My interest in this name arises from ANNE DELVE (1786/----) who was married in 1808 at Morchard Bishop, Devon to my ancestor WILLIAM BROWNSTON (1787/----).
DELVE is a fairly common name in Devon but there was a particular accumulation of them in the parish of Morchard Bishop and they spread into the neighbouring districts. They are a family historian’s nightmare since there are many different lines in the parish and they did not use any originality in the choice of first names so that tracing a particular line back is difficult.
I have extracted all the DELVE entries from the start of the Morchard Bishop registers in the 1600s and from those of other parishes in the area as well as from census returns. I have sorted out the various lines so far as is possible and in this I have been helped by correspondents also interested in the name.
In 1851, there were five main DELVE families in Morchard Bishop. DELVES from this parish have been traced to Lapford, Coleridge and Torquay in Devon and to Euphemia Township, Lambton County, Ontario, Canada.
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