proximity to London, beyond those included among the boroughs
and urban districts, there should be mentioned Orpington (4259).
The county is in the south-eastern circuit, and assizes are held
at Maidstone. It has two courts of quarter sessions, and is
divided into 17 petty sessional divisions. The boroughs having
separate commissions of the peace and courts of quarter sessions
are Canterbury, Deal, Dover, Faversham, Folkestone, Gravesend,
Hythe, Maidstone, Margate, Rochester, Sandwich and Tenterden;
while those of Lydd, New Romney, Ramsgate and Tunbridge
Wells have separate commissions of the peace. The liberty of
Romney Marsh has petty and general sessions. The justices
of the Cinque Ports exercise certain jurisdiction, the non-corporate
members of the Cinque Ports of Dover and Sandwich having
separate commissions of the peace and courts of quarter sessions.
The central criminal court has jurisdiction over certain parishes
adjacent to London. All those civil parishes within the county
of Kent of which any part is within twelve miles of, or of which
no part is more than fifteen miles from, Charing Cross are within
the metropolitan police district. The total number of civil
parishes is 427. Kent is mainly in the diocese of Canterbury,
but has parts in those of Rochester, Southwark and Chichester.
It contains 476 ecclesiastical parishes or districts, wholly or in
part. The county (extra-metropolitan) is divided into 8 parliamentary
divisions, namely, North-western or Dartford, Western
or Sevenoaks, South-western or Tunbridge, Mid or Medway,
North-eastern or Faversham, Southern or Ashford, Eastern or St
Augustine’s and the Isle of Thanet, each returning one member;
while the boroughs of Canterbury, Chatham, Dover, Gravesend,
Hythe, Maidstone and Rochester each return one member.
History.—For the ancient kingdom of Kent see the preceding article. The shire organization of Kent dates from the time of Aethelstan, the name as well as the boundary being that of the ancient kingdom, though at first probably with the addition of the suffix “shire,” the form “Kentshire” occurring in a record of the folkmoot at this date. The inland shire-boundary has varied with the altered course of the Rother. In 1888 the county was diminished by the formation of the county of London.
At the time of the Domesday Survey Kent comprised sixty hundreds, and there was a further division into six lests, probably representing the shires of the ancient kingdom, of which two, Sutton and Aylesford, correspond with the present-day lathes. The remaining four, Borowast Lest, Estre Lest, Limowast Lest and Wiwart Lest, existed at least as early as the 9th century, and were apparently named from their administrative centres, Burgwara (the burg being Canterbury), Eastre, Lymne and Wye, all of which were meeting places of the Kentish Council. The five modern lathes (Aylesford, St Augustine, Scray, Sheppey and Sutton-at-Hone) all existed in the time of Edward I., with the additional lathe of Hedeling, which was absorbed before the next reign in that of St Augustine. The Nomina Villarum of the reign of Edward II. mentions all the sixty-six modern hundreds, more than two-thirds of which were at that date in the hands of the church.
Sheriffs of Kent are mentioned in the time of Æthelred II., and in Saxon times the shiremoot met three times a year on Penenden Heath near Maidstone. After the Conquest the great ecclesiastical landholders claimed exemption from the jurisdiction of the shire, and in 1279 the abbot of Battle claimed to have his own coroner in the hundred of Wye. In the 13th century twelve liberties in Kent claimed to have separate bailiffs. The assizes for the county were held in the reign of Henry III. at Canterbury and Rochester, and also at the Lowey of Tonbridge under a mandate from the Crown as a distinct liberty; afterwards at different intervals at East Greenwich, Dartford, Maidstone, Milton-next-Gravesend and Sevenoaks; from the Restoration to the present day they have been held at Maidstone. The liberty of Romney Marsh has petty and quarter sessions under its charters.
