X-Nico

50 unusual facts about Devon


Albert Klapstein

Klapstein did not run for reelection at the dissolution of the assembly in 2004 after losing the nomination race for the new riding of Leduc-Beaumont-Devon to George Rogers.

Arthur Francis Turner

He entered the navy in 1931, completing a four year course at the Royal Naval Engineering College at Keyham, Devonport.

Ashwell, Queensland

Walter Loveday and Henry Stevens provided an acre each of land for a school in this district to be named Ashwell after Walter Loveday's farm titled Ashwell which he named after Ashwell, United Kingdom.

Bobbin lace

Guilds of modern lacemakers still meet in regions as varied as Devonshire, England and Orange County, California.

British M-class submarine

She was captained during her sea trials by experienced submariner Commander Max Horton after his return from the Baltic, and was later lost with all hands while on exercise in the English Channel near Start Point in Devon after a collision with a Swedish collier, SS Vidar, on 12 November 1925.

Broadwoodwidger Rural District

The county boundary was realigned when the district was abolished in 1966, with two parishes, Northcott and Werrington being transferred to Cornwall with the remaining four parishes remaining in Devon and passing to the Holsworthy Rural District.

Buckfastleigh, Totnes and South Devon Railway

The Buckfastleigh, Totnes and South Devon Railway built the broad gauge railway line from Totnes to Buckfastleigh and Ashburton in Devon, England.

Buddleja davidii 'Castle School'

Buddleja davidii 'Castle School' is a recent introduction, cloned from a seedling discovered growing in the wall of the eponymous Castle School in Tiverton, Devon, England, by nurseryman Martin Hugh-Jones, and introduced to commerce in 2004.

Butterleigh

Butterleigh is a village in Mid Devon, England situated about three miles south east of Tiverton.

Crediton Parish Church

A vicar of Crediton was appointed together with two chaplains, one of which ministered to Sandford (the adjoining parish).

Darby Lux I

William resided at his estate “Ippleden”, located in Devonshire, England.

Devon Redlands

From Shillingford it runs initially southwest and then south, taking in Bampton, Cove, Loxbeare and Withleigh.

Ectoedemia heckfordi

It is only known from Devon in Great Britain, having been discovered in 2004 at the National Trust's Hembury Woods by amateur naturalist Bob Heckford, for whom it is named.

Edward Capern

Edward Capern (January 21, 1819 – June 5, 1894), born at Tiverton, Devonshire, was an English poet.

Edward Pellew, 4th Viscount Exmouth

He was a Deputy Lieutenant and Justice of the Peace for Devon, and Captain of the 5th (Hay Tor) Volunteer Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment.

Elizabeth Dickens

Concerned about his father's financial problems, in 1839 Charles Dickens rented a cottage for his parents far from London, and, as he thought, far from temptation, at Alphington in Devon.

Formica cunicularia

:In the New Forest it occurs in earth-mounds, at Seaton under stones, in the Landslip, Isle of Wight, in the side of the cliff, and at Fairlight I found it in the side of the cliff and in earth-mounds in the undercliff - one of the nests being traced by tracking a worker which was carrying home a fly in its jaws.

Forts in Cornwall

Many Napoleonic forts were built during the Napoleonic War in South East Cornwall to protect Plymouth Sound and Plymouth's docks in Devonport, Devon from attack: some are still in use today by the Ministry of Defence.

Francis Foster Barham

After a preliminary training in the grammar school of Penzance, he studied under one of his brothers near Epping Forest, and was then articled for five years (1826–31) to a solicitor at Devonport.

Fremington Army Camp

Fremington Army Camp was a military camp in the village of Fremington, Devon, England, which was used as a base to train the United States Army Air Corps.

G.T. Moore

Like the first album, it was again recorded outdoors, this time outside a Devon country cottage,

Hardy Monument

From the top of the monument at a height of 850 feet above sea level it is possible to see on a clear day: Start Point, Devon, St. Catherine's Point on the Isle of Wight both of which are 90 kilometres distant and to the North can be seen Pen Hill in the Mendip Hills which is 65 kilometres away.

James Polkinghorne

Polkinghorne's greatest match was on 23 October 1826 against Abraham Cann of Colebrooke who was the champion of Devon.

