|This is an archived copy - the current version of this page is here.|
to all of Devon
"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.)
NOTE 2: Volunteers are sought for the Devon Pre-1841 Census and Population Listing Transcription Project, the Devon Book Indexing Project, and the Devon Online Parish Clerks scheme.
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]
The Record Offices and Local Studies Libraries that come under Devon County Council are being reorganized and amalgamated to form the Devon Heritage Services, comprising the Devon Heritage Centre (Exeter) and the North Devon Record Office (Barnstaple). These developments, which are described in Historical Records: A New Future for Devon's Heritage, do not affect the other major Devon archive, the Plymouth & West Devon Record Office, or the Local Studies Library, which are located in Plymouth and come under the Plymouth City Council. Collectively these provide the principal genealogy-related resources in Devon. However the respective reponsibilities and resources of Devon Heritage Services, and of the Plymouth-based services are not easily disentangled - hopefully the links given below will help.
The Devon Museums web-site hosts information about a growing number of museums across Devon.
Exeter University Library - which provides a link from its Web site to an online catalogue of its holdings.
Exeter Cathedral Library - general information.
Plymouth University Library - has an online catalogue.
Devon page of ArchiveCD Books.
North Devon Maritime Museum - basic information.
Devon section of the catalogue of the extensive holdings of the LDS Family History Centre, Hyde Park, London.
Reports of the Committee on Devonshire Records
Downloadable books on Devon from eBooksRead.
Gray, Todd (ed.) Devon Documents. Tiverton: Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries, Special Issue (1996) 228pp. [ISBN 0925836203]
Sun Life insurance: Index to Devon Policies Held at Guildhall Library, London. [Devon FHS Library 368.1]
Adams, M. Index to printed literature relating to North Devon. Trans. Devon. Assoc. vol. 34 (1902) pp. 345-393. [Index]
Brushfield, T.N. The Literature of Devonshire up to the Year 1640, : Being the Presidential Address to the Members of the Devonshire Association, Privately Printed (1893) 134pp. [Index]
Davidson, J. Bibliotheca Devoniensis: a Catalogue of the Printed Books relating to the County of Devon, Exeter, Willim Roberts (1852). [List of Subscribers] [Index]
Dredge, John Ingle. A Few Sheaves of Devon Bibliography Gleaned by John Ingle Dredge. Trans. Devon. Assoc. vol. 21, (1889), pp. 498-548. [Index]
Dredge, John Ingle. A Few Sheaves of Devon Bibliography Gleaned by John Ingle Dredge - Second Sheaf. Trans. Devon. Assoc. vol. 22, (1890), pp. 324-356. [Index]
Dredge, John Ingle. A Few Sheaves of Devon Bibliography Gleaned by John Ingle Dredge - Third Sheaf. Trans. Devon. Assoc. vol. 24, (1892), pp. 476-526. [Index]
Dredge, John Ingle. A Few Sheaves of Devon Bibliography Gleaned by John Ingle Dredge - Fourth Sheaf. Trans. Devon. Assoc. vol. 25, (1893), pp. 552-601. [Index]
Dredge, John Ingle. A Few Sheaves of Devon Bibliography Gleaned by John Ingle Dredge - Fifth Sheaf. Trans. Devon. Assoc. vol. 28, (1896), pp. 547-605. [Index]
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]
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]
Soper, H. Tapley. Some Recent Devonshire Literature. The Devonian Year Book. London: The London Devonian Association, (1910), pp. 144-146. [Index]
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.
Troup, Frances B. A Few Sheaves of Devon Bibliography Gleaned by the Late Rev John Ingle Dredge: With Notes and Additions by Mrs Frances E Troup. Trans. Devon. Assoc. vol. 31, (1899), pp. 331-355. [Index]
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 periodical articles (archived partial copy), arranged alphabetically by geographical location.
Publications available from the Devon Record Office bookshop.
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, Halsgrove, Phillimore, Stevensbooks, Bernard Welchman.
Antiquarian and second hand books relating to Devon - Ambra Books, Chapel Books, Joel Segal Books, Stella and Rose's Books, and Antiquarian and Old Books (a listing of 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.
Liz Shakespeare's Books from Devon.
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.
A selected bibliography related mainly to North Devon is provided by James Brannan.
Listing of some famous Devonians (archived copy), 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.
Devon Perspectives - A personal view of some of Devon's favourite places and characters in words and pictures. (Includes articles on Charles Babbage, William Crossing, John Hawley, Bampfylde Moore Carew, Thomas Henson and Sir John Fitz.)
Baring-Gould, S. Devonshire Characters and Strange Events (London, 1908) [Table of Contents] [Index] [Extracts] [Full text]
Chope, R.P. The Worthies of Devon, The Devonian Year Book, London: The London Devonian Association (1910), illus. pp. 39-90. [Index]
Chope, R.P. Prominent Living Devonians, The Devonian Year Book, London: The London Devonian Association (1911), illus. pp. 42-61. [Index]
Chope, R.P. The Worthies of Devon: Addenda, The Devonian Year Book, London: The London Devonian Association (1912), illus. pp. 32-41. [Index]
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]
Cotton, R W (Ed). Eighth Report of the Committee on Devonshire Celebrities. Trans. Devon Assoc Vol. 19 (1887), pp. 95-101. [Index]
Cresswell, B.F. A Book of Devonshire Parsons, London, Heath Granton (1932) 192p.
Edwards, Alfred. A notice of some remarkable Devonshire centenarians. Trans. Devon Assoc. Vol. 15 (1883), pp. 441-446. [Index]
Fuller, Thomas. (1811). History of the Worthies of England. Vol I:. London: John Nicholls (1811), 601 pp. [Index to Devonshire Section]
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]
Hawker, Rev. Treasurer (Ed). First Report of the Committee on Devonshire Celebrities. Trans. Devon Assoc.. vol. 9 (1877), pp. 103-119. [Index]
Hawker, Rev. Treasurer (Ed). Second Report of the Committee on Devonshire Celebrities. Trans. Devon Assoc.. vol. 10 (1878), pp. 108-109. [Index]
Hawker, Rev. Treasurer (Ed). Third Report of the Committee on Devonshire Celebrities. Trans. Devon Assoc.. vol. 11 (1879), pp. 112-116. [Index]
Hawker, Rev. Treasurer (Ed). Fourth Report of the Committee on Devonshire Celebrities. Trans. Devon Assoc.. vol. 12 (1880), pp. 114-116. [Index]
Hawker, Rev. Treasurer (Ed). Fifth Report of the Committee on Devonshire Celebrities. Trans. Devon Assoc.. vol. 13 (1881), pp. 75-77. [Index]
Hawker, Rev. Treasurer (Ed). Seventh Report of the Committee on Devonshire Celebrities. Trans. Devon Assoc.. vol. 15 (1883), pp. 71-74. [Index]
Holgate, Mike. A Devonshire Christmas, The History Press Ltd (2009) 192 pp. [ISBN-10: 0752451707] [Essays about persons connected with Devon, including Brunel, Wilde, Kipling, and Christie.]
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]
Marlow, Barbara. Rags to Riches: The stories of five entrepreneurial families whose prosperity began in eighteenth century Devon, Blue Horse (2012). [Family names: Rendle, Croad, Dickin, King, Chappel Hodge]
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]
Pengelly, W. Notes on slips connected with Devonshire. Part I. Trans. Devon. Assoc. vol. 9 (1877), pp. 351-360. [Index]
Pengelly, W. Notes on slips connected with Devonshire. Part II. Trans. Devon. Assoc. vol. 10 (1878), pp. 255-268. [Index]
Pengelly, W. Notes on slips connected with Devonshire. Part III. Trans. Devon. Assoc. vol. 11 (1879), pp. 358-370. [Index]
Pengelly, W. Notes on slips connected with Devonshire. Part IV. Trans. Devon. Assoc. vol. 13 (1881), pp. 299-316. [Index]
Pengelly, W. Notes on slips connected with Devonshire. Part V. Trans. Devon. Assoc. vol. 14 (1882), pp. 592-602. [Index]
Pengelly, W. Notes on slips connected with Devonshire. Part VI. Trans. Devon. Assoc. vol. 15 (1883), pp. 211-230. [Index]
Pengelly, W. Notes on slips connected with Devonshire. Part VII. Trans. Devon. Assoc. vol. 16 (1884), pp. 605-626. [Index]
Pengelly, W. Prince's 'Worthies of Devon' and the Dictionary of National Biography, Part I, Trans. Devon. Assoc., vol. 17 (1885), pp. 199-214. [Index]
Pengelly, W. Prince's 'Worthies of Devon' and the Dictionary of National Biography, Part II, Trans. Devon. Assoc., vol. 18 (1886), pp. 269-369. [Index]
Pengelly, W. Prince's 'Worthies of Devon' and the Dictionary of National Biography, Part III, Trans. Devon. Assoc., vol 19, (1887), pedigrees, pp. 217-348. [Index]
Pridham, T.L.. Devonshire Celebrities: Social and Political. Exeter (1869) 236p. [Contents] [Index]
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] [Internet Archive copy]
Prince, J. Danmonii Orientales Illustres (two vols.), MSS (1716). [PWRDO 373] [An unpublished continuation of his published book of biographies of eminent Devonians] [Contents listing].
