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England Plymouth (city)

Guide to Plymouth (city) history, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.



HISTORY
Upper Paleolithic deposits, including bones of Homo sapiens, have been found in local caves, and artifacts dating from the Bronze Age to the Middle Iron Age have been found at Mount Batten showing that it was one of the main trading ports of the country at that time.

An unidentified settlement named 'TAMARI OSTIA' (mouth/estuaries of the Tamar) is listed in Ptolemy's Geographia and is presumed to be located in the area of the modern city.

It is well known that tin from Cornish tin mines was being shipped from this area to the middle east at least by 800 BC, and that Phoenician sailors were regular visitors to these shores. The harbor at Plymouth is ideally suited for trade of this kind.

Plymouth castle served to protect Sutton Pool, which is where the fleet was based in Plymouth prior to the establishment of Plymouth Dockyard. In 1512 an Act of Parliament was passed for further fortifying Plymouth, and a series of fortifications were then built, including defensive walls at the entrance to Sutton Pool.

Plymouth was the home port for successful maritime traders, among them Sir John Hawkins, who led England's first foray into the Atlantic slave trade, as well as Sir Francis Drake, Mayor of Plymouth in 1581 and 1593.[16] According to legend, Drake insisted on completing his game of bowls on the Hoe before engaging the Spanish Armada in 1588. Plymouth Hoe is a prominent hill at the entrance of Plymouth harbor, one of the best natural harbors in the world. A picture of the Hoe follows:



Throughout the 17th century Plymouth had gradually lost its preeminence as a trading port. By the mid-17th century commodities manufactured elsewhere in England cost too much to transport to Plymouth and the city had no means of processing sugar or tobacco imports, although it did play a relatively small part in the Atlantic slave trade during the early 18th century.

During the First World War, Plymouth was the port of entry for many troops from around the Empire and also developed as a facility for the manufacture of munitions.

As the primary HQ for the British navy, the city was heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe, in a series of 59 raids known as the Plymouth Blitz. This was largely due to Plymouth's status as a major port for the Atlantic fleet.

Post-war, Devonport Dockyard was kept busy refitting aircraft carriers such as the Ark Royal and, later, nuclear submarines while new light industrial factories were constructed in the newly zoned industrial sector attracting rapid growth of the urban population. The army had substantially left the city by 1971, with barracks pulled down in the 1960s, however the city remains home to the 42 Commando of the Royal Marines.

LOCATION
Plymouth lies between the River Plym to the east and the River Tamar to the west; both rivers flow into the natural harbor of Plymouth Sound. The River Tamar forms the county boundary between Devon and Cornwall and its estuary forms the Hamoaze on which is sited Devonport Dockyard.

The city is about 35 miles from Exeter, and 190 miles from London.

Geologically, Plymouth has a mixture of limestone, Devonian slate, granite and Middle Devonian limestone. Plymouth Sound, Shores and Cliffs is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, because of its geology.

To the north and north east of the city is the granite mass of Dartmoor; the granite was mined and exported via Plymouth. Rocks brought down the Tamar from Dartmoor include ores containing tin, copper, tungsten, lead and other minerals.

RELIGION
Plymouth, from the middle of the second millennium has been a city that valued religious freedom. One of the primary reasons for the founding of the Plymouth Colony in the New World was to allow freedom of religion and freedom of conscience to grow unfettered, unlike the conditions back in the old world.

The Plymouth Separatists, a group seeking religious freedom and purity, cooperated with the Puritans on organizing the Mayflower sailing in 1620. A large proportion of those pilgrims were members of the radical English Separatist Church, who traveled to America to escape the jurisdiction of the Church of England, which they found corrupt. The Separatists won financial backing from a group of investors called the London Adventurers, who were promised a sizable share of the colony’s profits.

Later in Plymouth's history, a group called the Plymouth Brethren were organized. The Plymouth Brethren are a conservative, low church, nonconformist, Evangelical Christian movement, whose history can be traced to Dublin, Ireland, in the late 1820s, originating from Anglicanism. They were formally organized in the middle 1830's in Plymouth itself.

Today, the city has more than 150 churches, including the roman Catholic Cathedral.

INDUSTRY
Canterbury has always been primarily the market and commercial center for the county of Kent. It has never been known as an industrial city, relying primarily on the Cathedral and its central location for the city's income.

Canterbury district retains approximately 4,761 businesses, up to 60,000 full- and part-time employees and was worth £1.3 billion in 2001. This makes the district the second largest economy in Kent.

Tourism contributes £258m to the Canterbury economy and has been a "cornerstone of the local economy" for a number of years; Canterbury Cathedral alone generates over one million visitors a year.

CIVIL REGISTRATION
Birth, marriages and deaths records have been kept by government since July 1837 to the present day. Prior to that, local parishes of the Church of England, and local branches of other faiths were the only repositories of this information. The following link provides access for Canterbury records:


 * Kent Records


 * All English Records, Kent

CENSUS RECORDS
Census records for Canterbury can be found using the following links:


 * UK census records


 * Ancestry.com Kent census records

PROBATE RECORDS
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by several locations for Canterbury. Please follow the links below:


 * Canterbury Cathedral notes


 * Ancestry.com Canterbury Probate information

CEMETERIES AND GRAVES
There are presently one central cemetery, and several outlying cemeteries within the Canterbury city district. The link follows:


 * Canterbury city cemeteries

Other useful sites follow:


 * Findagrave, Canterbury


 * Billiongraves, Canterbury


 * Kent county online records

GENEALOGY SOCIETIES AND GENEALOGY

 * The Kent Family History Society


 * FamilySearch Kent information


 * KFHS, Canterbury Branch


 * Forebears.com, Canterbury


 * Genuki Kent page