Jan Visman

These laboratories were located in Calgary until 1955 when they moved to Edmonton and are still operating alongside the Alberta Research Council at the Coal Research Centre in Devon, Alberta.

Jim Reid

He now lives in Devon with his wife Julie, and daughters Simone (born 2003) and Candice (born 2007).

John Ainsworth-Davis

John Creyghton Ainsworth-Davis (23 April 1895 in Aberystwyth, Wales – 3 January 1976 in Stockland, Devon) was a Welsh athlete.

John Anstey

Anstey was born in Devonshire, England in 1856, and was raised on his father's farm in Tiverton.

John Fancy

Following the death of his wife in 1983 he retired to Slapton, Devon to be near his daughter.

Ken Doolan

He graduated in 1956, undertook sea training in the frigate HMAS Swan (U74) in 1957 and in December 1958 graduated from the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, Devon.

Lowland Mounted Brigade

In late September 1915, the brigade (just two regiments strong, Ayrshire Yeomanry and Lanarkshire Yeomanry) left Fife for Devonport.

Marc Culwick

Marc Culwick is married with three children and currently works as a theatre studies teacher in Honiton, Devon, England.

Margaret Anna Cusack

When she was a teenager, her parents separated and she went to live in Exeter with her grand-aunt, then in Devon where she joined the evangelical Christian Plymouth Brethren.

Margaret Cruwys

She died on 12 March 1968 at 31 St Peter Street, Tiverton, Devon, and was buried on 18 March 1968 at the Church of the Holy Cross, Cruwys Morchard, Devon.

Merrivale

Merrivale, Devon, hamlet with nearby neolithic stone rows (formerly also spelled Merivale)

Michael Linning Melville

Michael Linning Melville and his wife Elizabeth both died in 1876 and are buried in the old churchyard at Dartington Hall in South Devonshire, England.

Miles Partridge

His wife's name was Jane, and after his death she was granted the manor of Kenn, Devon.

Nicholas Upsall

In 1630, their population was increased when the ship Mary and John arrived in New England carrying 140 passengers from the English West Country counties of Dorset, Somerset, Devon and Cornwall.

River Burn

The River Burn, Devon, a tributary of the River Tavy on Dartmoor in the county of Devon, England

River Cottage

In September 2006, the show would leave those buildings, then known as River Cottage H.Q., to move on to the Park Farm location near to Uplyme in Devon.

Seán Rafferty

He married Peggy Laing in 1947 and the next year moved with her to Iddesleigh, Devon, where he was landlord of the "Duke of York" public house.

South West Water

South West Water provides drinking water and waste water services throughout Cornwall and Devon and in small areas of Dorset and Somerset.

St Thomas, Exeter

The other part, about a mile to the west of the main body of the parish, contained the hamlet of Oldridge and was transferred to the parish of Whitestone in 1884.

Thomas Sewell Robins

Born in Devonport, Devon, he was an early member of the New Water-Colour Society and the Institute of Painters in Water-Colours.

Topsham, Maine

The first sawmill was built in 1716 on the Cathance River, and in 1717 the plantation received the name Topsham, named for Topsham in Devon, England.

Victor Daley

He was born at the Navan, County Armagh, Ireland, and was educated at the Christian Brothers at Devonport in England.

Walter Heath Williams

However, Walter Heath Williams lived in the southwest of England in Bath, Somerset, and in Topsham and Torquay in Devon, whereas his namesake lived nearly his entire life in Surrey, on the south side of London.

Weare Giffard

"In memory of Hugh Fortescue, Esquire, and of Elizabeth his wife, daughter of John Chichester Esquire and also of John Fortescue, the son of them, Esquire, and of Mary his wife, daughter of Humphrey Speccot of Thornbury, Esquire.

William Pullen

Pullen was born in Devonport, Devon, the son of Royal Navy Lieutenant William Pullen and Amelia Mary Haswell.

William Randell

In 1840 W. B. Randell purchased 566 acres as a "Special Survey", then another tranche, totalling 966 acres which he called "Kenton Park" (probably named for Kenton, Devon).

Woodacott

Woodacott is sometimes regarded as part of the nearby village of Thornbury.


