Kent white horse symbol - 9251 Bytes gbflagpolemd.gif - 63006 Bytes

Kent Online Parish Clerks




white cliffs of Dover
Do you have a photograph of the church that you would like to see posted here?  Email me.

Canterbury - St. Gregory the Great Parish



     A View of the Parish

worldcomputer.PNG - 44860 BytesWe are sorry, there is no Online Parish Clerk for this parish. We have no other information or data for this parish except what is accessed by or detailed on this page. If you wish to volunteer for this post or have data you wish to contribute, please use the appropriate link on our
Contacts page.

Canterbury - St. Gregory the Great

Canterbury - St. Gregory the Great is, ecclesiastically, in the diocese of Canterbury, in the archdeaconry of Canterbury and in the deanery of Canterbury.  It is in Westgate Hundred.  The church is named for St. Gregory with Bishop's Transcripts commencing 1852.

St. Gregory's church without the walls, beyond Broad Street, is a modern edifice in the early English style, by Scott.

The living is a vicarage of St. Gregory the Great. Value of St. Gregory the Great, not reported. Patron of St. Gregory the Great, the Archbishop of Canterbury.1

The Ville or Precinct of St. Gregory is situated above the city of Canterbury, on the east side of the high road leading to the island of Thanet.

It has been a matter much controverted between the city and this priory, whether the precinct of it is within the liberties of the city or not; the following is an account of what has passed in former times, to investigate this matter and clear up the truth of it. In the year 1269, anno 53 Henry III. the prior of St. Gregories, by the same writ with the prior of Christchurch, the abbot of St. Augustine, and others, after a legal discussion of the case, by the enquiry and verdict of select men of the city and vicinage, was acquitted of tallage, i. e. of being within the compass of tallage with the city. And in the argument drawn up by the abbot of St. Augustine, in desence of himself and his abbey against the city's challenging the abbey, and some of its neighbouring domains, to be, of and within the liberty of the city, in king Henry VI.'s time; among other heads of it (that it might not seem strange, that the abbey being in the suburbs, and so near the city wall, should nevertheless be exempt from the franchise of the same) by shewing how the matter stood, in the same state with other like places about the city, this priory was pleaded to be without the walls, so without the liberties also of the city, in these words - and also there are some places as near the walls of the said city, as those places are, which are contained in the aforesaid articles of the bailiffs aforesaid, which always were without the said city, the precinct, liberty or suburbs of the same, namely the street of Westgate, the street of St. Martin, the priory of St. Gregory, the hospital of St. John, Northgate, and so on.

In king Henry VIII.'s time, certain articles were concluded between the prior of St. Gregory's and the convent of the same, on the one part, and the mayor and commonalty of the city, on the other part, for the composing of this difference about the temporal jurisdiction of the place; when it was agreed and allowed by the mediators, that this priory, as it was then inclosed, with the new houses built, as well on, and by the south part of their church gate, as by the north part of the court gate of the said church, should be fully and entirely within the liberties and franchises of the city of Canterbury - and yet, notwithstanding this award, this priory and its precincts have been for a long time past acknowledged to be within the jurisdiction of the justices of the county of Kent at large, who sometime since created it a ville, and now exercise every jurisdiction over it, the same as in the other parts of the hundred of Westgate, which are exempt from the liberties of the city, of which hundred it is now esteemed an extra-parochial district.

Eadmer gives us an account of the foundation of this priory, by archbishop Lanfranc, without the Northgate of this city. He says, on the opposite side of the way, (that is, to St. John's hospital) archbishop Lanfranc built a church, in honour of St. Gregory, in which he appointed canons; who should be bound to order the course of their lives, according to certain constitutions and canons, and who should administer to the infirm people of the above mentioned hospital, whatever was necessary, for the good of their soul, and take care likewise of their burial; and that for these, he provided so much lands, tithes and rents, as seemed sufficient for their maintenance.

