Continuing on with the search at Kew

Yesterday interesting details emerged from the search on le Blake and le Blak. The appearance of a le Blake in Southampton prior to the date on which Richard le Blak of Rouen Normandy received his permit to set up a market in England was a surprise as I had not noted that particular item before. There is a Blake line in the southern part of Hampshire around Southampton/Christchurch that stays pretty much in that area although gradually does appear to move upwards into Dorset and Wiltshire as well as Hampshire and there are a number of wills for the Blake family in this area and they do not appear to link to the Blake family in Andover area nor do you see mention of the Blake family members known to be descendant of the Calne Blake family. But there are a number of distinct lines in the Blake yDNA study. This is perhaps one of those that now has three members (must check on that) or more and an excellent researcher in England on that one. But I am trying not to be subjective; I just found it interesting that there was a Blake present in southern Hampshire prior to 1274 when Richard le Blak received his market permit as shown in the Calendar of Patent Rolls. 

Today I want to continue with that search and will soon be doing that. This next month could prove to be interesting as there are many many Blake documents online and forever available to researchers because they are electronic. That is perhaps the gift of our generation to the future. When I first started into computers back in the mid 1960s who would have guessed how far we would come by the mid 2020s. We must continue to be in charge; to manage AI and to make it work for us as it is not limited by the frailty of Homo sapiens and can endure through the ages. It is our gift to the future and we must improve on it every day that lies ahead of us but always be in charge. 

Why do I think Richard le Blak in particular is the ancestor of the Calne Blake family. It is because he was Norman and that would likely give him a boost immediately on his arrival in England. Going to Wargrave makes really good sense because of its proximity to Windsor. Why move towards northern Wiltshire though? Someone with more knowledge than I have would probably quickly see something that was interesting but it does appear they moved towards Speen prior to finding them in northern Wiltshire. Still following that family lore that has (perhaps) a distant connection between the Hampshire Blake family to the Blake family that was at Calne and served as Parliamentarians in 1381, 1383 and 1384. This was John Blake and his son John Blake was born circa 1388 and can be located at Blacklands (a mile SE of Calne) in 1412 when he inherited some family property (I have blogged on that and must check what I wrote). I did blog it 22 Aug 2022 "Looking at Blake and an Anne Cole who were said to have married circa 1320s" and the land was held from 1262 to 1539 by the Malmesbury Abbey. It then passed into private family hands (eventually to the Maundrell family in the late 1780s). We do know that Robert Blake had a fulling mill at Quemberford which is close to Blackwoods. Source: https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol17/pp17-27

The actual location of the fulling mill known to be held by a Robert Blake (father of this John and Robert) is not known to me. A google search revealed a couple of hits which could be investigated. A marker on the map (https://www.blacklandsmill.com/contact) does locate a building called Blacklands Mill that is close to the Blacklands estate.

The connection that hints towards a link to the Calne family appears in the Visitations of one line of the Blake family at Andover in the 1600s and in 1690 (with additions into the 1700s) the Daniel Blake family of London working with the College of Arms created the Blake Pedigree Chart I have mentioned a number of times where a more detailed descent was added. The Blake Museum at Bridgwater holds another large Pedigree Chart (principally linking the Somerset Blake family to the Calne Blake family) but it also mentions the Andover Blake family. Neither of them has the correct parents for William Blake of Eastonton who left his will in 1582 clearly establishing the family lines going back and forward. As do the other wills of this family. Five generations are readily established. I postulate that the connection between the Blake family that was eventually at Calne and the Blake family at Andover were related much further back in the early 1300s. That is the purpose of all this searching and I will spend the next month pursuing this idea in order to form a more concrete proof for this connection; one that makes use of all the records now available to me. 

I do not plan to publish this book outside of my family particularly but will place it into repositories with the embargo that is is available to family members and academic researchers. Because William, Prince of Wales is descendant, by way of his mother Diana, Princess of Wales, of the Blake family of Calne definitely and I propose that he is descendant of the Blake family of Andover going back to Thomas Blake married to Dorothy Mayowe and the son of Thomas Blake and Eleanor Hall with William Blake married to Elizabeth (unknown) the father of John. This Thomas was the eldest son of John Blake and Margaret (Blake) Blake. Like James Sanders I will leave my thoughts to individuals who may in the future continue this research line and I do so humbly as did he! Certainly life can be very interesting in your old age as you read through all these documents from ancient times. 

My interest is primarily in that ancient ancestor of mine who likely arrived in the British Isles 8000 to 12000 years ago and was named Deer-Hunter by Ethnoancestry on the basis of the yDNA results of two of my four brothers (I could not test one as he was deceased and I really didn't need three results all the same) and this name has remained in the discussion but the more common name would have been Western Hunter-Gatherer. No surname through thousands of years and suddenly his surname is Blake. Why did he chose it? It was an established surname by that time with several families having the surname Blake already in England; I think there needed to be incentive to take on that surname personally. Marriage certainly does provide one with that sort of an incentive. That question I cannot really answer but certainly in the 1300s in England with the Duke of Normandy having conquered England and become its King there would be an asset to marrying into the le Blak family or Blake as it was commonly written by the 1300s. This ancestor was perhaps known as John of Enham in the early 1300s (the Blake family were at Knights Enham in the 1400s) so why not become John Blake of Knights Enham. Now I would say that my grandfather did not really buy into that idea that he was descendant of the Blake family at Calne. He didn't actually believe there was any relationship between Robert Blake, Lord High Admiral, of Bridgwater a line that considered itself descendant of the Blake family at Calne. But he did repeat the family lore along with the idea that the original settlers of the British Isles were one of the Lost Tribes of Israel. Family lore being what it is can sometimes have a moment of truth in it but it can also lead you astray so one proceeds very cautiously in this line of thought.

