Brixham, Devon Genealogy

England   Devon   Devon Parishes

Parish History
BRIXHAM (Virgin Mary), a sea-port, markettown, and parish, in the union of Totnes, hundred of Haytor, Paignton and S. divisions of Devon, 27¾ miles (S.) from Exeter, and 198 (W. S. W.) from London. During the late war, it was of some importance as a garrison town, the barracks, at Bury Head, being sufficiently spacious to accommodate several regiments; they are inclosed in two regular fortresses, which, with the ditches and drawbridges, remain in complete repair, though the barracks have been dismantled. The port is a member of that of Dartmouth, and carries on a considerable coasting-trade, in which 120 vessels, of from 60 to 150 tons' burthen, are employed.

Civil Registration
Births, 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
Overview, Include information for parish registers and Bishop's Transcripts, Contact information for the office holding the original records, Links to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection.

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

Maps and Gazetteers
There are many maps and gazetteers showing English places. Valuable web sites are:


 * 1851 Jurisdiction Maps
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
Add here any relevant sites that aren't mentioned above.