Ottery St Mary, Devon Genealogy

England Devon  Devon Parishes  Ottery St Mary

Parish History
OTTERY ST. MARY, a market-town and parish, constituting the hundred of Ottery St. Mary, in the union of Honiton, Woodbury and S. divisions of Devon, 11 miles (E. by N.) from Exeter, and 161 (W. S. W.) from London; containing 4194 inhabitants. This place derives its name from its situation on the river Otter, and from the dedication of its church to the Blessed Virgin. At the time of the Conquest, the manor and church of Otrei belonged to the chapter of St. Mary's church, at Rouen, in Normandy, to whom they had been given by Edward the Confessor. At what time a church was first founded here is not known; but in 1260 a church was consecrated by Bronescombe, Bishop of Exeter, which in 1337 was made collegiate for a warden, minister, precentor, sacristan, and brethren, in all forty in number, by Bishop Grandison, who, at his own charge, purchased from the chapter of Rouen the church and manor of Ottery, as an endowment for his recently established college. There are places of worship for Independents and Wesleyans.

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.

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.

Census records

 * 1700 - transcript of list of householders held at GENUKI site
 * 1841 - transcription in progress (to be held on FreeCEN site)
 * 1861 - held at FreeCEN site and searchable (use Piece No 1378)
 * 1881 - searchable on FamilySearch site
 * 1891 - held at FreeCEN site and searchable (use Piece No 1672)

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.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.