Devon

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EPISCOPAL RETURNS
STATE PAPERS - Cha. II 320
STATE PAPERS - Cha. II 321

Currently (May 2009) the Robarts Library, University of Toronto has these three volumes online as recorded here.

PREFACE vii - xx
This is quite extensive and should be read in order to understand and know of the history of those early Nonconformists of England and Wales. The official documents relating to the years 1665,1669 and 1672, not only give information about the clergymen who were ejected from their Anglican livings but also of the many others (including women) who wished to have their houses designated as Meeting Places.

Pages xv & xvi:
"The Editor has therefore added three alphabetical Indexes; the first of Place-names; the second of the names of the Teachers; and the third a somewhat miscellaneous one, of Householders, and others who cannot be reckoned as either Teachers or as Householders in the technical sense of owning a house used as a Meeting Place for Nonconformist services. In this last list of 'Householders, etc.', will be found also the names of (1) 'Abettors', or influential supporters of Conventicles reported in 1669, indicated by an A printed in the margin; (2) Signatories of Petitions presented in 1672, and preserved in 320 and 321, indicated by SP in the margin; and (3) Licence-Agents, or, more precisely, those who, in 1672, personally presented applications for Licences at Whitehall, or took them away from Whitehall when granted, for themselves or others, indicated by a marginal L.
In the first and second Indexes the references will be found to be direct to the Classified Summary in the bulk of Vol. II, and only indirectly (through the references given under each name) to the Original Documents reproduced in Vol. I. And it is the same with the names of licenced Householders in Index III. But in the case of 'Abettors,' 'Signatories of Petitions,' and 'Licence-Agents,' the references are direct to the pages of Vol. I, in which (1) the Episcopal Returns report the 'Abettors,' - (2) the Petitions are given to which the names of the Signatories are attached; or (3) the Licence-documents occur, which are either signed by the Licence-Agent referred to, or are manifestly in his handwriting. These references are made direct, because to have included all these names in the Classified Summary would have unduly swollen its bulk."

DOCUMENTS CONNECTED WITH THE ISSUE OF LICENCES UNDER THE DECLARATION OF INDULGENCE 1672
			193-623
STATE PAPERS
	S.P. Dom Car.II 320	195-299
	S.P. Dom Car.II 321	300-409
ENTRY BOOKS			411-623
	Entry Book No.27	413-418
	Entry Book No.38A	419-585
	Entry Book No.38B	586-623

County of Devonshire is found in the following section:

EPISCOPAL RETURNS EXTRACTED FROM VOL. 639 OF 'CODICES TENISONIANI' IN LAMBETH PALACE
Exeter - The County of Devon (1669)			42-44
Exeter Diocese (Summary) 1665			178-180
Extracts from Detailed Accounts, &c., Anno 1665.
	Diocese of Exeter		184-191
	Archdeaconry of Exon (Exeter)	184-186
	Archdeaconry of Totnes	186-189
	Archdeaconry of Barum (Barnstaple)	189-190
	Archdeaconry of Cornwall	190-191

CLASSIFIED SUMMARY		627-1227
ABBREVIATIONS USED		627-628

The place names are given in a geographical sequence by county and each of these groups is then subdivided by denominations. The references given for individuals named in this volume lead to the documents as recorded in Volume I.

To quote the Editor from his Preface in Vol I (xvi) :

"In these Alphabetical Indexes, moreover, the student will observe that the name is not followed immediately and simply by numerals indicating all references to a name. To spare the student unneccessary toil, the Editor has interposed between the name and the numerals two symbols which he hopes will economize time and faciliate research. The first capital letters - in accordance with a List of Abbreviations prefixed to Classified Summary as a whole (p.628) - indicate the County to which the place or the person belongs, so that the student will look up only the references to the County with which he is concerned; the second (enclosed within brackets) indicate the Sect or Denomination represented either in place or by the person named, so that the special denominational interest of the student may find a guide to that of which he is in search."

		PAGES
I	Northern Group of Counties	629-688
II	North Midland Group	689-775
III	South Midland Group	775-844
IV	Eastern Counties Group	845-938
V	South-Eastern Group	939-1052
VI	South-Western Group	1053-1193
	(includes Devon 1144-1185)
VII	Wales	1195-1227

ABBREVIATIONS used by the Editor (as pages 627/8)

A	Abbettors
I	S.P. Dom E.B. 38B
E	S.P. Dom. E.B. 38A
B	S.P. Dom E.B. 27
R	Episcopal Returns
		(The figure following (R) indicates the pages in the Tenison MS, as represented pps 1-191 Vol I)
SP	Signatories
L	Licence Agent
LI	Licence Issued
LR	Licence Received
320	S. Dom. Car. II 320
321	S. Dom. Car. II 321

PREFACE x-xv
"This Third Volume is not a sequel, but an Introduction. I should like to say more. In issuing it, I want it to be understood that even for me it is not 'the conclusion of the whole matter'; and that for many I hope it may prove merely a 'beginning'. Years of work have convinced me that round each personal name, linked as it is in those 'Original Records' with a place name, or the names of several places, there may be built up a story full of interest and stimulus if only local records and local tradition could be made to yield their information."

Page 67 records that
"In Devon, colonies of the ejected were to be found in Thorncombe (four of them), Ottery St Mary (four), Totnes (two), Dartmouth (three), Plymouth (four), Exeter (eight in addition to those who had been ejected from livings in the city) and two from Western Central portion of the county."

PART I - GENERAL AND PREFATORY
	Chapters
	1.	Original Records - where & what they are
	2.	Their Form & Character
	Episcopal Returns
	Indulgence Documents
	3.	Their Historical Settings, as of 'Early Nonconformity'
	4.	Their Historical Significance
PART II - DETAILED AND EXPOSITORY
			PAGES
	Section I - Episcopal Returns
		1665;1669;1672	35-151
	Section II - Indulgence Documents		152-740
	Section III - Both Episcopal Returns        and Indulgence Documents		741=860
	Index - Subjects		861-871
		- Names	871-944

Prof. Lyon Turner gives something of the histories of the more prominent early Nonconformist clergymen and he has these Devonians:

William ATKINS of Barnstaple	337-338
William CARSLAKE of Werrington	378-382
Robert COLLIN(G)S of Ottery St Mary	334-337
John HICKES of Kingsbridge	see index @ 903
this index page has a very extensive list of references for him
John HODDER of Thorncombe/Hawkchurch	331-334

The index that follows relates only to those individuals clearly identified as being of (or in) Devon. It is entirely possible that more can be found for them in other counties given that these men were ejected from their livings all over the country.

Last updated 28 Jul 2009 - Brian Randell.