Place:Fordwich, Kent, England

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Fordwich is considered to be a very small town and a civil parish in east Kent, England, on the River Stour, northeast of Canterbury.

It is the smallest community by population in Britain with a town council. Between 2001 and 2011 its population increased by 30 to 381 according to the censuses.

Although many miles inland, it was the main port for Canterbury, which traded directly with London and Channel ports and indirectly with the near Continent, until the Wantsum Channel silted up in the late Middle Ages, making the Isle of Thanet part of mainland England.

Fordwich was originally an ancient parish in the Downhamford Hundred. Between 1894 and 1934 it was part of the Bridge Rural District. In 1934 the Bridge Rural District was abolished and its parishes became part of the larger Blean Bridge Rural District. Since 1974 the area is covered by the non-metropolitan Canterbury District.

A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Fordwich from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:

"FORDWICH, a village and a parish in Bridge [registration] district, Kent. The village stands on the river Stour, adjacent to Sturry [railway] station, 2 miles ENE of Canterbury; was known at Domesday as Forewich; shows marks of great antiquity; is a member of Sandwich cinque port, and a seat of sessions; and gives the title of Viscount to Earl Cowper.

"The Stour was formerly tidal to this point; and Fordwich was then a port, visited by sea-borne ships, and had extensive fisheries. The trout, in its vicinity, have always been famous, and are noted by Fuller as differing, in many considerable properties, from all other trout. The parish comprises 459 acres. Real property: £1,335. Population: 202. Houses: 49. The property is divided among a few. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Canterbury. Value: £178. Patron: Earl Cowper. The church comprises two aisles and a chancel, with a steeple; is in pretty good condition; and formerly contained a curious Saxon tomb, which was removed to Canterbury cathedral. Charities, £46."

Research Tips

• Kent County Council Archive, Local Studies and Museums Service. James Whatman Way, Maidstone, Kent ME14 1LQ. This incorporates the Centre for Kentish Studies in Maidstone and the East Kent Archives Centre near Dover.
• Canterbury Cathedral Archives see the Archives web pages on the Canterbury Catherdral site.
• For information on the area around the Medway Towns, have a look at Medway Council's CityArk site.
• Ordnance Survey Maps of England and Wales - Revised: Kent illustrates the parish boundaries of Kent when rural districts were still in existence and before Greater London came into being. The map publication year is 1931. An earlier map of 1900 may also be useful. The maps blow up to show all the parishes and many of the small villages and hamlets. Maps in this series are now downloadable for personal use.
• Census records for Kent are available on FamilySearch, Ancestry and FindMyPast. The first site is free; the other two are pay sites but have access to microfilmed images. Steve Archer produced a very useful round-up of the available sources, but this information may not be up to date.
• Registration Districts in Kent for the period 1837 to the present. By drilling down through the links you can follow any parish through the registration districts to which it was attached.
• England, Kent, Parish Registers, 1538-1911 The full database from Kent Archives Office, Maidstone, has been available online from FamilySearch since June 2016.
• Kent had five family history societies (now only four):

• Kent FHS (serves the whole county)
• Folkestone & District FHS (serves the southeast corner)
• North West Kent FHS (serves the western area of present-day Kent)
• Tunbridge Wells FHS (ceased operation 31 Dec 2016; see North West Kent)
• Woolwich & District FHS (serves eastern sections of Greater London which were in Kent until 1966)

• Volume 2 of the Victoria County History of Kent (published 1926) is available online through the auspices of British History Online. It includes accounts of the early history of Canterbury and Rochester cathedrals, and of several sites now within the conurbation of London.
• Volume 3 of the Victoria County History of Kent (published 1932) This includes the text of, and the index to, the Kent Domesday survey. It has been provided by the Kent Archaeological Society.
• In place of the other volumes of the Victoria County History, British History Online has transcriptions of the numerous volumes of The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent by Edward Hasted (originally published 1797)
• English Jurisdictions 1851, a parish finding aid provided by FamilySearch, is particularly helpful in locating parishes in large ancient towns and cities like Canterbury.
• Kent Probate Records Numerous links provided by Maureen Rawson
• GENUKI lists other possible sources, however, it does not serve Kent so well as it does some other counties.