I lay no claim to the earliest references to the surname PARSONS below.

I find no satisfaction in claiming what is not mine beyond all reasonable doubt and I seriously doubt that my ancestors were in Winscombe before the latter half of the 18th century.

The purpose of this document is to track the surname through the parish registers and 1851 census returns. I do not claim to have all the answers and my re-construction is an interpretation of what I found in the parish registers. I would welcome any input from other researchers interested in this part of Somerset. I am indebted to Miss Denise Neufeld and Mr Brian Austin for help with research and to Mr Gerald Smith who so kindly offered to transcribe the early parish register fiche which I could not decipher.

Below are the earliest references found so far associating the surname PARSONS with the parish of Winscombe

Tenement which John PARSONS held for life. Between John VENABLES querent & Geoffrey GLOVERE & Christina his wife deforciants; for 2 messuages, 30 acres of land, 10 acres of meadow and 3 acres of wood in Blakedon (Blagdon) and Wynescombe (Winscombe). The document goes on to refer to land which John PARSONS held for life.

Using the early parish registers, it is possible, with limited success, to track the surname PARSONS in Winscombe from its first appearance in the registers in 1692 forward. It is however impossible to construct an unbroken line of descent from these earliest records.

There are several reasons for this -

efforts are hampered by gaps in the early registers; some entries are totally unreadable; the Winscombe PARSONS skipped a generation in the parish registers every now and then and there are 'loose canons' - people named PARSONS who come into the parish from elsewhere.

It is possible to stumble along until 1756 when William PARSONS is christened in Winscombe. Later, in the last quarter of the eighteenth century, two, possibly three men, all named William PARSONS, are actively involved in producing the next generation, but they cannot be linked back to that one christening in 1756 and previous generations. It becomes very difficult to move forward from these men named William because of the over-use of the first names, William and John.

Winscombe drew in marrying couples from many parishes. These outsiders came, married and disappeared, having no apparent roots in Winscombe. Others stayed. They may have come for a variety of reasons, for example, they may have served an apprenticeship or worked in the parish long enough to have gained legal settlement. They may have had family living there. A study of the female line sometimes helps to explain why a family surname suddenly appears again in the parish register after a gap of several years. For this reason it is unwise to ignore the female line.

Ideally, everyone had a parish of settlement and there were rules governing the movement between parishes. This did not stop some families moving at will from one parish to another. Sometimes they had a legitimate cause to stay in their preferred parish, but often they were removed to their lawful parish of settlement and that is why they suddenly drop out of the records or, suddenly appear in them again after a gap of several years.

Taking the first batch of parish entries, the earliest records of the surname PARSONS in Winscombe runs thus -

As can be seen below, there is only one clear example of a christening linked to a marriage forming a line of descent.

It is unfortunate, but the above events can not be positively linked together, though it is tempting to draw a hypothesis.

The surname PARSONS runs in the registers from 1692 to1707. Then there is an eleven year gap.

The surname picks up again in 1718, but they are not rich pickings.

Other than one burial, the bulk of the entries are the recorded marriages of outsiders.

Of the two Winscombe brides, only one is a PARSONS and she cannot be linked back to the earlier tree of Thomas and Martha PARSONS. We do get a glimpse of Hanna (Philips) PARSONS again when she is buried in 1731.

Only one groom is of the parish. Without any supporting documentary proof, it would be unwise to accept carte blanche that the John PARSONS who was christened in Winscombe in 1692 was the same John PARSONS who married Mary EEP in 1731, though it is not beyond the realms of possibility.

One more name for the above list. Mr Brian Austin, a local Historian in Weston-super- Mare, pointed out a 1731 marriage between Joseph PARSONS of Sandford in Winscombe, and Mary FRYER at Wrington. If Joseph had returned to Sandford in Winscombe with Mary FRYER, there is no obvious sign in the registers and I have not looked at Wrington PRs yet. However, PARSONS of Sandford in Winscombe loom large later in the registers and although I have not been able to establish a link with Joseph and Mary (Fryer) PARSONS in Sandford, that does not mean such a link does not exist.

The next batch of events appear the registers

Again, there is a leap of 9-10 years between some entries and it is difficult to tie in all the above with previous generations.

