The Will of Nicholas Blake of Eastontowne proved to be very interesting. I had him placed as a son of William Blake and Margaret Hibberd and that proved to be substantiated by his will. The children of this couple too proved to be as I had pulled them from other records. They had four sons and one daughter. At the time of the writing of the will three sons and one daughter are living. Their father died in 1606 and their mother was buried in 1613. These Blake men were long living for the most part. I estimate his father was 66 when he died. In his will he does not mention that any of his children are less than 21 years of age which would mean that Nicholas is at least 57 years of age at the time of the writing of this will. His brother Peter must have died as he did not mention him. He mentions only his eldest brother William and his youngest brother Thomas and his sister Dorothy married to William Smith.
He clearly refers to my ancestor William Blake of Andover as his cousin and his eldest son Richard is also mentioned. They are asked to help the Hibberd sisters if need be (perhaps they live near them) and Joseph Hinxman and his son are not available to do so. They do live in Andover whereas Eastontown is closeby but not directly connected to Andover.
He also remembers members of the Hibberd family linking him to his mother's family but his father had identified his mother as the daughter of Robert Hibberd anyway. The mention though also helps to ensure that the linkage is correct. He refers to his older brother William and to William's son William as his cozen (William Blake of Eastentowne) which is somewhat peculiar in that he was his uncle but I have seen that before in these early wills. I have added all the children of William Blake at Eastontown married to Ann Tutt (William, Sara, Nicholas, Anne, Thomas and Mary) into my Legacy file. They receive the largest legacies along with his kinswoman Mary Warberton of Southampton and her five children. Since Nicholas is unmarried I am curious who Mary is. I shall try to investigate that family somewhat.
Nicholas also mentions Joseph Hinxman his cousin. Nicholas' father William is brother to Richard Blake who was the father of Eleanor who married Joseph Hinxman. Hence their children are his first cousins namely Joseph (and others). My William, his son Richard and Joseph, his son Joseph are the only descendants of Nicholas' Uncle Richard that Nicholas mentions in his will.He does not mention Richard though in his will. He does not mention anyone who is not living and again I have noticed that before in these early wills. Perhaps because they are no longer part of the world and have passed beyond worry about wills and such.
A little more work on the will and I will post it tomorrow for anyone who wishes to have it. There are a number of Blake wills in this time period and I will continue to transcribe them for the benefit of other Blake researchers in the Hampshire area. Although I am quite satisfied that I have proven the link Thomas (b 1709) to Thomas (b 1685) to John (b 1649) to William (b 1615) to William (b c 1580s) to Richard (b c late 1550s) William (b c 1510s) to Nicholas (b c 1580s), I will continue to collect material on these Andover Blake families and now for a purpose - my one name study for Blake at the Guild of one name studies.
Once I complete the Hampshire wills I will move on to the London Blake family (moved from Hampshire to Surrey to London) and see what information I can add to the known material for that particular family.
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