Will of Johanne Pencombe - widow of East Buckland, Devon - PROB 11/76 - Image reference 242/207

Since I have only read the many Pincombe wills and have not transcribed them I decided that I would spend a little time working on the transcriptions. The will of Johanne Pencombe was written 7 May 1563 and she states that she is a widow of East Buckland (Devon) and lists her sons and sons in law. The sons are William, Richard and John and the sons in law are John Locke and John Jasse. The 1620 Visitation of Devon ( The visitation of the county of Devon in the year 1620, ed. by Frederic Thomas Colby, published 1872, London, UK by the Harlein Society, Publication, Volume 6, page 250) Thomas Pyncombe of Filleigh and East Buckland had a son William who married Emotte Snowe and they had nine children mentioned in yesterday's will transcription. no siblings are mentioned in the Visitation for William. Trying to give this somewhat of a date line William wrote his will in 1602 and it was probated 1605. He mentions grandchildren so is not that young but could one say that he might be as old as 70; his wife Emotte left a will (destroyed in the WWII bombing of Exeter) dated 1620. Thinking that through was he likely closer to 50 when he died which would yield late 1540s and early 1550s as his birth date? