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A county of England, reaching from the Bristol to the English Channel, and bounded by Cornwall, and Somersetshire, and Dorsetshire. It is 69 miles in length, and 60 in breadth, and is divided into 31 hundreds. It is very hilly, and abounds in huge granite rocks, some of whose peaks are above 1500 feet in height. The highland is covered with wide moors, of which Dartmoor is the most extensive. But in the valleys and lower ground the soil is fertile. Its rivers are the Exe, the Culm, the Dart, the Tamar, the Otter, &c. Some parts of its coasts are composed of lofty cliffs, but at others there is a beautiful sandy shore. The air and climate are so mild and salubrious that invalids often retire to its sea-ports for the winter. Limestone, granite, some building-stone, and a species of wood-coal are found here, as well as some kinds of variegated marble. It produces corn, &c. and fruit trees, especially apples, whence much cider is made. Its fisheries also are of value. Exeter is its chief city. Population, 533, 460. It sends 22 members to parliament." (From Barclay's Complete and Universal English Dictionary, 1842.)Thumbnail.gif


NOTE 1: The Devon Search Facility can be used to search all the GENUKI/Devon pages kept at the University of Newcastle for particular words and phrases, and the Online Gazetteer of Devon to identify which town or parish a place is located in. There is also a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) file for these Devon pages, and a What's New page listing major recent additions. The mailing list associated with GENUKI/Devon is DEVON-L (now co-sponsored by the Devon FHS), and Devon surnames are listed within Graham Jaunay's On-line English Names Directory. For information related to specific families or individuals see Genealogies, and Biographies.

NOTE 2: Volunteers are sought for the Devon Pre-1841 Census Transcription Project, the Devon 1841 Census Transcription Project, the Devon 1861 Census Transcription Project, the Devon Book Indexing Project, the Devon Online Parish Clerks scheme, and the Devon Freeholders (1711-1780) Transcription Project.

Contents

Almanacs

A Devon Book of Days - "What happened in Devon on any day in the past? This web page chronicles events great and small across the centuries," (Based mainly on Todd Gray's Devon Alamanac.

Gray, T. The Devon Almanac, Mint Press, Stevensbooks, 76 Longbrook Street, Exeter, EX4 6AP (c1999). [ISBN-19033560]

Archives and Libraries

  • The Devon Record Offices in Exeter (Great Moor House, Bittern Road, Sowton, Exeter EX2 7NL), Barnstaple (Tuly Street, Barnstaple, EX32 7EJ) and Plymouth (Unit 3, Clare Place, Coxside, Plymouth, PL4 OJW) contain the most important genealogy-related archives in Devon. Their catalogues are now largely online, as part of A2A (the Access to Archives network), whose search page allows one to choose to focus a search on the holdings of a particular record office.
  • Friends of Devon's Archives web-site - "The Friends of Devon's Archives was formed in 1998 to promote the preservation and use of historical records throughout Devon ... in close association with the Devon Record Office and the North Devon Record Office".
  • The Devon Public Library Local Studies Service has several major reference collections of great relevance to Devon genealogy, about 100,000 items in total, the main collection being at the Westcountry Studies Library in Exeter. (Note: This will be closed to the public because of building works between 9th January and 4th February 2006.) The North Devon Local Studies Centre in Barnstaple shares accomodation with the North Devon Athenaeum Library. The third major centre is at Plymouth. The Service's web site in very informative, and its What's New page is well-worth checking from time to time. Though there is a very useful on-line union catalogue, and set of specialised catalogues, much more complete keyword searches of the local studies files can be made using the Devon County Council Library Catalogue - to confine the search to the local studies website, add "Local Studies" to your search terms. (Books cannot be borrowed but advice is provided on various ways of obtaining further information.)
  • Devon and Cornwall Record Society - Shelflist of Collections. (Covers the Society's own publications, parish register transcriptions, files on a large number of individual parishes and families, etc., etc. This collection is housed within the Westcountry Studies Library, but not covered by the latter's catalogue.)
  • The Devon Museums web-site hosts information about a growing number of museums across Devon.
  • North Devon on Disk - an interactive archive of historical and contemporary information, based on the collections of Northern Devon's 10 local authority and independent museums.
  • Exeter University Library - which provides a link from its Web site to an online catalogue of its holdings.
  • Exeter Cathedral Library - general information, plus images of some of its treasures.
  • Plymouth University Library - has an online catalogue.
  • Devon section of Familia - Family History Resources in Public Libraries in Britain and Ireland.
  • Devon page of the ArchiveCD Books project.
  • Kay's Way Local History Library - online bookseler's cataloguue, mainly related to South Devon.
  • North Devon Maritime Museum - basic information.
  • Explore North Devon a Lottery Heritage funded project enabling residents of Bratton Fleming, Hartland, Mortehoe, Parracombe and Winkleigh to contribute new material and digitise the resulting data to populate a web-based resource linked to the national Access to Archives (A2A) programme."
  • Devon section of the catalogue of the extensive holdings of the LDS Family History Centre, Hyde Park, London.

Devon County Council's Web site is becoming large enough to be categorized as an archive - they now have a search service, well worth checking for information on particular places, etc.

They also provide a listing of Archives.

Gray, Todd (ed.) Devon Documents. Tiverton: Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries, Special Issue (1996) [ISBN-0925836203] pp.
Sun Life insurance: Index to Devon Policies Held at Guildhall Library, London. [Devon FHS Library 368.1]

Bibliography

Devon Book Indexing Project - call for volunteers.

Adams, M. Index to printed literature relating to North Devon. Trans. Dev. Assoc. 34 (1902) .
Brushfield, T.N. The Literature of Devonshire up to the Year 1640, Trans. Devon. Assoc., (1893).
Davidson, J. Bibliotheca Devoniensis: a Catalogue of the Printed Books relating to the County of Devon, Exeter, Willim Roberts (1852).
Paley, Geoffrey. Devon Bibliography 1982, Devon History Society (1983) 15 pp. [SoG - Devon tracts]
Paley, Geoffrey. Devon Bibliography 1983, Devon History Society (1985) 23 pp. [SoG - Devon tracts]
Pycroft, George. Art in Devonshire, with the biographies of Artists born in that County, Exeter & London, (1883) 158 pp.
Ramsden, J.V. Bibliography of the parishes of east Devon, except Exeter, Typescript (1947). [Westcountry Studies Library px016/DEV/RAM]
Raymond, S.A. Devon: A Genealogical Bibliography (Vol 1: Sources), 121p., Exeter: S.A. & M.J. Raymond (1994) (2nd. ed.). [An excellent listing, though in general not covering parish histories.]
Raymond, S.A. Devon: A Genealogical Bibliography (Vol 2: Families), 80p., Exeter: S.A. & M.J. Raymond (1990).
Somers Cocks, J. V. Devon Topographical Prints 1660-1870: a catalogue and guide, Exeter, Devon Library Services (1977) 324 pp. [ISBN-086114001X]
Taylor, Neville, (Series Ed.). County Sources at the Society of Genealogists (June 2001) - Cornwall & Devon: Parish Registers, Nonconformist Registers, Marriage Licenses, Monumental Inscriptions, London, Society of Genealogists Enterprises, Ltd. (2002) 38 pp. [1 9403462 53 3]
Thorne, Roger F. S. Our providential way: a bibliography of the history of dissent in Devon, Trans. Devon. Assoc., vol. 127, (1995) pp.201-246.
Historical Manuscripts Commission. The Manuscripts of the Duke of Somerset, The Marquis of Ailesbury and the Rev. Sir T.H.G.Puleston, Bart., London, H.M.S.O. (1898) 410 p.
Tree House Resources - A Guide to the Books, Documents, CD's, Microfiche and Magazines, Part 1: Books, Devon Family History Society (2002) 78 pp.
Tree House Resources - A Guide to the Books, Documents, Microfiche, CD's and Magazines, Part 2: Documents, Microfiche, CD's and Magazines, Devon Family History Society (2002) 44 pp.

What was originally intended as a Devon Bibliography, but expanded to became an immensely useful general index listing over a million references to Devon places and people, is now known as the Burnet-Morris Index - the original is at the Westcountry Studies Library, but microfilmed versions can be seen at any LDS Family History Centre. (For the reference sources covered see The Burnet Morris Index 1940-1990, Devon Library Services, Exeter, 1990.)

The Devon Local Studies Library provides very extensive and useful listings of books and of periodical articles, arranged alphabetically by geographical location.

Full index to nos. 1-100 of the Devon Family Historian.

Listing of article titles in Devon Family Historian, No 40 (Oct 1986) - No 74 (May 1995).

Listing of articles relating to Devon in other genealogical periodicals.

Publishers and book distributors with coverage of Devon genealogy and history include: Archive CD, Dartmoor Press, Edward Gaskell and Lazarus Press, Halsgrove, Phillimore, Stevensbooks, Bernard Welchman.

Antiquarian and second hand books relating to Devon - Ambra Books, Chapel Books, Joel Segal Books, and Old Books (a listing of over 60 Antiquarian & Secondhand Booksellers in Devon, Cornwall, Somerset & Dorset).

Maps, Plans, Manuscripts, Documents, etc., especially relating to the West Country - Lesley Aitchison.

Genealogy and Family History Documents relating to Devon, offered by Beryl Anderson.

Listing of Dartmoor Press Publications - an extensive set of parish register and trade directory transcripts and indexes, etc., related to parishes in the Dartmoor Region.

Historic Documents Pages - Devon (1-100), Devon (101-204) and Devon (205-300) - details taken from auction catalogues by Mike Durtnall.

A selected bibliography related mainly to North Devon is provided by James Brannan.

Biography

Published and on-line individual biographies are listed on a separate set of Biographies pages.

Listing of some famous Devonians, by Shirley Turner.

Devonshire Biopics - John Lerwill's collection of biographies of "Interesting Devonians", based on obituary notices.

Devon Obituaries, extracted from the Gentleman's Magazine for 1840, [1841 and 1842, by William Cooke.

Baring-Gould, S. Devonshire Characters and Strange Events (London, 1908) [Available from Archive CD] Index Extracts
Clarke, J. Exploring the West Country: A woman's guide. London: Virago Press (1987), pp. 171, ill. [ISBN-0-86068-601-9] Index
Clay, Emily. Extraordinary Parsons of Devon and Cornwall, Exeter, Devon Books (1986) 74 pp. [WCSL: s283.0922/WES/CLA] Index
Cresswell, B.F. A Book of Devonshire Parsons, London, Heath Granton (1932) 192p.
Gaskell, Ernest. Devonshire Leaders: Social and Political. Published for Private Circulation. (c190-).
Green, Richard. Exeter Centenarian: An Interesting interview, Devon Famiy Historian, vol. 97, (2001) pp.24-26. [Contains a copy of an article from the Exeter Flying Post, 15 Mar 1899, about Richard Davie, originally of Newton St Cyres and Tedburn St Mary]
Gribble, Francis. The Romance of the Men of Devon, (1912) 282 pp. Index
Hamblin, Eleanor and Hamblin, Edith. Leading Lights of Devon (1973). [Devon FHS Library pBC]
Kearley Wright, W.H. West-Country Poets: their lives and works: being an account of about four hundred verse writers of Devon and Cornwall with poems and extracts. London: Elliot Stock (1896). Index Partial transcription
Miller, Helen Hill. Captains from Devon: The Great Elizabethan Seafarers Who Won the Oceans for England, Chapel Hill, NC, Algonquin Books (1985). [0-912697-27-X]
Murray, Sir Oswyn, (Ed.). Biographical dictionary of Devon incumbents (20 vols.), Manuscript (1930). [D&CRS Library, Exeter: R CLE]
Pridham, T.L.. Devonshire Celebrities: Social and Political. Exeter (1869) 236p. [Includes pictures of Sir Thomas Acland, Sir Nicholas Carew, Lord Edward Courtney, Sir Francis Drake, Sir Walter Raleigh and Earl Fortescue.]
Prince, J. Worthies of Devon: A Work Wherein the Lives and Fortunes of The Most Famous Divines, Statesmen, Swordsmen, Physicians, Writers, and Other Eminent Persons, Natives of that most noble Province... , London, (1810) xxxvii + 785pp + x. [Biographies of eminent Devonians] [Available on CD from Archive CD
Who's Who in Devonshire, Hereford, Wilson & Phillips (1934) 294 pp. Index

Cemeteries

The Devon Family History Society has a name index to monumental inscriptions from many Devon churchyards. This is currently (April 2004) being transferred to a computer, in order to provide a search service.

