Advice for Family History researchers – Tonbridge Historical Society

We’re sorry, but Tonbridge Historical Society does not hold any material directly useful in tracing individual Tonbridge people -unless they were particularly notable in the town in some way. Nor do we have the resources to undertake research on your behalf. We may, however be able to help with queries about specific buildings or locations in the area, or local events and organisations.

For Family History Research relating to Tonbridge there are several lines you can follow:

The deposited copies of the Parish Registers for Tonbridge, covering 1547-1987, and microfilms, are at the Kent History and Library Centre in Maidstone. The catalogue entry is P371.

Transcribed records up to 1837 (typewritten) are also held at the Society of Genealogists in London.

An alternative source of photographic copies of the Registers is any of the many Family History Centres of the Church of Latter-day Saints. Transcribed information from the records covering 1553-1837 is on the Mormon website Brief biographical information about Tonbridge people who died in the 1914-18 and 1939-45 wars can be found at<a href=”../people/dead-of-ww1.html“>World War I and../people/dead-of-ww2.html“>World War II</a>. There is a very comprehensive website on<a href=”http://theweald.org/home.asp” title=”link to The Weald website“>The history, genealogy and topography of the Weald of Kent, Surrey and Sussexprior to WW2</a>. By December 2011 its database included details of 315,171people, 8,500 places, 613 maps, 3,036 pictures, engravings and photographs,and 214 books, all searchable from the home page or<a href=”http://theweald.org/sitesearch.asp” title=”link to Weald search page“>here</a>. Family History Societies covering the Tonbridge area arethe <a href=”http://www.nwkfhs.org.uk/” title=”link to NHKFHS“>NorthwestKent Family History Society</a> and the<a href=”http://www.kfhs.org.uk/index.htm” title=”Link to Kent FHS“>KentFamily History Society</a>. The latter has a particularly comprehensive<a href=”http://www.kfhs.org.uk/links.htm” title=”link to KFHS links page“>links page</a> detailing further sources of information. For researchers in or visiting Tonbridge, the Local Studies collection in<a href=”http://www.kent.gov.uk/KCC.Libraries.Web.Sites.Public/LibraryDetails.aspx?aid=0&lid=89” target=”_blank” title=”Link to Tonbridge Library“>Tonbridge Reference Library</a> holdsTonbridge Parish Records on microfilm for Baptisms (1586-1876), Marriages(1563-1879), Banns (1754-1949 intermittently) and Burials (1559-1890). Thereare also books, directories andother material relating to the history of the town, and guides to doingfamily history research. The local studiescatalogue for the County is<a href=”http://www.kentarchives.org.uk/Calmview/” title=”link to Local Studies catalogue“>here</a>. Full access to Ancestry.com is available free ofcharge on the computers in Kent libraries for holders of Kent Library Cards.Ancestry is a subscription service when used at home, but you can make astart at <a href=”http://ancestry.co.uk/“>www.ancestry.co.uk/</a>(home page), <a href=”http://trees.ancestry.co.uk/“>www.trees.ancestry.co.uk/</a> (family treecreator) and <a href=”http://www.ancestry.co.uk/learn/facts“>www.ancestry.co.uk/learn/facts</a> (last name research tool).

Finally, if you’re a newcomer to family history, the

BBC’s Family History website</a> might be a good

place to start, though there are plenty of others.

Useful information can also be found on these US-based sites:

http://www.homeadvisor.com/article.show.History-at-Home-A-Guide-to-Genealogy.17370.html</a>, <a href=”http://householdquotes.co.uk/ultimate-genealogy-guide/“>

http://householdquotes.co.uk/ultimate-genealogy-guide/</a> and

http://www.homeadviceguide.com/english-family-history-genealogy/</a> .