Great Western Docks, Devon Genealogy

Guide to Great Western Docks, Devon ancestry, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Parish History
The Great Western Docks at Millbay, Plymouth, were opened informally in February 1857 and during the remainder of that century prospered, largely as a result of their connection to the South Devon and Great Western Railways. St. Andrew's parish extends to include the Mill Bay area.

The parish history of GREAT WESTERN DOCKS is found under DEVONPORT, a celebrated naval arsenal, and a borough, in the parish of Stoke-Damerall, or Stoke, S. division of the hundred of Roborough, S. division of Devon, 1½ mile (W.) from Plymouth, containing, with Morice-Town and Stoke, and, including the parish of East Stonehouse. In the reign of William III. a naval arsenal was established here, under the name of Plymouth Dock, and to this event the town is indebted for its importance and present magnitude. The dockyard, one of the finest in the world; its water boundary forms a curve bending outwards in a western direction. The inhabitants have free access likewise to the dockyard chapel.

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.

Church records
Great Western Docks parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

To find the names of the neighboring parishes, use England Jurisdictions 1851 Map. In this site, search for the name of the parish, click on the location "pin", click Options and click List contiguous parishes.

Records are also available at the Devon Archives and Local Studies.

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Devon Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

Maps and Gazetteers
Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.


 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain