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| Name | Tonbridge Lowey Hundred |
| Alt names | Tonbridge Lowey (hundred) | source: name variation |
| Type | Hundred |
| Located in | Kent, England |
| See also | Aylesford Lathe, Kent, England | lathe or administrative division of which the hundred was a part |
- the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia
The Lowey of Tonbridge is the name given to the large tract of land given to Richard Fitz Gilbert (1024–1090) in west Kent, England by William the Conqueror after the Norman conquest of England. Richard was a cousin of William's with both being descended from Richard "The Fearless" the first Duke of Normandy. The Lowey (also known as Lowry), which simply means "Freedom" or "Liberty", gave Richard huge powers over the region and he used this power to extract taxes from the local population to finance the building of Tonbridge Castle, which became the main de Clare family residence for the next 250 years.
Richard used his influence and power to expand the Lowey so by the time of the Domesday Book it included much of Surrey as well as Kent. This continuous expansion of the estate put the de Clare family into dispute with the Archbishops of Canterbury and the king was asked to intervene twice to decide how large it should actually be.
When the de Clare family got on the wrong side of the crown, the castle and its Lowey was the first thing the king seized back from them, often by force, and this happened in the reigns of kings William II, John and Henry III. The castle and Lowey were always returned to the family once the dispute had been resolved.
After the death of Gilbert de Clare, 8th Earl of Gloucester at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 who was aged only 23 and without an heir, Hugh the younger de Spencer, who had married the earl's oldest sister, could not wait for Edward II to decide how his estate should be divided, and seized the Lowey and castle without permission. His tenure was quite short-lived as he was executed by Queen Isabella, the wife of Edward II.
The Lowey survived well into the 19th century; in fact Tonbridge was one of England's largest parishes.
- end of Wikipedia contribution
The above is not precisely a description of Tonbridge Lowey Hundred, but it is about the same piece of land, more or less.
Parishes
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):
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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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