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Plymstock

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"PLYMSTOCK is a large straggling village, with some good houses, in a pleasant valley, near Catwater Harbour and Plymouth Sound, 3 miles E. by S. of Plymouth. Its parish contains 2966 inhabitants, and 3550 acres of land, including the villages, &c., of Oreston, Turnchapel, Hooe, Elburton, Pomphlet, and Staddiscombe, mostly on the eastern shore of Plymouth Harbour, where the river Plym finds its way to the ocean. Oreston and Turnchapel are the largest villages, and have ship yards on creeks of the Catwater. . . . The Duke of Bedford is lord of the manor of Plymstock, to whose family it was granted at the dissolution, as part of the possessions of Tavistock Abbey. H.B. Harris, Esq., is lord of the manor of Goosewell, and has a fine ancient seat here, called Radford, where his family has been settled more than four centuries. E.R.P. Bastard, Esq., owns the manor of Staddiscombe, and Sir F.L. Rogers owns West Hooe, but a great part of the parish belongs to the Earl of Morley, and several smaller owners. Plymstock Church (St. Mary and All Saints,) is a large and well-proportioned structure, mostly in the perpendicular style, with a tower and five bells. . . now in the incumbency of the Rev. E.F. Coke, M.A." [From White's Devonshire Directory (1850)]

A parish in Plympton Hundred, the Archdeaconry of Totnes, and the Diocese of Exeter. Includes Hooe (modern parish, 1855).

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Biography

The Late Hugh Lidstone (1913-2010), Devon Family Historian, vol. 137, (2011) p.6. [b. Probus, Cornwall, but moved to Plymstock.]

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Cemeteries

The "Of the Parish" (archived copy) headstone and memorial indexing and photography project aims to put details of the people who died in Plymouth and the surrounding area online. The churchyards and burial grounds for which gravestone images have been collected and names entered into a consolidated database are to date: Oreston Methodist Church (Plymstock), Pleasure Hill non conformist burial ground (Oreston, Plymstock), Royal Naval Hospital burial ground (No Place Field, Plymouth), St Budeaux, St Edward (Egg Buckland), St Peter The Poor Fisherman (Stoke Beach near Noss Mayo, Revelstoke), and Milehouse overflow burial ground, Devonport (Stoke Damerel).

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Church History

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

History of Elburton Methodist Church, Plymouth (archived copy).

St Mary & All Saints, Plymstock, by Graham Naylor.

Clamp, Arthur L. The story of Elburton village chapel. [Plymouth]: [The Author] [1976] 24p. ill. [Westcountry Studies Library - px298.97/PLY/CLA]

Tope, Arthur T. Oreston Methodist Church 1888-1988, Plymouth, The Author (1988) 32 pp. [DFHS Library p942.35/ORE]

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Church Records

Parish Registers going back to 1591 are held in the Devon Record Office.

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.

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

  • Wesleyan Chapel, Woburn Road, Oreston: Registers for c1787-1837 - see Plymouth Ebenezer, and Morice Street Devonport (PRO RG 4/1325, 864)
  • Wesleyan Chapel, Elburton: Registers for c1801-1837 - see Ashburton Circuit, Plymouth Ebenezer (PRO RG 4/1763, 1325)
  • Wesleyan Chapel, Turnchapel: Registers for c1813-1837 - see Plymouth Ebenezer (PRO RG 4/1325, 1092)

Nothing entered into the IGI (as of Jan 1993).

Name listings extracted from the parish registers covering marriages (1591-1812), provided by Donald Curkeet.

Register of births either Dead-borne or Unbaptized within the Parish of Plymstock (1700-1705), provided by Bev Edmonds.

