St Thomas by Launceston

The Cornwall Family History Society have published on-line Monumental Inscriptions for:

• The Parish Church - 769 entries
• Tregadillet Methodist Chapel - 129 entries.

Census information for this parish (1841 - 1901) is held in the Cornwall Record Office. The Cornwall Family History Society offers a census search service for its members.
Specific census information for this parish is available as follows:

• 1841.
  • The 1841 Census of St Thomas-by-Launceston (HO107/134) is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project as follows:
    • St Thomas Street (Rural) - Enumeration District 5.
    • St Thomas the Apostle (Urban) - Enumeration District 7.
  • The 1841 census for this parish has also been filmed by the LDS church - film No. 241258.
• 1851. The 1851 Census of St Thomas-by-Launceston (HO107/1899) is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project as follows:
  • St Thomas Street (Rural) - Enumeration District 1.
  • St Thomas the Apostle (Urban). Enumeration District 4.
• 1861. The 1861 Census of Launceston, St Thomas, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project as follows:
  • RG9/1519. Enumeration District 11.
  • RG9/1520. Enumeration District 2.
• 1871. The 1871 Census of Launceston, St Thomas the Apostle, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project as follows:
  • RG10/2224. Enumeration District 11.
  • RG10/2225. Enumeration District 3 - St Thomas Hamlet.
• 1881. The 1881 Census of Launceston, St Thomas the Apostle, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project as follows:
  • RG11/2276. Enumeration District 11.
  • RG11/2277. Enumeration District 3 [including Schools].
• 1891. The 1891 Census of Launceston, St Thomas the Apostle, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project as follows:
  • RG12/1803. Enumeration District 10.
  • RG12/1804. Enumeration District 3.

• Anglican. There are two Anglican churches in the parish:
  • Parish Church. The parish church is located in OS Grid Square SX3384 and was dedicated to St Thomas the Apostle. It comprises a chancel, nave, south aisle, and vestry. The arcade consists of five four-centred arches supported on monolith granite pillars. The font is unusually large and of fine proportions constructed of polyphant stone. This massiveness and superior character is because of the church's past history in support of a late Norman or early medieval Leper hospital, and the religious establishment which controlled that. The entrances are a south porch, a priest's door, and a vestry door. The tower has three stages, the parapet being embattled; the belfry contained three bells. The churchyard was consecrated Bishop Granddisson on 6th November 1333. The church was completely restored in 1871.
  • Tregadillet. The mission church of St. Mary the Virgin, situated at Tregadillett, about 2 1/2 miles from the church, was erected in 1875, at a cost of £1,000, for the use of those who resided in that part of the parish; it consists of an apsidal chancel and nave, and is so arranged that, by means of a moveable partition , the nave is utilized as a school on weeks days.
• Non-Conformist. There was a Wesleyan Methodist chapel at Tregadillet.

• LDS Church Records.
  • The LDS Church batch numbers for St Thomas are: P021001. These are searchable by surname.
  • The IGI coverage of this parish is 1681 - 1804.
• The Cornwall Record Office holdings: Baptisms 1672 - 1943, Burials 1672 - 1890, Marriages 1672 - 1971, Boyd's Marriage index 1623 - 1672, BTs 1623 - 1672.
• The Cornwall Family History Society have published on-line transcripts of:
  • 1813-37 Marriages
  • 1813-37 Burials
• Baptisms.
  • Baptisms 1702 to 1900 for this parish are available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).
  • Launceston, St. Thomas United Methodist Free Church Baptisms 1868 to 1909 are also available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).
  • The Cornish Forefathers' Society have published baptisms 1729 - 1863 for this parish on CD which can be purchased on Parish Chest.
• Marriages.
  • Marriages 1563 to 1911 for this parish are available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).
  • The Cornwall Family History Society have published transcripts of: Marriages in the Parish 1563 to 1837, which is available in Book, CD or downloadable .pdf file formats.
• Burials.
  • Burials 1700 to 1890 for this parish are available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).
  • St.Thomas Wesleyan Burial Ground 1842 to 1905 are also available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).
  • The Cornwall Family History Society have published transcripts of: Burials in the Parish 1813 to 1837, which is available in Book format.

The parish of St Thomas-by-Launceston is in the Launceston Registration District, and has been since 1st July 1837. There were sub-districts at Altarnun, Launceston, North Hill, North Petherwin and St Stephen-by-Launceston, but these are now all closed. Parishes within the district were: Altarnun, Boyton, Egloskerry, Laneast, Launceston, Lawhitton, Lewannick, Lezant, Northill, St. Mary Magdalene, St. Stephens by Launceston, St. Thomas the Apostle, St. Thomas Street, South Petherwin, Stokeclimsland, Tremaine, Treneglos, Tresmeer, Trewen, Warbstow.

The Superintendant Registrar can be contacted at: Hendra, Dunheved Road, Launceston, PL15 9JG. Tel: 01566 772464.

• Geograph
• Flickr

• Ask for a calculation of the distance from St Thomas by Launceston to another place.

• The On-line Parish Clerk (OPC) scheme operates a service to help family historians; the OPC page for this parish is available on-line, from where the OPC can be contacted by email.
• British-Genealogy have a mailing list for those wanting to discuss ancestry in Launceston, (including St Thomas-by-Launceston and St Stephen-by-Launceston).

• Map of the Launceston Registration District in which the parish lies.
• An old map of Launceston (St Mary Magdalane, St Stephen, St Thomas the Apostle) and Lawhitton in 1835 is available from Cartophilia.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SX299841 (Lat/Lon: 50.631942, -4.40696), St Thomas by Launceston which are provided by:

• OpenStreetMap
• Google Maps
• StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
• Bing (was Multimap)
• Old Maps Online
• National Library of Scotland (Old Ordnance Survey maps)
• Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
• English Jurisdictions in 1851 (Unfortunately the LDS have removed the facility to enable us to specify a starting location, you will need to search yourself on their map.)
• Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
• GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)

• All places within the same township/parish shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby townships/parishes shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby places shown on an Openstreetmap map.

Apprenticeship Indentures for St Thomas-by-Launceston (1794 - 1802) can be found in the Cornwall Record Office.

St Thomas-by-Launceston parish was part of the Launceston Union for Poor Law administration and parish relief.

Population totals vary. There were two generally taken: one for the parish of St Thomas the Apostle (Urban) and one for St Thomas Street (Rural).

The parish comprises 2158 acres of land.