Local Studies

Etched on Devon's Memory

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What happened in Devon on any day in the past? This web page chronicles events great and small across the centuries. We are indebted to Todd Gray for much of the information on this page. Many of the entries appeared in his Devon almanac.

The aim has been to provide at least one event for each day of the year - something that has proved quite a challenge. References have not been given for entries but they have been quarried from newspapers, official publications, newsbooks, broadsheets, posters, diaries, account books and parish records as well as from published histories. If you have any dates which you feel should appear on this web page, please email them to the Westcountry Studies Library.

  • Did the Beatles visit Devon? If so on what day?
  • When was your local church dedicated?
  • Are there any local heroes who did something of note - an inventor, a writer perhaps?
  • Was there a battle or air raid near your town?

Precise dates for more significant Devon events would be particularly appreciated to complement the details of day-to-day life that Todd Gray has so fascinatingly recorded. Where you can, please provide the reference to the source of your information. The file of events on which this web page is based can also be sorted by place or by year, so could grow into a helpful resource for community history. Give your local community its place in history.

January

1. 1824. Plymouth Dock renamed Devonport
1. 1936. New Year's dinner and dance held at Deller's Cafe in Exeter.
2. 1628. Complaints were made that Sir James Bagg of Saltram, an Admiralty official, had illegally taken a cargo of salt.
3. 1860. First issue of Western Morning News, Devon's first daily newspaper
4. 1609. Three vessels arrived at Topsham including the Diamond of Lynn, of fifty tons, from Huelva, carrying figs and almonds.
5. 1669. Agnes Truss, a widow of St Sidwell's parish, was buried. It was claimed she was one hundred years old.
6. 1899. Passage on the Orient Line from Plymouth to the west Australian goldfields advertised
7. 1846. William Macready played Hamlet at Exeter
8. 1672. The mayor of Plymouth ordered that no pigs were to stray within the town's streets.
9. 1538. Henry Courtenay, earl of Devon, was executed for treason.
10. 1600. The Devon justices agreed to suppress church ales and revels in the county.
11. 1793. The radical Tom Paine burned in effigy in Exeter
12. 1599. Thomas Colmer was licensed to teach grammar to boys in Hartland.
13. 1676. Three snuff dishes were purchased at Sydenham.
13. 1807. Edward Upham, Exeter bookseller, sells lottery tickets for the national lottery to be drawn today. First prize £20,000.
14. 1900. A county footballer was summoned in Barnnstaple for furious driving, crossing the Long Bridge at ten miles an hour
15. 1685. The first sermon was heard in the chapel of Exeter Castle since its refurbishment.
16. 1646. Rev Larkham of Tavistock noted in his diary that on this day there was a solar eclipse.
17. 1608. By reason of an extreme frost which continued down the river of Exe huge stacks brake Collibear Weir
18. 1599. A ship at Dartmouth left for Marseille with a cargo of pilchards.
19. 1880. At Exeter the River Exe froze over
20. 1607. There was a great flood at Barnstaple. In Southgate Street it came up above the pump.
21. 1801. Horation Nelson received the freedom of Plymouth
22. 1610. The City of Exeter instructed its two MPs to give to the Speaker of Parliament a salmon pie and a hogshead of wine
23. 1590. At Bradworthy one of the two twins of John Hood was buried.
24. 1889. Meeting of the provisional Devon County Council
25. 1858. A Chulmleigh boy was sentenced to three months imprisonment for stealing a cheese
26. 1917. A violent storm washed away Hallsands
27. 1627. William Hoppin of Exeter, clockmaker, signed an agreement with the town of Totnes for maintaining the town's clock.
28. 1595. Early in the morning Sir Francis Drake died of dysentry on the island of Buena Ventura.
29. 1594. A man child of Peter Shercombe was buried in Tiverton, the first of eight stillborn babies buried there that year.
30. 1634. A petition was signed in Yarnscombe naming William Warmington, cleric as a man of very ill behavious in this place
31. 1680. One shilling and six pence was paid for candles for the watchman at Totnes

