Old Cleeve, Somerset Genealogy

England Somerset  Somerset Parishes

Parish History
CLEEVE, OLD (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union of Williton, hundred of Williton and Freemanners, W. division of Somerset, 18 miles (N. W.) from Taunton; containing, with the chapelry of Leighland, 1351 inhabitants. The parish adjoins the Bristol Channel, and is remarkable for its craggy rocks, which abound with alabaster; it comprises by measurement 4700 acres, whereof about 2900 are arable, 1500 meadow, pasture, and orchard, 200 woodland, and 100 uninclosed. On the beach a great quantity of kelp is gathered and burnt for the market at Bristol. Lodging-houses have been erected for the accommodation of persons resorting hither for the benefit of sea-bathing. The living is a discharged vicarage, endowed with the rectorial tithes, and valued in the king's books at £7; patron and incumbent, the Rev. W. Newton, whose tithes have been commuted for £600, and whose glebe comprises 3¼ acres, with a glebe-house. At Leighland is a distinct incumbency. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans. A Cistercian abbey, in honour of the Virgin Mary, was founded here in 1188, by William de Romara, the revenue of which, in 1534, was valued at £155. 9. 4½.: there are still some remains, part having been converted into a private mansion, called Cleeve Abbey. At the hamlet of Chapel-Cleeve was a chapel, also dedicated to the Virgin; it stood on a rock, and was the resort of numerous pilgrims.

From: 'Clearwell - Clerkenwell', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 626-632. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50882 Date accessed: 05 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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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
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Web sites
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