Saturday, September 10, 2011

Who is George Pincombe at North Molton in the 1500s

Ever since I first read the North Molton Parish Registers I have wondered who George Pincombe was. The baptisms recorded that list George as the father and Dorothy as his wife are as follows:

Phillip baptized 28 May 1592
Emott baptized 9 Dec 1594
William baptized 15 Dec 1597
Johane baptized 9 Nov 1599
Henrye baptized 19 Dec 1602

George, if this was his first marriage, would have been born between 1560 and 1570 and married early in the 1590s since the first child baptized at North Molton was in 1592. George himself does not appear to have been baptized at North Molton since the parish registers go back to 1539. Of interest there is a William Pincombe married to Margaret Gregoire 26 Nov 1564 at North Molton. There was a William Pincombe buried 25 Mar 1565 (end of 1565 so Lady's Day must have been the 26th Mar 1566) (and 13 Sep 1564 but this is prior to the wedding date) and at North Molton. There was an Elizabeth Pincombe wife of William Pincombe buried 18 Feb 1563. William Pincombe was either married twice and Margaret was his second marriage or this William is perhaps a son of William and Elizabeth although his baptism does not occur at North Molton along with his, in this case, likely sisters baptized in the 1540s. He could have been baptized before 1539 when the registers begin. (The other possibility is that the son of William and Elizabeth died (William) and William married initially to Elizabeth now sought to replace his son and heir by remarrying.) The marriage lines do not indicate that he was a widower. From the Visitation we have Thomas Pincombe and John Pincombe as brothers and one unnamed Pincombe sibling. Thomas and John were likely married by the mid 1530s or earlier (Thomas Pencombe's will was dated 1544 at North Molton). William was married by 1543 as these two baptisms are recorded in the North Molton Parish Register:

Pyncombe    Agnes    daughter    Pyncombe    William            1543    June    6
Pyncombe    Mary    daughter    Pyncombe    William            1547    Dec    8

The earlier Pincombe one name study does have George as a son of William Pincombe and Margaret Gregoire. Just as they have the brother of George as William Pincombe married to Temperance Pollard. With the earlier study having William Pincombe married to Margaret Gregoire named as a son of William Pincombe and Emotte Snowe. The Will of William Pincombe dated 20 Dec 1602  (which fortunately exists and entered into my blog 30 Jul 2011 ) does mention his son William but does not mention any children and he is still living. William (the testator) does mention the children of his son John and his son Richard. It would just seem peculiar to mention William and not his children if indeed George was his child and then who were the William Pincombes buried in 1564 and 1565 at North Molton since the William Pincombe mentioned in his father's will is still alive.

One of the many reasons that I decided to transcribe the Parish Registers for this area was to try to solve the differences between the wills and the personal memories of Pincombe families which are recorded on these earlier charts from the one name Pincombe study. Family lore is always interesting because it is passed down by word of mouth - certainly my mother knew her line back to John Pincombe and Grace Manning who married at Bishops Nympton in 1725 and I retain that family lore as I work through the results. I decided to pull out all the Freeholder data on the Pincombe family trying to ignore any preconceived ideas and the flow from John Pincombe/Grace Manning and their two sons and one daughter to the next generation worked beautifully without my assuming anything. Their eldest son William and his heir died leaving no subsequent heirs. Their second son John married to Mary Charlie/Charley had three sons and two daughters and the Pincombe families found at Bishops Nympton from the late 1700s into the 1800s were descendants of this couple or they traced back to the much earlier family of John Pincombe and Johane Blackmore (which I refer to as the Thomas Pincombe line).

That being said I am confident of my mother's memory and somewhat inhibited by the collective memories of those who contributed to the earlier study. In the case of the Bishops Nympton lines no one contributed to that particular study page and it does appear to have been collected from the IGI for the most part and is simply in error. Since the will of William Pincombe is available and the children given to him on the study page do not match then I have concluded that this part of the study is somewhat in error in that regard but there is still likely some truth in it since the collective memory of people can be most helpful in looking at family lines. It is possible that the collective memory combined with the IGI was used to create the chart without the final input from the collective memory so that errors arose in interpretation of the collective memory. A danger in genealogy I expect. Combine that with the loss of wills in WWII at Exeter and it may be very very difficult to put the Pincombe family together without a yDNA study being undertaken to resolve the inter-relatedness of the many Pincombe branches in North Devon and finally elsewhere as they moved out from this area.

So the thought remains - who is William Pincombe who married Margaret Gregoire at North Molton in 1564? Is he the father of George Pincombe who married Dorothy (surname unknown) by 1592 and was baptizing children as shown above in the 1590s and early 1600s?

The tax rolls once again at North Molton:

Surname    Forename    Parish    Year    Property
Pencombe    Alice (wid)  North Molton      1545 Subsidy    5
Pencombe    John           North Molton       1545 Subsidy    4
Pencombe    William      North Molton        1545 Subsidy    6

Pyncombe    Emma wid    North Molton    1581 Subsidy    G 3


The 36 years between subsidy rolls sees only one family left at North Molton paying taxes and Emma is likely the wife of John Pencombe. William is there in 1545 but gone in 1581 (is he the William buried at North Molton in 1564 or 1565?). Who is Alice Pencombe? Of note there was a will probated in 1567 that belonged to William Pincombe at North Molton.

