The Village of Sheldon and it's
connections with the Sparks family
dates back to before the 1700's when John Sparks farmed at the village it
should be noted that the spelling of the name changed at the whim of the person
in charge of writing records. Some spelling variations for the same family were
Spark Sparke Sparkes Sparks.
Sheldon a small village made up
of a dozen or so farms to name just a
few there was the "Sheldon Grange"
"Loosemores"
"Goodleigh" "Lower Grange" "Shute" "
Hayne" "Sparkes" "Upper Hayne" "South Farm"
"Lower Hayne" "Slade" "Westcott"
"Southcott" "Higher Northcott" "Lower Northcott"
"Newhouse Farm" some of these names survived and can be seen around
the village of today in 1998.
The Village boasted a Church "St James the
Greater" and later a school house it's inhabitants were it seems forward
looking people for although so small they took great pride in their Church and
the education of the children the present day inhabitants it is pleasing to note are just as
enthusiastic in the upkeep of the church and village the church is in a very
good state of repair and the grass of the church yard that surrounds its
building are mowed on a regular basis it is always a pleasure to visit.
The village of Sheldon was
certainly there before 1079 for in 1086 commissioners of the crown visited the
area and reported that the lord of the manor ploughed land at Sheldon its
population was about 30 /40 people.
In the mid 1100's Henry
Fitzwilliam and Warin de Aula with his
wife Juliana gave to the Hostpitallers of the order of St John land at Sheldon and Bodmescombe here they
built a priory and chapel the
Hospitallers were founded to care for
the sick pilgrims and wounded crusaders
in hospital's in Jerusalem.
Dunkeswell Abby was founded in
1201 with the aid of the monks at Margam Abby and in about 1243 the Abby
acquired the Parish church at Sheldon.
In 1250 or thereabouts a quarrel
over land boundaries took place between the Hospitallers and the Abby this
resulting in the Abbot of Dunkeswell Abby purchasing land at Coombehanger wood
and Broadhembury They rented part of
this land to Walter de la Hego. Brother to Richard de la Hego vicar of Sheldon
for the sum of 15p plus payment in goods and farm services like mowing the land
for the Abbys profit per year this transaction took place in about 1251 this
Charter can be found in the Devon Records office over the forthcoming years the
Abby obtained a great deal of land in and around Sheldon and by 1350 the
Hospitallers had gone from the area.
A church must have been in
existence at Sheldon for some time before it was documented in evidence for in
1201 the Abby was given all the lands and church of Sheldon (Schilden) to
posses for ever for their own use.
It is a tragedy that the village
lost so many of its inhabitants to illness for Sheldon and the surrounding area
did not escape the Black Death Plague of 1348 and it took many of the clergymen
of that time as well as inhabitants of the area.
At about the14-1500's
Farming at Slade was Margaret Slade and two of her family they also
leased land at Sainthilford and two adjoining meadows.
Farming at Sainthill and
Abeysfylde was John Grene his wife Jane and a son.
Farming at Slade in 1514 was
Robert and Jane Knight.
Farming at Westcote on two
tenements was Walter Hill in 1509.
John Donne also farmed at
Westcote in 1534
In 1535 John Blackmore and his
son John farmed at Northcote at that time they were tenants of the Abby they
later owned the farm.
Later John Sparkes married to
Sarah Moore his second wife were tenants of Higher Northcote.
Also by this time Lower Northcote
had been formed.
A short time later Sparkes farm
came into being on this site now stands a bungalow.
In the 1800's Sheldon suffered
badly under the enclosure order as small family farms were squeezed out of
existence in the name of progress as families lost their land and income
agricultural labor was in abundance and so depressed the wages it became common
practice for the larger farms in the area to employ the relatives of the head
or his wife many left the area for the South Wales coal fields or traveled to
new lands to settle as immigrants places Like America Australia New Zealand
Canada many on the way to these new lands altered their plans and settled in
Newfoundland .