The North Devon Athenaeum holds transcriptions of monumental inscriptions from 128 Devon parishes, made by Benjamin Incledon, Thomas Bemridge and John Sydenham during 1769-93, together with an index made by T. Wainwright. It also holds a card index of inscriptions from 54 burial grounds in North Devon. (References to these Incledon and NDA North Devon indexes are given on relevant parish pages.)

Article about, and listing of the soldiers of the Devonshire Regiment who are buried in, the Devonshire Cemetery, all of whom were killed on July 1, 1916.

Mike Brown's Online Index of Lost Devon MIs.

Dwelly, Edward. Devon Monumental Inscriptions. Fleet, Hants: E. Dwelly (1918) v, 226 pp. ill. (Dwelly's parish records ; vol. 6) "Being all the monumental inscriptions in the parishes of Countisbury, Brendon, Martinhoe, Trentishoe, Parracombe, Lynton, Bow, Zeal Monachorum, Bridford, Doddiscombsleigh, Christow, and Ashton, with tricks of arms, &c.".
Lack et al, William. The Monumental Brasses of Devonshire, Monumental Brass Society County Series, vol. 9 (2000). Review
Pulman, George P.R. The Book of the Axe: containing a Piscatorial Description of that stream, and a history of all the Parishes and remarkable spots upon its banks.]. (London, 1875.) Index to Devon MIs [Available on CD from ArchiveCD]
Wainwright, Thomas. An Index to the Names of Persons found in the Monumental Inscriptions in Devonshire Churches, Copied in the Years 1769-93, Trans. Devon. Assoc., vol. 36, (1904) pp.522-541. [Covers 128 parishes in the rural deaneries of Barnstaple, Shirwell, South Molton, Chumleigh, Torrington, Hartland, Holsworthy, Tiverton, Collumpton, Honiton, Aylesbeare, Ottery and Moreton] Transcription
Cemeteries and churchyards in Devon: War graves of the British Empire (1930) [DFHS Library p929.5]

Census

The census in the UK is taken every 10 years, the first being in 1801, but national census records containing information of interest to family historians are available only for 1841 to 1901. The (unindexed) original records can be seen on either microfilm or microfiche at the Family Records Centre in London, and at LDS Family History Centres world-wide. Adding to GENUKI's extensive general information about the census, the situation for Devon in particular is as follows:

  • 1841 - Scanned images available on CD-ROM from Archive CD, and online with a name index - for a fee - from British Origins; the subject of a joint DFHS/FreeCen project to transcribe and index.
  • 1851 - Fully-indexed transcription available on CD-ROM from the LDS.
  • 1861 - Scanned images available on CD-ROM from Archive CD, the subject of a joint DFHS/FreeCen project to transcribe and index.
  • 1871 - Scanned images available on CD-ROM from Archive CD and - with a name index - online for a fee from Ancestry.
  • 1881 - Fully indexed transcription available on CD-ROM from the LDS, and online for free at http://www.familysearch.org/.
  • 1891 - A FreeCen project to produce a free online indexed transcription is now complete - see FreeCEN-Devon 1891.
  • 1901 - Scanned images available online for a fee, and a detailed index for free, at National Archives, and from Ancestry.

Pre-1841 census records exist for a small number of Devon parishes - the Devon Pre-1841 Census Transcription Project has been set up with the aim of locating and transcribing all such records.

Arthur French has provided a very useful article about the problems of Searching the 1851 Devon Census; and the Warwickshire section of GENUKI makes available a detailed description of this FFHS/LDS transcription.

As mentioned above, the Devon 1891 Census Transcription Project is producing a full transcription of this census. Some early results of this project which were made available via the relevant parish pages have been withdrawn, in favour of checked and validated transcriptions accessible via a searchable facility. A follow-on Devon 1861 Census Transcription Project has now started and is seeking volunteers.

There is an index to the 1861 Census for North Devon at the Barnstaple Record Office.

GBHGIS - A Vision of Britain Through Time: Devon - an impressive collection of statistical and descriptive information, gathered from the all the censuses from 1801-2001.

Ed Essery's listing of Parishes in North Devon Surname Indices to 1861, 1871 & 1891 Censuses.

Many of the 1881 Census entries for ships in port in Plymouth, Dartmouth, Appledore, Northam, Barnstaple & Ilfracombe are given in a searchable database of seaman provided by Bob Sanders.

Leadbetter, Lorna. Devan Orphans in Essex, Devon Family Historian, vol. 123, (2007) pp.25-27. [Includes listings of Devon orphans at the Merchant Seamen's Orphans Asylum in Snaresbrook from the 1871, 1881, 1891 and 1901 census.]
Snetzler, Marjorie F. (Ed.). 1891 Census Surname Index: North Devon (1992). [Devon FHS Library 929.34235]
Snetzler, Marjorie F. (Ed.). 1861 Census Surname Index: North Devon (1995). [Devon FHS Library 929.34235]
Snetzler, Marjorie F., (Ed.). 1871 Census Surname Index: North Devon (1997). [Devon FHS Library 929.34235]
Susser, Bernard. Jews (Identified & Supposed) in the 1841-1891 censuses: Exeter (1841-1861), Falmouth (1851), Penzance (1851), Plymouth (1841-1891), Torquay (1851). Stroud (1881, 1891) transcribed by Harold Pollins, Studies in Anglo-Jewish History, vol. 1, (1996). [Contents now incorporated into the JewishGEN UK Database
Wickes, Michael J.L. (Ed.). Devon in the Religious Census of 1851, M.J.L. Wickes (1990) 157 pp. [Devon FHS Library 274.235]
Devon Strays Extracted from the 1851 Census of Glamorgan (1995). [Devon FHS Library p929.34297]

National Statistics provides sumary information about Devon 1801-1901 in its Area Monitor Devon.

Chronology

A North Devon Chronology - from The Heritage Album: 175 years in North Devon (1824-1999).

Church History

Listing of books and papers on http://genuki.cs.ncl.ac.uk/DEV/ChurchHistory.html Devon Church History].

Lyson's Magna Britannia - Vol 6, Devonshire (1822) - a complete transcript of this nearly 700-page general and parochial history of Devon, provided by British History Online.

Graham Jaunay has kindly provided a listing covering both http://genuki.cs.ncl.ac.uk/DEV/DevonParishes.html modern and ancient parishes], and indicating how the modern parishes relate to the original ancient parishes.

http://genuki.cs.ncl.ac.uk/DEV/Huguenots.html Huguenots and Walloons in Devon] - links and references.

An essay by John Lerwill: Devon Huguenots.

Roger Peters provides a full transcription, complete with scanned photographs of Stabb's Some Old Devon Churches (3 vols.), 1980 , covering 261 Devon churches - consisting of 232 pages of text and over 500 photographs, which can be downloaded as one zipped archive.

Here is the full text of Michael J.L. Wickes' West Country Preachers - A History of the Bible Christians 1805-1907, (Second edition, February 2007) - completed by Rosie Wickes after Michael Wickes died in 2004, and made available here by her kind permission.

John Pritchard's account: The Presbyterian Church in Devon.

Official web-site of the Diocese of Exeter - this provides, among other information, contact details for the incumbents and staff of all the Devon (modern) parishes.

Listing of parishes in the Diocese of Exeter that have web-pages, from Anglicans Online.

Studies in Anglo-Jewish History, by Rabbi Susser - contains transcriptions of wills, census records, MIs, etc., mainly relating to South-West England.

Orthodox Churches in Devon and Cornwall: Plymouth, Torquay and Falmouth

The Bible Christian Project is collecting information on the founders of this movement and their descendants - see also the Bible Christian Magazine.

Devon section of Steve Bulman's collection of photographs of the churches of Great Britain and Ireland.

Photographs of Devon Churches, provided on the Wishful Thinking website.

The Church Monuments Society website provides photographs and transcripts of the monuments from a small but growing set of Devon churches.

Devon section of Steve Pickthall's Parish Clerks Index.

Church Bells of Devon - listings of bellfounders and inscriptions, by Jean E. Harris.

Church Records

The standard guide to Devon's Parish Registers for many years has been:

Peskett, H. Guide to the Parish and Non-Parochial Registers of Devon and Cornwall, 1538-1837, Torquay, Devon and Cornwall Record Society; extra ser., v (1979).

This is now largely superceded by:

Wilcox, A. National Index of Parish Registers, Volume 8, Part 5: Devon, London, Society of Genealogists (1999) 245 pp. [ISBN-1 85951 605 X] "A Guide to the Anglican, Roman Catholic and Non-Conformist registers, together with information on Bishop's Transcripts, modern copies and Marriage licences."

The great majority of extant Devon parish registers are now in the custody of the Devon Record Office - for details see Parish Registers in the Devon Record Office. Microfilmed copies of nearly all these registers can be seen at the Record Office's various locations in microfiche format. It is possible to purchase microfiche copies for private study and research - see this Information Note provided by the Devon Record Office. NOTE: This service will be unavailable from 18 Jun 2004 for approximately five months, due to the Record Office's move to a new location.

There are also some Devon Record Office microfilmed copies at the Society of Genealogists' Library, among the SoG's large collection of transcriptions and register extracts relating to Devon.

The Devon Record Office also has an extensive collection of Bishops' Transcripts of the parish registers, and of Marriage Licences. Calendars and indexes to the Marriage Licences are in the library of the Devon & Cornwall Record Society, which is located in the Westcountry Studies Library.

The large English Parish Records Collection, 1269-1930, at the Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada "consists of microfilm copies of records of many parishes in the South West of England, particularly the counties of Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Hampshire. The collection focuses on those areas which supplied crews for the Newfoundland fishery, and the places of origin of Newfoundland settlers. Devon parishes predominate". (Note that permission of the Devon Record Office is needed for any photcopying of these microfilm records.)

Note: Though the LDS have not been able to get permission to film or transcribe the original registers, a good number, but far from all, of the Devon parish registers and Bishops Transcripts have had their baptisms and marriages extracted (in the main from transcripts in the possession of the Devon & Cornwall Record Society) into the IGI. In addition, the great majority of extant Nonconformist registers have had their entries extracted into the IGI, which is now available online as part of the LDS Family Search web site.

Hugh Wallis provides via his IGI Batch Number pages for Devon (A-M) and Devon (N-Z) means of doing surname searches, limited typically to individual Devon parishes, of the IGI, i.e. of extractions form the above transcriptions. Another aid to searching the online IGI is provided by Mick Curtis' Devon IGI Batch Numbers web-site.

It is in general now possible for individuals to obtain permission to transcribe particular Devon parish registers, and to make the results available on-line - advice on this can be obtained, on a case by case basis, from the Devon Record Office. As a result there are a growing number of transcriptions in GENUKI/Devon. For details of these and other available parish register transcriptions, and of IGI coverage, see individual parish pages. (Note: these details do not cover the small, but growing, collection of name-specific Devon parish register extractions that is being made available by Sue Davey, and for which contributions are sought.)

Information regarding the locations of original registers for other churches and chapels (with pre-1840 records), whether at the PRO or one the various Devon Record Offices or elsewhere, has also been added to these parish pages - much more detail about these and other churches and chapels, and about the locations of register copies, can be found in Wilcox (1999). (Abbreviations used in the parish pages: B - burials, C - christenings, M - marriages, Z - births, DRO - Devon Record Office, NDRO - North Devon Record Office, PRO - Public Record Office, PWDRO - Plymouth and West Devon Record Office.)

The Devon Family History Society has indexed Devon marriages covering the period 1754-1837, and provides a (postal) look-up service for members. A number of booklets listing marriages for particular parishes during 1813-1837, and a number listing burials for the same period, are available - details are given on individual parish pages. The Society has just started a project to index baptisms for parishes which are not included in the IGI - potential volunteers to help with this indexing are asked to contact baptisms@devonfhs.org.uk.

1744 and 1779 replies to Bishops' visitation queries - transcribed by the Friends of Devon's Archives. (Indexed by parish, providing "information on various issues relating to religious observance in the parish".)

