Bristol, England.

Burgums and Burghams of the "AA" and "YY" family tree lived here, or nearby.

THE CITY OF BRISTOL, is situated on the River Avon, in south west England. It was from here that John Cabot, the Venetian explorer, became the first European since the Vikings to sail across the Atlantic and land on mainland North America. In the 14th Bristol, Norwich and York were the largest towns after London. It is estimated that up to one half of the population died here when the Black Death struck in 1348 and 1349. In the 1400's and 1500's it was the second busiest port after London. Bristol's success continued in the 17th and 18th centuries benefitting from the rise of England's American colonies and then, later in the 18th century, the African slave trade. At the height of the slave trade (1700-1807), it is estimated 2,000 slave ships transported over half a million Africans into slavery in the Americas!

The first Methodist chapel (called the New Room) was founded at Bristol in 1739 by John Wesley. One of the greatest influences on Bristol was the Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. He designed the Great Western Railway that went between London Paddington and Bristol. He also built two ocean-going steamships; the SS Great Britain and the SS Great Western. However, his most notable achievement was the famous landmark in the area, the Clifton Suspension Bridge. Eventually, with increased shipping and larger ships, Bristol was forced to move its maritime port to Avonmouth.

Henry Burgum, the Bristol pewterer, once lived near the Bell in St Thomas Street, before moving his business to No.2 Bridge Place (later called Bridge Parade) by Bristol Bridge. Just down the road was St Thomas Church and it was there, in 1765, that Henry married Betty Copner. He later lived at Clifton, but died at the Parade, St James. He was buried at Tickenham Church, ten miles west of Bristol, where he had owned a house. Click here to read Henry's full story.
("YY" family tree).

Eight miles east of Bristol are the villages of Abson and Wick where several Burgums from the "AA" family tree lived, worked and worshipped.

Bristol had once been in Gloucestershire and then later in Avon. However it finally became a unitary authority in 1996 when the County of Avon was abolished.

Picture above (left) is Bristol Bridge in the 1700's.
Picture (right) is St Thomas the Martyr Church Church, Bristol. (Click the picture for copyright; click back to return).


The list below shows the baptisms, marriages and burials that took place at Bristol.

Name	Date	Location	BMD	Minister	Notes	FT
Elizabeth	20 Dec 1759	Bristol	Marriage		m=Peter Heall
Henry	24 Mar 1761	Bristol	Marriage		m=Martha Tutton
Henry	17 Feb 1775	Bristol	Marriage		m=Molly Barrett
Henry	17 May 1792	Bristol	Marriage		m=Mary Wilcox	YY?

Click here for the AA family tree

Click here for the YY family tree

Click here for more about Bristol and some of the Burgums and Burghams who lived there.