Breakfast is next, tea is drank, solitaire puzzles all done and even a Sudoku whilst I waited for my kettle to boil and my tea to steep. 

I will continue again to add to this blog through the day. Looking at le Blake 1200-1299 and there are 20 entries. 

Entry 13:  Adam le Blake, 1270, Shropshire Archives 465/4, Grant and quitclaim. An interesting family but I do not think they are connected to the Wiltshire Blake family.

Entry 14: Refers to property and is held by Canterbury Cathedral Archives and Library - 'la blake hege', date 27 Oct 1266 (28 Oct 1265). CCA-DCc-ChAnt/G/116

Entry 15: A similar property and individuals to Entry 14 but does mention a Thomas le Blake and I think is related to Entry 8, 9, 10 in 1200-1299

Entry 16: Refers to land belonging to a church of Blake Nhottele in Essex. 1261-1262.

Entry 17:  Roger Blake and his son Henry, 7 Mar 1294, a gift from father to son it would appear in the Blake family, Knyton, Leicestershire. This Roger Blake is perhaps living at the same time as the gift of land to the Knights Templar by a Roger Blake of Herefordshire (these two counties are fairly close). 

Entry 18. A grant in Swalecliffe once again a record in the Canterbury Cathedral Archives and Library, 20 Nov 1284 - 19 Nov 1285. Thomas le Blake again mentioned. 

Entry 19: Quitclaim (Deeds and Papers), Shakespeare Birthplace Trust DR10/254. A Thomas Blake was a witness, c 1290. There was a Blake family in the Midlands that I have mentioned in another blog and I believe the records available eliminate them from being related to Richard le Blak.

Entry 20: Estate papers of the 4th and 5th Earls of Onslow and one line mentions 1320/273 Copy letters of J Jex Blake, Warren Farm. The holdings of the Earl of Northumberland were extensive and this one refers to the Blake family of Norfolk (East Anglia).

1300 - 1399 (with 98 of these I will only really look at the documents that pertain to Berkshire, Hampshire, Wiltshire and Dorset and possibly Gloucestershire)

Entry 1: Northamptonshire

Entry 2: Worcestershire

Entry 3: Warwickshire

Entry 4: Warwickshire

Entry 5: Warwickshire

Entry 6: Somersetshire - Thomas le Blake of Milverton 1340 DD/SF/1595 (Southwest Heritage Trust)

Entry 7: Northamptonshire

Entry 8: Northamptonshire

Entry 9: same as Entry 1 1100-1199, Worcestershire

Entry 10: Roger le Blake, Madebrook and his grant of land to the Knights Templar 10 Nov 1302 - 19 Nov 1303, C 143/41/23 

Entry 11: Lancashire

Entry 12: Gloucestershire, John le Blake as a witness to the land grant made to Margery le Blake and Nicholas le Blake.3 Jan 1318. BCM/A/2/62/2 (Berkeley Castle Muniments)

Entry 13: Gloucestershire, John le Blake is identified as being of Rockhill, 26 Dec 1330, BCM/A/2/62/5

Entry 14: Lincolnshire, John le Blake and his son Gilbert le Blake, 1317, C 241/113/124

Entry 15: as Entry 14, 1317, C241/82/211

Entry 16: Warwickshire

Entry 17: same as Entry 2 1100-1199

Entry 18: Buckinghamshire

Entry 19: Northamptonshire

Entry 20: Robert le Blake to John Malewayn, grant, 1358, Wiltshire and Swindon Archives 1720/154 (his brother Adam Blake is mentioned)

Entry 21: Robert le Blake paying bond to John Malewayn of Echelhamptone, Wiltshire, 1358, Ref: 1720/152

Entry 22: John le Blake, Cam, Gloucestershire, 16 Aug 1332, BCM/A/1/60/54

Entry 23: Hugo le Blake and wife Katherine, quitclaim, Gloucestershire, 1367, D6322/4

Entry 24: Warwickshire

Entry 25: Warwickshire

Entry 26: Gloucestershire, John son of William le Blake of Rockhill, 3 May 1311, BCM/A/2/62/1

Entry 27: Middlesex, Nicholas le Blake, London, 25 Jan 1349-24 Jan 1350, E 40/1733

Entry 28: Warwickshire

Entry 29: Gloucestershire, John le Blake of Cam, acquisition of land, 1332, BCM/A/1/60/55

Entry 30: Middlesex, similar to Entry 27

Entry 31: Middlesex, London, Nicholas le Blake.

