Winner of the Best Books on Devon's History: Academic Award from the Devon History Society A richly illustrated exploration of the national and international importance of the early modern Exeter cloth trade. This book reproduces a newly discovered manuscript detailing the exports of Claude Passavant, a Swiss emigre merchant. Passavant's dispatch book comprises the most extensive surviving collection of Devon cloth with 2,475 surviving cloth samples. Thirteen chapters discuss the local and wider contexts of eighteenth-century cloth making. This study explores the quality, range, and vibrancy of cloth that lead to Exeter becoming an internationally renowned centre for the manufacture and trade of woollen cloth.

A major re-examination of the history of map-making in Exeter, following on from the recent discovery of a 'new' town map of the city in 1743 This major re-examination of the history of map-making in Exeter, the historic county town of Devon, follows from the recent discovery of a 'new' Georgian town map of the city. That map, by William Birchynshaw (a man not known tohave produced any other), is reproduced in facsimile, along with nearly two dozen other maps from 1587 through to 1949. They are prefaced by an introduction which places the new discovery within the context of four centuries of map-making, demonstrating how Birchynshaw owed a debt both to John Hooker's map of 1587 and to that by Ichabod Fairlove of 1709; and provides an overview of Exeter in 1743, showing that, although was city was basking in economic prosperity due to its cloth trade, it was also still largely confined within its ancient walls. The volume as a whole represents a significant reassessment of Exeter's history. RICHARD OLIVER is a historian and has been a Research Fellow in the History of Cartography at the University of Exeter since 1989. ROGER KAIN CBE is a Fellow of the British Academy and its Vice-President (Research and Higher Education Policy). He is Professor of Humanities in the School of Advanced Study, University of London and was previously its Dean and Chief Executive, 2010-17. TODD GRAY MBE is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Exeter and the author of more thana dozen books on Exeter.

A reference guide to historical sources for over 200 Devon gardens. It also provides an introduction for would-be garden historians on how to conduct garden research. The book is the result of an exploration of the archival resources of Devon's garden history; the objective being to provide signposts to research material for those interested in the development of Devon's gardens. Each entry begins with a brief section describing the garden's history, amplified by quotations from contemporary travellers and diarists; following the descriptive sections are listings of documents, printed sources and illustrations relating to the garden. The greater part of this material is unknown to garden historians.

112 tax lists for Devon for the period from 1500 to 1650. Tax lists are a key means of understanding parish life in the 1500s and early 1600s. This collection of 112 records for towns and villages such as Crediton and Dartmouth is published here for the first time. It reveals those individuals who were the bedrock of their societies and helps us in understanding how local society worked in this period. It is through the study of these documents that we can unravel how differently each parish was organised in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries and see how people took part in parish life. The name lists also provide rich material for family and local historians.

The documents printed in this volume comprise parish tax records for eighteen parishes across Devon. These 26 church rates, 1 clerk rate, 13 Easter books, 5 military rates and 21 poor rates not only show the range of taxes payablein the county but also show how differently they were organised from one parish to another. The documents have been drawn from archives in Devon, London and Somerset and have not been previously published. This series will provide details on thousands of Devonians who are otherwise unrecorded.

These Devon parish tax records provide details on thousands of Devonians who are otherwise unrecorded. The documents printed in this volume comprise parish tax records for parishes across Devon. These rates not only show the range of taxes payable in the county but also show how differently they were organised from one parish to another. The documents have been drawn from archives in Devon, London and Somerset and have not been previously published. This series will provide details on thousands of Devonians who are otherwise unrecorded.

These records, of three gentry families from east, west and south Devon, are remarkable for their richness and diversity and provide a unique insight into seventeenth-century life. They illustrate every aspect of the running of the household including the duties of the servants, payments to visiting musicians, purchases of clothing, building accounts and consumption of provisions. In particular the volume includes the kitchen account for Sydenham detailingthe gentry diet, including the importing of wine, the making of venison, woodcock, salmon, quince, lumber and turkey pies, and the purchase of all provisions. The seasons of the year are clearly seen in the accounts including lists of guests for meals at Christmas through Twelfth Night.

This comprises the household accounts of the only noble family then resident in Devon. Remarkable for their richness and diversity, the collection of documents has not been previously published and will considerably add to our understanding of the county's social history in the seventeenth century. The rare survival of parallel London and provincial accounts allows invaluable comparisons and analysis which will be of wide appeal. The accounts recorded thehousehold's very fabric from the servants' financial particulars (including their wages, clothing and diet) to minute details of such purchases as furniture, silver, musical instruments and pictures. There are also recurring entries for the planting of the extensive terraced garden and unusual entries such as the purchase of an organ from Gloucester and the construction of the Great Coach. The continual movement of the Earl and Countess between Devon and London is shown and this is of added significance given that the Earl was the county's leading Royalist and the accounts cover the entire Civil War period. There are accounts for the Earl's diet in 1642 while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London and the volume also includes the Countess' personal account book in which she recorded their Civil War involvement.

This volume contains all the surviving early-Stuart surveys of Mariners and Shipping for Devon and Cornwall, including a hitherto unknown one of south Devon discovered in the Pepys Library at Magdalene College Cambridge. From parish to parish, all along the coasts of the two counties and in some cases far inland, the seafaring population is delineated. There are about 6000 names in all, a source for social and maritime historians and especially valuable for family historians in the two counties. Nearly unique in its time as an 'occupation census', the information provides rare glimpses into local life. Included in the Introduction is an analysis of contemporary ships' names.

A collection of essays on the theme of Tudor and Stuart Devon. Subjects studied include Katherine Courtney, Countess of Devon; tinworking in four Devon stannaries; the legislative activities of local MPs during the reign of Elizabeth; landed society and the emergence of the country house; North Devon maritime enterprise; English wine imports, with special reference to the Devon ports- fishing and the commercial world of early Stuart Dartmouth; the clergy in Devon, 1641-1661.