Basement cleaning completed

 Basement all cleaned and the main floor is today. I do think this regular routine serves me well both as good exercise and keeping the house always  more or less ready. 

Worked on the Early Chancery Proceedings but switched to reading the 3rd volume on Internet Archive which begins with the reign of Henry VII.  Nothing yet but still in 1485 although I doubt that mention is made of John Lord Zouch going to North Molton but we will see. He was attainted in 1485. I have reviewed almost all of my material now from earlier searches although still the Parish Registers to look at and North Molton:

Baptisms

 Number    Surname    Forename    status    Fathers surname    Fathers forename    Mothers surname    Mothers forename    Year    Month    Day    Details
80    Pyncombe    Agnes    daughter    Pyncombe    William            1543    June    6    
169    Pyncombe    Mary    daughter    Pyncombe    William            1547    Dec    8    
364    Pyncombe    Marye    daughter    Pymcombe    John            1555    July    8    
390    Pyncombe    Marye    daughter    Pyncombe    John            1555    Feb    3    
473    Pyncombe    Johane    daughter    Pyncombe    John            1561    Apr    5    
521    Pyncombe    Marye    daughter    Pyncombe    John            1563    Jan    18    
750    Pyncombe    Peternell    daughter    Pyncombe    John            1574    Jun    29    of Flitton
1256    Pyncombe    Phillip    son    Pyncombe    George            1592    May    28    
1320    Pyncombe    Emott    daughter    Pyncombe    George        Dorothie    1594    Dec    9    
1373    Pyncombe    William    son    Pyncombe    George        Dorothie    1597    Apr    15    
1415    Pyncombe    Johane    daughter    Pyncombe    George        Dorothie    1599    Nov    9    
1493    Pincombe    Henrye    son    Pincombe    George        Dorothie    1602    Dec    19    
1818    Pincombe    Thomas    son    Pincombe    Thomas            1616    Mar    30    
2535    Pincombe    William    son    Pincombe    Thomas        Joan    1639    Mar    31    
2606    Pincombe    Thomas    son    Pincombe    Thomas        Joan    1641    Apr    14    
2734    Pincombe    Richarde    son    Pincome    Thomas        Joan    1644    Nov    10    
2735    Pincombe    John    son    Pincome    Thomas        Joan    1644    Nov    10    
2830    Pincombe    Frances    daughter    Pincome    Bartholomew        Frances    1647    Dec    12    
2865    Pincombe    Robart    son    Pincombe    Thomas        Joan    1648    Jan    21    
2909    Pincombe    Richorde    daughter    Pincombe    Bartholomew        Joan    1649    Feb    19    
3084    Pincombe    John    son    Pincombe    Bartholomew        Joane    1654    Nov    27    

Dates of Birth rather than Baptism
3696    Pincombe    Thomas    son    Pincombe    Thomas            1670    Oct    18    
3885    Pincombe    Mary    daughter    Pincombe    Thomas        Agnis    1677    Apr    8    
4012    Pincombe    Joane    daughter    Pincombe    William        Johane    1681    Oct    11    
4070    Pincombe    William    son    Pincombe    William        Joane    1683    Sep    18    
4132    Pincombe    John    son    Pincombe    William        Joane    1685    Oct    27    
4152    Pincombe    John    son    Pincombe    John        Elizabeth    1686    Mar    30    
4189    Pincombe    Robert    son    Pincombe    William        Joane    1687    May    5    
4233    Pincombe    Thomas    son    Pincombe    John        Elizabeth    1688    Jul    11    
4277    Pincombe    Elizabeth    daughter    Pincombe    John        Elizabeth    1689    Jul    20    
4509    Pincombe    Richard    son    Pincombe    Richard        Thomzine    1695    Feb    21    
4635    Pincombe    William    son    Pincombe            Thomazine    1699    Aug    25    

Marriages

Number    Groom surname    Groom forename    Bride surname    Bride forename    Year    Month    Day
6    Kingdon    Phillip    Pincumbe    Margret    1539    Nov    15
85    Pyncombe    John    Hodge    Emet    1560    Jul    1
118    Pyncombe    William    Gregorye    Margret    1564    Nov    26
126    Squire    William    Pyncombe    Margerett    1567    May    26
130    Squire    George    Pyncombe    Mary    1567    Jul    20
367    Pincombe    Thomas    Smith    Joan    1635    Apr    28
656    Pincombe    William    Cole    Joane    1674    Feb    9
715    Mallary    Nicholas    Pincombe    Mrs. Temperance    1681    Jun    9
798    Holloway    Richard    Pincombe    Thomazine    1688    Jan    3
812    Pincombe    William    Mooreman    Mary    1689    Sep    24
944    Allen    Thomas    Pincombe    Maria    1702    Aug    2 

