There were also residents from France, including over 30 nuns of French origin living in the Ursuline Convent in Northdown Hall.
The Ursuline Convent in Northdown Hall was where Charles Kingsley wrote part of Westward Ho!.
The nuns arrived in England in 1904, and founded a school which in 1927 became Stella Maris Convent School. The site of the school and convent was near Stella Maris Court. At least one of the nuns, Amelie Kieffer, is buried in Bideford Higher Cemetery.