Kent

A maternal great-grandfather moved as a child with his family from Folkestone in about 1884. All his ancestors discovered so far were from south Kent with Mersham, Lyminge and Sandwich the main ancestral places. I have many marriage connections to other surnames in Lyminge so I would like to hear from anyone with interests there.
Mersham church. Picture taken by Mia Maguire, an ANDREWS descendant. The Andrews and the GOWERs used this church for several generations.
This page also contains a list of links to Kent genealogy sites I have found useful.
Surname links in the left-hand column go to the page detailing that line, surname links in the right-hand column go to the relevant entry on this page.
Please E-mail me if you find a connection.

ANDREWS At Boughton Aluph 1744 on, Westwell 1804 on, Mersham 1833 on. Stephen married Susan NORTON 1744, Henry married Elizabeth BOURNE 1779, Henry married Elizabeth BACK 1804, Edward married Jane GOWER 1833 at Hythe, Emma married Alfred Peter VALDER 1869. Co-descendants at Folkestone.
AUSTEN Non-ancestral. Thomas William AUSTEN married Fanny Elizabeth ANDREWS 1901 at Aldington. They had children at Ashford and Bilsington. I have a snail-mail contact for this line and she has carried out extensive research into them.
BACK At Westwell 1750 on, Boughton Aluph 1779 on. William married Margaret (possibly HOLMES in 1739), William married Elizabeth ANDREWS 1779, Elizabeth married Henry ANDREWS 1804. Co-descendants at Pluckley.
BEAZLEY Non-ancestral. Francis BEAZLEY married Lucy ANDREWS 1867 at Mersham? They moved to Battersea in Surrey (now part of London) where they had at least seven children. Francis Beazley was born at Brighton, Sussex.
BOORN Mary BOORN married John VALDER 1802 at Sandwich. Mary Valder was buried at Lyminge 1843 aged 65. Nothing else known.
BOURNE Elizabeth BOURNE married Henry ANDREWS 1779 at Boughton Aluph. Elizabeth Andrews died in 1828 at Brook. Nothing else known.
BUNGARD Non-ancestral here but I contribute to Graham Bungard's One-Name Study. Some of Graham's co-descendants, William and Mary Bungard, went to Deal by 1881. Graham's and my BUNGARDs came from Sussex.
CRUMP Elizabeth CRUMP married Richard GOWER 1785 at Mersham. Elizabeth Gower was buried 1813 aged 49. Nothing else known.
DOWNE Mary DOWNE married Edward HOGBEN 1756 at Elham. The age on her MI at Lyminge suggests she was born in 1734. Unfortunately there are no baptisms recorded for 1733-6 in the Elham parish register. However, there were only two DOWNE couples having children baptised at Elham immediately before or after the gap. Mary seems most likely to have been the daughter of William and Mary (née MARSH) who married at Elham in 1729 and had two children baptised there before the gap in the register. The other couple were Daniel and Priscilla (née MARSH), neither of these names feature in Mary's Hogben descendants.
ELGAR Ann ELGAR married William HOGBEN 1730 at Lyminge. She may have been buried at Lyminge in 1774. Nothing else known.
FERRIDGE Non-ancestral. William FERRIDGE married Charlotte ANDREWS 1834 at Mersham. They had seven children at Mersham and Bilsington. Their descendants moved to Dover, Ramsgate and Wye. William's father David Ferridge came to Thanet from Mitcham, Surrey, previous generations were from Swallowfield, Berkshire. David appears to have been a bit of a rogue, fathering extra-marital children and serving a sentence in Maidstone jail. Beulah Caswell of Saskatchewan, Canada has done extensive research into this line.
GOWER At Mersham 1785 on. Richard married Elizabeth CRUMP 1785, Thomas married Mary NEWMAN 1810, Jane married Edward ANDREWS 1833 at Hythe. Co-descendants at Willesborough, Brabourne.
HOGBEN At Lyminge 1730 on, Elham 1756 on, Lyminge 1798 on. William married Ann ELGAR 1730, Edward married Mary DOWNE 1756, Robert married Sarah by 1798, Mary married Frederic VALDER 1839. I have information on all HOGBENs at Lyminge, including two lines unrelated to mine.