For the less fortunate of the
dispossessed the only shelter was the derelict cottages in these cottages and
farm buildings two or three families lived.
By 1856 there were only seven
Landowners in the Manor.
Daniel Pring Edward Pring William Pring William
Baker Benjamin Baker
James Cotterall Henry Walrond.
Prior to 1539 as the Church at
Sheldon belonged to the Abby at Dunkeswell services were conducted by the Monks
of the Abby after the Abby closed in 1539 the Abbot John Ley was made Rector of
the parish and a Monk John Gaye was ordained as its parish priest .
At about 1500 a new window was
built in the tower of the church above the door this doorway was bricked up to
strengthen the tower to support the bells that were housed there the brickwork
can be plainly seen but as the doorway had been supposedly bricked up to
strengthen the tower then why was the window built above the original doorway.
Robert Norton of Exeter was commissioned to cast one bell in about
1430 the bell weighed about 5 cwt later a second bell was installed but had no
name on it so we don’t know who cast the bell but both bells had the
inscription on them "Est Michi Collatum I H S istud Nomen Amatum"
This bell calls together people to
worship in the love of Jesus" in 1628 a third bell joined them in the
1900's this third bell was sold but the Robert Norten bell now cracked was
taken down to the floor of the church and chained to the floor for all to see.
Unfortunately in February 1981
this bell was stolen and tracks could be seen in the snow of a trolley that was
used to carry it away the thieves have never been found and no trace of the
bell has ever been seen since a shame for that bell represented years of
history to the church it was probably stolen to melt down for resale as scrap
metal some people have no sense of the historical value such items represent
and probably don’t care putting profit before history.
By this time Sheldon had become a
thriving village boasting its own tradesmen some of whom were.
Richard Underwood the
Blacksmith James Curron the
Carpentre also now there were bigger
farms
William and John Blackmore farmed
Northcote John Patten
farmed Newhouse
John Acland farmed Slade Edward and Sarah Doble
farmed South Farm
The cultivated land in total was
!.300 acres owned by Edward Doble George Speak
Henry Ellis a few small landowners and the Honiton Bank..
On the 4th may 1874 a new school
was opened the pupils of that first year were ( ages follow name).
William 12 & Mary 14 Simons of Dunkeswell Eliza 6 & Harriet 9 Gosling of Sparkes farm
Robert 8 & John 13 Gooding of
Drought Wells Kate 4 & Polly
6 Ford of Higher Northcote
Harriet 4 & Ellen 8 Francis
Sidney 10 William 12 Blackmore of New House Farm.
Daniel 3 & Elizabeth 6 John
8 Bird of the Lodge Ann 6
Spiller of Trickey Farm
Charles 8 Emmett of Slade
farm Alfred
11 Howard of Burrows Farm
George 3 Mary Ann 4 James 5
William 8 Sarah Ann 11 Rousel of Lower
Westcote Farm
Francis 8 Radford of Westcote Farm Henry &
Robert 7 Vincent of Abby Wood Farm
Robert ? Joseph 4 Grace 13
Dimond of Goodleigh Farm James 8 Bessie ? Flaye of Shutes farm
Emily 4 Chilcott of Hayne farm.
At this time the children of the
village did not escape the illnesses of the day such as Measles
Diphtheria Whooping cough all
child killer diseases of that time.
Also by this time Agnes Blackmore
the schoolmistress had Married for on her retirement she had become Mrs Agnes
Moon
She had to have been a lady of
some strong character as she had to organize when only a teenager of 17 years a
group of children all at different ages and all at different levels of
educational abilities that she remained at the school for 48 years is a credit
to her abilities and stamina.
Some among established families of Sheldon at that period where
the Blackmores and Sparks they were to
have a close relationship between the two families due to Marriages Edmund and
Ann Sparks
Worked on South farm for the
Doble family four of their sons worked for William and Elizabeth Blackmore at higher Northcote their histories are told
on the other pages and family sites go
to the links page and click onto the links to other Sparks and Blackmore sites.