Alec Devon Kreider

Alec Devon Kreider (born February 4, 1991) is a Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, criminal who was convicted for the three murders of a Manheim Township family on May 12, 2007.

Baron Clinton

The present family seat in 2012 is Heanton Satchville, Huish, near Merton, Devon, which was built in 1782 as "Innis House" by Sir James Innis, Duke of Roxburgh, and was purchased by the 18th Baron Clinton in about 1805, renamed Heanton Satchville, which burned down in 1935 and was rebuilt.

Bertie Bolton

Bolton's final game for Dorset came in 1912 against Devon.

Brown podzolic

Thus they are common in Ireland, Scotland, Wales (where they occupy about 20% of the country) and western England, especially Devon, Cornwall and the Lake District.

Burgage

In South Zeal in Devon burgage plots were known as "borough acres".

Calvados

The Conseil General of Calvados and Devon County Council signed a Twinning Charter in 1971 to develop links with the English county of Devon.

Carew Reynell

Reynell was the son of Richard Reynell (d.1585) of East Ogwell, Devon, and his wife Agnes Southcote, daughter of John Southcote of Bovey Tracey, Devon.

Chrisstanleyite

First discovered by Dr. Werner Paar from a sample received from Hope’s Nose, Torquay, Devon, England, chrisstanleyite has since been discovered in the Pilbara region of Western Australia and in El Chire, La Rioja, Argentina.

Coplestone Bampfylde

Sir Coplestone Bampfylde, 3rd Baronet (c. 1689–1787), his grandson, British MP for Exeter and Devon 1713–1727

Cornish cuisine

Cornwall has influenced and been influenced by other British cuisine, as well as having similarities with the cuisine of its neighbour, Devon.

Devon Belle

Both observation cars have been preserved in England and are still in revenue-earning service: No.13 is working on the Dartmouth Steam Railway, in south Devon; while No.14 is now at the Swanage Railway in Dorset, after a lengthy sojourn in North America.

Devon Labour Briefing

In the UK miners' strike (1984-1985), Devon Labour Briefing twinned itself with the Maerdy Colliery in South Wales, and collected money and food.

Devon Railway Centre

The Devon Railway Centre is in the village of Bickleigh in Mid Devon, England, at the former Cadeleigh railway station on the closed Great Western Railway branch from Exeter to Dulverton, also known as the Exe Valley Railway.

Elizabeth Simcoe

Margaret married Admiral Samuel Graves on June 14, 1769 and she grew up at Graves's estate, Hembury Fort near Honiton in Devon.

Frederick Arthur Challinor

Frederick Arthur Challinor was born on 12 November 1866 at Longton, Staffordshire and died on 10 June 1952 at Paignton, Devon.

Frederick Thrupp

Thrupp executed the monument to Lady Coleridge at Ottery St. Mary in Devon; the reredos representing the Last Supper in St. Clement's, York; and the monument to Hugh Nicholas Pearson in Sonning Church, Berkshire, in 1883.

Greensand

Outcrops of the Upper Greensand occur in the south-west of England including the Blackdown Hills and East Devon Plateau and the Haldon Hills, remnants of a once much wider extent.

Henry Garrett Newland

In the autumn of 1855 he moved to the vicarage of St Marychurch with Coffinswell, near Torquay in Devon, where Henry Phillpotts the bishop of Exeter appointed him his domestic chaplain.

Horton Priory

It was founded as a Benedictine abbey around 970 by Ordgar, Earl of Devon, or his son, Ordulph, and dedicated to Olfrida, the mother of Saint Edith of Wilton by King Edgar the Peaceful.

John Creemer Clarke

Clarke was the son of Robert Clarke of St Giles in the Wood, Devon and his wife Graciana Creemer, daughter of John Creemer of Exbourne Devon.

Jon Godden

Though she returned to England with her now-retired father and her mother in the spring of 1936 and briefly stayed with them in Totnes, Devon, she soon set off back to India with Rumer, who had married and established a Calcutta dancing school.

Karan Ashley

Her first big debut as, editor and executive producer was the independent film Devon's Ghost, alongside fellow Power Ranger alumnus Johnny Yong Bosch and executive producer Koichi Sakamoto for Gag Order Films, Inc.

