I am leaving for England the last or March to research FORD and COLLIS families in Somerset, Dorset counties (Queen Camel, Lydlinch and Mere,Wiltshire) Were would be the best place to start for vital records(1700's thru mid 1800)? All help and direction greatly appreciated. Thank you. Jean

On Mon, 26 Feb 2001 15:43:29 -0600, you wrote: >I am leaving for England the last or March to research FORD and COLLIS >families in Somerset, Dorset counties (Queen Camel, Lydlinch and >Mere,Wiltshire) Were would be the best place to start for vital >records(1700's thru mid 1800)? All help and direction greatly appreciated. >Thank you. Jean Hi Jean The County Records Offices are the places to go: details of the URLs follow. You should try and ensure that you book a reader for the fiche at Taunton and for the microfilm at Dorchester, ideally before you go: both offices have e-mail, they can sometimes be quite busy, although this is not always the case! For Somerset you need to look at the following page: http://www.somerset.gov.uk/archives/howuse.htm For Dorset the Records Office Home Page is: http://www.dorset-cc.gov.uk/corporatehome/CorporateServices/ArchivesService/ArchivesService-SEBS-4R6GEB.nsf/71cc30efc094359c802564be0065e473/a48df589f0fd530e0025678b005cbbe3?OpenDocument but if you find that a bit of a mouthful try: http://www.dorset-cc.gov.uk/CorporateHome/CorporateHome-RJPE-45SK5S.nsf and take links via the A-Z index to Archives! I'm not sure about Wiltshire and Somerset, but as some of your research looks as though it may be post 1 July 1837 then the Dorset Record Office has a full set of the GRO's Index for Civil Registration of Births, Marriages and Deaths for England and Wales, which you might find useful if you are unable to find a baptism or marriage? They have a reader for use for short periods eg half an hour, but if you think you might need longer use then book a fiche reader for the GROs Index too! I know it may sound a little greedy, but some folk book both a reader for the PRs and one for the GROs Index if they think they can use both. You might also find that some of the Parish Registers have been transcribed for certain periods eg Lydlinch: if this is the case you may well save yourself some considerable time searching through the films and fiche of Parish Registers if you make use of them: the staff there will be only too pleased to advise you of what they have available. Dorset not only have the Parish Registers, but also the Bishop's Transcripts, although they only survive from about 1732, as most BTs for Dorset prior to this date went up in smoke in the Great Fire at Blandford Forum. You may well find that some of these offices carry transcripts of MIs, which I have found immensely useful at times: surprising what folk used to put on their grave markers :-) If some of your research covers the periods of the census eg 1841 and 1851 etc then the offices concerned carry the fiche for their relevant counties. If you do find you have time for some Wiltshire research then you should have a look at the following page for details of the Wiltshire County Record Office at Trowbridge, Wilts. http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/WIL/WRO/index.html BTW the weather today is cold (5 deg C) and wet and we had snow over the weekend and night time temps were below freezing, so make sure you have warm clothing and suitable footware, but lets hope you bring a little Spring with you and we shall all be happy :-)) If you'd like details of the PRs and transcripts held by Dorset RO and PRs held by Wilts please let me know. Details of Somerset PRs etc are available on-line thru' their web-site. Best wishes for your visit and your research. In my experience all the offices are welcoming and helpful. Regards Paul Portland