HOPKINS Non-ancestral. Richard HOPKINS married Ann HOGBEN 1840 at Lyminge. They had nine children at Lyminge and Elham. I have an E-mail contact for this line.
JOHNCOCK At Aldington 1762 on. Edmund married Mary MAPSON 1762, Mary married Thomas NEWMAN 1788 at Mersham.
KITCHIN Non-ancestral. William KITCHIN married Elizabeth Mary VALDER 1859 at London. They had four children in Canada where William was serving in the Army, they had two more children at Hythe 1872 on. William Kitchin was born in Cumberland.
MAPSON Possibly also as MAPLESDEN and/or MATSON. Mary MAPSON married Edmund JOHNCOCK 1762 at Aldington. Nothing else known.
NEWMAN At Aldington and/or Bonnington 1790 on. Thomas married Mary JOHNCOCK 1788 at Mersham, Mary married Thomas GOWER 1810 at Mersham.
A non-internet friend has NEWMANs at Lympne 1799 on, Stanford 1825 on, Uphill/Gibraltar (near Hawkinge) 1869 on.
NORTON Susan NORTON married Stephen ANDREWS 1744 at Boughton Aluph. Nothing else known.
POST Non-ancestral. Thomas POST married Margaret ANDREWS 1853 at Mersham. They had at least nine children at Little Chart, Egerton, Westwell, Pluckley, Lenham and Harrietsham. Thomas was born c1828 at Aldington, son of Thomas and Harriet [GARDNER]. I have a snail-mail contact for this line and an email contact also has POSTs at Aldington.
REVELL Non-ancestral. John REVELL married Charlotte ANDREWS 1853 at Mersham. They had at least eight children at Smeeth, Saltwood, Bilsington and Ashford. John was born c1826 at Smeeth. In 1881 John was Beerhouse Keeper at the Smiths Arms, Bridge Street, Ashford.
SAXTY Susanne SAXTY married Peter VALDER 1778 at Sandwich. Susanne Valder was buried at Sandwich 1795 aged 49. Nothing else known.
STANDFORD Non-ancestral. James STANDFORD married Ann HOGBEN 1824 at Lyminge where they had two children. Earlier Standfords were at Elham. I have a snail-mail contact for this line.
SWAFFER Non-ancestral. Frederick SWAFFER married Mary Ann ANDREWS 1866 at Mersham. They had at least seven children at Mersham, Willesborough and Ashford. Frederick was born c1838 at Sevington, son of John.
VALDER At Sandwich 1691 on, Lyminge 1811 on. Peter married Susanne SAXTY 1778, John married Mary BOORN 1802, Frederic married Mary HOGBEN 1837, Alfred Peter married Emma ANDREWS 1869 at Mersham. Moved to Sussex in 1884. Co-descendants at Deal, Folkestone, Gravesend, Hythe, Margate, Saltwood, Sevenoaks, Sidcup.
Together with a cousin, Bob Valder, I run a One-Name Study of VALDERs in the UK. The Valders gradually spread from Sandwich to the rest of Kent and then to other counties and countries.

Links to useful Kent genealogy sites

Kent Family History Society
About the society
Folkestone & District Family History Society
About the society
UK and Ireland Information Service - Kent
GENUKI - Kent genealogy information
Kent Surname Interests
Open to all - NB usable but not being updated. Also see next link
Kent Surname Interests
Submitted by subscribers to the Kent mailing list
Kent mailing list details
Open mailing list for Kent
Sussex-Plus mailing list site
Open mailing list for Sussex, Surrey, Kent, Hampshire
Kent GenWeb
KENT-ENG links page
Kent FHS Members Mailing List
Only for KFHS members
Kent Look-up Exchange
Volunteers who will search their Kent references
Centre for Kentish Studies
West Kent Record Office at Maidstone
Canterbury Cathedral Archives
East Kent Record Office
Maureen Rawson's Genealogy sources for Kent
Much useful information and many links on this recommended site
??Ruth Golding's illustrated history of Hythe
Includes genealogical information with some Parish Register transcriptions
Peter Blanche's genealogy and East Kent information
Places (Elham area especially), People, Query board and more
Elham Valley
Local information plus message board & a lovely map
Lyminge Online
Local information plus message board
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