Whitstone

The Cornwall Family History Society have published on-line Monumental Inscriptions for the Parish Church - 321 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 Whitstone (HO107/151), Enumeration Districts 1 and 2, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1851.
  • The 1851 Census of Whitstone (HO107/1897), Enumeration Districts 1a, and 1b, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
  • Part of the 1851 Census of Whitstone is also available from the West-Penwith resources as part of the 1851 British Census 2% sample - Cornwall.
  • The New Zealand Society of Genealogists have compiled separate surname indexes of the 1851 Census for each Cornish registration district; Whitstone is listed in Volume 5. The booklets are available in Cornwall at the Cornwall Centre, (formerly known as the Cornish Studies Library), and is also available in the Cornwall FHS Library.
• 1861. The 1861 Census of Whitstone (RG9/1514), Enumeration District 9A and 10A, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1871.
  • The 1871 Census of Whitstone (RG10/2217), Enumeration Districts 9a and 10a, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1881. The 1881 Census of Whitstone (RG11/2271), Enumeration Districts 9 and 10, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1891. The 1891 Census of Whitstone (RG12/1798), Enumeration Districts 1 and 2, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.

• Anglican. The parish church is located in OS Grid Square SX2698 and was dedicated to St Nicholas or St Anne. It consists of a chancel, nave, and north and south aisles. The north arcade has five four-centred arches, and the south four obtuse four-centred arches; all are supported on monolith granite pillars. The entrances are a south porch, and a priest's door; the north door communicates with a sort of vestry. The tower has four low stages and, including pinnacles, is 56 feet high. It contains five bells.
  
  The path to the Church is marked by a large granite rock, faced and engraved in large letters 'Gods Acre' followed by a verse. The Church sits on the hill side with most of the grave stones looking down to the church. The tall tapering tower is of the fifteenth century, there are ancient timbers in the aisles and roof. A chair made of bench ends and a Norman font which is engraved with trailing foliage. Here can be seen one of the oldest slate memorials in Cornwall with an inscription to a priest of 1535. Below the church is what appears to be a Holy spring with crystal clear water, inside in the back wall is a niche with a strange carved head above. The niche had small loose stone in it, could this be a form of wishing well where you throw a stone into the niche and, if it remains there, your wish is granted! This is similar to the custom at Launceston St. Mary Magdalane's.
• Non-Conformist. At Whitstone, there is a Bible Christian chapel, and a Methodist Chapel.

• LDS Church Records.
  • The LDS Church batch numbers for Whitstone are: C022031, C053511/2, E053511, M053511. These are searchable by surname.
  • The IGI coverage for this parish is 1597 - 1875.
• The Cornwall Record Office holdings: Baptisms 1663 - 1981, Burials 1663 - 1963, Marriages 1663 - 1977, Boyd's Marriage Index 1597 - 1673, BTs 1597 - 1673.
• The Cornwall Family History Society have published transcripts of:
  • 1813-37 Marriages
  • 1813-37 Burials
• Baptisms.
  • Baptisms 1597 to 1911 for this parish are available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).
  • The Cornish Forefathers' Society have published on CD baptisms 1738 to 1840 for this parish which can be purchased on Parish Chest.
• Marriages.
  • Marriages 1663 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 1598 to 1837, which is available in Book, CD or downloadable .pdf file formats.
• Burials.
  • Burials 1597 to 1936 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 1813 to 1837, which is available in Book format.

The parish of Whitstone is in the Stratton Registration District, and has been since 1st July 1837; there were sub-districts at Kilhampton, Stratton and Week St Mary but these have now been abolished. Parishes within the district are: Jacobstow, Kilkhampton, Launcells, Marhamchurch, Morwenstow, Poughill, Poundstock, St. Gennys, Stratton, Stratton and Bude, Week St. Mary, Whitstone. The Superintendant Registrar can be contacted at: The Parkhouse Centre, Ergue Gaberic Way, Bude, EX23 8LF. Tel: 01288 353209.

• Geograph
• Flickr

• Ask for a calculation of the distance from Whitstone to another place.

OPC Assistance. The On-line Parish Clerk (OPC) scheme operates a service to help family historians; the OPC page for this parish is available on-line.

The Domesday Settlements of Cornwall, a study undertaken by the Cornwall Branch of the Historical Association, has identified and located settlements listed in the Exeter and Exchequer Domesday Survey of AD 1086. The following places have been identified in Whitstone ecclesiastical parish:

• Balsdon (Bellesdona, Dellesdone), Grid Reference 286988.
• Froxton (Forchetestana, Forchetestane), Grid Reference 257997.
• Thorne (Torna, Torne), Grid Reference 275993.
• Wadfast (Wadafeste, Wadefeste), Grid Reference 260975.
• Whitstone (Witestan), Grid Reference 263986.

• Map of the Stratton Registration District in which the parish lies.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SX269984 (Lat/Lon: 50.759454, -4.45508), Whitstone 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.

Whitstone parish was part of the Stratton Union for Poor Law administration and parish relief.

The parish comprises 3921 acres of land and 11 acres of water.