West Somerton, Norfolk Genealogy

Guide to West Somerton, Norfolk ancestry, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Parish History
SOMERTON, WEST (St. Mary), a parish, in the East and West Flegg incorporation, hundred of West Flegg, E. division of Norfolk, 8½ miles (N. N. W.) from Yarmouth.

West Somerton St Mary is an Ancient Parish in the Diocese of Norwich.

One of the Round tower churches of the diocese is also the place of birth of Robert Hales, the Norfolk Giant. He was born in the village in 1813 (his baptism is 31 October 1813) and one of nine children. Eventually reaching 7 feet 8 inches (2.34 m) and over 32 stone (450 lb; 200 kg), he worked in the circus world, met Queen Victoria and retired to a pub in London. As his health worsened he returned to Norfolk, where he died in 1865. The memorial inscription reads "Beneath are deposited the mortal remains of Robert Hales the Norfolk Giant whose height was 7 feet 8 inches. He died at Great Yarmouth on 22nd November 1865. Render the dust must be your bed, vain are opposing powers. The wise the strong and crowned heads must lie as low as ours. This tomb is erected by an affectionate widow".

Find Neighboring Parishes
Use England Jurisdictions 1851 Map
 * Type the name of the parish in the search bar
 * Click on the location pin on the map
 * Choose Options from the pop up box
 * Click "List Contiguous Parishes" to find the neighboring parishes

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.
 * Norfolk Record Office Reference PD 587/1-4

Registration Districts

 * 1837-1924 Flegg
 * 1925-1938 Yarmouth and Flegg
 * 1938-1974 Acle
 * Norwich Outer
 * Norwich

Church Records
The Church of England (Anglican) became the official state religion in 1534, with the reigning monarch as its Supreme Governor. Non-Conformist refers to all other religious denominations that are not the official state religion.

Church of England
Due to the increasing access of online records: Hover over the collection's title for more information Other Websites These databases have incomplete parish coverage.
 * Individual parish coverage for databases in this table are inconsistent and should be verified
 * Dates in the following table are approximate
 * Joiner Marriage Index - Norfolk ($)
 * The Genealogist Parish Registers - Norfolk ($)
 * Norfolk Transcription Archive
 * UK Websites for Parish Records - Links to online genealogical records
 * Online Genealogical Index - Links to online genealogical records
 * Tinstaafl Baptism Project 1813 to 1880

Non-Conformists (All other Religions)

 * 1717 England & Wales, Roman Catholics, 1717 at FindMyPast ($), index and images (coverage may vary)
 * 1613-1901 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index (dates may vary by parish)

Poor Law Unions

 * East and West Flegg
 * Peter Higginbotham's website: History of Workhouses
 * Norfolk Poor Law Unions

Probate Records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Norfolk 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

Websites

 * Norfolk: West Somerton GenUKI
 * West Somerton St Mary A Church Near You
 * West Somerton Norfolk Churches