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BRIXHAM ST MARY or UPPER BRIXHAM

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"BRIXHAM, a flourishing market town, sea-port, and extensive fishing station, is delightfully situated on the southern projecting point of Torbay, and is in two parts, called Upper and Lower Brixham; the former of which extends in a long straggling street, more than 1½ mile south of Lower Brixham, or Brixham Quay, and most of it, (with the parish church,) is in a picturesque valley, opening to the Quay, and bounded on the east by the lofty sea cliffs, and Berryhead, - the most eastern part of the bay. . . . The Parish Church (Virgin Mary,) at Upper Brixham, is a large and ancient structure, in the perpendicular style, with a lofty embattled tower, containing six bells and a clock . . . . The vicarage, valued in K.B. at £25. 15s., and in 1831 at £494, with the curacy of Churston-Ferrers annexed to it, is in the patronage of the Lord Chancellor, and incumbency of the Rev. Robt. Holdsworth, M.A., who has held the living since 1809. . . ." [From White's Devonshire Directory (1850)]
The ancient parish for the seaport town of Brixham, in Haytor Hundred, the Archdeaconry of Totnes and the Diocese of Exeter. The parish of All Saints was divided off from it in 1828. Brixham St Peter is a modern parish (1909).

General information:

Archives and Libraries

Brixham Heritage Museum web-site.

Bibliography

Pike, J.R. Brixham, Torbay: A bibliographical guide. (1973) [Devon & Exeter Inst., Exeter University Library, Plymouth Central Library, Torquay Central Library]

Biography

Skinner, B.G. Henry Francis Lyte, Brixham's Poet and Priest, Exeter, (1974) x + 164 pp.

Cemeteries

Whitmore, J.B. Devonshire Monumental Inscriptions, MS at Society of Genealogists (1951). [Extracts]
[Monumental Inscriptions (church)], Gent. Mag., vol. II, (1830) pp.114-115.

Church History

Brixham - from J. Stabb. Some Old Devon Churches (London: 1908-16).

Church Records

Parish Registers going back to 1556 are held in the Devon Record Office - for details see Parish Registers in the Devon Record Office.

Transcripts of the Parish Registers going back to 1556 are held in a special collection in the Westcountry Studies Library - for details see Parish Registers in the Devon & Cornwall Record Society's Collection.

Transcriptions of the Parish registers by Judith Smith and Marie Simkus, provided by the Brixham Heritage Museum:

Baptisms 1575-1631
Baptisms 1587-1646
Baptisms 1651-1698
Baptisms 1698-1739
Baptisms 1739-1765
Marriage Banns 1653-1662
Marriages 1556-1631
Marriages 1631-1646
Marriages 1653-1669
Marriages 1699-1742
Burials 1560-1631
Burials 1631-1647
Burials 1654-1697
Burials 1698-1738
Burials in Wool 1692-1730

The Devon FHS publishes indexes covering (as of June 2004): Marriages 1754-1837, Burials 1813-1837 - for details see their book list.

Other churches and chapels (with pre-1840 records):

