Glastonbury, Somerset Genealogy

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

Parish History
GLASTONBURY, a market-town, in the union of Wells, hundred of Glaston-Twelve-Hides, E. division of Somerset, 124 miles (W. by S.) from London. Glastonbury consists of the parishes of St. Benedict and St. John the Baptist, for uniting which an act was obtained in 1834. The livings are distinct, and are perpetual curacies in the patronage of the Bishop of Bath and Wells, the appropriator. There are places of worship for Baptists, Wesleyans, and Independents.

Glastonbury is a very ancient town. It is located in the western regions of the British Isles, and was never conquered by the Romans. William the Conqueror also never really entered this region, and it was left to later kings to finally assimilate it into the kingdom later known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Evidence from timber trackways such as the Sweet Track show that the town has been inhabited since Neolithic times. Glastonbury Lake Village was an Iron Age village, close to the old course of the River Brue and Sharpham Park approximately 2 miles (3 km) west of Glastonbury, that dates back to the Bronze Age

In Pre-Roman times, it was part of a loosely federated group of Celtic or Germanic peoples, spreading from Ireland, through Wales, Scotland, Devon and Cornwall, and continuing through Brittany, Normandy, and modern day Belgium, Holland, and Northern Germany. They were not barbaric in nature, but settled in small villages and towns. It is believed that there were schools and even institutes of higher learning we might call Universities in southwest England, Brittany and Normandy.

Centwine was the first Saxon patron of Glastonbury Abbey, which dominated the town for the next 700 years. One of the most important abbeys in England, it was the site of Edmund Ironside's coronation as King of England in 1016. Many of the oldest surviving buildings in the town, including the Tribunal, George Hotel and Pilgrims' Inn and the Somerset Rural Life Museum, which is based in an old tithe barn, are associated with the abbey. The Church of St John the Baptist dates from the 15th century.

Glastonbury is linked through tradition, legend, and balladry, with 2 major figures in antiquity. While there is no specific evidence for the following, a number of eminent writers have attested to the veracity of this information.

It has been identified as the location of the graves of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. It was alleged that in 1191 the discovery of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere's tomb was made by monks associated with the Abbey. In 1184, a great fire at Glastonbury had destroyed the monastic buildings and all the records, and so this discovery by the monks could not be confirmed, but had been a tradition for hundreds of years previously.

The second legend associated with Glastonbury is attested to by Dr. Vaughn E. Hansen in his book, "Whence Came They", as well as by other major authors.

Joseph of Arimathaea was the Biblical figure who took Jesus' body after the crucifixion. He is reputed to be the uncle of Jesus. This would provide support for the fact that he was able to claim the body, as close living male relatives would have been given that right by Jewish custom.

Legend has it that when Jesus died, Joseph thought it prudent to flee Palestine, and after many travails he came to Britain with a company of followers. When Joseph came to Britain he was granted land at Glastonbury by the local king. The story has prevailed for thousands of years, and among the tin workers in Cornwall, up until the last century, there was a ballad sung that included the words, "Joseph was a tin man..."

Cemeteries (Civil)

 * Glastonbury Cemetery


 * Glastonbury Wells road Cemetery


 * Historic England Beckery Chapel and Cemetery

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

To find the names of the neighboring parishes, use England Jurisdictions 1851 Map. In this site, search for the name of the parish, click on the location "pin", click Options and click List contiguous parishes.

Information about the parish may be found on Somerset Online Parish Clerks. Records are also available at the Somerset Archives and Local Studies.

Non Conformists
Glastonbury is not a large town. However it is known for its pagan and Celtish following and these are particularly active during the solstices and the summer months. The following non Conformist groups are active:


 * Catholic
 * First Christian Church
 * Grace Community Church

There are communities of non Christian religions including the following:


 * Buddhist
 * Muslim
 * Sikh

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.


 * UK BMD: Somerset
 * Forebears Glastonbury
 * Somerset Parish Records

Local Histories

 * Glastonbury History and Guide by Robert Dunning
 * Traditions of Glastonbury by Raymond Kapt
 * Local Histories; Glastonbury
 * History and Archaeology of Glastonbury Abbey

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
Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.


 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain
 * Glastonbury street map
 * Genuki Glastonbury Gazetteer
 * Vision of Britain Glastonbury Gazetteer

Newspapers
Glastonbury itself does not have its own newspaper. Instead locals read the following:


 * Somerset Live

Occupations
Glastonbury has no indigenous industry. It survives primarily on tourism and as a local market town.

It is a center for religious tourism and pilgrimage. As with many towns of similar size, the center is not as thriving as it once was but Glastonbury supports a large number of alternative shops. As part of the redevelopment of the old industrial site, a project has been established by the Glastonbury Community Development Trust to provide support for local unemployed people applying for employment, starting in self-employment and accessing work-related training.

Societies

 * The Historical Society of Glastonbury


 * Somerset and Dorset Family History Society


 * Ancestry.com Somerset

Archives

 * Glastonbury Archive


 * Glastonbury Town Archives

Websites

 * Genuki
 * Glastonbury Town Council
 * Mendip District Council