England
& Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index |
The ParishThe parish of Folkestone lies in the extreme southeast of Kent forming a lengthy stretch of the county's coastline with the English Channel. Folkestone is located roughly 17 miles south of the city of Canterbury and 8 miles west of the port of Dover and sits at the end of the A20 road linking it to London. Folkestone has a long history, formed, initially as a monastic foundation by Eanswythe, her lead casket is believed to be that found in the church's sanctuary, in the early 6th century. It's position opposite France lead to fortification and in times those fortifications to increasing attack and depredation. In Domesday times Folkestone was one of the major towns of the country, it was also a market town for its area, the market granted by King John. Following dissolution the town's prospects fell and by the 16th century it was little more than a huddle of fishermen's cottages below the steep chalk hills inland. Beyond in the wider parish there was also a rural arable farming district with sheep an important secondary feature grazing the short turf of chalk downs. The coming of the railway and the mania for sea bathing brought prosperity back to Folkestone. Improvements to its port made it an important fishing port with mackerel and herring a speciality. In more modern times the port became a gateway to the continent with rail links directly to ferries. More recently still the modern M20 delivers visitors and travellers to the town whilst the construction of the Channel Tunnel in its northern suburbs has vastly enlarged the town such that it has become almost contiguous westwards through to Hythe. Thankfully the "old town" gathered around its harbour has been largely preserved and the beaches either side continue to attract day-trippers to this day. As a coastal community many drains take water into the nearby sea. Folkestone is sited between sea level and 140 metres (within its northeastern-most suburbs) with land as high as 175 metres very close by in rolling chalk downland. Folkestone parish was very extensive, at close to 4.350 acres it would have supported a population of around 4,300 parishioners. As already mentioned Folkestone was a major town and manor in Domesday times, held by Bishop Odo of Bayeux its list of assets is impressive; an incredible 96 ploughs were recorded as well large meadows and woodland tracts, supporting it and very valuable were 11 mills and a salthouse, with 395 households it was not only one of the largest 20% of settlements recorded but amongst the largest of all. |
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Register No | Covering Dates | Deposited With | Register Style | Quality Standard | Comments |
1 |
15th April 1754 - 22nd March 1770 |
Canterbury Cathedral Archives - Reference - CCA-U3/88/1/16 |
Standard preprinted and self-numbered Marriage register
with 4 entries per page |
Grade 2 Register - not a perfect read but with a low
likelihood of misreads |
None |
2 | 7th April 1770 - 15th July 1776 | Canterbury Cathedral Archives - Reference - CCA-U3/88/1/17 | Standard preprinted and self-numbered Marriage register with 4 entries per page | Grade 1 Register - Few issues noted and a low likelihood of misreads | None |
3 | 30th July 1776 - 12th October 1802 | Canterbury Cathedral Archives - Reference - CCA-U3/88/1/18 | Standard preprinted and self-numbered Marriage register with 4 entries per page | Grade 3 Register - there are sufficient quality issues with this register to indicate that some misreads will occur albeit few in number | Poor handwriting in the latter stages of this register may result in one or two misreads |
4 | 17th October 1802 - 26th December 1812 | Canterbury Cathedral Archives - Reference - CCA-U3/88/1/19 | Standard preprinted and self-numbered Marriage register with 4 entries per page | Grade 4 Register - there are notable quality issues with this register which may have resulted in many misreads | The poor handwriting noted above continues and worsens during this register making for a very tricky read at times, misreads will have been made and there could be quite a few, users are advised to treat this section with a degree of caution |
5 | 4th January 1813 - 19th June 1837 | Canterbury Cathedral Archives - Reference - CCA-U3/88/1/20 | Standard Rose style preprinted and prenumbered Marriage register | Grade 2 Register - not a perfect read but with a low likelihood of misreads | None |
Swingfield
St Peter
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Swingfield
St Peter
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Hawkinge
St Michael
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Capel
le Ferne St Mary
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1755 1760 1765 1770 1775 1780 1785 1790 1795 1800 1805 1810 1815 1820 1825 1830 1835
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