Whitchurch, Somerset Genealogy

England   Somerset

Parish History
WHITCHURCH, or Felton (St. Gregory), a parish, in the union and hundred of Keynsham, E. division of Somerset, 3 miles (N.) from Pensford; containing 416 inhabitants. The name Filton, or Felton, is derived from a very old town situated to the north-west of the present village, in a forest or chace once called Filwood: a church having been erected on the site of an ancient chapel dedicated to St. White, the inhabitants of Filton gradually removed into its vicinity, upon which the new village and the parish assumed the designation of Whitchurch. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £88; patrons and impropriators, Sir J. Smyth, Bart., and the Laugton family.From: 'Whitacre, Nether - Whitechapel', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 543-551. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51398 Date accessed: 06 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, non conformist 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

Census records
Contributor: Include an overview if there is any unique information, such as the census for X year was destroyed. Add a link to online sites for indexes and/or images. Also add a link to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection.

Poor Law Unions
Keynsham Poor Law Union, Somerset

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.