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St James (1842) and St Matthew (1883) are modern parishes, St Anne a modern chapel of ease."St. Sidwell's Church stands without the Walls, in the north-eastern part of the city. . . . The original church was an ancient fabric, dedicated to St. Stativola, or Sidwell, a virgin, who is said to have been beheaded with a scythe, about the year 740, and to have been buried here. It was rebuilt in 1812 and '13, at the cost of more than £2200, except the tower, which was repaired and surmounted by a handsome octagonal spire, in 1823, at the cost of about £500. It is now a beautiful edifice in the pointed style, and in its lofty tower are eight musical bells, hung in 1768. . . . St Sidwell's parish was anciently parcel of the parish of Heavitree, though it has always formed part of the county of the city of Exeter. It includes Hill's Court, which was for many generations the seat of the Hill family, but is now a street with many neat houses. It also comprises all the handsome suburbs extending eastward from St. Sidwell street to the Workhouse, Polesloe Park, etc. In the church register are records of great ravages of the plague, in 1625, and an entry of the burial of Richard Wilkins, who was executed for witchcraft in 1610. . . . The benefice is a perpetual curacy, valued in 1831 at 252 pounds. It is in the patronage of the Vicar of Heavitree, and incumbency of the Rev. Fras. Courtenay, M.A." [From White's Devonshire Directory (1850)]
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Humphries, Tony. A Fishy Business: Mary Anne Gregory (c1824-1872), Devon Family Historian, vol. 123, (2007) pp.32-34. [An account of her numerous brushes with the law]
Humphreys, Tony. Five Golden Rings: Emmanuel Gregory (c1811-1875), Devon Family Historian, vol. 124, (2007) pp.26-30.
A book entitled "Exeter Churches" by B. Creswell (1908) in the Westcountry Studies Library (Exeter) contains several pages on St Sidwell's including transcriptions of memorial tablets and brasses inside the pre-war church.
Lega-Weekes, Ethel. The Pre-Reformation of St Katherine's Priory, Polsloe. Trans. Devon Assoc. 66 (1934) pp.181-189; 67 (1935) pp.349-359; 69 (1937) pp.447-470; 70 (1938) pp.423-432.
Pile, W. Saint Sidwell's church: an historic parish. (1912).
The Devon Record Office holds the following registers for St Sidwell's: Christenings 1569-1933, Marriages 1569-1968 and Burials 1569-1876, with separate registers for St James from 1842 and the christening register for the Wesleyan Chapel in Sidwell Street 1841-1865.
Transcripts of the Parish Registers going back to 1569 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, Burials 1813-1837 - for details see their book list.
The IGI contains christenings and marriages for 1569-1837.
Other records in the DRO include deeds for Episcopal Estates in St Sidwell's 1632-1822.
Tapley-Soper, H. Executions recorded in St. Sidwell's parish register. Devon and Cornwall Notes and Queries no. 15, 1928-9.
Exeter, St Davids - Deaths 1887-91 [Western District] (2 vols) and St Sidwell Deaths 1871-73, (2007). [SoG Library DE/REG]
The Deanery of Christianity [The City Of Exeter] - Baptisms 1813-1840, Marriages 1561-1837 and Burials 1770-1904. CD018, Devon Family History Society (2008). [An index of baptisms, marriages and burials in the parishes of Allhallows Goldsmith Street, Allhallows on the Walls, Bedford Precinct, Exeter Cathedral, Holy Trinity, St. David, St. Edmund, St. George, St. John, St. Kerrian, St. Lawrence, St. Leonard, St. Martin, St. Mary Arches, St. Mary Major, St. Mary Steps, St. Olave, St. Pancras, St. Paul, St. Petrock, St. Sidwell, St. Stephen and Heavitree St. Michael & All Angels. With burials from Bow Meeting House, Castle Street Independent Chapel, George Meeing House (Presbyterian), Mint Meeting House (Presbyterian), Mint Methodist Chapel and South Street Baptist Church. Photographs of the churches and extracts from White's Devonshire Directory 1850] [Details]
Return of Deaths (3 vols: St Sidwell, Exeter 1870-83, Western Division, Exeter 1887-89, and 1890-91), Exeter, Devon FHS (2007). [Listing forename, surname, date of death, sex, age, where died, relationship/occupation of next of kin, cause of death]
Harvey, Hazel. Sidwell Street (Discovering Exeter No. 5), (1986) [ISBN 095058732X] [Devon FHS Library p942.35/EXE]
Pile, W. (ed.) An Historic Parish: Being some account of the Parish and Church of S. Sidwell, in the City of Exeter. Exeter (1912) With 10 plates, 18pp.
Militia List (1803) for St Sidwell, transcribed by Iris Sutton.
Hoskins, W.G. (ed.) Exeter Militia List 1803. Phillimore 1972, [ISBN 900592 540] [contains a full list of men in the parish between the ages of 17 and 55]
Return of Deaths - St Sidwells, Exeter - 1871-1873, Exeter, Devon Family History Society D071. [Names included in the overall index published as "Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief" (CD 023).
Will of William Arundell (1838), transcribed by Maureen O'Connor.
Will of Henry Platel (1852) transcribed by Nuala Ni'Shiochru.
Abstract of the will of Elizabeth Worth (1734) transcribed by Edna Marlow.
Harvey, Hazel. St Sidwell's School, Exeter, Woodward Press (2003). [DFHS Library 372/EXE]
Information largely provided by James Brannan
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Last updated 30 Apr 2011 - Brian Randell.
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