Entry 32: Richard le Blake, Haydon, Wiltshire, 25 Jan 1343-24 Jan 1344, Taxes, E326/6618,  perhaps the son of Margery le Blake. similar to Entry 2: 1100-1199.

Entry 33: Warwickshire

Entry 34: Suffolk

Entry 35: similar to Entry 34

Entry 36: Essex

Entry 37: Gloucestershire, Grant, John le Blake 25 Jan 1338 - 24 Jan 1339, E 210/7780

Entry 38: Staffordshire

Entry 39: Worcestershire

Entry 40: Robert le Blake at Stokkelegh, Wiltshire, 1347, Ref: 1720/137. I have mentioned this in another blog.

Entry 41: Roger Blake, Bodmin, Cornwall, 6 May 1344, C 241/118/364. This is interesting as I have done a number of writeups on the Blake family of Cornwall; must check and see if I have this particular item.

Entry 42: similar to Entry 41: Roger le Blake, 3 May 1343, C241/117/256

Entry 43: John Blake, Gloucestershire, 1391, D2762/T5. Also rather interesting and will check to see if I have looked at this one earlier.

Entry 44: Robert Blake, Stokkelegh, Wiltshire, 1347, Ref 1720/139. Also in another blog.

Entry 45: Warwickshire, place name is Blake Furlong.

Entry 46: John Blake at Whetham, Wiltshire, 1387, Ref: 1720/202

Entry 47: Robert le Blake, Quemerford, 1353, Ref: 1720/148

Entry 48: Humphrey le Blake, Margarethis wife, Roger his son, and John le Blake, Shaftesbury, Wiltshire, Inquisition Ad Quod Damnum, 25 Jan 1347-24 Jan 1348, C 143/286/3.

Entry 49: Lincolnshire

Entry 50: Swaffham, Norfolk, Simon Blake, 1474

Entry 51: Robert le Blake, witness; Grant of Land. 1334, Ref 1720/120.

Entry 52: John le Blake of Rockhill, Shropshire, Nicholas le Blake of Stoke. 19 Jan 1321, Ref: BCM/A/2/62/4.

Entry 53: similar to Entry 52

Entry 54: John Blake, witness, 1395, Ref: 1720/213

Entry 55: Henry le Blake, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, 1343, C 241/117/176

Entry 56: Adam le Blake, London, 1330, Ref: SC 8/92/4572

Entry 57: Leicestershire

Entry 58: Suffolk

Entry 59: Herefordshire

Entry 60: Gloucestershire, Alexander le Blake, 0 Aug 1337, Ref: D326/T171/3.

Entry 61: Warwickshire

Entry 62: Cheshire

Entry 63: Buckinghamshire, Yorkshire

Entry 64: Kent

Entry 65: John le Blake and Alice his wife, 1347, Twyverton, Ref: DD/WHb/583.

Entry 66: Warwickshire

Entry 67: Herefordshire

Entry 68: Robert le Blake, witness, 1345, Ref: DD/WHb/1027-1028, East Coker, Somerset.

Entry 69: Murder of William le Blake, Ogbourne, Wiltshire, 1302,  Ref: SC 8/50/2463 (one of the King's Ministers). I did not see this one before, interesting. 

Entry 70: Suffolk

Entry 71: Lincolnshire

Entry 72: Warwickshire

Entry 73: Robert le Blake, of Kemerford (old word for Quemerford), quitclaim, 1364, Ref: DD/WHb/813 (blogged this item earlier).

Entry 74: John le Blake, witness, Quitclaim, Lega, Hampshire, 17 Oct 1331, Ref: 44M69/C/67

Entry 75: Leicestershire/Rutland

Entry 76: Suffolk

Entry 77: same as Entry 3: 1100-1199

Entry 78: Essex

Entry 79: Suffolk

Entry 80: Warwickshire

Entry 81: Robert le Blake, witness, 1363, Ref: 1720/164, Wiltshire

Entry 82: Christine, widow of Roger le Blake, John le Blake their son, Indented grant by the abbess of Lacock and the messuage is at Lacock. 1350 Dec 30, K H Rogers, Lacock Abbey Charters (Wiltshire Record Society, 1979), no 204. This is quite interesting as John is found at Lacock in a later record. Is he the John Blake that was the ancestor of Humphrey Blake, grandfather to the Admiral Robert Blake on the Blake Pedigree Charts? 

Entry 83: Suffolk

Entry 84: Cheshire

Entry 85: West Sussex

Entry 86: East Sussez

Entry 87: Herefordshire

Entry 88: Leicestershire

Entry 89: John le Blake, Stoke, Devon, witness quit claim, 1341, Ref: 1038 M/T/4/15.

Entry 90: Staffordshire

Entry 91: East Sussex

Entry 92: Warwickshire

Entry 93: Staffordshire

Entry 94: Staffordshire

Entry 95: Staffordshire

Entry 96: Warwickshire, Buckinghamshire

Entry 97: Kent

Entry 98: Essex

le Blak

1200-1299

Entry 1: Thomas le Blak, witness, mentioned in a grant of land, Milverton, Somerset, circa 1280. Very interesting to find a record for Thomas le Blak in Somerset. Reference DD/SF/1591. I think this is the first record I have found for a le Blak in Somerset this early.

