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England Southampton

Guide to Southampton history, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

HISTORY
The area presently identified as Southampton has been settled since pre-history. Following the Roman invasion of Britain in AD 43 and the conquering of the local Britons in 70 AD the fortress settlement of Clausentum was established.

Following the Norman Conquest in 1066, Southampton became the major port of transit between the then capital of England, Winchester, and Normandy.

During the Middle Ages, shipbuilding became an important industry for the town. Henry V's famous warship HMS Grace Dieu was built in Southampton.

CIVIL ALLOCATION
After the establishment of Hampshire County Council, following the act in 1888, Southampton became a county borough within the county of Hampshire, which meant that it had many features of a county, but governance was now shared between the Corporation in Southampton and the new county council.

The city has undergone many changes to its governance over the centuries and once again became administratively independent from Hampshire County as it was made into a unitary authority in a local government reorganization on 1 April 1997, a result of the 1992 Local Government Act.

RELIGION
Parallel to its civic importance, the Diocese of Bristol was founded in 1542,together with the former Abbey of St. Augustine, founded by Robert Fitzharding in 1140. becoming Bristol Cathedral. Traditionally this was equivalent to the town being granted city status, which was granted to Bristol in that year.

CEMETERIES
The following links provide information on the major cemeteries in Bristol:

Arnos Vale Cemetery

Canford Cemetery and Crematorium and Greenbank Cemetery

GENEALOGY RECORDS
Genuki England

Bristol and Bath Genealogy Society

Family Search Bristol Parish Registers

Bristol Community Genealogy

NEWSPAPERS
The Bristol Post This web site includes a huge historical archive, including obituaries.

/7662034.stm Local Bristol Newspapers