Plymouth, Devon Family History Guide

PLYMOUTH, a great seaport in the SW extremity of Devon. It comprehends the three towns of Plymouth-proper on the E, Stonehouse in the middle, and Devonport on the W, and the suburb of Morice-Town on the NW; it extends from the Catwater or estuary of the Plym on the E, to the Hamoaze or estuary of the Tamaron the W; it occupies all the peninsula between these estuaries, cut in the S into three subordinate peninsulas by two creeks called Mill-bay and Sutton-pool, each about ½ a mile long; it is washed, along the S, by the upper part of Plymouth sound, which extends southward from it to the English channel; and it lies around the meeting-point of the South Devon railway and the Cornwall railway, 3½ miles W by S of the junction of the South Devon and Tavistock railway, and 43¼ miles by road, but 52¾ by railway, S W of Exeter. Stonehouse., Devonport, and Morice-Town are separately noticed in their own alphabetical places; and only Plymouth-proper and Plymouth sound form the subject of the present article.

History.—Plymouth, or its site, was called, in the Saxon times, Tame or werthe; after the Norman conquest, Sutton, or South-town; in the time of Edward I., Sutton-Prior, in one part, belonging to the priory of Plympton, Sutton-Valletort, or Sutton-Vauton, in another part, belonging to the family of Valletort; and, in the time of Henry VII., Plymouth. It is not mentioned in Domesday-book; and it is described in a manuscript of the time of Henry II.as “a mene thing, an inhabitation for fishars.” It soon afterwards began to rise into importance; and, in the time of Edward I., it had many vessels, and sent two members to parliament. A large fleet sailed from it, in 1295, to Guienne. The French attacked it in 1338, but were repulsed by the Earl of Devon. A contribution of 26 ships with 603 men was made by it, and by neighbouring places, in 1346, to the siege of Calais. The French attacked it again in 1350. The Black Prince embarked at it in 1355, on his expedition to France, and landed at it in 1357, with his royal prisoner. The French attacked it a third time in 1377, and then burnt part of it; they plundered it also in 1400; and they made another attempt to destroy it by fire in 1403. Fortifications for its defence were constructed in 1439. Margaret of Anjou landed at it in 1471; and Catherine of Arragon, in 1500. The plague ravaged it in 1579, 1581, and 1626. Sir Francis Drake, in 1584, constructed water-works for it, which still exist, and draw their supplies from a distance of 24 miles in Dartmoor. The fleet of 120 men of war, collected against the Spanish armada in 1588, took anchorage in P. sound, and sailed out thence, on sight of the armada, to chase and disperse it. Twenty-two chests of Papal bulls and indulgences, which had been taken from a discomfited party of Spanish invaders in Cornwall, were publicly burnt in 1595 in P. market-place. The fleet for the expedition against Cadiz rendezvoused in the sound in 1596. Sir Walter Raleigh sailed hence, on his expedition to Guiana, in 1617. The “Pilgrim Fathers” also sailed hence, to make a settlement in America; and they therefore called their first settlement there New Plymouth. Charles I., with his whole court, a fleet of 120 ships, and 6,000 troops, visited P. in 1635, remained ten days, and was sumptuously entertained by the corporation. The town, nevertheless, declared against him at the civil war; and, in 1643, it withstood a siege of three months by Prince Maurice. Charles II. visited P. in 1670. The fleet of the Prince of Orange, after having landed the Prince at Torbay, came into P. sound in 1688. Plymouth Dock, the nucleus of Devonport, was founded in the latter part of the reign of William III. Captain Cook sailed from P. in 1768; George III. visited it in 1789; Buonaparte, onboard of the Bellerophon, arrived in the sound in 1815; Don Miguel landed here in 1829. Queen Victoria also visited the town; and the Prince Consort in person opened the adjacent Albert bridge in 1859. Lethbridge the miniature painter and Foulston the architect died here; and Sir John Hawkins the admiral, Jacob Bryant, Glanville who wrote on witchcraft, Bidlake the author of “Virginia,” Carrington the poet, Northcott the painter, Haydon the painter, Eastlake and Prout the artists, Bacon the theologian, Crane and Quick the theologians, Mrs. Parsons the novelist, and Mudge the scientific writer, were natives.

