Finding your lost ancestor
The names of all those buried in our cemetery can be found in an alphabetical Burial Register kept in our chapel, compiled by a volunteer from the original registers kept at the Somerset Heritage Centre. The information in the Register includes date of burial, age and place of origin.
Copies of this alphabetical register can be consulted at the Somerset Heritage Centre, Norton Fitzwarren, Taunton, and at the Somerset and Dorset Family History Society offices at Yeovil.
You can also make a search of those buried here via the Bath Burial Index. All the burials at our cemetery (not just the 20% from Bath) have been painstakingly entered here by Dr. Phil Bendall who has added a history and plan of the cemetery and has photographed all our remaining stone memorials and researched the biographies of those buried beneath. We are indebted to Dr Bendall for this.
https://www.batharchives.co.uk/cemeteries/mendip-hospital-cemetery
Not all Mendip Hospital patients were buried in our cemetery. About half who died there were claimed by family or friends and taken home for burial, so if your ancestor is not with us this is the likely reason. We don’t have any of the Mendip Hospital records at our cemetery; all the records are safely kept at the Somerset Heritage Centre and we are very fortunate that the patient records are almost complete, running as a series from 1848 until 1959. There are also staff records: though not as complete as the patient records, you may well find an ancestor here.
If you can visit the Somerset Heritage Centre and your ancestor died over a hundred years ago it may be possible for you to look at and photograph their records (for a small fee you can copy as many records as you like in one session). The Somerset asylum began to take patient photographs from 1894, so if your ancestor was at the asylum/hospital from that year onward you may well find a portrait in the case notes. You must book a session/sessions at the Heritage Centre in advance. There is no charge but you must obtain a readers ticket when you get there. All details are on their website and the staff are very friendly, helpful and patient.
If your ancestor died less than a hundred years ago or you are unable to visit the Heritage Centre you can request copies of your ancestor’s records. These can be sent to you for an agreed fee. All details can be found on the Heritage Centre website:
Other links
- The Heritage Centre catalogue shows all available Mendip Hospital records. The link to this is: https://somerset-cat.swheritage.org.uk/records/D/H/men
- If you just want to see the the patient case books you will find them here: https://somerset-cat.swheritage.org.uk/records/D/H/men/17
- The Deceased Patients Register is another useful resource: https://somerset-cat.swheritage.org.uk/records/D/H/men/24
- The Heritage Centre also provide a useful research guide to the mental health records: https://somerset-cat.swheritage.org.uk/guides/mentalHealth