Cornwall

Nearby places

St Thomas-by-Launceston

The parish of St Thomas, (Cornish: Sen Tommas), (often referred to as St Thomas the Apostle) is situated in the Deanery of Trigg Major and the Hundred of East. It is bounded on the north by St Stephens, on the east by St Stephens and Launceston, on the south by South Petherwin, and on the west by Trewen and Egloskerry.
In the 1841 and 1851 Censuses, the parish was split between the borough of Launceston and a rural part which, for some reason had always been known as St. Thomas Hamlet or St. Thomas Street (or both); however, it is a part of St Thomas-by-Launceston parish. This became an enumeration district in these early censuses, and it is in these that its inhabitants recorded their origins.
St Thomas-by-Launceston is now a parish wholly within the borough of Launceston. This ancient town guarded the gateway to Cornwall in medieval times, being on the main northern route into the county. There is only one village in this parish and that is Tregadillet.

Cemeteries

• The Parish Church - 769 entries
• Tregadillet Methodist Chapel - 129 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 Thomas-by-Launceston (HO107/134) is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project as follows:
    • St Thomas Street (Rural) - Enumeration District 5.
    • St Thomas the Apostle (Urban) - Enumeration District 7.
  • The 1841 census for this parish has also been filmed by the LDS church - film No. 241258.
• 1851. The 1851 Census of St Thomas-by-Launceston (HO107/1899) is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project as follows:
  • St Thomas Street (Rural) - Enumeration District 1.
  • St Thomas the Apostle (Urban). Enumeration District 4.
• 1861. The 1861 Census of Launceston, St Thomas, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project as follows:
  • RG9/1519. Enumeration District 11.
  • RG9/1520. Enumeration District 2.
• 1871. The 1871 Census of Launceston, St Thomas the Apostle, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project as follows:
  • RG10/2224. Enumeration District 11.
  • RG10/2225. Enumeration District 3 - St Thomas Hamlet.
• 1881. The 1881 Census of Launceston, St Thomas the Apostle, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project as follows:
  • RG11/2276. Enumeration District 11.
  • RG11/2277. Enumeration District 3 [including Schools].
• 1891. The 1891 Census of Launceston, St Thomas the Apostle, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project as follows:
  • RG12/1803. Enumeration District 10.
  • RG12/1804. Enumeration District 3.

Church History

• Anglican. There are two Anglican churches in the parish:
  • Parish Church. The parish church is located in OS Grid Square SX3384 and was dedicated to St Thomas the Apostle. It comprises a chancel, nave, south aisle, and vestry. The arcade consists of five four-centred arches supported on monolith granite pillars. The font is unusually large and of fine proportions constructed of polyphant stone. This massiveness and superior character is because of the church's past history in support of a late Norman or early medieval Leper hospital, and the religious establishment which controlled that. The entrances are a south porch, a priest's door, and a vestry door. The tower has three stages, the parapet being embattled; the belfry contained three bells. The churchyard was consecrated Bishop Granddisson on 6th November 1333. The church was completely restored in 1871.
    Details about the plans of the modern church are available on-line.
  • Tregadillet. The mission church of St. Mary the Virgin, situated at Tregadillett, about 2 1/2 miles from the church, was erected in 1875, at a cost of £1,000, for the use of those who resided in that part of the parish; it consists of an apsidal chancel and nave, and is so arranged that, by means of a moveable partition , the nave is utilized as a school on weeks days.
• Non-Conformist. There was a Wesleyan Methodist chapel at Tregadillet.

Church Records

• LDS Church Records.
  • The LDS Church batch numbers for St Thomas are: P021001. These are searchable by surname.
  • The IGI coverage of this parish is 1681 - 1804.
• The Cornwall Record Office holdings: Baptisms 1672 - 1943, Burials 1672 - 1890, Marriages 1672 - 1971, Boyd's Marriage index 1623 - 1672, BTs 1623 - 1672.
• The Cornwall Family History Society have published on-line transcripts of:
  • 1813-37 Marriages
  • 1813-37 Burials
• Baptisms. The Cornish Forefathers' Society have published baptisms 1729 - 1863 for this parish on CD.
• Marriages. The Cornwall Family History Society have published transcripts of: Marriages in the Parish 1563 to 1837, which is available in Book, CD or downloadable .pdf file formats.
• Burials.
• 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 published on CD, records of the Launceston Wesleyan Circuit. These include St Thomas Wesleyan Burials (1842- 1892).

Civil Registration

The parish of St Thomas-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).

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).

Maps

• Map of the Launceston Registration District in which the parish lies.
• An old map of the parish of St Thomas-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.

Occupations

Apprenticeship Indentures for St Thomas-by-Launceston (1794 - 1802) can be found in the Cornwall Record Office.

Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc.

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

Population

Population totals vary. There were two generally taken: one for the parish of St Thomas the Apostle (Urban) and one for St Thomas Street (Rural).

Statistics

The parish comprises 2158 acres of land.

Return to top of page

Are you lost in the GENUKI hierarchy or arrived here from a Search Engine?
If so, use the up-arrow(s) at the top of the page to go up the hierarchy.

Copyright and Disclaimer The information on the GENUKI (www.genuki.org.uk) website must not be used for commercial purposes, and all specific restrictions concerning usage, copyright notices, etc., that are to be found on individual information pages within GENUKI must be strictly adhered to. Violation of these rules could gravely harm the cooperation that GENUKI is obtaining from many information providers, and hence threaten its whole future. Whilst we take every care to keep the information on our web pages accurate, we disclaim any warranty or representation, express or implied about its accuracy, completeness or appropriateness for a particular purpose. Thus, you assume full responsibility for its use, and you understand and agree that neither GENUKI as an organisation nor any of its maintainers or providers are responsible or liable for any claim, loss or damage as a consequence. GENUKI contains many hyperlinks and directives to sites developed by others. They are provided for your convenience only. We do not control nor guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of such sites, and in the event of a link to such a site being 'broken', or otherwise unavailable, our only recourse is to remove that link. Thank you for your cooperation. GENUKI is a registered trademark of the charitable trust GENUKI - see About GENUKI as an Organisation.