Devon Strays, extracted by Peter Heale, from Phillimore's Cornwall parish registers, and from the Lynher Parishes web-site.

The Devon Family History Society has published Burials Books for a considerable number of parishes - see individual parish pages.

One significant published collection of transcriptions, likely to be available in various major reference libraries, is:

Devonshire parish registers. Marriages. London: Issued to the subscribers by Phillimore & Co., (1909, 1915) 2 v. (Phillimore's parish register series; vol. 112, 135.) [Available on CD-ROM from S & N Genealogy Supplies]

The Quaker FHS provides details of available Devon Quaker records.

Quaker Registers (others with pre-1840 records are listed in appropriate parish pages):

  • Devon Quarterly Meeting: 1776-1837 (Z), 1783-91, 1795-1836 (M), 1777-1837 (B) in PRO RG 6/192, 466-8, 481-2, 492, 622); 1659-1794 (Z notes), 1784-91 (M certs), 1682-1794 (B notes) in PRO RG 6/941, 1580, 942
  • Eastern Division (including Exeter, Culmstock, Cullompton, Newton Tracey, Spiceland, Topsham): 1785-1837 (Z), 1786-94, 1798-1836 (M), 1785-1837 (B) in PRO RG 6/1424, 193, 392, 393); 1824-67, 1888-96, 1945-58 (Z), 1942-61 (M), 1824-84, 1896-1944, 1942-61 (B) at DRO; see also Culmstock and Exeter
  • Western Division (Plymouth, Kingsbridge, etc): 1795-1837 (Z), 1798-1836 (M), 1795-1837 (B) in PRP RG 6/194, 394-5

The Devon FHS publishes indexes covering (as of June 2004): Burials 1824-1837 - for details see their book list.

For Methodist records deposited in the Devon Record Office see:

Thorne, R.F.S. Methodism in Devon: A handlist of chapels and their records (2nd. ed.), Devon Record Office (1989). [ISBN-0861149750]

Here is an explanatory note Parishes in Devon, provided by Arthur French.

What becomes of Parish Registers - information from Notes & Queries on lost Devon parish registers, by Paul Benyon.

Elizabeth Howard offers look-ups of Devon strays among the Bible Christians' Kilkhampton (Cornwall) Circuit.

Boyd's Marriage Index - Devon Parishes - lists the parishes included and gives the period covered by each parish's records.

Bolt, Barbara. The Coverage of Devon Parishes in the IGI, Exeter, Devon FHS (2002). [DFHS Library - p9293/IGI-Dev]
Brockett, A., (Ed.). The Exeter assembly: minutes of the assemblies of the United Brethren of Devon and Cornwall 1691-1717 as transcribed by the Reverend Isaac Gilling, Exeter, Devon and Cornwall Record Society (1963).
Granville, Roger and Mugford, W.E., (Ed.). Abstracts of the Existing Transcripts of the Lost Parish-Registers of Devon, 1596-1644, and short notes on the extant pre-reformation registers of all the parishes in the county, from particulars furnished by the several incumbents thereof. Vol. 1 A-Bra, Exeter, W. Pollard (1908).
Hambley Rowe, J. Marriages of Devonians in Cornwall. Devon & Cornwall Notes and Queries; 2:3, (1902) pp. 77-79. Transcription
English Parish Records: Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, & Somerset. Ancestry (2001) CD-ROM.
Grylls, Richard. Marriages in Devon before 1754: A guide to the wherabouts of copis, transcripts and indexes of the original records. Devon Family History Society, Exeter (2007) 20p.

Civil Registration

Certificates of birth, death and marriage can be obtained from the Superintendent Registrar at the following District Register Offices:

If ordering from a District Office, please note the following: (a) the cost of a certificate is currently (June 2005) £7.00 - send a Sterling cheque payable to the Superintendent Registrar plus return postage or two International Reply Coupons; (b) the St Catherine's Index references are of no value; (c) for marriage certificates, the precise place of marriage must be given; (d) Civil Registration in England and Wales began on July 1st 1837.

Detailed listing, by Brett Langston, of the places covered by the various Devon Registration districts.

Correctional Institutions

Printed Sources on Prisons in Devon, and on Crime and Punishment, from the Devon Record Office.

Devon Prisons - brief details of each, from the Rossbret Prisons web-site.

Howard, A.J. (Ed.). Medieval Gaol Delivery Rolls for the County of Devon (1354-1412) (1986). [Devon FHS Library p942.35041]
Scott-Fox, Charles. Devon County Prison 1853-2003: Origins and history of HM Prison & Remand Centre, Exeter. Charles Scott-Fox, Ayshford House, Westleigh, Tiverton, Devon EX16 7HL (2004) viii, 96p: ill, maps, ports [ISBN-0954701305].
Prison Ladies Photographs - 1870s, Exeter, Devon Family History Society (2005). Foreword

Court Records

A large variety of Quarter Session Records are held by the Devon Record Office. A 1971 listing, Assizes and Quarter Sessions in Exeter, is available from them, and a more recent summary of their holdings is to be found in:

Chiswell, Ann. Coroner's Accounts for the County of Devon from Easter session 1815 to the following Michaelmas Session. In 25 Years with the Devon Family Historian, pp.4-8, Devon FHS, (2001).

Notebooks kept by Baldwin Fulford JP, of Dunsford, of his court cases have been trancribed by Fay Sampson Priestley. (The original documents are in private hands.)

Calendars of Prisoners, from the Devon Quarter Sessions Records, DRO Q32 and QS34, transcribed by Brian Brassett.

Calendars of Badgers Licenses, and of Convictions for Swearing, from the Devon Quarter Sessions Records, DRO Q14, transcribed by Brian Brassett.

Indictable Offences (c.1745 - c.1782), from the Devon Quarter Sessions Records, DRO QS10/1, transcribed by Brian Brassett.

The Devon and Exeter Oath Rolls 1723 - transcribed by the Friends of Devon's Archives. (Indexed transcription of "the names of over 25,000 Devonians, amounting to some one in five of the adult population of the time".)

Devon Freeholders, 1711-1799 - transcribed by Simon Dixon of the Friends of Devon's Archives. (Indexed "transcripts of one book for each decade until the end of the eighteenth century" of a series of Freeholders Books, some 25,000 names in all, "compiled for the purposes of identifying inhabitants of the county who were eligible to serve on juries".) Work is now in progress to complete this set of transcripts for the period up to 1780 - see the GENUKI Devon Freeholders pages.

Chanter, J F. Swainmote courts of Exmoor, and the Devonshire portion and purlieus of the forest. Trans. Dev. Assoc. 39 (1907).
Cockburn, J.S. Western Circuit Assize Orders, 1629-1648: A calendar, Royal Historical Society, Camden 4th Series, vol. 17, (1976)
Fudge, W.K. The Value of Old Parchment Documents in Genealogical and Topographical Research, Topographical Quarterly, vol. 3, no. 3, (1935) pp.173-225. [Deeds]
Fudge, W.K. Palaeography, Genealogy and Topography, Topographical Quarterly, vol. 6, no. 4, (1938) pp.203-228. [Deeds]
Gibson, J.S.W. Quarter Sessions Records for Family Historians. FFHS (1995).
Hamilton, A.H.A. Quarter Sessions from Queen Elizabeth to Queene Anne: Illustrations of local government and history, drawn from original records (chiefly of the county of Devon), 19th-century legal treatises ; no. 9664-9667. London, Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington (1878) 364 pp.
Hawkings, David T. Coroners' Records at the Quarter Sessions, Family Tree Magazine, vol. 23, no. 6, (2007) p.11. [Provides full transcript of a Devon coroner's 1814-15 expense account listing the 37 enquiries attended - giving in each case the date, place, name of deceased, cause of death and name of informant.]
Howard, A.J. (transcr.). Assize roll: county of Devon 1332, Typescript (1970). [D&CRS Library, Exeter: P1332]
Howard, A.J. (transcr.). Assize roll: county of Devon, Typescript (1970). [D&CRS Library, Exeter: P1359]
Howard, A.J. (transcr.). Assize roll: county of Devon 1358/9, Typescript (1973). [D&CRS Library, Exeter: P1358]
Moger, O.M. (transcr.). Quarter sessions, Devonshire: Civil War petitions from 1642-1685, Typescript (1983). [D&CRS Library: R QUA]
Summerson, Henry. Crown Pleas of the Devon Eyre of 1238, Devon and Cornwall Record Society 28 (1985). [ISBN-0901853283] [Devon FHS Library 942.35034]
Tamblin, Stuart (transcr.). Criminal Register Indexes (PRO HO 27), Vol. 2: Devon & Cornwall (1805-16), Family History Indexes, 14 Copper Leaf Close, Moulton, Northampton (2000). [Diskette and microfiche]
Tamblin, Stuart (transcr.). Criminal Register Indexes (PRO HO 27), Vol. CDP1: Devon, Cornwall, Somerset & Dorset (1805-16), Family History Indexes, 14 Copper Leaf Close, Moulton, Northampton (2001). [CD]
Jewell, Sheila. Coroners Briefs, Devon Family Historian, vol. 99, (2001) pp.7-8. [List of coroners verdicts, giving name, date and cause of death, during the period 1784-6, from the Devon R.O. Quarter Sessions records.]
Bastardy - Quarter Sessions Returns of Affiliation Orders 1844-1857, Exeter, Devon Family History Society (2004). [One book per year, containing Petty Session Division, mothers name, putative fathers name, summons/Petty Sessions dates and result of case.] Foreword
Devon Court Case Notes, (1851-52). [Devon FHS Library p345.01]
Register of Insolvent Debtors, 1824-1834, Exeter, Devon Family History Society (2005). Foreword
Register of Insolvent Debtors, 1835-1847, Exeter, Devon Family History Society (2005). Foreword
Register of Perons Admitted to Asylums, 1834-1853, Exeter, Devon Family History Society (2005). Foreword

Description and Travel

Listing of books and papers on Devon Description and Travel.

Directories

Devon directories available from Archive CD.

The University of Leicester's Historical Directories web-site provides indexed facsimile images of many directories, including White (1850) and Pigot (I844) for Devon.

The Westcountry Studies Library has trade directories from 1783.

Direct Resources have surname indexes to 19th Century trade directories on-line; see their list of counties and directories. Note there are text and spreadsheet formats available. The Devon coverage is of towns and major villages in White's Devon 1850 and Hunt & Co's 1848 & 1850 directories.

Billings, M. Directory and Gazetteer of the County of Devon. Birmingham (1857) 786pp.
White, W. History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Devonshire and the City and County of the City of Exeter , Newton Abbot, David & Charles (1968) 804 pp. [Reprint of the first (1850) edition of the earliest really detailed Devon directory] Lookups
Pigot's 1823 Devon Directory. CD-ROM produced by S & N Genealogy (2000). [In Adobe Acrobat format]
Pigot's 1830 Devon Directory. CD produced by Stepping Stones, York (2001).
1830 Pigot's 1830 Directory of Devon. CD 0273, Archive CD (2001).
Pigot's 1844 Devon Directory. CD-ROM produced by S & N Genealogy (2000). [In Adobe Acrobat format]
1830 Pigot's 1844 Directory of Devon. CD 0223, Archive CD (2001).
Percy's Calendar & Register for 1876: Devon and Cornwall, Percy & Company, Paternaster Row, London E.C. (1876) 450p.
White's 1878 History, Directory and Gazetteer of Devon CD GB1009, Archive CD (2003).
Kelly's 1893 Directory of Devon. CD 9021P, Archive CD (2001).
Post Office directory of Devonshire. London : Kelly & Co. (1897).
Kelly's 1910 Directory of Devon. CD 1019, Archive CD (2003).
Kelly's 1923 Directory of Devon. CD 0175, Archive CD (2003).
South Western Counties of England Trades' Directory (1958-59). [Devon FHS Library 942.3]
Who's Who in Devonshire, Hereford, Wilson & Phillips Pub. & Pr. (1934) 294 pp.

Emigration and Immigration

Listing of Migrants from the West Country who joined the South Wales Police, provided by Paul Mansfield. (Copy dated 26 Apr 2006, from the Internet Archive.)

North Devon Exodus, by Arthur Dark, a much expanded version of an article that previously appeared in the Devon Historian, and its associated database of emigrants' surnames.