Streets and Public Buildings.—The town occupies an area of only about a mile each way; and, though so comparatively limited, is not quite compact. Its site ascends boldly and brokenly from Mill-bay, Sutton-pool, and the intermediate headland; and is such as to render some of the street lines steep, and the entrance from the NE inconvenient. Most of the streets are narrow, short, and irregular; but a main good thoroughfare of several names describes the fourth of a circle through the central parts: another good street, called Union-street, forms the chief connexion with Stonehouse; and two other good streets, called Cambridge-street and Oxford-street, form a straight and continuous line on the NW; while multitudes of renovations have been made in the old parts, and a profusion of handsome private houses have been erected in the suburbs. Many a pleasant spot, once open for promenading, has been covered with public buildings and government works; but one magnificent promenade, called the Hoe, one of the most beautiful promenades in the kingdom, remains untouched. This is a high ridge, extending from Mill-bay to the entrance of Sutton-pool; constitutes the sea-front of the town; commands a view, both near and far, unrivalled for variety and sparkling with all sorts of beauty; has, on the centre, a camera-obscura, taking in the view, and, on the E part, an obelisk, serving as a landmark to ships entering the sound; and is fabled to have been the scene of a stout combat between a powerful giant and Brutus’ kinsman, Corinæus. Drayton, in his “Polyolbion,” describes the alleged combat as having been fought “upon that lofty place at Plimmith. called the Hoe; ” and Spencer speaks of

The Western Hogh, besprinkled with the gore
Of mighty Goemot, whom in stout fray
Corinæus conquer’d.

The guild-hall stands in Whimple-street; was erected in 1800; is a very irregular structure, in a sort of pointed style; and contains a portrait of George IV., when Regent, and some other pictures. A vast edifice belonging to the corporation, and comprising hotel, assembly-rooms, and theatre, stands at the end of George-street; was erected in 1811-18, at a cost of £60,000; suffered much damage by fire in the beginning of 1863; and was restored before the end of that year. A new hotel at Millbank-Grove was projected in 1862, on a scale and with a magnificenceto cost £20,000. The Freemasons’ hall stands at the N E of Cornwall-street; was built in 1827, at a cost of about £2, 500; and has, on the ground-floor, public reading-rooms instituted in 1832. The custom-house stands on the Quay at Sutton-pool; was built in 1820, at a cost of £8,000; and contains a principal room 521/3 feet long, 26 feet wide, and 22 feet high. The exchange stands near the custom-house; was erected in 1825, by means of £25 shares; and includes various public offices, and a reading-room. The post-office stands in Whimple-street; and is in the Grecian style, and commodious. The borough-jail stands on the right of the Tavistock-road; was erected in 1849, at a cost of about £12,500; and has capacity for 48 male and 23 female prisoners. The corn, meat, poultry, fish, and vegetable market occupies an area of about 3 acres, with entrances from Cornwall-street, East-street, and Drake-street; the cattle-market is on the Tavistock-road, and is well-fitted with stalls and pens; and the wholesale fish-market is held on the Barbican and the margin of Sutton-pool. The Union baths are situated in Union-street; were founded in 1828; present a Doric frontage; measure 242 feet by 67; and contain complete suites of all kinds of baths. The public baths and wash-houses are in Hoe-gate; and comprise three classes of baths, and 34 trays for washing. The emigrants’ home, the female emigrants’ home, and the sailors’ home are in respectively Baltic-wharf, Barbican, and Vauxhall-street. A clock-tower, 56 feet high, and crowned with a spire of ornamental iron-work, was erected in 1863 as a memorial to the late Prince Consort. Other public buildings will be noticed in subsequent paragraphs.

