This section lists county associations of Somerset, providing details about each one and what resources and publications they offer.
Bristol and Avon Family History Society
This Society is listed under Gloucestershire
Somerset and Dorset Family History Society
Somerset and Dorset Family History Society is run by volunteers and helps people who wish to conduct research into their ancestors, especially in Somerset and Dorset.
Information
Society Databases
Some databases of Burial/Cremation records for Somerset and Dorset are accessible on the site, which include:
- Dorset Burials: Dorset Parish Churches (Abbotsbury to Broadwindsor, East Stoke-Lydlinch)
- Somerset Burials: Bath Jewish Cemetery (Combe Down), Castle Cary (Zion Chapel), Highbridge Cemetery, Keynsham (Baptist Chapel), Mid Lambrook (Independent) and Taunton (Baptist Chapel)
- Weymouth Crematorium: 1939-1997 (Gap from 1942-1962)
You have to be a member of the society to access these databases.
Society Family History Centre
Broadway House Family History Centre is situated in Yeovil Town Centre, a few minutes’ walk from cafes, restaurants and hotels.
The Centre is also close to the central bus station, buses running frequently between Sherborne and other towns and villages in Somerset. If you are travelling to the Centre by train, both Yeovil Junction Station (services between London and Exeter) and Yeovil Pen Mill Station (services between Bristol to Weymouth) are short bus rides away from the Centre.
If travelling by car, there are many car parks in Yeovil, a map of which is accessible on their site.
Centre Resources
Many resources are available in the Centre, which include:
- Census Indexes
- Family Trees
- Genealogical Reference Books
- Local History Books
- Maps
- Monumental Inscriptions
- Parish Register Transcripts
- Pedigrees
- SDFHS Indexes
- Village Histories
Six computers offering access to many sites including Ancestry and Findmypast are also accessible in the Centre.
Society Research Service
If you are unable to visit the Centre in person, for payment of a fee, members of the Society’s Research Team are willing to conduct research on your behalf.
Society Publications
Many publications are available for sale, which include:
- 40 Years of the Greenwood Tree, 1975-2015 CD
- 10000 Fallen on Dorset War Memorials
- Back Issues of their Journal The Greenwood Tree 1975-2015
- Burial Indexes
- Castleton, Reconstructing the Victorian Parish of (“Voices That Be Gone”)
- Census Indexes
- Chancellors Farm Accounts 1766-1767
- Exchequer Depositions by Commission 1565-1610 for Somerset
- Exchequer Special Commissions of Inquiry 1560-1846 fore Somerset and Dorset
- Island and Royal Manor of Portland Historic Sources CD
- Local History Books
- Maps
- Marriage Indexes
- Methodist Centenary Rolls
- Militia Lists
- Parish Register Transcripts
- Probate Indexes
- Reference Books
- Remembering a Generation: the World War One Servicemen of West and Middle Chinnock
- Rural Blacksmiths in Parish Life 1500-1900
- Settlements and Removals in Quarter Sessions 1607-1700
- Seventeenth Century Somerset Freeholders Lists
- Sherborne (A History of Long Street)
- Somerset Freeholds List 1733
- Somerset War Memorials
- Subsidy Returns
- Wellington, Somerset, Churchwardens’ Accounts 1611-1637, 1656-1683
- Wills Indexes
Website:
http://www.sdfhs.org
Weston-Super-Mare and District Family History Society
Founded in 1983, the Society was formed by family history class students and now has over 200 members.
The association aims to promote and encourage interest in family history and genealogy, specifically in Weston-Super-Mare and the surrounding parishes making up North Somerset. The area also includes parishes from the Axbridge Registration District.
Contact Information
The Secretary for WsMFHS
125 Totterdown Road
Weston Super Mare
Somerset
BS23 4LW
Society Databases
Some databases are accessible, which incorporate:
- Axbridge Union Workhouse Admissions 25th July 1880 – 31st October 1881
- Axbridge Union Workhouse Discharges 29th April 1880 – 20th December 1881
- Axbridge Workhouse Masters and Matrons
- Baptisms, Births and Deaths in Axbridge Workhouse
- Census Returns of Axbridge Union Workhouse
- Memorial Inscriptions
- Parish Register Transcripts
- Wick St Lawrence School Admission Register 1875-1912
- Wick St Lawrence School Admission Register Index 1875-1946
These databases are only accessible to members of the Society.
Society Forum
A forum is accessible on the site, but you have to be a member to post comments.
Society Publications
Many publications are available for sale, which include:
- Cemetery Records
- Census Indexes
- Clevedon Post Office Directory
- Monumental Inscriptions
- Nailsea Village News
- Parish Register Transcriptions
- Villages at War
Members’ Interests
A list of surnames currently being researched by members is accessible on their site.
Website:
http://www.wsmfhs.org.uk