Dynham Survey | County of Devon Devon Quarter Sessions, 1592-1971, covering criminal jurisdiction for the county and civil administration (including records of county roads and bridges, police stations, alehouses, poor law unions, plans of public undertakings, gaols, lunatic asylums); Devon County Council, 1889-1974, covering county administration (including council and committee minutes, accounts, records of local authority schools, etc.) |
District Councils
Records of the former district councils in East, South (including Torbay), and Mid Devon, 1889-1974, with some earlier material (mainly minutes and accounts, with some rating records and planning applications).
City of Exeter
Records of city administration, c.1100 to the present day (including council minutes, accounts, court rolls, customs accounts, charters, deeds, and legal papers, with exceptional coverage of the medieval period).
Diocese of Exeter
Records of the diocese (which included most of Cornwall up to 1875), 13th-20th centuries (including bishops' registers of institutions, ordinations, licences, and consecrations, faculties, marriage bonds and allegations, tithe maps and apportionments, glebe terriers, consistory court act and deposition books, testamentary and other papers).
Anglican Parishes
Records of churches and congregations, 16th century to the present day, including registers (coverage for all Devon, Plymouth and Torbay on microfiche /microfilm or unfilmed originals), churchwardens' accounts, overseers' accounts and papers, charity deeds and other records; minutes of civil parishes from 1894.
Nonconformist Churches
Records of Baptist, Unitarian, Congregationalist/Independent congregations and the Society of Friends, 17th century onwards; also Methodist connexions, 18th century onwards (including registers after 1837, minutes, accounts, and other papers, though coverage varies throughout the county).
Families and Estates
These are many and varied. Some of the principal collections are: Bedford Estates (D 1258), Courtenay of Powderham (1508M), Fortescue of Castle Hill (1262M), Acland of Killerton (1148M), Addington of Sidmouth (152M), Rolle of St Giles (96M), Petre of Axminster (123M and 49/26), Mallock of Cockington (48/13) and Iddesleigh of Upton Pyne (51/24).
Clubs and Societies
These are varied and mostly small, but some are of considerable interest.
Businesses
Firms of solicitors make up the majority of this class, but there are a few important deposits relating to manufacturing and retail trades.
Public Records
These include records of courts, hospitals, prisons, and coroners. Because of their sensitivity, some are subject to extended closure periods.
The following additional records for the whole of Devon, Plymouth and Torbay are available on microfiche or microfilm at both the Devon Record Office, Exeter and the North Devon Record Office, Barnstaple:
A substantial number of parish records (other than registers) from North Devon parishes are also available on microfiche at both the North Devon Record Office and the Devon Record Office, Exeter. These include churchwardens' accounts, vestry minutes, Overseers of the Poor accounts and charity accounts.
The following records are available on microfilm at the Devon Record Office and at the Plymouth and West Devon Record Office:
An ongoing programme of listing and indexing of holdings is in progress at both the Devon Record Office and the North Devon Record Office.
Copies of lists are available for use in the search-rooms, together with card indices of places, subjects and personal names appearing in the lists, although currently only the subject card index is being kept up to date.
Copies of the lists are also sent annually to the National Register of Archives (Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts) in London.
An increasing number of our indexes and catalogues are also becoming available on-line through the Access to Archives website, which is sponsored by The National Archives.
The Devon Record Office at Exeter holds very few printed books. It has a small collection of reference books - including a selection of guides to sources, directories, general and local histories, genealogical references and Devon and Cornwall Record Society publications. These are for the use of researchers visiting the office, and can be found on the shelves in our search-room.
The Devon Record Office conservation policy limits the photocopying of pages from printed books held in its search-room. Whether we copy these depends on the condition of the book. However, the Westcountry Studies Library, which is situated in Castle Street, holds more than 50,000 volumes relating to all aspects of Devon and the adjoining counties, and most of our reference books are also found there. Books in the Westcountry Studies Library are available for reference only, and cannot be borrowed - a working selection is held on the open shelves, and others can be ordered from the stacks. Research cannot be carried out by library staff on behalf of enquirers, so any requests for copying or research in these books should be referred to the Devon Record Office Research Service.
A catalogue of more than 50,000 books, pamphlets and other items held in the Westcountry Studies Library, Barnstaple and selectively in other libraries can be searched on the web. Some other Devon-based libraries, such as Exmouth, Newton Abbot and Bideford have considerable local studies collections.
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