Beckenham

Beckenham is, ecclesiastically, in the diocese of Canterbury, in the archdeaconry of Canterbury and in the deanery of Dartford.  The church is named for St. George with registers commencing 1538.

Beckenham, a village and a parish in Bromley district, Kent.  The village stands on a small tributary of the Ravensbourne river, close to a junction of several railways, 3 miles southeast of the Crystal Palace, and 2 west of Bromley;  has stations on the railways, and a post office under London, SE.;  and is rapidly becoming a suburb.  The parish comprises 3,875 acres.  Real property in 1865, about £40,000.  Population in 1861, 2,124;  in 1865, about 3,500.  The property is subdivided.

Beckenham Place is the seat of A. Cator, Esq.;  Kelsey Park, of P. R. Hoare, Esq.;  Old Manor House, of H. Fortescue, Esq.;  and Langley Park, of C. Goodheart, Esq..  Beckenham was the residence of Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, when visited by Henry VIII;  and Clay Hill here was the residence of Edward King, author of the "Munimenta Antiqua", who died in 1807.

The living is a rectory in the diocese of Canterbury.  Value, £900 with a habitable glebe house.  Patron, J. Cator, Esq..  The church was built about the beginning of the 16th century;  has a lofty white spire, rebuilt in 1796;  and contains monuments of the Styles, the Burrells, the Hoares, and others, and a tablet to Captain Hedley Vicars, who fell at Sebastopol.  The ancient lich-gate, for setting down corpses at funerals, still stands.

The perpetual curacies of Beckenham St. Paul and Shortlands are separate charges, both of them constituted in 1868.

There are endowed national schools with £42 a year, and other charities £68.  Dr. Assheton, prolocutor in convocation, who died in 1711, was rector. ¹

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

Beckenham 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 Beckenham: 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