I know nothing of Elizabeth PARSONS who married Wm PLUMBLEY of Yatton in 1746. My ancestor John PARSONS of Winscombe married in Yatton in 1809, but for the moment I see that as a coincidence.

Who is the Mary PARSONS buried in 1767? She does not tie in with any other branch. Notably, an illegitimate infant, John PARSONS, was buried nine days before Mary, and it is likely that the two burials are linked as mother and son. This Mary PARSONS may have been an outsider.

We seem to have next, a run of events that can be linked quite nicely.

It is likely that the Mary PARSONS buried in Winscombe in 1755 was formerly Mary EEP, wife of Jo PARSONS of the 1731 marriage above.

It is possible then to follow on with their two sons Jon (born 1734) and Thomas (born 1740) and, very likely, a daughter named Mary whose christening was not recorded.

Putting this all together in a tree we have the following line of descent.

The Mary PARSONS of the parish who married John LENIS in 1755 must have been born around the time of the EEP/ PARSONS children. There is a six year gap between the births of Jon and Thomas PARSONS in which her birth could slot. The witnesses to the PARSONS/ LENIS marriage are interesting. They were John PARSONS and John LENIS. If these were the fathers of the couple then that strengthens the possibility that Mary was a surviving daughter of the EEP/ PARSONS marriage of 1731.

It is highly likely that the John PARSONS who married Mary THAYER in 1755 was a son of the EEP/ PARSONS marriage. As was the Thomas PARSONS, who married Mary SAY in Uphill in 1770.

To deal with yet another Mary PARSONS born in Winscombe 1757, there is no recorded marriage for the Mary PARSONS above in Winscombe. Neither is a proposed marriage for a Mary PARSONS recorded in the banns book. If she was born in Winscombe and did marry, it must have been in another parish where she gained settlement. I doubt if she is the Mary PARSONS who was buried in Winscombe in July 1767. She would have been ten years old and children are usually identified as being the offspring of at least one or both parents in the register. She may have been buried in Winscombe because no one knew her legal parish or she was still regarded as a Winscombe woman.

We come now to William PARSONS, christened 3rd June 1756.

This is where it all goes pear-shaped, for a generation later, two Winscombe men, both named William PARSONS marry in St James the Great, Winscombe. Both claim to be of the parish and both are potential candidates for that one christening entry of 1756, but I have found it impossible to establish which William, if either, links back to previous generations of PARSONS in Winscombe based on the information I have to hand at the moment.

All that can be concluded is the ATWELL/ PARSONS line seemed to have established themselves in Winscombe, particularly in Sandford. They must have earned a decent living because remained there. The VATER/ PARSONS couple seemed to have been established in Barton, Winscombe, but their boys roamed, presumably looking for better employment and housing.

 I will begin with the witness to the above marriages.

TILLEY was a Winscombe surname, but Joan TILLEY does not feature as a single or a married woman in the registers. Joan does not seem to be linked with Winscombe or to PARSONS. Jeremiah RADFORD married Mary HALL in 1772 and a host of NIPPERs were witnesses to his wedding. No obvious PARSONS family link there.

So who was James PARSONS? James is such a common first name that it is amazing that it has not featured in the parish registers before. Unfortunately, other than his appearance as a witness at this marriage, he does not feature again in Winscombe, but a James PARSONS acts as a witness a generation later at the marriage of John PARSONS and Sarah KEEN in 1807, Banwell. There is a burial in 1776 for a child named James PARSONS, son of John PARSONS of Biddisham. I have no idea why his body should have been returned to Winscombe for burial and how that event fits into the scheme of things.

The only thing left that distinguishes the two men named William PARSONS are their wives, Mary ATWELL and Hannah VATER.

I have got nowhere with Mary ATWELL. Although she is of the parish at the time of marriage, there is no christening record for her. Once she becomes Mary PARSONS she is indistinguishable from all the others of the same name. Evidence from the parish registers and the Rate book shows that the ATWELL/ PARSONS family resided in Sandford, Winscombe.

Hannah VATER was christened in Banwell in 1760 as Ann VATER. When she died aged 70 in 1830, the burial register recorded that she was from Barton in Winscombe. In 1812, William PARSONS was selected as a Peace Officer for Barton in Winscombe, and the list of rate payers names William PARSONS from Barton in 1826 and 1829 so it may be safe to assume that the couple were established at Barton from 1812 at least.

