The Birth, Marriage and Death indexes are lists of people, arranged by surname, in the quarter in which the event occurred (Jan - Mar, Apr - Jun, Jul - Sep, Oct - Dec), from 1837 to the current day. Different amounts of information are available depending on the type of index and the date it was recorded.

E.g. If Mabel Smith was born on February 2nd 1892 her entry would be found in the first quarter of the year 1892, under Smith. What must be remembered when using these registers, however is that you have 6 weeks to register an event and so someone born in December 1892 might also be found in the first quarter of 1893. Different events have different amounts of information available to view, as do different dates.

Mabel Smith, born in 1837, would have a Surname, Forenames (or initials), District of Registration, Volume and Folio Number. But Mabel Smith, born in 1912 (and later) would also have her mother's maiden name listed.

E.g.
Smith, Mabel S Jones Sittingbourne 2b 356

The letters and numbers at the end of the entry tell you the volume the event is registered in, and the page number. This is important to note if you wish to send off for the birth certificate.

It is also worth mentioning that there are two versions of these indexes, from the General Register Office and the Local Register Office. The original lists are held by the Local Register Offices and were then transcribed into a central index at the General Register Office. As with all human transcriptions mistakes were made and omissions occurred. If you can't find your ancestor in the GRO index it is always worth consulting a LRO index!

FreeBMD Free BMD provide many of the national birth, marriage and death registers online for free. They have a search engine which makes finding your ancestors a lot easier. It should be noted, however, that the registers are not complete so if you can't find your ancestor it may not mean their birth, marriage or death entry doesn't exist. There are also transcription discrepancies as each entry has been typed into the database - e.g. if you're searching for the surname Jeffrey you might find it spelt Jeffery, Jeffrey, Jeffreys, depending on how clear the original was. It might be worth using wildcard characters to search, e.g. Jeff*.

BMD Index BMD provide access to all birth, marriage and death registers from 1837 onwards, by subscription. From 1837 to 1984 these are viewable as images arranged by date, and then alphabetically. From 1984 onwards the registers are in a searchable database.

Ancestry.co.uk provide lots of useful resources to help you to research your family tree. BMD indexes, Census Returns, Military Records and lots more. You can also build your family tree online and share it with others. Most of these services are available by subscription only. There is a library edition that is free to access from your local KCC library and allows limited facilites to be used free of charge on the Ancestry.co.uk website.

Familysearch Free access to the International Genealogical Index by the Church of Latter Day Saints

Find My Past Family History Website - BMD Indexes, Parish Records, Military Records, Migration Records etc. Many are pay-per-view. KCC libraries sell vouchers to access Find My Past if you don't want to pay online, which are also valid on the 1911 Census website.

The Weald of Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Documents genealogical information from the Weald, including the villages and towns of: Ashdown Forest, Burwash, Buxted, Crowborough, East Grinstead, East Hoathly, Edenbridge, Eridge, Fletching, Forest Row, Frant, Framfield, Groombridge, Hartfield, Hever, Horsted Keynes, Isfield, Lamberhurst,, Little Horsted, Maresfield, Mayfield, Rotherfield, Sevenoaksk Speldhurst, Ticehurst, Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells, Uckfield, Wadhurst, Waldron, Westerham, Withyham. Most of which is gleaned from Census returns and parish records.

Birth Certificates

Information available on Birth Certificates:

Births:
District, Date & Place of Birth,
Child's ForeNames & Surname, Child's Sex,
Father's Name, Fathers Place of Birth, Father's Occupation,
Mother's Name, Mother's Occupation, Mother's Place of Birth, Mother's Usual Address,
Informant's Name, Informant's Qualification, Informant's Address, Informant's Signature,
Date of Registration,Registrar's Name & Signature,
Child's Revised Name (if any, after registration).

Baptism records have been kept by English churches since the Sixteenth Century and while some have been lost or damaged over time many are available for researchers to view. These can be availble from your local archive centre, the National Archives at Kew, online, or can be purchased on CD.

Baptism records can include:
County, Place, Church, Register entry number, Date of birth (in some registers after about 1860), Date of baptism, Firstname, Sex, Father's forename(s), Mother's forename(s), Father's surname (sometimes not available if an illegitimate. Then see Mother's surname), Mother's surname, Abode (in registers 1813 onwards), Occupation of father (in registers 1813 onwards), Notes (any extra notes in the register)

Parishes
The Sittingbourne area contains several different parishes which could all be relevant if looking for an ancestor baptised in Sittingbourne.
The two most central parishes are Sittingbourne (St Michael's) and Milton Regis (Holy Trinity). In 1869 a further Sittingbourne Parish church was opened - Holy Trinity, Dover Street and in 1902 another for Milton Regis - St Mary's, Park Road. The boundaries of these two parishes have altered over the years and the parish of Milton Regis extends down into the town centre of Sittingbourne so any of them could be relevant when looking for a local ancestor!
There are also several outlying village parishes:
Bredgar, Borden, Bobbing, Tunstall, Murston, and Bapchild.
For more information on parish boundaries and dates see our Local Churches page.

Available to view at:

The HRGS hold a copy of the transcriptions by the Kent Family History Society of baptisms in the following parishes, from 1558 onwards:

Alkham, Barming, Bearsted, Buckland by Dover, Eastchurch, Eastwell, Faversham, Harty, Hawkhurst, Leeds, Lenham, Leysdown, Minster in Sheppey, Newington next Hythe, Postling, Queenborough, Rainham, Sittingbourne, Trottiscliffe.

Not all parishes have complete records.
The HRGS are happy to perform specific lookups for free but always appreciate a small donation to keep our group going! Please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with a request.

The HRGS also hold microfilms of the Milton Parish Baptism registers which contain the following records:
Baptisms 1538-1697
Baptisms 1695-1781
Accounts Book - Baptisms 1806-1836
Baptisms 1813-Oct 1833
Baptisms 1833-Mar 1864
Baptisms Mar 1864-Mar 1885
Baptisms 1880-1885
Baptisms 1885-1914
Baptisms 1914-1928
Baptisms 1928-1930 (Holy Trinity with St Paul's)

The Weald of Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Documents genealogical information from the Weald, including the villages and towns of: Ashdown Forest, Burwash, Buxted, Crowborough, East Grinstead, East Hoathly, Edenbridge, Eridge, Fletching, Forest Row, Frant, Framfield, Groombridge, Hartfield, Hever, Horsted Keynes, Isfield, Lamberhurst,, Little Horsted, Maresfield, Mayfield, Rotherfield, Sevenoaksk Speldhurst, Ticehurst, Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells, Uckfield, Wadhurst, Waldron, Westerham, Withyham. Most of which is gleaned from Census returns and parish records.

Find My Past Family History Website - BMD Indexes, Parish Records, Military Records, Migration Records etc. Many are pay-per-view. KCC libraries sell vouchers to access Find My Past if you don't want to pay online, which are also valid on the 1911 Census website.

FreeReg
Free Internet searches of baptism, marriage, and burial records, that have been transcribed from parish and non-conformist registers of the U.K. Not yet complete.