Social and Parish History
A Social History of the Village of Abbotsham 1860 - 1978 Mike Davey & Clifford Babb
In 1994 Mike Davy and Clifford Babb completed an invaluable piece of work for local Historians. The Bideford Gazette copies from 1860 to 1978 were read and all reports referring to Abbotsham were extracted and typed up. In addition they unearthed copies of the Parish Magazine which ran from 1889 for an unknown number of years and extracted relevant reports. The bound copies give a picture of life throughout the period and the changing views and aspirations of the population. The document has been digitised and sections covering the early years and the complete document will be found below. An index has not been created for those who wish to locate particular family names or locations. However, the files are in Word format and there is a facility in Word called Find ( you can find it in the top right hand corner of the main screen) If you click on Find a search box opens and you can type in names or locations and all occurrences in a document are flagged up.
The first section covers the period 1860 to 1880. It includes many property and farm sales, births, deaths and marriages as well as items ranging from suspicious poisonings to the Cottage Garden Society. Names mentioned that will be recognised locally today include Copp, Heywood, Turner, Moase, Friendship, Glover and Cork.
The first section covers the period 1860 to 1880. It includes many property and farm sales, births, deaths and marriages as well as items ranging from suspicious poisonings to the Cottage Garden Society. Names mentioned that will be recognised locally today include Copp, Heywood, Turner, Moase, Friendship, Glover and Cork.
| 1860_-_1880_social_history_of_abbotsham_i.docx |
The second section covering 1880 to 1899 includes a wealth of material from the Parish Magazines as well as the Bideford Gazette material. The information on the School is very interesting. For example, parents could pay into the shoe club and if a child arrived early 10 times in the week an extra 1d would be added for every penny paid in that week. No shoe club money could be taken out until all school fees had been paid.
| 1881-1899_social_history_of_abbotsham_ii.docx |
The third section covers the turn of the century up to the First World War (1900 - 1913) and reflects social change within the community. The Parish Council comes into play and modern amenities such as piped water appear. However, there remain arguments between the Parish Council and Bideford Council over the responsibility for maintaining the village pump! The Turners remain the largest property owners in the village but there is change at Cornborough where the Sealy Vidals leave and the Lomas family, distant relatives, eventually purchase the property.
| 1900_-_1913_social_history_of_abbotsham_iii.docx |
The fourth section covers the years 1914 to 1929. There is plenty of coverage of the local personnel killed or wounded in the War together with a record of the efforts back home to support the troops. This include knitting or making 4760 articles ranging from socks to shirts. One of the most intriguing items is the report of Mr Lewis Eyre Sealy Vidal being shot in El Paso Texas at the age of 63. It appears from family tradition that he was a bar owner trying to improve the security and conditions of the "ladies of the night" and this was not popular with fellow bar owners! Given his brother was Vicar of Abbotsham at the time this was an interesting divergence in career choice.
| 1914-1929_social_history_of_abbotsham_iv.docx |
Section five covers the period 1930 to 1949 a period of major change in the UK. Abbotsham gained its first Council house, mains water was being introduced, the advent of the NHS and the first death by a road accident in the village. The obituary to Frederick Brock, known as "Brocky" is particularly illuminating. Brocky had been taught by Wrecker Sanders and made his living catching prawns and lobsters off Abbotsham Cliff , trapping game throughout the area and even blackberrying in season.
| 1930_-_1949_social_history_of_abbotsham_v.docx |
The complete history is to be found in the file below, covering the years to 1978. A separate section 1950 - 1978 has not been included.
| 1860_-1978_complete_social_history_of_abbotsham_in_word_format.docx |
The Parochial Church Diary
The second important document for those with an interest in Social History or family history linked to Abbotsham, is the Parochial Church Diary which can be found in the Church section of the site.
The History of Abbotsham
The History of Abbotsham by H.A.Lomas, the seminal work on the village, was published in the 1950's and gives a comprehensive account of the history of the Parish. It has been transcribed into Word format can be downloaded below.
| 1956_history_of_abbotsham_word_edition.docx |