February

1. 1645. The weekly expenses at Tawstock amounted to £5 3s 4d, including 14 shillings to the park hedgers for 14 yard of hedge
2. 1635. Alice Bagge of Colyton was murdered by two husbandmen inflicting a mortal wound in her throat
3. 1689. At Topsham Peter Trapnell, described as an Anabaptist, was interred.
4. 1653. The Mayor of Barnstaple informed the Council that he had read the impressment notice but only two seamen had responded.
5. 1677. A Barnstaple vessel, which had loaded coal, sank off the Welsh coast. All aboard were drowned.
6. 1584. Adrian Gilbert of Greenway acquired a patent to search for a north west passage to China.
7. 1633. Exeter's Northernhay was freshly gravelled.
8. 1587. Mary Queen of Scots was executed. When the news reached Halberton the church bells were rung.
9. 1599. Mary Bluett of Holcombe Rogus wrote to her brother-in-law John Trevelyan for the loan of a horse for the north of Devon.
10. 1662. James and Martha Knight of Dartmouth were accused of allowing unlawful games in their house.
11. 1591. The week's expenses for the running of Tawstock were just over six pounds.
12. 1572. Richard Hooker, later to become one of Devon's most famous theologians, returned to Oxford.
13. 1622. The crew of the Exchange of Bristol arrived back from being captured by Algerian pirates.
14. 1628. Half an ounce of rhubarb was purchased at Forde House for one shiilling and six pence.
15. 1643. Joseph Southcott of Mohun's Ottery was overheard saying that he would rather spend ten drops of his blood for Parliament
16. 1646. The last battle of the Civil War took place at Torrington.
17. 1671. Thomas Moor and Trefusa Tricky, both of Broadclyst, were accused of incontinence.
18. 1638. The Nutte of Dartmouth arrived home from Nantes with fifteen tons of salt.
20. 1547. At Plymouth there was a triumph (a public pageant) to mark the coronation of Edward VI
21. 1620. Two Exeter constables informed the mayor that Robert Searell kept ill rule in his house during sermon and service time.
22. 1626. William Lake of Upton Helions admitted stealing a hen sat a broody together with her eggs.
23. 1614. In the Plymouth burial register it is recorded that John, and Indian of the Fort, was buried
24. 1578. St Mathias Day. The Ashburton churchwardens noted that for more than a year they had supported an illegitimate child.
25. 1629. Lenten provisions at Forde, Newton Abbot included fresh fish, herring, cockles, 6 corfish, 5 lobsters and 450 oysters.
26. 1588. Adam Wyott, Barnstaple town clerk, visited the newly-opened silver mines at Combe Martin.
27. 1599. William Honeywell of Rydon travelled to Teignmouth. While there he played a game of bowls.
28. 1619. An order was made by the Lord High Admiral for a survey of all shipping in south Devon.
29. 1620. At Exeter Alexander Cary of Plymouth was determined to be a masterless vagrant and was ordered to be whipped.

March

1. 1651. Thomas Larkham, vicar of Tavistock, recorded in his diary a gift of several raspberry pies.
2. 1545. Thomas Bodley, the founder of the Bodleian Library in Oxford, was born in Exeter.
3. 1606. At Stokeinteignhead William Zevie, a deaf and dumb servant of William Towill was buried
4. 1635. The town clerk of Okehampton noted the complaint that Christopher Williams, schoolmaster hath neglected the school here.
5. 1650. The probate inventory of James Ellis of Sampford Courtenay showed that he owned a mattock, shovel, axe and other tools.
6. 1619. At the Stannary Court in Chagford the chamber collapsed killing ten people.
7. 1654. Culpepper Clapham, a Barnstaple apothecary, supplied the Countess of Bath with a mixture of cassia (a type of cinnamon)
8. 1666. Nearly eight shilling were collected at North Tawton for the town of Bradninch which had recently had a great fire.
9. 1560. The Devon justices reported to the Privy Council that 6,727 Devon men were listed as able to fight.
10. 1634. Thomas Halswell was ordered to maintain a footpath through a close known as South Ridge in Stoke Fleming.
11. 1638. The churchwardens of Bow gave one shilling and six pence to sixteen people from Ireland.
12. 1659. Philip Bartlett heard a worsted comber say that the city's ministers were thieves and robbers.
13. 1283. The Bishop of Exeter agreed that two Exeter churches, Saint Paul and Saint Cuthbert were to be joined
14. 1630. Elizabeth Romford was buried in Ottery St Mary, a wandering stranger who was carried from tithing to tithing.
15. 1623. The justices of three Devon hundreds informed the Sheriff that they were trying to secure supplies of grain for the poor
16. 1655. Five members of Tiverton Corporation were removed.
17. 1585. The Mayor of Plymouth reported a shortage of mariners to recruit for the navy.
18. 1566. Every resident of Exeter almshouses was ordered to daily attend afternoon church services at the Cathedral or be removed
19. 1621. Elizabeth Peekes of Exeter claimed that Deborah Skynner had slandered her by claiming she had a child before marriage.
20. 1941. The Plymouth blitz at its worst. 336 civilians killed on 20 and 21 March
21. 1604. Twins were baptised in the parish of Bradworthy. Another set had been baptised one month previously.
22. 1578. The city of Exeter agreed to make a sluice along the river at Exminster because of the flooding.
23. 1610. Pirates, led by Thomas Salkeld, captured Lundy and declared their leader king.
24. 1608. Six pence was spent at Crediton for beer to give the bell ringers, it being Sheer or Maundy Thursday.
25. 1601. Robert Smale of Plymouth was buried; he was, according to the parish register: of the age of 116 years.
26. 1595. Richard Champernowne of Modbury wrote to Sir Richard Cecil to deny he was a gelder of boys for preserving their voices.
27. 1676. It was noted in the St Thomas register that many people died of smallpox.
28. 1643. The poet William Browne, born in Tavistock, was buried.
29. 1675. At Topsham Katherine Fowler, widow, was, along with her daughter and granddaughter laid all three in one grave.
30. 1669. Cosmo III, Grand Duke of Tuscany, began a visit to England by landing in Plymouth.
31. 1668. The cleric of North Molton was accused of being a common alehouse haunter.