Voyage of the Barque "Emigrant" From Plymouth to Moreton Bay, Australia (1850) - passenger list.

Passenger List of Bark Cato (Plymouth to New York 1834), transcribed by Nany Haugh.

Devonians in Ontario - copies of back issues of this newsletter "about Devon (England), Ontario and the people who emigrated from one to the other".

Barge, A.M. Emigration from Devon and Cornwall, 1632-1638. Devon & Cornwall Notes and Queries, vol. 17 (1932-5), pp.65-67.
Brayshay, Mark. "The Emigration Trade in Nineteenth-Century Devon" in The New Maritime History of Devon (Vol 1), ed. M. Duffy, Conway Maritime Press (1992).
Brown, Martyn. Australia Bound: The Story of West Country Connections, 1688-1888, Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire, Ex Libris Press (1988) 223 pp. [ISBN: 0948578084] Lookups
Brown, R.D., Devonians and the New England Settlement before 1650. Trans. Devon Assoc., vol. 95 (1963), pp.219-43. [The appendix to the paper lists many Devonians with the parish they left and where they went in New England] Lookups Index
Coldham, P.W. Bonded Passengers to America, vol. V: Western Circuit 1664-1775, comprising the counties of Devon, Cornwall, Dorset, Hampshire, Somerset and Wiltshire, with a list of the rebels of 1685. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Pub. Co. (1983).
Dark, Arthur. North Devon Exodus, Devon Family Historian, vol. 117, (Feb 2006) pp.6-10. [About 19th century emigration to Canada]
Dark, A. Progress with the North Devon Exodus Database, Devon Family Historian, vol. 122, (2007) pp.16.
Davey, F.A. and Watts, S.G. Westward Look! 21 Stories of Devon Pioneers and Pilgrims in New England (1970). [Devon FHS Library p973]
Giffard, A. Towards Quebec, H.M.S.O., 1981, 72 p. [ISBN-0-11-290335-5]
Gray, Todd. Devon's coastal and overseas fisheries and New England migration, 1597-1642. Exeter, PhD Thesis, University of Exeter (1988).
Handcock, W. Gordon. So Longe As There Comes Noe Women: Origins of English settlement in Newfoundland (Newfoundland history series. 6), St John's, Newfoundland, Breakwater Books (1989) 343p, maps. [ISBN-0920911552. pbk; 0920911803] [One of the best books on the subject of immigration to Newfoundland from Devon] Lookups
Harris, Jean E. (transcr.). Families, Ontario Genealogical Society J., vol. 36, no. 3, (1997) pp.216-218. [Names of all North Americans listed with Lethbridge (1901) - see below]
Lethbridge, Sir Roger. Presidential Address, Report & Trans. of the Devonshire Assoc., vol. XXXIII (Vol III second series), no. Exeter July-August 1901, (1901) pp.36-67. [Describes how advertisements were placed in newsapapers in the colonies and US asking that former Devonians write to tell how they had fared in their new countries and elicted replies from about 300 Devonian emigrants - whose names and addresses are listed in an Appendix in pp.68-76.]
MacKeith, Lucy. Local Black History - a beginning in Devon. Archives and Museum of Black Heritage, 378 Coldharbour Lane, London SW9 8LF (2003) Full text and illustrations
Murphy, Nathan W. Devon's Supply of North American and Carribean Indentured Servants 1655-1660, Genealogists' Magazine, vol. 29, no. 1, (2007) pp.3-12. [Explores "the origins of 69 indentured servants from Devon who embarked from Bristol between 1655 and 1660 for the sugar and tobaco plantations of the New World". Devon surnames mentioned: Bidgood, Braine, Brangwell, Britten, Buckingham, Carpenter, Chappell, Dobell, Dodge, Drew, Higgins, Land, Mills, Nash, Palmer, Perebridge, Plaise, Rost, Saye, Scaddinge, Tucker]
Scott, Reg. The West Country's Australian Links (1988). [ISBN-0p51337505] [Devon FHS Library 929.1/AUS]
Scott, Reg. The West Country's Explorers and Colonisers: What Devon and Cornwall did for the World (1996). [ISBN-09528949] [Devon FHS Library 942.3]
Siebert, J.M. Devon Strays, Devon Family Historian, vol. 111, (2004) pp.7-9. [About Devon emigrants (many of which are named) to South Africa under the "1820 Settlers" scheme.]
Steer, Michael. Devon Families in Newfoundland, Devon Family Historian, vol. 63, (1992) pp.2-5. [Includes lengthy name listing from Family Names of the Island of Newfoundland by Dr E.R.Seary]
Walton, Jack. The Last Farewell: Devon convicts transported to Australia 1782-1821Ê, Australian Scholarly Publishing Pty Ltd (2003). Index
White-Thomson, Sir R T. Activities of 'The National Society of Colonial Dames of America', more particularly with reference to certain Devonians. Trans. Dev. Assoc. 46 (1914). [This Society was formed in 1891 with the object of preserving "Olden Traditions of America" by ladies descended from ancestry that can be traced back to pre-revolutionary times. Among the Devon families mentioned are Champernowne, Davy, Pepperell, Cutts, Chauncy.]
Wickes, Michael. Devon Emigrants to North America (1618-1660) - part 1, Devon Family Historian, vol. 38, (1986) pp.6-10, and part 2, Devon Family Historian, vol. 41, (1986) pp.13-17. [Based on a transcript of Port Books material at the National Archives as extracted by Peter Wilson Coldham]
Devonshire Emigrants to Maine, U.S.A. Western Antiquary, vol. 18 (1885), pp.140-144.
Americanus, The Plymouth Company and the Settlement of Maine in New England. Devon & Cornwall Notes and Queries, vol. 18 (1934-5), pp.134-138.
Westward Ho! Movement & Migration: Notes from a conference, Southwest Family History Societies' Residential Conference, 3-6 April 2003, Exeter University (2003). [DFHS Library p304.8]

Transcription - Passenger list, "Cosmopolite", Plymouth to New York City, 1835.

Mark Sandford's detailed listing of passengers on the Barque "John" which sank in 1855 shortly after leaving Plymouth Sound, bound for Quebec.

Encyclopedias and Dictionaries

Downes, J. A Dictionary of Devon Dialect, Tabb House, 11 Church St, Padstow, Cornwall PL28 8BG. (1986). [ISBN-0-907018-33-5] [On Devon social history, as well as dialect.]

Folklore

Folklore, Culture, Customs and Language of Devon - from the Dewnans web-site.

Holy Wells in Tarka Country Website - records project to discover some of the Holy and Ancient Wells in Dartmoor and Exmoor.

Some Ancient and Holy Wells in Devon, by Laurence Hunt.

Bray, Anna Elizabeth. Traditions, legends, superstitions and sketches of Devon, on the borders of the Tamar & Tavy, in a series of letters to R. Southey, London, John Murray (1838) Vol 1: ill. [Plymouth Library 398.2]
Chard, Judy. Devon Mysteries, Bossiney Books (1979). [ISBN-0906456290] [Denon FHS Library 942.35]
Christie, Peter. Folklore in North Devon. Trans. Devon. Assoc. 128, (1996) pp.139-154. [1824-1850]
Coxhead, J.R.W. Legends of Devon (1954). [Devon FHS Library 942.35]
Coxhead, J.R.W. Old Devon Customs, Exmouth, (1957) 101 pp.
Crossing, William. Folk Rhymes of Devon: Notices of the Metrical Sayings Found in the Lore of the People, Devon and Cornwall Notes and Queries, vol. VI, no. III, (1911) 156pp.
Hewett, Sarah. Nummits and Crummits: Devonshire Customs, Characteristics, and Folk-lore, (1900) vi + (2) + 219 p.
Sharman, V. Day. Folk Tales of Devon, (1952). [Devon FHS Library 942.35]
Thomas, Frederick. Humourous and Other Poetic Pictures, Legends and Stories of Devon, London, W. kent (1883) viii + 296 pp.
Trist, David et al. Folk Festivals and Traditions of Devon: A guide to Devon calendar customs, (1980). [ISBN-0861142268] [Devon FHS Library p942.35]
Underwood, P. Ghosts of Devon, St. Teath, Cornwall, Bossiney Books (1982). [ISBN-0 906456 62 2] (Republished by Penwell Ltd., Callington Cornwall in 1994.)
Westcott, L.A. Legends of Devon, London, Exeter & Dawlish, (1848) 120 pp.
Whitlock, Ralph. The Folklore of Devon, Totowa, N.J., Rowman and Littlefield (1977) 214 pp. : ill. pp. [ISBN: 0874719542]
Whitworth, Belinda. Gothic Devon (1993). [ISBN-0747801991] [Devon FHS Library 942.35]
Shades and Spectres: A Guide to Devon Hauntings, Devon Folk Life Register (1978). [ISBN-0861144473] [Devon FHS Library p942.35, BL X.0410/142] [Bibliography of 141 published accounts, organised by parish.]

Gazetteers

The transcription of the Devonshire section from [Gaz1868.html the National Gazetteer (1868)], provided by Colin Hinson. Links to the transcriptions of the gazetteer's parish descriptions are provides on individual parish pages.

White, W. History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Devonshire (Reprint of the 1850 edition), Newton Abbot: David & Charles (1968) 804p.
"The first county directory of Devon of any real historical value."

A 12, 000-item [Gazetteer/ online gazetteer of Devon] has been produced from White's 1850 book, listing all the places (chapels, churches, farms, hamlets, houses, inns, manors, schools, streets, villages, etc.) and principal organizations named in it, and identifying their town or parish.

A listing of approximately 1500 places in Devon, indicating not just the town or parish they are located in, but also their actual OS grid reference (set up to act as a link via which they can be found on various maps) can be searched using this search form:

Devon Local Studies Service has a very useful online Historic Gazetteer down to parish level, with summary historical and statistical information, and in most cases an early map, illustration and descriptive text.

Samantha Letters' Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs to 1516 - Devon section.

Devon Section of the Comprehensive Gazetteer of England and Wales, 1894-5, together with a map of the county.

Genealogy

The [Genealogies/index.html Genealogies] pages are the main starting point in GENUKI/Devon for information relating to individual families: they list published and selected on-line narrative genealogical accounts, and provides links to town and parish pages containing further such accounts.

The [OPCproject.html Devon Online Parish Clerks scheme], working in conjunction with the One-Place Studies Project, involves a set of volunteers who each take responsibility for a particular Devon parish, gathering information about it and providing advice and lookups based on this information. Further volunteers are welcome. (E-mail requests to OPCs should include "OPC (parish name)" in their subject line.)

Devon Library Local Studies Service's extensive Family and population history pages.

Devon-related research interests are listed in Graham Jaunay's On-line English Names Research Directory.

[indexingproject.html Devon Book Indexing Project - call for volunteers].

The Genogold web-site provides a database search facility based on contributed genealogical data, and allows people to add their email addresses to database records that are of interest to them. It is a general site, but much of its data relates to the West Country.

Ancestry Solutions' Research Planning Aid for Devon.

Devon Strays Index - maintained by Devon FHS.

Index Search Services - provided by Devon FHS.

Electronic Mailing Lists, etc.:

<ul type="DISC
  • DEVON - A mailing list for anyone with a genealogical or historical interest in the county of Devon, England, run by Vicki Lindsay, and co-sponsored by GENUKI/Devon and the Devon FHS.</li>
  • Devon county-wide forum - one of the set of genealogy forums operated by British-Genealogy.com.</li>
  • British-Genealogy's Devon Forum.</li>
  • WESSEX-PLUS. A mailing list for anyone who has an interest in genealogy or general and local history related to and incorporating the counties of Berkshire, Bristol, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Isle of Wight, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, and Wiltshire, England, run by Roma Draper.</li>
  • Devon section of the RootsChat Messaging Forum.</li>
  • Devon section of Curious Fox - "The village by village contact site for anybody researching family history, genealogy and local history in the UK and Ireland"</li> </ul>

    The Devon Lookup Exchange lists various reference works on Devon which volunteers are willing to search for specific entries.

    The Devon page of the World GenWeb project provides various "Devon query boards".

