X-Nico

46 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.

The origin of the name Ashwell is from a town in the United Kingdom by the name of Ashwell.

Barbastelle

In Britain, only a few breeding roosts are known; Paston Great Barn in Norfolk, parts of Exmoor and the Quantock Hills in Devon and Somerset (see Tarr Steps), the Mottisfont woodland in Hampshire and Ebernoe Common in West Sussex.

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.

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.

Comet line

The third route from Paris (the Shelburne line) ran to Rennes and then St Brieuc in Brittany, where men were shipped to Dartmouth.

Crediton Parish Church

Sully was lord of the manor of Iddesleigh, but was said by Westcote to have had his seat at "Rookesford", i.e. Ruxford, in the parish of Sandford about 1/2 mile north-west of Crediton.

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

Danielle Senior

Danielle Senior is a London-based singer and songwriter, originally from Devon in the United Kingdom.

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.

Frank Hugh O'Donnell

O'Donnell was born in an army barracks in Devon, England, where his father, Sergeant Bernard MacDonald, was stationed.

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

This match, the purse for which was £200 a side for the best of three back falls, took place at Tamar Green, Morice Town, near Devonport, on 23 October 1826, in the presence of upwards of 12,000 spectators.

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

The match took place at Devonport, and ten thousand people are said to have attended.

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).

Leonard Baskin

He lived most of his life in the U.S., but spent nine years in Devon at Lurley Manor, Lurley, near Tiverton, close to his friend Ted Hughes, for whom he illustrated Crow.

Lowland Mounted Brigade

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

Maris Wigeon

Until recently (2008/9) the only commercial seed distributor for Maris Widgeon, was Pickards Seeds, of Burrington, Devon.

Miles Partridge

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

New Shute House

The family moved to temporary lodging at Colyton House in nearby Colyton where they remained for two years.

Newcourt railway station, Exeter

The station could form part of a Metro-style rail network of short stops to increase connectivity to and from commuter towns such as Exmouth and Cullompton, with new stations at Marsh Barton, Monkerton and Cranbrook.

Seaton Branch Line

They opened a station called Colyton for Seaton, near Shute.

Siege of Lisbon

In May 1147, the first contingents of crusaders left from Dartmouth in England for the Holy Land.

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.

William Botsford Jarvis

He married Margaret, daughter of William Parker Ranney H.E.I.C.S., of Topsham, Devon

William Courtenay, 1st Viscount Courtenay

William Courtenay, 1st Viscount Courtenay (11 February 1709–16 May 1762), also de jure 7th Earl of Devon, was a British peer.

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).

William Samuel Furneaux

William Samuel Furneaux (2 June 1855, Devonport – 1940) was a British science teacher and nature writer.


Berry Castle

Berry Castle, Weare Giffard, an Iron Age hill fort near Weare Gifford, Devon, United Kingdom

Buckfast

Buckfast is a small village near to Buckfastleigh in Devon, England

Budoc

Budoc is reputed to have sailed across the Plymouth Sound, until he found an inlet on the Devon side of the River Tamar.

Burgage

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

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.

Charles Carew

Carew was the son of Reverend Robert Baker Carew, Rector of Bickleigh, Devon, grandson of Sir Thomas Carew, 6th Baronet (see Carew baronets).

Childe's Tomb

Devon folk singer Seth Lakeman sang about Childe the Hunter on his 2006 album Freedom Fields.

Deadsoul Tribe

Several Deadsoul Tribe tracks, such as "Black Smoke and Mirrors" on A Murder of Crows and "Toy Rockets" on The January Tree feature Devon Graves on flute, an instrument he picked up largely due to his admiration for Jethro Tull mainman Ian Anderson.

Devon Energy

It is the corporate sponsor of the Wise Eyes community watch program, begun in 1993 in and named for Wise County, Texas, which is located in the Barnett Shale, where Devon has a large presence.

Devon Sharks

Just 10 days later again in Tiverton, Sharks lost the RLC South West Grand Final to East Devon Eagles 37-32.

DVD Monthly

It was founded by Dave Perry in 1999, in Exeter, Devon, as part of his Predator Publishing company.

DVD Monthly was founded in April 1999 as the first magazine of Dave Perry's Predator Publishing in Exeter, Devon, UK.

Estancia Harberton

The estancia was named for Harberton, Devon, the home of his wife, Mary Ann Varder (1842-1922).

Exercise Tiger

Exercise Tiger was relocated from Slapton to Bereton on the Devon coast and used as the background to Kate Ellis's book, The Armada Boy, first published in 1999.

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.

George Manson

But his health had been gradually failing, and he was ordered to Lympstone in Devonshire where he died in 1876.

Hartland, Devon

The Parish Church of St Nectan (see main article at: Church of Saint Nectan, Hartland) has the highest tower in Devon (128 ft), built in the late Perpendicular style.

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.

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.

Marble Hill House

but more commonly thereafter, and provided a standard model for the English villas built throughout the Thames Valley and further afield, for example New Place, King's Nympton, Devon, built between 1746–9 to the design of Francis Cartwright of Blandford in Dorset.

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.

Margaret Rolle, 15th Baroness Clinton

Apart from the many valuable manors inherited from her father she also inherited the patronage of the Rolle pocket borough of Callington in Cornwall, and nominated in 1761 as its MP her Devon agent Richard Stevens (1702-1776), of Winscott, in the parish of Peters Marland, adjacent to Petrockstowe, who was the brother-in-law of Margaret's distant, but locally resident, cousin Henry Rolle, 1st Baron Rolle (1708-1750) of Stevenstone.

Mary Gillham

She lectured in the universities of Exeter (Devon), Massey (New Zealand), Melbourne (Australia), Kano (Nigeria), and worked in the Adult Education Department at University College Cardiff from 1961 until her retirement in 1988.

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.

Microcon

Microcon is an annual science fiction and fantasy convention, held annually at the University of Exeter in Exeter, Devon, England since 1982, usually over the first weekend in March.

Mike Sharpe

Among the better known of his protégés are Mike Bucci (b.k.a. Nova and Simon Dean), Chris Ford (a.k.a. Crowbar and Devon Storm) and the Haas brothers, Charlie and Russ.

Milton Damerel

When William the Conqueror arrived in England in 1066 he gave Milton and Gidcott and thirteen other manors in Devon, to a man named Robert de Alba Marla.

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.

Peter Pindar

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

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.

Rodney Pocceschi

In the evening of June 23, 2003, Christina Marie Tatem, an 18-year-old IHOP employee, let two men into the back door of the restaurant: her boyfriend and convicted felon LeKeith Devon Speller, 21, and his accomplice Shawn Anthony Zhe.

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.

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.

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.

Walter Blount, 1st Baron Mountjoy

Edward conferred on him in 1467 rich estates in Devon forfeited by the Earl of Devon; and in 1465 Blount was made lord high treasurer and created Baron Mountjoy.

Warren Patmore

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

Wassailing

The West Country is the most famous and largest cider producing region of the country and some of the most important wassails are held annually in Carhampton and Dunster (Somerset) and Whimple (Devon), both on 17 January (old Twelfth Night).

Whimple

The Whimple Wassail is an orchard-visiting wassail ceremony and was first mentioned by the Victorian author and folklorist; the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould in his book Devon Characters and Strange Events (published 1908).