News & Information

The National Archives (TNA) at Kew is currently closed to the public. While this
continues, it is allowing people to download up to 50 digitised items per 30-day period
free of charge. Usually the price is £3.50 per will. Only 10 items can be downloaded at a
time, but when you have done so you can go back and collect some more (subject to the
above limit).

Scanned PDF images of the office copies of wills proved at the Prerogative Court of
Canterbury are available on this basis from the TNA site. There are over a million wills to
choose from – you can search for those of interest on this page:
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/wills-
1384-1858/

In order to use the service, you have to sign up for a free TNA account (or use your
existing one). Setting up an account is easy. The link to do so is:
https://secure.nationalarchives.gov.uk/login/Register

The Prerogative Court of Canterbury was the senior probate court for England and Wales
until 1858.

We are delighted to announce that Life Member, Brian Austin, has been awarded a BALH Award for Personal Achievement in Local History.  This award is a means of publicly honouring local historians who have made a significant voluntary contribution to the subject in their own areas and beyond, to identify and publicise good practice.

This was to have been awarded at a meeting in London in June which of course has had to be postponed but we would like to publicly acknowledge Brian’s well-deserved achievement in this field. 

The British Association for Local History - BALH - has recognised the value in the enormous amount of work undertaken over the years by Brian as he researched and recorded the people and history of his home town, Weston-super-Mare.  He has generously shared the results by depositing it (including many family trees) in the North Somerset Library, in the Somerset Archives and by being available to give advice by person, through talks or through the post.  The list of some of the documents which he still holds at his home can be seen on our website where his contact details are also given – he doesn’t use a computer.

Our society came into being in 1983 as a result of the enthusiasm for family history which he had engendered in the students in his Adult Education Family History Course for which we are very grateful.

Churchill Methodist and Sandford All Saints monumental inscriptions are now available for society members to view online.

Please note that these are draft documents which required a site visit to review and update illegible inscriptions. This will be done once Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted.

In the meanwhile if you find any errors or can fill in any of the missing/incomplete inscriptions please contact the author of this news article.

I have uploaded a document which covers case studies of some of the inmates of Axbridge Workhouse.  It includes names such as ADDICOTT, ALDERMAN, BAILEY, BROOKS, BURR, COOMBS, DAUNTON, FOGARTY and of course HASE!  It was originally part of my thesis to show how the Workhouse impacted upon the lives of its residents.  Many thanks to those who assisted me back in 1998 when this was put together.  It can be found as the last entry under Axbridge Poor Law Union 
Scroll to the bottom of the page.

The Wrington All Saints Monumental Inscriptions are now available for Society members to view online.

Please not this is a draft document which requires a site visit to review and update illegible inscriptions. This will be done once Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted.

In the meanwhile if you find any errors or can fill any of the missing details please contact the author of this news article.

Two new documents have been uploaded to this site for the benefit of members.  Both can be found by going to Places/Churches on the main menu. 

• Scroll down to Uphill and click on the name of the place - not the church - and you will find a document relating to Uphill - Uphill Primary School Admissions 1900-1926.
• Scroll down to Weston-super-Mare and this time click on Wadham Street Baptist in the list of Churches where you will find Wadham Street Baptist Marriages 1861-1941. This is being compiled from information submitted by members, fellow family historians and newspapers etc.  If you know of any marriage which took place there please let us know. Contact details are listed on the document.

If you have any pictures, information or documents which can be added to any of the places we cover please let us know.