Bruton Somerset Family History Guide

Bruton is an Ancient Parish and a market town in the county of Somerset.

Other places in the parish include: Doscove and Discove.

Parish church:

Parish registers begin: 1554

Nonconformists include: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Independent/Congregational, and Wesleyan Methodist.

Table of Contents

Adjacent Parishes

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

BRUTON, a small town, a parish, a subdistrict, and a hundred in Somerset. The town stands on the river Brue, adjacent to the East Somerset railway, among a cluster of hills, 10½ miles SSW of Frome. It is a place of considerable antiquity. A Benedictine monastery was founded at it, in 1005, by Algar, Earl of Cornwall; changed into a priory of black canons, in 1142, by William de Mohun, Earl of Somerset; raised to the dignity of an Abbey, in the time of Henry VIII., at the instance of the then prior, who was coadjutor to the Bishop of Bath and Wells; and given, at the dissolution, to Sir Maurice Berkeley.

The town consists of three streets; and has a post office under Bath, a railway station, a banking office, an interesting market cross, a town hall, a parish church, an Independent chapel, a Wesleyan chapel, a free grammar school, and an hospital. The market cross is an ancient hexagonal structure resting on pillars, and elegantly sculptured. The church is later English and large; has two quadrangular towers, one at the west end, the other at the north aisle, the former richly ornamented; and contains a fine tomb of Sir Maurice Berkeley and his two wives, and some other good monuments. The parsonage, adjoining the church, was built in 1822 from the ruins of the Abbey. The Independent chapel was repaired in 1862. The grammar school was founded, in the time of Edward VI., by Fitz-James, bishop of London; has £350 a year from endowment; and holds four exhibitions at the universities. The hospital was founded in 1618, by Hugh Saxey, said to have been a waiter in an inn of the town; has an income of £1,313 from endowment; gives support to aged men and women; and is a handsome quadrangular Tudor structure. A weekly market is held on Saturday; and fairs on 23 April and 17 Sept. Brewing and manufactures of silk are carried on. Dampier, the navigator, was a native.

The parish includes also the tythings of Discover and Redlynch, and the chapelry of Wyke-Champflower. Acres, 3,631. Real property, £11,284. Pop., 2,232. Houses, 448. The property is subdivided. The manor belongs to Sir H. H. Hoare, Bart. Redlynch Park is a seat of the Earl of Ilchester. A Roman pavement was found, in 1711, at Discove. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Bath and Wells. Value, £168. Patron, Sir H. A. Hoare, Bart. The p. curacies of Redlynch and Wyke-Champflower are separate benefices.-The subdistrict contains five parishes and two extra-parochial tracts; and is in the district of Wincanton. Acres 11,962. Pop., 3,968. Houses, 822.-The hundred contains eight parishes. Acres, 12,643. Pop., 4,209. Houses, 882.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].

Bankrupts

Below is a list of people that were declared bankrupt between 1820 and 1843 extracted from The Bankrupt Directory; George Elwick; London; Simpkin, Marshall and Co.; 1843.

Ackerman John, Bruton, Somersetshire, draper, June 23, 1840.

Ackerman John, Bruton, Somersetshire, woollendraper, Oct. 12, 1830.

Barry William, Bruton, Somersetshire, banker, March 11, 1826.

Butler Charles Robert, Bruton, Somersetshire, apothecary, July 24, 1832.

Parish Registers

Marriages Out of Parish

Details	Place of Marriage
John Harris, of Bruton, & Faith Doggerell 10 Aug. 1656	Mere Wiltshire
John Palm[e]r, of p. Bruton, Somerset, & Elizabeth Underwood, of M. 3 Oct. 1714	Mere Wiltshire
Thomas Weston, of M., & Grace Sexton, of Bruton 23 May 1723	Mere Wiltshire