Pycroft, George. Art in Devonshire, Part I. Trans. Devon. Assoc., vol. 13, (1881), pp. 218-240. [Index]
Pycroft, George. Art in Devonshire, Part II. Trans. Devon. Assoc., vol. 14, (1882), pp. 278-316. [Index]
Pycroft, George. Art in Devonshire, with the biographies of Artists born in that County, Exeter & London, (1883) 158 pp. [Index (pp.1-81), Index (pp.81-156)]
Royal Archaeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. Catalogue of an Exhibition of Portraits of Departed Worthies Connected with the Counties of Devon and Cornwall. Exeter: Royal Albert Memorial Museum (1873) 37 pp. [Index]
Slader, J.M. Dicky Slader: The Exmoor Pedlar Poet. David & Charles, Dawlish (1963) [Index]
White, J.T. Devoniana, Part II: Art in Devonshire. Trans. Devon. Assoc., 15, (1883), pp. 447-452. [Index]
Willcocks, W.K. Notes on Prince's Lives of Sir William Pole and Thomas Risdon. Trans. Devon. Assoc., Vol 18, (1886), pp. 261-268. [Index]
Who's Who in Devonshire, Hereford, Wilson & Phillips (1934) 294 pp. [Index]
Sun Life Fire Office Records for Devon. Devon Historian, 33 (Jan 1985) pp.15..
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.)
Gravestone Photographic Resource (Devon Section) - a well-indexed collection of (free) photographs of gravestones from a growing number of Devon churchyards and cemeteries.
Cemetery Registers - informative DRO page about public (i.e. non-parochial) cemeteries in Devon, listing and providing links to individual cemeteries' websites.
Devon Headstones - a Catalogue of Photographs (archived site) - George Nicolle's indexes to the details on a large set Devon churchyard memorials.
Article about, and listing of the soldiers of the Devonshire Regiment who are buried in, the Devonshire Cemetery (archived copy), all of whom were killed on July 1, 1916.
Mike Brown's Online Index of Lost Devon MIs (archived copy).
Crabbe, William R. Some account of the monumental brasses of Devon. Exeter Diocesan Architectural Soc. Trans. 1 ser, v. 5, (1855-9). pp.95-105. [Index]
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] [Name Index]
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]
Rogers, W.H.H., FSA The Antient Sepulchral Effigies and Monumental and Memorial Sculpture of Devon Printed for the author by William Pollard. Exeter, (1877) 392pp. [Index]
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]
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 1911. The (unindexed) original records can be seen on either microfilm or microfiche at the National Archives 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:
Pre-1841 census records exist for a small number of Devon parishes - the Devon Pre-1841 Census and Population Listing Transcription Project has been set up with the aim of locating and transcribing all such records.
The 1801 Census of Devon, plus some information from 1811, 1815, 1821 and 1831 - an article by David J. Knapman.
The 1831 Census of Devon - an article by David J. Knapman.
Arthur French has provided a very useful article about the problems of Searching the 1851 Devon Census.
Summary article on Devon from ONS, leading to their Devon Area Monitor (PDF): "Two hundred years of the Census in Devon".
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.
A North Devon Chronology - from The Heritage Album: 175 years in North Devon (1824-1999).
Listing of books and papers on Devon Church History.
Further information about many of Devon's churches can be found in the Devon section of the GENUKI church database. Here is a listing of the Devon section, in parish order. Alternatively this search facility can be used to look for a particular church:
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 modern and ancient parishes, and indicating how the modern parishes relate to the original ancient parishes.
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, a search facility for 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.
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.
The Church Monuments Society website provides photographs and some transcripts of the monuments from growing set of Devon churches.
Photographs of Devon Churches, from the Roughwood British Churches Album.
Church Bells of Devon s- listings of bellfounders and inscriptions, by Jean E. Harris.
Early Nonconformists in Devon - taken from G. Lyon Turner's Original Records of Early Nonconformity under Persecution and Indulgence, by Jean Harris.
Devonshire names, extracted from The Clerical Guide for 1829 by Michael Steer.
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 Devon Heritage Services (Exeter and Barnstaple), while those for Plymouth and West Devon are in the Plymouth & West Devon Record Office. Devon Heritage Services' List of Devon Parish, Non-Parochial and Civil Registers provides full details of holdings, at the Devon Heritage Centre (DHC - Exeter), the North Devon Record Office (NDRO - Barnstaple) and the Plymouth and West Devon Record Office (PWDRO - Plymouth). (In this listing, the letters "B" and "P" evidently identify records that are held at NDRO and at the PWDRO, as opposed to those held at DHC.)
In 2012 PWDRO and Find My Past joined forces to provide online access to the Plymouth and West Devon Collection of parish registers, covering baptisms, marriages and burials from 1538 to 1911. Searching the index is free, but accessing parish register page images requires payment. Here is FMP's listing of their Plymouth & West Devon Place & Parish coverage, though it is not clear as of 6 Jun 2014 whether all of these PRs have yet been uploaded. (Find My Past's Devon Parish Records Coverage covers, but unfortunately does not distinguish between, both their copies of original PRs, and PR transcripts from Devon FHS.)
Devon Heritage Services and Find My Past have now (2014) also joined forces, to provide online access to the baptisms (1444-1915), banns (1538-1915), marriages (1446-2002), and burials (1320-1926), held by DHC and NDRO. Again searching the FMP index is free, but accessing parish register page images requires payment.
Here are details, provided by Devon Heritage Services, of Coverage of Devon parish registers online on Find My Past, as of November 2014. These cover both the PRs held by Devon Heritage Services, and the Plymouth and West Devon Record Office. Included are lists of Missing Parish Registers, Parishes not yet included on Find My Past, and Parishes which will not be included on Find My Past.
In fact the filming of the two collections of Devon PRs was sub-contracted to the LDS, so indexes to these collections are also being made available in the FamilySearch catalogue, and images are freely viewable at LDS Family History Centers - see England, Devon, Parish Registers (FamilySearch Historical Records). As of May 2014 just the West Devon collection had been made available by the LDS.
Meanwhile, it is possible to purchase microfiche copies of PRs from the Devon Heritage Centre for private study and research - see their page Copying of Parish Registers and Bishop's Transcripts, which provides full details of their microfiche copying service and the rules regarding publication.
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 were not originally able 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 "batches" of 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. Note that a very useful means of doing surname searches of this website is now provided by the Devon section of FamilySearch: A Guide to the British Batches, by Archer Software. (This largely supersedes Hugh Wallis's IGI Batch Number pages for Devon (A-M) and Devon (N-Z).)
FreeREG provides a growing number of Devon parish register transcriptions.
The LDS have microfilmed Devon Marriage License Allegations held at the Devon Record Office.
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 firstname.lastname@example.org.
The Devon FHS's indexes to Baptisms 1813-1839, Marriages 1754-1837 and Burials 1813-1837 are available on the subscription website Find My Past.
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.
Extracted details of burials in Bodmin, from various institutions in the town, related to people whose previous abode was in Devon, provided by John Evans.
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] [Vol 1 - full text] [Vol 2 - full text]
The Quaker FHS provides details of available Devon Quaker records.
Quaker Registers (others with pre-1840 records are listed in appropriate parish pages):
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.
