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General => The Common Room => Topic started by: Dav on Saturday 01 October 11 05:15 BST (UK)
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hello I am planning to do some research in Bristol but I can't work out whether Bristol is in Gloucestershire or Somersetshire.
I would be very grateful if some one could clear this up for me.
Thanks
Dav
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What period is your research going to cover as Bristol is currently in the County of Avon and was in Gloucestershire 1700's & 1800's I am unsure as to the exact date of changes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avon_(county)
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I can't work out whether Bristol is in Gloucestershire or Somersetshire
Both, it all depends on which area of Bristol - and at one time it was the City & County of Bristol!
Until you get familiar with the area, I would be inclined to leave out the county :)
Linda
PS for Bilge - Avon ceased to exist a few years ago! Although the name is still used in various administrative bodies.
I live in Thornbury, which was in Gloucestershire, then Avon and now South Gloucestershire - and the postal town is Bristol. Confused? - so am I ::)
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Danuslave, thanks for putting me right ;D
Back to the books to get my head around that lot. ???
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I have a tiny family in the area and they pop up with different counties
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Hi Bilge
I shouldn't bother. By the time you've got it sorted out, 'they' will have changed it again!
Linda
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Generally speaking, for many years, any part of Bristol south of the River Avon was in Somerset (mainly Bedminster), and that north of the river was in Gloucestershire.
So it rather depends on where your family lived? ;D
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From Bristol Record Office:
"Bristol became a county by Charter of Edward III on 8 August 1373 and remained so until 1 April 1974. The records of Bristol are kept here at Bristol Record Office. Over the years there were various city boundary extensions; for example Bedminster which originally lay in Somerset came to be included within Bristol in 1835 and a similar extension took in Knowle and Totterdown in 1897. Therefore if you wanted, for example, a Register of Electors for Knowle for 1880 it would be at Somerset but for 1920 it would be at Bristol. Somerset Heritage Centre Brunel Way Langford Mead Norton Fitzwarren Taunton TA2 6SF
There is a similar situation on the Gloucestershire side of the city:
Westbury-on-Trym, for example, was included in Bristol by a boundary extension of 1904 so once again a Register of Electors for, say, 1900, would be at Gloucester Archives, Clarence Row, Alvin Street, Gloucester, Gloucs. GL1 3DW. Whereas a one for 1930 would be here at Bristol Record Office. Although this is all quite logical, I do understand how confusing it can seem to be when you are new to Family History! To determine which repository you need it is important to state the *type* of record, *date* and *place* that you want when you pose your question otherwise there is a chance of misunderstandings. For family history often church records need to be used; the churches had their own boundaries, Circuits for the Methodist church, Dioceses and Deaneries for the Church of England. The various Circuit records deposited here in Bristol Record Office include those for places in Somerset such as Cheddar or Weston-super-Mare. The Church of England boundaries are different and mean that we hold parish registers for churches both in Bristol itself and for an area to the north and east roughly bounded by Marshfield, Yate and Littleton on Severn. When indexers compile indexes of records for the benefit of other family historians it is entirely up to them how they arrange them. Bristol and Avon Family History Society divided its "1754-1837 Marriage Index" into two sections: North Somerset is one, Bristol and South Gloucestershire the other The LDS church includes Bristol for convenience under Gloucestershire in the IGI.
I hope this has done something to explain the difficulties you have been experiencing. As your research progresses I am sure you find that some of the problems resolve themselves but I have to add that after very many years of professional work in this field I still need to check up factual points of date and place regarding records on virtually a daily basis. It really is not a subject on which there can ever be a simple answer because of the way that local administrative and religious history has evolved over the years."
Stan
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The original centre of Bristol lay between the rivers Avon and Frome, just inside Gloucestershire, but the Redcliffe area south of the Avon (and in Somerset) quickly became an important suburb. In 1373 the King took Bristol/Redcliffe out of Gloucestershire and Somerset and made it a county corporate, and in 1542 it became a cathedral city.
Over the years there were various city boundary extensions; for example Bedminster which originally lay in Somerset came to be included within Bristol in 1835 and a similar extension took in Knowle and Totterdown in 1897.
By the "Municipal Corporations Act, 1835" the following districts were added to the city:
1) Clifton.
2) that part of St. Philip & St. Jacob previously without the boundaries of
the ancient city.
3) The district of the united parishes of St. James & St. Paul.
4) Part of the parishes of Westbury and Bedminster.
In 1974 Bristol became a district of the newly formed administrative County of Avon. When that county was abolished on the 1st April 1996, under the Local Government Act 1992 Bristol returned to its former status of a city and county in itself. Bristol is now a Unitary Authority which were created 1995-1998.
Have a look at GBHGIS :: A vision of Britain though time
http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/index.jsp "Place: Bristol Gloucestershire"
Stan
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What period is your research going to cover as Bristol is currently in the County of Avon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avon_(county)
That county was abolished on the 1st April 1996, under the Local Government Act 1992. The area is now covered by the Unitary Authorities of the City of Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire. You can download a map of the boundaries for the whole of the country at http://www.rootschat.com/links/0fax/
A useful site is The Beginners Guide to UK Geography http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/geography/beginner-s-guide/index.html
Stan
Stan
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Thanks Stan - and I thought I was confused ::)
Luckily I'm not 'local' in a FH sense, so I don't have to deal with records :)
Linda
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When I was born in Bristol .... It was a City and County ..... those were the days.
Marne
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Under the Local Government Act 1992 Bristol returned to its former status of a city and county in itself.
Stan
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My family came from the Bristol area and when I enter names into search engines I have found that if just mention the area, rather than listing the county I have more luck.
Many sites will search both Somerset & Gloucestershire or Gloucestershire/Herefordshire depending on where in Glos. the area is. And you need do very little unless you feel you want to enter all the counties on individual searrches.
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Thanks to every one for your answers, sounds like just typing in Bristol is the best way to go.
My ancestors seem to come from the St James area in the late 1700s and early 1800s.
Thanks
Dav