April

1. 1598. At the Exeter Quarter Session Susan Chappell, who confesseth that she hath had three bastards, is ordered to be whipped.
2. 1849. The South Devon Railway completed to Plymouth
3. 1678. Three Totnes women were named as common scolds.
4. 1564. Thomas Beaford, noted as: the master of the beggars of Exeter, was buried.
5. 1615. William Martin of Exeter was called to the Privy Council for passages in The history and lives of the kings of England.
6. 1593. In Exeter the wife of John Mogridge died in travail with her child and her child with her
7. 1658. Sir Courtenay Pole began grafting at an orchard in Shute at least 12 rows of fruit trees with up to 14 pears per row.
8. 1659. The Rev. Thomas Larkham planted apricots at Tavistock.
9. 1594. Licence granted to Thomas Chappel of Churchstanton to transport corn, grain, butter and cheese from Somerset into Devon.
10. 1580. The churchwardens of Halberton noted that each parishioner had to pay 5 shillings and 8 pence for burial in the church.
11. 1559. It was alleged by Robert Taylor of Moretonhampstead that another man had bewitched his cattle.
12. 1586. John Ford, dramatist, author of 'Tis a pity she's a whore, baptised at Ilsington.
13. 1647. This day was chosen as a day of thanksgiving for the deliverance of Exeter from the Royalists.
14. 1655. Edward and Mary, children of William West were buried in St Sidwell's Churchyard after being scalded with hot liquor.
15. 1620. A sermon was given at the funeral of Gilbert Davies at Christow, who was one of nineteen children.
16. 1509. William Grove of Dartmouth was accused in the Dartmouth Mayor's court of illegally keeping pigs
17. 1666. Five residents of Thorverton were named as keeping inns or tippling houses within the parish.
18. 1625. Sir James Bagg reported from Plymouth that a Turkish pirate ship had taken a Dartmouth ship and 3 Cornish fishing boats.
19. 1651. The burial took place at Ottery St Mary of Jane Hollard, commonly called deaf Jane.
20. 1614. An Act for erecting a pier at Axmouth was discussed in Parliament.
21. 1656. George Walrond of Bradfield noted in his diary that his son Henry went to school to Mr Giles of Kentisbeare
22. 1615. Thomas Nyle was paid 11 shillings for two boat-loads of stones for the building of the Hospital of Orphans Aid, Plymouth
23. 1685. The church bells at Axminster were rung when James II was proclaimed king in the town.
24. 1591. Sir Francis Drake finished his great and lasting public work of bringing fresh water into Plymouth from Dartmoor.
25. 1637. Three Southampton men testified that they transported salt from Dartmouth to Southampton.
26. 1593. Nicholas Norden alias Heaymes was hanged in Exeter for the murder of John Maunders.
27. 1598. Orders agreed by the Chapter House include that every woman as shall have a bastard shall be whipped.
28. 1663. Joshua Stocker of Widworthy was accused of digging a marl pit in the highway leading to Colyton.
29. 1606. A new-born baby was discovered in a furse-brake by parishioners of Rackenford.
30. 1657. Among the items purchased for the kitchen at Sydenham were: three quarts of gooseberries, three neats' tongues etc.

May

1. 1844. The first steam locomotive reaches Exeter
2. 1635. The probate inventory of Anne Parnacott of Petrockstowe showed her to be a wealthy widow with an estate valued at £378.
3. 1640. At Membury the son of John Lee was christened with the name Charity.
4. 1942. 10,000 incendiary bombs dropped on Exeter
5. 1630. The churchwardens of Woodbury cited their own church for that it is not paned or glassed.
6. 1869. Public Libraries Act adopted at a public meeting in Exeter
7. 1599. Joan Ingram was questioned regarding witchcraft. She claimed she had helped to cure men, women and animals
8. 1655. Six men were executed at Heavitree and buried in St Sidwell's churchyard.
9. 1626. An Axminster baker tried to discover the identity of the thief who took one of his lambs by measuring a footprint.
10. 1596. Hugh Beare was hanged outside the South Gate at Exeter for counterfeiting.
11. 1660. Charles II was proclaimed king in Exeter
12. 1607. Walter Yonge of Colyton wrote in his diary that there were earthquakes felt in Barnstaple, Tiverton and Bampton.
13. 1643. Alice Searle and Besse Randall, servants at Tawstock, received one pound each for their half-yearly wages.
14. 1631. A sheep was killed to provision the household at Forde in Newton Abbot.
15. 1632. A navy captain reported great panic caused by a rumour that there was a landing at Seaton of certain rogues & Biscayners
16. 1649. Ten pair of pigeons were sold in north Devon for three shillings.
17. 1666. An estimate of £4,522 and 12s was put on the damage done by the fire at Bradninch.
18. 1610. Seven Flemish men from and East Indies ship were buried in Dartmouth.
19. 1686. There was a payment of ten shillings on behalf of Francis Courtenay to Mr Hooper for giving my master a vomit.
20. 1591. The first victim of a plague epidemic was buried at Tiverton.
20. 1892. The final broad gauge railways in Devon converted to standard gauge over this weekend
21. 1595. All the houses in the high street of East Ogwell and the parish barn were burned to the ground.
22. 1610. The city officials of Exeter gave two sugar loaves to two canons in appreciation of the Cathedral morning lectures.
23. 1637. Three Irish vessels arrived at Dartmouth with cargoes including three barrels of Irish beef.
24. 1522. John Jewell, later Bishop of Salisbury, was born in Berrynarbor.
24. 1784. Benefit acrobatic performance for Miss Andrews of Mr. Hillyard's company at the theatre in Exeter.
25. 1644. Joan Ellis was paid two shillings for making twelve handkerchiefs for the Countess of Bath at Tawstock.
26. 1650. John Churchill, later Duke of Marlborough, was born at Ashe House in Musbury.
27. 1598. Alice Magridge of Tiverton was suspected of assisting in an abortion, being asked for a medecine for a woman's griefs.
28. 1522. Robert Derkeham, organist was given a contract with Buckland Abbey to teach music and organ playing for £2 13s a year.
29. 1585. All English vessels and crew were seized in Spain. Barnstaple claimed losses of £6,000, Exeter £2,600, Plymouth £3,500.
29. 1856. Exeter commemorates the end of the Crimean War with a miltary parade and a dinner for 10,000 people in Byry Meadow
30. 1592. Letters patent were granted for the erection of walls and ditches to protect Plymouth.
31. 1617. At Plymouth was buried Thomas Flickett of Lynn who was described as being of Sir Walter Raleigh's ship.