    Nigel Batty-Smith provides a growing transcription, in browsable form, of the genealogies given in Visitations of the County of Devon of 1531, 1564, & 1620 by J.L. Vivian, published in 1895, and scanned images of his "The Visitation of the County of Devon, 1564 with additions from the Earlier Visitation of 1531" .

    Terry William's Plymouth & South West Devon, a Genealogical Miscellany web-site.

    The Devon Heritage website provides articles, illustrations, and/or name listings for a small but growing number of Devon towns and parishes.

    Shirley Turner's Guide for an Overseas Genealogist to Devon.

    Listing of some Devon Strays, by Shirley Turner.

    Listing of Devon Strays among some North Devon parishes, by Lorraine de Leuw.

    Middle names, from all of Devon, other than Exeter and Plymouth, extracted from the IGI by Hugh Wallis.

    Article on the Doone family of Exmoor, and R.D. Blackmore's famous book "Lorna Doone".

    Brown, M. Index to Devon's Adjacent Parishes, Dartmoor Press (c1996) 24 pp. [Index lists all of Devon's 473 "original" Parishes, and the Parishes adjacent to each.]
    Lauder, Rosemary. Devon Families, Tiverton, Halsgrove (2002) 160 pp. [ISBN-1 84114 140 2] [Family names featured include: Acland, Amory, Bourchier Wrey, Buller, Carew, Cave, Chichester, Churston, Clifford, Courtenay, Cruwys, Clinton, Fortescue, Fulford, Fursdon, Gilbert, Hamlyn/Rous, Kelly, Lopes, Northcote, Parker, Pellew, Quicke, Seymour, Stuckley]
    Leetooze, Sherrell Branton. Putting the Flesh on the Bones of your Devon & Cornwall Ancestors: A source book for family researchers, (2000). [ISBN-0969878982] [Devon FHS Library 929.1/ENG-Dev]
    Raymond, S.A. South West Family Histories: Cornwall, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire, Exeter, Devon, S.A. & M.J. Raymond (1998). 128p.
    Summers, Peter G. and Titterton, John E., (Ed.). Hatchments in Britain (10 vols), London, Phillimore (1974-). [Devon is covered in vol. 7]
    Tuckett, John. Devonshire Pedigrees: Recorded in the Herald's Visitation of 1620; With Additions from the Harleian Manuscripts, and the Printed Collections of Westcote and Pole. (1859-61) 220pp.
    Williams, B.H. Ancient Westcountry Families and Their Armorial Bearings: A story of the old nobility and gentry of Devon and Cornwall, with notes on their lives, their manor-houses and their charities (Vol. I), 112A and 112B Market Jew Street, Penzance, J.A.D. Bridger (1916) 301 pp. [Vol 2. was never published] Contents & Search Index [Now available on an Archive CD CD-ROM.]
    Worthy, C. Devonshire Parishes: or the antiquities, heraldry and family history of twenty-eight parishes in the archdeaconry of Totnes (2 vols), Exeter, W. Pollard (1889). [Covers parishes in the archdeaconry of Totnes.] Index [Available on CD from Archive CD

    Heraldry

    Carew, Sir G. Sir George Carew's Scroll of Arms - With Additions from Joseph Holland's Collection of Arms 1579, Exeter, (1901) 152 pp.
    Jewers, A.J. Heraldic & Genealogical Notes from South Devon Churches, (1885).

    History

    Listing of published books and articles on [History.html Devon History].

    Books on Devon History & Topography available from Archive CD.

    Transcription of the chapter on the history and description of Devon from White's 1850 History, Gazetteer and Directory of Devonshire.

    Sources for Devon Parish History, and Source Guide S12: Histories, from Devon Local Studies Service.

    Britannia's extensive History of Devon web-site provides articles on a number of Devon churches, country houses and castles, towns and villages, bishops of Exeter and Crediton, etc.

    Devonshire section of the Domesday Book.

    Town and Village Histories - from East Devon net.

    [//www.devon.gov.uk/library/locstudy/bookhist/west51.html Devon in the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars] - from A history of the book in Devon.

    John Lerwill is providing a growing set of articles on Devon history.

    Francis Frith Collection of Historic Photographs - Devon section.

    Devon on Film - a BBC archive of free downloadable (in the UK) archive film clips.

    Medical Heritage of Great Britain - Devon section - a website that is "produced by the Bath & Wessex Medical History Group, a non-profit making medical history society and is devoted to raising awareness of the history and archaeology of medicine".

    Jewish History

    Friedlander, Evelyn. The Jews of Devon and Cornwall: Essays and exhibition catalogue, Bristol, Hidden Legacy Foundation (2000) 123 pp. : ill. [ISBN-1900178826] [Essays: Judaism and the Jewish people, Synagogues and cemeteries in the South-West, The rabbis and ministers, Nathan Joseph Altmann, Lemon Hart, Solomon Alexander Hart RA, 1806-1881, Ezekiel Abraham Ezekiel of Exeter, The Jews of Barnstaple]
    Fry, Helen. Jews in North Devon During the Second World War, Halsgrove (2005) 160 pp. [ISBN: 1841144371] Index
    Susser, Bernard. The Jews of Devon and Cornwall, from the Middle Ages until the early twentieth century Thesis, University of Exeter (1997) xxi, 421 l. facsims.
    Susser, Bernard. The Jews of Devon and Cornwall, Tiverton, Halsgrove Press (2000) 124 pp. [ISBN-1900178826]
    Susser, Bernard. The Jews of south-west England: the rise and decline of their medieval and modern communities, Exeter, Devon, University of Exeter Press (1993) xxii, 361 pp. : ill. [Based on the author's PhD thesis [New York Public Library]

    Land and Property

    The Friends of Devon's Archives group has an ongoing project to index the Devon tithe apportionments - see listing.

    Devon section of The Country House Database - country houses from the late medieval period to ca. 1850, together with an index to occupiers.

    Abstracts of Devon Feet of Fines (Land Conveyances) for 1369-1509, provided by Chris Phillips.

    Devon Estate Records held by Kings College, Cambridge.

    The Devon Rural Archive - "set up in February 2006 as part of The Fenwick Charitable Trust to provide a much needed resource for local historians, archaeologists and genealogists working in Devon."

    Devonshire County Asylums - a photographic record.

    Devon section of Pat Johnson's Family Deeds website, providing full transcripts of old deeds and documents, the originals of which are for sale to finance further purchases and transcripts

    Thatch in Devon - from Devon County Council.

    Alcock, N.W. and Laithwaite, Michael. Medieval houses in Devon and their modernisation, Medieval Archaeology, vol. 17, (1973) pp.100-25.
    Brown, Mike. Index. Dartmoor Tithe Apportionments, Vol. 8. The Dartmoor Press (c1997) 16p.
    Carter, G E L. Borough English and burgage tenure. Trans. Dev. Assoc. 65 (1933). [Devon and the customs of land tenure, and the laws of inheritance from the Saxon to theÊearly medieval period]
    Davy, John Tanner. Davy's Devon Herd Book. London: Longman & Co. (1851) 147pp. Index
    Gray, Todd. Harvest Failure in Devon and Cornwall [1623 and 1630-1]: The Book of Orders and the Corn Surveys (1992). [ISBN-0903686651] [Devon FHS Library 942.036]
    Hooke, Delia. Pre-Conquest Charter-Bounds of Devon and Cornwall Univ of Rochester Press (1994) 265pp. [ISBN-10: 0851153542] ["Della Hooke uses the ancient charter-bounds to explore and explain the history of settlement and land use in the region. . . The book presents all the topographical detail in the charters, together with all the estate boundaries. Each charter is individually mapped and its landmarks are located as closely as possible."]
    Kew, John. The disposal of crown lands and the Devon land market, 1536-58, Agricultural History Review, vol. 18, no. 1, (1970) pp.93-105. Full text
    Lauder, Rosemary Anne. Vanished Houses of North Devon, R.A. Lauder (1981) 72 pp. [ISBN-0 950 792004] [Stevenstone, Annery, Dunsland, Yeo Vale, Winsiott House, and Eggesford]
    Pounds, N.G. (ed.) The Parliamentary Survey of the Duchy of Cornwall, Part 1, Devon and Cornwall Record Society (1982).
    Pounds, N.G. (ed.) The Parliamentary Survey of the Duchy of Cornwall, Part 2, Devon and Cornwall Record Society (1984).
    Reichel, O.J. (Ed.). Devon Feet of Fines, Vol 1: Richard I - Henry III (1196-1272), Exeter, Devon and Cornwall Record Society, Vol 7 (1912) 437 pp.
    Reichel, O.J., Prideaux, F.B., and Tapley-Soper, H., (Ed.). Devon Feet of Fines, Vol 2: 1 Edward I - 43 Edward III (1272-1369), Exeter: Devon and Cornwall Record Society (1939) 494 pp.
    Seinett, Guy A.C. An Investigation Into the Effects of Agricultural Depression on Farm Rents within specific Estates in the Coiunties of Devon, Dorset and Cornwall 1870-1941, (1995). [Devon R.O. Features the Duke of Bedford's Estates, Tavistock, Mid-Devon and North-Devon]
    Vancouver, Charles. General View of the Agriculture of Devon: With Observations on the Means of its Improvement, Drawn up for the Consideration of the Board of Agriculture, Newton Abbot, David and Charles (1969) Folding map, plates, folding tables, xii + 479pp. [Originally published 1808] Index
    Vorter, J.N. Tenant Right: Devonshire and the 1880 Ground Game Act, Agricultural History Review, vol. 34, no. 2, (1986) p.188.
    Youings, Joyce. Devon Monastic lands: Calendar of Particulars for Grants, 1536-1558, Devon and Cornwall Record Society, No.1 (1955). [Devon FHS Library 942.3505]
    Return of Owners of Land (1873). CD 0213-09, ArchiveCD (2001).

    Language and Languages

    Devon Voices - BBC pages on the devon dialect.

    Recording of Dick Gilbert of Wear Giffard, b. 1879 with analysis of his accent and dialect.

    Downes, John. Dictionary of Devon Dialect, Tabb House, 11 Church St., Padstow, Cornwall (1986) 97 pp. [ISBN: 0907018335]
    Gregory, Alfred T., (Ed.). Devonshire Verbal Provincialisms: As Collected by Members of the Devonshire Association for Advancement of Science, Literature, & Art etc. 1877 to 1908, Devonshire Association (1909) viii, 196 p.
    [Palmer, Mary] A Dialogue in the Devonshire Dialect, London, Longman & Co. (1837) vi + 85 pp.
    [Palmer, M.]. Devonshire Courtship, Devonport and London, (c186-) 74 pp.
    Hewett, Sarah. The Peasant Speech of Devon, and other matters connected therewith, (1892) ix + 184 p.
    Lamplugh, Lois. Four Centuries of Devon Dialect as Recorded in Print, R.M. Young, 17 Broad Street, South Molton EX36 3AQ (1999) 175 pp.
    Marten, Clement. The Devonshire dialect: being a collection of reminiscences, anecdotes, customs and traditions in which the Devonshire dialect is shown to be an important part of the character of the Devonshire people ... (4th ed.), Newton Abbot, Peninsula (1992) 48 pp. [ISBN: 1872640222]
    Phillips, K.C. Westcountry Words & Ways, David & Charles: Newton Abbot (1976)
    Sherracombe, Will. Devonshire folk: Stories from remote village, farms and hills, London, Heath Cranton Limited (1937) 180 pp. [Westcountry Studies Library 828.99]

    Manors

    Ian Mortimer has produced a splendid Guide to the Manors of Devon, which provides a detailed listing of Devon's over two thousand manors. Please note: it is requested that anyone citing material from these pages should take care to acknowledge the source of their information.

    The Survey of West Country Manors 1525: Devon, Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire is available on microfiche from Harry Galloway Publishers and Booksellers, The Cottage, Manor Terrace, Paignton, Devon TQ3 3RQ.

    Catalogue of documents relating to a number of Devon manors held by King's College, Cambridge: "Alphington, Crealy Barton, Highampton, Honeychurch, Ipplepen, Sampford Courtenay, St James Priory in Exeter, Tiverton and Walkhampton."

