Useful addresses & location of sources

The three Devon Record Offices contain the most important genealogy-related archives in Devon. The Devon FHS web site at
•http://www.devonfhs.org.uk and the Genuki (Genealogy in UK and Ireland) site at
•http://genuki.cs.ncl.ac.uk/DEV/DevonCRO/index.html provide links to the various repositories with maps of their locations.

The Record Offices' official web pages at
•http://www.devon.gov.uk/record_office.htm and
•http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/archives provide details of opening times, charges, service points, their professional genealogical research service, and a newsletter.

Service points in the county hold microfilm or microfiche copies of local parish registers (containing baptisms, marriages and burials), tithe maps and apportionments (showing land ownership and use in about 1840), non-conformist registers, and some other records for the local area. Microfilm or fiche of other documents can be made available when a member of staff visits. Telephone the appropriate Record Office or Service Point for more information.

The Devon Public Library Local Studies Service has several major reference collections of great relevance to Devon genealogy, about 100,000 items in total, the main collection being at the Westcountry Studies Library in Exeter. You may search the online catalogue which is at •www.devon.gov.uk/etched

The North Devon Local Studies Centre in Barnstaple has shared facilities, including front office, with the North Devon Athenaeum, the North Devon Local Studies Library and the North Devon Record Office. The third major centre is at Plymouth where the Local Studies Library also houses the Naval History Library. Libraries such as Exmouth, Bideford, Tiverton and Newton Abbot also have large collections of local material.

EXETER AREA

BARNSTAPLE AREA

PLYMOUTH AREA

Devon Wills & other Records relating to an occurrence of death

The vast majority of Devon (and Somerset) wills were destroyed in the Blitz. However, quite a large number of Devon wills are in the Devon County Record Office. Some wills, which have not been indexed, may be found among the 'estate papers' of large land holders.

The main sources are:

Estate Duty Wills 1796-1903 (mostly for the years 1800-1865).
Abstracts are on microfiche at the Devon CRO and indexes are available in the Devon CRO and at Tree House. Death Duty Registers and the Indexes to Death Duty Registers are at the Public Record Office (IR 26 and 27). There are no copies of Estate Duty Wills - abstracts - as opposed to Death Duty Registrations, after 1857.

The Calendar of Devonshire Wills and Administrations (excluding Totnes).
In the absence of the actual will this list (calendar) can be used to find a date of death and area where it took place. Copies of the Calendar are in the Westcountry Studies Library and Tree House. Prior to the loss of Devon wills in the Blitz, abstracts of several hundred wills were made. These are in two distinct series of bound volumes in the Westcountry Studies Library.

The Calendar of Wills and Administrations from Jan 1858.
These Calendars are in the Exeter Probate Sub Registry, 2nd Floor, at Crown & County Courts, Southernhay Gardens, Exeter, EX1 1UH. 01392 415370, with the exception of the years 1964-1967 and also on microfiche at the Devon CRO 1858-1935. The complete calendars are available at the Bodmin and Bristol Probate Registries. Copies of wills and/or grants of administration may be ordered at any probate registry.

Inquisition Post Mortem, 1235-1662.
This printed source can be found in the Westcountry Studies Library. There is no index but details may often be cross-referenced using the Burnett Morris Index, a card index in WSL. The record of Enrolled Deeds from 1535, has a similar genealogical function to that often found in more recent wills in providing details of 'transferred' property. Listed details are in the Devon CRO.

Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills (pre-1857)
These wills were made by testators holding land in Devon and elsewhere in England or proved at the P.C.C. at the testator's or executor's special request. Calendars are in the Reference Department of the Exeter City Library and at the Family Records Centre and the Society of Genealogists, both in London.

British Record Office Probate Lists which also include Commonwealth & Protectorate Wills.
These lists are in the reference section of the Exeter City Library 1383-1857. During part of the Commonwealth period, 1653-1660, all wills, for the whole country, were proved in London, and not in the local ecclesiastical courts.

The London Gazette 1665/6 to date contains notifications of some deaths. An incomplete series of copies from the mid to late 19th century to date is held in the Reference Department of Exeter City Library.