Ilchester, Somerset Genealogy

England Somerset



Parish History
Ilchester St Mary Major is an Ancient parish.

The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £7. 16. 10½.; net income, £282; patron, the Bishop of Bath and Wells: the tithes have been commuted for £51. 10., and the glebe comprises about 45 acres. The church, an ancient building with a small octagonal tower, appears to have been rebuilt at a remote period; in the chancel is a monument to the memory of the daughter of William Evers, servant to Henry VIII., Edward VI., and Queen Mary, and serjeant-at-arms to Queen Elizabeth. There is a place of worship for Independents. The almshouses here appear to have been founded in the reign of Henry VI., by Robert Veal, who endowed them with lands producing upwards of £150 per annum, for aged men; they were rebuilt of stone in 1810, by the bailiff and burgesses. A few years since, in removing part of the old wainscoting in the house anciently occupied by the family of Masters, a beautiful specimen of carved ivory was found, inclosed in a wooden frame in two compartments, and representing the Annunciation of the Virgin; and in digging a garden nearly opposite the house, a ring of massy gold was discovered, in which was set a coin of the Emperor Severus, in excellent preservation. Among the monastic institutions existing here, was a nunnery, originally founded about 1220, by William Dacres, as an hospital for poor travellers, and dedicated to the Blessed Trinity, but which, prior to the Reformation, had dwindled into a free chapel. Here was also a convent of preaching friars, in which the celebrated Roger Bacon, who is usually stated to have been a native of Ilchester, but whose birthplace is uncertain, was educated. Mrs. Rowe, author of Devout Exercises of the Heart, and other works, was a native of the parish. Ilchester gives the title of Earl to the family of Fox.

From: 'Ifield - Ilkley', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 603-608. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51060 Date accessed: 13 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
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Census records
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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
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