Barnstaple, Devon Genealogy

England Devon  Devon Parishes 

Parish History
BARNSTAPLE, or Barum (St. Peter and St.Paul), a port, borough, market-town, and parish, having exclusive jurisdiction,and the head of a union, locally in the hundred of Braunton, Braunton and N. divisions of Devon, 40 miles (N. W.) from Exeter,and 193 (W. by S.) from London. The origin of this place, which is of considerable antiquity, and is said to have been a Saxon burgh so early as the reign of Athelstan, is involved in obscurity. At the Conquest it was granted to Judael de Totnais, by whom, if not previously by Athelstan, the castle of Barnstaple, of which there are still some remains, is supposed to have been erected, and the town encompassed with walls defended by four gates, of which there were some vestiges in the time of Leland. In the reign of Henry I., and also in that of John, the inhabitants received many valuable privileges, and the town subsequently became the residence of numerous merchants, who traded with France and Spain, and soon raised it into importance. It was made one of the principal depôts for wool, from which circumstance it is supposed to have derived its name; and continued to increase in commercial prosperity till the reign of Elizabeth, when it equipped three ships of war for the fleet destined to repel the Spanish Armada. It suffered materially in 1606, from a flood which inundated the town, and did much damage to the property of the inhabitants. During the civil war of the seventeenth century, it was distinguished for its adherence to the cause of the parliament, and was the scene of frequent conflicts between the two parties, being alternately in the possession of each.

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.