What did Devon look like before the First World War? A major collection of Edwardian property records from TheGenealogist allows researchers to explore homes, farms, shops and businesses across the historic county.
The Devon Lloyd George Domesday Survey contains information about more than 352,000 individuals and organisations, linked to over 2,500 square miles of historic mapping.
Created following the Finance Act 1910, the survey recorded property ownership, occupation, land use, valuations and descriptions of buildings.
Through TheGenealogist's MapExplorer™, researchers can locate individual properties on contemporary maps and follow links to the associated survey records.
One particularly fascinating example is the village of Hallsands, on the South Devon coast.
The survey captures the village before the devastating storm of January 1917, when high tides and easterly gales destroyed much of the settlement.
Among its residents was Elizabeth Ann Prettejohn, later remembered as the village's last inhabitant. She remained in a surviving cottage above the ruins for many years.
From Dartmoor farms and fishing villages to market towns and seaside resorts, these records provide a detailed view of Devon's communities in the years immediately before the war.
For researchers tracing Devon ancestry or investigating the history of a property, the collection offers a valuable connection between people, places and historic maps.
