Place:Minster in Thanet, Kent, England

Watchers
NameMinster in Thanet
Alt namesThanetsource: general name for the Isle of Thanet
Ebbsfleetsource: hamlet on Pegwell Bay (part of parish)
Minster-in-Thanetsource: spelling variation
Minstersource: colloquial
TypeParish (ancient), Civil parish
Coordinates51.334°N 1.315°E
Located inKent, England
See alsoRingslow Hundred, Kent, Englandancient county division in which it was located
Isle of Thanet Rural, Kent, Englandrural district in which it was located 1894-1935
Eastry Rural, Kent, Englandrural district into which it was transferred in 1935
Thanet District, Kent, Englanddistrict municipality in which it has been located since 1974

NOTES: There is also Minster in Sheppey further west along the north coast of Kent on the Isle of Sheppey near Sheerness. It would appear that the shortened form of "Minster" is for Minster in Thanet, but this may not always be the case.

It has been discovered that a number of users have traced their ancestors to a place they have labelled "Thanet". Although Thanet could be anywhere on the former island of Thanet (which has not existed as an island since sometime in the 18th century), there was never a parish by that name. Since civil registration started in 1837, Thanet could be interpreted as Thanet Registration District, but there are references from before that date as well. They are now being redirected to Minster in Thanet, but there is every possibility that with more investigation it might be found that these people lived in Margate or one of the other settlements in the Ringslow Hundred.


the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Minster in Thanet, also known as Minster, is a village and civil parish in the Thanet District of Kent, England. The village is situated to the west of Ramsgate and to the northeast of Canterbury; it lies just southwest of Kent International Airport (formerly Manston Airport) and just north of the River Stour. Minster is also the "ancient capital of Thanet". At the 2011 UK Census the hamlet of Ebbsfleet on Pegwell Bay was included in its population of 3,569.

Generally a flat landscape, the area's main features include marshes, farms and rivers. Thanet District Council has, however, assessed Minster Marshes, south of the village, as being unstable, and some areas of Minster, particularly in the south of the village, have suffered from flooding. Land reclamation has had a strong history in Minster and Monkton, where the original reclamation was done by the monks themselves.

Minster in Thanet was originally an ancient parish in the Ringslow Hundred. Between 1894 and 1974 it was part of the Isle of Thanet Rural District. In 1934 the Isle of Thanet Rural District was abolished and its parishes became part of the larger Eastry Rural District. Since 1974 the area is covered by the non-metropolitan Thanet District.

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):
  • 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.
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Minster-in-Thanet. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.