Devon Church Rate Lists - a listing, taken from four volumes compiled by the Revd. John F. Chanter, of documents containing church rates and seating plans held at the Devon Record Ofice, provided by Richard Grylls,
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). [LDS Film 1559408 Item 13] [Contents] [Full text]
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.
Grylls, Richard G. Church Rates - An under-used source?, Devon Family Historian, vol. 144, (2012) pp.25-26.
Hambley Rowe, J. Marriages of Devonians in Cornwall. Devon & Cornwall Notes and Queries; 2:3, (1902) pp. 77-79. [Transcription]
Monk, Murial. Devon Strays, Devon Family Historian, vol. 126, (2008) pp.18-20.
Wickes, Michael. Nonconformist church registers of southwest England. Family Tree Magazine (January 1997) pp.21-22.
Wesleyan Methodist Historic Roll 1899-1904. CD013, Devon Family History Society (2008). [A transcription of the names and addresses of over 24,000 donors from Wesleyan Methodist Circuits in Devon and Cornwall and parts of Somerset and Dorset] [Details]
Certificates of birth, death and marriage (post-1837) can be obtained (by post or online) from the General Register Office.
Alternatively, they can be obtained, for all of Devon, other than Plymouth and Torbay from:
Devon Register Office
Telephone: 0845 155 1002
Fax: 01392 384232
For details of ordering Plymouth and Torbay area certificates see:
Microfiche copies of post-1837 marriage registers can be purchased from the Devon Record Office.
Detailed listing, by Brett Langston, of the places covered by the various Devon Registration districts.
Printed Sources on Prisons in Devon, and on Crime and Punishment, from the Devon Record Office.
Devon Prisons (archived copy) - brief details and staff listings, from the Rossbret Prisons web-site.
Reports in Australian Newspapers (1819-1829) of Escaping Devon Prisoners, provided by Lindsey Withers.
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, (Booklet & PDF D034). [Foreword]
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.
Maimed Soldiers, from the Devon Quarter Sessions Records, DRO QS128, transcribed by Bev Edmonds.
Transportation of Felons, from the Devon Quarter Sessions Records, DRO QS129, transcribed by Bev Edmonds.
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".)
The Right to Remain Silent - Quarter Sessions cataloguing project - the splendid official project blog, by Robert Bennett, Project Archivist.
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".) The rest of the volumes for the period up to 1780 (some 45 volumes, containing over 130,000 names have now been transcribed - see the GENUKI Devon Freeholders pages.
Inquests Taken into Suspicious or Unexplained Deaths for 1840-1845, 1846-1855, 1856-1860, 1861-1865, 1866-1870, 1871-1875, 1876-1880, 1881-1885, 1889-1893 and 1894-1900 - articles from Trewman's Exeter Flying Post, transcribed by Lindsey Withers. (Unfortunately the years 1886 to 1888 are missing from the British Newspaper Archive.)
Inquests Taken into Suspicious or Unexplained Deaths for 1824-1835, 1836-1844, 1845-1854 and 1855-1864 - articles from the North Devon Journal, transcribed by Lindsey Withers.
Bennett, Robert. Devon Quarter Sessions, Family Tree Magazine, (March 2013) pp. 50-51.
Chanter, J F. Swainmote courts of Exmoor, and the Devonshire portion and purlieus of the forest. Trans. Devon. Assoc. 39 (1907), map, pp. 267-301. [Index]
Cockburn, J.S. Western Circuit Assize Orders, 1629-1648: A calendar, Royal Historical Society, Camden 4th Series, vol. 17, (1976)
Dixon, Simon. The 1723 Oaths of Allegiance Rolls, Family Tree Magazine, (Feb 2008) pp.32-34.
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. The Justices of the Peace for the County of Devon in the year 1592 Trans. Devon. Assoc. 8 (1876), pp. 517-525. [Index]
Hamilton, A.H.A. The Justices of the Peace for the County of Devon and the Benevolences of 1614 and 1622 Trans. Devon. Assoc. 9 (1877), pp. 404-406. [Index]
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. [Index]
Hamilton, A.H.A. The Justices of the Peace for the County of Devon under Charles I and Oliver Cromwell. Trans. Devon. Assoc. 10 (1878), pp. 309-314. [Index]
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]
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.]
Moger, O.M. (transcr.). Quarter sessions, Devonshire: Civil War petitions from 1642-1685, Typescript (1983). [D&CRS Library: R QUA]
Rogers, George Blaxland. The Practice of the Sheriff's Court of the County of Devon, Exeter: Printed for the Author & Published by Upham & Trewman (1824) 149 pp. [Index]
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]
Willcocks, Frederick. The Black Assizes in the West. Trans. Devon. Assoc. vol. 16 (1884) pp. 595-604 [Index]
Bastardy - Quarter Sessions - Returns of Affiliation Orders - 1844, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D011). [Foreword]
Bastardy - Quarter Sessions - Returns of Affiliation Orders - 1845, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D012). [Foreword]
Bastardy - Quarter Sessions - Returns of Affiliation Orders - 1846, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D013). [Foreword]
Bastardy - Quarter Sessions - Returns of Affiliation Orders - 1847, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D014). [Foreword]
Bastardy - Quarter Sessions - Returns of Affiliation Orders - 1848, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D015). [Foreword]
Bastardy - Quarter Sessions - Returns of Affiliation Orders - 1849, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D016). [Foreword]
Bastardy - Quarter Sessions - Returns of Affiliation Orders - 1850, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D017). [Foreword]
Bastardy - Quarter Sessions - Returns of Affiliation Orders - 1851, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D018). [Foreword]
Bastardy - Quarter Sessions - Returns of Affiliation Orders - 1852, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D019). [Foreword]
Bastardy - Quarter Sessions - Returns of Affiliation Orders - 1853, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D020). [Foreword]
Bastardy - Quarter Sessions - Returns of Affiliation Orders - 1854, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D021). [Foreword]
Bastardy - Quarter Sessions - Returns of Affiliation Orders - 1855, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D022). [Foreword]
Bastardy - Quarter Sessions - Returns of Affiliation Orders - 1856, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D023). [Foreword]
Bastardy - Quarter Sessions - Returns of Affiliation Orders - 1857, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D024). [Foreword]
Devon Court Case Notes, (1851-52). [Devon FHS Library p345.01]
Register of Insolvent Debtors - 1824-1834, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D009). [Foreword]
Register of Insolvent Debtors - 1835-1847, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D010). [Foreword]
Register of Pedlars Indorsements - 1871-1875, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D029). [Foreword]
Register of Pedlars Indorsements - 1875-1881, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D030). [Foreword]
Register of Persons Admitted To Asylums - 1834-1853, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D035). [Foreword]
Listing of books and papers on Devon Description and Travel.
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 Slater's Directory of Devon 1852-3, White's Devon 1850 and Hunt & Co's 1848 & 1850 directories.
Devon-related entries from Whatley's 1750 Gazetteer of England, provided by Mel Lockie.
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). [Full Text]
Kelly's 1893 Directory of Devon. CD 9021P, Archive CD (2001).
Post Office Directory of Devonshire. London : Kelly & Co. (1897).
Kelly's Directory of Devon 1902. London: Kelly's Directory Ltd. (1902). [Internet Archive]
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.
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.
The Newfoundland's Grand Banks website contains information on many Devon-realted families, due to extensive emigration from the Westcountry.
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 the Colonies - Letters to the Devonshire Association in 1900 and 1901, transcribed by Jean Harris.
Devonians in Ontario - copies of back issues of this newsletter by Ryan Taylor "about Devon (England), Ontario and the people who emigrated from one to the other". Ryan Taylor's Devon, an occasional newsletter, that has been started as a tribute to the late Ross Taylor, is available from Sher Letooze.
Faith, Fish, Farm or Family?: The Impact of Kinship Links and Communities on Migration Choices and Residential Persistence in North Devon 1841-1901 - PhD thesis by Janet Few
Canadian Emigrants, from The MacMillan Dictionary of Canadian Biography, by Marlene Ball.
Devon entries in England's Immigrants 1330-1550.