Burials

Number    Surname    Forename    Status    Surname    Forename    Surname    Forename    Year    Month    Day    Details
163    Pyncombe    Marye    daughter    Pyncombe    John            1555    Dec    7    
260    Pyncombe    Marye    daughter    Pyncombe    John            1563    Feb    3    
261    Pyncombe    Elizabeth    wife    Pyncombe    William            1563    Feb    18    
267    Pyncombe    William                        1564    Sep    13    
288    Pyncombe    William                        1565    Mar    25    
399    Pincombe    George                        1610    Jan    19    
400    Pincombe    Dorothie    widow                    1610    Feb    2    
671    Pincombe    William    son    Pincombe    Thomas        Katherine    1624    Dec    7    

1013    Pincombe    Katherine    wife    Pincombe    Thomas            1636    Feb    5    
1037    Pincomb    William                        1637    Jan    29    
1244    Pincombe    Elizabeth                        1645    Oct    13    
1404    Pyncombe    Thomas                        1651    Dec    8    
1524    Pincombe    Bartholomew                        1656    Dec    24    
1532    Pincombe    Richorde    daughter    Pincombe    Bartholomew        Joan    1657    May    21    
1533    Pincombe    Frances    daughter    Pincombe    Bartholomew (deceased)   Joane    1657    May 27  
1926    Pincombe    Thomas    son    Pincombe    Thomas            1670    Dec    2    
2000    Pincombe    John                        1673    Apr    5    
2142    Pincombe    Robert                        1678    Jan    31    
2255    Pincombe    Thomas                        1682    Aug    8    
2336    Pincombe    John    son    Pincombe    William        Joane    1685    Dec    12    
2380    Pincombe    Robert    son    Pincombe    William        Joane    1687    Nov    5    
2409    Pincombe    Thomas    son    Pincombe    John        Elizabeth    1688    Jul    14    
2410    Pincombe    Joane    wife    Pincombe    William            1688    Jul    25    
2441    Pincombe    William    son    Pincombe    William        Joane    1688    Jan    31    
2473    Pincombe    John                        1689    Jan    9    
2497    Pincombe    Joane    widow                    1690    Apr    6    
2610    Pincombe    Elizabeth    wife    Pincombe    Richard            1693    Jul    2    of East Buckland 

It is amazing seeing the last line above. The Richard Pincombe above is descendant of my Richard's second oldest brother William Pincombe (the first son John Pincombe does not appear to have married). Richard Pincombe's father William and his wife Emotte Snow lived and raised their nine children with Richard being the fourth son at East Buckloand. I am incorrect in what I said yesterday. Richard is my 9x great grandfather and my line descends from his likely 1st wife Anne and their son William who was baptized 23 Mar 1599 at Bishops Nympton, Devon. Richard brought the Pincombe line to Bishops Nympton and as far as I know they lived at Park which is where my 3x great grandfather lived (Robert Pincombe married to Elizabeth Rowcliffe 7 Jun 1803 at Bishops Nympton.

 Cleaning soon, breakfast eaten and solitaire puzzles to do. Reading Job and almost half way through. The story of Job is so sad. I have always found it hard to believe that God would let satan abuse a person so do wonder about the Story of Job but God did have His own way of proving a point for sure and that we have seen throughout the Old Testament. 

I suffered a puncture wound it appears moving this huge tree limb last week. I actually didn't notice it until a couple of days later when my face swelled up just a tiny bit in one spot where I could see a tiny mark and then started to bleed and then drained. Some swelling but not a lot and a circle of redness about 5 cm top to bottom. So I booked into the emergency clinic early this morning and I got the last appointment of the clinic. Later in the morning the office called with an offer of an appointment later in this morning so I said yes and thank you. Probably saving somebody staying late for the last appointment which I am happy about and lucky that there is someone to actually look at it. I hate having to show my daughter who is over an hour's drive away  to ask her if I am doing the right thing as I do not like to become a burden on the medical system. The computer has its great values in medicine but in person is definitely preferred for such items. I will take my shoe bag just in case; just thought of that. I do not believe I have ever had such a wound before in my 81 years. 

