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Thornbury

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"THORNBURY, on the banks of the small river Waldon, five miles N.E. of Holsworthy, is a pleasant village and parish, containing 524 souls, and about 2000 acres of land. Mrs. Freer and Mrs. Fowke, (two sisters,) of Leicestershire, are ladies of the manor, and owners of most of the soil, held on life leases, not to be renewed. They have also the patronage of the rectory, valued in K.B. at £11. 3s. 11½d., and in 1831 at £221, and now in the incumbency of the Rev. Wm. Edgcumbe, B.A., who has 90A. of glebe, and a good residence, lately put in thorough repair. The Church (St. Peter,) is an ancient structure, with a tower and three bells." [From White's Devonshire Directory (1850)]

A parish in Black Torrington Hundred, the Archdeaconry of Totnes and the Diocese of Exeter.

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Cemeteries

The Thornbury Gravestones Project provides transcripts and photographs of the graveyard and other inscriptions in Thornbury Church, Woodacott Chapel, and the War Memorial.

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

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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

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

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Church Records

Parish Registers going back to 1652 are held in the Devon Record Office.

Transcripts of the Parish Registers going back to 1652, and of the Bishops' Transcripts going back to 1600, are held in a special collection in the Westcountry Studies Library.

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

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

  • Wesleyan Chapel: Registers for c1817-37 - see Holsworthy (PRO RG 4/1210)

Entered into the IGI (as of Jan 1993): Parish Church Christenings 1600-1837 Marriages 1600, 1614-1624, 1652-1837. (These entries are in part from Bishops' Transcripts.)

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.]

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Description & Travel

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

The Thornbury Hamlets website - covering the communities of BrendonLashbrookSouth WonfordThornbury and Woodacott.

You can see pictures of Thornbury 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.

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

The History of Thornbury Hamlets and its People, provided by the Thornbury Hamlets website.

Williams, H. Fulford. Notes on the parish of Thornbury, Devon. Typescript (1964) 6p. [Westcountry Studies Library - sB/THO 3/0001/WIL]

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Maps

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

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SS400084 (Lat/Lon: 50.852927, -4.274435), Thornbury which are provided by:

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Probate Records

Will of John Edgcombe (1838), transcribed by Ros Dunning.