Badcock, Gillian. North Devon Exodus, Devon Family Historian, vol. 134, (2010) pp.5-6. [Planned further North Devon Exodus database, on emigration to Australasia]
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] blockquote>Cawsey, David. The Parkhurst Boys from Devonshire, Devon Family Historian, vol. 129, (2009) pp.14-18. [An account of young offenders from Devon, sentenced to a reformatory at Pankhurst and then exile in Australia or New Zealand: William Baker, Joseph Bendle, William Bickle, Edmund Brewer, Nicholas Hollock Brown, William Brownskill, Edwin Butt, Edward Callaghan David Cawsey, James Cawsey, James Chard, John Dillon, John Dixon, Joseph Dyke, William George, George Gregory, William Henry Groom, James Hooper, John Robert Johns, John Minhinnick, Thomas Mullins, Charles Pengelly, John Pike, John Roan, James Screech, Henry Towton, Charles Vennel, David Williams]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).Cotton, Richard William. On the Part Taken by North Devon in the Earliest English Enterprises for the Purpose of Colonizing America. Trans. Devon. Assoc., vol. 2, no. 1 (1867-1868), pp. 279-282. [Index]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]Few, Janet. Faith, Fish, Farm or Family? Motivations for Emigration from North Devon 1830-1900, Devon Family Historian, vol. 143, (2012) pp.5-8.Giffard, A. Towards Quebec, H.M.S.O., 1981, 72 p. [ISBN 0-11-290335-5] [Contains excerpts from two Daily Journals of emigrants from North Devon, William Fulford of Buckland Brewer, and William Gliddon of Barnstaple. Both sailed to Quebec, Canada in the 1850'sÊon ships owned by the Heard family of Appledore & Bideford.ÊA fascinating introduction to and commentary on the living conditions in Devon and why these people emigrated.]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]Janes, Andrew R. A Devon Name in Queensland, Devon Family Historian, vol. 133, (2010) pp.4-5. [About Thomas Henry Voaden, (b. Marystowe 1871) after whom Voaden Point, Queensland, is named, and other Voaden connections to Australia.]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]Moss, O.P. Devon Agricultural Workers, Devon Family Historian, vol. 135, (2010) pp.9-11. [Contains two listings of Devon agricultural workers recruited in by the Australian Agricultural company, who emigrated to Australia on the ship London in 1841, and the ship Ganges in 1842]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.]Simpson, Jeanette. Devon Strays in Forest Road Cemetery, St John's, Newfoundland, and Their Stories, Devon Family Historian, vol. 136, (Nov 2010) pp.13-15. [Mainly concerns the Hunt and Cousens families]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 1782-1821, 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. Devon. 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.] [Index]Whiteaway, Tricia. Strays From Newfoundland Newspapers, Devon Family Historian, vol. 132, (2009) pp.30-31.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]Wooden, Joseph L. A History of Exeter, Ontario. Exeter, Ontario (1973) viii, 323 pp. [WSL: s971.35/EXE/WOO] [Contains much information about the origins of numerous immigrants from North Devon.] [Online copy]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.
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Encyclopedias and DictionariesDownes, 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.] [2nd edition titled A Guide to Devon Dialect (1998)]
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Folklore, Culture, Customs and Language of Devon - from the Dewnans web-site.
Holy Wells in Tarka Country Website (archived) - 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.Baring-Gould, Sabine. A Book of Folk-Lore. Republished 2007 by Forgotten Books (first published by Methuen 1913), pp. x, 136. [Index]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]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 2: ill. [Index]Bray, Anna Elizabeth. Legends, Superstitions and Sketches of Devonshire: On the Borders of the Tamar and the Tavy, London, John Murray (1844) Vol 1: ill, 401pp. [Contents]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]Curzon, Frank. Lays and Legends of the West, London: Whittaker & Co; Exeter: Curzon & Son. (1847) x, 226 pp. [Subscribers and Surname Index]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 & Cornwall Notes & Queries, vol. VI, no. III, (1911) 156pp.Hewett, Sarah. Nummits and Crummits: Devonshire Customs, Characteristics, and Folk-lore, (1900) vi + (2) + 219 p.Radford, Lady. Twenty-Sixth Report of the Committee on Devonshire Folklore. Trans. Devon. Assoc., vol. 49, (1917) pp. 69-78. [Index]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.Tozer, Elias. Devonshire and other original poems, with some account of ancient customs, superstitions and traditions. (1873). Exeter: Devon Weekly Times, 94 pp. [Index]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. [Surname Index]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.]
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The transcription of the Devonshire section from the National Gazetteer (1868), provided by Colin Hinson. Links to the transcriptions of the gazetteer's parish descriptions are provides on individual parish pages.
The Historical Gazetteer of England's Place Names - Devon Section.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 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 almost 7000 places (as of January 2008) in Devon, based on the 1945-48 Ordnance Survey maps, 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.
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Devon Record Office's pages for family historians.
The 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 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.)
The Future is Still in the Past: An Introduction to Online Parish Clerks - an article by Wayne Shepheard, published in Volume 7, Number 2 (Summer 2012) of Crossroads, the quarterly journal of the Utah Genealogical Association.
According to the current Wikipedia definition "One-place studies are a branch of family history and/or local history with a focus on the entire population of a single road, village or community, not just a single, geographically dispersed family line":
- Devon section of the Register of One Place Studies
- Devon section of the Society for One-Place Studies
Devon Library Local Studies Service's extensive Family and population history pages (archived copy).
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.
Devon Surnames (including Strays) Index - maintained by Devon FHS (members only).
Index Search Services - provided by Devon FHS.
UKBMD "links to web sites that offer on-line transcriptions of UK births, marriages, deaths and censuses. A wide range of other indexes and transcriptions are also available for most counties" - its Devon Section has over 200 links, but many of these are to general sites.
Devon section of UK Genealogy Archives - has pages for many Devon parishes with gazetteer transcripts and other information and useful links.
Debbie Kennett is running a Devon DNA Project, specifically a "a Y-DNA and mtDNA geographical project for everyone with a direct paternal or maternal ancestral line originating in the English county of Devon".Kennett, Debbie. DNA Testing and the Devon DNA Project, Devon Family Historian, vol. 135, (2010) pp.15-18.
Electronic Mailing Lists, etc.:
- 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.
- Devon Message Board - one of Rootsweb's large set of genealogy message boards.
- Devon county-wide forum - one of the set of genealogy forums operated by British-Genealogy.com.
- 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.
- Devon section of the RootsChat Messaging Forum - very active .
- 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"
- The Devon Genealogy Group of GenealogyWise, the "genealogy social network", which "allows users to join surname groups, explore ancestral records, share photos, video, and family trees".
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". See also an online copy provided by BYU - Vol 1 (A-G) and Vol 2 (H-Z). [Lookups]
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 (archived copy).
Listing of some Devon Strays, by Shirley Turner.
Listing of Devon Strays (archived copy) 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.]Colby, Frederick Thomas (ed). The visitation of the County of Devon in the year 1620 Harleian Society, London (1872) 396pp. [Internet Archive]Few, Janet. From OPC to OPS: Putting your ancestors in their local context, Devon Family Historian, vol. 155, (2015) pp.15-17.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] [Full text of Vol. 1 and Vol. 2]
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HeraldryCarew, Sir G. Sir George Carew's Scroll of Arms - With Additions from Joseph Holland's Collection of Arms 1579. Devon Notes & Queries, Vol. vol 1, pt. 2. (Jan. 1900 to October 1901) illus. pp. 152. [Index] [Index to Holland's Collection]Colby, F T. Mottoes of some Devonshire families. Trans. Devon. Assoc. vol 29, (1897) pp. 286-290. [Index]Jewers, A.J. Heraldic & Genealogical Notes from South Devon Churches, (1885).Shirley, Evelyn Philip. Devonshire, pp. 53-69. In The noble and gentlemen of England; or, Notes touching the arms and descents of the ancient knightly and gentle houses of England, arranged in their respective counties. (1859). Westminster: John Bowyer Nichols & Sons, illus. vii, 315 pp. [Index]
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The Institute of Historical Research's British History Online is "the digital library containing some of the core printed primary and secondary sources for the medieval and modern history of the British Isles". Its South West section, covers the "historic counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucs, Somerset and Wilts".
Listing of published books and articles on Devon History.
Listing of articles by Peter Christie on North Devon and its history
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 (archived partial copy), 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.
Announcement of a History of Parliament Trust project From the Grassroots: an oral history of community politics in Devon.
