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GITTISHAM

Select map to view parish boundaries in detail.

"GITTISHAM, a small straggling village on a picturesque declivity, near the source of the river Sid, about 3 miles from Ottery St Mary and Honiton, and 14 miles E.N.E. of Exeter, has in its parish 376 souls and 2067A. 2R. 5P. of land, rising in bold hills from the Otter and Sid valleys. The knightly family of De Lumine held the manor in the reign of Henry II., and it afterwards passed to the Willingtons, Beaumonts, and the Putts. It passed from the late Rev. Thos. Putt to the Rev. Henry Wm. Marker, the present lord of the manor, and owner of most of the parish, who has a pleasant seat here called Combe House, a large stone mansion in the Elizabethan style, standing on a commanding eminence in a well-wooded park, overlooking the Otter valley. . . . The Church is an ancient structure, with a tower and three bells, and contains some fine monuments to the Beaumont and Putt families. . . . In the churchyard is a large elm tree, the hollow trunk of which is 30 feet in circumference. The rectory, valued in K.B. at £21. 8s. 11½d., and in 1831 at £320, is in the patronage of the Rev. H.W. Marker, and the incumbency of Rev. Thomas John Marker, M.A., who has a large residence with pleasant grounds, and 47A. 1R. 6P. of glebe. . . . " [From White's Devonshire Directory (1850)]

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

Biography

Joanna Southcott web-site.

Brown, Frances. Joanna Southcott: The woman clothed with the sun, Lutterworth Press (2002) 352 pp. [ISBN 0718830180] [A comprehensive biography]

Dickinson, F.B. A note on Joanna Southcott and her passports to heaven. Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries 2:8, (1903) pp.241-242, plates: ill. [1750-1814]

Hann, R. (1810). The remarkable life, entertaining history and adventures of Joanna Southcott, the prophetess, London: W. Smith & Co, Seven Dials (1810). 40pp. [Index]

Lewis, Val. Satan's mistress: the extraordinary story of the 18th century fanatic Joanna Southcott and her lifelong battle with the Devil, Shepperton, Middlesex, Nauticalia Ltd (2002) 320 pp. [ISBN 0953045803]

Church History

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

Church Records

The Devon FHS publishes indexes covering (as of June 2004): Baptisms 1813-1839, Marriages 1754-1838, Burials 1800-1837 - for details see their book list.

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

• Wesleyan Chapel: Registers for c1809-37 - see Axminster (PRO RG 4/512)

Nothing entered into the IGI (as of Jan 1993).

Treveleyan, W.C. Extracts from the Registers at Gittisham, Devonshire. Miscellanea Genealogia et Heraldica, New Series 1 (1874) pp.262-263.

Gazetteers

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

Genealogy

Rose-Troup, F.; Skinner, A.J.P. Tom Putt apples. Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries 7:2, (1912) pp.64, pars 37, 38. [See query vol.7, p.47, par.25. Also vol.7, pp.99, 140.]

Skinner, A.J.P. Michell of Gittisham. Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries 7:1, (1912) pp.24-25. [See vol.5, p.175, par.105.]

History

Edwards, E. Devonshire - Containing Historical, Biographical and Descriptive Notices of Exmouth & its Neighbourhood, including the Exe, Littleham, Withycombe Raleigh, East Budleigh, Otterton and Bicton, Sidmouth and Sidbury, Gittisham, Ottery St. Mary, Lympstone, and Topsham; with Notices of the Pedigree of the Rolle, Raleigh, and Courtney Families, &c. Contains Notices of some Picturesque and Antiquarian Excursions in the neighbourhood of the Exe Estuary, and along the adjacent coast, including Budleigh Salterton, Dawlish, Teignmouth, Torquay, &c., Exeter, S. Drayton & Sons (1867) 362 pp.

Exell, Arthur Wallis. Joanna Southcott at Blockley and the Rock Cottage relics, Shipston on Stour, P. Drinkwater (1977) vii, 87p: ill, facsim, port. [Published for the Blockley Antiquarian Society] [Westcountry Studies Library 133.32/DEV/EXE]

Southcott, Joanna. (1804). The trial of Joanna Southcott during seven days, which commenced on the fifth and finished on the eleventh of December at the Neckinger House, Bermondsey, near London. London: S. Rousseau, Wood Street, Spa Field. Sold by E.J. Field, 2 High Street, St Giles; and also by W. Symonds, Gandy Lane, and the Miss Eveleighs, St Sidwell's, Exeter (1804) xl; 156pp. [Index]

Names, Personal

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

Occupations

Gittisham Apprentice Register 1803-1838, Exeter, Devon Family History Society (2005). [Contains date, name of the apprentice, sex, age, parents details, residence, and details of Master.] [Foreword] [Names included in the overall index published as "Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief" (CD 023).

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Last updated: 8 May 2011 - Brian Randell

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