Entry 2: Thomas le Blak, Swalecliffe, near Canterbury Cathedral, witness, grant, 20 Nov 1294 x 19 Nov 1295, CCA-DCc-ChAnt/T/17.

Entry 3: Thomas le Blak, Swalecliffe, Quitclaim, 19 Dec 1293, CCA-DCc-ChAnt/T/8.

1300-1399

Entry 1: Nottinghamshire

Entry 2: Thomas le Blak, Milverton, Somerset, grant of land from Thomas to Wm. Vycery, 1321-1322, Ref DD/SF/1593.

Entry 3: Nottinghamshire

Entry 4: William Blak, chaplain, Nottinghamshire, 16Aug 1315, C 241/81/147.

Entry 5: John son of Gilbert le Blak, Lincolnshire, 1333 Mar 26. C 241/104/23

Entry 6: Staffordshire

Entry 7: Suffolk

That completes that run through the National Archives looking at le Blak and le Blake.I will do a search on Blake itself as there are a number of records not caught with this search. 

1100-1199 5 items

1200-1299 7 items

1300-1399 172 items

1400-1499 10 items

A couple of surprises and I may order them just to see what is in the items. I have looked up records a number of times so have seen some of these already and worked my way through them. I made a map showing the number of hits in the Calendar of Patent Rolls per country for Blake.

 

 The time span for these records is 30 Jan 1230 to 16 Jun 1452. I have a copy of every one of these records and generally have used them looking at the families through the last few years but I decided to pull the records from the National Archives although most of them I have seen but this way I know that I have looked at all of them. 

Finished for the day, yoga done, running done, just weight lifting and that is next. No more work today. 

 

 

 

I do like what PM Stephen Harper wrote in his editorial

I agree with him as I did when he was Prime Minister until I didn't but that was ten years ago and more. Our best friend should ideally be the United States and They have been for over two hundred years; we share a huge border with them. A closer economic and custodial (we need to protect this continent) relationship would be even better and make us both stronger and I do like fresh fruit and vegetables (the American broccoli, cauliflower, and other items that I bought last week were excellent and fresh). Tariffs are a downer on the economy and it will be the farmers/manufacturers of goods and services in the United States who pay the price which is really not very fair to your own people to destroy their market and increase the prices they will pay everywhere for the raw materials that are cheaper to buy across this border than anywhere else. I do agree with PM Stephen Harper that giving the Americans a break on the price of oil being shipped by us to them to refine has always been a bonus for our good relationship. We could get a better price elsewhere but our good friends are right there to the south and we haven't done that (we have finished the pipeline to the ocean now for the surplus but the United States remains our preferred customer); friendship means a lot. It is really up to them to let their government know what they prefer (cheap gas at the pumps and a place to sell their produce/finished goods and we are eager to eat that for sure/buy their finished goods). We would put tariffs on reluctantly if the United States does because we value that great friendship. We will help defend the water border (and as Americans know we were into both World Wars right at the beginning in 1914 and 1939 so we can be counted on to defend Turtle Island as the First Nations refer to this part of North America if a foreign entity attacks this continent). I do think we need to spend far more on our military as I have been saying for a very long time; we need to provide more incentives to get the young people to enlist (free education at the end of their term of years and I understand that is a somewhat shorter period than I mentioned earlier in the United States so we could follow their guidelines on that they have years of experience). The loss of Canada as a buyer for cars and so many other items would be huge; we are after all 41 million people who buy a lot of cars (many people own two) and we continue to drive our wonderful Dodge Caravan made in Canada along with many other Canadians who own cars built by American companies on Canadian soil and they do go back and forth between Canada and the United States as they are built (and we are right next door so the cost of shipping it to us is pretty low comparatively). We are a country of raw materials with 75% of our exports to the United States being just that! We have to buy finished goods and foods during the long cold winter but we also store vegetables and other produce so can eat that but it would be a pity. There is a polar vortex coming just to remind us of how cold it can get here. But we are inventive and innovative and can build a manufacturing economy if we have to but the status quo has suited us as we are the same kind of people and our friendship is long standing.

Cleaning all accomplished and a work day. I shall be looking at the Blake Book once again although it should really be Pincombe but I will get to that next week. I am really very much into this le Blak/le Blake family of Berkshire/Wiltshire. I will be searching British History Online again today to have a look at what I can find.  A John le Blake in Cam, Gloucestershire leasing a house and land in 1332 was most interesting especially given its proximity to Calne. John le Blake is the son of William le Blake of Rockhill. I will pursue this as I could not yet locate Rockhill. In Herefordshire there is a Roger le Blake in the early 1300s as noted earlier. But the coincidence of the Blake family of Calne moving to Gloucestershire after refusing a title and having their manor house destroyed for that by Charles I is a strong memory. The Blake family is stubborn for sure and I do have Blake cousins in the United States with some way back in time actually matching me on Ancestry but I have at least two Blake lines deep in the past perhaps doubling up on the DNA there! I do have so many cousins in the United States (and Canada too).

I will add to this as the day progresses but it is breakfast time. 

