Wraxall, Somerset Genealogy

England   Somerset

Parish History
WRAXALL (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Bedminster, hundred of Portbury, E. division of Somerset, 6½ miles (W. by S.) from Bristol; containing, with the tything of Failand, 986 inhabitants. It comprises 3773a. 2r. 20p.; the surface is elevated, and commands a fine view of the Bristol Channel, with the hills of Monmouthshire. The road from Bristol to Clevedon passes through the parish; and the Bristol and Exeter railway, on which is a station within 2 miles, skirts it on the south. A fair is held at the festival of Allhallows, continuing six days. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £49. 11. 8., and in the gift of the Rev. James Vaughan: the tithes have been commuted for £520; the glebe comprises 70 acres. The church is a handsome structure in the later English style. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans. A school adjoining the churchyard was erected by Richard Vaughan, who endowed it with £300, the interest of which, together with about £6 a year bequeathed by Elizabeth Martindale, is applied in teaching children. On Leigh down, about a mile from Failand's Inn, in the parish, is an irregular intrenchment, and near it another of a circular form, called the Old Fort. On the same down, upon opening a tumulus in 1815, several hundred coins of the Lower Empire were discovered, with fragments of urns; and many other indications of the residence of the Romans have been observed in the neighbourhood.From: 'Wothersome - Wrayton', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 692-695. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51432 Date accessed: 08 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
Contributor: Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts, non conformist and other types of church records, such as parish chest records. Add the contact information for the office holding the original records. Add links to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection

Census records
Contributor: Include an overview if there is any unique information, such as the census for X year was destroyed. Add a link to online sites for indexes and/or images. Also add a link to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection.

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

Web sites
Contributor: Add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.