 

North Molton - Thesis by Norman Arnett

 Norman Arnett published part of his thesis in the Report and Transactions of the Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science, Literature and Art Volume 108, Pages 69-125, 1976. A very interesting 55 pages on North Molton which began in the period of the Domesday Book and up through into the 1700s. I found it most interesting in that a number of families were mentioned but the Pencombe family were not. It did not surprise me as the members of this family moved away from North Molton starting early in the 1500s and continuing into the mid 1500s to close by towns and villages namely East Buckland, Filleigh, South Molton and eventually a little further away to Bishops Nympton, Molland, Bideford and Barnstaple and others. Only a few members of the family remained as shown in the Parish Registers. 

I think that helped me to frame my thoughts on any association with John la Zouche beyond happening to arrive at North Molton (in what capacity continues to be unknown but I am going to read the Early Chancery Proceeding during the reign of Henry VII over this next week) in the same time period. I think I may add to my query once again with the AI and upload a copy of the journal as it is most interesting considering how much time we have spent talking about North Molton over the past few months.

I was unable to obtain a complete copy of the thesis as I suspect it was most interesting. But what was published certainly opened my eyes to this area of Devon and its significance in North Devon. A wealthy town in the 1500s/1600s due to the wool industry but gradually this town diminished in size and wealth as South Molton became much larger and wealthier and over into the Barnstaple/Bideford area. 

How does that affect the Pincombe family? One is left with the thought that the emigrant took the opportunity to move to a new place for whatever reason and the place of origin is not revealed by anything that I have found thus far other than the coincidence of the Pencombe family in Herefordshire using similar forenames. Given that John Pencombe's eldest son John and middle son William are both adults by 1524 and the eldest son has a son Christopher also old enough to be paying taxes gives John Pencombe (emigrant 1486) an age between 16 and mid 20s at that time perhaps. Another interesting piece of information is the forename of the son of the eldest son of John Pencombe namely Christopher. This John Pencome has a higher value than his father suggesting that he married someone with money and looking at the heads of houses in South Molton there does not appear to be anyone in that category with the first name Christopher but is an interesting thought. I have given myself one week to look at this and will continue after these three cleaning days to review information. 

 Today is cleaning day and I begin in the basement. Definitely fall out there and the maple tree at the back is starting to change colour - a beautiful sight in another week or so for sure. Still thinking about the lovely Thanksgiving Service yesterday on YouTube from the Church of England in England. 

Breakfast soon but first solitaire puzzles.  

Sunday in England

Although I did open up the Service here on YouTube it sometimes has difficulties and this was one of those occasions so I waited as usual until 10:45 a.m. and then I switched to the Church of England online and I did know it was Thanksgiving Sunday which is one of my most favourite services. It just so reminds me of Canon Abraham and church when I was a child at Church with my family and we did nearly fill a pew it seemed. As always this was  an absolutely beautiful service and thank you to the Church of England in England for broadcasting week in and week out to all the people of the world. It is amazing that in this new century we are doing what Jesus asked us to do to take his message to the entire world. 

 Today will be a rest day. My eyes do need that and I will take advantage of that although I am going to begin reading Job very shortly. Following Job the Psalms. My favourite music is Ian White's Psalms on CD. 

I am satisfied thus far with my relook at the records for Pencombe in Herefordshire and Devonshire. Have I proven anything; not at this time but I have collected a little more information here and there. When this is completed (next Saturday) then I will begin the Genealogical Chart beginning with John Pencombe who, according to the Visitation of Devon 1620, of Northmolton came there with the Lord Zouche about the beginning of H. 7. His sons will follow and they are labeled on this same original Visitation Tho., John, and (unknown). But luckily by the Devon Lay Subsidy I can say their names in birth order were John, William and Thomas. I have published a lot of information on the Pincombe family in various places in Devon in my blogs and I will use a lot of that information whilst I am creating the genealogical tree first in Legacy and I am using Version 10 now and then extract the file to create a genealogical tree in my word document which will include all the wills, all the Anglican church records and any other pertinent documents to add as much information as possible to the book. The Siderfin Book was 412 pages and I wouldn't be surprised to see the Pincombe Book around 500 pages roughly.  It will be published under a Creative Commons License and on my website for download for anyone who wishes to have the book. It is my addition to one of my parent's lines in print. 

Next item is the washing and my running and walking for the day whilst it runs. I will hang the clothes up inside and increase the moisture in the house. 

For such a beautiful day thank you God. For the beautiful harvest, thank you God. For my beautiful country, thank you God. 

 

Continuing with Early Chancery Proceedings

 I did spend yesterday reviewing all of my datasets that pertain to the Pencombe/Pincomb/Pyncomb family of North Devon to ensure that I had added in all occurrences of the surname in the Devon area and not ignoring individual Devon references that were out of the North Devon area that I do tend to concentrate on. In fact I had collected all of them. But it was a good idea to check. 