Looking at the Parish Wargrave and its history one finds that the Manor of Wargrave was granted to Emma of Normandy (wife of Ethelred the Unready) circa 1061-5. Later Queen Edith held Wargrave. William, Duke of Normandy, later William I of England seized Wargrave and held it in demesne in 1086 and it belonged to the ancient demesne of the Crown. Henry I granted it to the see of Winchester circa 1189. I did not see any mention of Richard le Blak or his daughter Alicia although they appear on the Pipe Roll of the Bishopric of Winchester 1301-2 (Hampshire Record Series Volume 14) at Wargrave along with John Blak. Closeby at Waltham St Lawrence Hamo Blak and Walter Blak (son of Hamo). This area is 56 km NE of Andover by the road (somewhat shorter on horse back if one was so tempted). 

Going to the Discovery catalogue at the National Archives there are for a search term le Blake 287 items but looking only at 1100-1199 (3), 1200-1299 (20), 1300-1399 (98), 1400-1499 (18). If I use only le Blak there are 14 items but looking only at 1200-1299 (3), 1300-1399 (7) 1400-1499 (3) and the timeline does have Robert Blake (married to Avis Wallop) owning a Fulling Mill at Quemerford and his date of death is 1515. There is material on this Blake and I tend to use him as a starting point going backwards. 

I have blogged some of this material earlier but I want to concentrate on items that would show movement from Normandy to Hampshire to Berkshire to Wiltshire as I predict that would have been the movement following 1274 when Richard le Blak was awarded the right to set up a market in England. One had to remember he was a Norman and would have preference in this England conquered by William now replaced in this time frame by King Edward I of England whose attachment to Normandy was probably sufficiently strong to assist anyone coming from Normandy to be successful.

But before I do that I need to look at the documents showing a Richard le Blak along the Hampshire coast earlier. I find it interesting that he is near Windsor (Wargrave is in that area) on a King's demesne in 1301 having received the right to set up a market in England in 1274 as shown by the Calendar of Patent Rolls. One would not necessarily proceed immediately to England but would need to prepare somewhat and then select locations where such a market would be profitable. Certainly near Windsor would be very profitable! But likely one would start along the coast of Hampshire which is right across the Channel. Hampshire was a wealthier area as well compared to the other counties. Hence the search at the National Archives. 

Looking at le Blake

1100-1199

Entry 1: There is a John le Blake in Worchestershire and he was the son of John Blake but the date range is up to 1500 on a conveyance and I do know there is a Blake family in Worchestershire and I do not believe they are related. 

Entry 2: Margery le Blake widow at Haydoneswyke (Haydon Wick is suggested) and it is Tax but the date is 1100-1600. Since she is a widow I usually do not follow these items but Haydon Wick is just north of Swindon so close to the Berkshire border interestingly but one would need to read the document E 326/6191 to see whether the date refers to the land or the family (likely the land).

Entry 3: The third item is for a Roger le Blake and in Wiltshire interestingly enough with a date range of 1100 - 1603 but does not mean that the land was held by the Blake family in 1100. There is a Roger Blake of interest in the Calne Blake family who left his will in 1557. I will keep this as reference if I do indeed trace down the Calne Blake family. The property is at Ricardeston held by the Abbot of Stanleg' and there is a Stanley Abbey near Chippenham Wiltshire at Bremhill. Chippenham to Calne is about 11 kilometres. So an interesting find if I happen to trace this family down. Includes seals and legends so could be interesting. E 40/12128

1200-1299

Entry 1:  A William le Blake is at Southampton, Hampshire in 1289. Interesting and I will keep track of this item. C 241/4/67A Certificate of Statute Merchant and Statute Staple

Entry 2: same as Entry 1 in 1100-1199 search

Entry 3: same as Entry 2 in 1100-1199 search

Entry 4: Richard le Blake, burgess of Shoreham (Sussex) in 1290. The other members on the certificate are noted as Alien merchants in Winchester. I found this item interesting. C241/14/70 (I may already have this record).

Entry 5: Stephen le Blake is named as a merchant of Southampton, Hampshire in 1286. C241/7/288.

Entry 6: Stephen le Blake (same location, same year). C241/6/36

Entry 7: John le Blake of Hatfeld Regis, Essex and a quitclaim in 1295.

Entry 8, 9, 10: Thomas le Blake and he is a witness on a Quitclaim 17 May 1293 at Swalecliffe (likely the County of Kent since the record is at Canterbury Cathedral Archives and Library). There is a Blake family in this early time period in East Anglia, London and down into Kent and Surrey. I suspect they are from The Netherlands as  Blake entries continued into 1330 to 1550s from The Netherlands. The other argument for this are the yDNA results in the Blake yDNA study at FT DNA and more on that once I get into writing up. CCA-DCc-ChAnt/T/6

Entry 11: same as Entry 3 in 1100-1199 search

Entry 12: Robert le Blake of Southorpe, Lincolnshire, Road agreement 11 Apr 1272. This is before the Calendar of Patent Rolls grant to Richard le Blak. It is known that there were other Blake lines in England prior to and coincidental to the presence of Richard Blak at Wargrave in 1301. 

Will complete tomorrow. Interesting day. 

