PLEASE NOTE that many of the files accessible from this page are very large (typically around 160K) and visitors may experience some delay in moving around the pages.

The SURNAMES and (number of occurences) encountered so far in the baptism database are as follows:

Amesbury (7), Andow (1), Avery (5), Baker (4), Barnes (1), Berridge (1), Bisdee (7), Bisgrove (2), Boone (2), Broad (2), Capel (1), Caple (4), Carey (23), Carrow (6), Castle (1), Champion (3), Clark (4), Coles (1), Collings (5), Cook (2), Coombs (7), Cooper (1), Cullen (3), Curry (13), Durbin (11), Exon (3), Fackerell ? (1), Fear (2), Fisher (1), Foster (2), French (5), Frost (1), Fry (13), Gadd (6), Godfrey (17), Gullick (9), Hall (8), Ham (9), Hancock (4), Harden (3), Harry (1), Harvey (2), Hawkings (1), Henderson (20), Hicks (4), Higgs (3), Huett (7), Hurst (1), Jennings (13), Kibby (3), King (21), Lancy (1), Marshall (3), Medlam (1), Moncrieffe (7), Morrish (1), Mulford (8), Nipper (1), Nuttycombe (2), Page (1), Palmer (15), Parish (4), Parker (3), Parsons (1), Plaster (1), Ponsford (9), Pople (12), Porch (1), Pullen (11), Pym (9), Read (5), Roe (1), Scott (4), Seaman (4), Sevier (9), Somerton (1), Southwood (19), Sperrin (4), Staple (1), Staples (1), Stark (38), Starks (4), Stone (1), Teek (1), Tiarks (1), Tilley (1), Tripp (4), Tupper (1), Tutton (9), Verrier (3), Vincent (4), Vowles (4), Webb (3), Webster (2), Wells (1), Wills (1), Winter (3), Wynne (2), Yard (4), Young (1)

A lot of data was transcribed from the original registers by two willing villagers (the late Myra Gay and Brian Allwood). These registers are now held for safe-keeping by Somerset County Council archives and have been transferred onto microfiche. The early Loxton parish registers were badly worn, thus many entries on the fiche are illegible and others are taking a considerable amount of time to transcribe. Further updates to this section will be made when more data has been transcribed and added to the database.

Remember when searching the database, that before 1800 many surnames of similar sound were spelt in a variety of ways, now referred to as variants. There was not the standardised spelling that we have today and few people could write. Many churchwardens couldn’t spell and educated clergyman had to enter a written name that best fitted the sound of the name. It was open to misinterpretation particularly when one considers the various dialects around the country.

There are many different FORENAMES in the registers and a few of them are of unknown gender. As with surnames before 1800, there were a great number of non-standard spellings for forenames and many non-standard abbreviations.

Whilst every care has been taken to ensure that the information included is correct, no responsibility can be accepted by the authors for any hardship or loss arising from the use of this material. Visitors should accept that transcription errors can arise, and further verification of any fact should be sought.