Devonshire section of the Domesday Book.
Town and Village Histories - from East Devon net.
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.
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".
Historical information, maps, statistics, etc. about Devon from the Vision of Britain website.
Website about the Great Flood of 1607: "Most of the low land around the Severn estuary from Barnstaple to Gloucester was flooded. . . A number of acounts of the event were written at the time, but they are now quite hard to get hold of. This site aims to provide the text of the main records . . . and some other information on the subject."
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Jewish HistoryFriedlander, 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]
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Land and Property
DRO pages on Tithe Records state that: "eventually, the Tithe Maps Online Project will make the digitized tithe maps available online free of charge through our website. In the meantime, we are also offering copies of the digitised tithe maps for sale on CD-Rom."
The Friends of Devon's Archives group has indexed the Devon tithe apportionments - and provide parish and name search facilities. In addition Scanned images of these tithe apportionments are made available by the Devon Tithe Maps Online Project.
The Country House Database (archived copy) - country houses from the late medieval period to ca. 1850, together with an index to occupiers.
British Listed Buildings (Devon section) - organised by parish, provides detailed descriptions of a large number of historic buildings throughout Devon.
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."
Devon sections of Pat Johnson's Family Deeds website, and of Allan & Brenda Azzaro's Family Chest website, each of which provide free summary transcripts of old deeds and documents (the originals of which are available for purchase).
Thatch in Devon - from Devon County Council.
Photographs of Farms in Devon - in Wikimedia Commons.Alcock, N.W. Devonshire Farm-Houses. Part II. Some Dartmoor Houses, Trans. Devon. Assoc., vol. 101, (1969) pp.83-106. [Descriptions of long-houses in Doddiscombsleigh, Drewsteignton, Gidleigh and Lustleigh]Alcock, N.W. and Laithwaite, Michael. Medieval houses in Devon and their modernisation, Medieval Archaeology, vol. 17, (1973) pp.100-25.Beacham, Peter. Devon's heritage: Buildings and landscape : a collection of essays on the conservation of Devon's environment, County Planning Department, Devon County Council (1982) 27-28 pp. [ISBN-13: 978-0861143566]Brown, Mike. Index. Dartmoor Tithe Apportionments, Vol. 8. The Dartmoor Press (c1997) 16p.Carter, G E L. Borough English and burgage tenure. Trans. Devon. Assoc. 65 (1933). [Devon and the customs of land tenure, and the laws of inheritance from the Saxon to the early medieval period]Davidson, J.B. Some Anglo-Saxon Boundaries, Now Deposited at the Albert Museum. Trans. Devon Assoc Vol. 8 (1876), pp. 396-419. [Index]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."]Jones, S.R. Devonshire Farmhouses III: Moorland and non-moorland long-houses, Trans. Devon. Assoc., vol. 103, (1971) pp.35-75. [Detailed descriptions, drawings and photographs of long-houses in Harberton, Lydford, Modbury, Peter Tavy, Plymstock, Shaugh Prior, Walkhampton, Whitchurch and Yealmpton]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).Perry, Roger. A Survey of Ash-Houses. Trans. Dev. Assoc, vol. 142, (2010). [SoG Library DE/PER]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.Windeatt, Edward. First Report of the Committee to Obtain Information as to Peculiar Tenures of Land, Trans. Devon. Assoc., vol. 12 (1880), pp. 152-157. [Index]Windeatt, Edward. Second Report of the Committee to Obtain Information as to Peculiar Tenures of Land, Trans. Devon. Assoc., vol. 13 (1881), pp. 102-105. [Index]Windeatt, Edward. Fourth Report of the Committee to Obtain Information as to Peculiar Tenures of Land, Trans. Devon. Assoc., vol. Vol. 16 (1884), pp. 172-182. [Index]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).
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Language and Languages
Devon Voices - BBC pages on the devon dialect.
Devon Alphabet - from the BBC Radio Devon website.Brushfield, T N. Who wrote "The Exmoor scolding and courtship"? Trans. Devon. Assoc. vol 20, (1888) pp. 400-409. [Index]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]
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ManorsIan 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. Devon. Assoc. 35 (1903) pp. 654-661. [Index]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.
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MapsA 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.
The Devon Local Studies Library (the Westcountry Studies Library) provides reproductions of a superb set of historic maps (archived partial copy), 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. Sections of Donn's map are used to illustrate the Library's historic parish pages.
Genmaps provides a large collection of scans of old maps of Devon.
FamilySearch's Maps facility can be used to find parishes and see their parish boundaries overlaid on a modern Ordnance Survey map
Scrollable high definition scan of Cambridge University's proof version of the first (1611/1612) John Speed Map of Devonshire.
British History Online's 19th century 1:10560 scale maps of Devon.
Outline 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:
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)
A very clear and detailed map of (South) Devon 1883/4, is provided by Nicolas Adams.
- 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).
Devon County Council provides maps, covering the different areas of Devon, showing (modern) parish locations:
Devon section of Genmaps - David Bax's very useful collection of links to online versions of old maps.
Devon maps in the National Library of Scotland's collection of high quality digitizations of old maps of England and Wales.Batten, K. and Bennett, F. The Printed Maps of Devon, Exeter, Devon Books (1996).Batten, K. and Bennett, F. The Printed Maps of Devon (2nd edition), Exeter, Devon Books (2008) [Internet version].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].Ravenhill, Mary R. and Rowe, Margery M., (Ed.). Maps of Georgian Devon, Friends of Devon Archives (2003) [ISBN 1-85522-857-2].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]
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Listing of books and papers on Devon Maritime topics.
Shipping Catalogue of the Plymouth and West Devon Record Office.
Bob Sanders provides a lengthy listing of: Bristol Channel Shipping accidents.
Fund for widows and orphans of Clovelly fishermen lost in the 1821 storm - extracts from Trewman's Exeter Flying Post.
Plymouth and Devon Shipwrecks - 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 Devon, provided by John Lerwill.
The Great Storm of 1821 - by Peter Christie.
South Devon-registered Master Mariners & Mates (archived copy), from Lloyd's Captains' Register 1869, by the late Ray Osborn.
The Fishery and Fish Trade, 1500-1800, by Olaf U. Janzen, Professor of History, Grenfell Campus, Memorial University of Newfoundland.
How West communities faced 300 years of terror from Barbary pirates, from This Is Cornwall.
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Listing of books and papers on Devon Military History.
The Keep - Military museum of Devon and Dorset, which provides an information service.
The Devonshire Regiment and the War - 1899, transcribed by Beverley Edmonds.
Devon Militia and Volunteer Listings, transcribed from the Exeter Flying Post.
North Devon Yeomanry 1803, transcribed by Leonard Collum.
Deserters from the Training of East Devon Militia (1811), North Devon Militia (1825), and South Devon Militia (1825) transcribed from the Exeter Flying Post by Lindsey Withers.
1715 Militia Assessments and related documents - transcripts by Paul Luscombe of "militia assessments for the southern and western parts of Devon recording the names of property owners required to contribute in 1715 towards the costs of maintaining the militia" provided by the Friends of Devon's Archives (FODA).
The Devonshire Regiment in 1914-18, from Chris Baker's "The Long, Long Trail.
Devonshire Regiment photographs and obituaries, from the World War One Photos website.
Army Records, a very useful leaflet from the North Devon Record Office.
Devon section of Roll of Honour - Martin Edward's war memorials website.
Devon section of the Memorial Database - a large war memorials website.
War Memorial - Swansea Devonian Society, transcribed by Jeff Coleman.
HMS VICTORY Prize List (archived copy) from 1805, of over four hundred names, transcribed by the late Ray Osborn.
The Wartime Memories Project - South West - stories and photographs.
Devon Auxiliary Units And Operational Bases (locations, and in some cases personnel lists) - provided by Coleshill House, "home of the British Resistance, Winston Churchill's Secret Auxiliary Units".
More than 1500 Devon-born Men that served in the Napoleonic Wars - an index provided by John Lerwill.Soldiers Died in the Great War, 1914-19: The Devonshire Regiment Pt. 16. Naval & Military Press Ltd; New Ed edition (Jun 1999) 60pp. [ISBN 1897632452]East India Company-Soldiers Enlisted - 1789 To 1793, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D093). [Foreword]
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Names, GeographicalA very extensive wiki-base website providing basic geographical and administrative data about a very large number of places in Devon, is provided by WeRelate.