    Pearson, J B. Manors in Devon, 1755. Trans. Dev. Assoc. 35 (1903).
    Scott, Brad. The rural manor in South-west Devon in the nineteenth century. Trans. Devon. Assoc. 129, (1997) pp.129-143: ill.
    Stoate, T.L., (Ed.). A Survey of West Country Manors 1525, Bristol, T.L. Stoate (1979) 193 pp.

    Maps

    A superb, indeed definitive, set of maps showing parish boundaries, on a one inch to the mile scale, is now available on CD-ROM - see:

    Kain, R.J.P., Oliver, R.R., Historic Parishes of England and Wales: an Electronic Map of Boundaries before 1850 with a Gazetteer and Metadata [computer file. Colchester, Essex: History Data Service, UK Data Archive [distributor], 17 May 2001. SN: 4348.

    Devon Local Studies Library provide reproductions of a superb set of historic maps, including Greenwood's one inch to a mile maps of 1827, Donn's one inch to the mile maps of 1765, and Saxton's 1575 map.

    Genmaps provides a large collection of scans of old maps of Devon.

    Outline [Maps/DevonCounty.GIF Map of Devonshire], showing main towns and parish boundaries.

    Devon FHS's Devon Parish Finder Map.

    Schematic large-scale maps of Devon showing (ancient) parish boundaries:

    <table summary="tba" width="60% <tr> <td valign="TOP" width="50%
    • [Maps/ParishesNW.GIF NW Parishes]
    • [Maps/ParishesNE.GIF NE Parishes]
    </td> <td valign="TOP
    • [Maps/ParishesSW.GIF SW Parishes]
    • [Maps/ParishesSE.GIF SE Parishes]
    </td> </tr> </table>

    Detailed maps from the 1885 Report of the Boundary Commissioners: Northern Section, Southern Section, and Eastern Section, showing boundaries of Parliamentary Boroughs, Petty Sessional Divisions, and proposed Parliamentary Divisions.

    North Devon section of Benjamin Donn's 1765 Map of Devon. (272kb)

    The Royal National Institute for the Blind produces tactile maps with braille captions of East Devon and of West Devon, giving the main towns/villages, roads and places of interest.

    A very clear and detailed map of (South) Devon 1883/4, is provided by Nicolas Adams.

    <ul class="noindent
  • Alan Gresley provides high quality scans of maps of North Devon from Baedeker's Great Britain, Handbook for Travelers by Karl Baedeker (7th ed., 1910).</li> </ul>

    Devon County Council's Devon Facts & Figures provide maps, covering the different areas of Devon, showing (modern) parish locations:

    <table summary="tba" width="60% <tr> <td valign="TOP" width="50% </td> <td valign="TOP </td> </tr> </table>

    Devon section of Genmaps - David Bax's very useful collection of links to online versions of old maps.

    The Devon section of Your Old Maps Online provides a very detailed scan of Cary's 1787 map of Devon.

    Reproduction Devonshire Maps and Prints are published by Hampden Maps.

    Batten, K. and Bennett, F. The Printed Maps of Devon, Exeter, Devon Books (1996).
    Batten, Kit and Bennett, Francis. The Victorian Maps of Devon, Printed Maps 1838-1901, Exeter, Devon Books (2000) xxxvi + 196 pp.
    Kain, Roger and Ravenhill, William. Historical Atlas of South-West England. Exeter University Press (1999) 584p. 395 maps, 150 ill. [ISBN: 0 85989 434 7]
    ["This is the first historical atlas of a major region of the United Kingdom. Its aim is to create and communicate the history of the south-western peninsula of England-Cornwall, Devon and the Isles of Scilly-from the beginnings of man's occupation to the present day. The cartographic message projected by around 400 maps is extended by a substantial text of about 250, 000 words as well as diagrams, contemporary prints and photographs."]
    Ravenhill, Mary R. and Rowe, Margery M., (Ed.). Early Devon Maps: maps of lands and estates in Devon before 1700, Exeter, Devon Books (2000) vi, 58 pp.. ill. (chiefly col.). maps (chiefly col.) [ISBN: 1855227282].
    Ravenhill, Mary R. and Rowe, Margery M., (Ed.). Devon Maps and Mapmakers: Manuscript maps before 1840, Exeter, Devon & Cornwall Record Society (2002) 2 vols. [ISBN: 0901853437, 0901853433] [Devon FHS Library 912.435].
    Devon 1827 - Greenwoods Maps Surveyed 1825/6 - 1" to 1 mile. CD 0292, ArchiveCD (2001).
    County Maps - Cornwall, Devon, Somerset & Dorset ArchiveCD (2003). [Devon county maps 1695, 1831, 1837, 1844]

    Merchant Marine

    Listing of books and papers on [MerchantMarine.html Devon Maritime topics].

    Shipping Catalogue of the Plymouth and West Devon Record Office.

    Bob Sanders provides a lengthy listing of: Bristol Channel Shipping accidents.

    Shipwrecks around Devon - by Submerged Productions

    Devon Crew Lists available on film from the LDS.

    Crew lists of several vessels that sailed from Dartmouth to Newfoundland in 1770.

    The Sinking of the "John", May 1855, by Mark Sandford. (The John was en route from Plymouth for Quebec under Captain Edward Rawle - this website reproduces contemporary newspaper and court reports, and provides many details of the crew and passengers.)

    Article by Thomas Cole on Clears Cove and Devon Fishermen.

    A Maritime Collection - a set of articles, mainly relating to North Devom, provided by John Lerwill.

    Avery, John. Titanic - Some connections with Devon, Devon Family Historian, vol. 122, (2007) pp.36-38.

    Military History

    Listing of books and papers on [MilitaryHistory.html Devon Military History].

    The Keep - Military museum of Devon and Dorset, which provides an information service.

    The Devonshire Regiment in 1914-18, from Chris Baker's "The Long, Long Trail.

    War Memorial - Swansea Devonian Society, transcribed by Jeff Coleman.

    HMS VICTORY Prize List from 1805, of over four hundred names, transcribed by Ray Osborn.

    The Wartime Memories Project - South West - stories and photographs.

    Names, Geographical

    Origins of Devon-Place Names, provided by Madalene Frost.

    Devon Place Names from the An Ger Dewnansek website.

    Origins of Devon place names, from the Institute of Name Studies, University of Nottingham.

    Alexander, J J. East and north Devon place-names. Trans. Dev. Assoc. 65 (1933).
    Barber, Chips. Place-Names in Devon. Obelisk Publications, 2 Church Hill, Pinhoe, Exeter EX4 9ER (1999) 32p. [ISBN-1 899073 79 5]
    Blomé, Bertil. The Place-names of North Devonshire, Uppsala, Appelbergs boktryckeri aktiebolag (1929) 189 pp. [Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Uppsala] [Westcountry Studies Library 910.3/DEV/BLO]
    Carbonell, Barbara M H. The Nymet area. Trans. Dev. Assoc. 63 (1931). [Derivation of the place-names 'Nymet' and 'Nympton' in central North Devon]
    Carter, G E L. History of the hundred in Devon. Trans. Dev. Assoc. 60 (1928). [Concerns the divisions of lands in Devon from the beginning of the Saxon occupation and the subsequent dividing up of the county into "hundreds" which remained as a unit of administration until the present system of local government took over.]
    Chanter, Rev. J.F. Devonshire Place-Names: Part I, The Parishes, Reprinted from the Transactions of the Devonshire Association (1918) 30 pp.
    Fortescue, Earl. Some Devonshire farm names. Trans. Dev. Assoc. 62 (1930).
    Gover, J.E.B, Mawer, A. and Stenton, F.M. (eds.) The Place-names of Devon. Cambridge: University Press (1931) 2 vols.
    Grigg, A. Place Names in Devon and Cornwall, College of St. Mark and St. John, Plymouth (1988). [ISBN-0950652359] [Devon FHS Library 942.35]
    Prowse, A B. Investigation of place-names. Trans. Dev. Assoc. 52 (1920).
    Rea, C F. Some South Devon surnames. Trans. Dev. Assoc. 58 (1926).
    Rose-Troup, Frances. Second, Third Fourth and Fifth Reports on Place-Names in Devonshire, Reprinted from the Transactions of the Devonshire Association (1929, 1932, 1933, and 1934).
    Stanbury, E. Some Devonshire field-names, with suggestions as to their signification. Trans. Dev. Assoc. 45 (1913).

    Names, Personal

    Devon names are listed in Graham Jaunay's On-line English Names Research Directory.

    Studies on Devon Surnames - a detailed account by Max Hooper.

    Surnames occurring in the Devon FHS's various indexes.

    Here is an explanatory note Personal Names in Devon: Family Names as Middle Names, provided by Arthur French.

    Mike Brown, of Dartmoor Press, has provided an essay Some Devon Surname Aliases, together with an index of over 200 actual aliases gathered from a variety of Devon documents. A further essay onthe topic, Aliases - a Discriminant Function, is provided by Max Hooper.

    A zipped file listing nearly 7000 Devon inhabitants (77k) taken from an 1822-23 Pigot's Directory of Devon, obtained from Cornwall Online. Extracts from this file, that provide approximate recontructions of the separate sections of the directory, are available via the relevant town and parish pages, and come within the scope of the [DEVsearch.html Devon Search Facility].

    Surname Index to articles about particular persons or families, in various genealogical journals.

    Paul Mansfield's West Country Newspapers surname index currently has about 25,000 names covering Somerset, Devon, Dorset and Cornwall, from eight nespapers, during the period 1770-1835. (Copy dated 21 Apr 2006, from the Internet Archive.)

    Names of Admissions to Devon County Lunatic Asylum, 1880-81.

    Names of Devonshire men classified as "Ignoble Omnes", in by William Camden in 1620.

    List of Papists and Delinquents sequestered in North Devon, 1648.

    A seventeenth century petition, from North-West Devon.

    In 1678 many parishes throughout the country held collections to raise funds for the rebuilding of St Paul's Cathedral - a project to transcribe the [StPauls/index.html Devon returns] is now under way.

    Howard, A.T., (Ed.). The Devon Protestation Returns, 1641 (Indexed by T.L. Stoate), Privately published, Bristol (1973) 2 vol (v, 555p). [SoG Library, Westcountry Studies Library x929.3/DEV/1641] [A full transcript, organized by hundred and parish, of the names of all adult males. Contains over 63,000 names. Just fifty-eight parishes are missing, and the total population of the county is estimated as being of the order of 288,000.]
    Postles, D.The Surnames of Devon, English Surnames Series: Vol VI. Leopard's Head Press Limited, 1-5 Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3AW (1996) xx, 332p. [ISBN-0 904920 25 9]. (A series of essays: Methodological Questions; Dialect and Local Usage; The evolution of Hereditary Surnames in Devon; Change during the Later Middle Ages; Change within Communities during the Later Middle Ages; Bynames, Surnames, Social Group and Region; Naming and Urban Hierarchy; Isonymy and Community; Conclusion.)
    Horwill, David. Excise Officers in Devon in 1796, Devon Family Historian, vol. 117, (Feb 2006) pp.18-19. [Lists 46 officers]
    Jones, P.E. National Memorial Card Index - Devon Section, Devon Family Historian, vol. 119, (2006) pp.32-36. [Lists about a hundred entries from the card index, each giving the name, age, date of death, and place, and often the name(s) of the next of kin]
    Roberts, Stephen K. Devon Justices of the Peace, 1643-60. In Devon Documents (ed. T. Gray). Tiverton: Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries, Special Issue (1996) [ISBN-0925836203] pp.157-166.
    Spiegelhalter, C. A Dictionary of Devon Surnames, (1958). [Barnstaple Library 929.42/B/SPI] [SoG Library DE/G 77]
    West of England Eye Infirmary - Register of Patients 1841, Exeter, Devon Family History Society (2004). Foreword

    Book Indexes:

    Newspapers

    Devon County Council provides an excellent descriptive listing of Devon Newspapers, based on the survey carried out as part of the Newsplan Programme for "the identification, microfilming and preservation of the local newspapers of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland".

    Newspaper readership in south west England in 1815 - with a listing of nearly 1700 subscribers to Flindell's Western Luminary in 1815.

    The West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser - here is ongoing transcription of this 19th century weekly newspaper. It is searchable, and contains quite a lot of Devon-related new items.

