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CHARLES

Select map to view parish boundaries in detail.

"A village & parish in the valley of the river BRAY, 6 miles N by W of South Molton contains 362 souls & 2432 acres of land including Brayford hamlet & a number of scattered houses. Sir Peregrine Fuller Palmer Acland, Bart. Is Lord of the Manor, & owner of a pleasant seat called 'Little Bray' in the valley, 2 miles N. Of the village. A great part of the parish belongs to Earl Fortesque, J Davey Esq., H. Karslake Esq., Jno. Loosemoore, Jno. Smythe & several smaller owners. The Church (St. John) has a tower & 5 bells & the living is a rectory valued in KB at £9.10 shillings & in 1831 at £160 in the patronage & incumbency of the Rev. Richard Blackmore. M.A. who has 130 acres of glebe, and a large & commodious 'Rectory House'" [From White's Devonshire Directory (1850)]

• General historical and descriptive information, area map from 1765, details about administrative boundaries, etc., about Charles from the Devon Library's Local Studies Service.
• Brayford website.

Cemeteries

A transcription of the Memorial Inscriptions for the Church of St John the Baptist is held in the Society of Genealogist's Library, in Vol. 8 of Devon Memorial inscriptions (DE/M23).

A.R. Ruston. Brayford Baptist Chapel North Devon monumental inscriptions. [Watford: A.R. Ruston],1983. [SoG Library DE/M17]

Census

Snetzler, M.F. North Devon Surname Index to the Census. Microfiche: M.F. Snetzler, Barcott, Buckland Brewer, Bideford, Devon EX39 5LN. [Covers 1881 census records for this parish]

Church Records

Transcripts of the Parish Registers going back to 1531 are held in a special collection in the Westcountry Studies Library - for details see Parish Registers in the Devon & Cornwall Record Society's Collection.

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

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

• Baptist Chapel, Brayford: Registers for 1931-37 (Z) in PRO RG 4/607
• Wesleyan Chapel, Brayford: Registers for c1807-37 - see Barnstaple Circuit (PRO RG 4/954)

Description and Travel

Brayford website.

Directories

Transcription of entry in Kelly's Directory, Devonshire of 1935, by Deborah Carmichael.

Gazetteers

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

Genealogy

The Online Parish Clerk scheme's representative for this parish is Sue Budlong, who invites queries and lookup requests. (Resources: Land tax assessments; burials at Brayford, some PRs.)

History

Joyce, W.W. The Moorside Parish of Charles. Exeter: James Townsend & Sons (1937) 44p: ill.

Cotsford, E.J. Local history of Charles. Filleigh: E.J. Cotsford (1984) 54p: ill.

Names, Personal

Charles contributors to a 1678 brief for the rebuilding of St Paul's Cathedral.

Ryall, David. Lest We Forget, War memorials around South Molton. South Molton Archive, 68pp. [ISBN 0 951236 1 4] [Provides an indexed list of names]

Societies

South Molton and District Archive Local History Society web-site (archived copy) - provides details of archive holdings for the twenty-eight parishes in what used to be the South Molton Rural District, lists of publications, etc.

Last updated: 12 Dec 2011 - Brian Randell

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