Thus archbishop Lanfranc, in 1084, established this priory, as a house of secular canons, which archbishop William Corboil, in king Henry I.'s reign, changed to regular canons, otherwise called black canons, from the habit which they wore, of the order of St. Augustine, as appears by the catalogue of monasteries of that order, among which it is reckoned one. Contrary to this Mr. Somner says, that Lanfranc founded this priory, at first for regular canons, being the first house of this kind in the whole kingdom. If that is true, it certainly was erected long before the priory of the same order at Nosthill, in Yorkshire; which Rayner says, was the first in the kingdom, being built by Adelwold or Ethelwolph, king Henry I.'s Confessor, who, he continues, first brought the order into the land; but in this he seems, by the opinion of most, to be mistaken. What number of canons were required here by the foundation, does not appear; but by an entry of a visitation of the priory by cardinal archbishop Bourchier, only five canons gave in their names with the prior, who, indeed, then complained of the paucity of his canons, which, as he said, was occasioned by the diminution of their revenues, or, as he termed it, of their lands, revenues and rents.

As to any remarkable matters or occurrences relating to this priory, I have read of very few. But there happened a great dispute, about the year 1085, between the convent of St. Augustine and this priory, concerning the relics of St. Mildred; each affirming that they had been removed to their monastery, the former claiming them from king Canute, the latter from archbishop Lanfranc; who, as they affirmed, at the founding of their priory, bestowed upon it, among other things of great price, the translated relics of St. Mildred and St. Edburga. On July 2, 1145, the church of this priory was burnt down.

Besides these I find mention, that John Knyvet, the king's chancellor, having attended king Edward III. on his embarking at Sandwich for foreign parts, in his 46th year, returned to Canterbury, and lodged in this priory on the 1st September, where he executed his office, by sealing several writs.

In the 3d year of king Edward III. queen Isabella being then at Canterbury, and taking up her abode at Christ church, master Henry de Cliff, with the lord William de Herlaston, lodged at the priory of St. Gregory, when the former, appointed by the king, then abroad, keeper of the great seal, exercised his office on May 31, that year, anno 1329, by the sealing of certain writs; and he afterwards resigned up the seal in the presence of the king and many of the nobility, in the hall of the chancellor, in this priory, where he took up his abode, to the bishop of Lincoln, the king's chancellor, who after dinner caused several writs to be sealed there, after which the king staid at Canterbury till the 23rd of June.

By a record among the archives of Christ church, it appears, that the archbishop was patron, and in the vacancy of the see, the prior and chapter of Christchurch were patrons of this priory, who upon every vacancy nominated and promoted the succeeding prior, and presented to such ecclesiastical benesices as were in the patronage of it.

John Symkins was the last prior of this house at the dissolution of it, which happened in the 27th year of king Henry VIII.'s reign, this being one of those houses which were suppressed by the act passed that year, as not having revenues of the clear amount of 200l. per annum, and for giving them to the king.

Upon the suppression of this priory it came, with all its possessions, which for the most part consisted of parsonages appropriate and portions of tithes in different parishes, into the king's hands, where it remained but a small time; for that same year the king was enabled by an act then passed, to exchange the scite of the late dissolved priory of St. Gregory, and the possessions belonging to it (excepting the manor of Houghfield, and some small parcels of land therein mentioned) with the archbishop of Canterbury, for the scite of the late dissolved abbey of St. Radigund, near Dover, with all its possessions.

This estate becoming thus part of the revenues of the see of Canterbury, was the whole of it demised by the archbishop, in one grand lease, in which all advowsons and nomination of churches and chapels were excepted, for the term of twenty one years, under which same kind of demise it continued till very lately, when the freehold of it was sold by the archbishop to the late G, Gipps, Esq. the lessee of it, as will be further noticed.

In king Edward VI.'s reign, the lessee of this estate was Richard Neville, Esq. of Canterbury, who died in the 5th year of that reign, and by his will gave the lease of it to Alexander Neville, Esq. his son.

In queen Elizabeth's reign, the lease was in the possession of Sir John Boys, descended of those of Fredville, in Nonington. He resided in the house of the late priory, and was a person of great wisdom and sanctity of manners, and was the founder of Jesus, otherwise called Boys's hospital, still remaining in the suburbs of Northgate, near this priory. He died in 1612, and was buried in Canterbury cathedral, where his monument still remains, with his effigies at full length on it. By his will he devised his interest in this lease to his widow, who resided here, and after her death to his nephew Thomas Boys, Esq. who was afterwards of St. Gregory's, whence he removed to the precincts of Christ-church, having alienated this lease to Sir Charles Hales, of Bekesborne, who in 1623 devised his interest in it to his son Thomas Hales, Esq. from whom it passed into the name of Honywood, and in 1643 I find that Sir Robert Honywood, of Charing, was the lessee of it; sometime after which the interest of it appears to have been vested in the family of Wotton, of Boughton Malherb, from whom it descended, with much other inheritance in this county, to Philip Dormer Stanhope, earl of Chesterfield, who died possessed of the lease of it in 1773, without issue; after which it was sold, under a decree of the court of chancery, to G. Gipps, Esq. of Canterbury, M P. for that city, who some small time before his death purchased of the archbishop, who was enabled to sell by virtue of the act for the redemption of the land tax, the see simple of this dissolved priory of St. Gregory, with the rest of the possessions belonging to it. Mr. Gipps died possessed of this estate in February, 1800, since which it has become vested in the trust for the uses of his will.

