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England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Heathfield St John the Baptist

 

The Parish

The parish of Heathfield lies in western Somerset about 5 miles west of the county town of Taunton. There is not much to Heathfield, merely a collection of farms and cottages sitting just off the B3227 road which connects Taunton with Wiveliscombe. This area is dominated by pastoral farming in small hedged fields and is crisscrossed with narrow lanes. Heathfield would have earned its living from mainly cattle rearing. Heathfield parish is drained by the Halse Brook, a tributary of the River Tone which flows eastwards, joins the Tone at Taunton & reaches the Bristol Channel through the port of Bridgwater. Heathfield is sited at around 60 metres above the sea on a low ridge and is surrounded by gently rolling countryside rising to the north onto Exmoor. Somerset is characterised by small parishes and Heathfield is one of the smaller, at less than 700 acres it would have supported just under 150 parishioners. In Domesday times Heathfield was equally small, held by one William of Mohun it offered just 2 ploughs as well as small meadows, pastures & woodland, it did, however, possess a mill.


The Church

St John the Baptist's church sits on the western side of Heathfield's main (if narrow) lane about 200 yards north of its junction with the B3227. St John's origins are probably 13th century, albeit Pevsner is rather reticent to date it. Of that period is the western tower but much else is the result of the major restoration and renewal in the 19th century which Pevsner places as 1870. The church makes much use of the local red sandstone giving it an attractive colouration especially in evening light. The building is very well screened from the lane by mature trees, a small wooden gateway by the pull-in granting access. The churchyard is small and bordered by trees which somewhat limit the degree by which one can pull back to gain the full perspective of the church.


The Records

Register No Covering Dates Deposited With Register Style Quality Standard Comments
1 19th February 1756 - 26th April 1756 Somerset Heritage Centre - Reference - D/P/heath/2/1/2 Plain, unruled book, a continuation of the extant composite register in contravention of Hardwicke's segregation & wording requirements Grade 4 Register - there are notable quality issues with this register which may have resulted in many misreads The edge of this register is damaged - the given names of the females are pure guesswork for these 2 entries
2 26th October 1756 - 27th May 1803 Somerset Heritage Centre - Reference - D/P/heath/2/1/3 Standard preprinted and self-numbered Marriage register with 4 entries per page Grade 3 Register - there are sufficient quality issues with this register to indicate that some misreads will occur albeit few in number Fading of this register may lead to one or two misreads
3 25th January 1804 - 30th March 1812 Somerset Heritage Centre - Reference - D/P/heath/2/1/4 Standard preprinted and self-numbered Marriage register with 3 entries per page Grade 1 Register - Few issues noted and a low likelihood of misreads None
4 22nd March 1813 - 29th March 1837 Somerset Heritage Centre - Reference - D/P/heath/2/1/5 Standard Rose style preprinted and prenumbered Marriage register Grade 1 Register - Few issues noted and a low likelihood of misreads None


Halse St James
Halse St James
Bishops Lydeard St Mary
Bishop's Lydeard St Mary
Milverton St Michael
Norton Fitzwarren All Saints
Hillfarrance Holy Cross
Milverton St Michael
Oake St Bartholomew
Hillfarrance Holy Cross

