Portishead, Somerset Genealogy

England Somerset  Somerset Parishes

Parish History
PORTISHEAD (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Bedminster, hundred of Portbury, E. division of Somerset, 8½ miles (W. N. W.) from Bristol; containing, with the hamlet of North Weston, 1079 inhabitants. This parish is bounded on the north by the Bristol Channel, and at Portishead Point is a battery for the defence of King's-road, where ships-of-war on the station usually anchor. The Britons, Romans, and Danes successively occupied the district. Here is an ancient camp, the form of which approaches an irregular rhomboid, its longer diameter being 400, and its shorter about 200, yards; it was converted to a similar purpose during the great civil war, and according to the parliamentary records of that period, the royalists posted at Portishead surrendered to Sir Thomas Fairfax, who had been sent against them. The ancient boundary called Wansdyke terminates here. The parish comprises about 2000 acres; coal is supposed to exist, and limestone, firestone, and flagstone are found. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £32. 15. 7½., and in the gift of J. Adam Gordon, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £628. 12., and the glebe comprises 30 acres. The church is an ancient structure, with a fine tower. There are places of worship for Independents, Wesleyans, and the Society of Friends.

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.

Church records
Contributor: Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts and other types of church records, such as parish chest records. Add the contact information for the office holding the original records. Add links to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Somerset Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

Maps and Gazetteers
Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.


 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
Contributor: add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.