Monday, June 10, 2019

Writing to me about the Blake Study

I, of course, welcome all emails to me both from the Guild Website and to my personal email account. If I do not respond in a timely fashion then please do write to me again. I publish three different newsletters so at any one time I am preparing for the next issue of one of them (Blake Newsletter now in its 8th volume, Pincombe-Pinkham Newsletter now in its 4th volume and the H11 Newsletter now in its 3rd volume). I also do transcription and paper research which takes up a great deal of my time.

I would like to mention though that for this study I do not do any present day research for others. If you have a query where you want me to look at your ancestry then I would need you to have the preliminary research back to your grandparents and given that it is now 2019 and a new generation is born since I started doing genealogy in 2003 then your great grandparents. The Blake charts that have been created by others and sent to me and those that I have created myself need you to have gotten back into the mid 1800s. Even with that knowledge, I probably can not help you unless you are related to me and the best approach is to do an autosomal DNA test and see the Blake matches within your matches or a yDNA study at FT DNA and join the Blake project. With that information in hand I will look at your information and see if it overlaps with anything that I have on hand. Telling me that your father/grandfather born in 1945 was a Blake doesn't go very far unfortunately. Family Lore can be helpful but an awful lot of people think they are descendant of the family that Robert Blake, Lord High Admiral is descendant (namely the Blake family in Somerset); others believe that they descend from the ancient Blake family at Calne Wiltshire. In the yline my family does not descend from either of these two lines and fortunately my grandfather clearly stated that. His family was from Andover forever he said and interestingly enough his yDNA (my brothers tested) points to an ancient British line known as the Deer People who inhabited Britain 8000 years ago. Hence the surname, like every surname indeed, was acquired. England did not have surnames before the coming of the Normans in 1066 and the following is information I found after this time:

There has been a lot of family lore about the Blake family in the United Kingdom with respect to their origins. In my blog on "Calendar of Patent Rolls - Summary of Blake entries (http://kippeeb.blogspot.ca/2013/01/calendar-of-patent-rolls-summary-of.html)" I have written up my findings when I extracted the Blake/Blak/le Blake/le Blak surname from these early records which are from the reigns of Henry III (1216-1272) right through to the reign of Henry VI (1422-1462). In all I found 210 items that dealt with the Blake family. The earliest document for a William le Blake was from 30 Jan 1230 and involved a land dispute. The next item was from 1274 for a Richard le Blak a merchant listed as being of Rouen (then the was capital of Normandy).  An amazing find considering the Blake Pedigree Chart which is held by the Swindon and Wiltshire Record Office. The furtherest back listed member of the Blake Pedigree Chart was a Richard Blake/Blaake/Blague living in the time of Edward I and Edward II and deeding property in Essex to the Knights Templar. Although I also discovered that this is an error and that the actual Blake member deeding property in Essex was a Roger Blake from Herefordshire, none the less this very early record does give one pause for thought.

But one does note that these early Blake records are beginning in the 1200s and the Normans arrived in 1066.

England's Immigrants database 1330 - 1550 is interesting (https://www.englandsimmigrants.com/)

It is possible to download all of the results into a spreadsheet so I have put only basic details into this blog:

Surname    Forename    Nationality    Day    Month    Year    Residence

Blake    Adam        8    Aug    1456    London
Blake    Gunna    Dutch    12    Jul    1440    Huntingdonshire, Huntingdon
Blake    Hayn        27    Sep    1456    Kent, Ospringe
Blake    Henry            Oct    1441    London, Castle Baynard ward
Blake    Henry        18    Jan    1443    London, Castle Baynard ward
Blake    Henry        aft 29    Sep    1441    London
Blake    Henry        5    Sep    1449    London, Farringdon without ward
Blake    Henry        aft 3     Dec    1450    Kent
Blake    Herman    Dutch    12    Jul    1440    Huntingdonshire, Huntingdon
Blake    Hugh        5    Sep    1449    London
Blake    John        9    Oct    1441    London, Cripplegate ward
Blake    John        11    Oct    1441    London, Queenhithe ward
Blake    John        18    Jan    1443    London, Cripplegate ward
Blake    John        aft 29    Sep    1441    London
Blake    John        18    Jan    1443    London, Queenhithe ward
Blake    John        aft 29    Sep    1441    London
Blake    John        aft 29    Sep    1441    London
Blake    John        aft 29    Sep    1441    London
Blake    John    Scot    26    Sep    1465    Lincolnshire, Rathby
Blake    John    Dutch    11    Jul    1440    Hampshire, King's Somborne hundred
Blake    John        10    Aug    1441    Gloucestershire, All Saints
Blake    John    Fleming    24   Jul    1484    Devon, Exeter
Blake    John    Norman    18    Apr    1524    Dorset, Eastbury
Blake    John    Breton    bef 16    Feb    1525    Cornwall, Bodmin
Blake    John    Dutch            c 1524    Essex, Aveley
Blake    Lodewicus    Dutch    18    Aug    1441    Northamptonshire, Yarwell
Blake    Lodwico    Dutch    24    May    1440    Northamptonshire, Yarwell
Blake    Patrick        7    Apr    1440    Essex, High Roding
Blake    Patrick        aft 29    Sep    1441    London
Blake    Peter        6    Sep    1463    Bedfordshire
Blake    Peter        20    Sep    1455    Bedfordshire, Dunstable
Blake    Peter        10    Jul    1406 
Blake    Philip        5    Jul    1440    Shropshire, Shrewsbury
Blake    Richard    Scot    15    Sep    1451    Northumberland, Newcastle upon Tyne
Blake    Richard    Irish    10    Jul    1440    Wiltshire, Salisbury
Blake    Richard    Irish    10    Aug    1441    Gloucestershire, St Leonard
Blake    Richard    Irish    7    Sep    1441    Wiltshire, Salisbury
Blake    Robert        28    Aug    1441    Warwickshire, Coventry
Blake    Robert        21    Apr    1440    Gloucestershire, Holy Trinity
Blake    Robert        10    Aug    1441    Gloucestershire, Holy Trinity
Blake    Robert    French    19    Sep    1441    Wiltshire, Great Somerford
Blake    Stephen        11    Jul    1440    Hampshire, Millbrook
Blake    Thomas        aft 29    Sep    1441    London
Blake    Walter        18    Jan    1443    London, Billingsgate ward
Blake    Walter        aft 29    Sep    1441    London
Blake    William        18    Jan    1443    London, Tower ward
Blake    William    Breton    4    Apr    1524    Devon, Morchard Bishop

A number of the entries do bear the continental origin of the individual.

If you have a lengthy tree which you are willing to share then I am very pleased to add it to the repository of trees.

I am always looking for other like minded people to join me in this study. Since I am nearly 74 years of age I will step down one of these days and having someone eager to take up the mantle is an exciting thought. I intend that access to my information will be online for a good period of time after I step down.


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