The ancient house of the priory seems after the dissolution to have been sitted up as a mansion of some consequence, most probably in queen Elizabeth's reign for the residence of Sir John Boys, and there are the remains of several noble and lofty apartments in it; but the whole has been ruinated for a number of years past, and only the bare walls of them left, without a window frame or pane of glass to keep out the weather It is now made use of as a potter's workshop, and for store-rooms for his manufactory.

Adjoining the back part of the priory buildings, is a large garden ground, formerly the canons orchard or garden, in the midst of which was, within these few years, the ruin of an antient chapel, dedicated to St. Thomas the Martyr, of Canterbury.

Through this ground runs the common watercourse, formerly belonging to the prior and convent, but now to the dean and chapter of Christ-church, in Canterbury, concerning which, among the archives of that church, there is a memorandum of a charter made in 1227, by the prior and convent of St. Gregory, in which they agree to preserve, as far as they can, this water-course free from damage, and to grant free liberty of passage to and from it, through their court and gate, to the workmen of Christ-church, as often as it should be necessary for them to repair it.

Belonging and adjoining to this priory, both before and after the dissolution of it, there was a cemetery or church-yard, not appropriated to the priory only for the burial of the domestics, but which was, whether of right or by courtesy only, I know not, common to others also with them, and those, not the hospitallers only, who were destitute of any church-yard within themselves till the beginning of the last century, but the parishioners of Northgate, their neighbours like wife; of which church this priory had the patronage; and these used constantly by their wills, to appoint their burials in this church-yard, and never mention any of their own; for it was with them the same, as with those other parish churches of this city, which belonging some to Christ-church, and some to St. Augustine's, and had their want of church-yards supplied by the cemeteries of those monasteries.

This cemetery or church yard at St. Gregory's continued to the use of the parish of Northgate, after the dissolution, until, as it is said, Sir John Boys, the lessee of the priory, obtained the appropriating and inclosing it, upon exchange of the modern churchyard ground for it, with the churchwardens of Northgate, for the time being. Till this time then it continued to that parish, as to the fact a burial place, but was not acknowledged theirs of right; for at a visitation holden in the year 1560, a presentment from the parish of Northgate was made by sworn men; that Mr. May, then it seems lessee of the priory, did withhold part of the church-yard, &c. upon which he, in defence of himself, being convened upon this presentment, produced the king's letters patent, as the act of court ran, by which it appeared, that the church-yard was the hereditary right of the archbishop of Canterbury and his successors.2

1 John Marius Wilson, comp.  The Imperial Gazatteer of England and Wales. (London, England: A. Fullerton & Co., 1870).

2 Edward Hasted, Precincts exempted from the city liberty: The ville or precinct of St Gregory, in The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 11 (Canterbury, 1801), pp. 209-288. Also found at https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol11/pp209-288.


Canterbury - St. Gregory the Great Bibliography

-- various. 'Archaeologia Cantiana'. Publisher: Kent, England: Kent Archaeological Society, various dates.  [Note:  The following volumes can be found on archive.org:  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 (1876), 11, 12, 13 (1880), 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 32, 34, 35, vol. 1907 supplement.]


  • General references to Canterbury - St. Gregory the Great: vol. , pp.
  • Currently in revision

Great Britain, Public Record Office. 'Calendar of the patent rolls preserved in the Public Record Office--Edward II, Vol. 1. 1307-1313'Each volume has own index. Publisher: Genealogical Society of Utah d.b.a Historical Books on FamilySearch; http://www.familysearch.org.

Great Britain, Public Record Office. 'Inquisitions and assessments relating to feudal aids : with other analogous documents preserved in the Public Record Office, A. D. 1284-1431', Vol. 3. Publisher: Genealogical Society of Utah d.b.a Historical Books on FamilySearch; http://www.familysearch.org.

