Wolborough Devon Family History Guide
Wolborough is an Ancient Parish and a market town in the county of Devon.
Other places in the parish include: Newton Abbot and Newton Bushel.
Alternative names: Newton Abbot St Mary, Wolborough with Newton Abbot, Woolborough
Parish church: St. James
Parish registers begin:
- Parish registers: 1558
- Bishop’s Transcripts: 1597
Nonconformists include: Baptist, Independent/Congregational, Methodist, Presbyterian, Society of Friends/Quaker, Unitarian, and Wesleyan Methodist.
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Adjacent Parishes
Parish History
Wolborough
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
WOOLBOROUGH, a parish in Newton-Abbot district, Devon; containing chief part of Newton-Abbot town. Post town, Newton-Abbot.
Acres, 1,231. Real property, £15,437; of which £37 are in gasworks. Pop. in 1851, 3,227; in 1861, 4,427. Houses, 853.
The living is a donative in the diocese of Exeter. Value, £235. Patron, the Earl of Devon. See Newton-Abbot.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].
A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848
WOOLBOROUGH (St. James), a parish, in the union of Newton-Abbott, hundred of Haytor, Teignbridge and S. divisions of Devon, 5 miles (W. S. W.) from Teignmouth; containing, with the town of Newton-Abbott, 2609 inhabitants.
The parish lies on the road from London to Plymouth, about half a mile south of the river Teign, and comprises by computation 1600 acres. Limestone is extensively quarried for building, and burning into lime.
The living is a donative; net income, £235; patron and impropriator, the Earl of Devon. The church, situated about a mile from Newton-Abbott, has an inscription on the outside of the south aisle bearing date 1516; the other portions of the structure are considered to be much more ancient. There is some fine screen-work across the nave and aisles, and the building contains a monument to the memory of Sir Richard and Lady Lucy Reynell; the chancel underwent great improvement a few years since, and a handsome altar-piece of stone has been erected.—See Newton-Abbott.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848
Newton Abbott
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
NEWTON-ABBOT, a town, a sub-district, and a district, in Devon.
The town stands on the river Lemonat its influx to the Teign, and on the South Devon railway at the junction of the branches to Dartmouth and to Moreton-Hampstead, near Hackneild ford on the Icknieldway, 15 miles by road, but 20 by railway, S S W of Exeter; and it is partly in Wolborough parish, partly in Highweek parish, which are separated by the river Lemon.
It was anciently called Nuietone. It appears to have been originally considered one town, of one name, on one manor; but it afterwards, on a partition of the manor, came to be regarded as two towns, of two names.
The part in Wolborough parish passed, by gift of Lord Brewer, to the abbot of Tor, and took the distinctive name of Newton-Abbot; while the part in Highweek parish went, by gift of Henry III., to Robert Bussell or Bushell, and took the name of Newton-Bushell.
Charles I. and his suite, in 1625, on their way to Plymouth, were entertained at Ford House, a large and handsome mansion close to the railway station, belonging to the Earl of Devon, and now occupied by W. J. Watts, Esq.; and the Prince of Orange, in 1688, on his way from Torbay to Exeter, slept in the same mansion, made it, for a time, his head-quarters, encamped his army on Milber Down, and emitted his first declaration to the people of England from the pedestal of Newton-Abbot market-cross. The pedestal still stands, and bears an inscription commemorative of the fact.
Two port reeves, elected annually, the one by Newton-Abbot, the other by Newton-Bushell, govern the town; a board of 12 members, under the local government act, controls Newton-Abbot; and local magistrates hold petty sessions.
The town comprises several good streets; has, of late years, been much extended and embellished; is a polling-place; and has a head post-office, a railway station with telegraph, three banking offices, two chief inns, a town hall, a market house, three churches, seven dissenting chapels, a national school, a charity school, four alms-houses, and a workhouse.
The town hall was erected in 1848; contains a court-room, a reading-room, and a public room for meetings and lectures; and has, connected with it, a police station.
One of the churches, in Woolborough-street, is a chapel of ease to Woolborough; another, in Exeter-street, is a chapel of ease to Highweek; and the third, in Devon-square, is a new chapel of ease, called St. Paul’s church, a handsome cruciform edifice, in the early English style, erected in 1861, at a cost of about £4,000, all defrayed by the Earl of Devon, who also endowed it with £100 a year.
The parish church of Woolborough is on an eminence about a mile from Newton-Abbot; and that of Highweek, a very old edifice, is about a mile from Newton-Bushell.
The alms-houses are for four poor widows of clergymen; and were founded in 1640 by Lady Lucy Reynell, and rebuilt in 1845.
The work-house is a substantial stone building, in East-street; and has capacity for 350 inmates.
A weekly market is heldon Wednesday; a great cattle-market, on the last Wednesday of Feb.; and fairs, on 24 June, 11 Sept., and 6 Nov. Much business is done in the weekly market; and a considerable import and export trade, in connexionwith Teignmouth, is conducted at good and commodiouswharves on the Teign.
Pop. of the town in 1851, 3, 147; in 1861, 5, 221. Houses, 1, 683. Pop. of the Woolborough section in 1861, 4, 122. Houses, 841.
The sub-district contains the parishes of Woolborough, Highweek, Teigngrace, Kingsteignton, Haccombe, Combeinteignhead, Abbots-Kerswell, East Ogwell, West Ogwell, Denbury, Torbrian, and the larger part of Ipplepen. Acres, 21, 313. Pop. in 1851, 9, 217; in 1861, 10, 467. Houses, 2, 176.
