Who we are

The Dorset Migration Index is a project of the West Dorset Research Centre in Bridport, Dorset, UK.

The migration group are a group of volunteers who work in the research centre.

The Dorset Migration Index is based in Bridport. Bridport, with its neighbour Bridport is situated at the west end of the county of Dorset and has an unusual past. It played an important role in the history of cordage and sailcloth from the early thirteenth century and still has a thriving net making industry. It has its own harbour, now known as West Bay, and is surrounded by beautiful countryside.

We are creating a database of those who left Dorset, up to 1930, so that in the future we will be able to help people in their searches for earlier members of their family. After 1841 many of the villages started to decrease in population. Why did they leave such an idyllic spot, what made them go? We are just as interested in finding out about those who went to Wiltshire as those who went to New South Wales. Can you help us?

Submit information via our online form...