Cornwall

Devon

Nearby places

Boyton

Boyton, Boietone, or Boyyeton. The parish of Boyton (Cornish: Trevoya) lies in the Hundred of Stratton and the Deanery of Trigg-Major; it is about five miles north of Launceston. The parishes of Week St Mary and North Tamerton join it on the Cornish side, otherwise it abuts, and is nearly surrounded by, the former Devon parishes of North Petherwin, Werrington, St Giles-in-the-Heath, and the Devon parish of Luffincot and a Devon village called Northcott Hamlet which crosses the River Tamar. The road to Boyton from Launceston crosses through more than two miles of Devon.

The parish is named after Boia's Farm. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Boitone. Boyton sits almost on the border between Devon and Cornwall, the surrounding country gives pleasant views over wooded hills and valleys with Dartmoor prominent in the distance. The Bude canal passes through this parish on the east side, and there was a wharf at Boyton Bridge.

"BOYTON, a village and parish, 5 miles N.W. of Launceston, has 600 souls, and about 4200 acres of land, all in Cornwall, except NORTHCOTT hamlet, which has 100 inhabitants, and 740 acres of land, in the valley of the river Tamar, occupied by the following farmers :- Digory Downing, John Downing, John Martin, Thos. Stapleton, and Wm. Walters. Northcott supports its highways with Werrington. The Rev. Edw. Rudall, M.A., is the vicar." [From White's Devonshire Directory (1850)]

Cemeteries

• The Parish Church - 438 entries
• Methodist Chapel - 89 entries.

Census

Census information for this parish (1841 - 1901) is held in the Cornwall Record Office. The Cornwall Family History Society offers a census search service for its members. The Cornwall Family History Society have also published on-line census detail by surname on the FamilyHistoryonLine site.

Specific census information for this parish is available as follows:

• 1841. The 1841 Census of Boyton (HO107/151), Enumeration District 6, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1851. The 1851 Census of Boyton (HO107/1899), Enumeration District 1, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1861. The 1861 Census of Boyton (RG9/1519), Enumeration District 1, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1871. The 1871 Census of Boyton (RG10/2224), Enumeration District 1, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1881. The 1881 Census of Boyton (RG11/2276), Enumeration Districts 1 (Civil parish of Boyton) and 4 (Civil parish of Northcott), is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1891. The 1891 Census of Boyton (RG12/1803), Enumeration District 1, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.

Church History

• Anglican. The parish church is located in OS Grid Square SX3292 and was dedicated to 'The Holy Name' in the 14th Century. There was a church here from Norman times. The present church was a plain structure of two aisles built towards the end of the reign of Henry VI in the 14th century. The tower also dates from the fourteenth century and is of two stories and contains five bells. Some of the earlier Norman building can be seen in the chancel, a strange goose like creature has been carved on one of the roof bosses. The font, claimed by some to be Saxon, is a simple, crude bowl standing on a pillar. The ancient screen has some fine carving particularly on the sixteenth century base. The church was fully restored in 1876, with a chancel, nave and south aisle, in addition to its tower.
• Non-Conformist. Both the Wesleyans and Bible Christians had chapels here.

Church Records

• LDS Church Records.
  • The LDS Church batch numbers for Boyton are: E006201, M006201/2, P006201. These are searchable by surname.
  • The IGI coverage for this parish is: Christenings 1568-1870, Marriages 1568-1876.
• The Cornwall Record Office holdings: Baptisms 1568 - 1870, Burials 1568 - 1970, Marriages 1568 - 1837, Boyd's Marriage Index 1568 - 1812, Pallot's Marriage Index 1790 - 1812.
• There are copies of the Boyton registers (christenings 1568-1870, marriages 1568-1960, and burials 1568-1960) at the Royal Institution of Cornwall.
• Baptisms. The Parish Chest have published on CD, baptisms 1699 to 1870 for this parish.
• Marriages.
  • The Cornwall Family History Society have published transcripts of: Parish Marriages 1568 to 1837, which is available in Book, CD or downloadable .pdf file formats.
  • Marriages 1568 to 1804 (Phillimore's) are available on-line through the OPC search Facility (C-PROP).
• Burials.
  • The Cornwall Family History Society have published transcripts of: Parish Burials 1813 to 1837, which is available in Book or CD format.
  • Burials 1555 to 1910 are available on-line through the OPC search Facility (C-PROP).

Civil Registration

The parish of Boyton is in the Launceston Registration District and has been since 1st July 1837. There were sub-districts at Altarnun, Launceston, North Hill, North Petherwin and St Stephen-by-Launceston, but these are now all closed. Parishes within the district were: Altarnun, Boyton, Egloskerry, Laneast, Launceston, Lawhitton, Lewannick, Lezant, Northill, St. Mary Magdalene, St. Stephens by Launceston, St. Thomas the Apostle, St. Thomas Street, South Petherwin, Stokeclimsland, Tremaine, Treneglos, Tresmeer, Trewen, Warbstow.

The Superintendant Registrar can be contacted at: Hendra, Dunheved Road, Launceston, PL15 9JG. Tel: 01566 772464.

Description & Travel

• ePodunk's Cornwall page - providing general, plus some historical and genealogical information, about Cornwall and its parishes, together with links (mainly relating to general sites and services, rather than ones that are specific to Cornwall or particular parishes).
• Photographs of Boyton are available on-line.

Genealogy

OPC Assistance. The On-line Parish Clerk (OPC) scheme operates a service to help family historians; the OPC page for this parish is available on-line, from where the OPC can be contacted by email.

Historical Geography

• Bennacott (Betnecota, Betecote), Grid Reference 297920.
• Boyton (Boietona, Boiatona, Boietone), Grid Reference 320920.
• Curry (Chori, West Curry, see also East Curry), Grid Reference 282933.
• Westcott (Wescota, Wescote), Grid Reference 287952.

Maps

• Map of the Launceston Registration District in which the parish lies.
• An old map of the parish of Boyton in the 19th century is also available.

Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc.

• Boyton parish was part of the Launceston Union for Poor Law administration and parish relief.
• Overseers' Accounts (1810 to 1831) are available in the Cornwall Record Office

Population

Statistics

The parish comprised 4195 acres of land and 11 acres of water.

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