Beer Devon Family History Guide
Beer is a chapelry of Seaton Ancient Parish in Devon.
Alternative names: Seaton St Michael, Seaton and Beer St Michael
Parish church:
Parish registers begin:
- Parish registers: 1880; see also Seaton
- Bishop’s Transcripts: None
Nonconformists include: Independent/Congregational
Table of Contents
Adjacent Parishes
Parish History
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
BEER, a village and a tything in Seaton parish, Devon. The village stands on the coast, in a romantic cove, 1½ mile SW of Axmouth; has a post office under Axminster; carries on fishing and lace-making; and was noted, in former days, for smuggling.
It was the birthplace of the notorious Jack Rattenbury, sometimes called the Rob Roy of England; and it produced the wedding dress of Queen Victoria in 1839. The cove around it is a fine subject for the pencil. Beer Head, projecting on the west, is crowned by two natural towers; and Beer quarry, about a mile inland, is a labyrinth of excavations, about ¼ of a mile long, and about 300 feet below the surface of the ground.
The tything includes the village, and forms a curacy with the vicarage of Seaton in the diocese of Exeter. Pop., 1,157. Houses, 260. The church consists of nave, chancel, and aisles.
There are an Independent chapel, and charities £210.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].
Parish Records
FamilySearch
Devon Newspapers
Fully searchable historical newspapers for the Devon area available at British Newspaper Archive.
Torbay Express and South Devon Echo
Torquay Directory and South Devon Journal
Torquay Times, and South Devon Advertiser
Maps
Vision of Britain historical maps
Administration
- County: Devon
- Civil Registration District: Axminster
- Probate Court: Court of the Bishop (Consistory) of the Archdeaconry of Exeter
- Diocese: Exeter
- Rural Deanery: Honiton
- Poor Law Union: Axminster
- Hundred: Colyton
- Province: Canterbury