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- the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia
Topsham (#30 on map) is a town in the Exeter District in the county of Devon, England, on the east side of the River Exe, immediately north of its confluence with the River Clyst and the former's estuary, between Exeter and Exmouth. Topsham is village-sized, with a current population of around 5,023, increasing to 5,519 at the 2011 UK census for the electoral ward population which includes the separate settlement of Countess Wear or Countess Weir.
Topsham was designated a town by a 1300 royal charter and remained independent until the Exeter District was formed in 1974. However, between 1913 and 1974 it lost substantial areas to Exeter and other surrounding parishes. (Source: A Vision of Britain through Time)
A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Topsham from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1871-72:
- "TOPSHAM, a small town, a parish, and a [registration] sub-district, in St. Thomas [registration] district, Devon. The town stands on the river Exe, immediately above the influx of the Clist, and on the Exeter and Exmouth railway, 4 miles SSE of Exeter; was the only port of Exeter prior to the opening of the ship canal in 1544; had then a larger trade with Newfoundland than any other port of England; suffered an attack by the Earl of Warwick, on occasion of the siege of Exeter, in 1643; was the headquarters of Fairfax, prior to his removal to Ottery, in 1645; comprises one long street of irregular breadth, and several smaller streets; includes, in the south, a section called the Strand, consisting chiefly of genteel houses, and commanding very fine views; carries on ship-building, chain-making, rope-making, and a considerable coasting trade; and has a head post-office, a [railway] station with telegraph, two chief inns, a fine parish church, Independent and Wesleyan chapels, a national school, charities £151, and a fair on the Thursday after 18 July. Population in 1861: 2,772. Houses: 539.
- "The parish includes Countess-Weir chapelry, and comprises 1,570 acres of land and 170 of water. Real property: £11,085; of which £85 are in gasworks. Population in 1851: 3,377; in 1861: 3,503. Houses: 682. The manor belonged anciently to the Crown, and afterwards was held, for a long period, by the Earls of Devon. Weir House is the seat of Sir J. T. B. Duckworth, Bart.; and there are numerous good residences. The living is a [perpetual] curacy in the diocese of Exeter. Value: £290. Patrons: the Dean and Chapter of [Exeter]. The [perpetual] curacy of Countess-Weir is a separate benefice."
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Research Tips
(revised Jul 2021)
- Ordnance Survey Map of Devonshire North and Devonshire South are large-scale maps covering the whole of Devon between them. They show the parish boundaries when Rural Districts were still in existence and before the mergers of parishes that took place in 1935 and 1974. When expanded the maps can show many of the small villages and hamlets inside the parishes. These maps are now downloadable for personal use but they can take up a lot of computer memory.
- GENUKI has a selection of maps showing the boundaries of parishes in the 19th century. The contribution from "Know Your Place" on Devon is a huge website yet to be discovered in detail by this contributor.
- Devon has three repositories for hands-on investigation of county records. Each has a website which holds their catalog of registers and other documents.
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- There is, however, a proviso regarding early records for Devon. Exeter was badly hit in a "blitz" during World War II and the City Library, which then held the county archives, was burnt out. About a million books and historic documents went up in smoke. While equivalent records--particularly wills--are quite easy to come by for other English counties, some records for Devon and surrounding counties do not exist.
- Devon Family History Society Mailing address: PO Box 9, Exeter, EX2 6YP, United Kingdom. The society has branches in various parts of the county. It is the largest Family History Society in the United Kingdom. The website has a handy guide to each of the parishes in the county and publishes the registers for each of the Devon dioceses on CDs.
- This is the home page to the GENUKI Devon website. It has been updated since 2015 and includes a lot of useful information on each parish.
- Devon has a Online Parish Clerk (OPC) Project which can be reached through GENUKI. Only about half of the parishes have a volunteer contributing local data. For more information, consult the website, especially the list at the bottom of the homepage.
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- Magna Britannia, Volume 6 by Daniel Lysons and Samuel Lysons. A general and parochial history of the county. Originally published by T Cadell and W Davies, London, 1822, and placed online by British History Online. This is a volume of more than 500 pages of the history of Devon, parish by parish. It is 100 years older than the Victoria County Histories available for some other counties, but equally thorough in its coverage. Contains information that may have been swept under the carpet in more modern works.
- There is a cornucopia of county resources at Devon Heritage. Topics are: Architecture, Census, Devon County, the Devonshire Regiment, Directory Listings, Education, Genealogy, History, Industry, Parish Records, People, Places, Transportation, War Memorials. There are fascinating resources you would never guess that existed from those topic titles. (NOTE: There may be problems reaching this site. One popular browser provider has put a block on it. This may be temporary, or it may be its similarity in name to the Devon Heritage Centre at Exeter.)
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