Thanet, St. Peter

Thanet, St. Peter Parish, a village and a parish in Thanet district, Kent.  The village stands on a pleasing eminence, 3/4 of a mile west-north-west of Broadstairs rail station, 1-1/2 southwest of the North Foreland, and 2 southeast of Margate;  is a member of Dover cinque port.

The parish contains also the chapelry of Broadstairs [see separate parish page], and the hamlets of Upton, Bromstone, East Dumpton, Fair Street, Westwood, Poor Hole, Sacketts Hill, Buddles, Shallows, Stone, Kingsgate, George Hill, Reading Street, Joss Street, Beards Hill, Callis Court, Callis Grange, Sole Street, Dane Court and parts of North Town, Northwood and Nash.  Acres, 3,312;  of which 397 are water.  Real property in 1860, £19,474.  Population in 1851 2,975;  in 1861, 2,855.  Houses, 604.  The property is much subdivided;  and there are many pleasant residences.

The North Foreland is a prominent feature;  and North Town hill is the highest ground in Thanet.  Water works were constructed in 1859.

The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Canterbury.  Value, £540 with a habitable glebe house.  Patron, the Archbishop of Canterbury.  The church ranges from Norman to later English;  comprises nave, aisles, and chancel, with West tower;  and contains three brasses, monuments to the Dewkners and others, and a tablet to T. Sheridan, Esq..  The tower serves as a seamark, and shows two fissures caused by an earthquake in 1580;  and the churchyard contains the grave of Richard Joy, the Kentish Sampson.  The rectory of Broadstairs is a separate benefice.

There are chapels for Baptists and Wesleyans, an endowed school with £30 a year, and charities £200.

Old coins have been found in the cliffs;  and a spermaceti whale, 61 feet long, came ashore in 1762.

The living is a rectory in the diocese of Canterbury.  Value £260.  Patron, the Vicar of St. Peter.  The church was built in 1828;  and has a tower added in 1852.

A Baptist chapel includes a portion of the old Lady chapel.  There is also a Wesleyan chapel.

Beards Hill, a hamlet in St. Peter's parish, Kent;  2 miles northeast of Ramsgate.

Bromstone, or Bromston, a hamlet in St. Peter parish, Kent;  near Broadstairs.

Buddles, a hamlet in St. Peter parish, Kent;  in Thanet, 2 miles north of Ramsgate.

Callis Court, a hamlet in St. Peter parish, Thanet, Kent;  2 miles north of Ramsgate.

Callis Grange, a tything in St. Peter parish, Thanet, Kent;  2 miles north of Ramsgate.

Dane Court, a hamlet in St. Peter parish, Kent;  2 miles southeast of Margate.

East Dumpton, a hamlet in the parishes of St. Lawrence and St. Peter, Kent;  in Thanet district, 1 mile north of Ramsgate.

Fair Street, a hamlet in St. Peter parish, Kent;  2 miles north of Ramsgate.

George Hill, a hamlet in St. Peter-Thanet parish, Kent;  2 miles north of Ramsgate.

Joss Street, a hamlet in St. Peter parish, Kent;  near Margate.

Kingsgate, a hamlet in St. Peter parish, Kent;  on the coast, near the North Foreland, 3 miles East of Margate.  It commands a pass or gate through the cliffs to the sea;  it was originally called Bartholomew-Gate;  and it took its present name from the landing at it, in 1683, of Charles II and the Duke of York.  An actual gate, with portcullis, once guarded the pass but has completely disappeared.  A mansion was built above the gate, toward the middle of last century, by Lord Holland, after the model of Cicero's Roman villa;  and the grounds around it were studded with imitations of ancient buildings and ruins.  The convent and the Castle, two of the most prominent of these buildings, have been converted into private residences.  A coast guard station is at the hamlet.

Nash, a hamlet in St. Peter parish, Kent;  1-1/2 mile south by east of Margate.  Nash Court here belonged to the priors of Christ church, Canterbury;  and passed to the Garwintons and others.

Northwood, a hamlet in St. Peter and St. Lawrence parishes, Kent;  1 mile north of Ramsgate.

Poor Hole, a hamlet in St. Peter parish, Kent;  near Margate.

Reading Street, a hamlet in St. Peter parish, Kent;  2 miles east-south-east of Margate.

Sacketts Hill, a hamlet in St. Peter parish, Kent;  1-1/2 mile south of Margate.

Shallows, a hamlet in St. Peter parish, Kent;  near Margate.

Sole Street, a hamlet in St. Peter parish, Kent;  near Margate.

Stone, a hamlet in St. Peter parish, Kent;  near Margate.

Upton, a hamlet in St. Peter parish, Kent;  near Ramsgate.

Westwood, a hamlet in St. Peter parish, Kent;  1 mile north of Ramsgate.¹

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

²Edward Hasted, ed. and comp.  The town and parish of Thanet St. Peter: Town and manors, The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 4 (1798), pp. 260-307.

³William Page, 1861-1934, ed.  The Victoria County History of Kent, vol. 3, p. 359.(London, England: The St. Catherine Press, Stamford Street, Waterloo, S.E., 1932).

Thanet, St. Peter's 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 Thanet, St. Peter: 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