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Beaford

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"BEAFORD, a pleasant village, on the eastern acclivity of the Torridge valley, 5 miles S.E. of Great Torrington, has in its parish 713 souls, and 3335 acres of land, including Kiverly, Woolly, Upcott, and a number of scattered farm houses, &c. J.H. Furse, Esq., is lord of the manor, but Woolly belongs to Sir T.D. Acland, and several smaller owners have estates in the parish. The Church (All Saints,) is an ancient structure, with a tower and four bells; and the rectory, valued in K.B. at £11. 15s. 7½d., and in 1831 at £233, is in the patronage and incumbency of the Rev. Charles Wood, B.A., who has 77A. 2R. 15P. of glebe, and a handsome residence, built in 1850. The Baptists and Bible Christians have small chapels here. The parish clerk has the free use of a house and 6 acres of land, given at an early period. There were formerly chapels at Upcott and Woolly." [From White's Devonshire Directory (1850)]

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

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Archives & Libraries

Beaford Archive - a searchable online archive of over 10,000 photographs of North Devon by James Ravilious and Roger Deakins, capturing life in rural Devon over a twenty year period starting in the early 1970s.

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Biography

Bennett, John. The Chequered Military Careeer of John Bennett of Beaford, Devon, Devon Family Historian, vol. 161, (2017) pp.34-37.

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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 Records

Parish Registers going back to 1653 are held in the Devon Record Office.

Transcripts of the Parish Registers going back to 1653 are held in a special collection in the Westcountry Studies Library.

The Devon FHS publishes indexes covering (as of June 2004): Baptisms 1813-1839, Marriages 1754-1837, Burials 1813-1837 - for details see their Devon Parish List.

Entered into the IGI (as of Jan 1993): Parish Church Christenings and Marriages 1653-1729.

Granville, Roger & Mugford, W.E. (eds.) Beaford, 1598-1615. 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]

The Deanery of Torrington - An index of baptisms, marriages and burials in the parishes of Ashreigny, Beaford, Buckland Filleigh, Dolton, Dowland, Great Torrington, Huish, Iddesleigh, Langtree, Little Torrington, Meeth, Merton, Newton St. Petrock, Peters Marland, Petrockstowe, Roborough, Shebbear, Sheepwash, St. Giles in the Wood and Winkleigh. With photographs of the churches and extracts from White's Devonshire Directory 1850. CD-ROM, Exeter, Devon FHS (2010) . [Ashreigny Bapt: 1813-1838, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Beaford Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1836, Bur: 1813-1837; Buckland Filleigh Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1836, Bur: 1813-1837; Dolton Bapt: 1813-1840, Mar: 1754-1838, Bur: 1813-1837; Dowland Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1840, Bur: 1742-1837; Great Torrington Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Huish Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1755-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Iddesleigh Bapt: 1813-1840, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Langtree Bapt: 1813-1840, Mar: 1755-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Little Torrington Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Meeth Bapt: 1813-1840, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Merton Bapt: 1813-1840, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Newton St. Petrock Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1755-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Peters Marland Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1836, Bur: 1813-1837; Petrockstowe Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1836, Bur: 1813-1837; Roborough Bapt: 1813-1840, Mar: 1755-1837, Bur: 1813-1839; Shebbear Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Sheepwash Bapt: 1813-1840, Mar: 1754-1838, Bur: 1813-1837; St Giles in the Wood Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Winkleigh Bapt: 1813-1853, Mar: 1754-1836, Bur: 1813-1837.]

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Description & Travel

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

You can see pictures of Beaford 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 Rebecca Hilton, who invites queries and lookup requests. (Resources: PRs on fiche.)

Passmore, Sylvia. From Beaford to London and Beyond, Devon Family Historian, vol. 129, (2009) pp.11-13. [The Passmore Family, from mid 17C]

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History

Cresswell, Beatrix F. Beaford folk and their neighbours: a paper read before the Women's Institute, Beaford, October 5th, 1927, (1927) 15 pp. [Westcountry Studies Library: pB/BEA 3/0001/CRE]

Martin, J.M. Broadbury and its Ancient Earthworks. Trans. Devon. Assoc. 1893, Vol XXV, pp.547-551. [Index]

Scott, John and Gray, Gladys. Out of the darkness: a brief history of the old quarry, Beer, J. Scott & G. Gray [1990?] 21 pp. [Westcountry Studies Library: p622.35/BEE/SCO]

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Land & Property

Winter, M. (ed.) The Land Between The Moors: Essays in Culture, Environment and Agricultural Change. Beaford Archive (2022) 400pp. ISBN 978-1-3999-1033-0 [Details]

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Maps

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

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SS552150 (Lat/Lon: 50.916246, -4.061267), Beaford which are provided by:

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Names, Personal

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

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Probate Records

Summary of the wills of John Mallett (1570) and Robert Mallett (1577) provided by Mike Mallett.

Summary of the inquisition post mortem of Robert Mallett (1577) provided by Mike Mallett.

Will of William Pincombe (1812) transcribed by Elizabeth Kipp.