June

1. 1646. It was recorded in the Hemyock register that more than fifty residents had died of the infectious disease in the town.
2. 1608. Four pirates were executed and buried at Plymouth.
3. 1622. At Exeter Guildhall Thomas Perkins, barber of Southgate Street, was presented for having dangerous stairs to his cellar.
4. 1630. The church bells at Tones rang for the birth of Prince Charles. The news took six days to arrive.
5. 1580. Six shillings was raised at Exeter for seeing of a play at the Guildhall
6. 1944. American and British troops leave Devon ports for D-Day landings on Normady
7. 1561. James Cooke sat in the pillory at Exeter for having picked pockets.
8. 1599. Among the licences granted in the diocese was one for the sequestration of Kenton because the vicar was declared insane.
9. 1549. The introduction of the new prayer book opposed in Sampford Courtenay starting the Prayerbook Rebellion
10. 1618. The churchwardens of Dawlish gave three shillings and eight pence towards the ransoming of three men being held prisoner
11. 1600. The Privy Council wrote from Greenwich to the Earl of Bath to thanks him for repairing Devon's beacons.
12. 1616. Pocahontas, the native American princess, arrived in Plymouth.
13. 1602. William Honeywell went to church at Trusham ansd spent the rest of the day playing bowls.
14. 1634. The Privy Council issued a warrant for the mayor of Plymouth to investigate the illegal sale of tobacco in the port.
15. 1619. The Plymouth register records the baptism of Fardinando Palaeoglagus, son of Theodore, an Italian
16. 1631. The fair maid of the west by Thomas Heywood was printed, telling of the loves of a Plymouth bar-maid Bess Bridges.
17. 1567. Thomas Westcote, the Devon historian was baptised in Shobrooke.
18. 1640. The Elizabeth of Plymouth arrived back from a voyage to new England after attacks by pirates.
19. 1649. Robert Grincking, clock maker, was given thirty shillings for repairing Exeter Cathedral's clock.
19. 1848. Grand wrestling match held at Exeter
20. 1623. The pirate John Nutt arrived in London accompanied by the deputy Vice Admiral of Devon.
21. 1650. The Earl of Bath writes to his wife that the plague had been brought to Appledore.
22. 1574. The city of Exeter ordered that all hogs, pigs or swine kept within the city were to be removed on pain of fine.
23. 1640. Mr Tristram Risdon, author of The survey of Devon, was buried in St Giles in the Wood.
24. 1568. At the time of his death Nicholas Marret, a cordwainer of Exeter, had in his shop eighteen shoes valued at eight pence.
25. 1519. Hugh Oldham, bishop of Exeter, died. He was described as having more zeal than knowledge.
26. 1493. Seven Plymouth men were fined for not removing the dung on their premises near the quay.
27. 1578. William Bradbridge bishop of Exeter died, according to Hooker well learned but not so well as he persuded himself to be.
28. 1649. Noxious gas or vapours from a well in the White Hart killed two men from St Sidwell's parish
29. 1629. John Baggot and his wife, daughter and two servants were named as Papists and Recusants in Morchard Bishop.
30. 1600. Prodigious numbers of herring were caught along the north Devon coast.

