For the history of the families in this area the Streatfield family is probably the best studied and documented. The family name (as with most names before modern registration and documentations were commonplace) has a number of spellings from Streatfeild, Streatfield, Stratfield and so on. The 'senior' branch has normally used to Streatfeild spelling. There is a Wikipedia article which will open in a new tab. It lists some of the Streatfeilds of note as well as some information about origins and relationships.
The founder of the family is Robert Streatfeild, of Chiddingstone, Kent, born around 1514 when Henry the VIIth was on the throne and Ann Boleyn lived in Hever Castle nearby, is in the database. The senior branch of the family in late Victorian times did research on the origins of the family and the Wikipedia article has a summary.
The family tree as far as we are concerned starts with John Streatfield born at Charcott in 1740. This branch of the family were no longer in the society side of the family and were mainly agricultural workers around north-west Kent where they intermarried with the Lanes, Staceys and Wansburys.
The key person for our side of the family was Dinah Streatfield, the daughter of John Streatfield and Mary Gates. She married James Lane and had 7 children before he died. This partnership has left a legacy of descendants around the world. On her death in March 1861 it is recorded that she left instructions that all her papers were to be destroyed. However we think that she inherited from her parents a chest of drawers, still in the family, and a painting, a female portrait on copper plate. Dating of these two items suggests they come from around 1720 and so perhaps come from Dinah's grandparents and that the painting is not of her as the family believed. In addition the family has some books which had belonged to her mother, Mary Gates, with handwritten records of births. The destroyed papers could well have been a source of much information. The Jefferies branch of the family is descended from two of her children.
The links below are to edited transcriptions of two memoirs written by members of the Kent families. Both throw light on how the families lived and for whom they worked. The memoirs of John Stacey in particular have some insights of working on farms as a young teenager while the other recounts that even in the early 1800's people travelled for work.
Revised June 2026