Welcome to the Dartmouth History Research Group
The Dartmouth History Research Group is a small voluntary and community group, founded in 1991. We research the history of Dartmouth and surrounding villages and make it available to the general public through publications, events and this website, to promote public understanding of local history and heritage.
The “Dartmouth Archives” section provides resources enabling you to explore the rich and fascinating history of Dartmouth and the local area, and discover more about local people and places. It contains an extensive, searchable, collection of documents and records, built up by members of the Group over several years and still growing. The timeline section gives a brief account of key events in Dartmouth’s history. Other sections of the website tell you more about us and about what we do. DHRG members can login in to gain acess to the group’s working papers such as minutes of meetings; you do not need to be a member to access the “Dartmouth Archives”.
Our next monthly meeting
Monday 6 July 2026
10:00 am to 12:00 noon
Our next meeting will be on Monday 6 July 2026 at our usual venue. It will be a business meeting at which we discuss activities, plans and future research.
Everyone is welcome. If you are new to the group and plan to come, it would be helpful if you could email us by clicking this link so that we have some idea of numbers. We look forward to seeing you!
DHRG “History Help” Sessions, Dartmouth Library, The Flavel
If you are not able to come to one of our monthly meetings, you are welcome to come and see us at one of our “drop-in sessions” at Dartmouth Library. The dates for 2026 are Friday 17 April at 10 – 12, Friday 17 July at 10 – 12, Friday 16 October at 10 – 12. Bring your questions about family history, house history, or any local history, and we’ll do our best to help.
Your Pandemic Stories
On 15 November 2025 we held a public event reflecting on seven centuries of health and disease in Dartmouth, “From Plague to Pandemic”.
We would like to capture impressions of life in Dartmouth and the surrounding area during the period of the Covid 19 pandemic. Unless we collect people’s memories and stories of that extraordinary time, they will be lost.
We have created a new space on our website to form a community archive about the pandemic. If you would like to contribute your memories or stories, or other material such as photographs or other documents, please go to this page.
Dartmouth Explorers Trail
A FREE quizzing trail around Dartmouth to challenge residents and visitors alike!
A family-friendly way to have fun – solve clues, explore our fascinating town and discover Dartmouth’s rich history.
The trail covers about 1 kilometre around the centre of the town and takes about 1 – 1½ hours. You can miss out a bit in the middle if you’re short of time.
Point your smartphone camera at the QR code above to access the FREE FlipBook!
In conjunction with
Join Us
Membership of DHRG is free and open to all and everyone is welcome at any of our meetings. We usually meet on the first Monday of each month in the Church Hall, Baptist Church, Carey Road, Townstal, 10.00 – 12.00 noon (see the “Contact” page for more details). As arrangements may change at short notice, please let us know if you plan to come to any of our meetings.
Our Books
The DHRG has published many books and booklets about aspects of the history of Dartmouth and surrounding villages. Books and booklets are sold at a price sufficient to cover our costs. Please go to the “DHRG Books” section of the website to see what’s available and for information about how to purchase our current titles. Out of print titles are free to download as PDFs from this website.
Latest DHRG News
The Way Family of Dartmouth
To accompany an article in the July/August 2026 edition of By The Dart about the Way family of Dartmouth, we are pleased to publish here two companion pieces of research.
The first, “Charles Jones Way (1835-1919) The Far Flung Life of an Artist from Dartmouth”, by Joyce H Munro PhD, of Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, USA, celebrates the achievements of Charles Jones Way, born in Dartmouth in 1835. He shaped the artistic and cultural landscape of the city of Montréal, Canada, and built a successful career as a professional artist in both the Old and New Worlds. We are most grateful to Joyce Munro for offering us this paper.
The second, “The Way Family of Kingswear and Dartmouth 1723-1924”, by Gail Ham of the Dartmouth History Research Group, provides the local context, tracing the history of the Way family in Kingswear and Dartmouth and their contribution to local life. The family produced several talented artists, including Charles Jones Way, and they remained in business in Dartmouth for nearly two centuries.
The papers can be found in the Family History category, under Named Families.
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