Parishes and Churches.—One parish comprehended all the town till 1640; and it was then divided into two, called St. Andrew and Charles-the-Martyr. St. Andrew’s parish comprises a section of the borough, and the chapelry of Pennycross or Weston-Peverell; and, in the borough section, is ecclesiastically cut into the divisions of St. Andrew, Christchurch, Holy Trinity, St. James, and St. Peter. Acres of the borough section, 519, of which 65 are water; of the whole, 1,800, of which 305 are water. Pop. of the borough section, in 1851, 33,064; in 1861, 39,209. Houses, 3,663. Pop. of the whole, in 1851, 33,385; in 1861, 39,524. Houses, 3,723. Pop. in 1861 of Christchurch portion, 3,984; of Holy Trinity portion, 3,807; of St. James portion, 3,163; of St. Peter portion, 10,325. Charles-the-Martyr parish comprises a section of the borough and the tything of Compton-Gifford; and is ecclesiastically cut, in the borough section, into the divisions of Charles-the-Martyr proper and Sutton-on-Plym. Acres of the borough section, 1,116, of which 240 are water; of the whole, 1,757. Pop. of the borough section, in 1851, 19,157; in 1861, 23,390. Houses, 2,421. Pop. of the whole, in 1851, 19,548; in l861, 24,270. Houses, 2,561. Pop. of the Sutton-on-Plym portion, in 1861, 6,237. There are also, within the borough, two chapelries, called St. Andrew’s and Charles’, without any defined limits. The livings of St. Andrew and Charles-the-Martyr are vicarages, and the other livings are p. curacies, in the diocese of Exeter; and the vicarage of St. A. is united with the chapelry of Penny-cross, and the vicarage of C.-the-M. with the chapelry of Compton-Gifford. Value, of St. A. with P., £920; of C.-M. with C.-G., £575; of Christchurch, £95; of Trinity, £114; of St. James, £150; of St. Peter and of Sutton-on-Plym, each £300; of St. Andrew’s chapel, £115; of Charles’ chapel, £100. Patron of St. Andrew, the Church Patronage Society; of Charles-the-Martyr, the Executors of the late Sir Bishop, Bart.; of Christchurch, Trinity, and St. Andrew’s chapel, the Vicar of St. Andrew’s; of St. James, St. Peter, and Sutton-on-Plym, alternately the Crown and the Bishop; of Charles’ chapel, Trustees.

The places of worship within the borough, in 1851, were 10 of the Church of England, with 9,615 sittings; 5 of Independents, with 2,968 s.; 1 of Baptists, with 1,036 s.; 1 of Quakers, with 400 s.; 2 of Unitarians, with 674 s.; 5 of Wesleyans, with 2,276 s.; 1 of Bible Christians, with 628 s.; 1 of the Wesleyan Association, with 308 s.; 10 of isolated congregations, with 5,500 s.; 1 of the Catholic and Apostolic church, with 250 s.; and 1 of Jews, with 150 s. Some other places of worship were erected prior to 1868. St. Andrew’s church stands at the corner of Bedford-street; is later English, with a tower of 1490; has lofty nave, and aisles, extending to the E end, and producing a triple chancel; was restored in 1826, at a cost of nearly £5,000; and contains a monument by Westmacott to Dr. Woolcombe, monuments of a number of other distinguished persons, and a fine bust of the Rev. Z. Mudge by Chantrey. Charles’ church stands in Vennell-street; was built in 1846-58; consists of nave, aisles, and chancel, with tower and elegant spire, the latter partly of the last century, partly of the present; and contains a tablet to Dr. Hawker. Christ church stands in Oxford-street; was erected in 1845; and is in the pointed style. Trinity church stands in Southside-street, was built in 1841, and is in plain Doric style. St. Peter’s church stands in Wyndham-place, was built in 1830 as Eldon chapel, and underwent alterations in 1850, when it was made St. Peter’s. St. John’s church stands in Jubilee-street, and is in the decorated English style. St. Andrew’s chapel stands in Lockyer-street, was erected in 1822, and is in the Doric style. Charles’ chapel stands in Tavistock-place, was erected in 1828, and contains about 1,500 sittings. The Sherwell Independent chapel was built in 1864, at a cost of £6,000; is in the decorated English style, and cruciform; has a tower and spire 140 feet high; and contains 1,200 sittings. The Wesleyan chapel, in King-street, was built in 1866, at a cost of £8,500; is in the Italian style; and contains 1,600 sittings. The Roman Catholic church, in Cecil-street, was built in 1857, at a cost of £5,000; was in the pointed style and cruciform, with accommodation for 2,000 persons; and, on the very eve of completion, collapsed into a heap of ruins. A house of sisters of mercy adjoins St. Peter’s church. There were formerly a white friary, a grey friary, and a lepers’ hospital.

