (Kent); Kent Archives Office

Land tax assessments for the parish of Whitstable, 1780-1832
Author:    Great Britain. Court of Quarter Sessions of the Peace (Kent); Kent Archives Office

Maps

Vision of Britain historical maps

Administration

  • Civil Registration District: Blean
  • Probate Court: Court of the Archdeaconry of Canterbury
  • Diocese: Canterbury
  • Rural Deanery: Westbere
  • Poor Law Union: Blean
  • Hundred: Whitstable
  • Province: Canterbury