On this page we have tried to gather together as many sources of information and help for those of you researching your family in Dorset. If you know of any other sources, please e-mail us, so that they can be shared with others.

The page is subdivided into various categories:

If you are a complete beginner to Family History Research, click here.

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Dorset, a county in southern England, was once a shire of the Kingdom of Wessex. The writer Thomas Hardy made Dorset's countryside and traditions familiar to people in many parts of the world. Dorset is on the south coast of England. Its coastline on the English Channel is about 137 kilometres long. Dorset extends up to 58 kilometres inland, bordering Wiltshire to the northeast, Hampshire to the east, and Devon and Somerset to the west.

The countryside is extremely varied, with uplands and valleys, broad fertile clay vales, and open heathlands. Central Dorset consists of a great arc of chalk downland, which is a continuation of the Salisbury Plain. The chalk downlands swing southwest through Cranborne Chase to Abbotsbury, before swinging eastward through the Isle of Purbeck to emerge at Ballard Down. The other branch continues westward into Somerset. The downlands are broken into wide ridges cut by long, fertile valleys. The highest point on the downlands is Pilsdon Pen. It is 277 metres above sea level. In the east, the broad, gravelly, and sandy Dorset heathlands are interspersed with beds of clay. A series of vales and lowlands lies on the northern side of the downlands. To the south of Poole Harbour, the coast contains a series of bays and capes. Erosion (natural wearing away of rock) has caused the formation of numerous bays, inlets, arches, and caverns along the coast between St. Aldhelm's Head and Weymouth. The limestone Isle of Portland divides the Dorset coast in half. West of Portland is the Chesil Bank, which sweeps in a gentle curve for 29 kilometres. For part of its length, it blocks off a lagoon, the Fleet.

The Stour is the most important river. The Stour and its tributaries, the Cale and the Lydden, flow through the Vale of Blackmoor before they join and cut through the chalk. At Wimborne, the Stour is joined by the Allen before meeting the River Avon. The Avon forms part of Dorset's eastern boundary, and then empties into the English Channel at Christchurch. The River Frome rises to the northwest of Dorchester, and meanders gently towards Wareham, before emptying into Poole Harbour.

Dorset is a sunny county. Its average annual rainfall is about 890 millimetres. The coast is drier. The mean summer temperature ranges between 13 °C and 15 °C. The mean winter temperature varies from 5 °C in the north to 9 °C in the south. The south is slightly cooler in summer than the north, but it is warmer in the winter.

Information from the World Book 1997 Multimedia Edition

Somerset is a county in southwestern England, bordering on the Bristol Channel. It has much fine scenery and many historical associations. It is well known for its cider-apple orchards and Cheddar cheeses. The area of Somerset was reduced in 1974. The northern parts of the county, including Bath and Weston-super-Mare, were taken to form part of a new county called Avon.

Location and size. Somerset is bounded on the north by the Bristol Channel. Avon borders Somerset on the northeast. Wiltshire lies to the east of Somerset, Dorset to the southeast, and Devon to the southwest. Somerset's greatest length from north to south is 56 kilometres. Its greatest width from east to west is 108 kilometres.

In the north of Somerset are the Mendips and their outlying hills of limestone and sandstone. The Mendips are a high plateau, split by magnificent gorges and honeycombed with caves. They extend 40 kilometres between Frome and the Bristol Channel and average about 335 metres high. The central region of Somerset is a plain broken only by the Polden Hills and some isolated conical hills. The central plain includes Sedgemoor and merges into the fertile Vale of Taunton Deane, in the southwest of the county. South of Taunton, the Blackdown Hills range for 19 kilometres along the border between Somerset and Devon. The Quantocks, north of Taunton, are heavily wooded hills, extending towards the Bristol Channel. The Brendon Hills merge into the upland of Exmoor. Exmoor is a national park. It is the highest and wildest part of the county and reaches 520 metres at the Dunkery Beacon. Most of Exmoor is in Somerset, but the western end is in Devon. The coastline of Somerset is varied. East of the estuary of the River Parrett, the coast is low lying, broken occasionally by headlands. West of the estuary, the coast has low red cliffs veined with alabaster. Most of the rivers in Somerset flow into the Bristol Channel, although the River Exe rises on Exmoor and flows into Devon. The River Parrett flows north across the centre of the county to meet the sea at Bridgwater.

Somerset's climate is mild. The average annual rainfall is about 890 millimetres. The wettest area is Exmoor. The average temperature is about 7 °C in January and about 21 °C in August.

Information from the World Book 1997 Multimedia Edition

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Take a look at the Genuki pages for Dorset and Somerset , as these have recently been expanded, and may have something of value to you.

John Symonds maintains a Surname Interest list for Somerset and Dorset. If this location is busy, there is a mirror site at http://www.bakery.co.uk/sandd/.

John Oyston has set up a new and innovative web site, to help anyone researching their UK ancestors. It has links to a number of other sites which may prove useful.

A Web Site with several links to sites of interest to Dorset Family Historians is the Dorset Genealogy site. 

The 'Old Huish' site is for the benefit of those associated with the Richard Huish College and the former Huish's Grammar School, Taunton. It already has a fair amount of heraldic material, and the contents page lists three or four Huish Arms and Huish pedigree pages.

Michael Tutton has put together a web page based on the village of Wedmore, in Somerset, as well as his family tree. The web page The site will eventually contain all of the parish records for baptisms, marriages and burials as well as the complete text of the Wedmore Chronicles (an 1800's chronicle of history in the village). Currently the marriages and baptisms for the 1500's and the marriages for the 1600's are on line, as is the first half of Vol. 2 of the Chronicles. Michael's  family comes from Wedmore, so he has also included his family tree on this site, so that others may search for links too. 

