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Bradford

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"BRADFORD, in the Torridge valley, 8 miles W. by N. of Hatherleigh, is a village and parish containing 530 souls, and 3468 acres of land. The manor of Bradford, anciently held by the Dabernon and other families, was sold by the late Geo. Cary, Esq., to Messrs. Vivian, Grylls, and Kendall, bankers, of Helston. Dunsland, a large and ancient mansion, with an estate of about 1000 acres, is the seat and property of W.H.B. Coham, Esq., who is also lord of the manor of Lashbrook. Dunsland was successively held by the Cadiho, Arscott, and Bickford families. . . . Hengescott, formerly belonged to a family of that name, and is now the property of the Earl of Stanhope. Bovacott is the residence of L.R. Heysett, Esq., who also owns Gidcott, where there was anciently a chapel, and the lands at Flares and Rightdown. Several smaller freeholders have estates in the parish. The Church (All Saints,) is an ancient structure, with a tower and five bells, and contains several neat monuments. . . ." [From White's Devonshire Directory (1850)]

In Black Torrington Hundred in the Archdeaconry of Totnes.

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Cemeteries

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

Whitmore, J.B. Devonshire Monumental Inscriptions, MS at Society of Genealogists (1951). [Extracts]

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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

Bradford - from J. Stabb. Some Old Devon Churches (London: 1908-16).

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Church Records

Parish Registers going back to 1558 are held in the Devon Record Office.

Indexed transcripts of the Parish Registers going back to 1558 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 1705-1837 - for details see their Devon Parish List.

Entered into the IGI (as of Jan 1993): christenings 1559-1837 and marriages 1559-1837.

There are copies of the registers (christenings 1558-1837, marriages 1558-1837, and burials 1558-1837) at the Society of Genealogists.

FHS-Online has All Saints, Bradford Burials (1769-2009) and Bradford Methodists Burials (1838-2009) available (subscription).

An index of baptisms, marriages and burials in the parishes of Abbots Bickington, Ashwater, Black Torrington, Bradford, Bradworthy, Bridgerule, Clawton, Cookbury, Halwill, Hollacombe, Holsworthy, Luffincott, Milton Damerel, Pancrasweek, Pyworthy, Sutcombe, Tetcott, Thornbury, West Putford and Holsworthy Weslyan Burials. With photographs of the churches and extracts from White's Directory (1850), Kelly's Directory of Devonshire (1902) and A Topographical Dictionary of England, Samuel Lewis (1831), CD-ROM, Exeter, Devon FHS (2014). [Abbots Bickington Bapt: 1813-1840 Mar: 1770-1833 Bur: 1813-1837; Ashwater Bapt: 1813-1841 Mar: 1754-1837 Bur: 1813-1837; Black Torrington Bapt: 1813-1839 Mar: 1754-1837 Bur: 1813-1837; Bradford Bapt: 1813-1839 Mar: 1754-1837 Bur: 1705-1837; Bradworthy Bapt: 1813-1838 Mar: 1755-1837 Bur: 1813-1837; Bridgerule Bapt: 1813-1839 Mar: 1755-1837 Bur: 1813-1837; Clawton Bapt: 1813-1839 Mar: 1754-1837 Bur: 1800-1837; Cookbury Bapt: 1813-1839 Mar: 1756-1837 Bur: 1813-1841; Halwill Bapt: 1813-1839 Mar: 1754-1837 Bur: 1813-1843; Hollacombe Bapt: 1813-1898 Mar: 1757-1837 Bur: 1813-1852; Holsworthy Bapt: 1813-1839 Mar: 1754-1860 Bur: 1813-1837; Holsworthy Weslyan Bapt: 1812-1831; Luffincott Bapt: 1813-1839 Mar: 1756-1837 Bur: 1814-1840; Milton Damerel Bapt: 1813-1840 Mar: 1761-1837 Bur: 1813-1837; Pancrasweek Bapt: 1813-1840 Mar: 1756-1837 Bur: 1813-1837; Pyworthy Bapt: 1813-1839 Mar: 1755-1837 Bur: 1813-1838; Sutcombe Bapt: 1813-1840 Mar: 1754-1837 Bur: 1800-1837; Tetcott Bapt: 1813-1839 Mar: 1755-1836 Bur: 1813-1837; Thornbury Bapt: 1813-1839 Mar: 1756-1837 Bur: 1813-1837; West Putford Bapt: 1813-1840 Mar: 1754-1837 Bur: 1813-1838.]

Granville, Roger & Mugford, W.E. (eds.) Bradford, 1609. 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]

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Description & Travel

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

You can see pictures of Bradford which are provided by:

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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 scheme's representative for this parish is Judy Adams, who invites queries and lookup requests. (Resources: PRs on fiche.)

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History

Taylor, James Stephen. Poverty in Rural Devon, 1780-1840 (2 vols.), Ph.D Thesis, Stanford University, CA (1966). [Devon R.O. - Includes chapters on Bradford and West Alvington]

Williams, H. Fulford. Notes on the Parish of Bradford, Devon. Typescript (1963) 10 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] [Dunsland - pp. 33-44] [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 SS421072 (Lat/Lon: 50.842722, -4.244108), Bradford which are provided by:

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Poor Houses, Poor Law

Taylor, J.S. Poverty in a west Devon parish (Bradford) in the last years of the old poor law. Trans. Devon. Assoc. 101, (1969) pp.161-182.

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Probate Records

Transcriptions of the wills of John Venton (1823), John Venton (1834), Stephen Venton (1828) and John George Ward (1820), provided by Sheila Howard.