Family History & Church Records - Wiveliscombe and the Hills Parishes

Wiveliscombe and the Hills Anglican parishes

Family/Church Record Research

All our old registers are stored in Somerset County Council Archive & Record office - and they can be viewed there [see link below].

Since October, 2005, we have been recording extracts from Church Registers on this website. See the separate page: Extracts of current Church Registers

As a start to the Church records, you might consider 'Sancti Stones', the first comprehensive survey of the memorials in the ancient and historic Parish of Wiveliscombe ever to be undertaken. Over 2,000 entries, covering all denominations, are abundantly cross-referenced for easy study, with burial plot plans, statistical analyses and an alphabetical index. These are supported by condensed narrative histories of the Parish, its ecclesiastical buildings, burial grounds and War Memorials. Attractively printed and bound, this quality soft-covered book, illustrated with 80 drawings, plans and photographs, is a unique source of reference for social and military researchers. The genealogical information in this commemoration of nearly 200 years of parish history will be of particular interest to those with Wiveliscombe and West Country connections.

Published in 2001 and written by Susan Farrington. E-mail Sue Farrington

Genealogy / Local History in Somerset / Helpful link websites :

Index of Transcripts and extracts from the Parish Register of St. Andrew's
A personal summary of St Andrew's records transcribled by David Cheek. Covers period 1558 to 1850.

The Society of Genealogists
The Society's site includes useful online indexes and leaflets.

Federation of Family History Societies
This site includes lots of information and details of projects and publications.

British Association for Local History
The Association's site includes details of available resources and publications.

Local History Magazine
This website includes a directory of many Local History Societies.

Somerset County Council Archive and Record Service

Find a Church
Links to useful genealogy websites.

Somerset & Dorset Family History Society
The society aims to provide assistance to all those researching their families in the two counties, no matter where they live. The Society is affiliated to the Federation of Family History Societies

The Federation of Family History Societies
National buriel index for England & Wales.

Free BMD
FreeBMD is an ongoing project, the aim of which is to transcribe the Civil Registration index of births, marriages and deaths for England and Wales, and to provide free Internet access to the transcribed records

Somerset County Council - Registration Services
The Council has a record of all births, marriages and deaths in Somerset since 1837

The UK National Archives at Kew
Founded in 2003, it joined together the old Public Record Office and the Historical Manuscripts Commission. With more than 1,000 years of British history [from the Doomsday book onwards], a good site to try.

The British 1901 census
This provides a unique 'snapshot' of ancestors at the turn of the C20.

The UK location advisor for official sites
Set up by official bodies to help genealogists and guide them to the right government records.

The FreeCEN census project
A free source

A non-profit resource sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
It has one of the largest searchable databases of records in the world and is completely free to use, although it can be a bit 'hit and miss'.

The GENUKI site
A free source; the GENUKI virtual reference library

Genes Reunited
Provides a service that works a bit like Friends Reunited - but for family rather than friends.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Contains details of 1.7m services personnel who died in both World Wars.

The India Office
Has details of 300,000 births, baptisms, marriages and deaths of British and Europeans who lived there between 1600 and 1949.

Cyndi's List
A good general source for genealogy; it has hundreds of links, including nearly 10,000 websites created by individuals.

Genealogy Search Basics
This video explains some of the techniques for finding information when researching family history. Using the correct search terms with Google can improve the quality of results.

A book on the history of Wiveliscombe
Contains lots of references to local people and events, dating back to the earliest development of the town