A number of wills are probated at Barnstaple showing North Molton as the location for the testator:

Surname       Forename   Place            County        Date
Pyncombe     William     North Molton     DEV           1567  
Pyncombe     Peternell     North Molton     DEV           1591  
Pinckomb               North Molton     DEV           1610  
Pinckombe               North Molton     DEV           1610  
Pynckomb               North Molton     DEV           1615  
Pyncombe     George         North Molton     DEV           1624  

The wills help to tell the story but would tell it so much better if they still existed as other than a list. George is listed at North Molton in 1624 as having left a will. Margaret Gregoire Pincombe did marry again after the death of William and she was married to William Squire according to the earlier researchers and the parish register for North Molton records this marriage as William Squire and Margerett Pyncombe marrying 26 May 1567. Unfortunately there isn't a note to say whether Margerett was a widow. In 1581 when the subsidy was taken, George would have only been 17 years old and if he was the son of William and Margaret born in 1564 was probably still living with his step father William Squire.

I am continuing with the transcription of the Parish Registers and there are still only baptisms recorded as I move forward logically through the microfiche. By the end of 1601 there are  1472 baptisms with a number of new families now baptizing children at North Molton. With the children of George and Dorothy Pincombe being baptized, the Pincombe family is again in the Parish Registers at the end of the 1500s. It would appear that the earlier researchers are in error with regard to William Pincombe married to Margaret Gregoire being a son of William Pincombe and Emotte Snowe. Looking at the date of the marriage 26 Nov 1564 it is remotely possible that William and Margaret had more than one child between the date of their marriage and up to nine months after the date of William's death 25 Mar 1565. He lived one year and five months after his marriage so George could have been born posthumously and I have not yet found his baptism nor do I know where Margaret Gregoire was baptized or where her family lived.

I am still curious about who Alice Pincombe widow is? Was she the wife of the first Pincombe at North Molton and the mother of John, Thomas and unknown Pincombe listed in the visitation of Devon 1620? Was there also a daughter Margaret who married Philip Kingdon 15 Nov 1539 at North Molton. Certainly the time frame is good for her to be a sister to John, Thomas and unknown. I will continue to search her line forward from the two daughters Johane and Wilmote. Johane married William Hobb 28 Jan 1564 at North Molton and thus far there is Philip (daughter) baptized 16 Apr 1568, Margarett baptized 11 Jan 1572, Mathewe baptized 30 Mar 1575, Philip (son) baptized 4 Aug 1577, Agnes baptized 24 Apr 1580 and Richard baptized 3 Dec 1583. No marriage found for Wilmote.

Is the unknown sibling William Pincombe  married to Elizabeth (surname unknown)? The time frame again works for he would have been born in that first twenty years of the 1500s and baptizing children in the 1540s and possibly earlier. Now that I have the list of properties which were held by John Pincombe Senior of South Molton I hope to be able to discover the unique history of some of these particular holdings to see if I can do a family search on the property and perhaps discover more details on the Pincombe family that are elusive at the moment. John Pincombe was most certainly the eldest of the possible four siblings - he has more property than any of his siblings. Some of that property was entailed and ended up in the Tuckfield family which was the last remaining heir of John Pincombe. Was it because the wife of John Pincombe (son of the unknown Pincombe who first arrived at North Molton around 1485) was a member of this family or related to it? From another source I suspect that his wife was of the Dodderidge family. Another well known family in North Devon into which the grandson of John married (Amy Dodderidge married John Pincombe 15 Nov 1578 at Barnstaple) and I have yet to delve into this family at all. 

What property came to the first Pincombe from Lord Zouch? Discovering the answer to that question probably means reading the Manor Book for North Molton. Searching the National Archives (UK) website reveals:

Context
C  Records created, acquired, and inherited by Chancery, and also of the Wardrobe, Royal Household, Exchequer and various commissions
      top of page Division within C  Records of Equity Side: the Six Clerks
            top of page C 1  Court of Chancery: Six Clerks Office: Early Proceedings, Richard II to Philip and Mary
                  top of page C 1/599  Chancery pleadings addressed to Thomas Wolsey, Archbishop of York, Cardinal and Papal Legate as Lord Chancellor. Detailed descriptions at item level
Top of page
Record Summary
Scope and content    
John, Lord Zouche, great-grandson of Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Richard de Sancto Mauro the elder, Lord Seymour. v. Thomas Parker.: Detention of deeds relating to the manor of North Molton and messuages, land, mills, and rent there.: Devon.
Covering dates     1518-1529
Held by    
The National Archives, Kew
Legal status     Public Record(s)

Certainly these documents could prove to be quite interesting. As well as the one below which refers to the property that eventually is mentioned in the will of William Pincombe (1602, see Blog 31 Jul 2011).

C  Records created, acquired, and inherited by Chancery, and also of the Wardrobe, Royal Household, Exchequer and various commissions
      top of page Division within C  Records of Equity Side: the Six Clerks
            top of page C 1  Court of Chancery: Six Clerks Office: Early Proceedings, Richard II to Philip and Mary
                  top of page C 1/1115  Chancery pleadings addressed to Thomas Wriotheseley, Lord Wriotheseley as Lord Keeper or Lord Chancellor. Detailed descriptions at item level.
Top of page
Record Summary
Scope and content    
Robert DAVY of Crediton (Kyrton) v. William COTHAY and others.: Rent of a farm called Over Molland Sarazyn and Nether Molland Sarazyn in North Molton, formerly of Thomas Chalocombe, gentleman.: DEVON.
Covering dates     1544 April 22 - 1547 Feb 15
Note     Mutilated.
Held by    
The National Archives, Kew
Legal status     Public Record(s)

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