William Crossing

He lived successively in South Brent, Brentor and Mary Tavy but died in Plymouth, Devon.

He later went on to explore Tavistock, Coryton, Lydford, Okehampton, and the northern borders of Dartmoor, as well as South Brent, on its southern verge.

In 1863 he went for a short coastal voyage to Wales, and gained a liking for the sea; in 1864 he joined a vessel bound for Canada, and had a narrow escape, nearly being crushed by an iceberg during the night.

In 1871 he had begun making notes about his rambles, but without any systematic arrangement; after his marriage he seems to have become more methodical, and to have decided to write a book descriptive of the moorland district.

In Crossing's memory in 1938 a plaque and letterbox were placed at Duck's Pool on the southern moor by some individuals and members of a walking club known as Dobson's Moormen.