1 Poor law unions. These date from the late 1830s and early 1840s when grouips of parishes were combined into por law unions after the Poor Law Reform Act of 1834. The account and minute books contain data on the cost of poor relief, workhouse rules and administrations, schooling and discipline. Unions were also responsible for providing medical care at parish level.

Further reading:

Gibson, J. Poor law union records. 3: South West England, the Marches and Wales (1993).

2 School boards. The most important records are school log books, compiled from 1863 on instruction from the Board of Education. Admission registers survive in Devon from the 1850s when amny National and British Schools were built. The 1870 Education Act ordered the setting up of local school boards and the record from 1871 survive in the DRO.

3 Health authorities, hospitals. Local boards of health were set up after surveys in the mid-nineteenth century. Many of the annual reports of the medical officers of health were printed and so can be found in libraries as well as record offices.

4 Turnpike trusts. These were set up in Devon from the 1750s and were private bodies who maintained stratches of highway between the main towns. Not all records survive, but a number can be found in the Record Office. Records also had to be deposited with the Quarter Sessions. From 1864 much of the work of the turnpike trusts was taken over by highway boards.

5 Fishery boards. These were set up in the 19th and 20th centuries. Those for the Taw and Torridge, Exe, Teign, Axe and Dart survive in the DRO.

6 Coroners. These are not public records and few survive.

7 Petty sessions

These dealt with lesser crimes such as poaching and minor theft. Judicial records survive from the 19th century only.

8 Electoral records. Electoral registers have been compiled since the 1832 Reform Act and survive from that date in the DRO. All 19th century registers have been microfilmed and can be consulted on fiche in all branches of the DRO. Poll books, which indicate the way individuals voted and were intended to prevent corrupt practices appeared between about 1695 and 1872 when the secret ballot was intoduced . They occasionally reached printed form, for example for the Exeter election of 1818 when it was printed by R.Cullum with the Addresses, specches, squibs, songs &c which were circulated during the recent election. Relatively few poll books survive for Devon in libraries and record offices. Those that do are listed in Poll books c1696-1772 by J.Gibson (3rd ed, 1994).

9 District council records. Urban and Rural District Councils were established in 1888 and replaced by District Councils in 1974. Their records, where they survive, are mostly deposited in the DRO.