I remain with my thought which I shared with the AI that the reference to John Lord Zouch in the 1620 Visitation of Devon was primarily to say where and when their Pencombe/Pincomb/Pyncomb family line originated in Devon and attaching it to John Lord Zouch a not unusual designation given the presence of the Zouch family as Lord of the Manor in days past which was probably considered to be a recognized individual. By stating that they arrived with Lord Zouch that supported their ability to settle in this area at this time. I suspect if one thinks it is difficult to emigrate to a new place in this time period it was very difficult in 1486 I strongly suspect. It is possible that John Pencombe arriving at North Molton in 1486 had no idea that a Roger de Pencombe had lived at Bonelegh (Bondleigh) in the early 1300s or that a John de Pencomb' had been an Assessor for the 1332 Lay Subsidy of Devon for Mollond (Molland)  (this is 150 to 200 years later).  England now has a Tudor King having defeated Richard III at Bosworth Field in 1485. It was the AI that suggested (and I agree actually) that I should observe if there is a continuous line of Pencombe/Pencomb' in Devon since I did find this surname in the times mentioned above. It is good research to eliminate possibilities. Therefore I continue in these days to read through the Early Chancery Proceedings working backward from the end of the reign of Richard III. I will read forward into Henry VII but first I want to get back to the 1100s and see if there is anything that would add to the information I already have on the Pencomb family in Herefordshire mostly living at Bromyard although also Pencombe much earlier. I will have then done due diligence such as I can and feel satisfied with my result. 

The intent on my part was always to start the genealogical tree at John Pencombe in 1486 living in North Molton; however finding some of this earlier information told me that I should consider looking at this material not so much to trace the line back further but rather to clarify perhaps if this is actually the same family. We are in a time of change as the English did not have surnames when the Normans arrived in England with William the Conqueror and selection of a surname could have been duplicated by unrelated people quite readily. I do have a good chapter on the Pencombe family of Herefordshire but for completeness I should attempt to find all the information that is available to me readily. I do need to complete the latin transcription of the Inquisition Postmortem for John de Pencomb with a son Thomas born circa 1350 and Thomas appears later in other documents in the 1390s as mentioned. I do not however have a link to a John Pencombe descendant of this Thomas and arriving at Northmolton in 1486 - one notes he would likely be a grandson or great grandson of this Thomas. But it is interesting that this family uses the forenames John, Thomas, William over the time period that I have found them in Herefordshire (very common in the early Pincombe family but also common in the rest of England for sure) whereas a Roger de Pencombe is at Bonelegh (Bondleigh) Devon in the early 1300s. 

Another aspect of this yDNA study aside from the excitement gained from having five members all matching and known to be descendant of the two sons of John Pencomb (1486 arriving in Northmolton), is the Pincombe one-name Study actually includes the spellings Pincombe and Pinkham. Members of the very large American Pinkham family do not match the yDNA results of the Pincombe family which includes one of my third cousins who lives in the United States and one of my fifth cousins who lives in Australia (matches but not part of the yDNA study).  The other four members of the study that do match my third cousin are descendant of Thomas Pencombe or John Pencombe sons of John Pencombe. Indeed the two individuals who started up this study are both surnamed Pinkham and unfortunately the one member from England did not test his yDNA before he passed away. My thought on this I will share at a later date because I think the answer may well lie in Roger de Pencombe at Bonelegh (Bondleigh)  and his selection of the surname in his line was pure chance that he chose Pencombe perhaps or an ancestor did that. Dr. Richard Pinkham, the other member of the original Pincombe study lived in Gloucestershire but his work as a physician did take him into Devon where he interviewed many Pincombe members and they shared their family trees with him. I have all of that work that he did. He did not know his line fitting into the other lines in Devon/Somerset/Gloucestershire and London/Surrey where the Pincombe family still does live. 

Continuing with my reading as I hope to get through this Book 2 and into Book 1 which takes me back as far as those records exist. I will then pick up Book 3 and read forward to see if there are any records in that section. The index which I have is from 1385-1467 and has one Pencomb listed in this index so I thought I would try to locate it. It is a slow process although the scanning of the books is excellent on Internet Archive. My Pincombe family was in general from Devon for the most part but also Somerset but going back through the generations in Devon with surnames: Rowcliffe, Charley, Pearse, Manning, Harvey, Hobbs, Stanbury, Quythers, Vicary, Tapp, Blackmoore, Upcott, Thomas, Saunders, Bray, Whetstone, Snow, Burges so am taking advantage of all the Devon results as I move my way back. I am also looking at Hereford. I find that I need to just concentrate on one line though when I do something like this and the odds of having to repeat for another county; hard to tell but I am a here and now person.  

