Library Blog – Research of Stone near Dartford

Query 11 July 2020

I've recently been doing some work on my family tree. Unfortunately I don't have many people to talk to about it so I have got information off the Census's etc but no other information. Most of my dad's family lived in Stone in Dartford and were all labourers. Basically, I wondered if you could suggest where I could look for more information?

Answer 13 July 2020

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Thank you for contacting North West Kent Family History Society.

I assume you are a member so you have a number of options during this lockdown period.

In your welcome pack you were given a username and password to access the Members Only Area (MOA) of the Society Web site.

Using this you can use the simple flow diagram guides available to give you ideas of sources you can use. There are also a few databases that might be of interest.

There are indexes to all past Journals and you can then download the Journals for your use.

In addition there are three members interest databases one for surnames, one for places and one for subjects i.e. brickmakers. On the MOA you will get the contact details of the person(s) researching that entry. This information is not available on the public pages.

If you are not a member it is easy to join and at on £10 per year we feel is very good value.

You can order our publications without being a member through the eshop. There are items on Stone near Dartford but by browsing the publications list you may find other items that will help your research.

There are a lot of online sites worth exploring that are free as well as those that need a subscription.

The directories are available from the Leicester University site.

FamilySearch run by the LDS is also free but you need to register.

Ancestry needs a subscription.

Findmypast needs a subscription.

There are other general data providers including Genealogist and MyHeritage but all need subscriptions.

Newspapers are available from the British Newspaper Archive, while free search, to see the paper you need a subscription.

Look at the various Heritage Centre and Record Office web sites. Most have free online catalogues but once you find a document you need to pay for a copy. The best one for you is 'City Ark' down at Medway and their online catalogue includes free parish register images and a few other documents.

The TNA (The National Archive) search engine is called 'Discovery' and at present during the coronavirus period there are free downloads of digitised documents that would normally cost £3.50 each.

As you have done the Census have you got the certificates of your ancestors. The Registry Office (ONS) has a pdf version of some certificates that are cheaper to obtain than the certified copies.

Look at our Guides and this will suggest targets for you research.

Hope that's of help