 

 

Cleaning will be finished today

Just the top floor to clean and then done once again for the week. Yesterday I cleaned the main floor as I decided to do three days of cleaning this week. I also shoveled the porch and patio at the front. I think that was a good plan not to have the company shovel the porch and patio as it does get me outside in the fresh air at least occasionally. 

I continued to work on the Pedigree Chart yesterday and may do some more today on the first image. I discovered British History Online is doing an upgrade to their system which allows me to continue searching but I could not become a member of the site although do have a login now. I did a little searching on Dorrant and Bellet. The Pedigree Chart has scant information on these two lines that appear to have married into the Blake family of Wiltshire. The Baynard family is well established and known in the Visitations and other documents as well as having wills for many of the members of the family in this timeline which I have transcribed. I wonder if that was the upward movement of the Norman family le Blak (still not yet proven the idea that the le Blak family of Wargrave, Berkshire was the Blake family of Calne) actually marrying into the Baynard family - Roger Blake and his sister Anne married into the family. Roger married Mary Baynard and Anne married  Robert Baynard but they are great grandchildren of Philip Baynard and Henry Blake (the second set of circles on the first image). This first image does proves to be rather interesting. There is also a Blake Pedigree Chart held by the Blake Museum in Bridgwater which is equally interesting and has ten images available online at the Museum site. 

First Image of the Blake Pedigree at the Blake Museum in Bridgwater:

I have discussed this particular set of data before on my blog. We can see the same or similar marriages and I think this was prepared in the latter part of the 1800s. The second image (referred to as Sheet No. 2) does have a slightly different look at the Blake family of Andover than this Pedigree Chart.

Second Image of the Blake Pedigree at the Blake Museum in Bridgwater (I have cropped it from the original image to show the Andover Hampshire material):

 In a way it is like the author of this second Pedigree Chart has anticipated and noted the problems with having a William Blake at Eastontown as the son of Roger Blake and Mary (Baynard) Blake and devised a connection further back descendant of Henry Blake married to Margaret (Bellet) Blake. There is actually a simpler connection I think even further back with a John of Enham marrying Alicia (la Blak) daughter of Richard le Blak who lived at Wargrave likely whilst they were living at Wargrave and that would have been in the early 1300s and that would eliminate the inconsistencies with the wills of the Blake family of Andover created by these two charts. I will discuss this chart line by line as well since I have a lot of information from the wills to help to simply and revise this portion.

So that is my purpose in the next month to examine the extant material and see what is available. I have really three sets of thought all based likely on family lore. The First Pedigree Chart created by the College of Arms with information provided by the Daniel Blake family using the Visitations and family data which is not found online was a simple direct connection back to William Blake of Eastonton but he is not given the right set of parents according to the wills. The Second Pedigree Chart created by I think Edward Blake of Crewkerne, Somerset who did provide information to Horatio Gates Somerby so likely why this information in the Second Pedigree Chart resembles that idea and the Blake is an unknown coming out of Wiltshire to Andover and a son of Henry Blake if one follows the traceback to the first page of this second Pedigree (great grandfather of Roger Blake said to be the father of William Blake of Eastonton). This second chart does utilize the power of the wills as far back as they would take you although I need to verify the information on this chart with the extant wills. I have transcribed all of them. This Second Pedigree Chart links the Somerset Blake family to the Calne Blake family and again this is hinted at in the first Pedigree Chart which we will reach eventually. My thought remains the simplest that the Andover Blake family is linked through a female line way back in the early 1300s. This would fit in with my grandfather's thought that such a relationship could have existed (as family lore did exist but he tended to be somewhat skeptical of it I think) but more likely with the Blake family of Berkshire as in retrospect he appeared aware of a relationship between these families from earlier times. As I researched I did recall his mentioning that (I was only eight when he passed although he was quite lucid to the end of his life; just fell asleep a lot while he was telling me stories!). I loved it though to sit and listen to him and would do that for hours as my father used to take me to the office and let me sit and chat with him whilst he was working. My grandfather used to keep the equipment sorted for him and he also built scaffolding when he needed that for construction. Proving the link between the Somerset Blake family and the Calne Blake family I will leave to others. I sometimes think where there is "old" family lore one has to look at it as a possibility but finding the information when you are looking back into the 1600s and earlier can be quite difficult. My grandfather though was quite positive that we were not related to Lord High Admiral Robert Blake of Bridgwater (I think that was still important in the 1800s but time tends to gloss over these things!). But that was likely more of a political statement clearly separating his Blake family from Cromwell. Isn't history fascinating really? Between my new found depth of vision and all of this history ( my cousin George Dekay (he asked me to write a Profile for the Pincombe family for the book he was editing) certainly set me on a different path than I had planned for my retirement) I am totally distracted for sure and the days pass by rather quickly. I continue to see more items in that oil painting of the winter scene in Canada. The painter is certainly obscure and the painting itself of little value but the picture is tremendous.