The Sparks families
were scattered liberally throughout the farming villages and communities in the
area around the market town of Collumpton in Devon .
The closeness of these farming
villages to each other suggests relationships between each of these Sparks
family groups and in most cases have been proved through research.
Other family groups farther
a-field such as that of Samuel Sparks who settled in Wales through research are
found to be connected to the area of these villages.
A number of these villages and
towns have proved to have very strong connections with our family to name just
a few.
Dunkeswell,. Sheldon,. Churchstanton. Upottery.
Ottery St Mary. Uffcolm. Halberton. Luppitt.
Honiton. Hemyock. Clayhidon. Bondleigh.
Broadhembury. Buckerell. Stafford Barton. Brixham
Chard. Exeter. Plymouth. Totnes
The Welsh towns and Villages with our
family connections are also important.
Llantrisant. Llangeinor. Ustrad,. Carau. Baglan
Cardiff,. Aberafan ( Port
Talbot.). Penarth.. Neath Monmouth
There are many other Welsh
Communities that the Sparks families settled in mostly settled there because of
the work opportunities afforded by the Coalmines and Tinplate works of South
Wales.
Predominantly the working
background to the Devon born Sparks was in farming some owned and worked their
own land others were employed as agricultural Labourers and farm servants so
are to be found in different villages at different times as they followed the
work offered by farmers.
There were other professions that
the Sparks undertook In Plymouth they were mariners who sailed on important
voyages of discovery that are recorded
in history books they were also Civic leaders of their communities at Brixham
and other seaports they were trawler boat skippers and crew and deep sea
Mariners some at Chard were coach builders
Some are to be found in bordering
counties like Dorset Somerset and Cornwall for quite often we find that
villages were so close together that the inhabitants sometimes were listed in
different counties depending on what part of the village they were in at time
of census or which church they used for christening or burial.
The Sparks story at Sheldon
really started well before the dates we find them in any census for in
Documents like Bishops Transcripts
and Fiche of early Parish Registers we find information that is
Recorded well before the start of
the census in 1841 for instance at SHELDON we find in.
1781 John Spark became partner
with Henry Banfield as tenants of higher Northcott he lived in the village.
1782 John Spark was partner with
Henry Banfield at Higher Northcott and was also nominated for the position of
a
collector of
taxes this was only offered to men of high standing in the community.
1783 again John Spark and Henry Banfield
were at Higher Northcott.
1783 also as a tenant at Vrean
was John Sparke Junior VREAN was owned by
Mr Hodges and Mr Nickolas Meardon it seems more than
likely that Sparke was the son of John Spark
even though he has an E at the end of his name.
1785 John Spark Henry Banfield
where at Higher Northcott whilst John Spark was tenant at Vrean landlord was
Mr
Hodges no mention of Mr Nicholas Meardon maybe he had sold
his interest to Mr Hodges interestingly the junior
Spark has now lost
the E.
1786 At higher Northcott was John
Spark and Henry Banfield whilst John Spark Junior is at part of Slade farm
the owner was Mrs Flood the yearly tax was 2. 3. 0 (Two
pounds three shillings)
1787 Both Henry Banfield ansd
John Spark were at Higher Northcott and John Spark Junior
was at Slade farm
owned by Mrs Flood.
1789 John Spark and Henry
Banfield were still at Higher Northcott and John Spark junior was tenant
of Vrean yearly tax was again 2. 3. 0. (Two pounds three
shillings) the farm was owned by Mrs Flood.
After this period a man named Samuel Stevens was a tenant at
Vreans until 1792
the owner was Mrs Flood.
1792 Henry Banfield and John
Spark were at Higher Northcott whilst Shutes farm at this time
was owned and run by John Taylor..
1793 Henry Banfield and John
Spark were at Higher Northcott whilst Shutes farm at this time
was owned and run by John Taylor.
1794 Henry Banfield and John
Spark were at Higher Northcott whilst Shutes farm at this time
was owned and run by John Taylor..
