A significant portion of Ilfracombe history has and always will be tied to its harbour. By the early 13th Century Ilfracombe was considered a harbour of refuge and a significant stop along the route to and from the Bristol Channel.
Charles Shadwell appears to have moved to Ilfracombe in the 1850s or 1860s, as he was noted in the 1871 census records as living in Hele and having been present for some time. He is recorded as holding the profession of ‘Mariner’.
In 1871 Charles Schiller was noted as a British subject living in Northam, a small village just north of Bideford, where he was registered as a mariner by trade.
There were also a number of Scandinavian names that appear in records regarding Ilfracombe sailing and fishing history. One such name belongs to Frederick Jensen – a mariner born in Alborg, Denmark in 1884 – who married Grace Corner of Ilfracombe in 1912.
Read their full stories.