    Detailed lists of early Devon newspaper holdings are to be found in:

    Gibson, J.S.W.. Local newspapers, 1750-1920: England and Wales, Channel Islands, Isle of Man : a select location list. Federation of Family History Societies (1987) 64 p.
    Maxted, Ian. Printing, the Book Trade and Newspapers c.1500-1860. In Historical Atlas of South-West England, ed. R. Kain and W. Ravenhill, pp.240-245, Exeter, University of Exeter Press, (1999).
    Outhwaite, Mary. Illustrated London News 1849, Devon Family Historian, vol. 118, (2006) pp.25-29. [Extracts: Emigration, Bankruptcy, Births, Marriages, Deaths, Miscellaneous, Naval and Military Intelligence related to Devon]
    Smith, L. Devon Newspapers: A finding list. County Council of Devon, County Hall, Exeter, EX2 4QD, Standing Conference on Devon History (1973).

    The two most important newspapers for which indexes have been prepared are Trewman's Exeter Flying Post (Westcountry Studies Library has copies for 1768-1837, 1840-1917, with an index covering 1763-1835) and the North Devon Journal (Barnstaple Library has copies for 1827-1920, with an index covering 1850-95).

    See also:

    Marjorie Snetzler (transcr.), Devon Extracts From The London Gazette (2 vols: 1665-1765, 1665-1850), Devon Family History Society (1987).
    Smith, L. Heritage Album: 175 years in North Devon (1824-1999) North Devon Journal (2000?). Index Chronology

    Paul Mansfield's West Country Newspapers surname index currently has about 25,000 names covering Somerset, Devon, Dorset and Cornwall, from eight nespapers, during the period 1770-1835. (Copy dated 21 Apr 2006, from the Internet Archive.)

    The This Is Devon website features current information from the North Devn Journal, the Western Morning News and the Mid Devon Gazette.

    Brief extracts from The Western Press (1913) (auctions, deaths, Devon Show prizewinners) by Shirley Turner.

    Exeter OnLine - from the Exeter Express and Echo.

    Devon Life Online - from the Devon Life monthly magazine; provides summary descriptions and historical accounts of a large number of Devon towns and villages.

    Western Morning News - a regional morning newspaper.

    Midweek Herald and North Devon Gazette websites.

    Newsdirectory.com provides a listing of newspaper web-sites in the South West.

    Occupations

    The Devon County Record Office holds a large amount of archival material relating to apprenticeship, ranging in date from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century. However, the holdings vary enormously from parish to parish.

    The Mining History Information pages - provide "Details of events, research and work in progess in the field of mining history and archaeology . . . related to Wales and South-West England". (See also the Peak District Mines Historical Society's Lists of Metalliferous Mines, and Coal Mines in Devon in 1896, the List of 800 Devon and Cornwall Mines by Heather Coleman, and Devon's Mining History and Stannary Parliament, from the Dewnans web-site.

    The Exeter Working Papers in British Book Trade History contain a wealth of material related to Devon people involved in the newspaper and book trade.

    Glimpses into the 19th Century Broadside Ballad Trade No. 9: Some Devon printers, bt Roly Brown.

    Agricultural labourers moved from parish to parish as their contracts expired in a parish and they had to seek a new master at a Hiring fair. Eve McLaughlin: "Hiring fairs were held in market towns (at least 6 miles apart), usually once a year." As an aid to tracing "Ag. Labs.", a listing of [MarketTowns.html Market Towns] is provided, to be used in conjunction with the "Nearby Places" button on each town and parish page. (And here is a detailed listing of Devon markets and fairs (to 1516) compiled by Samantha Letters.)

    Stone And Quarry Men Of The West Country - Joan Taber's Genealogical Index of Stone Workers and Related Occupations In Cornwall and Devon.

    Blacksmiths of Devon - Ann Spiro's Genealogical Index of Blacksmiths and Related Occupations, compiled from census records.

    The Devon section of the Medical Heritage of Great Britain site provides brief histories of Devon hospitals and doctors.

    Lambeth Palace Library's Directory of Devon medical licences issued by the Archbishop of Canterbury 1535-1775. (See their guidelines for how to obtain further details of particular individuals.)

    The Applause SouthWest website, result of a partnership between Plymouth Library Services, the University of Plymouth and Theatre Royal Plymouth, provides a people search facility based on their indexing of hundreds of playbills.

    West Country Smugglers and Excisemen and Watch and Clockmakers - provided by Paul Mansfield. (Archived copies, from the Internet Archive, dated 31 May and 4 June 2006, respectively.)

    Devon and Cornwall Constabulary provide an extensive historical photograph archive, based on the book by Simon Dell, Policing the Peninsula.

    Devon medical licenses - issued by the Archbishop of Canterbury 1535-1775.

    Sources for Farming History, from Devon Record Office.

    Steve Pickthall's Parish Clerks Index - Devon Section.

    Alexander, J J. Devon county members of parliament. Trans. Dev. Assoc. 44 (1912).
    Barton, Denys Bradford. A historical survey of the mines and mineral railways of East Cornwall and West Devon, Truro, Cornwall, Truro Bookshop (c1964) 102 pp.: ill.
    Bellchambers, J.K. Devonshire Clockmakers (1962). [Devon FHS Library 681.113]
    Benjamin, E. Alwyn. The movement of tin and copper miners from Cornwall and Devon to the North Cardiganshire lead mines, Typescript (1985). [D&CRS Library: R MIG]
    Born, Anne. Blue slate quarrying in South Devon: an ancient industry, Industr. Arch. Rev., vol. 11, no. 1, (1988) pp.51-67.
    Chapman, Stanley D., (Ed.). The Devon Cloth Industry in the Eighteenth Centuries, Torquay, Devon and Cornwall Record Society, New Series, Vol. 23 (1978) xxvi + 159p.
    Chope, R P. Aulnager in Devon. Trans. Dev. Assoc. 44 (1912).[Describes the cloth trade in Devon from 1292 to about 1724, and a Fulling mill at Chumleigh. (An Aulnager was a government official who sealed bundles of cloth presented by merchants to verify the amount of cloth supposed to be in the bundle.)]
    Davies, E.J. The Royal North Devon Golf Club 1864-1989, Westward Ho!, The Club (1989) 202p: ill. [ISBN-1872323014] [Barnstaple Library 796.352/WES 7/DAV]
    Dell, S. Policing the Peninsula (1850-2000): Celebration of West Country Policing, 43 Courtlands Road, Tavistock, Devon (2000) [ISBN-0952729792].
    Greeves, Thomas Anthony Patrick The Devon tin industry 1450-1750: an archaeological and historical survey. Ph.D. Thesis, Exeter University, History Department (1981) 415p.
    Guthrig, Sylvia. Inns, Taverns & Alehouses, Exeter, Devon Family History Society (2001) 50 pp.
    Hamilton Jenkin, A.K. Mines of Devon, Volume 1: The Southern Area, Newton Abbot, David & Charles (1974) 154 p.
    Hamilton Jenkin, A.K. Mines of Devon: North and East of Dartmoor. Sydenham Dameral - Lydford - Wheal Betsy, Wheal friendship Okehampton - Sticklepath - Chagford - Buckfastleigh - Ashburton - Ilsington - The Teign Valley - Newton St. Cyres - Upton Pyne, Exeter, Devon Library Services (1981) 226 pp.
    Hutchings, Walter. Out of the Blue: A History of the Devon Constabulary. Devonshire Press (1957) 204p. Lookups
    Maxted, Ian The Devon book trades: a biographical dictionary. Exeter: Maxted (1991) - (Exeter working papers in British book trade history; 7).
    Messenger, M.J. North Devon Clay: The History Of An Industry And Its Transport, Twelveheads (1982) 102pp, photos, diagrams, maps.
    Minchinton, W. Devon at Work: Past and Present, Newton Abbot (1974) 112p.
    Northway, A.M The Devon fishing industry, 1760-1860. M.A. Thesis, Exeter University, Economic History Department (1969).
    Ponsford, C.N., (Ed.). Devon Clocks and Clockmakers, (1985) 360 pp.
    Radford, Lady. Early printing in Devon. Trans. Dev. Assoc. 60 (1928).
    Radford, Lady. Notes on the tinners of Devon and their laws. Trans. Dev. Assoc. 62 (1930).
    Rice, Iain. Devon Firefighter - A Century of Courage & Service, Tiverton, Halsgrove Press 176 pp. [ISBN-1855227606]
    Rolt, L.T.C. The Potters' Field: A History of the South Devon Ball Clay Industry, Newton Abbot, David & Charles (1974) 159 pp.
    Scott, C.G. Photographers in Devon 1842-1939, compiled from resources in the Westcountry Studies Library, (1997) [Devon FHS Library p770.94235]
    Slee, A.H. Some dead industries of North Devon. Trans. Devon. Assoc. 70, (1938) pp.213-221.
    Wright, W.H.K. West-Country Poets: their lives and works, being an account of about four hundred verse writers of Devon and Cornwall with poems and extracts, London, Elliot Stock (1896). Partial transcription, by Sandra Windeatt.]

    Periodicals

    Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries is a journal devoted to the local history, archaeology, biography & antiquities of the counties of Devon & Cornwall.

    Devon Local Studies Library Services publishes, now via the web, a very useful monthly periodical "Annales occidentales or, Westcountry Studies a bibliographical newsletter", accessible via their "What's New" page.

    The Devon Family Historian is published by the Devon Family History Society - here is a Full index to nos. 1-100. (Back isses are available on microfiche from the Society.)

    The Western Antiquary, or Devon and Cornwall Note-Book, was published from 1881-1893 (Vol. 1 to Vol. 12, No. 3). Here are a detailed set of [WesternAntiquary/ indexes], prepared by David Gale.

    North Devon Heritage is the Journal of the Devon Museum Trust.

    Fursdon, A.A. The Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science, Literature and Art. General Index to the Transactions (Vols. I-LX) 1862-1928, Torquay, Devonshire Press (1957). [BL Ac.1200.(a.)]
    Fursdon, A.A. The Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science, Literature and Art, Vols. LXI-LXX., Torquay, Devonshire Press (1952).
    Fursdon, A.A. The Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science, Literature and Art, Vols. LXXI-LXXX., Torquay, Torquay Times & Devonshire Press (1952).
    Fursdon, A.A. The Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science, Literature and Art. General index, 1949-1968, Torquay, Devonshire Press (1969).
    Gomme, G.L., (Ed.). The Gentleman's Magazine Library 1731-1868, Derbyshire, Devonshire & Dorsetshire, London, Stock (1891). [Available on CD from Archive CD

    Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc.

    Here is an excellent essay by Bob Muchamore on the background to and the working of the Poor Law system, illustrated by examples of original records relating to Devon.

    Mike Brown, of Dartmoor Press, has provided a detailed account Settlement & Removal in Rural Devon.

    The Workhouse web-site has good general information about Poor Law matters, and an active map of Poor Law Unions in South West England which will in due course lead to information about each specific Union. It is part of the Rossbret set of pages on Workhouses and Poor Law Institutions, Asylums, Almshouses, Gaols (Prisons), Dispensaries, Hospitals (Infirmaries), Reformatories (Industrial Schools), and Orphanages - see the Rossbret Devon entries.

    Bolt, Barbara. Hospitals and Asylums of Devon and Their Records, Exeter, Devon Family History Society.
    Cole, Jean. Life in the Union Workhouse. In 25 Years with the Devon Family Historian, pp.25-29, Devon FHS, (2001).
    Izacke, R. An Alphabetical Register of Divers Persons, Who by their Last Wills, Grants, Feoffments, and other Deeds, have given Tenements, Rents, Annuities, and Monies, towards the Relief of the poor of the County of Devon and City and County of Exon...., Samuel Izacke (1736) 172 + 2 pp.
    Wheeleker, Susannah and Eyles, Sarah. Poor relief in Devon: two A-level personal studies, Exeter, Devonshire Association (1991) 40p: diagrs. [Westcountry Studies Library p362.58/DEV/WHE]
    Parish Poor Law Records in Devon, Exeter, Devon Record Office (1993).
    Devon Union Workhouses & Their Records, Exeter, Devon Family History Society.

    Population

    Friends of Devon's Archives: preliminary report of the Black History Project - a collection of 17th and 18th century documentary references to blacks, currently (Oct 2006) listing just 80.

