Find your ancestors in Kent, Canterbury Archdeaconry baptisms

Baptisms

There are both transcripts and images of the original baptism registers within these records. While the amount of available information varies, most transcripts will include the following:

  • First name(s)
  • Last name
  • Birth date
  • Baptism date
  • Place
  • Father’s first name(s)
  • Mother’s first name(s)
  • County

    Images of the register will often provide additional information, such as

  • Residence
  • Profession
  • By whom the ceremony was performed
  • Remarks

    Before 1841, Canterbury was the only archdeaconry in the diocese of Canterbury. From 1841 until 2011, the diocese of Canterbury was divided into two archdeaconries: Canterbury in the east and Maidstone in the west. In 2011, the Archdeaconry of Ashford was created and the archdeaconry boundaries redrawn.

    The records include all parishes that are within the Archdeaconry of Canterbury and agreed to online publication. There are four parishes that withheld consent for publishing images of their records. As such, where provided, you will only be able to search transcripts of their records: Cheriton St Martin, Harbledown St Michael, Ramsgate St Luke, and Shepherdswell (also known as Sibertswold) St Andrew. Original records for each of these four parishes can be consulted on microfilm at Canterbury Cathedral Archives.

    Three ancient Thanet parishes can be found within these records: St John in Thanet, St Lawrence in Thanet, and St Peter in Thanet (rather than under the names Margate, Ramsgate, and Broadstairs respectively).

    Included in these records are also the baptism registers at the Buckland (Dover) Workhouse between 1855 and 1912. These may be beneficial if your ancestors were from anywhere within the extensive catchment area of Dover Union: the parishes of Alkham, Buckland, Capel le Ferne, Charlton by Dover, Coldred, Denton, Dover, Guston, Hougham, East Langdon, Lydden, Oxney in Dover, Poulton, Ringwould, River, St Margaret at Cliffe, Shepherdswell (Sibertswold), Temple Ewell, Westcliffe, West Langdon, Whitfield, and Wootton.

    For data protection and personal privacy, there is a 100-year cut-off for publishing baptism records.

    These records constitute a valuable resource for researching ancestry in Kent and have been provided in association with Canterbury Cathedral Archives.