Place:Deal, Kent, England

Watchers
NameDeal
Alt namesAddelasource: Domesday Book (1985) p 147
TypeParish (ancient), Civil parish, Borough (municipal)
Coordinates51.217°N 1.4°E
Located inKent, England
See alsoBewsborough Hundred, Kent, Englandancient county division in which it was located
Cornillo Hundred, Kent, Englandancient county division in which it was located
Dover District, Kent, Englanddistrict municipality into which it was absorbed in 1974
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog
the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Deal is a town in Kent, England. It lies on the English Channel eight miles northeast of Dover and eight miles south of Ramsgate. It is a former fishing, mining and garrison town. Deal's suburbs include Kingsdown (near Deal), Sholden and Walmer, the latter being a possible location for Julius Caesar's first arrival in Britain.

Deal was named as a 'limb port' of the Cinque Ports in 1278. Due to its position on the Downs, the town grew to become for a while the busiest port in England; today it enjoys the reputation of being a quiet seaside resort, its quaint streets and houses the only reminder of its history.

The coast of France is approximately twenty-five miles from the town, and is visible on clear days.

Deal was originally an ancient parish in both the Bewsborough Hundred and the Cornillo Hundred. Deal was a municipal borough from 1835 until 1874 when it became part of the Dover District or Borough of Dover. In 2011 it had a population of just over 30,000.

For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Deal, Kent. A long description of its history and its relationship to the sea.

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 Deal, Kent. 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.