July

1. 1629. Maude Somter, widow of Totnes, was ordered to stop the illegal sale of cider.
2. 1549. The gates of the city of Exeter were shut to the 2,000 Prayer Book rebels
2. 1824. First issue of the North Devon Journal, the first newspaper published in the north of Devon
3. 1602. William Honeywell of Rydon travelled to Chudleigh to buy dried and salted Newfoundland fish.
4. 1569. Francis Drake married Mary Newman at St Budeaux church.
5. 1649. John Taylor, the water poet walked seven miles to Barnstaple, a very sweet town
6. 1643. William Hoyle was stricken dead with a bullet through the head in a fight at Exeter between Roundheads and Cavaliers.
7. 1577. A recognizance signed by Francis Drake shows that the Pelican, later the Golden Hinde, was built for Drake in Devon.
8. 1674. Tristram Day of Heavitree was slain at Pinhoe by the fall of a wall.
9. 1594. A licence was granted to John Pedlar, a blind Exbourne harper, to beg in three Devon hundreds.
10. 1663. The petty constables of Alphington presented Thomas Salsberey and his wife for not attending church.
11. 1510. The city of Exeter decided that each parish should celebrate only church holy days and not the revels called Robin Hood.
12. 1610. Richard Wilkins was executed at Heavitree for the crime of witchcraft.
12. 1790. Hunter's Sweepstakes run on Milber Down near Newton Abbot, including the Gentleman's Subscription Cup.
12. 2005. General rejoicing when Devon's County Local Studies Librarian, Ian Maxted, finally retires.
13. 1561. The grammar school at Plymouth was established with the appointment of Thomas Brooke.
14. 1636. For the second year the justices at Exeter ordered restrictions on the sale of barley.
15. 1623. Nicholas Eliot of Plymouth acknowledged he was wrong stating a tax made to give employment to the local poor was unjust.
16. 1622. The rector of Dodbrooke claimed that he was slandered by John Maskell who called him a shit-breech knave.
17. 1627. Thomas Wyllis of Whitchurch alleged that a Buckland Monachorum man publicly accused him of trying to solicit his wife.
18. 1599. Simon Reede of Axminster was given a licence to practise surgery.
19. 1823. The first cholera case reported in Exeter in an epidemic in which 440 were to die
20. 1588. The Spanish Armada was sighted off Plymouth.
21. 1644. Princess Henrietta Maria, daughter of Charles I and Henrietta Maria was baptised in Exeter Cathedral.
22. 1676. The newly built Expedition of Plymouth caught fire while at anchor in Cattewater.
23. 1671. Charles II visited Exeter, after a journey from Dartmouth, lodging in the Deanery.
24. 1620. A royal charter was granted to the Weavers Tuckers and Shearmen of Exeter.
25. 1662. Willem Schellinks, a visiting Dutch artist, wrote that the Devon soil was the most expensive to improve in the kingdom.
26. 1584. Sir Walter Raleigh asked to purchase Hayes Barton, his family home, from the current owner.
26. 1644. King Charles I in Exeter where he saw his infant daughter, born at the Earl of Bedford's house
27. 1598. John Bridgman, having lost his hand at the training at Cullompton to be compensated by Treasurers for Maimed Soldiers
28. 1644. Richard Symonds recorded that his Majesty and the army marched to Crediton, a great lousy town.
29. 1782. Rebecca Downing burned at Exeter for poisoning her master
30. 1625. At Totnes two men of Slapton were given ten shillings because their houses were destroyed by fire.
30. 1928. Procession held in Exeter by the League of Nations Union in support of the Kellogg peace proposals to outlaw war.
31. 1675. The haymakers at Sydenham were paid a total of one pound and eight shillings for their labour.

August

1. 1631. Lammas Day. One shilling and six pence were paid to the fiddlers at Forde House, Newton Abbot.
2. 1619. Leonard Peard, of Neath, was found at the second day of the Lammas Fair at Exeter with suspicious goods.
3. 1649. The widow of Thomas Bloy of Plymouth petitioned for financial assistance for herself and her three children.
4. 1549. A riot broke out in Exeter in support of the Prayer Book rebels encamped outside the city.
5. 1612. A great fire once more occurred at Tiverton.
6. 1549. Lord Russell entered the city of Exeter and ended the Prayer Book Rebellion.
7. 1656. John Flavell was appointed lecturer at Dartmouth. He was the author of several works of devotion.
8. 1622. Joshua Lylse of the Maudlen House was buried in Plympton. Two other lepers were buried the same month.
9. 1573. Francis Drake sailed into Plymouth from a lucrative voyage to the West Indies.
10. 1620. Two boys were accused of jumping over the garden wall of Andrew Beere of Exeter and stealing his fruit.
11. 1657. It was stated that the partition in the Cathedral, so that several congregations could worship, would be built of brick.
12. 1599. James Dowdall, an Irish Catholic, was hanged, bowelled and quartered at Exeter.
13. 1577. Exeter's city officials instructed that the great ordnance was to be fired in honour of the Earl of Bedford
14. 1682. Three Bideford women tried for witchcraft at Exeter were convicted and sentenced to death
14. 1743. Fire destroys 460 houses in Crediton
15. 1892. Torquay granted royal charter for incorporation as a municipal borough
16. 1952. River Lyn floods and drowns 31 people in Lynmouth
17. 1657. Admiral Robert Blake died on HMS George in Plymouth.
18. 1622. An extreme and vehement storm struck the Tamar Valley.
19. 1677. While in Plymouth Charles II went to St Andrew's Church and touched for the King's Evil (scrofula).
20. 1566. John Walsh admitted to an official sent by the Bishop of Exeter that there were three kinds of fairies
21. 1643. Ten men climbed St Martin's tower in Exeter and refused to come down.
22. 1593. Order by the Privy Council relating to customs paid on pilchards in Devon and Cornwall
23. 1596. Leonard Calbone, a soldier, was murdered outside Exeter's south gate by a fellow soldier.
24. 1591. The birth of Robert Herrick, poet and incumbent of Dean Prior, author of Hesperides.
25. 1563. Wilmot Harrys was expelled from Exeter on a charge of bigamy.
26. 1676. At Sydenham the otter hunters were given five shillings for their efforts.
27. 1741. Foundation stone of Devon and Exeter Hospital laid
28. 1638. The Elizabeth Constant of Dartmouth, 180 tons, sailed for Dunkirk with a single cargo of twelve tons of Spanish salt.
29. 1642. William Nosworthy, master of arts and first master of the free school in Exeter died.
30. 1551. Miles Coverdale, the translator of the Bible into English, was consecrated Bishop of Exeter.
31. 1591. Battle of Sir Richard Grenville of the Revenge with a Spanish fleet.

