The Minor Family of Somerset

From Down Berret Lane Volume 1 by LaMar C. Berrett.

The Berretts of Down Berrett Lane and their cousins with Steeple Ashton roots are "English." And thoughit would appear from the name "Berrett" that they have French Connections and probably came to England with the Norman Invasion of 1066 A.D., it has been nigh impossible thus far to trace their ancestry beyond England. And evenif they could prove they came to England with the Normans, then it would still leave many questions.

The Normans were the inhabitantsof Normandy (directly south of England in Northern France), which was a Viking state in 1066 A.D. when the Normans invaded England under William the Conqueror. The Danish Vikings had conquered and given their name to Normandy in 911 A.D., and though they absorbed Christianity and the French language and culture, they still had Danish blood.

The Vikings as a group were called Norsemen or Danes. They were a Nordic people and were the ancestors of the Norwegians, Swedes and Danes of today. They spoke a German dialect that resembled the language spoken in England at the time. The Danish Vikings invaded both England and France and brought their people with them. One of the major causes of their invasions was their own over-population. They needed land and other sources of income. The Danish Viking raids on England began in the late 700's and continued for more than 300 years. In the late 800's a powerful Danish force established a base on English soil at York. The Danes marched from this base to conquer wherever they could.

In the early 990's the Norwegians joined the Danes in their attacks on England and they had great success. In 1003 King Sweyn of Denmark swept through England with his raiders and he became King of England in 1013. His son, Canute, succeeded him. Canute later became king of Denmark and Norway also. Canute's empire completely controlled the North Sea; but after he died in 1035, the Danes lost control of England.

If the Berretts came to england as Normans, their ancestry could be French, Danish, or a mixture of these two people. If they descended from the Swedish Vikings who invaded England then they would have Swedish blood. But who knows the answer to the question? The Gauls, Celts, Romans, Anglo Saxons and Norman sall had people living in England at one time or another...

BERRETT NAMES

The Berretts of Steeple Ashton continue to spell their name Berrett, even though some Berrett names on the Parish Registers are spelled differently in the1500-1700's.

The first Berrett name on the oldest Steeple Ashton Parish record, and in fact the second name on any Steeple Ashton Parish record of christenings follows:

1539 Annes Beret

One other Berrett name appears on the christening records in the 1500's...

1541 William Beret

STEEPLE ASHTON, a small English village dating to Medieval times, is located in southern England eighty-eight miles west and a little south of Buckingham Palace in London. It occupied the central part of what was once called "Whorwellsdown Hundred"or "Old Well Hill," which in turn was located in the West central portion of Wiltshire County. It lies about three miles east of Trowbridge, the county seat, and near the North west corner of Salisbury Plain. In 1801, the population of Steeple Ashton Tithing was 618. By 1831, it was 848, and by 1931 was 603. In 1951, the population was near 1000 and in 1977 was 800.

WILTSHIRE is one of forty ancient and historic counties or "shires" in England. Generally speaking, the terms "shire" and "county" mean the same. Wiltshire is approximately fifty miles in length North and south, and thirty six miles wide east and West. It has "zig-zaggy" lines somewhat in rectangular shape that enclose 1379 square miles. In the year John Watts Berrett was born, 1831, Wiltshire had a population of 240,200.