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England Salisbury (city)

Guide to Salisbury (city) history, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.



HISTORY
The correct name for the city is SARUM, either old Sarum for the historic city, or New Sarum that was the city's official name until 2005. The Roman name Sorviodunum was a Latinised form of the Celtic name as well.

The hilltop at Old Sarum lies near the Neolithic sites of Stonehenge and Avebury and shows some signs of early settlement. It commanded a salient between the River Bourne and the Hampshire Avon near a crossroads of several early trade routes. During the Iron Age, a hill fort (oppidum) was constructed around it sometime between 600 and 300 BC.

Preferring settlements in bottom lands like nearby Wilton, the Saxons largely ignored Old Sarum until the Viking invasions led King Alfred to restore its fortifications.

Following the Norman invasion, a motte-and-bailey castle was constructed by 1070. The castle was held directly by the Norman kings; its castellan was generally also the sheriff of Wiltshire.

Osmund, a relative of William the Conqueror, was responsible for the codification of the "Sarum Rite", as well as the work that resulted in the Domesday book, which was probably presented to William at Old Sarum.

The original cathedral was consecrated on 5 April 1092 but suffered extensive damage in a storm, traditionally said to have occurred only five days later. Bishop Roger refurbished and expanded Old Sarum's cathedral in the 1110s.

The present Cathedral building in New Sarum—the present Salisbury Cathedral—began in 1221. The site was supposedly established by shooting an arrow from Old Sarum, although this is certainly a legend: the distance is over 3 km (1.9 mi). The main body was completed in only 38 years. (The 123 m or 404 ft tall spire, the tallest in the UK, was built later.) This cathedral is considered one of the most beautiful in all of Europe. New Sarum was made a city by a charter from King Henry III in 1227 and, by the 14th century, was the largest settlement in Wiltshire.

In the 12th., 13th., and 14th. centuries, through to the early 15th. century, Salisbury was a major center of the woolen industry. However in about 1450 a number of riots broke out in Salisbury probably due to its declining fortunes in the cloth industry.

Salisbury was the site chosen to assemble James II's forces to resist the Glorious Revolution in the late 1600's. James II failed in this attempt, and Salisbury became, thereafter, only a major market town for the Wiltshire region.

LOCATION
Dover is about 75 miles south east from London.

It is about 21 miles across the English Channel from the area of Calais in France, making it the closest UK city to France. While even on a clear day it is difficult to see the French coast, it is normally quite possible to see the Dover White Cliffs from France.

The site of its original settlement lies in the valley of the River Dour, making it an ideal place for a port, sheltered from the prevailing south-westerly winds. This led to the silting up of the river mouth by the action of long-shore drift from the English Channel; the town was then forced into making artificial breakwaters to keep the port in being. These breakwaters have been extended and adapted so that the port lies almost entirely on reclaimed land.

The higher land on either side of the valley – the Western Heights and the eastern high point on which Dover Castle stands – has been adapted to perform the function of protection against invaders.

Dover has an oceanic climate (Koppen classification Cfb) similar to the rest of the United Kingdom with mild temperatures year-round and a light amount of rainfall each month.

RELIGION
In Medieval times, and due to its proximity to the European Continent, Dover became one of the four most influential towns in Kent for religious activity, with Canterbury being the principal city.

This period saw much activity in the founding of churches, hospitals and other religious buildings.

St Edmund's Chapel was consecrated in 1253 as a chapel of rest. A new Priory was founded on another site, also dedicated to St. Martin; and a college for secular priests was established. hospitals were built for the relief of pilgrims: there were five in Dover, including Maison Dieu. Dover became the "de facto" port of embarkation from the UK for all major activities during the period of the pilgrimages, as well as the Crusades to reclaim Jerusalem from the infidels.

Today, Dover has no longer any real significance in the religious tapestry of England.

ECONOMY
Dover's economy has always been tied to its value as a port city. The English Channel, at this point, is the busiest shipping lane in the world. Most of the world's goods traveling between the Far East and Europe pass through this narrow stretch of water. The Dover Strait Traffic Separation Scheme allots ships separate lanes when passing through the Strait. The Scheme is controlled by the Channel Navigation Information Service based at Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Center Dover.

The port of Dover is also used for some cruise ship lines.

The number of UK to the continent ferries have been reduced in recent years, due to the construction of the "CHUNNEL" connecting England and France by railway. However there are still more than 50 ferry sailings per day between Dover and the continent.

Due to the natural beauty of the landscape in both directions (east and west) from Dover, the town has a thriving vacation business. Dover has two long distance footpaths: the Saxon Shore Way and the North Downs Way. Two National Cycle Network routes begin their journey at the town.

CIVIL REGISTRATION
Birth, marriages and deaths records have been kept by government since July 1837 to the present day. Prior to that, local parishes of the Church of England, and local branches of other faiths were the only repositories of this information. There are several locations for BMD records for Dover. These follow:


 * UK records


 * Kent county parish records


 * Kent BMD records

CENSUS RECORDS
Census records for Dover can be found using the following links:


 * UK census records


 * My Heritage census records

PROBATE RECORDS
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by several locations for Gloucester. Please follow the links below:


 * Kent county wills


 * Ancestry.com wills


 * UK Govt wills

CEMETERIES AND GRAVES
The links to information on cemeteries for Dover follow:


 * Ancestry.com Dover cemeteries


 * Dover area cemeteries


 * CWGC Dover cemeteries


 * Findagrave, Kent and Dover


 * Kent county cemeteries

GENEALOGY SOCIETIES AND GENEALOGY

 * Kent Family History Society


 * Genuki for Kent


 * Kent county FHE information


 * Genealogy of the UK, Kent