The Parnells in 19th Century Totnes

​Samuel Parnell (Senior) moved from Stokeinteignhead to Totnes and married Susanna Hoar. He worked as a boot and shoe maker; his business was listed in Pigot and Co’s 1830 Guide to Devonshire. He worked with his son Samuel at Upper Main Street; I assume he lived on the premises.

By 1871, Samuel had died and his children were in their 50s and 60s.  His eldest was also called Samuel and was now aged 69 and living at the Post Office, 69 Fore Street, with his second wife, 39-year-old Catherine. Samuel had progressed greatly from his early career as a shoemaker to become the Postmaster and Registrar of Marriages. He was a member of the Congregational Church and a respected civic figure.

However, in 1867, Samuel Parnell was convicted of bribery and corrupt practices during elections. Following a government Commission of Inquiry, Totnes was disenfranchised i.e. it the whole town lost the right to vote! This was because of the bribery and corrupt practices that had taken place in the town. 

Samuel’s younger brother, William and his wife, Caroline also lived at the same house with Samuel and Catherine. William was a Chief Clerk at the Inland Revenue. The middle brother, Thomas, lived in Liverpool. We know very little about Samuel’s three sisters at this time.

Totnes was described in White’s Directory of 1878 as being: 

“an ancient borough and market town … picturesquely seated on the western bank of the navigable river Dart. The population of the borough was 4073 in 1871. It has a station on the South Devon Railway. Many of the old houses have been rebuilt or modernised. The beauty of the surrounding neighbourhood, and the fine scenery of the Dart and its creeks below the town, will always ensure for Totnes and its vicinity a genteel resident population, and a constant influx of strangers to visit these attractions. The sporting and angling of the neighbourhood are of the best description, and there is a salmon weir on the river a little above the town, but salmon and other fish abound in all parts of the river, especially in its route to Dartmouth, where it widens into a broad estuary, with several creeks.

Since 1833 the Commissioners of the river Dart have expended large sums of money in improving the navigation, so as to enable vessels of 200 tons to come up  to the quays and wharf near the bridge, where coal, culm, corn, balk, and artificial manures are imported, and timber, minerals, grain, cider, and other agricultural produce are exported. A tramway from the Totnes Railway Station extends to the Quay, and greatly facilitates the transit of goods. Totnes is in the port of Dartmouth, and had formerly a share of the woollen manufacture.

Being in the heart of the fruitful district called the South Hams, or garden of Devonshire, which abounds in rich pastures, meadows, corn fields, and orchards, its weekly market, held every Saturday, is abundantly supplied with provisions. Here are also great cattle markets, on the first Tuesday of every month; and two annual fairs, on May 12 and October 28, when those dates fall on a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday, and when not, on the Tuesday after. ​Races are held annually in the latter part of August or the beginning of September, and are usually well attended and liberally supported.

The Seven Stars and the Seymour Hotel are large and well-conducted establishments, and there are in the town many respectable public-houses and well-stocked shops. The present commodious Market Place was erected in 1848, at the cost of £2800, and has a handsome front.

Water is supplied from the springs in the higher parts of the town, and a stream is continually flowing down either side of the main street. The Town Council have, at considerable cost, laid down water mains for supplying the houses and the public with water, which is of the very purest quality, and is brought from springs on the Broomborough estate. The town was newly paved throughout in 1876, by which it has been greatly improved, the pavements previously having been of a very primitive character. The town is lighted with gas. 

The Dart is navigable to it for vessels of 200 tons burthen, and, excepting during the winter months, a steam packet plies daily between it and Dartmouth. A handsome stone bridge crosses the river and a small island, between Totnes and Bridgetown, and was built by subscription, at the cost of £12,000, in 1828, in lieu of the ancient narrow bridge. Steps descend from it to the island, which has been laid out in walks, and planted with trees and shrubs, by the Duke of Somerset, for the use of the public.

The situation of Totnes is remarkably fine. The main street is about three-quarters of a mile long, and after climbing the steep acclivity rising from the margin of the river, it stretches itself along the brow of the hill, which commands a fine view of the valley and the winding stream, but is sheltered on every side by higher grounds”.