Citizenship in Kingston: Stories from the Archives

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Kingston's first charter was granted by King John

This is an online collection of historic documents from the archives of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames.  There are a huge number of documents dating back 800 years and these are just a few of them.  They give us glimpses of what it was like to be a citizen in Kingston in past centuries.

What is a citizen?

A person who is a member of a particular country and who has rights because of being born there or because of being given rights, or a person who lives in a particular town or country (Cambridge Dictionary online).  

Citizens have rights but they also have responsibilities, for example obeying laws,  paying taxes, respecting others.  These rights and responsibilities differed at different times and may not always have been fair to all.  

What do the archives tell us?

Kingston' s archives are important because they were written at the time events took place. They tell us about local issues in the past such as local government, crime and punishment, education, poverty and health, trade and beliefs.  They reveal stories about ordinary people.  We can use them to compare life in the past with life now.  We can form our own judgements based on their evidence.

Important documents were written on parchment (animal skin) because it lasted longer; others were written on hand made paper.  Sometimes the language used was Latin, sometimes English.  The handwriting looks very different from modern writing and may be difficult to understand at first and the spelling is not standard, but you will soon get used to it.  In many cases we are providing transcripts to help you.  

Follow the links at the bottom of the page to find out more.

Tell us what you think

The documents that we have digitised for you are only a small sample of the kinds of records held in the Borough's archives.  To help us improve these pages, we would welcome your comments.  Please email us on king.mus@rbk.kingston.gov.uk

If we have inspired you to look at more original documents, you can see them in our Local History Room by appointment at:
North Kingston Centre
Richmond Road
Kingston upon Thames
KT2 5PE

Telephone: 020 8547 6735
Email: local.history@rbk.kingston.gov.uk.

These web pages have been put together with the help of a grant under the Archives Awareness Month small grants programme, 2003.