Our Society
The Society was formed in July 1978 to help promote the study of those researching their ancestry anywhere in the UK and overseas but focusing primarily on our area of North West Kent and South East London. We are a registered charity, governed by a main committee consisting of trustees who are appointed at our Annual General Meeting.
The Society has, over the years, transcribed or scanned census returns, memorial inscriptions (MI’s) parish registers, cemetery registers, school records and more. The transcripts or images can be purchased either through our website Shop, Genfair, or Parish Chest.
We provide many opportunities for members, no matter where they live, to further their research and connect with other family history enthusiasts. Our quarterly journal is full of interesting stories and facts. Monthly meetings at both our Dartford and Sevenoaks branches and small group sessions at our Society library enable local members to meet, face-to-face. Our online workshops and discussion groups ensure that all members, both near and far, can make meaningful connections.
Give yourself the gift of community and join our Society. Whether you are a seasoned researcher or someone who is just beginning their family history journey, you will be warmly welcomed.
Society Area
The West Kent map (below left) shows the boundaries of parishes that formed the historical Diocese of Rochester, which is also the area covered by the Society's publication West Kent Sources, and the website Parish Gazetteer.
At the formation of the Society our area was defined as "South East London and western Kent". Thus we extend north to the river Thames and west to the original (pre-1889) Kent/Surrey boundary. This takes in those areas that were successively incorporated into London: first by the County of London in 1889 and the additional area that became part of Greater London in 1965. The Greater London area comprises the boroughs of Greenwich, Lewisham, Bexley and Bromley. The remaining area has always been part of Kent.
Area Maps: Click to view larger image
Boundaries
Northern Boundary
In 1979 the Woolwich & District FHS was formed. We no longer have a formal boundary agreed with W&DFHS, so our various activities do sometimes overlap.
Southern Boundary
In 1991 the Tunbridge Wells FHS was established, covering the parishes overlapping the Kent and Sussex border around the town of Tunbridge Wells - the extreme southern point of the map. Following the demise of TWFHS in December 2016 we incorporated their area into NWKFHS.
Eastern Boundary
This remained ill-defined until Nov 1986 when a meeting was held between ourselves and officers of the Kent Family History Society to discuss a common boundary for project purposes. This was agreed to be a line running from the Thames at Northfleet/Gravesend, then south to the Sussex boundary at Frant.
Liaison
Enquiries to our Secretary which appear to be more properly dealt with by one of our neighbouring Societies are referred to them.
Constitution No. 14 (February 2026)
At the 2025 Annual General Meeting, motions were discussed to amend the Society Constitution to enable all members to contribute to Society Annual (and Extraordinary) General Meetings by online/postal voting as well as by physical attendance. The necessary Constitution changes were all approved by members attending the Society AGM on the 1st November 2025.
All proposed changes were subsequently approved by the Charity Commission in February 2026.