Devon Roots

Brinsmeads now live all over the world.  Many are in the USA, Australia and Canada as well as the UK. However, most of them seem to have their roots in the West of England. In particular, for three centuries,  the Brinsmeads centered mostly (although not entirely) on three villages in North Devon - St. Giles in the Wood - Alverdiscott and - Weare Giffard. Our first records are of a Thomas Brinsmead, buried in May, 1626 and Agnys buried on June 27th, 1627 in St. Giles in the Wood, followed by Robert Brinsmead who married Christian (last name unknown) in St. Giles in the Wood in 1639.

The Devon Brinsmeads - Decade by Decade

Based on our review of the original review of the parish records of these North Devon Parishes we have begun building a picture of the family as it grew over the years.

  1690-1700  
1700-1710 1710-1720 1720-1730
1730-1740 1740-1750 1750-1760
1760-1770 1770-1780 1780-1790
  1790-1800  

We will add additional decades, backwards and forwards, as time allows. We have microfiche of all the available St. Giles in the Wood parish records if anyone needs a lookup for a specific person.

This section of our site includes much of our research into these Devon roots. Click below to explore these topics:

Map of the Area

Special Edition of the North Devon Journal - First Edition 

Special Edition of the North Devon Journal - Second Edition

The Devon Brinsmeads - St. Giles in the Woods

The Devon Brinsmeads - Weare Gifford

The Devon Brinsmeads - Alverdiscott

The Brinsmead Farms

Brinsmead Gravestones

Early Devon Brinsmeads - The Tax and Muster Rolls

We do not know for sure where they came from before then, but our best guess is that they or their predecessors moved to Devon from Bishops Hull in Somerset. Our research into the original parish records at Bishops Hull show Brinsmeads going back as far as 1570. Several of the first settlers to move to the United States came from Bishops Hull, leaving in the early 1600's.

Click here for the companion page - Somerset Roots

 


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