Kings of Devon

The box office revenues from Kings of Devon went to raise money for Shishu Bikash Kendra, a school for underprivileged children in the Dhanmondi district of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Liber Exoniensis

It contains a variety of administrative materials concerning the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire.

Lifton, Devon

Lifton is a village and civil parish in Devon, South West England near the confluence of the rivers Wolf and Lyd, 1¼ miles south of the A30 trunk road and very near the border between Devon and Cornwall.

Maiden Castle, Dorset

This was a characteristic of Vespasian's campaign in the region; there was military occupation at Cadbury Castle in Somerset, Hembury in Devon, and Hodd Hill in Dorset.

Old Roman Catholic Church in North America

The Most Reverend Francis P. Facione is the Titular Archbishop of Devon and the current Presiding Bishop of this Independent Catholic denomination.

Penrose Methodist Chapel

The Methodist societies established by William O’Bryan (1778-1868) became known as the Bible Christians, and the first formed at Launcells and Shebbear along the Devon and Cornwall border largely on agricultural land.

Peril at End House

Transposed from Devon to Cornwall, the Majestic Hotel of the book is based on the Imperial Hotel in Torquay.

Peter Pindar

Peter Pindar, a pen name of John Wolcot (1738–1819), satirist, born in Dodbrooke in Devon

Philip Nicholas

Nicolas died in 1952 and was buried at St. John the Baptist's Church Cemetery in Bishop's Tawton, Devon.

RAF Northleach

Glider Training School left RAF Stoke Orchard and RAF Northleach for good relocating to RAF Exeter, Devon and its satellite of RAF Culmhead, Somerset.

Robert de Brantingham

The action was a plea of covenant concerning Drewsteignton, Devon, for which de Brantingham and his fellow plaintiffs paid 100 marks, and in return were granted the manor of Drewsteignton.

Robert Denys

Anne Denys, who married Sir Henry Rolle (d.1616) of Stevenstone in Devon, an ancestor of John Rolle, 1st Baron Rolle (d.1842) and Barons Clinton, the latter of whom restored Livery Dole after the WWII bomb damage.

Royal Dart Yacht Club

The Royal Dart Yacht Club was founded in 1866 located in Kingswear, Devon, England.

Shirwell

The parish was successively the seat of two of the leading families of North Devon, the Beaumonts (to the end of the 15th century) and their heirs the Chichesters of Raleigh, Pilton, both of which families lived on the estate of Youlston within the Manor of Shirwell.

Sir John Northcote, 1st Baronet

Northcote was the eldest surviving son of John Northcote (1570-1632) of Hayne, Newton St Cyres, near Crediton, Devon, (whose splendid monument he erected in Newton St Cyres Church) by his second wife Susanna Pollard, daughter of Sir Hugh II Pollard of King's Nympton.

Sir William Pole, 4th Baronet

Sir William Pole, 4th Baronet (1678–1741), of Colcombe Castle, near Colyton and Shute, near Honiton, Devon, was an English politician.

Sport in Plymouth

Sport in Plymouth, Devon, England, dates back to the 19th century with its first club, Plymouth United F.C., being founded in 1886.

Stannary

Plympton became the fourth Devon stannary town in 1328 after a powerful lobby persuaded the Sheriff of Devon that it was nearer the sea and therefore had better access for merchants.

Sydney Thelwall

From 1867 to 1874 he was curate of Charles Church, Plymouth, Devon He was vicar of West Leigh, Devon from 1874 to 1892, and vicar of Radford Semele from 1892 to 1909.

The Great Money Caper

At this point Homer finally confesses that he got conned but Marge and the townspeople themselves tell Homer and Bart that they set up the trial and the carjacking to teach them a lesson on conning people, revealing that Skinner was not really shot (it was a fake blood pack) and the con man who stole their car was an actor called Devon Bradley.

Tricia Pursley

She is best known for her role as Devon Shepherd McFadden, the daughter of Ellen Shepherd (Kathleen Noone), on the soap opera All My Children.

Walpole Vidal

Vidal was born at Cornborough House, Abbotsham near Bideford, Devon, England, and educated at Westminster School, being Captain of School and of the School's football and cricket XIs when he left in 1872.

Warren Patmore

Patmore was an instant success with Management gaining two promotions in three seasons with Devon & Exeter Football League side Morchard Bishop.