Burials

FlowersFamily historians interested in William FOX who lived in Orchard Portman, a village several miles to the South East of Taunton, are likely to have some difficulty in locating his burial place. William died in December 1825 and was buried on 1st January 1826 in a parish some miles away - in St Peter & St Paul's Church at Bishops Hull to the West of Taunton.

A parish by parish circular sweep pivoting on Orchard Portman searching through microfiches of Burial registers in the Somerset Record Office would be a very time consuming exercise.

But a search through the Society's Burials Database should reveal the answer in next to no time .....

What's in the Database?

The bulk of the Society's database comprises details of Burials transcribed by members from the Parish Registers of the two counties. This an ongoing project and new data is regularly being added. The first phase concentrated on the Burials Registers from 1813 to 1837. This exercise is nearing completion and the second phase is now well in progress covering the earlier and later periods.

The database also contains some Bishops Transcripts (especially for Dorset parishes), a small number of Monumental Inscriptions and some Quaker and a steadily increasing number of non-conformist chapel records.

Burials submitted by members from their own researches (and more contributions are always welcome - for any period) and from various printed sources are also included.

The approximate number of entries is currently

  • Dorset 325,000
  • Somerset 800,000

What's on offer?

The Society's Burials Enquiry service offers two types of search:

  • The NAMED PERSON SEARCH for the burial of a named person (e.g. Ann ACREMAN) in Somerset, Dorset, or a specified parish and for a specified period. This provides a list of all the burials recorded in the database for the named person in the specified county or parish and for the specified period. With this comes other details (e.g. wife of William) recorded in the Burials Register.
  • The BLANKET SEARCH (Members only) will list all the entries for a specified surname in Somerset, Dorset, or a specified parish e.g. BENNETT in Somerset or Castle Cary, including any variants of the surname (e.g. BENET, BENNET, BENNETT). As for the NAMED PERSON search, other details recorded in the Burials Register are included. You may specify the period to be searched.

The Society's system has been designed to complement the IGI and lists are printed in more or less the same format as the IGI.

The Society is unable to deal with requests such as 'parishes in the Mendip Hills' or 'around Dorchester'.

What will it Cost

(Prices quoted are for members and non-members respectively)

For an up-to-date list of parishes and periods included in the database

  • for Somerset only.....£2.00
  • for Dorset only ....... £2.00

For each Named Person Search enquiry

  • for single parish ..... £2.00 and £4.00
  • for Dorset only ...... £4.00 and £8.00
  • for Somerset only .. £4.00 and £8.00

For each Blanket Search enquiry (Members Only)

  • for single parish ..... £4.00
  • for Dorset only ....... £7.00
  • for Somerset only ... £7.00

All postal enquiries and requests should be accompanied by a large envelope, self addressed and stamped for return, or additional payment.

If you live outside the UK please add £1.50 towards Air Mail costs.

Please note that

  • Blanket searches are only available to Members of the Society
  • A basic county wide search may be cheaper!
  • If the search produces a nil return then payment will be returned

Requests for searches and for quotations should be sent to:

S&DFHS (Burials), 9 Barton Hey, Bishops Lydeard, Taunton, Somerset TA4 3NL

At present it is not possible to contact the Service Provider via the Society's e-mail address.

Please Note:

Cheques and POs should be made payable to S&DFHS and not the Service Operator. (Please write your membership number and address on the back )

Click here for information about paying by credit or debit card.

The Society's Burials Database records information provided by members from various sources and, as with the IGI, this may result in some entries being duplicated.

The Burials Database is merely a reference. Whenever possible you are advised to consult the appropriate Register or Transcript.

We shall always be pleased to include in the Society's databases any burials, marriages or baptisms in the historic counties of Somerset and Dorset - for any period - submitted by members from their own researches. Data is entered without charge.

Always quote your S&DFHS membership number with any correspondence.

Our thanks to the County Archivists of Dorset and Somerset for their help and support to all members (and some non-members) who have contributed in any way to this Society project.