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Notes on Woodland Parish and Its Families

by

Sher Leetooze

Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada

Woodland is a small parish south-east of Ashburton. In 1851 there were only 29 households listed on the census. The first entry to appear when the census transcription is searched is John White, the local curate. I found this entry amusing in that he was a farmer of 100 acres, and his wife was listed as a farmer's wife rather than, as expected, a curate's wife.

Arthur French, OPC for Ipplepen, a nearby parish, had this to say about the situation .... "Woodland Church was a part of Ipplepen Parish until 1536. They didn't like it: they said the road between them was 'too mountainous'. For long after 1536 they had to make regular small payments to Ipplepen, and the Vicar of Ipplepen retained some influence. There are papers in the Ipplepen files of the DRO dated 1867 about the right of nomination to the 'Perpetual Curacy of Woodland' or 'Woodland Chapelry' (PI 1-7). There's even a document about Endowed Charities, dated 1909, for Ipplepen 'including Woodland'.

There were 14 farming operations in the parish ranging in size from 25 acres to 130 acres. Nine households were those of labourers who likely worked on the farms, even though agricultural apprentices and agricultural servants were listed living with most farming families.

The 1850 Whites Gazetteer listed 206 inhabitants, however, the following year the census listed only 188. We can see that at least 2, perhaps 3 families had left the parish. By 1851 15-20 years of emigration to North America, Australia, New Zealand and other places had created a vacuum in the parish, drawing in people from various places to fill the void. On the 1851 census only 3 old Woodland Parish landowners remained:
Matthew White and his family
John Sherwill and his family
and one small-holder, Samuel Ford and his family.

All other land owners were from other parishes and places in Devon, people who saw the opportunity of acquiring land at Woodland as the old families left for greener pastures.

Richard Beavis from Broadhempton and his wife Elizabeth from Ipplepen seem to be the first "outsiders" to take up land in the parish. their son Richard was born at Woodland about 1821, but whether or not his father had taken up the 60 acre farm by that time is not known. He may well have been labouring on the land awaiting an opportunity.

Henry Holman, born at Bridford, Devon, was also an outsider, arriving at Woodland from Bovey Tracey about 1841. His daughter Elizabeth was born in the parish in 1842, the only one of 4 children to be born at Woodland. Many census entries offer small mysteries and this one offered one to me that I just had to unfold. There was a five year gap in the births of Henry Holman's children - a gap that was quite noticeable as I looked down the list. I could only assume that Elizabeth was his second wife. Living with the family at that time was a young man, William Bully, listed as an agricultural labourer. Was this Elizabeth's son? To solve this little mystery I first went to the IGI to see if I could find any entries for Henry Holman. All I found was his birth/christening, exactly as expected at Bridford in 1797. The next resource I went to was FreeBMD - and there I found the death of his first wife, Mary in the March quarter of 1840. The next entry found was his marriage to his second wife, Elizabeth Boddy, somewhere within Plymouth Registration District, in the September quarter of 1840. The last entry I found was the birth of young Elizabeth at Woodland, registered in the June quarter of 1841. And young William Bully? It appears that his surname was mistranscribed and should read Boddy, so he was a son of Elizabeth.

But why was Henry at Woodland instead of Bovey Tracey where the rest of his children were born? Unfortunately the census does not give us this sort of information. We can only assume that he could not bear to live in the place his wife had died and moved away, finding opportunity at Woodland. Of course, that's my suggestion only. Perhaps a rich uncle died and left him the Woodland lands!

Finding out about the various families of any parish is just that easy now that records of all kinds are being transcribed and made available to us. Research can indeed be fun and rewarding! But watch out for mistranscribed names like Boddy/Bully.

Besides the 14 land holders, the curate and the labourers, these people were also dwelling in the parish:
Brooking Seady from Cornwall, a retired Audit Officer from the civil service (civil service pensions must have been pretty good in those days. Mr. Seady kept a cook, a groom and a house maid!)
William Butchers, a carpenter from Woodland with 2 apprentices
Philip Luscombe, 75, a mole catcher living at the Alms House.
John Full, a common tinker, born in the parish about 1803, living at the Alms House. John and his wife Susan seem to have found 'suitable' situations for their sons Thomas aged 21 and William, aged 14. Thomas was an agricultural labourer on the 74 acre farm of Thomas Plimsoll from Exmouth, and William was an agricultural apprentice on the 60 acre farm of Peter Reed from Walkhampton.
William Tozer from Islington, a quarryman, was residing with his brother in law, Richard Haddy, a labourer.
Richard Smerdon, a thatcher from Holne, married a Woodland girl and stayed in the parish. He was related to the Woodland Smerdon families.
John Smerdon, a tanner, who was likely one of those Woodland cousins, lived next door to Richard.
Betsy Knapman was a dressmaker whose family was living in the parish by at least 1827.