Schools and Institutions.—The schools within the borough, in 1851, were 16 public day schools, with 2,719 scholars; 80 private day schools, with 2,103 s.; 25 Sunday schools, with 4,544 s.; and 3 evening schools for adults, with 148 s. Some other schools were erected prior to 1868. The grammar school, in Catherine-street, was founded in 1572, and has an endowed income of £20. Hele and Lanyon’s charity school, at North Hill, was founded in 1632; educates, clothes, maintains, and apprentices 20 boys; and has an endowed income of £700. The grey school, in Hampton-street, was built in 1814, at a cost of £1,178; educates and clothes 50 boys and 50 girls; and is supported partly by endowment and partly by collections and subscriptions. Lady Rogers’ charity school, in Tavistock-road, was founded in 1773, in result of a bequest of £10,000; and educates, clothes, maintains, and apprentices 58 girls. The free schools, on land belonging to Rowe’s charity, were established in 1810, and enlarged about 1855: are attended by about 540 scholars; and have an endowed income of £25. The household of faith, comprising an industrial school and a Sunday school, stands near Charles’ church; was established in 1787; educates and clothes about 40 scholars; and has an endowed income of £30. The Presbyterian school, or benevolent institution, in Batter-street, was founded in 1785; educates and clothes 50 girls; and is supported chiefly by subscription. Wesleyan schools, behind the King-street Wesleyan chapel, were about to be built in 1866, at a cost of £4,000. There are also five or six suites of national or parochial schools, and two or three ragged schools.

The athenæum stands close to the corporation buildings, at the end of George-street; was built in 1818-9; has a Doric portico, 36 feet in frontage and 37½ feet high to the apex of the pediment; includes a hall or lecture-room 36 feet by 30; and contains a valuable library and an interesting museum. The public library, in Cornwall-street, was erected in 1812, and enlarged in 1852; contains a spacious committee-room, a spacious news-room, a square library-room, 33 feet across and 33 feet high, with nearly 20,000 volumes; and includes the Cottonian library, with a multitude of rare. volumes, and a rich collection of manuscripts, prints, paintings, bronzes, and other works of art. The mechanics’ institute, in Princess-square, was established in 1825; and contains a news-room, a good library, and a lecture-hall 75 feet long and 35 feet wide. The Western college, in Radnor-place, was first founded at Ottery, St. Mary, in 1752, by the London Congregational Fund Board, to counteract the tendency to Arianism which had then extensively affected the western churches; was removed to Plymouth in 1766, and rebuilt in 1861; is in the second pointed style, with features of Italian Gothic; contains a spacious hall, lecture-rooms, students’ rooms, dormitories, a refectory, a handsome library-room 40 feet by 18, and various offices, with adjoining house for the principal; gives a course of five years’ training to ministerial students; is open also to young men of all denominations as lay students; and, in 1864, had an income of £1,052. A school of art, in connexion with the practical art school in London, is in Ebrington-street. A school of science, in connexion with the science and art department in London, was projected in 1865.

The South Devon hospital stands in Notte-street; was designed to consist of a centre and two wings; was constructed with a centre only, at a cost of £4, 435; and has accommodation, in that centre, for 80 patients. The dispensary stands in Catherine-street; was considerably enlarged about 1850; and contains the library of the Plymouth medical society. The eye infirmary stands in Millbay-road; was established in 1821; and is a neat building, with accommodation for 12 inmates. The female orphan asylum, in Lockyer-street, was founded in 1834; and educates and maintains about 50 orphan girls. The orphans’ aid hospital was established in 1625; educates and maintains 10 orphan boys; and has an endowed income of about £200 a year. Four suites of alms-houses give accommodation and allowances to about 72 poor persons. The female penitentiary is in Constantine-street; and was established in 1832. There are various other benevolent institutions; and the total of endowed charities, including those already named, is about £3, 700.

Sound and Harbour.—Plymouth sound is the outer or conjoint estuary of the Plym and the Tamar; commences abreast of the conjoint towns of Plymouth, Stone-house, and Devonport; receives, through contracted openings, the Catwater or estuary of the Plym on the NE, and the Hamoaze or estuary of the Tamar on the NW; extends 3½ miles directly southward, with a width of from 2 to 3½ miles, and opens abruptly into the English channel, between Wembury point on the E and Penlee point on the W. It is famous at once as a magnificent roadstead, as a station of the British navy, and as one of the most beautiful sheets of water on the English coast. It covers about 4,500 acres; has a depth of from 5 to 12 fathoms; and can readily accommodate 2,000 ships. Its shores rise in hills from 100 to 400 feet in height; and are margined with rocks, and diversified with woods, villages, and towns. Its E side has the Mewstone, Renny, and Shagstone rocks, off Wemburypoint; the Tinker and Shovel shoals, in the E channel past the breakwater; Statten pier in Bovisand bay, with a reservoir of 12,000 tons of water for shipping; the Duke and Leek shoals, further N; and the Mount Batten tower, at the embouche of the Catwater. The W side has the Dragstone rock, off Penlee point; the Panther and Knap shoals, near the W end of the breakwater; Cawsand bay, with pilot station, and Maker church, opposite the breakwater; Scottish and New shoals, off Ravenness; the grandly picturesque park of Mount-Edgcumbe, overhanging the shore to the N of Maker; and the Isle of St. Nicholas, or Drake’s Island, a bold, strongly-fortified, pyramidal rock, at the entrance of the Hamoaze.