The district comprehends also the sub-district of Ashburton, containing the parishes of Ashburton, Broadhempston, Bickington, Ilsington, Buckland-in-the-Moor, and Widdecombe-in-the-Moor, and the chapelry of Woodland; the sub-district of Moreton-Hampstead, containing the parishes of Moreton-Hampstead, North Bovey, Manaton, and Lustleigh; the sub-district of Chudleigh, containing the parishes of Chudleigh, Trusham, Hennock, Bovey-Tracey, and Bishopsteignton; the sub-district of Teignmouth, containing the parishes of East Teignmouth, West Teignmouth, St. Nicholas, and Dawlish; and the sub-district of Torquay, containing the parishes of Tormoham-with-Torquay, Cockington, St. Marychurch, Kingskerswell, Coffinswell, and Stokeinteignhead.
Acres, 117, 396. Poor-rates in 1863, £19, 798. Pop. in 1851, 52, 306; in 1861, 59, 863. Houses, 10, 825. Marriages in 1863, 416; births, 1,818, of which 81 were illegitimate; deaths, 1, 260, of which 431 were at ages under 5 years, and 32 at ages above 85. Marriages in the ten years 1851-60, 3, 799; births, 16, 172; deaths, 10, 179.
The places of worship, in 1851, were 47 of the Church of England, with 19, 333 sittings; 12 of Independents, with 4, 567 s.; 16 of Baptists, with 2, 711 s.; 1 of Quakers, with 25 s.; 24 of Wesleyans, with 3, 771 s.; 1 of Bible Christians, with 114 s.; 6 of Brethren, with 870 s.; 4 undefined, with 800 s.; and 3 of Roman Catholics, with 384 s.
The schools were 48 public day-schools, with 3, 968 scholars; 120 private day-schools, with 2, 623 s.; and 55 Sunday schools, with 4, 165 s.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].
A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848
NEWTON-ABBOTT, a market-town and chapelry, and the head of a union, in the parish of Woolborough, hundred of Haytor, Teignbridge and S. divisions of Devon, 14½ miles (S. S. W.) from Exeter, and 187 (S. W. by W.) from London; containing 1192 inhabitants.
It is probable that Newton-Abbott and Newton-Bushell were formerly included under the name of Nuietone, and retained this common appellation till the two manors became the property of different possessors. Newton-Abbott was so denominated from its being held by the Abbot of Tor, to whom it was given by William, Lord Brewer, founder of that monastery.
The town appears to have possessed a market and a fair in the time of Edward I. In 1625, Charles I. and his suite, when on their way to and from Plymouth, were entertained at Ford House, near the town. In 1688, the mansion was occupied by William, Prince of Orange, after his landing at Torbay; and from the pedestal of the market-cross, on which is an inscription commemorative of the fact, his declaration to the people of England was first read.
The town is situated on the river Lemon, upon the road between Exeter and Plymouth, and consists of two large, and several minor streets; the inhabitants are amply supplied with water from pumps and adjacent springs. The surrounding country is beautifully diversified.
Here was formerly an important woollen manufactory: the principal business now is tanning; large quantities of shoes, also, are exported to Newfoundland. The inhabitants carried on a very extensive trade with that colony, but it declined during the war in the beginning of the present century, and, with the exception of the above-named article, has not since been revived.
The river Teign is navigable to its junction with the Stover canal, about three-quarters of a mile from the town; lighters and boats come up by this canal from Teignmouth with coal, and return with granite and potters’ clay. Here is a station of the South Devon railway.
The markets are on Wednesday and Saturday, and on the last Wednesday in February is a great market for cattle: the market-place is spacious, and well arranged. Fairs are held on June 24th, Sept. 14th, and Nov. 9th, unless these fall on Wednesday, in which case the fairs take place on that day week.
A portreeve, reeve, and inferior officers, are annually elected by a jury, at the borough court; the office of portreeve is always filled by the reeve of the preceding year. A court leet is held annually, and a pettysession monthly: the powers of the county debt-court of Newton-Abbott, established in 1847, extend over the registration-district of Newton-Abbott.
The chapel, dedicated to St. Leonard, has been rebuilt, and contains 600 sittings. There are places of worship for Baptists and Independents, the latter of which, with a free school, was founded and liberally endowed pursuant to the will of Mr. Bearne, in 1787.
The poor-law union comprises 39 parishes or places, containing a population of 44,358.
At Milberdown, near Newton-Abbott, are vestiges of an ancient elliptical encampment with a triple intrenchment, where the Prince of Orange stationed his artillery when on his way from Brixham to Exeter.
Hacknield ford, in the neighbourhood, is supposed to have derived its name from its situation on the line of the Roman road called the Ikeneld-way. John Lethbridge, Esq., the inventor of the diving-bell, was a native of Newton-Abbott.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848
Parish Records
FamilySearch
Birth Marriage and Death Records
England, Devon Bishop’s Transcripts, 1558-1887
England, Devon and Cornwall Marriages, 1660-1912
England, Devon, Parish Registers, 1538-1912
Administration
- County: Devon
- Civil Registration District: Newton Abbot
- Probate Court: Court of the Bishop (Consistory) of the Archdeaconry of Totnes
- Diocese: Exeter
- Rural Deanery: Ipplepen
- Poor Law Union: Newton Abbot
- Hundred: Haytor
- Province: Canterbury