Entered into the IGI (as of Jan 1993): Parish Church Christenings 1653-1705, 1693-1786, 1787-1837, Marriages 1556-1837, (entries based in part on Bishops' Transcripts); Wesleyan Chapel Christenings 1811-1837.
Harris, S.G. Churston Ferrers and Brixham records of briefs, 1722 - 1827, and 1706 - 1766. Trans. Devon. Assoc. 26, (1894) pp.230-236. [Church briefs]
Deanery of Ipplepen: Photographs of the churches and extracts from White's Devonshire Directory 1850. CD - Devon FHS (2012). [An index of baptisms, marriages and burials in the parishes of: Abbotskerswell Baptisms (1813-1839), Marriages (1756-1837), Burials (1813-1837); Berry Pomeroy Baptisms (1813-1839), Marriages (1754-1837), Burials (1813-1837); Brixham All Saints Baptisms (1826-1839), Marriages (1826-1837), Burials (1831-1832); Brixham St Mary Baptisms (1813-1839), Marriages (1754-1837), Burials (1813-1837); Broadhempston Baptisms (1813-1839), Marriages (1681-1837), Burials (1813-1837); Churston Ferrers Baptisms (1813-1839), Marriages (1754-1835), Burials (1800-1837); Cockington Baptisms (1813-1839), Marriages (1754-1837), Burials (1780-1834); Coffinswell Baptisms (1813-1839), Marriages (1754-1837), Burials (1813-1857); Denbury Baptisms (1813-1840), Marriages (1754-1837), Burials (1800-1837); Ipplepen Baptisms (1813-1840), Marriages (1754-1843), Burials (1813-1837); Kingskerswell Baptisms (1813-1839), Marriages (1754-1837), Burials (1813-1837); Kingswear Baptisms (1813-1839), Marriages (1755-1837), Burials (1780-1837); Littlehempston Baptisms (1813-1840), Marriages (1731-1837), Burials (1813-1840); Marldon Baptisms (1813-1839), Marriages (1754-1837), Burials (1813-1837); Paignton Baptisms (1813-1841), Marriages (1754-1837), Burials (1813-1837); Paignton Independent Burials (1826-1836); Staverton Baptisms (1813-1840), Marriages (1754-1837), Burials (1813-1837); Stoke Gabriel Baptisms (1813-1840), Marriages (1754-1837), Burials (1813-1837); Torbryan Baptisms (1813-1839), Marriages (1754-1838), Burials (1813-1854); Tormohun Baptisms (1813-1840), Marriages (1754-1837), Burials (1813-1837); Torquay St Marychurch Baptisms (1813-1840), Marriages (1754-1837), Burials (1813-1837); Wolborough Baptisms (1813-1840), Marriages (1754-1839), Burials (1813-1837); Woodland Baptisms (1813-1840), Marriages (1755-1835), Burials (1813-1838).]

Description and Travel

Virtual Tour of Brixham - from Halien.
Barber, Chips. Brixham. Pinhoe, Exeter: Obelisk Publications. [ISBN 0946651604].
Gosling, Ted and Marshall, Lyn. Brixham (The Archive Photographs Series), Chalford Publishing Company (1996) 128 pp. [ISBN 0 7524 0144 0]
Brixham. Devon Life vol. 10 no. 88 (1973) pp.28-29; ill.

Directories

Transcript of entry for Brixham in White's Devonshire Directory of 1850.

Scanned images of the text of the entry for Brixham in Morris and Co's Commercial Directory and Gazetteer of Devon (1870), provided by Val Henderson.

Torbay Household and Business Directory. Torquay: Torquay Times (1910-11).

Gazetteers

The transcription of the section for Brixham from the National Gazetteer (1868), provided by Colin Hinson.

Genealogy

This parish is one of the growing number of places for which the Devon Heritage website provides census or parish register transcriptions, articles, and/or illustrations, etc.

Hopkins, Glenda. The life and times of Captain Edward Snell, master mariner of Brixham, Devon 1825-1882. Brentwood: the author, 1955. [Raymond: Includes pedigree, 19-20th c.]
Hopkins, Glenda. The life and times of Captain Edwin Snell, master mariner of Brixham 1825-1882: a short family history. Hutton Mount: The Author. (1995) ii, 6, lviip: ill, ports. [Includes pedigree, 19-20th c.] [Westcountry Studies Library - px929.2/SNE]
A history of the Varwells of Brixham, Family History 7, 1973, pp. 9-13.
Upton: extracts from parish registers, Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica 2nd series 3, 1890, pp. 197-202 & 221-26. [Raymond: From registers of Brixham, Newton Ferrers, et al; also monumental inscriptions from Brixham.]

