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- source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
- source: Family History Library Catalog
- the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia
Leybourne is a small village in Kent, England situated off Junction 4 of the M20 Motorway. Leybourne is adjacent and to the north of the parishes of East Malling and West Malling.
Leybourne was originally an ancient parish in the Larkfield Hundred of Kent. It was a civil parish in the Malling Rural District from 1894 until 1974. Since 1974 it has been part of the non-metropolitan Tonbridge and Malling District.
History of the church
- the following text is a condensation of an article in Wikipedia
Leybourne church is a small church with a big history. The church was built in Saxon times but the church building was changed greatly in 1874. The Leybourne history started when the ancestor of the Leybourne family came over with William the Conqueror from France. He was granted land by William I in Yorkshire and lived there with his family for a long time. (There is a village named Leybourne in Yorkshire.) His descendent, Sir Philip Libourne, decided to live in a village in Kent called Lillieburn. The names mixed to call the place Leybourne. He built Leybourne Castle and was the first baron of Leybourne, his new name was Sir Philip Baron de Leybourne. Two people who were quite important were barons of Leybourne. The first, the baron of Leybourne, Sir Roger de Leybourne (1215–1271), great grandson of Philip, was good friends with Prince Edward (later to become {{Person:King Edward I of England (1)|Edward I). In 1270 he set off with Edward on a crusade to the Holy Land. On the way he was ill so was sent back, in France on the way to Leybourne he died. His heart was sent back to Leybourne and put in the left hand side box of the niche (illustrated in Wikipedia), the one on the right is empty.
The second is Sir William Baron de Leybourne, son of Sir Roger, who was the first Englishman to have the title admiral. On 25 October 1286 King Edward I and Queen Eleanor of Castille visited William at Leybourne Castle. They left two crowns as gifts, which hangs above the wooden plaque about Sir William, which was unveiled in 1956 by Richard Talbot.
- 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):
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- 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.
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