The old Woodland families were all inter-related as are most parish families everywhere, even though by far, the majority of families in Woodland in 1851 are new comers. Some of the old connections can be seen with the people residing with the families - mothers in law, brothers in law, nephews, etc. Often, when these connections are apparent we can see that when the women of the parish married, often they only moved next door!

The 1851 census tells us much more about Woodland than I have written here. It is not my ancestral parish and so I have not studied it in depth. I will leave that for the descendants of parish families both old and new. One such parish story can be found through the GENUKI Devon pages. If you go to the Woodland page on GENUKI Devon, you can then click on Genealogy and see the link to the story of one of Woodland's oldest families. All other land owners were from other parishes and places in Devon, people who saw the opportunity of acquiring land at Woodland as the old families left for greener pastures.

Richard Beavis from Broadhempton and his wife Elizabeth from Ipplepen seem to be the first "outsiders" to take up land in the parish. their son Richard was born at Woodland about 1821, but whether or not his father had taken up the 60 acre farm by that time is not known. He may well have been labouring on the land awaiting an opportunity.

Henry Holman, born at Bridford, Devon, was also an outsider, arriving at Woodland from Bovey Tracey about 1841. His daughter Elizabeth was born in the parish in 1842, the only one of 4 children to be born at Woodland. Many census entries offer small mysteries and this one offered one to me that I just had to unfold. There was a five year gap in the births of Henry Holman's children - a gap that was quite noticeable as I looked down the list. I could only assume that Elizabeth was his second wife. Living with the family at that time was a young man, William Bully, listed as an agricultural labourer. Was this Elizabeth's son? To solve this little mystery I first went to the IGI to see if I could find any entries for Henry Holman. All I found was his birth/christening, exactly as expected at Bridford in 1797. The next resource I went to was FreeBMD - and there I found the death of his first wife, Mary in the March quarter of 1840. The next entry found was his marriage to his second wife, Elizabeth Boddy, somewhere within Plymouth Registration District, in the September quarter of 1840. The last entry I found was the birth of young Elizabeth at Woodland, registered in the June quarter of 1841. And young William Bully? It appears that his surname was mistranscribed and should read Boddy, so he was a son of Elizabeth.

But why was Henry at Woodland instead of Bovey Tracey where the rest of his children were born? Unfortunately the census does not give us this sort of information. We can only assume that he could not bear to live in the place his wife had died and moved away, finding opportunity at Woodland. Of course, that's my suggestion only. Perhaps a rich uncle died and left him the Woodland lands!

Finding out about the various families of any parish is just that easy now that records of all kinds are being transcribed and made available to us. Research can indeed be fun and rewarding! But watch out for mistranscribed names like Boddy/Bully.

Besides the 14 land holders, the curate and the labourers, these people were also dwelling in the parish: Brooking Seady from Cornwall, a retired Audit Officer from the civil service (civil service pensions must have been pretty good in those days. Mr. Seady kept a cook, a groom and a house maid!)
William Butchers, a carpenter from Woodland with 2 apprentices
Philip Luscombe, 75, a mole catcher living at the Alms House.v John Full, a common tinker, born in the parish about 1803, living at the Alms House. John and his wife Susan seem to have found 'suitable' situations for their sons Thomas aged 21 and William, aged 14. Thomas was an agricultural labourer on the 74 acre farm of Thomas Plimsoll from Exmouth, and William was an agricultural apprentice on the 60 acre farm of Peter Reed from Walkhampton. William Tozer from Islington, a quarryman, was residing with his brother in law, Richard Haddy, a labourer.
Richard Smerdon, a thatcher from Holne, married a Woodland girl and stayed in the parish. He was related to the Woodland Smerdon families.
John Smerdon, a tanner, who was likely one of those Woodland cousins, lived next door to Richard.v Betsy Knapman was a dressmaker whose family was living in the parish by at least 1827.

The old Woodland families were all inter-related as are most parish families everywhere, even though by far, the majority of families in Woodland in 1851 are new comers. Some of the old connections can be seen with the people residing with the families - mothers in law, brothers in law, nephews, etc. Often, when these connections are apparent we can see that when the women of the parish married, often they only moved next door!

The 1851 census tells us much more about Woodland than I have written here. It is not my ancestral parish and so I have not studied it in depth. I will leave that for the descendants of parish families both old and new. One such parish story can be found through the GENUKI/Devon page for Woodland under genealogy, namely the story of one of Woodland's oldest families, the Smerdon family.