Origins of Devon-Place Names, provided by Madalene Frost.
Tithings in Devon, provided by Dr Matthew Tompkins.
Place names in Devon, provided by the British Place Names website.Alexander, J J. East and North Devon place-names. Trans. Devon. 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. Devon. 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. Devon. 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. Devon. 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]Jones, Pitman. Devoniae Index Parochialis: Containing the names of the several hundreds in the County of Devon with their relative situations to Exeter, Exeter: William Roberts, 197 High Street; London: Hamilton Adams & Co. (1843) 76 pp. [Surname Index]Prowse, A B. Investigation of place-names. Trans. Devon. Assoc. 52 (1920).Poulton-Smith, Anthony. South Devon Place Names. Amberley Publishing (2010) 128 pp. [ISBN-13: 978-1848687240].Rea, C F. Some South Devon surnames. Trans. Devon. 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. Devon. Assoc. 45 (1913).
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Studies on Devon Surnames - a detailed account by Max Hooper.
Surnames occurring in the Devon FHS's various indexes.
Devon names in John Titford's Guides to Auctioneers' Catalogues and Booksellers' Manuscript Material, provided by Jean Harris.
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 Devon Search Facility.
Surname Index to articles about particular persons or families, in various genealogical journals.
The South West England Genealogical Indexes's West Country Newspapers surname index currently has about 25,000 names covering Somerset, Devon, Dorset and Cornwall, from eight newspapers, during the period 1770-1835.
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 - all the Devon returns have been transcribed.
Trewman's Exeter Flying Post contains numerous Game Lists, i.e. lists of persons who had obtained Game Certificates. (Some 38,000 names have been extracted from these lists.)
Game Lists from the North Devon Journal, the Western Times and the Sherborne Mercury provided by Lindsey Withers.
Names of Devonshire bankrupts listed in The Bankrupt Directory (1843). (Covers the period 1821 to early 1843).
Names and details of bankrupts listed in Exeter Flying Post (1800-20) and Exeter Flying Post (1842-1900) compiled by Lindsey Withers.
Insolvent debtors listed in the London Gazette, compiled by Lindsey Withers.
Listing of Land Tax Commissioners' Names, from the London Gazette for 2 Jul 1886, provided by Beverley Edmonds
Listing of Land Tax Commissioners' Names, from the London Gazette for 28 Dec 1906, provided by Beverley Edmonds
Announcements regarding absconders listed in London Gazette (18thC) and Exeter Flying Post (19thC) compiled by Lindsey Withers.
Monmouth Rebels - 1685 - names of the Devon men who were tried and executed for taking part in the Monmouth Rebellion, by Jean Harris.
Devonians involved in The Monmouth Rebellion, 1685, extracted from: W.M. Wigfield's The Monmouth Rebels, 1685.
Devon-Shire section, of Monmouth's Rebellion of 1685: Sir Will. Booth's List of Prisoners sent to Barbadoes - pp. 334-335 of: Hotten, John Camden (ed.) The Original Lists of Persons of Quality . . . who went from Great Britain to the American Plantations 1600-1700. John Camden Hotten, London 1874) Reprinted Empire State Book C. New York, 581pp.
A listing of further Westcountry Monmouth rebels is contained in the King's Warrant Book XIII, pp. 440-45 (July 17, 1688), which is given in the Calendar of Treasury Books made available at British History Online. [Index to this listing]Dymond, R. Second Report of the Committee on Works of Art in Devonshire. Trans. Devon. Assoc. Vol. 12, (1880), pp. 117-118. [Index]Dymond, R. Third Report of the Committee on Works of Art in Devonshire. Trans. Devon. Assoc. Vol. 14, (1882), pp. 159-180. [Index]Dymond, R. Fourth Report of the Committee on Works of Art in Devonshire. Trans. Devon. Assoc. Vol. 15, (1883), pp. 111-130. [Index]Dymond, R. Fifth Report of the Committee on Works of Art in Devonshire. Trans. Devon. Assoc. Vol. 16, (1884), pp. 127-171. [Index]Dymond, R. Sixth Report of the Committee on Works of Art in Devonshire. Trans. Devon. Assoc. Vol. 17, (1885), pp. 132-186. [Index]Dymond, R. Seventh Report of the Committee on Works of Art in Devonshire. Trans. Devon. Assoc. Vol. 18, (1886), pp. 108-141. [Index]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.]Polwhele, Richard. Poems, Chiefly by Gentlemen of Devonshire and Cornwall: In Two Volumes. Bath: Printed by R. Cruttwell and sold by D. Cadell, C. Dilly, C.C.J. and J. Robinson, London, Fletcher, Oxford, and Merrill, Cambridge (1792). 240 pp. [Advertisement (with details of the various poets)]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]King, R.J. First Report of the Committee on Works of Art in Devonshire. Trans. Devon. Assoc. Vol. 10, (1878), pp. 134-140. [Index]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]Taylor, M. Jane. Locative Surnames in Devon, Devon Family Historian, no. 153, (2015) p.16.Weymouth, Sarah. Rural poems with other fugitive pieces, London, G.B. Whittacker; Devonport: R Williams (1827). 115 pp. [List of Subscribers]Rich man, poor man beggar-man, thief (The Small Projects Index). Exeter, Devon Family Gistory Society and Devon Record Office (2008) [A collection of over 63,000 entries from records held at Devon Record Office]Register of Patients of The West of England Eye Infirmary - 1841, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D006). [Foreword]Register of Vagrants Committed To Gaol - 1820-1822, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D007). [Foreword]Devon Constabulary Monthly Return- 30th April 1861, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D091). [Foreword]Devon Constabulary Monthly Return- 30th April 1865, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D092). [Foreword]Devon Constabulary Monthly Return - 30th April 1871, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D055). [Foreword]Devon Constabulary Monthly Return - 30th April 1876, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D056). [Foreword]Devon Constabulary Monthly Return - 30th April 1881, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D067). [Foreword]Devon Constabulary Monthly Return - 30th April 1886, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D068). [Foreword]Register of Licences - Teignbridge - 1872, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D088). [Foreword]Book Indexes:
- Surnames from "Of Chirche-Reves, and of Testamentes" by Peter Christie.
- Surnames from "The Huguenots of Devonshire" by Inkerman Rogers.
- Surnames from "The North Devon Hand Book", by G. Tugwell (c 1875).
- Name index to Westcountry Poets, by W. H. Kearley Wright (1896).
- Index to Devon Entries in Phillimore's Hatchments in Britain, Vol 7: Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Somerset, eds. Peter Summers and John E Titterton (1988).
- Index to Doidge's Western Counties Illustrated Annual (1925).
- Listing of the High Sheriffs of Devon, 1154 - 1411.
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The Devon Newspaper Bibliography - a detailed catalogue of all the local Devon newspapers in Devon's main collections, and in the British Newspaper Library at Colingdale, as of May 2005. Updated and extended version: Exeter working papers in book history; 24 - Devon newspaper bibliography, 1704-2004
Newsplan South West: report on newspapers in the region - part of the NEWSPLAN programme for the preservation of local newspapers.
Listing of Newspapers held on microfilm in the Wescountry Studies Library.
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 (1836 - 1887) - here is a collection of the results of a large ongoing transcription project. 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).Mildren, James. 125 Years with the "Western Morning News", Bossiney Books (1985) 120 pp. [ISBN-13: 978-0948158025]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:Cawsey, David. British Newspaper Archive. Devon Family Historian, vol 142, (2012) pp 10-12.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.)
Extensive listings of BDM notices and other items in Australian newspapers concerning inhabitants from identified Devon towns and parishes, and from unspecified Devon locations, provided by Bev Edmonds.
The This Is Devon website features current information from the North Devon Journal, the Western Morning News and the Mid Devon Gazette.
Brief extracts from The Western Press (1913) (auctions, deaths, Devon Show prizewinners - archived copy) by Shirley Turner.
Items from Peter Christie's 'Looking Back' columns in the North Devon Journal - Addenda: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014.
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.
Midweek Herald and North Devon Gazette websites.
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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.
Articles from Trewman's Exeter Flying Post Relating to Absconding Apprentices, provided by Lindsey Withers.
