Eastry

Eastry is, ecclesiastically, in the diocese of Canterbury, in the archdeaconry of Canterbury and in the deanery of Sandwich.  The church is named for St. Mary the Blessed Virgin with registers commencing 1559.

Eastry, is a a village, a parish, a district, and a hundred, in Kent.  The village stands 2-1/2 miles southwest by south of Sandwich rail station;  was once a market town, belonging to Canterbury priory;  was previously a seat of the Saxon kings, who had a palace at it;  and has now a post office with a savings banks and a money order office under Sandwich, a fair on 2 October, a church, a Wesleyan chapel, a workhouse, and charities £109.

The church is chiefly early English, but has Norman portions;  and contains monuments of the Botelers, the Paramors, the Harveys, and the Bargraves.

The parish contains also Heronden, Selson, Gower, Statenborough, and Falderland.  Acres, 2,715.  Real property in 1860, £7,870.  Population in 1861, 1,505.  Houses, 236.  The property is subdivided.

Court Lodge belonged to the Bargraves, and was the hiding place of Becket, for some days, before his flight to France.

Some ancient remains are at Statenborough;  and a remarkable excavation, winding to a great depth through chalk strata, is in the vicinity of Eastry village.

The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Canterbury.  Value, £310 with a habitable glebe house.  Patron, the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The district comprehends the sub-district of Sandwich, containing the parishes of Sandwich St. Mary, Sandwich St. Peter, Sandwich St. Clement, Ash-next-Sandwich, Woodnesborough, Worth, Ham, Eastry and Betshanger, the extra-parochial tract of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, and most of the parish of Northbourne;  the sub-district of Wingham containing the parishes of Wingham, Elmstone, Goodnestone, Stourmouth, Staple-next-Wingham;  Preston-by-Wingham, and a small part of Northbourne;  the sub-district of Eythorn, containing the parishes of Eythorn, Tilmanstone, Nonington, Chillenden, Knowlton, Barfreston, and the larger part of Waldershare;  and the sub-district of Deal, containing the parishes of Deal, Walmer, Shoulden, Ripple, Little Mongeham, Great Mongeham, Sutton-by-Dover and the smaller part of Waldershare.  Acres, 50,710.  Poor rates in 1862, £14,378.  Population in 1851, 25,162;  in 1861, 25,900.  Marriages in 1860, 203;  births, 745 – of which 51 were illegitimate;  deaths, 472 of which 137 were at ages under 5 years and 30 at ages above 85.  Marriages in the ten years 1851-1860, 1,830;  births, 7,815;  deaths, 4,968.

The places of worship in 1851 were 34 of the Church of England, with 11,527 sittings;  6 of Independents, with 1,744 sittings;  4 of Baptists, with 1,352 sittings;  7 of Wesleyan Methodists, with 1,064 sittings;  1 of Primitive Methodists, with 130 sittings;  4 undefined, with 450 sittings;  and 1 of Roman Catholics, with 300 sittings.

The schools were 21 public day schools with 2,008 scholars;  83 private day schools, with 1,626 scholars;  and 35 Sunday schools, with 2,666 scholars.

The hundred is in the lathe of St. Augustine;  is bounded by the Straits of Dover on the east, and by the river Stour on the north;  and contains twelve parishes.  Acres 19,677.  Population in 1861, 4,525.  Houses, 794.

Heronden, a hamlet in Eastry parish, Kent;  1/2 a mile southwest of Eastry.  Hereonden Hall is the seat of W. Whelan.

Selson, a hamlet in Eastry parish, Kent;  5 miles northwest of Deal.

Gower, a hamlet in Eastry parish, Kent.

Statenborough, a hamlet in Eastry parish, Kent;  near Eastry.

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

Eastry 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 Eastry: 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