Great Britain, Exchequer. 'The book of fees commonly called testa de nevill, pt. 3'. The Book of fees contains information about the holdings of feudal tenants. Publisher: Genealogical Society of Utah d.b.a Historical Books on FamilySearch; http://www.familysearch.org.

Hall, Hubert, 1857-1944. 'The Red book of the Exchequer - Liber rubeus de Scaccario, Vol. 3'. The Red book of the Exchequer was a register intended to preserve important documents comprising charters, statutes of the realm, public acts (Placita), private deeds and ordinances, correspondence. Publisher: Genealogical Society of Utah d.b.a Historical Books on FamilySearch; http://www.familysearch.org.

Glencross, Reginald Morshead. 'Administrations in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, Vol. 1. 1559-1571'. Publisher: Genealogical Society of Utah d.b.a Historical Books on FamilySearch; http://www.familysearch.org.

Hasted, Edward. 'The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent; Containing the ancient and present state of it, civil and ecclesiastical; collected from public records, and other authorities: illustrated with maps, views, antiquities, etc. The second edition, improved, corrected, and continued to the present time'. 12 volumes. Publisher: Canterbury: Printed by W. Bristow, 1797-1801. URL: British History Online

Hussey, Arthur. 'Notes on the churches in the counties of Kent, Sussex, and Surrey, mentioned in Domesday book, and those of more recent date'. Publisher: London J.R. Smith,(1852).

Letters, Dr. Samantha. 'Kent', Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs in England and Wales to 1516 (2005).  URL: British History Online.

Page, William, 1861-1934, ed.. 'The Victoria history of the county of Kent'. Publisher: London: Constable (1908).  URL: British History Online

Sharp, J. E. E. S., ed.. 'Inquisitions Post Mortem, Edward I, File 39', Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume 2: Edward I. Published:(1906), pp. 315-323.  URL: British History Online.

Sharp, J. E. E. S., ed.. 'Inquisitions Post Mortem, Henry III, File 45', Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume 1: Henry III. Published:(1904), pp. 296-302.  URL: British History Online.


Location of Records

The following list of records is not intended to be exhaustive.  There are many records that are awaiting discovery in archive offices throughout Kent and England.  This list is intended only to set out those records that are available via at least two relatively easy-to-access avenues.  If you have used or discover a record that would be of benefit to other researchers, that is not on this list, please send me an email with the details of the archive - name, address and archival call number.

Census | Church of England | Non-Conformist | Parish chest | Workhouse and Poor Law | Land | Assizes and Sessions | School

 

Census

Date The National Archives, Ruskin Avenue,
Kew, Richmond,
Surrey,
TW9 4DU
LDS Family History Centre
(Find a centre near you)
and indexed online at:
New FamilySearch.org
6 June 1841 Currently under revision  
30 Mar 1851 Currently under revision  
30 Mar 1851 census name index & images Currently under revision  
7 Apr 1861 Currently under revision  
2 Apr 1871 Currently under revision  
3 Apr 1881 Currently under revision  
5 Apr 1891 Currently under revision  
31 Mar 1901 RG 13/785 - also online at http://www.1901censusonline.com  
2 Apr 1911 Currently under revision  
2 Apr 1911 RG 78/139 - Census Enumerator's Summary Books online only http://www.1911census.co.uk and other subscription sites none
 

Church Records, Church of England

Record Type Dates Archive 1
(Addresses)
Corresponding LDS Family History Library film numbers
(Find a centre near you)
Parish Register   Currently under revision  
Bishop's transcripts   Currently under revision  
CMB transcripts   Currently under revision  
Parish Registers, transcribed by Thomas Colyer-Fergusson   Currently under revision  
 

Church Records, Non-Conformist

Record Type Dates Archive 1
(Addresses)
Corresponding LDS Family History Library film numbers
(Find a centre near you)
Particular Baptist Chapel, Nonconformist Return   Currently under revision  
Methodist Church Registers   Currently under revision  
 

Parish chest records

Record Type Dates Archive 1
(Addresses)
Corresponding LDS Family History Library film numbers
(Find a centre near you)
Parish Council Minutes   Currently under revision  
Removal orders out of Canterbury - St. Gregory the Great   Currently under revision  
Settlement Examinations, Minute book   Currently under revision  
Overseers' Accounts   Currently under revision  
Return of Churchwardens, constables and defaulters     
Tithe Apportionment Files      
Poor Rate books   Currently under revision  
 