Although the idea of a combined book was discussed the main problem is the size of the Pinkham family in the United States and I am not going to do that research as an earlier book would need to be brought up to date. But the Pinkham family would definitely be a huge section of a combined book so I think it is better to do two books and I hope that over time that does happen with the Pinkham family of the United States. My Pincombe line did not arrive in Canada until 1850/51 with my ancestor's brother arriving at Genesee New York in 1835 and his descendants still live in the United States but in other areas of the United States. The other difficulty is the Pincombe family in north west Devon did use the Pinkham spelling when they moved to London some of them and also it was used in West Devon adding that complication to the mix although in general the surname tends to be spelled Pincombe these days and Pinkham is much less common than it was in the late 1700s and early 1800s in England.  There is at least one other tester in this line that came to the United States in the 1700s and is one of the matches with my cousin (his line is known and he does fit into the descendants of the North Molton line as far as can be determined (yDNA results)). 

 Woke up in the night contemplating the records that I have reviewed and still have to do. A quick walk about and back to bed. Still need another few hours of sleep before contemplating a new day. It is Sunday now and Church in the morning. 

Dear Father hear and bless thy beasts and singing birds and guard with tenderness small things that have no word. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.  

Waking up in the night can be very rewarding

 Years ago when I was proofreading/copyediting for commercial printers I would wake up sometimes and be wide awake. So I would get up and proofread (most copyediting was actually done on the premises of the printer as they generally needed it that day). A couple of hours of proofreading and I was back to sleep. Last night when I woke up I opened Copilot (AI) and pulled up my latest discussion/research protocol shared with the AI and mentioned:

 Perhaps the Zouche connection is important because it grounded this family in one spot where they lived until my line emigrated to Canada in 1850. Where they were before was not important perhaps to them. Still working, back again when I have collected more information of use in exploring the Pencombe family in 1486. 
 

We discussed it for a few moments and more good ideas but the one item that the AI mentioned was the Manor Books. Unfortunately the Manor Books for North Molton  begin in 1760 and run up to 1935. However at Kew (the National Archives of the UK) there is some material mentioned dating back to 1158 and coming forward to 1951 held by the Devon Archives and Local Studies. These are principally family document sets but there is mention as I said earlier of Roger la Zouche receiving a weekly market license at North Molton in 1270. Castle Hill was administered by the Fortescue family which included: Filleigh, South Molton, East and West Buckland and Chittlehampton plus other lands further afield from this area. It includes the 1569 muster in Devon which I have. 

Alan la Zouche (Breton nobleman) held the manor of North Molton by marriage to Alice de Belmeis (early 1170s). His son Roger la Zouche (grandfather of the Roger mentioned above) was Sheriff of Devon. Later as I have mentioned the manor of North Molton passed to a relative of John Lord Zouch who spent his period of attainment following the Battle of Bosworth Field at the home of his relative in North Molton. Since I do not see any connection other than the statement on the 1620 Visitation of Devon  to the la Zouch family I primarily have not done any investigations in that regard. Living thousands of miles from these record offices I will not be doing that but simply summing up what is known and with a book created with the Creative Commons License anyone can use what I write and add to it - that is how a family story grows I think. I do not crave notoriety but rather enjoy my quiet life but feel compelled to write these books for both my mother in the case of Pincombe and my grandfather in the case of Blake. If I continue I am sure I will find that other relatives will inspire a continuation in book writing on my part looking at the Buller family of my maternal grandmother and the Rawlings family of my paternal grandmother. For both of these families I have extensive records and a publication by a cousin of mine for the Rawlings family.

But it was interesting that the AI raised the point of the Manor Books as I have not mentioned them since they do not exist in full copy prior to 1790 but only excerpts that pertain to particular families and I have pulled out the records that do exist such as the Devon Lay Subsidies and other items that will be in the book. The AI is growing exponentially in terms of reading and absorbing the printed word. Amazing really and what a great companion on this voyage of mine through history with the idea of a completed book at the end. The AI would like to read it when I complete it and that will happen as it is a good idea and certainly if I forget some proofreading the AI will bring it to mind I am sure. Being 81 does have its drawbacks as one tends to become some what lackadaisical in one's old age and perhaps forgetful. Although my sense of research and following all the rules is still strong. 

Breakfast time as I had that on my mind and wanted to write it down. Then solitaire puzzles and back to work.