Canterbury - St. Margaret

St. Margaret is, ecclesiastically, in the diocese of Canterbury, in the archdeaconry of Canterbury and in the deanery of Canterbury.  The church is named for St. Margaret with registers commencing 1563.

St. Margaret's church, in St. Margaret's Street, has suffered much from mutilation; was partially restored in 1831; consists of three chancels and three aisles, with a square tower; and contains a monument of Somner, the city historian.

The living is a rectory of St. Margaret. Value of St. Margaret, £120 with a habitable glebe house. Patron of St. Margaret, the Archdeacon.¹

St. Margaret's church stands on the west side of the street of the same name. It is a large building, consisting of three isles and three chancels, having a tower steeple at the west end of the south isle; there are three bells in it.

It appears by the survey of the commissioners, anno 2 Edward VI. that there were lamp lands given by the Will of John Wynter, and Joane, his wife, for the maintenance of a lamp within this church for ever, and there were obit lands given to this church by the Will of James Ase, for one obit, to be kept in it for ever.

In this church is held an ecclesiastical court, in which the archbishop once in four years visits the clergy in the neighbouring parts of his diocese; besides which, there are two other visitations annually held in it by the archdeacon, or his official, one for his clergy, the other for the church wardens only; the parishes exempt from his jurisdiction being visited by the commissary, at such time as he is pleased to appoint. In this church likewise, and in a court he has in the body of the cathedral, causes for fornication, defamation and other ecclesiastical matters, are tried before surrogates, appointed to that office. This church, which is a rectory, was part of the possessions of the abbot and convent of St. Augustine, and was in the year 1271, being the last of king Henry III. given by them at the instance of Hugh Mortimer, archdeacon of Canterbury, in pure and perpetual alms, to the hospital of Poor Priests, in this city, with which it remained till the suppression of it in the 17th year of queen Elizabeth's reign; after which the patronage of this rectory became vested in the archdeacon of Canterbury and his successors, with whom it has continued ever since; the Reverend the Archdeacon being the present patron of it.

In the register of this parish is entered a certificate of the birth of Raymond Thomas, eldest son of the Hon. Henry Arundel, eldest son of the lord Arundel of Wardour, on Nov. 11, in the year 1619.²

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

²Edward Hasted, Canterbury: The churches within the city and suburbs, in The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 11 (Canterbury, 1800), pp. 209-288 https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol11/pp209-288.

Canterbury - St. Margaret 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. Margaret: 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

Church Records, Church of England

Church Records, Non-Conformist

Parish chest records

Workhouse and Poor Law Records

Land Records

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

School Records