1760 1770 1780 1790 1800 1810 1820 1830

Register Reference Date Groom Forename Groom Surname Groom Status Groom Abode Bride Forename Bride Surname Bride Status Bride Abode
19/02/1756 John HONEYBALL     Sarah THORN    
26/04/1756 Richard CHAPPEL     Deborah BOND    
1 26/10/1756 John WOOD     Betty TUCKER    
2 22/04/1758 John GOVIER   Bishops Lydeard Mary WHITE    
3 29/06/1758 George BAILY     Sarah BRYANT    
4 25/12/1762 William PHILPOT     Sarah BAYLEY    
5 02/11/1763 John SMALE     Joan HARVEY    
6 14/12/1763 Edmund BODGER     Anne BISHOP   West Bagborough
7 18/04/1764 James BARTHOLOMEW   Norton Fitzwarren Joan POOLE Single  
8 01/05/1764 Robert GREEDY     Betty POUNDSBERRY Single  
9 19/11/1764 John WILLIAMS     Sarah NORMAN    
10 24/06/1765 George CHEDZOY     Mary CRIDDLE    
11 06/05/1766 Edward COX   Hillfarrance Martha BOND    
22/06/1767 William POUNSBURY     Mary MORLE    
21/07/1767 John HOOPER     Joan GREEDY    
24/03/1768 James HEMBROW     Joan APLIN    
31/03/1768 James BOND     Mary WHITE   Bishops Lydeard
14/07/1768 Nicholas MORLE     Mary KNIGHT    
21/04/1769 William TOWELL     Anne JENNING    
06/07/1769 Daniel POOL   Bishops Lydeard Jane HILL    
14/08/1769 William RUSSEL     Mary JENNINGS    
17/11/1769 William MORLE     Betty KNIGHT    
18/07/1770 John BROUGHTON   Bishops Lydeard Margaret HILL    
25/04/1771 Robert WOOLCOTT     Elizabeth FARTHING   Bishops Lydeard
10/02/1772 John MERRY   Halse Betty TUCKER    
24/04/1772 Christopher COMMINGS   Cullompton, Devon Catherine BUSSON    
06/10/1773 William RUGG     Sarah DARBY    
10/10/1773 Richard JAMES   Bishops Lydeard Sarah DAVIES    
10/07/1774 Isaac WOOLCOTT     Elizabeth STACEY    
16/04/1782 Peter CROSS     Betty HEWINGS    
10/06/1782 James BRIFFETT     Elizabeth BEER    
28/02/1783 Joseph SKINNER     Sarah DAVIES    
28/02/1783 Joseph SHORT     Sarah DAVIES    
22/04/1783 John STEVENS   Bishops Lydeard Jane DAVIES    
10/07/1785 Thomas SHEPERD     Betty BURSTON    
18/12/1786 John OWEN     Penelope SPARKS   Milverton
03/08/1787 Thomas SMALE   Bishops Lydeard Sarah BRANCHFLOWER   Bridgwater
31/03/1788 Joseph WEBBER   Oake Mary WOOD    
21/10/1789 John BISHOP   Kingston Jane BOND    
14/02/1791 Richard FOLLETT   Hillfarrance Mary SMALE    
14/06/1791 Luke BURSTON   Milverton Elizabeth WOOD    
09/10/1792 William CHORLEY     Betty HARRIS    
24/07/1793 John CHIDZOY     Hannah DURSTON    
30/12/1793 John HAWKINS   Bishops Lydeard Sarah SMALE    
03/08/1795 Thomas CHIDZOY     Elizabeth DYKE    
12/10/1795 William RUSSEL     Mary PERRETT   Oake
13/03/1796 Thomas BOND   Oake Betty BOND    
30/06/1796 John COLES   St Mary, Taunton Mary BOND    
19/01/1797 Robert STADDON     Sarah GREGORY   St Mary, Taunton
18/05/1798 Thomas MUSGRAVE   Milverton Mary WOOLCOTT    
25/05/1801 Robert RICHARDS   Milverton Ann RUGG    
21/12/1802 John TOWELS     Sarah COLSWORTHY    
27/05/1803 Thomas LEE   Hillfarrance Mary BOND    
1 25/01/1804 Thomas CORDWENT Single Trull Sally BOND Single  
2 30/04/1804 George WILLIAMS Single Bishops Lydeard Susannah BODGER Single  
3 06/08/1804 Benjamin DYTE Single Minehead Sarah BODGER Single  
4 01/12/1804 John GAMBLING Single Bathealton Betty COLES Single Milverton
5 11/06/1806 William GREEDY Single Bishops Lydeard Betty FOURACRE Single  
6 08/03/1807 Robert KING Single   Sarah DIGHT Widow Minehead
7 26/07/1807 Abraham PERRETT Single   Hannah JENNINGS Single  
8 18/04/1808 James VOIZEY Single   Mary KNIGHT Single  
9 19/05/1808 Benjamin JAMES Single Ash Priors Elizabeth RICHARDS Single  
10 30/10/1808 John GILES Single Bishops Hull Elizabeth BODGER Single  
11 18/09/1809 John WINTER Single   Jane NEWICK Single  
12 19/01/1810 James CHAPPELL Single Norton Fitzwarren Jane BOND Single  
13 25/03/1811 Thomas FRY Single Milverton Ann BADCOCK Single  
14 22/10/1811 George GILLARD Single Uffculme, Devon Sarah JAMES Single  
15 30/03/1812 Samuel BODGER Single   Edith LOCK Single  
1 22/03/1813 Thomas PRATT Single Staplegrove Sarah CORNISH Single  
2 24/06/1816 John BROWN Single   Elizabeth FOLLET Single  
3 06/04/1818 William BAILEY Single Bishops Lydeard Sarah TURNER Single  
4 01/06/1820 James BROWNING Single   Rachael PENNY Single  
5 12/12/1820 Robert COLLARD Single   Ann TRUMP Single  
6 06/04/1821 Robert BAKER Single Milverton Mary WOOLCOTT Single Milverton
7 24/09/1821 Thomas BRYANT Single Hillfarrance Elizabeth MUSGRAVE Single  
8 17/04/1822 Isaac WOOLCOTT Single Halse Mary CHORLEY Single  
9 30/03/1824 John CATTLE Single   Elizabeth WOOLCOTT Single  
10 10/04/1824 Abraham WOOLCOTT Single   Mary MUSGRAVE Single  
11 10/04/1824 Thomas BRYANT Widower Hillfarrance Betty BRADBEER Widow Hillfarrance
12 11/05/1824 John CHIDGEY Single   Ann OWEN Single Norton Fitzwarren
13 15/01/1826 William SUTTON Single Bishops Lydeard Betty CHIDGEY Single  
14 23/01/1826 Robert BARTHOLEMEW Single   Jane BROWN Single  
15 29/03/1827 Thomas CRIDGE Single West Hatch Elizabeth COLLINS Single  
16 17/04/1828 William THOMAS Single   Mary REDWOOD Single  
17 04/08/1828 John DIMOND Single Angersleigh Mary JENNINGS Single  
18 01/01/1829 Thomas CATTLE Single Milverton Ann OAKE Single  
19 24/09/1829 Mark FARRANT Single Cullompton, Devon Elizabeth HELLINGS Single  
20 11/08/1830 John VICARY Single   Betty CHIDGEY Single  
21 28/02/1831 John LOCK Single   Sarah FOLLET Single  
22 02/04/1832 Joseph STILEING Single   Elizabeth PEAKE Single  
23 02/05/1833 Charles DAY Single West Monkton Charlotte WESCOMBE Single Hillfarrance
24 26/12/1833 Thomas FORWARD Single   Sarah STRONG Single Hillfarrance
25 22/05/1834 William JENNINGS Single   Jane BAKER Single Yeovil
26 14/04/1835 Joseph KING Single   Sarah MARKES Single  
27 20/04/1835 Richard GIFFORD     Elizabeth MINER    
28 20/04/1835 James CHEDZEY Single   Ann TOTTERDELL Single  
29 04/07/1836 Samuel SLOCOMBE Widower Hillfarrance Mary CHIDGEY Single  
30 29/03/1837 Edward BODGER Single   Sarah HUTCHINGS Single  

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