Bedminster St John the Baptist, Somerset Family History Guide

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Bedminster St John the Baptist an Ancient Parish in the county of Somerset. Abbots Leigh and Bristol St Mary Redcliffe and Bristol St Thomas are chapelries of Bedminster St John the Baptist.

The ecclesiastical boundaries were altered in 1841 with the creation of Bedminster St Paul, in 1844 with the creation of Bishopsworth Ecclesiastical Parish, in 1861 with the creation of Bedminster St Luke, in 1883 with the creation of Bedminster St Francis, Ashton Gate and Knowle Holy Nativity Ecclesiastical Parishes, in 1902 with the creation of Bedminster St Aldhelm and Windmill Hill Ecclesiastical Parishes, and in 1935 with the creation of Knowle St Barnabas Ecclesiastical Parish.

Bedminster St John the Baptist was abolished in 1965 with part of the parish helping to create Bristol St Mary Redcliffe with Bristol Temple and Bedminster St John the Baptist Ecclesiastical Parish and part to Bedminster St Aldhelm and part used in the creation of Bedminster St Michael and All Angels Ecclesiastical Parish.

Bedminster St Francis, Ashton Gate Ecclesiastical Parish was created in 1883. Holy Cross Mission Church was an iron chapel that preceded St Francis, and was a Bedminster Chapel of Ease from 1873.

Knowle Holy Nativity Ecclesiastical Parish was created in 1883 from Bedminster St John Ecclesiastical Parish. In 1906 the ecclesiastical boundary was altered with the creation of Knowle St Martin Ecclesiastical Parish.

Knowle St Martin Ecclesiastical Parish was created in 1906 from Knowle Holy Nativity Ecclesiastical Parish. In 1935 the ecclesiastical boundary was altered with the creation of Knowle St Barnabas Ecclesiastical Parish.

Other places in the parish include: Knowle, Bishport, Bishopworth, and Bishopsworth.

Parish church: St. John the Baptist

Parish registers begin:

Bedminster St John the Baptist

  • Parish registers: 1643
  • Bishop’s Transcripts: 1598

Bishopsworth

  • Parish registers: 1844
  • Bishop’s Transcripts: 1844

Nonconformists include: Baptist, Bible Christian Methodist, Independent/Congregational, Wesleyan Methodist, and Wesleyan Methodist Reform.

Adjacent Parishes

Bedminster St John the Baptist Parish Records

Baptism, Marriage and Burial Records

These records include images of Church of England parish registers for Bedminster St John the Baptist.

Bedminster St John the Baptist, Bristol Church of England Baptisms Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812

Bedminster St John the Baptist, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1922

Ashton Gate, St Francis, Church of England Baptisms, 1883-1922

Holy Cross Mission Church, Church of England Baptisms, 1879-1883

Bedminster Down, St Dunstan, Church of England Baptisms, 1892-1922

Bedminster, St Aldhelm, Church of England Baptisms, 1900-1922

Bedminster St Luke, Church of England Baptisms, 1861-1922

Knowle St Martin, Church of England Baptisms, 1901-1922

Bedminster, St Michael and All Angels, Church of England Baptisms, 1900-1922

Bedminster, St Paul, Church of England Baptisms, 1881-1914

Bedminster, St Silas, Church of England Baptisms, 1867-1921

Knowle Holy Nativity, Church of England Baptisms, 1874-1921

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

BEDMINSTER, a suburban town, a parish, a subdistrict, and a district in Somerset. The town is a southern suburb of Bristol; separated from the city by the river Avon; connected with it by two bridges; included within the borough; and traversed, from within a furlong of the terminus, by the Bristol and Exeter railway. It comprises Redcliffe Crescent, a considerable number of streets, and some outskirts; has a receiving post-office of Bristol in North Street; and contains Bristol jail, a dispensary, four churches, five dissenting chapels, a Roman Catholic chapel, and remains of an hospital.