From the Registers -

The is no record of a Nancy PARSONS in the registers prior to this marriage.

Identification of the William of the PLUMLY/ PARSONS marriage is speculation on my part. There are two candidates sitting there for the taking above - William ATWELL/ PARSONS (aged 27), or William VATER/ PARSONS (aged 22). I think it is the former. We have a loose canon in the burial of Wm. PARSONS in 1832 aged 54. I think that is also likely to be Wm. ATWELL/ PARSONS as the maths would suggest and there is the association with Sandford in Winscombe.

I have another bride earmarked for William VATER/ PARSONS - Phoebe HORSINGTON. They were married in Bedminster in 1809 and christened a son, John Horsington PARSONS, in Winscombe in 1812. Their next child was christened in Kewstoke in 1814 and the couple became established there.

As for the Thomas PARSONS who married Sophia WINSER in 1826, likely candidates for this marriage can be seen in the later burial register. In 1884, Thomas PARSONS of Dinghurst was buried in Winscombe aged 80 making his birth date c.1804 and a Sophie PARSONS of Churchill Batch was buried 1887 aged 83, making her birth date c 1804. According to the 1881 census, he was living in Dinghurst and was born in Churchill. They christened several children in Churchill.

We now come to two men named John PARSONS, both claiming to be of the parish at the time of marriage and again on the 1851 census. It is a case of déjà vu - we have been here before- there is only one christening.

31 Aug 1783: John, son of William and Hannah PARSONS.

The John PARSONS who married Sarah KEEN in Banwell in 1807, was, according to the 1851 census, born c.1787 in Winscombe and resided in Compton Bishop. He was described as a groom "of Winscombe" when he married, 21 Apr 1807. Both bride and groom signed their names. This leads me to speculate that the groom was the John PARSONS who was an overseer and church warden in Winscombe, so he was an educated man. The witnesses to this marriage were James ELLIS, James PARSONS, Mary CAPLE and Elizabeth KEEN.

Who was James PARSONS?

It is likely that he was a relative, possibly father or brother. Is it possible that he was the same James PARSONS who was a witness to the VATER/ PARSONS marriage of 1782, 25 years before, or was he the son of that James? He could be the 71 year old James PURSONS (sic) of Cross, Compton Bishop who was buried in Compton Bishop in 1831.

Another John PARSONS and another groom "of Winscombe". He married Ann DRAKE, of the parish of Yatton, on 16 Jan 1809 in Yatton. Witnesses to this marriage were Thos. PARSONS and Thomas GALLOP. John's census age gives a birth year c 1777 and his burial date, 1857 aged 82, gives a birth date 1775. As for the witness Thomas PARSONS, I believe he could have been Thomas ATWELL/ PARSONS. The two families did seem to inter-link from time to time. For example, Job, at 14, was christened in Winscombe on the same day as John's infant in 1809. When John christened his son in 1811, the register records that John was from Sandford in Winscombe.

So who claims the christening date?

The maths do not pan out for either. There is no perfect 'fit'. The John PARSONS baptised August 1783 should have given an age of 67 in March 1851 when the census was taken (68 in July/ August).

The Candidates

a) John who married Sarah KEEN in 1807

He is the closest based on age given in the 1851 census. He stated he was 64 in March 1851, just three years out. He farmed 8 acres of land in Compton Bishop, just east of Barton where William and Hannah PARSONS were settled. He christened a son in Banwell in 1808 and named him William, probably for the child's grandfather. This son may be the William, aged 46 (1808=43 years old), who is in Winscombe in 1851, born in Banwell and "looking after a house" with daughter Mary.

b) John who married Ann DRAKE in 1809

Our second contender, claims to be 74 in March 1851 (75 in July/ August), seven years out. The only sure thing about John was that he could pluck an age out of the sky. He had aged 8 years when he was buried 6 years later in May 1857 at 82 (Ann, his wife, was the informant). Ann had trouble with ages too. She claimed to be 75 in 1851, making her one year older than John and her birth year 1776. She was an 86 year old pauper (I think that had a lot to do with her 'advancing years') in 1861 and 90 when she was buried in May 1868. Fortunately, I am sure of her christening date, 6th Jan 1782. I think we have to eliminate given ages for the DRAKE/ PARSONS couple. If the years rolled by for John at the same rate they did for Ann, the christening date of 1783 would be spot on.