Article from Trewman's Exeter Flying Post listing awards to Agricultural Labourers (1845), provided by Bev Edmonds.
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 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 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.)
Devon Section of Steve Pickthall's Parish Clerk Index, derived mainly from the book "The Parish Clerk", by PH Ditchfield (Metheun, London, 1907).
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 (A-G, H-M, N-S, T-Z) - Ann Spiro's Genealogical Index of Blacksmiths and Related Occupations, compiled from census records.
Bal Maidens Cornwall & Devon - website concerning women and girls employed in the mining industry, with a searchable database.
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 medical licences issued by the Archbishop of Canterbury 1535-1775 contains a section on Devon.
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.)
Richard Platt's Smugglers' Britain: South-West England.
Sources for Farming History, from Devon Record Office.
Brett Payne's Victorian & Edwardian Portrait Photo Collection provides genealogical information and examples of the work of a number of Devon photographers.
London & UK Pub History site - Devon section - "uses information from census, trade directories and history to add licensees, bar staff, lodgers and visitors".Alexander, J.J. Devon county members of parliament. Trans. Devon. Assoc. 44 (1912), pp. 366-381. [Index]Attwood, J.S. Booksellers and printers in Devon and Cornwall in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. TDevon & Cornwall Notes & Queries vol. 9 (1916-17), pp. 129-138. [Index]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]Bodman, Martin. Devon Leather: An Outline History of a Lost Industry: Nineteenth Century Tanners and Tanneries by, Tiverton, Leat Press (2008) 168 pp. [ISBN 978-0-9548758-1-7]Born, Anne. Blue slate quarrying in South Devon: an ancient industry, Industr. Arch. Rev., vol. 11, no. 1, (1988) pp.51-67.Buck, J.A. Devonshire Clock and Watch Makers. Devon Notes & Queries vol. 3, Part 6 (1905) pp. 155-156. [Index]Chanter, Rev. J F. First Report of the Church Plate Committee. Trans. Devon. Assoc. (1905), vol. 37, illus. pp. 146-153. [Contains a comprehensive listing of Devonshire goldsmiths and plate workers] [Index]Chanter, Rev. J F. Devonshire Goldsmiths. Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries 4, (1907), p. 88. [Transcript]Chapman, Stanley D., (Ed.). The Devon Cloth Industry in the Eighteenth Centuries, Torquay, Devon and Cornwall Record Society, New Series, Vol. 23 (1978) xxvi + 159pp.Chope, R P. The Aulnager in Devon. Trans. Devon. 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.) [Index]Collins, Joseph Henry. A handbook to the Mineralogy of Cornwall and Devon, London: Longmans, Green, Reader & Dyer. Truro: Printed by Heard & Son (1871). illus., 15 pp. [Subscribers]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].Edmonds, Bev. Devon Agricultural Society - Agricultural Labourers, Devon Family Historian, vol. 150, (2014) pp.30-31. [Listing of annual award winners, from Trewman's Exter Flying Post, 1845]Fortescue, Sir J. W. Records of stag-hunting on Exmoor - by John Fortescue; With illustrations by Edgar Giberne. London: Chapman and Hall, (1887), map, illus. 286 pp. [Index]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. One Hundred and One Runaways, Exeter, Sylvia Guthrig (2000) 43pp. [DFHS Library P391] [On runaway apprentices, soldiers, wives, etc., and abandoned children]Guthrig, Sylvia. Inns, Taverns & Alehouses, Exeter, Devon Family History Society (2001) 50pp.Hamilton Jenkin, A.K. Mines of Devon, Volume 1: The Southern Area, Newton Abbot, David & Charles (1974) 154pp.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) 226pp.Hamilton Jenkin, A.K. Mines of Devon, Landmark Publishing Ltd (2005) 192pp. [ISBN 1843061740]Hawker, Revd. Treasurer. Devonshire Farm Labourer Now and Eighty Years ago, Trans. Devon. Assoc., vol. 14, (1882) pp.329-336.Hutchings, Walter. Out of the Blue: A History of the Devon Constabulary. Devonshire Press (1957) 204p. [Lookups]Jenkinson, Tim. Turnpikes and Toll Collectors, Family Tree, vol. 27, no. 10 (2011) pp.50-52. [Collectors covered: Joseph Stamp (b. Exeter, 1791), John Strong (Bampton), The Blee Family (Tavistock), Clara Squire (Hatherleigh) and William & Mary Stook (South Hams)]Mayers, Lynne. A Dangerous Place to Work! - Women and children of the Devon & Cornwall mining industries, www.balmaiden.co.uk (2008) 108 pp. [ISBN 978-0-9556896-0-4]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).Richard Polwhele, Richard. Poems, Chiefly by Gentlemen of Devonshire and Cornwall: In Two Volumes. Bath: Printed by R. Cruttwell and sold by D. Cadell, C. Dilly, C.C.J. and J. Robinson, London, Fletcher, Oxford, and Merrill, Cambridge (1792). 240 pp. [Advertisement (with details of the various poets)]Ponsford, C.N., (Ed.). Devon Clocks and Clockmakers, (1985) 360 pp.Powell, Brenda. Devon Farners & Labourers in 1808, Devon Family Historian, no. 125, (Feb 2008) pp.28-33.Radford, Lady. Early printing in Devon. Trans. Devon. Assoc. 60 (1928).Radford, Lady. Notes on the tinners of Devon and their laws. Trans. Devon. Assoc. vol. 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.Soltau, G.W. Trout Flies of Devon and Cornwall, and When and How to Use Them, London: Longman & Co., Printer: Edward Nettleton, Plymouth (1847), illus., 100 pp. [Index]Spargo, Thomas. The Mines of Cornwall and Devon: Statistics and Observations. London: Emily Faithfull (1865) xii, 188pp. [Index]Urman, Mr. (pseud.). Reaping and Harvesting in Devonshire. Gentleman's Magazine (Nov. 1816), pp. 408-409.Willcocks, W K. Devonshire men at the Inner Temple, 1547-1660. Trans. Devon. Assoc. vol. 17 (1885), pp. 246-265. [Index]Worth, R.N. The History of Printing in Devon. Trans. Devon. Assoc. vol. 11. (1879), pp. 497-515. [Index]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.]Returns of Apprentices Attendance At Church - 1802-1803 - Abbots Bickington, Black Torrington, Bradford, Bradworthy, Bridgerule, Clawton, Hollacombe, Holsworthy, Luffincot, North Petherwin And West Putford, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D109). [Foreword]Devonian Medical Worthies. Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries 13 (1925), p.142 Abbott-Butler, p,227 Caird-Dyer, p.373 Eccles-Huxham, 14 (1926) p.45 Inglett-Martin, p.138 Martin (William) to Pycroft, p.234 Radley-Vinson.
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Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries is a journal devoted to the local history, archaeology, biography & antiquities of the counties of Devon & Cornwall.
Index to Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries article titles (1900-2000), prepared by Norman Annett.
Devon Local Studies Library Services used to publish, via the web, a very useful monthly periodical "Annales occidentales or, Westcountry Studies a bibliographical newsletter", accessible via their (archived copy).Devon Heritage Services has continued the Devon Record Office practice of regularly publishing an informative newsleete
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 indexes, prepared by David Gale.
North Devon Heritage is the Journal of the Devon Museum Trust.Amery, P.F.S., John S. Amery & J. Brooking Rowe, FSA, (Eds.). (1905). Devon Notes and Queries: A Quarterly Journal Devoted to the Local History, Biography and Antiquities of the County of Devon. 3(5), January. Exeter: James G. Commin, 230 High Street, illus. 100 pp. [Index]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]The South Devon Literary Chronicle: A Monthly Magazine of Local and General Literature, Published by R. Lidstone, 16 George Street, Plymouth; London: T.P. Sharpe, Skinner Street, (1847) 272 pp. [Bound collection of the six issues that were published] [Index]North Devon Magazine: Containing The Cave and Lundy Review, Volumes 1-2. W Searle, Barnstaple, (1824), map, 284 pp. [Index]
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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 (archived copy).
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.
