Ash Priors, Somerset Genealogy

England Somerset  Somerset Parishes

Parish History
ASH-PRIORS, a parish in Taunton district, Somerset; near Bishops-Lydeard r. station, and 6 miles NW of Taunton.-Post Town, Bishops-Lydeard under Taunton.

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
Church records are the main source for identifying people prior to 1837 when civil registration began. It is also a main source after 1837 in conjunction with civil registration. The Church of England was formed in 1536, after King Henry VIII severed all ties to the church in Rome. Each local parish was responsible to register all marriages, baptisms and burials starting in 1538.

parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

Church records on microfilm
Bishops Transcripts



Parish Register



Church Vital Records



Churchwarden Records



Poor law Records
The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 placed the responsibility for the care of the poor in England and Wales, from 1834 onward, on Poor Law Unions. The Poor Law Unions and their workhouses took over this responsibility from the Church of England parishes. Prior to 1834 a few parishes or collections of parishes had established a few workhouses to help relieve the poor and provide indoor relief in the form of food, clothes and shelter.



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.

School Records
School records are a primary source for genealogists. The admission registers of schools administered by local authorities, perhaps from the 1870s but more frequently from 1902, usually show under the date of entry, the child's name and address and his or her date of birth. Some registers, but not all, also show the name and occupation of the parent or guardian, the name of the previous school attended and the reason for leaving.



Tax Records
In 1692 the British government instituted another innovative scheme to increase revenue which came to be known as the land tax.



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