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Purpose
This project page is intended to assist with collection of information and inter-family connections relating to the Keeble/Kibble/Kebble families who have been resident in the area of Chislehurst and it's surrounds (Bromley District) since at least the late 1700's.
Anyone with any information is welcome to participate! There appears to be a considerable network of Keebles and related surnames in this part of Kent and I would like to build up their tree. Please contact me, or add to this project page!
Chislehurst is now part of Greater London, but was previously in Kent and during the 18th and 19th centuries was a large village or small town,separated from London by farm and park land. From 1837 to 1964 it was part of the Bromley Registration district, and then became part of the London Borough of Bromley - i.e. the district was given a name change.
The Keebles, Kibbles or Kebbles
These three names appear to have been interchangeable - spelling was not a forte - and the same individual from the earlier 1800's may have been named differently on successive birth, marriage and census records! 'Kebble' appears on transcribed parish records before the 1840's but rarely in any official records in this area after then.
My own traceable Keeble ancestry starts with Thomas Kibble later Keeble, born around 1801, whose daughter Harriet (born 1830, and one of 12 children) married a James Keeble (born about 1821 in Bexley, outside the Bromley district but only some 5 km from Chislehurst), son of another James and Harriot Keeble/Kebble, about whom almost nothing is known. Although not all from Chislehurst, these are all people from a small geographical area - and based on comment from later generations they were a close, moderately numerous, bunch who then stayed in Chislehurst and the adjacent villages. In the earlier 1800's the connection was to St Nicholas' Church (Anglican/C of E) in Chislehurst, while later generations were connected to the new Church of the Annunciation (Methodist) alos in Chislehurst. My tree maintains a strong Keeble-Chislehurst connection into the 1900's - often a with connection to these two churches even when individuals were living in other parts of the Bromley district or further into London or Kent.
As a family group they were not landed gentry or anything 'upper crust' - in the 1800's census records they are mostly agricultural labourers, gardeners, house maids etc. By 1890 the widowed Harriet Keeble owns a laundry in Chislehurst, and into the first half of the 20th century they show a strong military and London police force tradition.
To get an idea of possible numbers of connections, from the England Birth, Deaths and Marriage register from 1840 onwards, there are the following Keeble/Kibble/Kebble births in the Bromley District:
Keeble/Kibble/Kebble Births in Bromley District
1840-1849 - 11 (Keeble 2, Kibble 9)
1850-1859 - 13 (Keeble 7, Kibble 6)
1860-1869 - 14 (Keeble 5, Kibble 7, Kebble 2)
1870-1879 - 24 (Keeble 8, Kibble 16)
1880-1889 - 21 (Keeble 10, Kibble 11)
1890-1899 - 14 (Keeble 8, Kibble 6)
1900-1909 - 6 (Keeble 2, Kibble 4)
1910-1919 - 8 (Keeble 4, Kibble 4)
1920-1929 - 11 (Keeble 11)
1930-1939 - 14 (Keeble 8, Kibble 6)
136 births within the Bromley area within 100 years - not accounting for family members who may have moved into London or Kent or elsewhere. It appears that the variant 'Kebble' was not frequently used in the Bromley area after 1840, most families having settled on either 'Keeble' or 'Kibble' as a spelling.
Census records show the following numbers of individuals, with total from the Bromley district and numbers of those actually in Chislehurst:
Bromley District - Keeble
1841 (14), 1851 (9), 1861 (23), 1871 (33), 1881 (37), 1891 (39), 1901 (36), 1911 (31)
Bromley District - Kibble 1841 (21), 1851 (30), 1861 (15), 1871 (24), 1881 (24), 1891 (29), 1901 (38), 1911 (22)
Chislehurst - Keeble 1841 (3), 1851 (4), 1861 (0?), 1871 (19), 1881 (26), 1891 (23), 1901 (20), 1911 (13)
Chislehurst - Kibble 1841 (13), 1851 (13), 1861 (0?), 1871 (0), 1881 (1), 1891 (1), 1901 (0), 1911 (3)
Chislehurst background information
Some background information on Chislehurst can be found on the following sites:
• http://www.ideal-homes.org.uk/bromley/assets/galleries/chislehurst/... • http://www.ideal-homes.org.uk/bromley/assets/galleries/chislehurst/... • http://www.ideal-homes.org.uk/bromley/assets/histories/chiselhurst • http://www.ideal-homes.org.uk/bromley/assets/historical-maps/chisle... • http://www.ideal-homes.org.uk/bromley/assets/galleries/chislehurst/... • http://www.ideal-homes.org.uk/bromley/assets/galleries/chislehurst/... • http://www.chislehurst-society.org.uk/Pages/About/ImagesofChislehur... • http://www.chislehurst-society.org.uk/Pages/About/AboutChislehurst....