GENUKI: Lapford, Devon

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"LAPFORD, a pleasant village and parish in the Taw vale, 5 miles S.E. of Chulmleigh, has 706 inhabitants, 3750 acres of land, and a fair on the Monday after the festival of St. Thomas-a-Becket. It includes the hamlet of Eastington, and a number of scattered farm houses, some of which are fine old "Bartons," especially Bury and Kelland Bartons, the former of which was long the seat of the ancient family of Bury. The manor was parcel of the honour of Torrington, and was dismembered many years ago. The soil now belongs to many proprietors. Irishcombe, near East Worlington, is a detached member of this parish, at the distance of about 6 miles, and belongs to the Keats family, but was formerly the seat of the Notts. The Church (St. Thomas-a-Becket,) is a fine old structure, with a tower and six bells, and an ancient screen and rood loft. The rectory, valued in K.B. at £15. 1s. 10½d. is in the patronage of W. Tanner, Esq., and incumbency of the Rev. J.A. Radford, who has a good residence, and 158A. of glebe. The tithes were commuted in 1840 for £404. 16s. 2d. per annum. The Wesleyans and Independents have chapels here, and the poor have a yearly rent-charge of 20s. left by Alex. Arundel in 1627. " [From White's Devonshire Directory (1850)]

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

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Cemeteries

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

Census

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

Churches

**Anglican**
St Thomas of Canterbury, Lapford, Church of England

Church History

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

Church Records

Parish Registers going back to 1567 are held in the Devon Record Office.

Transcripts of the Parish Registers going back to 1567 are held in a special collection in the Westcountry Studies Library.

The Devon FHS publishes indexes covering (as of June 2004): Marriages 1567-1837, Burials 1813-1837 - for details see their Devon Parish List.

The members' area of the Devon FHS website makes available online images, not at present (Jan 2016) available elsewhere, of the Parish Registers covering Lapford Baptisms, Marriages and Burials: 1567-1718, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials: 1719-1789, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials: 1762-1807, Baptisms and Burials: 1757-1812, Baptisms: 1813-1853, Marriages: 1754-1805, Marriages: 1813-1837, Marriages: 1837-1913, Banns: 1806-1812, 1913-1960, Banns: 1823-1918, Burials: 1813-1878, Burials: 1879-1986.

Entered into the IGI (as of Jan 1993): Parish Church Christenings 1567-1850 and Marriages 1567-1850.

Burials 1858 - 1877, 1878 - 1897 and 1898-1917, provided by Devon Heritage.

Radford, C.A. R. Lapford parish registers (transcription) Typescript [1950?] [Westcountry Studies Library - msx929.3/LAP/1664]

Sellman, R.R. Lapford, Devon: family reconstitutions to 1850 with supporting evidence. Typescript (1991) 62p. [Westcountry Studies Library - sx929.3/LAP/SEL]

The register of baptisms, marriages, and burials of the parish of Lapford, Co.Devon, 1567-1850. Devon & Cornwall Record Society (1954).

An index of baptisms, marriages and burials in the parishes of Bondleigh, Bow, Brushford, Burrington, Chawleigh, Chulmleigh, Clannaborough, Coleridge, Eggesford, Lapford, North Tawton, Nymet Rowland, Wembworthy and Zeal Monachorum. With photographs of the churches and extracts from White's Directory (1850). CD-ROM 063, Exeter, Devon FHS (2014). [Bondleigh Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1838; Bow Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Brushford Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1756-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Burrington Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Chawleigh Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Chulmleigh Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Clannaborough Bapt: 1813-1840, Mar: 1759-1834, Bur: 1697-1836; Coleridge Bapt: 1813-1840, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Eggesford Bapt: 1813-1840, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1750-1838; Lapford Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1567-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; North Tawton Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837; Nymet Rowland Bapt: 1813-1841, Mar: 1756-1836, Bur: 1734-1879; Wembworthy Bapt: 1813-1839, Mar: 1733-1837, Bur: 1813-1839; Zeal Monachorum Bapt: 1813-1840, Mar: 1754-1837, Bur: 1813-1837]

Ugborough - Then and Now, Devon Family Historian, vol. 172, (2019) p.46. [Six Sherpsheine burials in 1597]

Description & Travel

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

You can see pictures of Lapford which are provided by:

Gazetteers

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

Ask for a calculation of the distance from Lapford to another place.

Genealogy

This parish is one of the growing number of places for which the Devon Heritage website provides census or parish register transcriptions, articles, and/or illustrations, etc.

Partridge, Robert. Partridge, Devon Family Historian, vol. 144, (2012) p.17. [Partridge family of Lapford and Down St Mary]

Partridge, Robert. Two Partridges in a Pear Tree, Devon Family Historian, vol. 158, (2016) pp.24-25.

Wilkin, Walter Harold. Radford of Lapford. Trans. Devonshire Assoc. (1932) pp505-508. [18-19th c.]

History

Lapford History website - an extensive site, containing article, photographs and transcripts.

Bond, W.F. Lapford and its Church of St Thomas a Becket. (1939) [Westcountry Studies Library, Torquay Library]

Drake, Nellie J. A North Devon village [Lapford]: Taunton, Somerset, Wessex Press (1950), vii, 123 pp. illus.

Challice, E.W. Memories of old Lapford. Lapford: Lapford School (1986) 58p: ill. [Westcountry Studies Library - pxB/LAP/1900/CHA]

Parry, Noel. Lapford: the 2000 year story of a mid-Devon village. Lapford: N. Parry (1995) 88p: ill, maps. [Westcountry Studies Library - pB/LAP/0001/PAR] [Index]

Williams, H. Fulford. Notes on the Parish of Lapford, Devon. Typescript (1962) 8 leaves. [Westcountry Studies Library]

Land & Property

Alcock, N W. A Devonshire farm: Bury Barton, Lapford. Trans. Devon. Assoc. 98 (1966) pp.105-31.

Manors

Free Pledges and Court Leet of Lapford Manor 1650-62 by Mark Brewer.

Maps

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

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SS731082 (Lat/Lon: 50.859346, -3.804406), Lapford which are provided by:

OpenStreetMap
Google Maps
StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
Bing (was Multimap)
Old Maps Online
National Library of Scotland (Old Ordnance Survey maps)
Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
English Jurisdictions in 1851 (Unfortunately the LDS have removed the facility to enable us to specify a starting location, you will need to search yourself on their map.)
Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)

All places within the same township/parish shown on an Openstreetmap map.
Nearby townships/parishes shown on an Openstreetmap map.
Nearby places shown on an Openstreetmap map.

Names, Personal

Protestation Return of 1641/42 from Devon Heritage.

Newspapers

Extracts from 18th and 19th Century newspapers relating to Lapford, provided by Lindsey Withers.

Probate Records

Wills of the Rev. Roger Challice (1780), Samuel Challice (1833), William Challice (1833), Grace Challice (1835), Samuel Challice (1846), Richard Challice (1871) and Thomazin Kelland (1848), transcribed by Paul Challice.

Will of George Northcott (1817), transcribed by Joe Northcote.