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Wembworthy

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"WEMBWORTHY, a pleasant village and parish, 4 miles S.S.W. of Chulmleigh, has 418 inhabitants, and 1934 acres of land, mostly the property of the Hon. Newton Fellowes, who has lately erected a neat mansion on the site of the old barton of Heywood, in lieu of his former seat of Eggesford House. . . . Heywood was anciently the seat of the Espeke, or Speke family, and was leased by Sir George Speke to Sir John Doddridge, one of the justices of the King's Bench, in the reign of James I. and Charles I. J.H. Mayne has an estate in this parish. The Church (St. Michael,) is a small antique structure; and the rectory, valued in K.B. at £11. 13s. 4d., and in 1831 at £146, is in the incumbency of the Rev. Peter Johnson, B.D., and in the patronage of himself and others. The Parsonage is a neat and pleasant residence, and the glebe is 55½A. The tithes were commuted in 1845 for £166 per annum." [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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Biography

Orme, Nicholas. Sir John Speke and his chapel in Exeter Cathedral. Trans. Devon. Assoc. 118, (1986) pp.25-41: ill. [1518-1519]

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Census

Transcription by Nick Mayne of an early census of Wembworthy, taken in about 1779, giving names and ages, held in the Devon Record Office (DRO 1165Z/Z 1).

Clapp, Brian. Wembworthy: a Devon parish in the eighteenth century. Exeter Papers Economic Hist. 11, (1976) pp.65-72. [Analysis of local records including a census dated about 1778, 1675-1840]

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 History

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

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Church Records

Parish Registers going back to 1674 are held in the Devon Record Office.

The Devon FHS publishes indexes covering (as of June 2004): Baptisms 1813-1839, Marriages 1733-1837 - for details see their Devon Parish List.

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

Burials: Wembworthy 1813-1839. [Devon]: Devon Family History Society (2013).

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]

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Description & Travel

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

You can see pictures of Wembworthy 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 for this parish is Michael Mitchelmore, who invites queries and lookup requests. (Resources: Baptisms 1751-1876, Banns 1754-1821, Marriages 1754-1837, Burials 1751-1809.)

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.

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History

Clapp, Brian. Wembworthy: a Devon parish in the eighteenth century. Exeter Papers Economic Hist. 11, (1976) pp.65-72. - Analysis of local records including a census dated about 1778. [1675-1840]

Williams, H. Fulford. Notes on the Parish of Wembworthy, Devon. Typescript (1963) 6 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] [Eggesford House - pp. 58-71] [Lookups]

Vachell E T. Eggesford and Heywood Castles. Trans. Dev. Assoc. 95 (1963) pp.197-207.

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Maps

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

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SS663099 (Lat/Lon: 50.873091, -3.901589), Wembworthy which are provided by:

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Names, Personal

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