Holt of Dorset, Somerset & Bristol

There were several Holt families in west Dorset in the early 17th century but it has not been possible to definitely prove they all came from the same source. In those times many poor agricultural families took the name of the farmstead or village.

The direct line follows the fortunes of John Holt who married in 1759 to Elizabeth Smith in Membury, Devon, just across the border. 

In 1763 a son was baptised in Bettiscombe, a small village in west Dorset. A few years later we find him living in Beaminster, Dorset, an attractive market town, where he and his family lived for the rest of his life. Various parish documents chart the life of this family even though they were obviously very poor.

The following generations seem to have moved around this rural part of Dorset, until by 1890 the family of Lucy Holt, born 1852, moved with her husband to Glastonbury in Somerset. There she remained for many years, until her death in 1935 when she was living with a daughter in Weymouth, Dorset.

Albert Holt born 1875, son of Lucy, of which much has been written, moved sometime before 1896 to Bristol, no doubt to seek his fortune. His eldest daughter Aileen, mother of the author, born 1897 lived in Bristol all her life.

The history written here was first written as a book and copies are deposited in Dorset Record Office, Bristol Record Office and the Society of Genealogists in London. However some of the figures, photographs and transcripts included there are, for various reasons, including copyright, not included here. 

Nevertheless our Holt ancestry is here. Hopefully it will prove of interest to others.

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