Cornwall

Devon

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St Stephen-by-Launceston

St Stephen-by-Launceston, (Cornish: Sen Stefan), (sometimes just called St Stephens or St Stephens with Newport) is situated in the Deanery of Trigg Major and Hundred of East. It is bounded on the north by the parish of North Petherwin and Werrington, on the east by Werrington and the Devon parish of Lifton, on the south by Lawhitton, Launceston and St Thomas-by-Launceston, and on the west by Egloskerry. Originally known as 'Lann-Stephen', church site of St Stephen. This ancient town guarded the gateway to Cornwall in medieval times, being on the main northern route into the county. The South Gate of Robert of Mortain's 11th century castle still survives, restricting the traffic to one lane.

The parish contains the villages of yeolmbridge, Dutson, Langore and Truscott; the pleasant town of Newport is situated between the Churchtown and Launceston, from which it is separated by an ancient bridge of three arches over the River Kinsey. Newport sent members to Parliament from 1552 until the seats were abolished by the Reform Act in 1832. The parish is also bounded on three sides by rivers: on the north by the Attery, on the east by the Tamar, on the south by the Kinsey. The eastern part of the parish is composed of clay slate, calcareous schist, limestone, etc.;the western part rests on quartzous rocks and felspar.

Cemeteries

• The Parish Church - 1144 entries
• Newport Wesleyan Chapel - 441 entries
• Truscott Methodist Chapel - 18 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 St Stephen-by-Launceston (HO107/134), Enumeration Districts 1 to 3 [including Schools], is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1851.
  • The 1851 Census of St Stephen-by-Launceston (HO107/1899), Enumeration Districts 3a and 3b, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1861. The 1861 Census of St Stephen-by-Launceston (RG9/1519), Enumeration Districts 9d and 10b, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1871. The 1871 Census of St Stephen-by-Launceston (RG10/2224), Enumeration Districts 9 [including Schools] and 10, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1881. The 1881 Census of St Stephen-by-Launceston (RG11/2276), Enumeration Districts 9 [including Schools] and 10, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1891. The 1891 Census of St Stephen-by-Launceston (RG12/1803), Enumeration Districts 8 and 9, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.

Church History

• Anglican. The parish church is located in OS Grid Square SX3285; it was dedicated to St Stephen by Bishop Bronescombe, bishop of Exeter, on 23rd October 1259. it is supposed to have been rebuilt by Bishop Stafford before he died in 1419. It consists of a chancel, nave, south aisle, and north transept. The vestry is entered from the chancel by a doorway inserted in a blocked pointed arch. The arcade consists of five pointed arches, on of which is higher than the others; the material is of polyphant stone. here is a south porch and a north door. The tower of of three stages, buttressed and finished with tall pinnacles and is battlemented. It has six bells and a clock.
• Non-Conformist. There was a Wesleyan Methodist chapel at Langore, which was also used by the Independents, and a Bible Christian chapel at Truscott.

Church Records

In the 18th century, the parish chest, in which deeds, etc. of various charitable records were kept, was stolen. Some years after, in repairing the house in which the clergyman resided, it was found walled up under the parlour windows, but it was empty.

• LDS Church Records.
  • The LDS Church batch numbers for St Stephens are: P002221. These are searchable by surname.
  • The IGI coverage of this parish is 1568 - 1812; it is NOT believed to be fully included in the LDS Church's International Genealogical Index (IGI).
• The Cornwall Record Office holdings: Baptisms 1568 - 1909, Burials 1566 - 1912, Marriages 1566 - 1968, Boyd's Marriage Index 1566 - 1812, Pallot's Marriage Index 1800 - 1812.
• The Cornwall Family History Society have published on-line transcripts of:
  • Pre 1813 Marriages
  • 1813-37 Marriages
  • 1813-37 Burials.
• Baptisms.
  • Baptisms 1569 to 1912 for this parish are available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).
  • The Cornish Forefathers' Society have published baptisms 1707-1850 for this parish on CD.
  • Cornwall Legacy have also published on CD, records of the Launceston Wesleyan Circuit. These include baptisms (1837-1900). The areas cover Launceston, South Petherwin, Lewannick, North Hill, Altarnun, Linkinhorne, St Stephens, Lezant, Egloskerry, Egloskerry, Treneglos, Stoke Climsland, Laneast and Lawhitton.
• Banns. Banns 1888 to 1911 for this parish are available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).
• Marriages.
  • Phillimore marriages 1566 to 1812, and parish transcriptions 1813 to 1837 for this parish are available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).
  • The Cornwall Family History Society have published transcripts of: Marriages in the Parish 1566 to 1837, which is available in CD or downloadable .pdf file formats.
  • Phillimore's Marriages of St Stephen-by-Launceston 1566 to 1812 are available on-line from UK Genealogy Archives.
• Burials.
  • Burials 1568 to 1912 for this parish are available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).
  • The Cornwall Family History Society have published transcripts of: Burials in the Parish 1813 to 1837, which is available in Book format.
  • Cornwall Legacy have also published on CD, records of the Launceston Wesleyan Circuit. These include burials (1818-1880). The areas cover Launceston, South Petherwin, Lewannick, North Hill, Altarnun, Linkinhorne, St Stephens, Lezant, Egloskerry, Egloskerry, Treneglos, Stoke Climsland, Laneast and Lawhitton.

Civil Registration

The parish of St Stephen-by-Launceston 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 St Stephen-by-Launceston are available on-line.

Genealogy

• 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.
• British-Genealogy have a mailing list for those wanting to discuss ancestry in Launceston, (including St Thomas-by-Launceston and St Stephen-by-Launceston).

Historical Geography

• Launceston (Lancauetona, Lancauetone, Lanscauetona, Lanscovetone, Lancauatona), Grid Reference 325856.

Maps

• Map of the Launceston Registration District in which the parish lies.
• An old map of the parish of St Stephen-by-Launceston in the 19th century is also available.
• An old map of Launceston (St Mary Magdalane, St Stephen, St Thomas the Apostle) and Lawhitton in 1835 is available from GENMAPS.

Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc.

St Stephens-by-Launceston parish was part of the Launceston Union for Poor Law administration and parish relief.

Population

Statistics

The parish comprised 3949 acres of land.

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