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EXMINSTER

Select map to view parish boundaries in detail.

"EXMINSTER is a large straggling village, pleasantly situated, 4 miles S.E. by S. of Exeter, on the western side of the vale of the river Exe, opposite Topsham, and near the South Devon Railway, and the Exeter Canal, which here falls into the estuary at Turf lock. The parish contains 1177 inhabitants, and 4670 acres of land, including a fine tract of rich marshes, the hamlets of Lower Shillingford and Matford; and several scattered farm-houses and neat mansions . . . . The Earl of Devon is lord of the manor of Exminster, . . . Sir L.V. Palk is lord of the manor of Shillingford, and owner of the estates called Little Bowhay, Breynton, and Lower and North Shillingford, or Shillingford Abbots. . . . The Church (St. Martin,) is a large structure, with a fine tower, containing a clock, chimes, and six bells. . . . The Rev. J.P. Hugo, M.A., is the incumbent, and has 15 acres of glebe, and a pleasant residence, commanding a fine view of Topsham, and the estuary of the Exe. . . . DEVON COUNTY PAUPER LUNATIC ASYLUM is an extensive and handsome building in this parish . . . ." [From White's Devonshire Directory (1850)]

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

Cemeteries

Church History

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

Church Records

Indexed transcripts of the Parish Registers going back to 1562 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): Baptisms 1813-1839, Marriages 1754-1837, Burials 1813-1837 - for details see their book list.

Entered into the IGI (as of Jan 1993): Parish Church Christenings 1562-1812, and Marriages 1562-1836.

Gazetteers

The transcription of the section for this parish 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.

Parr, John Frank. Parr family of Exminster, near Exeter, Western Antiquary 2, 1882, pp. 77-78. [Raymond: Includes parish register extracts, 17-19th c.]

Parr, John Frank. Parr family of Chudleigh and Exminster, Western Antiquary 3, 1884, pp. 19-20.

History

Beer, Ken. Exminster in peace and war. [Exminster]: [J.Jones], [2001?] 49p. [DFHS Library p287/CAN]

Jones, J.A. Exminster: Some aspects of the social history of the village (typescript) (1969) [Westcountry Studies Library]

Jones, Joyce and Lewes, Fred. Victorian Exminster (1996) 46p. [Devon FHS Library 942.35/EXM] [Index]

Reichel, O J. Hundred of Exminster in early times. Trans. Dev. Assoc. 47 (1915).

Land and Property

Elliot, John. Homes and gardens - Coombe cottage, Exminster. Devon Life vol. 8 no. 63 (1971) pp.14-16; ill.

Watts, Christopher T. and Michael J. Tithe Apportionment for Crediton and Exminster. Devon Historian 21 (1980) pp.7-9.

Passmore, Dick. Kenbury: a vanished Devon house, Little Silver Publications (2003). [ISBN 0954447204] [DFHS Library p942.35/KEN]

Westcott, Margaret. Surveying the Estates of Henry Courtenay, Earl of Devon, Marquis of Exeter and Traitor, 1543-4. In Devon Documents (ed. T. Gray). Tiverton: Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries, Special Issue (1996) [ISBN 0925836203] pp.199-203. [Okehampton, Chulmleigh, Tiverton, Broadclyst, Colyton, Exminster]

Manors

Reichel, Oswald J. The early history of the principal manors in Exminster Hundred. Trans. Devon. Assoc. 47, (1915) pp.210-248.

Names, Personal

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

Occupations

Exminster Apprenticeship Indentures for County Devon, 1790-1819. Temple University Libraries, SCOLL., Philadelphia,Pa. 19122. [\(SPC)\MSS\010\] [21 apprentice indenturess - each describes a "poor child of said parish" being apprenticed to either husbandry or house work.]

Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc.

Harrington, D.W. Some Parochial Records from Exminster. Family History 7 (40/42) New Series 16/18 (1973) pp.14-68. [Raymond: Includes settlement examinations, apprenticeship indentures.]

Lunatic Paupers in Exminster Asylum, August 1st 1881, Exeter, Devon FHS (2007). [Listing forename, surname and date of entry] [Names included in the overall index published as "Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief" (CD 023).

Probate Records

Will of James Vinicombe (1829), provided by Elsie Person.

Last updated: 7 Sep 2008 - Brian Randell

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