Ottery St Mary, Devon Genealogy

England Devon

Parish History
Ottery St Mary began as a Saxon settlement. The origins of the name 'Ottery' are debated: some say that it is taken from the River Otter, others that it is from the manor house occupied by the Canons of Rouen (1061-1337), named 'Otrei', and appearing in the Domesday Book of 1086. 'Oteri Sancte Marie' is first mentioned in 1242, with the 'St Mary' added to honour the church of St Mary. The church houses the Astronomical Clock, one of the oldest mechanical clocks in the country.

Ottery St Mary featured in the English Civil War, especially in 1645 when it became a garrison town, and was visited by Oliver Cromwell. Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge was born in Ottery St Mary, and author William Makepeace Thackeray refers to the town in some of his works.

Population: 7,692

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.

Church records
Ottery St Mary parish registers are held in the Devon Record Office and begin in 1601.

Contributor: Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts and other types of church records, such as parish chest records. Add the contact information for the office holding the original records. Add links to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection

Census records
Contributor: Include an overview if there is any unique information, such as the census for X year was destroyed. Add a link to online sites for indexes and/or images. Also add a link to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection.

Maps and Gazetteers
Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.


 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Online Parish Clerk
Devon Online Parish Clerks is a resource of volunteers willing to provide free look-ups and research within the County of Devon. The Online Parish Clerk for Ottery St Mary maintains a website at http://www.history.rosweb.org.uk/index.html with transcripts and links to nonconformist records, trade directories, and census records.

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Devon Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

Web sites
Contributor: add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.