SOLE
(Kent) Co-ordinator's Report -
March 1996
By Bob Sheldon
I have contacted those members of the Society who have a connection with Kent and have asked them to confirm their pedigrees as now recorded in the Kent section of our computer database. In some cases I have been able to add some suggested links with their branches and I hope we can develop this in future months.
We currently have records of seven members with a Kent connection. Each of us have all moved away from the county, and in three cases, also moved away from the country to New Zealand. If there are any members who have a Kent connection and have not heard from me, please accept my apologies and let me know.
Kent has been well populated with SOLEs over the centuries. Out of the current 1600 or so records (which include entries from the IGI and the GRO) for the county, there are some 330 for Thanet. It is interesting to note that six out of the seven current members mentioned above stem from this Kent district.
As a consequence of the importance of Thanet to us, I have been researching the 1891 and 1881 census returns at the PRO in London; the results have been added to our computer records. I was particularly pleased with the 1891 findings where I discovered three additional members of my branch which had not previously been known about, at least not by me. I intend continuing this census research for Thanet covering the earlier years and hope this will be fruitful for our members in due course.
Incidentally, although Thanet is an important area for SOLE research, it is even more important for the SOLLEYs. I estimated that for every one SOLE family reference I found in the 1881 and 1891 censuses, there were seven references to SOLLEY; all of which has been passed on to the SOLLEY coordinators.
Finally, a request for help. In the 1891 census for Thanet, I discovered an unmarried Robert T. Sole living in Margate with his mother and sister. He and his family were not from Kent (he was born in Portsea, Hampshire) but his occupation was given as Minister, Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion. This is a religious sect known to have been connected with the Methodists and is understood to date from around 1750. If any, member has any information about this sect or has known family connections with it, would they please let me know.
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