September

1. 1609. Richard Carpenter of Sherwill wrote to his father-in-law on his relief of having a good harvest.
2. 1651. The Corporation of Barnstaple ordered that, because of plague, all bags of wool were to be opened and aired.
2. 1763. First issue of the Exeter Mercury newspaper, which later became the Exeter Flying Post and ceased publication in 1917
3. 1684. The town clerk of Okehampton recorded that the new charter was brought back.
4. 1615. At Exmouth there was the burial of John the Blackmore who was noted as being the servant of John Drake of Ashe.
5. 1643. Articles of surrender were signed and the Royalists took control of Exeter after a siege
5. 1887. Theatre Royal, Exeter, destroyed by fire with loss of 160 lives
6. 1620. The Mayflower left for New England from Plymouth, where the Pilgrims had been kindly entertained and courteously used.
7. 1592. The Madre de Dios, a Spanish prize ship with a cargo estimated at £140,000 was brought into Dartmouth.
8. 1564. Richard Payne was banished from Exeter. If he returned he was to be whipped and one of his ears nailed to the pillory.
9. 1568. The Merchant Adventurers of Exeter purchased 96 lots in the national lottery.
10. 1635. John Newman of Dartmouth stated that from 1613 to 1620 he lost £1,500 because of shipwreck and pirates.
11. 1675. Five pence was spent on blue starch and knitting needles at Sydenham.
12. 1688. It was noted in the parish register of Lustleigh that Elizabeth Wreyford, widow, dying excommunicate, is to be buried.
13. 1505. Ten shillings were given by the Dean and Chapter to the King's players for a performance.
14. 1584. Sir Francis Drake set sail from Plymouth on a voyage to the West Indies.
14. 1685. Monmouth rebels tried at Exeter
15. 1634. Among the items purchased for the Totnes workhouse were twenty-five yards of canvas, a bag of dust and cord for bolsters
16. 1582. A child was found in the porch of the White Hart Inn, died and was buried at St Sidwell's Churchyard.
17. 1633. Licences were granted to Walter Gest to teach grammar at West Alvington and John Francis to teach arithmetic and writing
18. 1681. A fire at East Budleigh caused an estimated £2,251 19s 6d worth of damage.
19. 1580. A salmon was caught in the River Exe and sold for two shillings and eight pence.
20. 1592. Robert Cecil wrote to his father from Exeter regarding the loss of valuable items from the prize vessel Madre de Dios
21. 1516. Thomas Fuller of Exeter was imprisoned for forty days for his abusive language.
22. 1593. The Deo Gratias of Kenton, George Perne master, returned from Newfoundland with 26 tons of train oil.
23. 1648. The hop gatherers at Tawstock received five pence a day for their labours.
24. 1633. The overseas fishing fleet victuallers resident in Barnstaple agreed to import corn from Cornwall.
25. 1555. John Vowell, alias Hooker was elected first Chamberlain of the city of Exeter.
26. 1580. The Golden Hinde sailed into Plymouth after Sir Francis Drake's three year voyage round the world.
27. 1606. Masons were paid one shilling a day for their labour in the building of the Shambles in Plymouth.
28. 1581. Henry Mugg, pirate, was hanged in chains on Start Point.
29. 1524. Michaelmas. At Tiverton castle the cook used two geese, roast beef, a pig, two capons, eight chickens, butter, eggs etc.
30. 1678. Two shillings and six pence were collected at Totnes for Richard Huxham of Heanton Punchardeon whose house was destroyed

