Somerset, England Genealogy

England Somerset

Guide to Somerset ancestry, family history and genealogy parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

County Information
“SOMERSET, or Somersetshire, a maritime county; bounded on the NW, by the Bristol channel; on the N, by Gloucestershire; on the E, by Wiltshire(Wilts); on the SE, by Dorset; on the S, by Dorset and Devon; on the W, by Devon.

Somerset is a rural county with rolling hills such as Blackdowns,Mendips and Quantocks. It is also has a national park (Exmoor National park). Somersets greatest length is 71 miles; its greatest breadth is 40 miles... and its area is 1,047,220 acres. From the list of counties of England, Somerset is ranked 22nd for population and 7th for total area.

There have been many People who have settled in Somerset, these include Romans and Anglo-Saxons. The county remained part of the Roman empire until around AD 409. The Roman baths gave there name to the city of Bath.

Parishes
Use an interactive mapto find jurisdictions for each parish in Somerset.

Civil Registration Districts
List of Somerset Civil Registration Districts

Websites

 * Somerset Resources and help pages on RootsChat Somerset Resources and help pages. (Free).
 * http://groups.yahoo.com/group/somersetfamilyhistory/ -- This site is for the discussion and research of family history in the County of Somerset, England. Full transcripts of parish registers, and poor laws are available on its 40 affiliated sites. Free membership. Registration required.
 * myweb.tiscali.co.uk/ian.sage/PR/pr_index.html -- A list of all Somerset parishes that have online transcripts of parish registers
 * wsom-opc.org.uk/ -- The main website for the Somerset Online Parish Clerk project
 * www.somerset.gov.uk/archives/ -- The Somerset Country Record Office
 * freereg.rootsweb.com/ -- A free service offering transcripts of parish registers in Somerset (incomplete but useful)
 * www.CrewkerneOPC.com -- Website for online parish clerk of the market town of Crewkerne
 * Before 1858, every town and parish in Somerset was under the probate jurisdiction of several ecclesiastical courts. For more about probate records and see a list of Somerset towns and parishes and the probate courts that had jurisdiction over them, see Somerset Probate Records.
 * To view a further list of web sites and/or web pages for Somershire and many of its parishes, visit FHLFavorites.info.
 * Somersetshire Parishes: A Handbook of Historical Reference to All Places in the County by Arthur L. Humphreys provides an overview of what records survive for each parish.