One of the churches is partly an ancient building, in a mixed style of architecture; another is a spacious pointed modern edifice, with a tower, erected about 1835, at a cost of £8,673; another is a large middle-pointed edifice, of nave, aisles, and polygonal apsidal chancel, with tower and spire, erected in 1861, at a cost of £7,636; and one of the dissenting chapels, belonging to the Independents, is a large and handsome edifice, with a Grecian front. The town is a polling-place and a seat of petty sessions. Pop. in 1851, 17,598.

The parish includes also the tythings of Bishport and Knowle. Acres, 4,161. Real property, £58,280; of which £3,102 are in mines. Pop. in 1841, 17,862, of whom 17,402 were within the borough of Bristol; in 1861, 22,346. Houses, 3,856. Coal is extensively worked. Veins of strontian occur in the vale of the Avon. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol. Value, £450. Patron, the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol.

The p. curacy of St. Luke, and the vicarages of St. Paul and St. Peter are separate benefices; the first in the patronage of Trustees; the second and the third in the patronage of the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol. Value of St. Luke, £400; of St. Paul, £300; of St. Peter, £300.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].

A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848

BEDMINSTER (St. John the Baptist), a parish, and the head of a union, partly in the county of the city of Bristol, and partly in the hundred of Hartcliffe with Bedminster, E. division of Somerset, 1½ mile (S. by W.) from Bristol; containing, with the tythings of Bishport and Knowle, 17,862 inhabitants.

This large and populous place anciently consisted only of a few cottages; but, from its proximity to Bristol, from which it is separated only by the new cut formed for the conversion of the natural channel of the river Avon into a floating-harbour, and also from its situation on the main road from the western counties, it has become a considerable suburb to that city. Here are tanneries and rope-walks, and many of the inhabitants are employed in collieries.

The parish comprises about 5000 acres, chiefly pasture land, and in the environs are several gardens, with the produce of which the occupiers supply the city of Bristol. The living is a discharged vicarage, with the perpetual curacies of St. Mary’s and St. Thomas’ Redcliffe and Abbot’s-Leigh annexed, valued in the king’s books at £10. 3. 4., and in the gift of the Prebendary of Bedminster and Redcliffe: the appropriate tithes have been commuted for £69, and the vicarial for £400.

The church displays various portions of ancient architecture, with modern insertions: a spire on the tower was thrown down in 1563. St. Paul’s district church, in the later English style, with a tower, was erected in 1831, by grant of the Parliamentary Commissioners, at an expense of £8673: the living is a vicarage not in charge; net income, £180; patron, the Vicar of Bedminster. At Bishport is a district church dedicated to St. Peter. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, and Methodists, of which that belonging to the Independents is one of the most handsome and spacious buildings of the kind in the kingdom; the principal entrance is adorned with Grecian columns, and the exterior coated with freestone.

Schools are maintained by voluntary contributions; and an hospital, including also a dispensary, has been lately instituted. About the close of the twelfth century, Robert de Berkeley founded an hospital, dedicated to St. Catherine, for a master and several poor brethren; it stood on the western side of a street near the extremity of Brightlow bridge, and was subsequently used as a glass-manufactory, but has since been converted into small tenements. Another hospital was founded by a member of the same family, but every vestige of it has disappeared. The poor law union of Bedminster comprises twenty-three parishes and places, and contains a population of 36,268.

Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848

Maps

Vision of Britain Historical Maps – includes topographic maps, boundary maps and land use maps

Administration

  • County: Somerset
  • Civil Registration District: Bedminster
  • Probate Court: Court of the Bishop of Bath and Wells (Episcopal Consistory)
  • Diocese: Pre-1845 – Bath and Wells, Post-1844 – Bristol
  • Rural Deanery: Pre-1845 – Redcliffe and Bedminster, Post-1844 – Bristol
  • Poor Law Union: Bedminster
  • Hundred: Bristol City; Hartcliffe with Bedminster
  • Province: Canterbury