The sound was naturally exposed to southerly gales, often blowing with such force as to be very disastrous to shipping; but it is now protected, all upward of a line about a mile within its entrance, by a stupendous artificial breakwater. This work was suggested, in 1806, by the Earl of St. Vincent; was commenced, in 1812, under the direction of Rennie; extends 5,100 feet from E to W; leaves an entrance 3,000 feet wide between its E end and the E shore, and an entrance 4,800 feet wide between its W end and the W shore; consists of a middle and direct part 3,000 feet long, and two end parts, deflecting inward at an angle of 120o, and each 1,050 feet long; is 210 feet wide at the base, and contracts to a width of 48 feet at the top; contains about 2,500,000 tons of stone, much of it from Orestone quarry; derived advantages for its construction from the existence of shoals on its site; underwent improvements on its plan, at several stages in the course of its formation; has three convenient landing-places, facing the E, the W, and the N, giving shelter for debarkation in any wind; has also, on its W arm, a lighthouse 63 feet high, showing a fixed light, red toward the sea, white toward the land, and visible at the distance of 8 miles; is paved on the top with square blocks of stone, so as to form, in fine weather, a delightful promenade; was completed, as to its main body, in 1840, as to its accessories, in 1845; and is computed to have cost at least £1,500,000. The work, on the whole, has admirably withstood the rage of storms; but it suffered material damage, particularly in 1838 in the course of its construction; and it still is liable to casualties, in so much that a damage done to works connected with it in the beginning of 1867 was officially reported to involve a loss of about £10,000.

Various fortifications, noticed in other articles, defend the sound; a new fort was begun in 1866 to be constructed at the breakwater; and another fort, called the citadel, is at Plymouth. The citadel is on the SE headland, at the E end of the Hoe; commands the entrance of the Catwater and Sutton-pool; was constructed in 1670-1; occupies the site of a previous fortification; is entered, on the town side, by two sculptured gateways, with drawbridges; has a spacious esplanade, adorned with a bronze statue of George II., in the costume of a Roman warrior; comprises three regular and two irregular bastions, the former strengthened by ravelins and horn works; is defended, on all sides except the S, by a deep ditch, counterscarp, and palisadoed covered way; is pierced, in the parapets, with embrasures for 120 guns; and commands, from its ramparts, richly varied and delightful views. A lower fort, connected with the citadel, but of much later date, is designed chiefly to defend the sound.

Catwater harbour is capable of protecting 500 ships from the SW gales. Sutton-pool forms the principal harbour for merchant vessels; has an entrance 90 feet wide, between two piers called the Barbican, erected in 1791-3; has, on the W pier, a lighthouse 29 feet high, put up in 1822, and showing a light visible at the distance of 6 miles; and has, on its E side, a granite shipping establishment, connected by railway with quarries in Dartmoor. Millbay, on the W, is a larger harbour, with sufficient depth for berthing the largest vessels at low water: has a pier extending about 500 feet across its E side; has also, inside the pier, an iron pontoon 300 feet long, capable of containing 4,000 tons of coal; and is one of the principal coaling stations in the English channel. Capacious docks, at the head of Millbay, were formed in 1846-60; comprise an inner basin of 13 acres, with a depth of 22 feet and entrance-gates 80 feet wide, an outer dock of 30 acres, and a W graving dock 367 feet long and 96 feet wide; and are connected with the station of the South Devon and Cornwall railway s.

