Portbury, Somerset Genealogy

England Somerset  Somerset Parishes

Parish History
PORTBURY (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Bedminster, hundred of Portbury, E. division of Somerset, 6 miles (W. by N.) from Bristol; containing, with the tythings of Abbot's, Caswell, Clapton'sWick, Court, Cross, Failand, Hamgreen, Happerton, Honor, Peter's, Sheepway, Watchhouse, and Woolcombe, 647 inhabitants. This place, which gives name to the hundred, was occupied by the Romans, as is evident from the discovery of foundations, and from traces of a Roman road being still visible through the parish to the sea at Portishead, whence was a passage to Caerleon, anciently Isca Silurum. Here was subsequently a cell to the Augustine priory of Breamore, Hants. The parish is situated a short distance south of the navigable river Avon, and is intersected by the road between Bristol and Portishead. An act for the construction of a pier here, and the formation of a railway to Bristol, was passed in 1846; the railway to be eight miles in length, independently of a branch of nearly a mile. Stone is quarried for building and roadmaking. The living is a discharged vicarage, with that of Tickenham annexed, valued in the king's books at £10. 11. 3.; net income, £379; patron, the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol; impropriator, J. Adam Gordon, Esq.: there are a few acres of glebe. The church is a plain edifice.From: 'Poolton - Portishead', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 593-596. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51219 Date accessed: 08 March 2011.

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.