SPOTLIGHT ON...
For almost 40 years, west on-super-mare FHS has provided help and inspiration for those with North Somerest kin. vice-chair Peter de Dulin introduces the group and its activities
Weston-super-mare & District Family History Society with Peter de Dulin
The Weston-super-mare & District Family History Society covers the whole area covered by North Somerset Council. It also includes the old Axbridge Registration District and the towns of Clevedon, Burnham-on-sea, Nailsea, Portishead and Weston-super-mare. Villages covered include Wedmore, Axbridge, Yatton, Backwell and Nempnet Thrubwell.
Within its area are four and a half piers (Burnham’s pier is the shortest in the UK, Clevedon is the prettiest and Birnbeck is the only one connected to an island), the major railway line to the south west, an international airport, a nationally-famous dairy based in the Yeo valley and the southern end of Brunel’s famous suspension bridge. Stretching from the southern edge of Bristol to the beginnings of the Somerset Levels, the area was mostly agricultural and includes many farms, over 70 parishes and a workhouse in Axbridge. The Victorian seaside resort of Westonsuper-mare is our home.
Society activities
The society, started in 1983 by a few dedicated family history class students, has grown into an active membership in excess of 200. Meetings are held on the last Tuesday of the month, except for August and December, at Vintage Church Hall, Hughenden Road, Weston-super-mare, BS23 2UR. At present we are holding our meetings via Zoom.
Society projects
On our website www.wsmfhs.org.uk
we have transcriptions of most of the parish records in our area, which are available free of charge to members. We are also transcribing monumental inscriptions where possible, although these activities have been curtailed due to the COVID restrictions. There are also transcriptions of all the burials at Weston-super-mare town cemetery and the Weston-super-mare church war memorials.
Recent projects have included researching the Weston Worthies, a collection of 40 portraits painted in the early to mid-19th century. They hung for many years in the Railway Inn in Weston and were of notable people of the town. The artist is unknown.
Our website also has a comprehensive view of Axbridge workhouse, including baptisms, births and deaths, admissions and discharges in 1880-81, plus a complete study on the workhouse.
During non-covid times, volunteers from the society are available every Saturday afternoon in Weston Library to assist people in their research.
Publications & digital access
Our journal Buckets and Spades is published three times a year and is available to members either in hard copy or digitally.
Our website is www.wsmfhs.org.uk and we are also on Facebook.