Trade and Commerce.—The town has a head post-office in Whimple-street, a sub-post-office in Union-street, various receiving post-offices and pillar letter-boxes, two telegraph offices, four banking offices, and a good assortment of hotels; and publishes two daily and three weekly newspapers. Markets are held on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays; and are well supplied with all kinds of country produce within distances of 20 miles. Fairs are held on the first Tuesday of April and the first Tuesday of Nov. The chief manufactories are sugar-refineries, soap-works, starch-works, potteries, lead works, artificial manure-works, and a large distillery. Much trade accrues from the sound being a station of the British navy; considerable trade accrues also from fisheries; and much stir occurs in spring, from extensive debarkation of emigrants to America, the Cape of Good Hope, Australia, and other parts of the world. A large coasting commerce is carried on with London, Newcastle, Bristol, Newport, Falmouth, and other ports; a constant commerce is carried on with the Channel islands; a large import trade is done in timber, sugar, hides, tallow, valonia, wine, and other goods, from the British colonies and foreign countries; and a large export trade is done in pilchards and in various articles of British produce. The vessels which belonged to the port, at the beginning of 1864, were 233 small sailing vessels, of aggregately 6,972 tons; 214 large sailing-vessels, of aggregately 43,766 tons; 11 small steam-vessels, of aggregately 347 tons; and 1 larger steam-vessel, of 59 tons. The vessels which entered in 1863 were 158 British sailing-vessels, of aggregately 28,836 tons, from British colonies; 4 foreign sailing-vessels, of aggregately 2,132 tons, from British colonies; 231 British sailing-vessels, of aggregately 24,338 tons, from foreign countries; 143 foreign sailing-vessels, of aggregately 20,808 tons, from foreign countries; 11 British steam-vessels, of aggregately 894 tons, from British colonies; 34 British steam-vessels, of aggregately 5,451 tons, from foreign countries; 9 foreign steam-vessels, of aggregately 1,323 tons, from foreign countries; 2,531 sailing-vessels, of aggregately 206,648 tons, coastwise; and 515 steam-vessels, of aggregately 202,023 tons, coastwise. The vessels which cleared in 1863 were 166 British sailing-vessels, of aggregately 24,747 tons, to British colonies; 4 foreign sailing-vessels, of aggregately 2,230 tons, to British colonies; 70 British sailing-vessels, of aggregately 6,023 tons, to foreign countries; 61 foreign sailing-vessels, of aggregately 11,062 tons, to foreign countries; 14 British steam-vessels, of aggregately 1,294 tons, to British colonies; 11 British steam-vessels, of aggregately 1,196 tons, to foreign countries; 1,231 sailing-vessels, of aggregately 81,138 tons, coastwise; and 452 steam-vessels, of aggregately 184,397 tons, coastwise. The amount of customs in 1862 was £160,578. Steamers sail regularly to Portsmouth, Southampton, London, Falmouth, Penzance, Liverpool, Waterford, Cork, and Dublin.

The Borough.—Plymouth is a borough by prescription; had charters from Henry VI. and ten other kings ending with William III.; sent two members to parliament occasionally in the times of Edward I. and Edward II., and has sent two always since the time of Henry IV.; is of the same extent municipally as parliamentarily; comprises the town sections of the parishes of St. Andrew and Charles-the-Martyr; was divided, under the new act, into 6 wards; and is governed, under that act, by a mayor, 12 aldermen, and 36 councillors. It has a separate commission of the peace; and is a seat of quarter sessions, a polling-place, and the head-quarters of the Western military district. The police force, in 1864, comprised 73 men, at an annual cost of £3,991. The crimes committed, in 1864, were 53; the persons apprehended, 74; the known depredators and suspected persons at large, 1,082; the houses of bad character, 172. Electors in 1833, 1,461; in 1863, 2,869. Amount of property and income tax charged in 1863, £18,203. Real property, in 1860, £241,483; of which £2,128 were in quarries, £69,834 in railways, and £4,315 in gas-works. Pop. in 1851, 52,221; in 1861, 62,599. Houses, 6,084.

The District.—The registration district or poor-law union is conterminate with the borough; is divided into the sub-districts of St. Andrew and Charles-the-Martyr, conterminate with the town sections of St. A. and parishes; and is administered under a local act. Poor-rates in 1863, £24,361. Marriages in 1863, 782; births, 2,288, of which 125 were illegitimate; deaths, 1,636, of which 784 were at ages under 5 years, and 27 at ages above 85. Marriages in the ten years 1851-60, 6,713; births, 18,707; deaths, 13,559. The workhouse is at Hill Park, in Charles parish; stands on the highest ground in Plymouth, commanding extensive views; was erected in 1853, at a cost of about £11,000; has capacity for 700 persons; and, at the Census of 1861, had 466 inmates.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].