Tourist Maps of Devon

T  & A  Mortimore /  Mortimer Bros.  T & A Mortimer were proprietors of the  Totnes Times  and authors of books of local interest: Edward Montague´s  The Castle of Berry-Pomeroy, A Novel  was published by the Mortimers in 1892 [1] .   Additionally, they produced guides to the River Dart, Berry Pomeroy and the official guide to Totnes. The map below has first been seen in the  The Totnes Times & Dartmouth Gazette Railway and River Dart Guide  (1874) and soon after in the  Seventh Season  edition of the  Guide to the River Dart  (1875 or76) and in a guide to  Berry-Pomeroy Castle  published at almost the same time. The Dart guides and the map were still being used in 1902: The author has two copies of  Guide to the River Dart , c.1902 (two mentions in text) with this map, one lacking Mortimer Bros. in the imprint. The short text of the  River Dart  guide was probab...

  Peter Orlando Hutchinson Self Portrait c.1848** Peter Orlando Hutchinson moved to Sidmouth with his family in 1825 at the age of 15. [1] Due to ill health he was largely educated at home or at local schools. Later in life he toured widely, visiting America and Canada as well as France and Belgium. He was always a keen historian who kept copious records of his discoveries. The Devon Archives possesses his manuscript notes which comprise at least three drafts of his work; they begin in 1830; were redrafted from 1852; and there are revisions, or a final transcription, written between 1870 and 1880. These include numerous maps and plans, many in manuscript. The first map below was possibly specially commissioned by the town and was subsequently sold as a separate publication (eg broadsheet) as the imprint suggests. Maps two and three below were produced for inclusion in Hutchinson’s guide book to Sidmouth, originally published as A New Guide to Sidmouth and the Neighbourhood ....

  Arthur Westley 1   NEW - Please note Westley 1 and 2 are now Cockrem 6 and 7. Arthur Westley took over much of Edward Cockrem´s stock and rights to publish when Cockrem died in 1872. He was certainly keen to make the most of the tourist trade and general interest as his publishing output shows. One of the maps below still has its original covers and proves that Westley was offering all of the following for sale at the same time: Westley’s Tourist Guide to Torquay & Neighbourhood (certainly later editions of Cockrem’s guide); Westley’s Large Scale Plan of the Town of Torquay at 12 miles to the inch; Westley’s Map of 25 Miles Round Torquay ; as well as books of views and also Westley’s Sixpenny Guide to Torquay & Neighbourhood (no known copy survives). His Westley’s Plan of the Town of Torquay at 8 inches to the mile (price 1/-, see below) as well as the same map but with a special index of over 1000 Villas, Terraces, &c. (price 1/6) were clearly later example...

  Cassell & Co. Ltd Cassell 6 - Guides to Sidmouth The Day Brothers were Sidmouth proprietors with premises in the High Street. They advertised themselves as high class stationers, booksellers, newsagents etc. and were the office of the Sidmouth Observer and visitor’s list; Published every Wednesday, price one penny . They published a guide to Sidmouth in 1888 or 1889; Rambles Round About Sidmouth – being a guide to the pretty walks and favourite drives of this fashionable health resort . This work was written and compiled by C D S and was available as a paperback for 6d. This guide is relatively scarce and was possibly not a commercial success, which would explain its rapid replacement. The map in this work was taken from the W & A K Johnston map and covered a wide area surrounding Sidmouth. In 1894 Macvean and Williams  published their guide to Sidmouth. As they note in the preface, much of the content was the work of P O Hutchinson, local historian and writer of w...

Dr  John Gifford Croker Although the author of the slim volume A Guide to the Eastern Escarpment of Dartmoor is not given and was compiled by “One ...... who oft has “trod” its hill and dale magnificent”, quoting Carrington´s poem the text is generally attributed to John Gifford Croker, a doctor from Bovey Tracey. Completed in May 1851, Croker’s guide was probably the first attempt at a walking guide to the moor. Unlike other works on the moor such as those by Crossing or Rowe’s Perambulations which kept a historical-geographical scientific approach, this work was designed to aid the tourist or the Explorator of Dartmoor. The volume also includes a large folding map (in full wash hand-colouring) which, given its rather amateur execution, makes it a reasonable guess that Croker also drew this. Although it does give three geological rock formations in its key, one has the feeling that this was just an added extra. There were four publishers listed on the title page but some of them m...

  Beatrix Feodore Cresswell According to Tony Gale on the Crediton Area History and Museum Society website Beatrix Feodore Cresswell (1862-1940) produced dozens of publications on a range of subjects between 1889 and the mid-1920s. Her earliest work to appears to be “The Royal Progress of King Pepito”, published by the SPCK in 1889 with illustrations by the well-established Kate Greenaway. At the turn of the century she produced two books for the Homeland Series : Dartmoor and its Surroundings , cf Cary-Cresswell) and Teignmouth; its Histoy and Surroundings (with two maps described below). It was early in the twentieth century that Cresswell got into her stride as a local historian. In 1908 she published, “Architectural Antiquities of Exeter and the Neighbourhood”. Two volumes appeared in 1910; “A Survey of Devon Churches” and “Chained Books and Libraries in Devon Parish Churches”. Much of her historical research appeared in the Transactions of the Devonshire Association ; she tra...

  Robert Brindley Not much is known of Robert Brindley b esides him being the artist and engraver of the map below for  The Plymouth, Stonehouse and Devonport Directory in 1830 which was also published by Byers . William Byers   was printer, bookseller and bookbinder with various addresses in Fore Street from 1823 to 1852 [1]   although he originally registered his press in 1818 (19/2/1818, DRO Q/S 52). He was the proprietor and publisher of Devonport Independent and Plymouth and Stonehouse Gazette   from about 1840 to 1852 and published later editions of A Walk Round Mount Edgcumbe .a popular guide (see Byers / Cooke). He was also one of the leading producers of lithographs of local scenes. He published the second and subsequent editions of Henry E Carrington ‘s The Plymouth and Devonport Guide with issues from 1830 to 1850 ( c.f. below and Becker 1). He advertised himself as Bookseller &c to Duke of Clarence 1828-1830 and subsequently as Bookseller etc...