Cannot get to Somerset? A volunteer will check the physical archive on your behalf and report back, usually within two weeks. Members get two free lookups a year.
What we can check
- Original parish registers held in the society archive, including material not yet transcribed
- Monumental inscription notebooks, which contain a good deal that never made it into the index
- The card index of members’ interests going back to 1987
- Our run of local newspapers on microfilm, for a specific name and a date range of a year or less
What we need from you
The more precise the request, the better the answer. A volunteer can check one family in one parish across a sensible date range. They cannot work through a whole surname across eighty years.
- The surname, and any given names you are reasonably confident about
- The parish, or a short list of candidate parishes
- A date range, ideally under twenty years
- What you already know, so the volunteer is not repeating work you have done
Search the free index first
The name index will tell you in seconds whether we hold anything for a family and which parish it is in. Most lookup requests can be answered that way without anybody having to open a cupboard.
How long it takes
Two weeks is typical. It can be longer around Christmas and in August when people are away. If a request is going to take significantly longer, whoever picks it up will tell you rather than leaving you wondering.
What we cannot do
We cannot build a tree, work through an unlimited range, or provide copies of documents held elsewhere such as the county record office. If a request needs more than about an hour, the volunteer will say so and suggest a professional researcher instead. We do not take payment for research.