Transcript of the marriage register of Plymstock 1591-1812 [for] Phillimore & Co. Typescript [1940] 75p. [Westcountry Studies Library - sx929.3/PLY/1591]

An index of baptisms, marriages and burials in the Deanery of Plympton. with photographs of the churches and extracts from White's Devonshire Directory 1850 and The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868), CD-ROM, Exeter, Devon FHS (2007). [Brixton: Bapt (1813-1839), Mar (1754-1837), Bur (1813-1837), Cornwood: Bapt (1813-1840), Mar (1754-1837), Bur (1813-1838), Ermington: Bapt (1813-1839), Mar (1754-1838), Bur (1813-1837 ), Harford: Bapt (1813-1839), Mar (1755-1837), Bur (1813-1838), Holbeton: Bapt (1813-1839), Mar (1754-1837), Bur (1813-1837), Ivybridge: Bapt (1835-1840), Mar (1835-1840), Bur (1836-1840), Kingston: Bapt (1813-1839), Mar (1754-1836), Bur (1813-1837), Modbury: Bapt (1813-1840), Mar (1754-1837), Bur (1813-1837), Newton Ferrers: Bapt (1813-1839), Mar (1754-1836), Bur (1813-1837)), North Huish: Bapt (1813-1839), Mar (1754-1837), Bur (1813-1837), Plympton St. Mary: Bapt (1813-1839), Mar (1754-1837), Bur (1813-1837), Plympton St. Maurice: Bapt (1813-1840), Mar (1754-1837), Bur (1813-1837), Plymstock: Bapt (1813-1839), Mar (1754-1837), Bur (1813-1837), Revelstoke: Bapt (1813-1839), Mar (1754-1837), Bur (1813-1837), Shaugh Prior: Bapt (1813-1839), Mar (1754-1837), Bur (1813-1835), Ugborough: Bapt (1813-1840), Mar (1754-1841), Bur (1813-1837), Wembury: Bapt (1813-1839), Mar (1612-1837), Bur (1813-1840), Yealmpton: Bapt (1813-1840), Mar (1754-1837), Bur (1813-1837)]

The Miscellaneous Series of IHGS Parish Registers, The Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies, 79-82 Northgate, Canterbury, Kent, CT1 1BA.: CD-ROM (n.d.). [The Devon section of contains: Marriages: Berrynarber 1540-1783, Bridgerule 1702-1753, Chardstock 1597-1837, Challacombe 1599-1621 and 1673-1837, Farringdon 1620-1788, Lynton 1591-1837, Pinhoe 1687-1837, Plymouth 1653-1674, Plymstock 1591-1812, Rewe 1686-1836, Witheridge 1646-1837.] [Also LDS Film 90711]

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Description & Travel

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

Photographs of the Plymstock area.

Plymstock and Torpoint. [DFHS LOC 153]

You can see pictures of Plymstock which are provided by:

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Directories

Transcription provided by Val Henderson of the entry (description and names) in Morris and Co's Commercial Directory and Gazetteer of Devonshire 1870.

Transcription provided by Val Henderson of the Plymstock and Yealmpton entry (description and names) in Pigot and Co's Directory of Devonshire 1830-31.

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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

Allen, Vivian. The Bulteels: The Story of a Huguenot Family, Chichester, Phillimore & Co. (2004) 197 pp. [ ISBN: 1 86077 276 5] [Devon branches in Flete neat Holbeton, and Radford at Plymstock]

Beadell, D. The Grangers of Turnchapel [in the 1890s], (198-) [Devon FHS Library p929.2/GRA]

Granville, Roger. The Harris family of Radford and Hayne in Plymstock. Manuscript [1900?]. [Westcountry Studies Library ms929.2/HOL]

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History

Plymouth Data (archived copy) - An encyclopaedia of historical information about the "Three Towns" of Plymouth, Devonport and Stonehouse, and also also the ancient parishes of St Budeaux, Eggbuckland, Tamerton Foliot, Plympton St Maurice, Plympton St Mary and Plymstock, which make up the modern City of Plymouth, compiled by Brian Moseley - highly recommended.

Elburton History Exchange - for sharing "information, photographs, etc relating to the village".

Bellamy, Dr. History of Plymstock in the county of Devon. Manuscript (n.d.) 134p. [Plymouth Library - P7PK]

Blythe-Lord, Robin. The History of Hooe Barton Farm, Plymouth: The Friends of Hooe Barn (2001). [ISBN 985415620X] [DFHS Library p631.21/Ply]

Clamp, Arthur L. Elburton: those were the days. Plymouth: A.L.Clamp [1979] 32p: ill. [Westcountry Studies Library - pxB/PLY 5/1900/CLA] [Lookups]

Clamp, Arthur L. Hooe and Turnchapel Remembered. Metherall: Caradon Printers (1981) 32p. chiefly ill. [Westcountry Studies Library] [Lookups]

