Origins of surname
This is an old English surname believed, not surprisingly, to refer to the county of Kent. Spelt 'Cantium' in 51 BC, and 'Cantia', c730 in Bede's Historia Ecclesiastica. The name is believed to derive from the Celtic canto (Welsh cant), meaning 'rim' or 'border'; hence, 'border land' or 'coastal district'.
Early records
The Kent family arrived in Jersey in the shape of George Louis Kent, who came to the island from Portsmouth around 1860 to work in the oyster fisheries at Gorey. He settled, married Adalina Louise Leplanquais of Coutances and they raised a family.
Family records
Family trees
Church records
- Kent baptisms in Jersey
- Kent marriages in Jersey (groom)
- Kent marriages in Jersey (bride)
- Kent burials in Jersey
Great War service
- Francis George Kent (St P) son of Francis John and Mary Jane, Gunner in Royal Garrison Artillery
- Frederick Edward James Kent (1897- ) (St H) son of Frederick James and Charlotte Cantell, Steward Mercantile Marine, ss Ibex
- George Robert Kent (1900- ) All Saints) son of George Louis and Annie Flore Elizabeth
- Henry Edward Kent (St H) (1880- ) son of George and Adelina Kent, Corporal in Labour Corps
- James William Kent (1886- ) (Gouray) son of James William and Esther Ann Laffoley, Fireman Mercantile Marine, ss Ibex
- John Henry Kent (1884- ) (St P) son of Francis George and Mary Jane, Private in Dorsetshire Regiment, ex-RMIJ, wounded
- Philip Guy Kent (St H), Private in Hampshire Regiment
Family histories
Family wills
These wills created by members of the Kent family are now held by Jersey Archive. By visiting the archive site and using the names, dates and reference numbers shown here, it is possible to view a copy of each will. You will have to subscribe to the Archive's online service to do this. To find out more about this collection, which covers the period from 1663 to 1980, and how to search for your family's wills there, visit our Jersey wills page
- George Kent and A Kent - 8 July 1889, D/Y/A/48
- Thomas Kent of Hampshire, now of St Helier, bequeaths to the poor of St Helier 10s - 23 February 1871, D/Y/A/35
- Edward Kent of Les Vaux Villa, St Helier - 28 November 1894, D/Y/A/53
- Henry Kent, 5 Victoria Crescent, St Helier, master butcher - 13 January 1943, D/Y/A/110
- William Kent, 6 Ongar Road, Fulham, London - 1 October 1931, D/Y/A/92
- Charlotte Kent, 65 Val Plaisant, St Helier, spinster - 17 January 1905, D/Y/A/64
- George Kent, 7 Gloucester Street, St Helier - 21 November 1930, D/Y/A/90
- George Kent, Cardiff, Glamorgan, Master Mariner - 20 July 1907, D/Y/A/66
- Francis Kent, Les Niemes Lodge, St Peter - 6 May 1938, D/Y/A/102
- John Kent, Val de La Mare, St Peter - 3 July 1922, D/Y/A/82
Burial records
Family album
Family businesses
Family gravestones
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Tips
The church record links above will open in a new tab in your browser and generate the most up-to-date list of each set of records from our database. These lists replace earlier Family page baptism lists, which were not regularly updated. They have the added advantage that they produce a chronological listing for the family name in all parishes, so you do not have to search through A-Z indexes, parish by parish.
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New records
Since August 2020 we have added several thousand new records from the registers of Roman Catholic, Methodist and other non-conformist churches. These will appear in date order within a general search of the records and are also individually searchable within the database search form
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