Is Alphington close to Heavitree??

[Noells]

I think I may have just located long,lost ancestors in the 1841 census living in Heavitree.

I have William Fort and his wife Mary living in Cottage Court, Heavitree in 1841. With(presumably) sons John and William Fort living Goldsmith Place, Heavitree along with John's wife Dorothy and his son John.

Mary and William Fort had sons William,James,John and daughters Frances and Elizabeth born from 1809 onwards in Alphington, Devon.

As the ages tie in, my query is - are these places close enough for me to hope I have found my family?

Noells

[Arranroots]

Pretty close!

Alphington is to the west of Exeter, while Heavitree is near the centre of the modern conurbation.

Try putting the place names into Getamap

http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/getamap/

Remember that ages in 1841 were rounded down to the nearest five, but if all the other details fit (occupations?) it could well be a match.

kind regards, Arranroots 

[arishmell]

Depends how close you think is close!  I wouldn't regard them as being close today (as in, they are not adjoining parishes), and in 1841 I think they'd have been even further apart.  Alphington is west of the River Exe - not sure how many bridges or ferries there would have been.

The main city of Exeter was east of the Exe, and Heavitree was a completely separate settlement south of Exeter and well away from the river.

[arishmell]

This 1835 map will show you.

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~genmaps/genfiles/COU_files/ENG/DEV/creighton_exeter_1835.html

Alphington is in the bottom left, Heavitree centre right.

If the ages and names are right, I'd claim them as mine!

[Noells]

thanks all.

The 1835 map really puts this into perspective for me. The map scale (I think) means that these two places are only about 2-3 miles apart.

A very short distance when judged on the scale of things here in Oz, but I take your point on crossing the river.

The dates certainly tie in with my Fort lot, but their only occupations are labourers, so not much to give me a lead there.   

These discoveries on the 1841 census have been the closest I have come to breaking down this brick wall, but I will try to contain my excitement see if I can somehow prove it with more certainty.

All your help is really appreciated.

Noells

[slightlyfoxed]

Alphington is about two or three miles across the river valley from Heavitree.
It was once an important staging post for coaches (Horse drawn ones) going south from Exeter to places like Torquay and Dartmouth.
For centuries there was just one bridge crossing the river  at St Thomas  now there are two and the motorway, which dont count!.

I live in Alphington and have photos of the church and the village green .

[Noells]

What a lovely surprise.    Thank you so much for the photographs of Alphington church and village green.

The birth details for my ancestor James Fort born 1814 in Alphington, parents William Fort and Mary, came from the IGI online records. The film is entitled Church of England, Parish Church of Alphington, Devonshire. parish registers 1603 - 1837. All their children were born in Alphington from 1809 and are shown on this film.  I did order in the film some years ago and double checked the details. I discovered that one child Francis b 5/1/1817 died 23/7/1818 but there were no further Fort births or deaths on that film.

The reason I am giving you all this detail is to ask you if the church photo you have sent me would be likely to be the church in which the children were all christened?

I have already saved the photos into my computer and am delighted to have them to insert into my family tree program.My husband( who is not into genealogy) just said how great it was to have pictures and not just words in a family tree. Without help from folks like you it is a bit difficult from over here in Oz when all the ancestors are from the other side of the world.

I am really delighted that you have gone to this trouble for me.

[slightlyfoxed]

Im so pleased your pleased!
The images are of the village church. I think its St Micheals and all Angels but Im not certain without peering at the board. I m going for a walk in that direction later so I will check. Its the only church in the village  apart from a Methodist Chapel. The records are in Exeter RO.
I agree with your husband , images do help round the information out... I have all sorts of house pictures culled from estate agents in the areas Im searching and by googling an address!
 I dont have a car but if you have other places or local addresses that you'd like photos of and I can get to them, Id be happy to take pictures for you! Its exercise! and digital cameras are a wonderful resource. Anyway photography is my obsession!
 I wonder if there might be gravestones in the little churchyard? I can do easily take a look! Unfortunately the church itself is usually locked up so Ive never been inside .

regards
 foxy

[trish251]

Hello All

What wonderful pictures - many thanks for posting them.

When I first saw the heading I thought the post said

"Is Alphington close to Heaven" & then I started seeing pictures of churches and began to wonder about my sanity     

Meanwhile - if you haven't seen the program parloc  Noells - it is worth getting.  It's free - and very useful for determining what parishes are where & what is nearby.

http://www.parloc.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/parlocdl.html

According to the program Heavitree is  2.6 miles  NE from Alphington.

Trish