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Charles

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"A village & parish in the valley of the river BRAY, 6 miles N by W of South Molton contains 362 souls & 2432 acres of land including Brayford hamlet & a number of scattered houses. Sir Peregrine Fuller Palmer Acland, Bart. Is Lord of the Manor, & owner of a pleasant seat called 'Little Bray' in the valley, 2 miles N. Of the village. A great part of the parish belongs to Earl Fortesque, J Davey Esq., H. Karslake Esq., Jno. Loosemoore, Jno. Smythe & several smaller owners. The Church (St. John) has a tower & 5 bells & the living is a rectory valued in KB at £9.10 shillings & in 1831 at £160 in the patronage & incumbency of the Rev. Richard Blackmore. M.A. who has 130 acres of glebe, and a large & commodious 'Rectory House'" [From White's Devonshire Directory (1850)]

A parish in Shirlwell Hundred, the Archdeaconry of Barnstaple, and Diocese of Exeter, 9 miles E. of Barnstaple, which had 343 inhabitants in 1831. Brayford is part in this parish, part in High Bray.

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Cemeteries

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

A transcription of the Memorial Inscriptions for the Church of St John the Baptist is held in the Society of Genealogist's Library, in Vol. 8 of Devon Memorial inscriptions (DE/M23).

A.R. Ruston. Brayford Baptist Chapel North Devon monumental inscriptions. [Watford: A.R. Ruston],1983. [SoG Library DE/M17]

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Census

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

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Church Records

Parish Registers going back to 1531 are held in the Devon Record Office.

Charles Baptisms for 1750-1850, Marriages for 1714-1875 and Burials 1706-1875 transcribed by Lindsey Withers.

Transcripts of the Parish Registers going back to 1531 are held in a special collection in the Westcountry Studies Library.

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

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

  • Baptist Chapel, Brayford: Registers for 1931-37 (Z) in PRO RG 4/607
  • Wesleyan Chapel, Brayford: Registers for c1807-37 - see Barnstaple Circuit (PRO RG 4/954)

Entered into the IGI (as of Jan 1993): Parish Church Christenings 1579-1837 and Marriages 1538-1837.

An index of baptisms, marriages and burials in the parishes of Arlington, Ashford, Berrynarbor, Bittadon, Bratton Fleming, Braunton, Brendon, Challacombe, Charles, Combe Martin, Countisbury, East Buckland, East Down, Georgeham, Goodleigh, Heanton Punchardon, High Bray, Ilfracombe, Kentisbury, Loxhore, Lynton, Martinhoe, Marwood, Mortehoe, Parracombe, Shirwell, Stoke Rivers, Trentishoe, West Buckland and West Down. With photographs of the churches and extracts from White's Directory (1850) and Kelly's Directory of Devonshire (1902), CD-ROM, Exeter, Devon FHS (2015). [Arlington Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1755-1836, Bur: 1814-1837; Ashford Bapt: 1813-1840, Mar: 1747-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Berrynarbor Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1755-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Bittadon Bapt: 1813-1843, Mar: 1754-1835, Bur: 1815-1843; Bratton Fleming Bapt: 1813-1840, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1800-1837; Braunton Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Brendon Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Challacombe Bapt: 1813-1840, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1822-1848; Charles Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Combe Martin Bapt: 1813-1840, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Countisbury Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1755-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; East Buckland Bapt: 1813-1838, Mar: 1755-1836, Bur: 1813-1839; East Down Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1839, Bur: 1813-1852; Georgeham Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Goodleigh Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Heanton Punchardon Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1800-1837; High Bray Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1756-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Ilfracombe Bapt: 1813-1840, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Kentisbury Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1841, Bur: 1813-1837; Loxhore Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Lynton Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1838; Martinhoe Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1839; Marwood Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Mortehoe Bapt: 1813-1840, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1750-1837; Parracombe Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1598-1838, Bur: 1813-1838; Shirwell Bapt: 1813-1840, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Stoke Rivers Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1839; Trentishoe Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; West Buckland Bapt: 1813-1840, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1851; West Down Bapt: 1813-1840, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1840.]

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Description & Travel

Brayford website.

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

You can see pictures of Charles which are provided by:

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Directories

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

Transcription of entry in Kelly's Directory, Devonshire of 1935, by Deborah Carmichael.

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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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History

Joyce, W.W. The Moorside Parish of Charles. Exeter: James Townsend & Sons (1937) 44p: ill.

Cotsford, E.J. Local history of Charles. Filleigh: E.J. Cotsford (1984) 54p: ill.

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Maps

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

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SS687329 (Lat/Lon: 51.080353, -3.875813), Charles which are provided by:

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Names, Personal

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

Ryall, David. Lest We Forget, War memorials around South Molton. South Molton Archive, 68pp. [ISBN 0 951236 1 4] [Provides an indexed list of names]

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Societies

South Molton and District Archive Local History Society web-site (archived copy) - provides details of archive holdings for the twenty-eight parishes in what used to be the South Molton Rural District, lists of publications, etc.