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Alwington

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"ALWINGTON (ST. ANDREW), a parish, in the union of BIDEFORD, hundred of SHEBHEAR, Great Torrington and N. divisions of DEVON, 4 miles (S. W. by W.) from Bideford; containing, with the hamlets of Fairy Cross, Ford, and Woodtown, 392 inhabitants, and comprising by measurement 2603 acres. . . . In the church, over the door of the chancel, is a curious ancient monument to a member of the Coffin family. In Yeo Vale, so called from the river Yeo, which runs through it, are the remains of a chapel. There is a parochial school; also a place of worship for Wesleyans; and almshouses for three poor persons, endowed in 1696 by R. Coffin, Esq." [From Lewis' Topographical Dictionary of England (1844)]

A parish in Shebbear Hundred, the Archdeaconry of Barnstaple, and the Diocese of Exeter.

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Archives & Libraries

Historical Manuscripts Commission. Fourth Report of the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, London, H.M.S.O (1874) 856 pp. [North Devon Athenaeum: D900/HIS O/S] [Includes manuscripts of J.R.Pine-Coffin at Portledge, N. Devon]

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Biography

Bowring, Lewin. Rauff Bowring. Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries 4:5, (1907) pp.150-151. [Will, 1514] [Index]

Pine-Coffin, John Edward. One man's Boer War 1900: the diary of John Edward Pine-Coffin (ed. Susan Pine-Coffin). Susan Pine-Coffin, Bideford, (Edward Gaskell, printer) (1999) 215 pp. [ISBN: 1898546347] [Westcountry Studies Library: s968.204/ALW/PIN]

Treadwell, Michael. Richard Lapthorne and the London retail book trade 1683-1697. In The book trade and its customers 1450-1900, pp.205-222, Winchester, St Paul's Bibliogs, (1997).

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Business & Commerce Records

Listings of Licensed Victuallers for this parish are to be found here.

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Cemeteries

MIs for this parish are included in the NDA North Devon index - see under Cemeteries on the main Devon page.

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Census

Snetzler, M.F. North Devon Surname Index to the Census. Microfiche: M.F. Snetzler. [Covers 1841, 1861, 1871 and 1881 census records for this parish]

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Church History

St. Andrew's Church, Alwington, [Alwington?], [The Church?] [1960?] 4 pp. [Westcountry Studies Library: BHo sB/LUN/LAN/229]

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Church Records

the Devon Record Office.

Transcripts of the Parish Registers going back to 1550 are held in a special collection in the Westcountry Studies Library.

The Devon FHS publishes indexes covering (as of June 2004): Baptisms 1813-1840, Marriages 1754-1837 - for details see their Devon Parish List.

Transcriptions of the Alwington Baptisms 1691-1824 and Burials 1665-1935, provided by Ethelda Peshko.

Bideford Methodist Circuit baptisms (1819 -1870) transcribed by David Carter. (Contains entries from the following parishes: Abbotsham, Allington, Alverdiscott, Alwington, Appledore, Arlington, Barnstaple, Bideford, Buckland Brewer, Bucks Mills, Burrington, Chulmleigh, Clovelly, Fremington, Frithelstock, Great Torrington, Hatherleigh, Huntshaw, Ilfracombe, Instow, Landcross, Little Torrington, Littleham, Loxhore, Marystowe, Monkleigh, Newton Tracey, Northam, Parkham, South Molton, St Giles in the Wood, Wear Giffard, Westleigh, Woolfardisworthy.)

Other churches and chapels (with pre-1840 records):

  • Wesleyan Chapel, Ford Hamlet: Registers for 1807-37 in PRO RG 4/953 (with Barnstaple Circuit) and RG4/955 (with Bideford)

Entered into the IGI (as of Jan 1993): Marriages 1554-1812.

Granville, Roger & Mugford, W.E. (eds.) Alwington 1628-1631. 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) [Full text].

Hingeston-Randolph, F.C. The Rectors and Patrons of Alwington ... annotated by J. Ingle Dredge (1894). [Westcountry Studies Library]

Riley, Henry Thomas. The church books of the parish of Alwington, North Devon. IN: Great Britain. Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts. Report of the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts. London, 1876. 32 cm. Appendix, pp. 597.

