Elham

Elham is, ecclesiastically, in the diocese of Canterbury, in the archdeaconry of Canterbury and in the deanery of Elham. The church is named for St. Mary the Virgin with registers commencing 1566.

Elham, is a village, a parish, a sub-district, and a district in Kent. The village stands on the river Stone, near the Elham Valley railway, 6 miles north-north-east of Hythe; has a post office under Canterbury; is a seat of petty sessions; and was once a market town. The East Valley railway was authorized in 1866, goes from Canterbury to Hythe, and has connecting branches. The parish comprises 6,570 acres. Real property in 1860, £7,855. Population in 1861, 1,159. Houses, 241. The property is divided among a few.

The manor belonged, at the Conquest, to Earl Hugh; and passed, through the Leybournes and others, to the Oxendens. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Canterbury. Value, £390 with a habitable glebe house. Patron, Merton College, Oxford, under nomination by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The church is early and later English.

There are a Wesleyan chapel and an endowed school, the latter with £65.

The sub-district contains also the parishes of Swingfield, Acrise, Paddlesworth, Lyminge, Stelling Minnis, Stelling, Elmsted, and Stouting. Acres, 20,916. Population in 1861, 3,841. Houses, 715.

The district comprehends also the sub-district of Folkestone, containing the parishes of Folkestone, Hawkinge, and Cheriton; and the sub-district of Hythe, containing the parishes of Hythe St. Leonard, Monkshorton, Standford, Postling, Saltwood, Newington-next-Hythe, Lympne and Sellindge. Acres, 43,197. Poor rates in 1862, £10,716. Population in 1851, 18,780; in 1861, 26,925. Houses, 3,904.

Marriages in 1860, 149; births, 721 of which 30 were illegitimate; deaths, 438 of which 149 were at ages under 5 years, and 20 at ages above 85. Marriages in the ten years 1851-1860, 1,489; births, 6,656; deaths, 4,017.

The places of worship in 1851 were 21 of the Church of England, with 7,075 sittings; 3 of Independents, with 620 sittings; 4 of Baptists, with 643 sittings; 1 of Quakers, with 425 sittings; 9 of Wesleyan Methodists, with 1,406 sittings; 1 of Primitive Methodists, with 60 sittings; 2 of Bible Christians, with 264 sittings; and 1 undefined, with 144 sittings.

The schools were 25 public day schools, with 1,962 scholars; 43 private day schools, with 951 scholars; and 26 Sunday schools, with 2,189 scholars.

The workhouse is in Lyminge.

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

Elham 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 Elham: 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 antient 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