Genealogy Chat

Does anyone know if there are any census/baptism records prior to 1850 for Buckfastleigh? The church burnt down and the records were lost.

Looking forward to hearing from anyone.

Thanks Wendy

I would imagine that the 1841 census covered Buckfastleigh. Any births, marriages or deaths that were registered there post September quarter 1837 are possibly available at www.freebmd.org.uk.

Finally and I may well be wrong but did not churches also send copies of their records to the diocese cathedral? It might be worth checking the bishops transcripts.

P.S. There appears to be 5 people with the surname Sitters recorded in Buckfastleigh in the 1841 census:

Ann c1791, James c1791, William c1820, Joseph c1830 and Elizabeth c1833. All originally transcribed as Setters.

1841 census:
Name: Ann Setters
[Ann Sitters]
Age: 50
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1791
Gender: Female
Where born: Devon, England
Civil parish: Buckfastleigh
Hundred: Stanborough
County/Island: Devon
Country: England
Street Address:

Occupation:

View image
Registration district: Totnes
Sub-registration district: Buckfastleigh
Neighbors: View others on page
Piece: 246
Book: 12
Folio: 18
Page Number: 30
Household Members:
Name Age
James Setters 50
Ann Setters 50
William Setters 21
Joseph Setters 11
Elizabeth Setters 8

A good place for Devon records info is

http://www.devonfhs.org.uk/

They sell various ways of accessing records that I find confusing.

But if you click on WWWBoard there, there is a discussion board with a number of knowledgeable people who could probably tell you whether records survive e.g. as Jonesey suggests.

Of course as Jonesey also says the 1841 census would be accessible as for anywhere else, and registered events 1837 onward would be in the GRO index with certificates available.

Devon events tend to be scarce in Mormon transcriptions (the churches were reluctant to cooperate with their endeavours), and the family history society and records office there seem very reluctant to share as well, but as SatNav says there are some in the Mormon records, these are the sites as you may not be familiar with them:

http://www.familysearch.org/eng/search/igi/search_igi.asp

specify the batch number SatNav gave: C050031

http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html

Have you looked at the Devon Record Office, their web site seems to suggest that the records for Buckfastleigh are available. The church was burnt in 1992 and the records were presumably saved before then.

http://www.devon.gov.uk/parish_register_list

Ken

I think the Parish records were lost in a fire in the 1840s. Then the church burnt down again in 1992. Beautiful church (OH's parents and stepmother are buried there). The very sad thing is that the 1992 fire was almost certainly arson. In case you don't know the ruins have been beautifully preserved and the tower and spire still stands. (OH was born in Buckfastleigh).

Wendy obviously has not returned to her thread. shame.

Thankyou to everyone who answered my request for information.
I'm sorry it took me sooooo long to reply, things get a bit hectic around here sometimes.
I do appreciate the effort you put in and will be looking into everything you have all sent me. My family tree goes back to William Sitters b: 1819 in Buckfastleigh, I'd like to find out his parents and siblings and of course further back if I can get it.
Just one query AnninGlos: who is OH?
Thanking everyone, Wendy :

Hi Wendy OH is my other half, (husband). But his records in Buckfastleigh only start with his parents when they moved there in the 1930s. If you ever get down to the village there is a lovely little museum in the main street with lots of local information and photos. Well it was there 3 years ago, not been down for a while.

Hello AnninGlos,
Thankyou for the explanation on OH, sorry I couldn't work it out but now I see so easy.
I live in Nathalia, a small country town in Victoria, Australia. I can't see in the forseeable future of getting over to England but I have been there and had a couple of hour visit to Buckfastleigh, thanks to my daughter and her boyfriend who were living in London at the time. It was a Sunday so not much was open but we did have lunch at the pub. I really enjoyed my visit although it would've been great to have had more time to look around.

Thanks again, Wendy

Did you manage to get up to the church? I had not realised that you were not in UK, should have from the times you were posting.

Anything you want to know about the place let me know.

I am glad the subject of Buckfastleigh came up. Thank you for that Wendy and thanks to you AnninGlos for you details of the village.

My interest stems from an ancestor who on all census returns and certificates came from and lived in Cornwall. However on hist last census return his birthplace is given as Buckfastleigh, which puzzled me but I rather tended to ignore it. However the parish records where I expected to find his baptism have recently become available online and he is not there, so I hope to find him in Buckfastleigh.

It seems that the Devon FHS publish lists of baptisms in Buckfastleigh from 1813 to 1837.

Ken

Good luck with that then Ken

We did go up to see the church and did a quick run around to see if we could see 'Sitters' on a headstone, once again unfortunately for lack of time and the detoriated state of the headstones we were unsuccessful. I have done some reading on Buckfastleigh and William Sitters was a woolcomber before coming out to Australia.

Wendy

Yes there was a big woolen mill in Buckfastleigh, although technically I think it was in Buckfast near the Abbey.

Wendy If I get to Buckfastleigh any time I will look for Sitters in the graveyard if I have time.

I have obtained some transcriptions of Buckfastleigh parish records and have sent a PM to Wendy with the details.

That is nice of you, I hope she finds them useful.