1795 Henry Banfield and John
Spark were at Higher Northcott whilst Shutes farm at this time
was owned and run by John Taylor..
1796 Henry Banfield and John
Spark were at Higher Northcott at this time they paid a
yearly tax of 5. 14. 8 ( Five pounds Fourteen shillings
and Eight pence )
the tax collector for that time was John Frances Blackmore.
Through the years 1797 1798 1799 1800 1801 there was no
change accept that in 1797
John Salter joined John Frances Blackmore as a tax
Collector.
From about 1801 to 1804 Henry’s name became Bamfield with
an M instead of the N
And in 1805 it became Bandfield with a D instead of the
N/M.
1805 John Spark was Tenant at
Higher Northcott it was now owned by
Henry Bandfield ( Probably a miss spelling of Banfield)
John Sparks
Paid a yearly tax of 5. 14. 8 ( Five pounds Fourteen
shillings and Eight pence )
1806 although John Spark was
still the tenant by now Elinor and Sarah Blackmore now owned part
of Higher Northcott
1807 John Spark was still the
tenant by now Elinor and Sarah Blackmore now owned part
of Higher Northcott
1808 John Spark was still the
tenant by now a Mr Wheaton was the owner
of Higher Northcott
1809 John Spark was still the
tenant by now a Mr Wheaton was the owner
of Higher Northcott
1810 John Spark was still the
tenant by now a Mr Wheaton was the owner
of Higher Northcott
1811 John Spark was still the
tenant by now a Mr Wheaton was the owner
of Higher Northcott
1812 By now there were a few
changes John Broom was tenant of
Northcott ( probably lower Northcott)
and the tenant at
Higher Northcott was James Night Higher Northcott was now
owned by Elinor Blackmore and Francis Blackmore.
By 1815 The Blackmores owned part
of Inwood and parts of the village a Mr Tozer
Now owned
Slade farm the owner of Higher
Northcott was again
Mr wheaton a John Sprague was the tenant.
Through 1816 1817 1818 1819 the
tenant of Higher Northcott was John Sprague
and the Reverend James Wheaton
was owner the yearly tax was now 5. 14.
8
(Five pounds fourteen Shillings
and eight pence)
1820
Mr Elworthy and Mr Knight
now owned Lower Northcott the tenant was John Broom
He paid a
yearly tax of 2. 17. 4 ( Two Pounds Seventeen Shillings and Four pence )
1821
Caster Sparke farmed at
Shute farm as a tenant the owners where A Mr Clark
and a Mr Ellis through to 1828 he then was a tenant along
with a Mr James Troake they each
paid a yearly tax of 3. 11. 8. (Three pounds Eleven Shillings and
eight pence ).
1824 Mrs Wheaton (Widow) owned
Higher Northcott tenant was Francis Blackmore
yearly tax was 5. 14. 8 ( Five
pounds fourteen shillings and eight pence)
Shute farm was owned by Mr Clark
and Mr Ellis tenant was Robert Doble the
Yearly tax was 3. 11. 8 (Three
pounds Eleven Shillings and Eight pence )
It can be seen from these details
that the farms and land was sold between a select number
of influential people landowners
clergy and reliable tenants.
Some of the early register dates
show that the Sparks family and the families they married into
Were in SHELDON in the early
1700.s for instance here are just a few for a more complete
list will be recorded on other
pages.
Married . Death. baptized
Edna Sparks in 1713. John Moor
1714 Mary Sparks 1720
Samuel Moor to Mary
Blackmore.1720 Edmund Sparks
1715. Mary Blackmore 1721
Margaret Sparke to John
Harris 1721 William Sparke 1720. William and
Elizabeth Sparks 1729.
This shows that the Sparks family
were much in evidence in the village of Sheldon from a very early stage
As landowners tenants and workers
they were a well respected family as is shown by their
selection to perform public
duties such as tax collectors and church wardens on many a wedding
they are signed in as church
officials along with the Blackmore family.