October

1. 1636. The Bishop and Dean and Chapter issued orders for better behaviour in the Cathedral during services.
2. 1655. Eight hired shoemakers in Exeter agreed that they would not work for less than eight shillings per week for any man.
3. 1648. The overseers of Buckfastleigh asked that William Sarle, the reputed father of Joan Kelland's child, contribute
4. 1628. The Bishop of Exeter wrote to Sir Richard Buller about John Trevilian who said Queen Elizabeth was an arrant whore.
5. 1623. Prince Charles and the Duke of Buckingham returned from Spain without securing a marriage agreement with the Infanta.
6. 1620. Michael Heyman of Whimple, labourer, admitted playing cards for cider at the house of John Blake.
7. 1497. Henry VII arrived in Exeter following the Purbeck rebellion.
8. 1625. The naval fleet set out for Cadiz. Charles I travelled to Plymouth to view the fleet.
9. 1634. John Winter wrote from Maine to Robert Trelawny, a Plymouth merchant, with news of the fishing plantation.
10. 1581. John Hooker wrote in Exeter that there was seen a great comet or blazing star, also an earthquake in parts of the realm.
11. 1686. A payment was made by a female member of the Courtenay family of a guinea to Mr Montague the dancing master.
12. 1646. There was plundering by Civil War soldiers at Colyton.
13. 1625. At Tiverton fifty-three houses were thrown down and destroyed by a great flood of water.
14. 1687. The church bells of Axminster were rung to celebrate the birthday of James II.
15. 1688. Samuel Gordin of Northam was buried at Topsham after falling off the quay and drowning.
16. 1582. Robert Moore wrote to the Countess of Bedford for help with her tinworks near Tavistock after the death of John Elford.
17. 1627. The shipwrights of Dartmouth responded to demands by the Rotherhithe shipwrights that they conform to their regulations.
18. 1564. Captain John Hawkins sailed on the Jesus out of Plymouth for the African coast along with the Tiger and the Swallow.
19. 1539. The City of Exeter attempted to acquire the lands and tenements of St Nicholas Priory.
19. 1645. Fall of Tiverton Castle during the Civil War
20. 1638. Eight pence was paid in Totnes for a rope for the cucking stool.
20. 1855. The North Devon Railway opened from Bideford to Barnstaple
21. 1501. Catherine of Aragon arrived in Exeter.
22. 1629. Richard Taylor allegedly accused Hugh Wyott of knowing three men's wives in Braunton
23. 1627. The Commission of Inquiry into the alleged corruption of the Vice Admiral of Devon began hearings at Totnes.
24. 1578. John Hooker reported a marvellous stornm and tempest of lightning, thunder, rain and hail of six inches at Exeter.
25. 1624. Seven men from Virginia, some of whom were ill, were given financial relief at Totnes.
26. 1596. The Mayor of Dartmouth was instructed to arrest loose wandering people who call themselves Egyptians and other rogues.
27. 1600. A Stannary Parliament was held at Crockern Tor for the proper management of tin mining.
28. 1614. St Simon and St Judas. The town of Totnes paid four pence for a pair of gloves for their fair.
29. 1618. Sir Walter Raleigh was executed at Westminster.
30. 1951. Dartmoor designated a national park
31. 1683. The town clerk of Okehampton noted that it was ordered that the charter be surrendered into the hands of his Majesty.

November

1. 1514. Allhallows or All Saints' Day. The churchwardens of Ashburton paid two shillings and two pence for ringing the bells
2. 1600. Richard Hooker, theologian, author of The laws of ecclesiastical polity died.
3. 1646. Financial arrangements were made to support for five years a lecturer at St Andrew's Church, Plymouth
4. 1608. The City of Exeter contracted with a local merchant for the delivery of 4,000 bushels of rye after the harvest failure.
5. 1688. Prince William of Orange lands at Brixham
6. 1688. The soldiers that William of Orange brought with him settled their camp at Brixham.
7. 1588. The San Pedro Mayor came ashore at Hope Cove near Salcombe, the only Armada ship to be wrecked on the Devon coast.
8. 1560. The churchwardens of Braunton gave two shillings for meat and drink for Robin Hood and his company.
9. 1605. Nine pence was paid at Totnes for the mending of the town's hour glass.
10. 1637. Remonstrances were sent to the Privy Council from persecuted Quakersin Devon. One woman had been whipped.
11. 1688. Prince William of Orange entered Exeter with swords drawn, colours flying and drums beating
12. 1595. Sir John Hawkins died at three o'clock in the afternoon in the Garland off Puerto Rico.
13. 1652. Grace Mathew complained at Guildhall that her husband was bewitched by a Broadclyst woman.
14. 1605. Shipowners in Plymouth complained at shipping being kept in port to prevent the Gunpowder Plot conspirators escaping.
15. 1577. Francis Drake sailed out of Plymouth Sound in the late afternoon on his flagship the Pelican.
16. 1625. Publication of the play Three to one; being an English-Spanish combat performed by a western gentleman of Tavistock.
17. 1627. The last of the plague victims was buried in St Saviour's parish, Dartmouth.
18. 1688. John Whittle, part of the retinue of William of Orange, preached at St Kerrian's Church, Exeter.
19. 1633. Exeter City officials decided to allocate ten pounds toward the costs of a clock with chimes on the Great Conduit.
20. 1627. Okehampton began the billetting of soldiers.
21. 1566. Four men in Exeter were whipped and fined for playing cards and other unlawful games.
22. 1661. The drummers at Totnes were paid for their playing on the coronation day of Charles II.
23. 1489. St Clement's Day. Prayers were said at Dartmouth for one soul. The church received 2s. 7d. for the obit.
24. 1625. James Bagg of Plymouth wrote that many people had died in a great snowstorm in Devon
25. 1549. The annual rental for Sporebam in Heavitree was fixed as one red rose.
26. 1611. Thomas Prestwood presented his accounts for the maudlin house in Totnes, with 2s. 1d. a week for four leper people.
27. 1665. In Newton St Petrock Church a funeral bier was repaired and a dog whipper appointed.
28. 1606. Judgement was passed in the King's Bench regarding Kenton tithes, after a dispute between the vicar and a parishioner.
29. 1564. Sir John Hawkins arrived at Cape Verde on a slaving expedition
30. 1654. Josias Calmady gave a fat bullock to the poor people of Okehampton at the time of his marriage.