An index of baptisms, marriages and burials in the parishes of Abbotsham, Alverdiscott, Alwington, Bideford, Buckland Brewer, Bulkworthy, Clovelly, East Putford, Frithelstock, Hartland, Landcross, Littleham, Monkleigh, Northam, Parkham, Wear Gifford, Welcombe and West Woolfardisworthy. With photographs of the churches and extracts from White's Devonshire Directory 1850 and Lewis' Topographical Dictionary of England 1844, CD-ROM, Exeter, Devon FHS (2009). [Abbotsham Bapt: 1813-1840, Mar: 1754-1836, Bur: 1813-1837; Alverdiscott Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1775-1837; Alwington Bapt: 1813-1840, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Bideford Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Buckland Brewer Bapt: 1813-1840, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Bulkworthy Bapt: 1813-1841, Mar: 1814-1836, Bur: 1813-1837; Clovelly Bapt: 1813-1838, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; East Putford Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1797-1837, Bur: 1813-1839; Frithelstock Bapt: 1813-1840, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Hartland Bapt: 1838-1839, Mar: 1558-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Landcross Bapt: 1814-1839, Mar: 1761-1836, Bur: 1813-1837; Littleham Bapt: 1813-1841, Mar: 1755-1837, Bur: 1813-1851; Monkleigh Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Northam Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Parkham Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1537-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Wear Gifford Bapt: 1813-1840, Mar: 1755-1836, Bur: 1813-1837; Welcombe Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1757-1836, Bur: 1813-1837; West Woolfardisworthy Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837.]

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Description & Travel

Section on Alwington  from Samuel Lewis: A Topographical Dictionary of England (1831), provided by Mel Lockie.

You can see pictures of Alwington which are provided by:

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Directories

Transcript of complete entry in White's Devonshire Directory of 1850.

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Gazetteers

The transcription of the section for this parish from the National Gazetteer (1868), provided by Colin Hinson.

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Genealogy

The Online Parish Clerk for this parish is Ethelda Peshko, who invites queries and lookup requests. (Resources: PRs on Fiche, 1558 onwards.)

Moriarty, G. Andrews. Genealogical research in England; Garde: parentage of Roger Garde, the first New England mayor, New England Hist. & Gen. Reg. 82, 1928, pp. 69-70. See also 185. [Includes extracts from Alvington, Devon, parish registers, 16-17th c.]

Morris, Tony. The Two Richards, Devon Family Historian, no. 188, (2023) pp.30-32. [Richard Morris (b. Monkleigh 1808) and Richard Adams (b. Cockington in Alwington 1814)]

Pine-Coffin, Susan. The Coffin Letters 1600 - 2002. Bideford (Edward Gaskell, printer) (2002) 300 pp. [ISBN 1-898546-47-9]

Fourth report of the Royal Commission on historical manuscripts. London: H.M.S.O (1874) 856p. [Includes manuscripts of J.R.Pine-Coffin at Portledge, N.Devon]

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Heraldry

Messenger, A.W.B. Heraldry in Alwington Church. Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries 20 (1938-39) pp.324-327.

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History

Astbury, Charmian. A year in the history of Peppercombe, Bideford, Sappho Publications (1996) 40p : ill,map. [Westcountry Studies Library: pB/ALW/1995/AST]

Wilkins, Caroline. Alwington, a millenium experience, Alwington, Alwington Parish Council.

Williams, H. Fulford. Notes on the Parish of Alwington, Devon. Typescript (1965) 7 leaves. [Westcountry Studies Library]

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Land & Property

Lauder, Rosemary Anne. Vanished Houses of North Devon, R.A. Lauder (Printed by Penwell Ltd, Parkwood, Callington, Cornwall) (1981) 72 pp. [ISBN 0 950 792004] [Yeo Vale - pp. 45-53] [Lookups]

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Maps

View a map of the boundaries of this town/parish.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SS404232 (Lat/Lon: 50.98602, -4.275237), Alwington which are provided by:

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Names, Personal

Alwington contributors to a 1678 brief for the rebuilding of St Paul's Cathedral.

Transcription by J.M. Jolliffe of the Alwington section of the Devon Protestation Return (1642) held in the House of Lords Record Office.

Name listing transcribed from the Alwington section of Kelly's Devon 1893 Directory by Jonathan Frayne.

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Poor Houses, Poor Law

Alwington. Overseers' acount book, 1724-1772. 178p.. [Contains a detailed record of payments made by the Overseers of the Poor, complete apart from 1767-71 - bookseller's catalogue quoted in Family Tree Magazine, May 2000, p.55.]

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Probate Records

Transcript of the will of James Norton (1807) by Ros Dunning.