    MacKeith, Lucy. Local Black History - a beginning in Devon. Archives and Museum of Black Heritage, 378 Coldharbour Lane, London SW9 8LF (2003) Full text and illustrations

    Probate Records

    Prior to 1858, wills were proved in Devon in five main ecclesiastical courts: the Archdeaconry courts of Totnes, Barnstaple and Exeter; the Episcopal Consistory Court of Exeter, and the Episcopal Principal Registry of Exeter. These probate records were held in Exeter, where they were destroyed by fire during World War II. Few had been abstracted beforehand, though indexes had been prepared for all except the Totnes wills. See:

    Beckerlegge, J.J. (Ed.). Index of the Wills and Administrations relating to the County of Devon proved in the Court of the Archdeaconry of Barnstaple, 1563-1858, and preserved in the Probate Registry at Exeter until destroyed by enemy action in 1942, The Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science, Literature and Art (1950).
    Fry, E.A. (Ed.). Calendars of Wills and Administrations relating to the Counties of Devon and Cornwall, proved in the court of the principal registry of the Bishop of Exeter, 1559-1799. And of Devon only, proved in the court of the Archdeaconry of Exeter, 1540-1799. (2 vols.) William Brendon & Son: Plymouth, 1908 [1900-12]. [BL Ac.1200/3] [Available on CD from Archive CD
    Worthy, C. Devon Wills, London: Bemrose (1896) 516 pp. (Available on CD-ROM from Bernard D. Welchman, The Cottage, Manor Terrace, Paignton, Devon.)
    Exeter District Probate Registry. Calendars of wills and administrations relating to the counties of Devon and Cornwall ... Plymouth (1908) 2 v. (The Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science, Literature and Art. Transactions. [Extra vol.])

    The two main collections of Devonshire will abstracts (which provide information about the actual contents of pre-1858 wills, from Devon and various other courts, including Canterbury) are:

    Moger, Olive M. Transcript of Devonshire wills, 1600-1800, Ms., Devon Record Office. [LDS Film nos. 916915, 916916, 916870-916879]
    Murray, Oswyn (comp.) Oswyn Murray collection of wills, abt. 1600-1800, . [LDS Film Nos: 917257, 917258, 916897-916914]
    Murray, Sir O A R. Devon wills of the 16th and 17th cent. Trans. Dev. Assoc. 53 (1921).

    However, information is available relating to the post-1796 destroyed Devon probate records concerning estates on which death duty was payable. Firstly, many such wills proved between 1812 and 1857 had been made copied by the Estate Duty Office, and the copies relating to Devon are now held in the Devon Record Office. In fact, these copies are complete except for the testator's signature. They are indexed in the Access to Archives web site - search on "Estate Duty" and "Devon Record Office", and then choose a catalogue and use "Show the whole catalogue". The catalogue of Estate Duty records is 1078/IRW, broken down into chunks alphabetically by surname, e.g. "1078/IRW/A - 1078/IRW/B", but the surnames are notalways in strict alphabetical order. (The will copies have been filmed by the LDS, on 34 films, with the index in film no. 1278571/2.)

    Secondly, the Estate Duty Office's summaries of wills have been recorded in the Registers of Legacy Duty, Succession Duty and Estate Duty (often called the Death Duty Registers). The Registers are in Public Record Office, in PRO IR26, with an index to them in PRO IR27. These Registers in fact provide detailed summaries of many (but by no means all) of the wills that were proved in Devon during the period 1796 to 1903, including those from the Diocese of Exeter and the Archdeaconry of Barnstaple. These have been filmed by the LDS as film nos. 1368366-69 (registers) and 1368371 (index), and details from the Death Duty Registers, 1796-1811 are available from The National Archives' DocumentsOnline service.

    In addition, after the war, the Devon Record Office attempted to collect or at least locate those few wills and copies that had survived elsewhere:

    Devon Record Office. Index to wills, copies and related papers [of the County of Devon], 1200-1900's. [Microfilm of a card index to wills in private deposits, and to a small number of Diocesan wills which were never transferred to the Exeter Probate Office. LDS Film 1278569, 1278570, 1278571/1]

    Some Devon parishes came under the Archdeaconry Court of Cornwall, so their wills survive:

    Glencross, R.M. (ed.). Calendar of Wills, Administrations and Accounts Relating to the Counties of Cornwall and Devon in the Connotorial Archdiaconal Court of Cornwall (with which are included the records of the Royal Peculiar of St. Burian) now preserved in the District Probate Office at Bodmin. Index Library, vols. 56 & 59.
    Cornwall Record Office. Cornish Probate Records, 1600-1649 (5 vols.), Truro, Cornwall County Council (1984).

    Some other Devon wills, including all those for the parish of Uffculme, also survive in Wiltshire County Record Office.

    Alcock, N.W. Surviving Devon Wills and Inventories, Devon and Cornwall Notes and Queries, vol. 31, (1968-70) pp.182.
    Fursdon, C.A.T. Wills and administrations [mainly 1620-1633], Typescript (1931). [D&CRS Library: R WIL]
    Fursdon, C.A.T. Genealogical contents of Devon and Cornish wills and inventories [ca.1558-1810] ; Thorverton marriage licences 1528-1834, Typescript (1931). [D&CRS Library: R WIL]
    Fursdon, C.A.T. Index of a collection of Devon & Cornwall wills preserved in Exeter Cathedral, Typescript ([1935?]). [D&CRS Library: R WIL] [Covers period ca.1580-1835] [These are now in in the DRO]
    Moger, O.M. Some Notes on the Whereabouts of Devon Wills, Devon and Cornwall Notes and Queries, vol. 25, (1952-53) pp.9-10.

    (The relevant parish pages identify the parishes concerned.)

    About three thousand 13th to 17th century Inquisitions Postmortem (probate inventories) survive for the Westcountry - a number are transcribed in:

    Cash, M. Devon Inventories of the 16th and 17th centuries, Devon and Cornwall Record Series (New Series) No. 11. (1966) 206 pp.

    Finally, Devon residents might well for some reason have had their wills proved in London, at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury - see under Probate Records on the GENUKI/England page, in particular PRO Legal Records Information Note 23. These PCC wills are available on microfilm at LDS Family History Centres, and images spanning the period 1384-1858 are available for purchase from the PRO's Documents Online web-site.

    An extremely useful listing of Devon names in the PCC Wills to 1700 is being produced by Jean Harris, for use in connection with the LDS microfilms, and as an adjunct to the search facilities provided by Documents Online.

    For another full account see the Devon County Council's Wills and Probate Records. A summary account is also provided by the Devon FHS in their page on Useful Addresses and locations of Sources.

    Westcountry Jewish Wills - from the Susser Archive.

    Published Devon wills relating to particular familiy names:

    Conybeare, Henry Crawford. Conybeare wills and administrations 1563-1864: part 4. London: [H.C.Conybeare] [1914] 45p. Bound with: Conybeare wills & adminis...1706-1815. [Westcountry Studies Library s929.2/CON]
    Greenslade, John George. Greenslade wills and administrations 1532-1858. [Westcountry Studies Library s929.2/GRE]
    Extracts from wills etc, relating to the families of Pollard, Melhuish & Bloomfield. Manuscript [1870?]. [Westcountry Studies Library msx929.2/POL]

    A county index to post-1858 wills is held at the Exeter Probate Sub Registry (Finance House, Barnfield Rd., Exeter, EX1 1QR).

    Devon names in Surrogate Court index of Ontario, Canada, 1859-1900, extracted by Elizabeth Howard.

    Schools

    Official Devon County Council listing of Devon school web-sites.

    Devon schools as listed in the UK Schoolswebdirectory. (A somewhat longer list.)

    Bovett, Robert. Historical Notes on Devon Schools, Devon County Council (1989) 438 pp. [ISBN-0-86114-995-5]
    Porter, Jeffrey, (Ed.). Education and Labour in the South West, Exeter Papers in Economic History, No. 10 (1975). [ISBN-0859890759] [Devon FHS Library p942.3]
    Sellman, R.R.S. Devon village schools in the nineteenth century. David & Charles: Newton Abbot (1967) pp. 171. pl. XII.
    Devon and Exeter Boys Industrial School 1873-1878, Exeter, Devon Family History Society (2005). Foreword

    Societies

    The Devon Family History Society publishes a quarterly journal, "The Devon Family Historian", and provides several index search services and a library for the use of members. About 1500 of its members are listed in the "Members Interests" booklet published by the Society.

    The Devonshire Association was "founded in 1862 with objectives to further the study of science, literature and the arts in relation to the county of Devon", and publishes its Transactions annually.

    [DCRS/index.html The Devon & Cornwall Record Society] publishes local records and promotes local historical studies and genealogical research.

    The Devon History Society - web site.

    South West Maritime History Society - web site.

    The Stover Canal Society web-site. (This provides details of the history, and photographs, of the Stover Canal, which ran from Ventiford to Teignmouth.)

    Devon County Councl's listing of Heritage/Historical & Archaeological Societies.

    Ball Clay Heritage Society - which aims to "further understanding of the history and heritage of clay production, transport and use, particularly in Devon and Dorset."

    Christie, Peter. Clubs and Societies in Nineteenth Century North Devon, Devon Family Historian, vol. 117, (Feb 2006) pp.11-17.
    Lane, Stanley H.N. Jordan Lodge No. 1402, Torquay, 1872 to 1922: A Record of the first Fifty Years of the Lodge, together with a complete List of members and other Statistical Information, Torquay, (1923) 124 + 4 pp.

    Taxation

    Land Tax records, in general covering 1780-1832, are held for most Devon Hundreds at the Devon Record Office. Microfilms of these records are available at LDS Family History Centres.

    Indexes to Heads of Households, taken from Devon Land Tax Records, are being produced by the Australian Institute of Genealogical Studies - here is a listing of the parish booklets now available.

    Banks, Charles Edward. Taxacio tertii subsidii trium integroru: Dno usio Jacobo regi...1624: Subsidy roll 102/463 (2 vols.), Typescript [1925?]. [D&CRS Library, Exeter: P1624]
    Chiswell, Ann. Land Tax Assessments: South West Devon 1780 (41 parishes). [Devon FHS Library 929.34235] [LDS Fiche 6036835]

    A number of early tax lists have been transcribed and published, including:

    Erskine, A.M. Devon Lay Subsidy of 1332, Devon & Cornwall Record Society, Vol. NS 14 (1969) 176 pp.
    Stoate, T. L. (ed.). Devon lay subsidy rolls, 1524-7. Lower Court, Almondsbury, Bristol: T.L Stoate (1979) xviii, 291 pp.
    Stoate, T. L. (Ed.). Devon Hearth Tax Return Lady Day 1674, Lower Court, Almondsbury, Bristol: Stoate, T.L. (1982) xvi, 258 pp.
    Stoate, T. L. (Ed.). Devon Taxes, 1581-1660, Lower Court, Almondsbury, Bristol BS12 4DX, (1988) 260p.
    Stoate, T. L. (ed.). Devon lay subsidy rolls, 1543-45. Bernard D. Welchman, The Cottage, Manor Terrace, Paignton, Devon (2003) CD-ROM
    Whale, Rev. T.W. Devonshire, Extracts from the Pipe Rolls of Hen. II. & Ric. I. In a simplified form, Bath, Goodall and Sons (1901) 72 pp.

    The Devon Lay Subsidy 1524-7, Devon Lay Subsidy Rolls 1543-5, and Devon Hearth Tax Return Lady Day 1674 are available on microfiche from Harry Galloway Publishers and Booksellers, The Cottage, Manor Terrace, Paignton, Devon TQ3 3RQ.

    Voting Registers

    According to Gibson and Rogers: Poll Books 1696-1872 (FFHS, 1989), voting registers for the county of Devon are held by the Devon Record Office for the years 1712 (also published in Trans. Dev. Assoc. : 106 (1974)), 1790, 1816, 1818, 1820, 1826 and 1830.

    Thomas, R.G. An Unknown Devon County Poll-Book. Devonshire Association Trans. vol. 106 (1974) pp. 231-258.

    INDIVIDUAL DEVON TOWNS AND PARISHES - See Alphabetical Listing

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    This county is maintained by Brian Randell with help and information provided by a number of other volunteers.

    Last updated - 2 Jan 2008 - Brian Randell

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