Old Homes and Homesteads – Part 4 – Lutton, Cornwood Parish, and Underwood, Plympton St. Mary Parish, Devon, England

My 3rd great-grandparents, John and Anne (Symons) Shepheard, lived for a number of years in Lutton Village, just up the hill from John’s parents (see March 4, 2014 post here). John Shepheard and Ann Symons were married in Cornwood Parish on June 16, 1826. All of their six children were born in Lutton. John was a carpenter by trade.

On the 1841 England Census, John was recorded as living in Lutton with four of their children. Ann, and another daughter, Jane, were away in St. Andrew Parish, Plymouth at that time, tending to John Shepheard’s brother-in-law, John Short, and his infant daughter, while their wife and mother, Thomasin was ill. She died a few weeks later.

The family is shown on the 1851 England Census still living in Lutton with their youngest daughter, Julia, and a border, Thomas Carpenter, who eventually married another daughter, Mary. Also living with the family was John’s mother, Jane Treby Shepheard, now a widow. A granddaughter, Mary Ann Parsons, was also with them.

Their house in Lutton was similar to many in the village, constructed mainly of stone and likely originally with a thatched roof. Like many homes in the area, it has been extensively renovated in recent years. Pictures of the building before and after major work was done in the 1990s are included below. It is a typical duplex building with the main fireplace on each end. The tithe map from 1841 (see previous post) shows the building as much smaller, however. Only one side may have existed then. A rear view of the building, with its stone walls, can be seen on Google Street View.

Previous home of John and Anne Shepheard in Lutton Village, prior to renovations in the 1990s 

(photo courtesy of current owners, 2008)

Previous home of John and Anne Shepheard in Lutton Village, after renovations in the 1990s 

(photo taken by Brenda Gregory, 2008)

John and Anne moved to Underwood Village, in Plympton St. Mary Parish prior to 1856. All of their children had left home by the time the 1861 census was taken. Only a granddaughter, Mary Ann Parsons, was living with them, the same girl who stayed with them in Lutton in 1851. Another daughter, Julia Bray, and her family lived just a few houses away.

Previous home of John and Anne Shepheard on Merafield Road in Underwood Village

(photo taken by Alick Lavers, 2006)

The village of Underwood and several nearby towns were undergoing major expansion in the mid-1800s and John certainly would have moved there in order to ply his trade as a carpenter. The tithe map of the town shows the buildings that were present in 1842. The streets are now entirely filled in, most of them built during the mid- to late-1800s. Today the area is part of greater Plymouth with many residents employed in the city, only a few minutes away.

1842 tithe map showing Underwood village and location of the home of John and Anne Shepheard after 1856 

Underwood Road – just east of the former home of John and Anne Shepheard (photo taken by Wayne Shepheard, 2004)

John died on November 14, 1870 at Underwood. He was buried in Cornwood Parish on November 27th. Anne continued to live in Underwood after John’s death, in the same residence. On both the 1871 and 1881 England Censuses she is shown living next door to her daughter, Julia Bray, and her family. Also living with Anne in 1871 was another granddaughter, 16 year-old Ellen Parsons, probably there to help care for her grandmother.

Anne died on February 26, 1882, in Underwood. She, too, was buried in Cornwood Parish, on March 5th, in the same grave as her husband.

Gravestone Inscription:

IN

MEMORY OF

JOHN SHEPHEARD

WHO DIED 14TH NOVEMBER 1870

AGED 78 YEARS

BLESSED ARE THE MEEK

ALSO

ANN SHEPHEARD

WIFE OF THE ABOVE

WHO DIED 26TH FEBRUARY 1892

AGED 81 YEARS

NOT DEAD BUT SLEEPING

Wayne Shepheard is a volunteer with the Online Parish Clerk program, handling four parishes in Devon, England. He serves as the Editor of Chinook, the quarterly journal of the Alberta Family Histories Society. Wayne also provides genealogical consulting services through his business, Family History Facilitated.