Another thing in this John's favour is his closeness to his brother William. The registers show two boys, William (1782) and John (1783) as sons of William and Hannah PARSONS and these two brothers can be tracked together. They both christen children in Winscombe within a year of each other; they both re-locate in Kewstoke and have subsequent children christened there. They are buried not far from each other. They do not seem to be 'tied' to Winscombe like the ATWELL/ PARSONS, KEEN/ PARSONS and SAY/ PARSONS families do. The latter seem to have the means to earn a living in Winscombe whereas William and John were simple farm labourers who saw better opportunities further afield..

c) John ATWELL/ PARSONS ?

I did hypothesise that the John born 1783 was John of the KEEN/ PARSONS marriage and the floater could have been one of the ATWELL/ PARSONS boys. After all, there is a convenient gap in the births where he could have slotted. William and Mary rounded up their children in 1792 and had them all christened together, having neglected to do so when they were infants. "Son John" could have been apprenticed away from home and missed this late family christening. That would account for there being no record of him in the registers Perhaps it was John and William ATWELL/ PARSONS who relocated together in Kewstoke. That would free the christening on 31 August for the John who married Sarah KEEN in 1807 and he could have had an older brother William. It could all fit that way too.

But it would not.

The Church warden's accounts shows both William PARSONS Snr and William PARSONS Jnr as rate payers, together in Sandford, Winscombe. All things considered, if I had to choose, I would opt for John PARSONS who married Ann DRAKE as the son of William and Hannah VATER who was christened on 31st Aug 1783 despite the discrepancy in age, because the discrepencies are consistent.

Now might be a good time to look at sources other than the registers. I have not thoroughly researched this area. Just scratched on the surface really. The Church Wardens' accounts books recorded the names of rate payers in the parish.

 D/P/Winsc. 4/1/1 - 1783-1849 (except 1805-1825) Church Wardens' accounts with rates

Woodburrow and Sidcot - No PARSONS

Rate for 26 Jan 1828

Woodburrow and Sidcott - No PARSONS

I looked back to 1783. There were no PARSONS.

Gordon Beavington's transcription of the 1851 census for North Somerset helps to clarify some of the lines of descent in Winscombe.

A lot of work still needs to be done so it may be foolhardy to form any firm conclusions at this stage. That said, there are certain assumptions that can be drawn

a) We have ended with four lines named PARSONS in, or associated with, Winscombe

ATWELL/ PARSONS

KEEN/ PARSONS

VATER/ PARSONS

And, associated with Winscombe

SAY/ PARSONS

None can be traced back at this stage to the William PARSONS, son of John and Mary THAYER/ PARSONS, christened in Winscombe on 3rd June 1756. Maybe none of them do.

b) The burial register records the death of Wm. PARSONS 68 of Winscombe, buried 16 Dec 1823. That means he might have been born c 1755. It seemed promising that there was a birth and a death for this William recorded in Winscombe, but there is nothing to link these two events: no identifying factor. Furthermore, he can not be linked yet with the other PARSONS lines.

He is not the Wm PARSONS Snr of the ATWELL/ PARSONS line, Sandford

Nor the Wm. PARSONS Snr of the VATER/ PARSONS line, Barton

- because they both appear as rate payers for the years 1828 and 1829

c) There are another two men named Wm PARSONS who were buried in Winscombe. The 1832 burial can be accounted for, as it is likely to be Wm. ATWELL/ PARSONS jnr. The second burial in 1846, that of Wm. PARSONS of Portishead, is unidentified.

That leaves us with two Williams (possibly three if the father of John of the KEEN/ PARSONS marriage was named William) - (1) William who married Mary ATWELL and (2) the William who married Hannah VATER. Maybe one of them has a claim on the 1846 burial, but putting aside that burial for the time being, neither is identifiable in the burial register as coming from Barton or Sandford in Winscombe. Yet both claim to be of the parish when they married. At this stage, the only conclusion must be that one or both of them were not born in the parish, but earned their settlement there and they died elsewhere or their bodies were returned elsewhere for burial.

(d) Just to complicate things even further, the vestry minutes records that in 1834, William of Winscombe was removed to Churchill.

Don't ask.

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