History

Barber, Chips. Brixham of yesteryear. Pinhoe: Obelisk (1995) 32 pp. ISBN: 1899073140 (pbk).
Barber, Chips. Brixham of Yesteryear Part II. Pinhoe, Exeter: Obelisk Publications. [ISBN 1899073256].
Barber, Chips. Brixham of Yesteryear Part III. Pinhoe, Exeter: Obelisk Publications. [ISBN 1899073264].
Barber, Chips. Brixham of Yesteryear Part IV. Pinhoe, Exeter: Obelisk Publications. [ISBN 1899073930].
Born, Ann. The Torbay Towns. Chichester: Phillimore (1989) [ISBN 0850336945] xiii, 160p: ill, maps.
Ellis, Arthur C. Brixham: its history and people. Brixham Museum & Hist. Society (1992) 5 vols.
Frost, K.A. When the railway ran to Brixham. Devon Life vol. 4 no. 31, (1968) pp.28-29; ill.
Gregory, Charles. Brixham in Devonia: illustrated guide, with historical and descriptive sketch and handbook to Torbay and the neighboourhood. Totnes: Totnes Times (1896) 166p: ill,maps. [Index]
Horsley, John E. A short history of Brixham. Devon Books (1988) [32] pp. ISBN: 0861148274 (pbk).
Little, Samantha. Keep Smiling Through!: The Brixham Home Front 1939-1945, 2011. Brixham Heritage Museum (2011) 82 pp. [ISBN-10: 0954545966]
Pearce, Frank.The Book of Torbay. Halsgrove Press, Tiverton (1999). ISBN 1841140295.
Pearce, Frank. The Book of Brixham - Portrait of a Harbour Town, Tiverton: Halsgrove Community History Series (2000) 160 pp., over 200 photographs. [ISBN: 1-84114093-7] [Index]
Pike, John. The landing of William of Orange at Brixham in 1688: fact and fiction. Devon Historian 36, (1988) pp.3-9.
Pike, John R. Brixham. Torbay Borough Council (1993) [2], 71,[8]p, plates: ill.
Russell, Percy. Some historical notes on the Brixham fisheries. Trans. Devon. Assoc. 83, (1951) pp.278-297, plate; ill, map.
Saxton, W.A. Brixham History, 2nd. ed. Brixham Civic Fund (1962) 29p: ill,map. [Westcountry Studies Library - B/BRI 7/0001/SAX]
A Brixham album. Exeter: Obelisk (1994) 48 pp.: chiefly ill ; ports: 15 x 21 cm. ISBN: 0946651906 (pbk).

Land and Property

Freeman, Ray. Brownstone: a Devon farm through seven centuries. Dartmouth Hist Research Group (1992) 24p.

Manors

Horsley, J.E. The Descent of the Manor of Brixham. (n.d.) [Torquay Central Library]
Johnson, D.R. Brixham Manor and People. Brixham: D.R. Johnson (1989).

Maps

Map of the area from OldeMaps (circa 1950).

Merchant Marine

Brixham sailing trawlers and their owners, builders and crew.

Transcription by Julia Mosman of an 1887 newspaper article about the drowning of Captain Harnden.

Corin, John. Provident and the story of the Brixham smacks. Reading: Tops'l Books (1980) 66p: ill.
Potts, Chris and Wilson, Derek. Voyaging over Life's sea: A history of the British Seaman's Boy's Home, Brixham [1859-1988], Brixham Heritage Museum (2006) 77 pp. [ISBN 0954545923]
Wright, M. Brixham in the days of sail. Devon Life vol. 3 no. 28, (1967) pp.38-40; ill.
Brixham Trawler Apprentice Register - 1891-1895, Exeter, Devon Family History Society D027. [Names included in the overall index published as "Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief" (CD 023).
Brixham Trawler Apprentice Register - 1896-1901, Exeter, Devon Family History Society D028. [Names included in the overall index published as "Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief" (CD 023).

Names, Personal

Brixham Heritage Museum, in the Services section of its web-site, provides a large number of surname indexes, from 15th to 19th century sources, including the 1568 muster roll, gravestones, non-conformist burial registers, tithe registers, directories and other documents.

Names from an 1822-23 edition of Pigot's Directory.

Johnson, D.R. Brixham Names. Brixham: Brixham Museum (1989).
Brixham Vaccination Register - 1875, Exeter, Devon Family History Society D047. [Names included in the overall index published as "Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief" (CD 023).
Brixham Vaccination Register - 1876, Exeter, Devon Family History Society D048. [Names included in the overall index published as "Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief" (CD 023).

Probate Records

Transcripts of the wills of Nathaniel Thomas France (1835), Susan Bartlett France (1858) and John Vittery (1846), provided by Anne Hawkins.

Societies

Brixham Museum & History Society web-site.

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Last updated: 4 Mar 2012 - Brian Randell

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