Portishead, Somerset Family History Guide
Portishead is an Ancient Parish in the county of Somerset.
Other places in the parish include: North Weston.
Alternative names: Portshead, Posset
Parish church:
Parish registers begin:
- Parish registers: 1554
- Bishop’s Transcripts: 1607
Nonconformists include: Independent/Congregational, Society of Friends/Quaker, and Wesleyan Methodist.
Table of Contents
Adjacent Parishes
Parish History
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
PORTISHEAD, or Portshead popularly Posset a village and a parish in Bedminster district, Somerset. The village stands on the Severn’s estuary, under wooded hills, at the end of Wans dyke, and at the terminus of the Bristol and Portishead railway, opposite King’s Road, 3¼ miles WSW of the mouth of the river Avon, and 9 W by N of Bristol; is supposed to have been anciently the harbour of Portbury; is now a watering-place, with a gay assemblage of villas; commands a charming view over the Severn’s estuary to the coast and mountains of Wales; and has a post-office under Clevedon, a railway-station, a handsome hotel, and marine baths. A steamer plies daily, in summer, to Bristol: and magnificent plans have been entertained for forming a series of docks, on a scale suitable for ocean steamers. The parish contains also the hamlet of North-Weston; and comprises 2,093 acres of land, and 295 of water. Real property, £7, 771. Pop.in 1851, 1,084; in 1861, 1, 201. Houses, 250. A fort was formerly at P. Point; was taken from the royalists, in 1645, by Fairfax; and has left some remains. ancient camp was in the parish, 1, 200 feet by 600; and also has left some remains. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Bath and Wells. Value, £729. Patron, the Rev. F. Norman. The church is early English; and consists of nave, aisle, and chancel, with a fine tower. There are chapels for Independents, Quakers, and Wesleyans,, a national school, and charities £5.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].
Parish Records
Somerset Archives & Family History Groups
Weston-super-Mare & District FHS
Somerset Online Parish Clerk Project
Portbury Hundred Church Records
Newspaper Archives
Bath Chronicle Newspaper 1770-1800
Forums
Somerset
Roy Parkhouse’s indexed parish register transcriptions
Somerset Pages Parish Register Transcripts
West Somerset Parish Register Transcriptions
Prisoners for Trial at Assizes 1810-1905
Prisoners in Ilchester Gaol 1821-44
Somerset Quarter Sessions 1625-1639
Visitations of Somerset 1531 & 1573
Somerset Historical Directories
Somerset Workhouse Admissions and Discharges
Abstracts of Somersetshire Wills Vol.1
Abstracts of Somersetshire Wills Vol.2
Abstracts of Somersetshire Wills Vol.3
Abstracts of Somersetshire Wills Vol.4
Abstracts of Somersetshire Wills Vol.5
Abstracts of Somersetshire Wills Vol.6
Somerset Medieval Wills 1501-1530
Records for England
Births and Baptism Records
England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975
Great Britain, Births and Baptisms, 1571-1977
England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008
United Kingdom, Maritime Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1787-1933
Marriage Records
Great Britain Marriages, 1797-1988
England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005
United Kingdom, Maritime Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1787-1933
Death Records
England Death Records, 1998-2015
England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991
Great Britain Deaths and Burials, 1778-1988
England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007
United Kingdom, Maritime Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1787-1933
England and Wales, National Index of Wills and Administrations, 1858-1957
England and Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1640-1660
Non-Conformist Records
England and Wales Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8), 1588-1977
Census
England and Wales Census, 1841
England and Wales Census, 1851
England and Wales Census, 1861
England and Wales Census, 1871
England and Wales Census, 1881
England and Wales Census, 1891
England and Wales Census, 1901
England and Wales Census, 1911
Occupations
United Kingdom, Merchant Navy Seamen Records, 1835-1941
War and Conflict
Great Britain, War Office Registers, 1772-1935
United Kingdom, Chelsea Pensioners’ Service Records, 1760-1913
United Kingdom, Royal Hospital Chelsea: Discharge Documents of Pensioners 1760-1887 (WO 122)
United Kingdom, Maritime Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1787-1933
United Kingdom, Militia Service Records, 1806-1915
United Kingdom, World War I Service Records, 1914-1920
United Kingdom, World War I Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps Records, 1917-1920
Newspaper Archives
British Newspaper Archive, Family Notices
British Newspaper Archives, Obituaries
Maps
Old maps of Britain and Europe from A Vision of Britain Through Time
Administration
- County: Somerset
- Civil Registration District: Bedminster
- Probate Court: Court of the Bishop of Bath and Wells (Episcopal Consistory)
- Diocese: Bath and Wells
- Rural Deanery: Pre-1847 – Redcliffe and Bedminster, Post-1846 – Chew
- Poor Law Union: Bedminster
- Hundred: Portbury
- Province: Canterbury