You can also join a mailing list for Wedmore at: http://lists.tutton.org/mailman/listinfo/wedmore

Tim Whittingham has a survey of gravestone inscriptions at Over Stowey, Somerset, at his Web Site at http://freespace.virgin.net/tim.whittingham/Over_Stowey_Grave_Inscript.htm

Visit this excellent site on Workhouses & Poor Law Unions in England: http://users.ox.ac.uk/~peter/workhouse/index.html. It contains photos & location maps on a number of Dorset workhouses including Weymouth & Dorchester.

Elizabeth Parker has a Web Site at www.geocities.com/longfleetconnections dedicated to the history and people of Longfleet, Poole. Several surnames are listed on the Site.

Colin Rayner's Web Site at http://genealogy.colinrayner.org.uk contains a growing number of parish transcripts for Meare, Glastonbury and surrounding areas.

The Tolpuddle List is a small but very friendly list occupied with the research of Loveless, Lovelace surnames in England, Canada, and Australia. Also the research of the various surnames that have married into the Loveless clan over the years. It is also for the discussion of the Tolpuddle Martyrs from Tolpuddle, Dorset. The Tolpuddle List is an offshoot of the Loveless List which mainly deals with the Loveless and Lovelace surnames in the United States. A partial list of the related surnames are as follows: HOARE, CAKE, GOULD, LEGG, DANIELS, STANDFIELD, STICKLAND, EAMES, SAMSON, HIBBS, RIGGS, WAY, BARTLETT, PIERCE, COSH/CORISH/CAUSH, GOVER, HAMMETT, OLIVER, MITCHELL, DRAKE.

You are welcome to check the  webpage - http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~martyrs

Debby Rose has a Web Site mainly concerned with Weymouth. The site is local history with pictures of Weymouth and the surrounding area and villages, but also includes some items of family history interest, particularly on the Emigration and Smuggling pages.  Debby has lots more to add to the site as time permits and it's only been online for about a month or so.  The url is: http://www.weymouth-dorset.co.uk

The High Littleton & Hallatrow History and Parish Records web site may well be of use to people researching in that area.

A Web Site dealing with research in the Frome Area is at www.fromeresearch.org.uk.

The Ryde Social Heritage Group, Isle of Wight, website may well be of interest to some of members, since it is well-known that many Somerset & Dorset people migrated to/from the Isle of Wight in search of work over the years. The URL is http://www.rshg.org.uk/

Minehead has its own website with pages of old photographs of the town, Census lists and many other useful lists and sources of information.

The Steps in Time Image Project has a website with numerous photographs of old Portland. the URL is http://www.isleofportlandpictures.org.uk/Categories/

The Dorset Guide has Holiday Information for Dorset - Towns, Attractions and Accommodation in Dorset.

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A number of sites allow researchers to enter their Dorset interests:

John Symonds in Australia has a combined Dorset and Somerset list. There is a mirror site at http://www.bakery.co.uk/sandd

Researchers can also subscribe to the Dorset Mailing List, and the Bristol and Somerset Mailing List.

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Sites with Maps of the Area

http://www.old-maps.co.uk/ This site by Landmark has FREE copies of OS First series maps dated between 1846 and 1899. The quality is variable but major landmarks, buildings and churches are marked. It is probably more useful for villages than towns because of the scale. There are county name gazeteers - you click on your county, letter of the alpabet and parish. You then navigate the site with your scroll bar and by clicking the north, south, east and west buttons at the top of the screen.

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~genmaps/genfiles/COU_Pages/ENG_pages/dor.htm dating from 1611 through to 1930 of various qualities.... including some for the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway. For maps of Somerset substitute 'som.htm' for 'dor.htm'.

You can find most towns and villages from one of the following map sites. The first site appears to use the excellent Ordnance Survey series of maps, where churches, windmills etc are marked and even some farms are named when zoomed in: http://www.streetmap.co.uk/ and http://uk8.multimap.com/map/places.cgi 

Google Maps provides easy location finding.

Why not visit the Web pages of the county of Dorset , and the similar page devoted to Somerset ?

There is a very helpful page on Dorset , giving information about Towns and Villages, Museums and other places of interest, and also details of accommodation.

The HAMPSHIRE-LIFE website, which includes The Isle of Wight, has information about Dorset villages at  http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~villages

Various places in the two counties have their own Web Sites:

Dorset

The Dorset County Web Site has information on a number of towns, including Beaminster, Blandford Forum, Bournemouth, Bridport, Cerne Abbas, Christchurch, Corfe Castle, Cranborne, Dorchester, Ferndown, Gillingham, Island of Portland, Lyme Regis, Milton Abbas, Poole, Shaftesbury, Sherborne, Sturminster Newton, Swanage, Tolpuddle, Verwood, Wareham, Weymouth and Wimborne Minster.

Somerton now has an on-line Museum at www.somertonmuseum.org.uk

Please note that the Society in no way endorses any advertising which may appear on these sites. The links are provided here solely for the information they provide, which may be of interest to researchers, regarding the various locations.

Somerset

There are, mainly tourism, Web Sites devoted to

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All text © Somerset and Dorset Family History Society

E-mail address: society@sdfhs.org Postal address: Somerset & Dorset FHS, PO Box 4502, Sherborne DT9 6YL, England; Telephone/Fax: 01935 389611

Web Site maintained by Alan J Brown