Clamp, Arthur L. Plymstock in perspective. Plymouth: PDS Printers (1982) 24p: chiefly ill. [Westcountry Studies Library - pxB/PLY 5/0002/CLA] [Index]

Clamp, Arthur L. Elburton: the making of a village. Plymouth: A.L.Clamp [1985?] 24p: chiefly ill, map. [Westcountry Studies Library - pxB/PLY 5/0001/CLA] [Lookups]

Clamp, Arthur L. Plymstock during the Second World War 1939-1945. Plymouth: The Author (1995) 40p: ill. [Westcountry Studies Library - pxB/PLY 5/1939/CLA]

Clamp, Arthur L. Oreston and its People Remembered, Plymouth, P.D.S. Printers (c1990) 23 pp.

Clamp, Arthur. L. Elburton: The making of a village PDS Printers (2001) [DFHS Library p942.35/ELB].

Gill, Crispin. Plymouth River - a History of the Laira and Cattewater, Tiverton, Halsgrove Press (1997) 216 pp. [ISBN 0861149114] [Includes chapters on Oreston, Turnchapel, Hooe and Pomphlett as well as relevent information in the subject based chapters such as quarrying, coastguards, shipyards etc.]

Langdon, Ivy M. The Plymstock connection: the history of a Devon parish. Tiverton: Westcountry Books (1995) 160p: ill, maps [ISBN 1898386145] [Lookups]

Lyons, Gerry. Plymstock old and new. Devon Life vol. 10 no. 83 (1973) pp.38-39.

Marks, Kay. The History of Turnchapel (ed. Mary Outhwaite) (1998). [Devon FHS Library p.942.35/PLY]

Outhwaite, Mrs. M. Fatal Shooting Accident near Bovisand, Devon Family Historian, no. 185, (2023) pp.57-59. [Sydney John Hine, killed 1888.]

Pick, Betty. A short history of Plymstock. Mosbic Local Interest Publications (1966) 13 pp.

Pitt, Dorothy Warley. Recollections of the Plymstock Area, (1988). [DFHS Library p942.35/PLY]

Rowe, J. Brooking. Notes on the history of Plymstock. Manuscript (1875) [Westcountry Studies Library - sB/PLY 5/0001/ROW]

Rowe, J. Brooking. Parish of Plymstock. Manuscript. (1875) 64p. [Westcountry Studies Library - sB/PLY 5/0001/ROW]

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Land & Property

Clamp, Arthur L. The Ten Farms of Elburton. Plymouth: The Author (1981) [Lookups]

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Manors

Copeland, G.W. Radford (Plymstock, Devon). Trans. Devon. Assoc. 77, (1945) pp.149-155.

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Maps

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

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SX517530 (Lat/Lon: 50.358178, -4.086197), Plymstock which are provided by:

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Merchant Marine

Anthony, Mary. The 'Red Funnel' Line: The Story of the Elfords, and the Oreston Turnchapel Steamboat Co. [1869-1957] (1990). [ISBN 0951698508] [Devon FHS Library p942.35/PLY]

Avery, John. The Cable Ships of Turnchapel, J.G. Avery, 2 Beech Court, Beech Avenue, Southampton SO38 4TS (2003?). [DFHS Library]

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Military History

Kempster, Gillian. Naval Secrets and Lies, Devon Family Historian, vol. 96, (Nov 2000) pp.40. [About H.M.S. Hawk's Ridge, nominally a coastal protection vessel, in fact a legal pirate ship in the mid-19th century, captained by Isaac Pillige of Turnchapel.]

Acquisition and Early Days of Mount Batten from Naval and Military Records. Radford and Hooe Lake Preservation Association, Plymstock (1995). [DFHS Library - p355.37

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Probate Records

Transcript of the will of George Blake (1655), provided by Elizabeth Kipp.

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Societies

Plym Valley Heritage - aims to "research, record and support the history and heritage of the Plym valley in Devon", not just Hooe Barn, which was its earlier focus as The Friends of Hooe Barn.

Radford & Hooe Lake Preservation Society, 10 Sharrose Road, Hooe, Plymouth PL9 9QF (tel: 01752/482820)