Devon workhouses (archived copy) - from the Rossbret Workhouses website.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).Commissioners for Inquiry into Charities. (1819). Returns made to the Honourable the House of Commons of Charitable Donations for the Benefit of Poor Persons within the County of Devon, Containing the Hundreds of Ermington, Lifton, Plympton, Roborough, Tavistock, Black Torrington and Winkleigh, and the Boroughs of Barnstaple, Ashburton, Dartmouth and Totness. Plymouth: John Commins. Extracted from the large Work, printed by order of the House, 1817, 60 pp. [Index]The Report of the Commissioners Concerning Charities: Containing that Part which Relates to the County of Devon, Exeter, T. Besley (1826) [Vols 1 and 2]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.[(LDS film - 1426109 Item 9]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.Register of Lunatic Paupers - Axminster To Hemiock Hundreds - 1828, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D064). [Foreword]Register of Lunatic Paupers - Lifton To Wonford Hundreds - 1828, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D065). [Foreword]Militia Relief of Families - 19th March 1816, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D105). [Foreword]
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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]
The Devon Wills Project undertaken by volunteers and now (November 2014) virtually complete, was set up to provide a finding-aid in the form of a consolidated index of all Devon wills, and also administrations and inventories. The index shows where copies, transcripts, abstracts or extracts of such original testamentary documents may be found, and in many cases the whereabouts of the original documents themselves. DWP's results are provided in the form of a Consolidated Index (a browsable set of web pages listing wills, etc., in alphabetical order of testators' names). This index is complemented by a powerful Online Search Facility, provided by Find My Past. (This is a FREE facility, though registration and signing-in is required in order to use it.)
Index to transcriptions and summaries of Wills and Admons held within GENUKI/Devon.
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:
Listings of Heirs, Next of Kin & Legatees (1845-1846) from Trewman's Exter Flying Post, provided by Lindsey Withers.
Inquisitions Post Mortem (IPMs) from the Moger Collection, provided by Fay Sampson Priestley.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.). A Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem for Cornwall and Devon from Henry III to Charles I, 1216-1649 - Devon and Cornwall record Society (1906).Fry, E.A. (Ed.). Calendars of Wills and Administrations relating to the counties of Devon and Cornwall proved in 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. Vol 35 Index Library, British Record Society (1908, reprinted 1968).Fry, E.A. (Ed.). Calendar of Wills and Administrations relating to the counties of Devon & Cornwall proved in the Consistory Court of the Bishop of Exeter 1532-1800. Vol 46 Index Library, British Record Society (1914, reprinted 1968).Grylls, Richard. The Devon Wills Project, Devon Family Historian, vol. 137, (2011) pp.26-27.Grylls, Richard and Brian Randell. The Devon Wills Project, Devon Family Historian, vol. 141, (2011) pp.31-34.Worthy, C. Devon Wills, London: Bemrose (1896) 516 pp. (Available on CD-ROM from Bernard D. Welchman, The Cottage, Manor Terrace, Paignton, Devon.) [Index][List of Subscribers]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] [Index]Murray, Sir O A R. Devon wills of the 16th and 17th cent. Trans. Devon. Assoc. 53 (1921).
Another collection is at the British Library:Vivian (John Lambrick). Col. Abstracts of 16th-18th cent. Wills, etc., chiefly relating to Devon and Cornwall, 19th cent. [Add. MSS 34,546-34,552: Vol. I. (ff. 132) A, B, D; Vol. II. (ff. 231) B; Vol. III. (ff. 212) C; Vol. IV. (ff. 138) E-H; Vol. V. (ff. 139) I-P; Vol. VI. (ff. 67) Q-S; Vol. VII. (ff. 159) T-W, and Add. MSS 34,810 supplementary (Vol. viii.) containing names beginning with Y, followed by miscellaneous entries and an index of names.]
And another at the Society of Genealogists, listed in:Taylor, Rachel. Devon will abstracts from the Fothergill collection at the Society of Genealogists. Typescript, by Cliff Webb (1979). [DCRS Library]
However, detailed 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. (The relevant parish pages identify the parishes concerned.)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).Alcock, N.W. Surviving Devon Wills and Inventories, Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries, vol. 31, (1968-70) pp.182. [Brief details relating to Uffculme, Woodbury, Werrington, North Petherwin and St Giles in the Heath.]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 & Cornwall Notes & Queries, vol. 25, (1952-53) pp.9-10.
Some other Devon wills for the parish of Uffculme also survive in Wiltshire County Record Office.
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 National Archives' Discovery search facility.
Extremely useful listings of Devon names are provided in PCC Wills (1383-1700) and PCC Administrations (1569-1660) by Jean Harris, for use in connection with the LDS microfilms, and as an adjunct to the search facilities provided by the National Archives' Discovery facility.
Other similar lists of Devon-related entries in the Commissary Court of London 1374-1649 & 1661-1700, the Court of Arches and the Archdeaconry Court of London have also been produced by Jean Harris.
For another full account see the Devon County Council's Wills and Probate Records and Locating Devon Wills and Administrations.
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]  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.
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Devon schools as listed in the UK Schoolswebdirectory. (A somewhat longer list.)Bovett, Robert (comp.). Dates of School Buildings in Devon: a list of dates of the present buildings of schools maintained by the Devon Local education Authority & some notes about the buildings still in use dating from the 18th century and earlier, (1965). [SoG Library DE/G 105]Bovett, Robert. Historical Notes on Devon Schools, Devon County Council (1989) 438 pp. [ISBN 0-86114-995-5]Griffin, Richard. Devon connections from Harrow School. The author. [DFHS Library p378.4231]Orme, Nicholas. Education in the West of England 1066-1548. University of Exeter Press (1976) 254 pp. [ISBN: 978085989707].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 - 1873-1888, Exeter, Devon Family History Society, (Booklet & PDF D008). [Foreword]The Education Service in Devon: a report & a plan, Devon County Education Committee (1945). [SoG Library Devon Tracts Box]Education in Devon: a review of the past 20 years, (n.d.). [SoG Library DE/G104]
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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. There is a DFHS Facebook page.
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. Abstracts of articles in Vol 131 (1999) onwards are available online, and there is a searchable index covering the period 1862-2010. Many copies of the Transactions are now available online in the Internet Archive - see listing.
Index to the Report of the First Meeting of the Devonshire Association (Exeter 1862), provided by Michael Steer.
The Devon & Cornwall Record Society publishes local records and promotes local historical studies and genealogical research.
The Devon History Society - the web site provides details of the Society's publications, including an index to all the issues of its journal Devon Historian.
The Friends of Devon's Archives is a society that supports the preservation of historical records in Devon. It provides financial support for the acquisition of Devon documents, arranges a programme of lectures, visits and volunteer projects and liaises closely with the local record offices in Devon.
South West Maritime History Society - web site (archived copy).
The Stover Canal Society web-site. (This provides details of the history, and photographs, of the Stover Canal, which ran from Ventiford to Teignmouth.)Local History Magazine's list of Local Hisory Societies in Devon.
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.Quinn, Gerald F. The Devon and Cornwall Record Society - The Devon Family History Society, Devon Family Historian, vol. 139, (2011) pp.7-8.Shawyer, John W. Sociamur amore DevoniÆ. The London Devonian Year Book. London: The London Devonian Association (1910) illus. pp. 20-25. [Index]
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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.
The Australian Institute of Genealogical Studies has produced an index to Devon Land Tax Records 1780 - 1832 - this "lists the names of over 310,000 people, with their dates and parishes, in the Land Tax records of 108 Devon parishes, and includes the 42 parish indexes previously published by AIGS in booklet form".
Hemp and Flax Bounty papers - QS43/1 - transcribed by Brian Brassett.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.Rose-Troup, Frances. The Lay-Subsidy of 1524 in East Devon: Income Tax and Capital Levy. vol. 11, Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries, (1920-21), pp. 227-240. [Index]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-ROMWhale, 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.Whale, T W. Exchequer tax books and Domesday identification. Trans. Devon. Assoc vol. 29 (1897) pp. 216-224. [Index]
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.
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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. Devon. Assoc. : 106 (1974)), 1790, 1816, 1818, 1820, 1826 and 1830.Thomas, R.G. An Unknown Devon County Poll-Book. Trans. Devon. Assoc. vol. 106 (1974) pp. 231-258.
INDIVIDUAL TOWNS AND PARISHES - See Alphabetical Listing
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Last updated: 29 Jan 2016 - Brian Randell
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