You don’t need to trace your family on your own
We are a few hundred people in Somerset and Devon who got stuck on the same brick walls you have, and started writing down what worked. Come to a talk, borrow our research, and ask someone who has been there.
Forty years of people writing things down
The society started in 1987 with eight people, a church hall in Marlcombe and a shared frustration that the parish registers they needed were scattered across three record offices.
Since then our volunteers have transcribed and indexed more than 130,000 entries from 84 parishes across Somerset and Devon. Much of it exists nowhere else online, because nobody else has done the work.
We are entirely run by volunteers and funded by membership. Every subscription pays for archive visits, scanning, and the tea at monthly talks.
What you get for £15 a year
Everything the society has built up over almost forty years, open to every member.
The research archive
Parish registers, census transcriptions, monumental inscriptions and civil registration indexes for Somerset and Devon.
Free name search for everyone. Full entries for members.
Monthly talks
Speakers on record sets, local history and research method, on the second Wednesday of every month.
Free to members. Guests welcome for £3.
The quarterly journal
Case studies, new transcription announcements and members’ brick wall appeals, posted to your door.
Four issues a year, plus the full back catalogue.
The surname exchange
Register the names you are researching and find the other members already working on the same families.
Usually the fastest way past a dead end.
Join the society
Membership runs for twelve months from the day you join, and you can cancel any time.
- Full access to the research archive
- Four journals posted each year
- Free entry to every monthly talk
- Surname exchange listing
- Two free volunteer lookups a year
Talks and events
Held at Marlcombe Church Hall unless stated. Guests are welcome at every meeting.
Tracing agricultural labourers
Margaret Thorne, local historian
Reading old handwriting
Hands on session, documents provided
Bring a brick wall
Bring your stuck line, leave with a next step
Stuck? Start here
You do not need to be a member to use any of this.
Search our name index
Type a surname and see whether we hold anything for that family, which parish it came from and roughly when.
Search the indexAsk a volunteer
Cannot get to Somerset? A volunteer will check the physical archive for you and report back, usually within two weeks.
Request a lookupBeginners’ guides
Short, plain guides to census returns, parish registers and civil registration, written by members who remember being lost.
Read the guidesLatest from the society
All updatesCommon questions
Do I have to live in Somerset or Devon to join?
Not at all. About a third of our members live overseas, mostly in Australia, Canada and the United States. Everything except the monthly talks works perfectly well by post and online.
What can I search without being a member?
The name index is free and open to everyone. It tells you whether we hold a record, which parish it belongs to and the approximate year. Members see the full transcribed entry and can request the original image.
I am completely new to family history. Is this the right place?
Yes. Our beginners’ guides assume no knowledge at all, and the December open evening is designed for people who have just started. Turn up with a name and a rough county and somebody will help.
Which parishes do you actually cover?
84 parishes at the last count, concentrated around Marlcombe and the Ashen Hills. The coverage page lists every parish with the exact date ranges we hold.
Can I volunteer with the transcription work?
Please do. No experience is needed and we will train you on the handwriting. Most volunteers work from scans at home, an hour or two a week.