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Kent Online Parish Clerks




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St. Alban, Frant, Sussex © David Kemp - geograph.org.uk/p/3870714 and licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
St. Alban, Frant Parish Church

Frant, Sussex Parish



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Frant

Important Notice:  Frant is included here, only as a part of it lays within Kent.

Frant is, ecclesiastically, in the diocese of Chichester (formerly in the Diocese of Rochester), in the archdeaconry of Lewes, and in the rural deanery of Pevensey pre-1858 and Pevensey IV thereafter.  The church is named St. Alban with registers commencing 1543.

Frant, a village in Ticehurst district, Sussex, and a parish and a sub-district in the same district, but partly also in Kent.  The village stands 1-1/4 mile west-south-west of the nearest part of the Tunbridge and Hastings railway, and 3 miles south of Tunbridge Wells;  and has a station on the railway and a post office under Tunbridge Wells.  The parish includes also Hawkenbury and part of Tunbridge Wells town.  Acres, 8,872;  of which about 310 are in Kent.  Real property, £13,394.  Population in 1861, 2,469.  Houses, 488.  Population of the Kent portion, 307.Houses, 58.  The property is subdivided.

Bayham Abbey and Eridge Castle are here.About 130 acres are under hops.  There are quarries and mineral springs, a reservoir for supplying Tunbridge Wells with water, and a public fountain to the memory of the late Prince Consort.

The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Chichester.  Value, £800 with a habitable glebe house.  Patron, the Earl of Abergavenny.  The church is good.  The vicarage of Eridge Green and the perpetual curacy of Broadwater are separate charges.

There are national schools and charities of £23.

The sub-district is conterminate with the parish.

Eridge Green, a village in Frant parish, and a chapelry in Frant and Rotherfield parishes, Sussex.  The village stands near the Brighton and Tunbridge Wells railway, 2-3/4 miles southwest-by-west of Tunbridge Wells;  and has a post office under Tunbridge Wells, and a rail station.  The chapelry was constituted in 1856.  Population in 1861, 575.  Houses, 113.  The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Chichester.  Value, £150 with a habitable glebe house.  Patron, the Earl of Abergavenny.

Broadwater, a chapelry in Frant parish, Sussex;  near Tunbridge Wells.  Population in 1861, 577.  Living, a perpetual curacy.  Patron, Lord Abergavenny.  The church was built in 1866, and is in the French late first pointed style.

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


Frant 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 Frant: vol. 58, p. 76; vol. 62, p. 161
  • church vol. 42, p. 174
  • forge vol. 124, p. 108
  • ironworks vol. 124, p. 112
  • parish vol. 124, p. 113

Frant - The Story of a Wealden Parish

Frant, A Parish History

Bayham Abbey, Sussex Archaeological Collections, vol. 9, 1857, p. 145

Notice of certain Plea Rolls of Edward II, relating to the Abbey of Bayham, Sussex Archaeological Collections, vol. 11, 1859, p. 121

The Riot at Bayham Abbey, June, 1525, Sussex Archaeological Collections, vol. 116, 1978, p. 1

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

Date The National Archives, Ruskin Avenue,
Kew, Richmond,
Surrey,
TW9 4DU
also available at:
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 Currently under revision  
2 Apr 1911 Currently under revision  
2 Apr 1911 RG 78/139 - Census Enumerator's Summary Books online only 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 Frant   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, Frant area 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

742, when the Saxon chief Aedelberht granted the manor of Ridrefelde (Rotherfield) and Ramslye to the Abbey of St Denis in France

1086 not mentioned in the Domesday Book

1103 Bishop of Rochester confirmed his gift to monks of the Church of the Blessed Apostle Andrew, among others, the church at "Fernet"

1296 Frant market and winter fair started up following the grant of a charter from King Edward I

In 1349, Robert de Bromfeld was still holding the Manor of Frant

1399 Sir William Brenchesle purchsed the Manor [of Frant] from Roger Isle, but another record sets out differently

1430 John and William Darell, John Waller and others purchased from William Durant and his wife Agnes, the Manor of Frant

1530 William Waller was then the Lord [of the Manor]

15 Feb 1543 first burial entered in the new parish register

20 March 1545 first baptism entry in the new parish register

16 Nov 1552-6 Oct 1555 gap in baptism register

20 Nov 1553-27 Nov 1557 gap in marriage register

30 Nov 1553 - 13 Sep 1555 gap in burial register

1558 37 burials were recorded which was much above the average denoting that some disease had visited the parish

1603 by the sale of the Manor by Sir Thomas Waller to Anne Offley, widow, the two hundred year connection of his family with Frant was severed

1634 John Baker who, with Edward Honeywood, in 1634, became Lord of the Manors of Frant and Sunninglye was descended from a certain John Baker of Battle who flourished in the reign of King Edward III

1655 Thomas Baker sold the Manor to William Dyke

ca 1700 Mrs Hutton [granddaughter of William Dyke] inherited the Lordship of Frant

1793 small pox epidemic

1803 small pox epidemic

1810 Since 1810 the lordhip of the Manor of Frant has remained in the hands of the Camden family

1816 the "Schools" were founded

1830-31Captain Swing agricultural rioters were particularly active in the countryside around Frant

1873 Baptist meetings were held

1892 Baptist church was formed

1905 new Baptist building opened

1894 Broadwater Down, part of Frant parish, became part of Tunbridge Wells in Kent


Church Registers


Census


Parish Chest
Records

  • Settlement Certificates
  • Removal Orders
  • Bastardy Examinations
  • Parish-assisted Immigrants
  • Churchwarden's Accounts 1745-1817
  • Overseer's Accounts
  • Surveyor's Accounts
  • Workhouse Records
  • Pew Rents
  • Donors' Rolls
  • Vestry Minutes
  • Bishops' Visitations
  • Parish Magazines
  • Parish Histories

Directories


Total Population

1801   -   1,090
1811   -   1,439
1821   -   1,727
1831   -   2,071
1841   -   2,280
1851   -   2,447
1861   -   2,469
1871   -   3,263
1881   -   3,481
1891   -   3,565
1901   -   1,692
1911   -   1,671
1921   -   1,621
1931   -   1,604


Tunbridge Wells Distance to

London 30.1 mi.
Canterbury 36.5 mi.
Ashford 26.1 mi.
Chatham 19.6 mi.
Cranbrook 11.9 mi.
Dartford 21.4 mi.
Deptford 27.3 mi.
Dover 45.4 mi.
Faversham 30.0 mi.
Folkestone 39.2 mi.
Gravesend 22.2 mi.
Greenwich 26.4 mi.
Hythe 36.2 mi.
Maidstone 15.0 mi.
Margate 51.5 mi.
Milton Regis 25.2 mi.
Queenborough 29.0 mi.
Ramsgate 52.0 mi.
Rochester 20.0 mi.
Sandwich 48.0 mi.
Sheerness 30.3 mi.
Tenterden 19.0 mi.
Tonbridge 4.4 mi.
Woolwich 26.5 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


Court Records


Military Records


Land Records
& Maps


Tax Lists


Other Records


Village Resources