Leigh Saint Mary the Virgin parish Kent

For many the village and parish of Leigh in Kent is a source of mispronunciation. The correct pronunciation is  "lie".The name of the village which has settled with the Leigh spelling nowadays but the parish registers are recorded for Lyghe and indicate the pronunciation of the name.
The parish neighbours Chiddingstone and Penshurst and the De L'isle /Sidney families were significant landowners. The Parish is often linked to nearby Tonbridge which as neighbouring parish and market town is frequently mentioned in burial registers.
Leigh was the site of an industrial site  historically significant in the manufacture of gunpowder.

The burial register identifies residents of the site of "Powder Mills" which had worker cottages and a large dwelling for the site manager. The history of the site and it's development as an extremely rare surviving industrial site in Southern England are detailed in The Powder Mills Leigh Historical Society.
The manufacture of black powder or gun powder was dangerous and buried at Leigh are those who died durng explosions which were often reported at the time or coroner's inquest in newspapers.
The burial registers also offer evidence  of a long established parish poorhouse and Poor House land and cottages in the parish. Even after the formation of Poor Law Unions there is evidence of burials from the Poor-house in Leigh.
The passage of the 1834 Poor Law Act lead to Leigh joining the shortlived Edenbridge Union Workhouse at Bough Beech. The Poor Law Commissioners proposal for Leigh to join the Sevenoaks Poor Law Union eventually is accepted but it is notable that Leigh Vestry remain active in caring for the Poor and relatively little evidence of use of the Sundridge Workhouse unless for medical or nursing care. A detailed history of caring for Leigh's poor is available at Leigh and District Historical Society
The 1851 census of the occupancy of the former Leigh Workhouse buildngs 1851 census entries for Leigh Workhouse indicates the extent of use of parish resources. The parish doctor was Workhouse Medical Officer at Sundridge  the Sevenoaks Union Workhouse.
My transcript of the burial register from 1813-1853 is being prepared for publication on the Kent Online Parish Clerks website in due course.



© Henry Mantell Downe and Farnborough Online Parish Clerk 2013-2020