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England Exeter (city)

Guide to Exeter history, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.



HISTORY
The original settlement of Exeter was as a settlement on a dry ridge overlooking the river Exe. There was also a fertile valley below for the growing of crops.

Coins have been discovered from the Hellenistic kingdoms, suggesting the existence of a settlement trading with the Mediterranean as early as 250 BC.

Exeter was the furthest west that the Romans penetrated in England. It should be noted that almost all towns in England with the ending -ter (such as Chester, Manchester, etc.) have origins tied to the advent of Roman Britain.

The Romans established a 42-acre fort (Latin: castrum) named Isca around AD 55. The fort was the southwest terminus of the Fosse Way (Route 15 of the Antonine Itinerary) and served as the base for the 5 000-man Second Augustan Legion (Legio II Augusta) for the next 20 years before they moved to Caerleon in Wales, which was also known as Isca. The presence of the fort built up an unplanned civilian community (vicus or canabae) formed of natives and the soldiers' families, mostly to the northeast of the fort.

Nothing is certainly known of Exeter from the time of the Roman withdrawal from Britain around the year 410 until around 680 when a document about St Boniface reports that he was educated at an abbey in Exeter.

After a major defeat of the Vikings, Alfred the Great elevated Exeter to one of the four burhs in Devon, rebuilding its walls on the Roman lines.

Two years after the Norman conquest of England, Exeter rebelled against King William. Gytha Thorkelsdóttir, the mother of the slain King Harold, was living in the city at the time and William promptly marched west and initiated a siege. After 18 days, William accepted the city's honorable surrender, swearing an oath not to harm the city or increase its ancient tribute. However, William quickly arranged for the building of Rougemont Castle to strengthen Norman control over the area.

The city's motto, Semper fidelis, is traditionally held to have been suggested by Elizabeth I, in acknowledgement of the city's contribution of ships to help defeat the Spanish Armada in 1588.

After the English civil war, Exeter was an economically powerful city, with a strong trade of wool. It was the most powerful city in Western England.

Early in the Industrial Revolution, Exeter's industry developed on the basis of locally available agricultural products and, since the city's location on a fast-flowing river gave it ready access to water power, an early industrial site developed. However, when steam power replaced water in the 19th century, Exeter was too far from sources of coal (or iron) to develop further. As a result, the city declined rapidly in relative importance.

Today, Exeter is not considered an important city economically, and functions really more like the ancient market towns, providing local transportation and infrastructure for the county of Devon.

LOCATION
The city of Exeter was established on the eastern bank of the River Exe on a ridge of land backed by a steep hill. The location provided for a defensible position. It is at this point that the Exe, having just been joined by the River Creedy, opens onto a wide flood plain and estuary.

Historically this was the lowest bridging point of the River Exe which was tidal and navigable up to the city. It was noted that the most likely reasons for the original settling of what would become modern Exeter was the "fertility of the surrounding countryside" and the area's "beautiful and commanding elevation [and] its rapid and navigable river".

Exeter sits predominantly on sandstone and conglomerate geology, although the structure of the surrounding areas is varied. The topography of the ridge which forms the backbone of the city includes a volcanic plug, on which the Rougemont Castle is situated.

RELIGION
Exeter has always been a Christian city, and welcomed the establishment of the Church of England by King Henry VIII.

There are many churches in Exeter belonging to different Christian denominations and an Anglican cathedral. It is the seat of the Bishop of Exeter. The present building was complete by about 1400, and has the longest uninterrupted vaulted ceiling in England.

There is also a large Jewish population, dating back to the Middle Ages, where Jews provided the financing for the woolen trade. Exeter Synagogue, located off Mary Arches Street, was completed in 1763.

While not so populous, there is also a small Islamic population. Exeter's mosque and Islamic center is on York Road, and serves the Southwest region as well as the city. A purpose-built mosque is currently being constructed on the same site.

INDUSTRY
The UK Meteorological Department relocated to Exeter in the year 2004. It, together with the University of Exeter and Devon County Council are the three largest employers in the area.

Exeter provides services, employment and shopping for local residents within the city limits and also from nearby towns in Teignbridge, Mid Devon and East Devon, together sometimes known as the Exeter &amp; Heart of Devon area. More than 35,000 area residents commute to Exeter daily.

Although Exeter contains a number of tourist attractions, the city is not dominated by tourism, with only 7% of employment dependent on tourism compared with 13% for Devon as a whole.

Exeter has been identified among the top ten most profitable locations within the UK, for a business to be based.

CIVIL REGISTRATION
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The following link provides access for Stratford:


 * Exeter Registration Office

CENSUS RECORDS
Census records for Exeter can be found using the following link:


 * Exeter Census Records

PROBATE RECORDS
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. See the following link for Exeter:


 * Devon Probate Records

CEMETERIES AND GRAVES
There are 3 cemeteries in the area of Exeter. The link follows:


 * Exeter Cemeteries

Other useful sites follow:


 * Ancestry.com

GENEALOGY SOCIETIES AND GENEALOGY

 * Genuki Exeter


 * Forebears.io


 * Devon Family History


 * Devon Societies for Family History


 * Ancestry.com