I also want to get back to my son in law's family which traces back to 30+ of the early families in Quebec (and some Acadian further back with some of those lines now in New Orleans). I do have a Pedigree Chart for my lines back which includes my son in law's lines but I still need to extract more data that is available. Most of the families I have taken back to France at least one generation. With all of Edward's work on the Kipp side (his early colonial ancestors are many and for the most part they remained in the United States until the 1820s/1830s when free land became available in Upper Canada although his Kipp line came in 1800 from Northeast Town in Dutchess County New York (on the 1790 census)), the lines for my daughters tend to be mostly in North America back into colonial days except for my father being born in England and coming to Canada as a nine year old with his parents in 1913 (my mother's family arrived in 1818 for the earliest settler but each subsequent marriage in that line was with an English immigrant - amazing really). A link between the Kipp family and Thomas Horner does give one a thought on why Isaac Kipp made the move to Canada in 1800 (free land was available then as well for settlers although a lot of them tended to be loyalist but with a father in law that was patriot I think that was unlikely (Isaac was born in 1764 and finding his birth parents knowing his baptism/birth has been impossible but the yDNA match with descendants of the Kip family of New York/New Amsterdam did make the way back obvious!). I am not an expert though on the Kipp family and his work is online on Edward's website. Interestingly many members of this Kipp family are now back in the United States have gradually moved back from the middle 1800s to the present.

I also worked extracting more atDNA matches from My Heritage and this will be a long process as I found at least ten new ones on the first page of my matches alone. I figure that I need to read through the first 35 pages of matches to eliminate anyone who does not match me by at least (or one of my siblings) 20 cM on one length. Many of these matches are in the fourth cousin range with total matches of between 40 and higher cM. But I am back into working on what I wanted to do although I do need to send the Companion Charting Book for the Siderfin Family to repositories and the Guild. So will also get that done soon. 

Teatime and then breakfast. The day moves quickly. It is minus 11 degrees celsius and cloudy. A sort of normal January although not quite as much snow cover as usual. It is this lack of snow cover which is the largest problem.

Heavy snowfall

 We did finally get a good snowfall yesterday. Definitely we need to reach a standing pile of snow in unworked areas that is 1 metre or more in height by the end of the winter. We are not there but that is not unusual as we generally get our heaviest snows in March. But it was good to see the heavy snowfall yesterday. The Arctic is very important and we need to do all that we can to protect it. I found it interesting that one of the Liberal contenders for the leadership may be a First Nations current member of the federal parliament from Cape Breton. 

Not too much done on the phasing of the grandparents and great grandparents DNA. I will do some work on that today. I also need to sign up for access to British History online as I think that is a good direction to acquire more material for the le Blak and le Blake families in the Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Hampshire area. Trying to prove these are all related in the 1300s may be the best way forward and as always family lore can be interesting. Sometimes it isn't exactly as it ends up being viewed centuries later but there is a core truth to it and perhaps I can unweave that over the next month. My suspicion that an individual (perhaps named John living at Knight Enham) married a daughter of Richard le Blak and took on the Blake surname. The advantage in doing this in the late 1200s/early 1300s was huge for him actually and it does make sense. Proving it though will be another thing. Providing reasonable arguments for it may perhaps be the only source of proof. By the early 1500s we do have a Blake family (Robert Blake of Knights Enham who left his will in 1521 was definitely elderly with  his son Richard leaving his will just one year later, his other sons William and Thomas lived into the 1530s). Their descendants included a number of individuals for whom there are a lot of wills. That cache of information forms the nucleus of the research in the 1500s. It is the 1200s, 1300s and 1400s that I need to pursue over the next month. It is known that Richard le Blak (of Rouen, Normandy) received a market permit as one of the Patent Rolls in 1274 to come to England and set up a market. I postulate that he did indeed come and was first in Hampshire moving north into Berkshire where he is located on the Pipe Rolls in the early 1300s. 

I have been discussing the Pedigree Chart for the Blake family produced by the College of Arms with material from the Daniel Blake family of London in 1690 with additions into the 1700s. The preamble has been discussed and the first row of information. Today I will look at the second row of information. 

Looking at the next generation in the families of interest, Baynard to the left, Blake in the middle and Bellet to the right. 

There is an interesting squiggle on the line coming down from Edmund Baynard and Eleanor Blewet (the Visitation for the Baynard family gives a date of the 1330s for Edmund Baynard and Eleanor Blewet) and it represents a number of generations as  Philip Baynard is thought to be born around 1468 and so is perhaps 53 years old when this will (dated 23 Apr 1521) is written. Just to look at that timeline his father was known to be over 50 28 Oct 1490 when he received his arms following the death of his father who had been High Sheriff of Wiltshire. That gives him a date of birth around 1440 and his will was probated 1 Oct 1501. At that time Philip's age was estimated as over 30 when he inherited the arms of his father giving him a date of birth before 1470. Accurate dating of people is difficult unless there is a specific age attached to them on the visitations or in the manor books. In this case the grandson of Philip was Edward and he died at age 63 21 Dec 1575 which gives him a date of birth of 1512 but interestingly he is not mentioned in his grandfather's will. Robert the father of Edward and son of Philip the testator is named as the executor so is over 21 years of age in 1521 so born by 1500 and already mentioned his grandfather's (Robert as well) will was probated 1 Oct 1501. The birth of Philip the testator around 1570 seems reasonable and his father (Robert) would have been about 30+ when the testator was born.

