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- Investigating the history of your house?
- Tracing your family tree?
- Following the progress of a planned development?
- Wondering who built Oldway Mansion?
- Researching the Marine Spa?
- Looking for an old Ordnance Survey map?
Torbay Libraries can help you. The main collection of Local Studies materials is held at Torquay Library. The libraries at Brixham, Churston and Paignton have smaller collections covering general topics about Devon and works specific to the locality.
The service is available to everybody.as the majority of the resources may not be borrowed.
Here is a list of the Services we can offer:
- Local Studies index to newspapers
- Census information
- Local parish registers
- Family history and house history
- People & places
Local News Card Index
This service is an index to major articles in local newspapers. The newspapers are mainly the Herald Express and Western Morning News, however; where articles have been traced in other newspapers e.g. The Brixham News, Mid Devon Advertiser and Totnes Times, these too have been indexed. (Please note-the actual articles are not displayed, but may be held in the Reference Library's resources as hard copy or microfilm.)
The database has both current and historical content and roughly covers the geographical area of Torbay, but with some material on the South Devon area.
Census Information
Torbay census data from 1841 to 1901 is available on microfilm or fiche at Torquay Reference Library. The exact area covered varies with each census, but for most years the parishes within a five-mile radius are covered. The 1901 Census covers the enumeration districts of Totnes, Newton Abbot and Kingsbridge, which includes Torbay, parts of the South Hams, and Teignbridge.
Census information can also be accessed via Ancestry, our online service, which is available via all library computers.
Family History and House History
If your relatives came from Torbay or South Devon, the Local Studies section has various resources to help you: You may also like to contact the Registrar's service for information on local birth, marriage and death certificates.
Parish Registers
A number of records are held on microfiche. The material includes parish and non-parochial registers. The area covered includes Torbay and the adjacent area extending as far as Newton Abbot, Kingswear, Dartmouth and Combeinteignhead. Within this span the coverage is wide but not complete: The fiche are on deposit from the Devon Record Office.
Death Notices Index
At present this is only complete for our holdings of the Torquay Times, although there is some coverage of other local newspapers and work is continuing; the index also covers a small, but growing, number of obituaries. The arrangement is alphabetical by surname.
Genealogical Research
Torbay Library Services is unable to undertake genealogical research on enquirers' behalf. The services of a genealogist may be secured at cost through the Devon Record Office.
House History
If you are interested in tracing the history of your house, the Local Studies Library has the following resources:
- Newspapers and directories: directories and some of the early newspapers contain alphabetical listings by street.
- Houses database for Torquay arranged by name of property and/or street. This is a relatively new index and does not claim to include the whole of Torquay.
Contact Enquiries
- Tel: 01803 208305
- Email: tqreflib@torbay.gov.uk
- Fax: 01803 208311
