Place:Filton, Gloucestershire, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Filton is a town in South Gloucestershire, situated on the northern outskirts of the city of Bristol, about 4.5 miles (7.2 km) from the city centre. The town centres upon Filton Church, which dates back to the 12th century and is a grade II listed building. The name of the town comes from the Old English feleþe (hay), and tūn (farm, field) and dates back to at least 1187. Its population, according to the UK census of 2011, was just over 10,000.

Filton was in Gloucestershire until 1974 during which time it was part of three rural districts (Barton Regis, Chipping Sodbury and Sodbury). In 1974 it became part of the newly formed county of Avon. In 1996 the Avon authority was abolished and Filton became part of the unitary authority of South Gloucestershire, in the process rejoining the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire.

History

Between the wars Filton expanded rapidly to become a "suburb" of Bristol. Terraced and semi-detached housing, in small estates on both sides of the A38 trunk road, replaced arable land. Eventually, Filton became part of the Bristol conurbation, although it has always remained outside the city boundary.

Filton's reason for existence has largely been, since World War I, aviation. The Bristol Aeroplane Company was the first of many plane builders to establish a factory there. Aerospace companies now in Filton include BAE Systems, Airbus, Rolls-Royce and wikipedia:MBDA missile sytems, all with factories located around Bristol-Filton airfield. On 26 November 2003, the final ever Concorde flight touched down at Filton to be kept there permanently as the centrepiece of an air museum.

Other communities in the area of Filton are Frenchay and Bradley Stoke in Winterbourne parish; Patchway (a civil parish since 1953, previously part of Almondsbury); and Filton Park, Northville and East Filton (in the civil parish of Stoke Gifford).

Registration Districts

• Clifton Registration District (1837 - 1877)
• Barton Regis Registration District (1877 - 1904)
• Chipping Sodbury Registration District (1905 - 1937)
• Sodbury Registration District (1937 - 1974)
• Bristol Avon Registration District (1974 - 1996)
• South Gloucestershire Registration District (1996 - )

Research Tips

• Bristol Archives is where paper and microfilm copies of all records for Bristol and its environs are stored.

Online sources which may also be helpful:

• Three maps on the A Vision of Britain through Time website illustrate the changes in political boundaries over the period 1830-1945. All have expanding scales and on the second and third this facility is sufficient that individual parishes can be inspected (except in the immediate Bristol area--for Bristol, see English Jurisdictions).

• Gloucestershire Hundreds as drawn in 1832. This map was prepared before The Great Reform Act of that year. Note the polling places and representation of the various parts of the county.
• Gloucestershire in 1900, an Ordnance Survey map showing rural districts, the boundaries of the larger towns, the smaller civil parishes of the time, and some hamlets and villages in each parish
• Gloucestershire in 1943, an Ordnance Survey map showing the rural districts after the changes to their structure in the 1930s

• A Vision of Britain through Time has a group of pages of statistical facts for almost every parish in the county
• GENUKI gives pointers to other archive sources as well as providing some details on each parish. The emphasis here is on ecclesiastical parishes (useful before 1837)
• A listing of all the Registration Districts in England and Wales since their introduction in 1837 and tables of the parishes that were part of each district and the time period covered with detailed notes on changes of parish name, mergers, etc. The compiler has gone to a lot of work to provide this material. Respect his copyright.
• The FamilySearch Wiki for Gloucestershire provides a similar but not identical series of webpages to that provided by GENUKI
• English Jurisdictions, a supplementary website to FamilySearch outlining local parish boundaries in the middle on the 19th century. The information provided is especially useful for establishing the locations of ecclesiastical parishes in large towns and cathedral cities, as well as changes in their dedications (names). Very useful for Bristol.
• The Church Crawler has a website of photos and histories of English Churches with emphasis on Bristol.
• Unfortunately, the Victoria County History series provided by the website British History Online only provides information on Gloucestershire Churches in this part of the county. More general information on the Bristol and South Gloucestershire area is sadly omitted.
• Ancestry UK has recently added Gloucestershire Burials, 1813-1988; Confirmations, 1834-1913; Baptisms, 1813-1913; Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1813; and Marriages and Banns, 1754-1938. (entry dated 1 Aug 2015)
• Ancestry has also now updated Bristol, England, Select Church of England Parish Registers, 1720-1933 (entry dated 14 Mar 2016)
• England and Wales Jurisdictions 1851 provides a map illustrating the locations of the various Bristol parishes. Enter "Bristol" in the search box at the top left, then select the parish required from the list below the search box.