Philip (the testator) can trace his line back on the Visitations of Somerset to his father Robert (mother Elizabeth Ludlowe), his father Philip  (wife Margaret), to his father Robert (wife Joyce), to his father Philip and his father Edmond (married to Elinor Blewet). The first of the line known to me is Edmond Baynard who was of Essex (bore arms) and he married into the Blewet family of Lackham (the Bluet family being a very ancient family of Somerset). The Bluet family is said to go back to 1066 and the Norman Conquest. The furtherest back the Bluet family has been traced is to Walter b c987. As I worked my way through these charts one is left with a couple of thoughts particularly datewise since the deed of land to the Knights Templar by R Blake was dated in the early 1300s. There are generations missing and I suspect these two lines and the third to a certain extent represent just the well known members of these families (well known to the family lines that followed perhaps). 

The Blake section of this line is a Henry Blague als Blaake son and heir married to Elizabeth daughter and heir of Edward Dorrant. Henry is not an unusual name in the Blake family of Calne. I could not locate this marriage. 

The Bellet section refers to John Bellet of .... gent. A William Bellet appears in the Great Domesday Book at Walditch, Winterborne Monkton, Broadwindsor, Herston, Moulham, Swanage, Nutford, Stourpaine and others,  in Dorset. William Bellet was a Sergeant of King William I, Duke of Normandy. Searching on John Bellet did not reveal anything particularly in the 1300s/1400s. But I will continue working on this section using British History Online. 

At this point I will not move forward from this first image until I have worked with British History Online. 

Today is a cleaning day and tomorrow will be too. I will spread it out this week. 

I am still thinking about the tariffs and the idea of a closer economic union between the United States and Canada. I think it has a lot of attributes that are appealing but I think that the great friendship that has existed between the United States and Canada for the last two hundred plus years is the most important of our relationship. It was unlikely over the two hundred year period that Canada would ever become as large a population as the United States given the proximity of Canada to the North Pole and the much colder weather here through the time period. Hence we are 40 million compared to 340 million in the United States. In that two hundred year period it is likely that millions of Canadians have transplanted and become American. Certainly I have many many second cousins and greater in the United States but then I do in Canada as well. The United States has occupied their land mass pretty much from ocean to ocean whereas Canada is principally within 150 kilometres of our mutual border with the population outside of that range being much smaller and unlikely to grow enormously. I think the asset of a closer economic union is a good one since we are a land rich in natural resources and more than 75% of what we sell to the United States is raw material which they use to produce goods that they sell back to us at perhaps 3x the cost of the actual purchase price from us of those items. It is not practical for us to produce a number of those products but being a significant source of raw material is a benefit particularly as we literally are right next door. I suspect that was in the minds of President Reagan and Prime Minister Mulroney when they created the original economic agreement which came to be known as NAFTA. Having your source of raw materials close at hand is an absolute necessity given the other means of transport that exist and the costs involved in transporting and managing that type of access where there isn't a border. Time will tell how all of this present discussion flows but personally I think trade belongs to the States and Provinces/Territories and having a closer economic relationship like the European Union could increase the great working relationship between them. Managing immigration etc so that both countries are merged with regard to policing on a federal level and entry into either country is only at the airports and seaports would provide greater control over any problems that exist at the moment. That would mean sealing the border between Mexico and the United States and controlled entry only should follow although my knowledge of the border difficulties present is pretty limited other than what I see on the American news channels. 

Being somewhat of a newbie (I am first generation on my father's side although fourth generation on my mother's side), I tend to think that those who have lived here for generations and generations understand the value of the friendship between the United States and Canada much better than the newbies. 

I am somewhat amazed

I am expecting my passport to be delivered; I checked on Friday and it was supposed to be out for delivery but around 5 in the afternoon the website said it would be delivered on Monday. Today I went in after 8 am and checked the tracking and there was a Check Delivery Progress in the middle with a question mark and then delivery by the end of the day. 

There was a chat window so I asked why the Check Delivery Progress (was it something I needed to do) and went through the entire process on there and I then received in my email a ticket number and it said "request to verify address" but all I want to know is my passport coming why the Check Deliver Progress on the tracking. I went on again and this time the agent (an actual person) said it was coming and they deliver to 8 pm today.  So I am happy about that. It is not a problem I am not going anywhere; I am writing my book!

I do wonder about these chat windows. Sometimes they work well just for direction but why send me a request to verify address as that wasn't what I asked at all. Strange really. Back to cleaning and then some extraction of data and perhaps more writing. 

I actually do not plan to go anywhere at this moment just thought I would renew it. Not in a rush at all. I suppose I should have picked it up but that entails driving out into the mess that the highway has become. Hopefully this will just flow easily. Strange really why it read properly on Friday saying it was out for delivery and today it says Check Delivery Progress. 

My passport did arrive today at 6:30 p.m. The postman was having to come through a heavy snowstorm to do that and I said thank you. I think though if we are going to rely on webpages that they need to be accurate and not confusing. It was absolutely on time although I said I am not in a rush; I am renewing well ahead of the renewal date so it can come when it comes. Thank you to Canada Post for a job well done.