Workhouse and Poor Law Records

Record Type Dates Archive 1
(Addresses)
Corresponding LDS Family History Library film numbers
(Find a centre near you)
Admission & Discharge books   This section currently under revision  
Guardians' Minutes      
Ledgers      
Births   Currently under revision  
Deaths   Currently under revision  
Religious creed registers   Currently under revision  
Apprentice Register      
Registers of lunatics      
Letters books      
Vaccination registers 1899-1930 Currently under revision  
 

Land Records

Record Type Dates Archive 1
(Addresses)
Corresponding LDS Family History Library film numbers
(Find a centre near you)
Land tax assessments 1780-1831 Currently under revision  
Land tax assessments 1875-1876 Currently under revision  
Land tax assessments 1889-1890 Currently under revision  
Rates and Duties - Houses, Windows, Lights   Currently under revision  
Manorial Court rolls   Currently under revision  
War Damage Files 1939-1962 Centre for Kentish Studies, Maidstone, Kent, no.: Finding Aid at CKS-DRb/RW 123 None
 

Assizes and Sessions Records
(poor laws, jail terms, oaths, and other municipal and public records)

Record Type Dates Archive 1
(Addresses)
Corresponding LDS Family History Library film numbers
(Find a centre near you)
Hearth tax   Currently under revision  
Victuallers Recognizances   Currently under revision  
Churchwarden's Presentments   Currently under revision  
Parish rate books   Currently under revision  
 

School Records

Record Type Dates Archive 1
(Addresses)
Corresponding LDS Family History Library film numbers
(Find a centre near you)
    Currently under revision  
       

Chronology

Coming Soon


Church Registers


Census


Parish Chest
Records

  • Settlement Certificates
  • Removal Orders
  • Bastardy Examinations
  • Parish-assisted Immigrants
  • Churchwarden's Accounts
  • Overseer's Accounts
  • Surveyor's Accounts
  • Workhouse Records
  • Pew Rents
  • Donors' Rolls
  • Vestry Minutes
  • Bishops' Visitations
  • Parish Magazines
  • Parish Histories

Directories


Total Population

1801   -   71
1811   -   236
1821   -   372
1831   -   833
1841   -   1,244
1851   -   1,278
1861   -   1,426
1871   -   1,337
1881   -   1,306
1891   -   1,212
1901   -   1,207
1911   -   1,131
1921   -   1,112


Canterbury - St. Gregory the Great Distance to

London mi.
Canterbury mi.
Ashford mi.
Bromley mi.
Chatham mi.
Cranbrook mi.
Dartford mi.
Deptford mi.
Dover mi.
Faversham mi.
Folkestone mi.
Gravesend mi.
Greenwich mi.
Hythe mi.
Maidstone mi.
Margate mi.
Milton Regis mi.
Queenborough mi.
Ramsgate mi.
Rochester mi.
Sandwich mi.
Sheerness mi.
Tenterden mi.
Tunbridge mi.
Woolwich mi.


Directories


Municipal & Public Records

  • Mayors
  • Town Clerks
  • Recorders
  • Chamberlains
  • M.P.s
  • Jurats, Aldermen and Common Councilmen
  • Electoral Register
  • Freeholders
  • Freemen Index
  • Freeman's Roll
  • Masters Index
  • Pubs, Taverns, Inns, Alehouses
  • Victuallers

Wills & Estate Records

  • AD index 1448-1857
  • CC index 1448-1857
  • PCC 1338-1858
  • PPR 1858-1925
  • Depositions

Court Records

  • Gaol Returns
  • Quarter Sessions
  • Transportations
  • Summons for Pavement Repairs
  • Tithe Apportionment c1830s
  • Protestation Rolls c1641-1643
  • Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy 1662
  • Oaths of Allegiance c1720s

Military Records


Land Records
& Maps

  • Parish Map
  • Victoria County History
  • Deeds, Mortgages, etc.
  • Rated Property Returns
  • Returns of owners of land, 1873
  • Manor Court Baron
  • Manor Tenancy Rolls
  • Manors, Castles & Holdings of Significance

Tax Lists

  • Poll Tax
  • Hearth Tax
  • Window Tax
  • Hair Powder Tax
  • Land Tax Assessments 1780-1831
  • Land Tax Assessments 1799-1805

Other Records


Village Resources