December

1. 1676. Eight chimneys were swept at Sydenham for one shilling and four pence.
2. 1527. The funeral at Tiverton of Princess Katherine, described as daughter, sister and aunt of kings.
3. 1561. The Mayor of Exeter ordered that all owners of inns, taverns and victualling houses were to keep a candle at their door.
3. 1789. Hamlet preformed at weatherdon's School, Newton Abbot.
4. 1626. It was reported from Dartmouth that a Dutch ship was discovered drifting at sea no crew, probably attacked by pirates.
5. 1681. Edmund Tremayne of Collacombe paid Harry fourteen shillings and five pence for shoeing his horses.
6. 1680. A collection was made throughout the county to help those who suffered in the fire at Newland in Swimbridge.
7. 1601. Robert Askettell, a sailor of Aldeborough, was buried at Salcombe. He had been slain by a Dunkirk man of war.
8. 1567. Nicholas Davy of Crediton was convicted of stealing knives at St Nicholas Fair, whipped and sent out of Exeter.
9. 1615. An inventory was drawn up of the goods of the late Michael Harte, bookseller of Exeter who had some 4,500 books.
10. 1664. A blazing star was seen at Tavistock at about four in the morning.
11. 1624. Six Padstow men were drowned going over the bar at Barnstaple and were buried at Northam.
12. 1627. At Forde House, Newton Abbot a steer was killed for household use and 13 shllings spent on 500 oysters and other foods.
13. 1557. The Exeter Mayor and his council decided that at council meetings the mayor could stop anyone speaking.
14. 1594. Roger Swinsbury of Plymouth was buried. He died of the plague as did his two sons and wife.
15. 1531. Thomas Bennet, arrested by the Mayor of Exeter on suspicion of heresy, was ordered to be burnt.
16. 1674. The Dutch fleet at Plymouth left the port in pursuit of their French rivals.
17. 1585. The Mayor of Exeter ordered that twelve pence be given to the bear baiter.
18. 1548. Edmund Drake, shearman, and possible father of Francis was pardoned for having stolen a horse at Tavistock
19. 1629. John Scoble of Plymouth left provision in his will for 18 pence to be given each week to provide bread for the poor.
20. 1637. The rent for a property in Dartington was fixed as ten shillings and ten pence.
21. 1523. The abbot of Forde sent the Countess of Devon a boar and two swans for her Christmas celebrations.
22. 1602. Mary Bluett of Holcombe Rogus wrote to John Trevelyan, her brother-in-law, to thank him for a gift of venison.
23. 1666. The constables of Axminster hundred presented John Colliver for being drunk and absent from church.
24. 1592. Gonzalo Gonzales del Castillo, a prisoner since the defeat of the Armada, sailed from Exeter for Brittany
25. 1839. 8,000,000 tons of soil slipped into the sea near Axmouth.
26. 1646. Eight pairs of coarse canvas sheets were sent from Tawstock to the house of the Earl and Countess of Bath in Lincoln.
27. 1684. At Topsham there died Margery Slade, a beggar woman who was found dead in the snow.
28. 1629. Totnes entertained a preacher from Germany and paid him a pound for his services.
29. 1569. In Exeter brewers were to sell their best double ale at six shilings the barrel.
30. 1639. In the Exeter Cathedral register it was recorded that the daughter of Matthew Bennet was dead born.
31. 1524. The players who performed before the Countess of Devon at Tiverton Castle were given thirteen shillings and four pence
31. 1780. The men who deliver the Sherborne journal distribute their New Year's gift of printed verses to elicit a gratuity.

Creator: Devon Library and Information Services
Title: A Devon book of days : events for each day of the year
Imprint: : Devon Library Services
Date: 2003
Format: Web page : HTML
Series: Devon timeline ; 0006
Ref. no.: WEB ALMANACK
Coverage: Westcountry . Almanacks
Last Updated: 16/11/2006


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