Kent is remarkable as the only English county which comprises two entire bishoprics, Canterbury, the see for East Kent, having been founded in 597, and Rochester, the see for West Kent, in 600. In 1291 the archdeaconry of Canterbury was co-extensive with that diocese and included the deaneries of Westbere, Bridge, Sandwich, Dover, Elham, Lympne, Charing, Sutton, Sittingbourne, Ospringe and Canterbury; the archdeaconry of Rochester, also co-extensive with its diocese, included the deaneries of Rochester, Dartford, Malling and Shoreham. In 1845 the deaneries of Charing, Sittingbourne and Sutton were comprised in the new archdeaconry of Maidstone, which in 1846 received in addition the deaneries of Dartford, Malling and Shoreham from the archdeaconry of Rochester. In 1853 the deaneries of Malling and Charing were subdivided into North and South Malling and East and West Charing. Lympne was subdivided into North and South Lympne in 1857 and Dartford into East and West Dartford in 1864. Gravesend and Cobham deaneries were created in 1862 and Greenwich and Woolwich in 1868, all in the archdeaconry of Rochester. In 1873 East and West Bridge deaneries were created in the archdeaconry of Canterbury, and Croydon in the archdeaconry of Maidstone. In 1889 Tunbridge deanery was created in the archdeaconry of Maidstone. In 1906 the deaneries of East and West Dartford, North and South Malling, Greenwich and Woolwich were abolished, and Shoreham and Tunbridge were transferred from Maidstone to Rochester archdeaconry.
Between the Conquest and the 14th century the earldom of Kent was held successively by Odo, bishop of Bayeux, William of Ypres and Hubert de Burgh (sheriff of the county in the reign of Henry III.), none of whom, however, transmitted the honour, which was bestowed by Edward I. on his youngest son Edmund of Woodstock, and subsequently passed to the families of Holland and Neville (see Kent, Earls and Dukes of). In the Domesday Survey only five lay tenants-in-chief are mentioned, all the chief estates being held by the church, and the fact that the Kentish gentry are less ancient than in some remoter shires is further explained by the constant implantation of new stocks from London. Greenwich is illustrious as the birthplace of Henry VIII., Mary and Elizabeth. Sir Philip Sidney was born at Penshurst, being descended from William de Sidney, chamberlain to Henry II. Bocton Malherbe was the seat of the Wottons, from whom descended Nicholas Wotton, privy councillor to Henry VIII., Edward VI., Mary and Elizabeth. The family of Leiborne of Leiborne Castle, of whom Sir Roger Leiborne took an active part in the barons’ wars, became extinct in the 14th century. Sir Francis Walsingham was born at Chislehurst, where his family had long flourished; Hever Castle was the seat of the Boleyns and the scene of the courtship of Anne Boleyn by Henry VIII. Allington Castle was the birthplace of Sir Thomas Wyat.
Kent, from its proximity to London, has been intimately concerned in every great historical movement which has agitated the country, while its busy industrial population has steadily resisted any infringement of its rights and liberties. The chief events connected with the county under the Norman kings were the capture of Rochester by William Rufus during the rebellion of Odo of Bayeux; the capture of Dover and Leeds castles by Stephen; the murder of Thomas à Becket at Canterbury in 1170; the submission of John to the pope’s legate at Dover in 1213, and the capture of Rochester Castle by the king in the same year. Rochester Castle was in 1216 captured by the dauphin of France, to whom nearly all Kent submitted, and during the wars of Henry III. with his barons was captured by Gilbert de Clare. In the peasants’ rising of 1381 the rebels plundered the archbishop’s palace at Canterbury, and 100,000 Kentishmen gathered round Wat Tyler of Essex. In 1450 Kent took a leading part in Jack Cade’s rebellion; and in 1554 the insurrection of Sir Thomas Wyat began at Maidstone. On the outbreak of the Great Rebellion feeling was much divided, but after capturing Dover Castle the parliament soon subdued the whole county. In 1648, however, a widespread insurrection was organized on behalf of Charles, and was suppressed by Fairfax. The county was among the first to welcome back Charles II. In 1667 the Dutch fleet under De Ruyter advanced up the Medway, levelling the fort at Sheerness and burning the ships at Chatham. In
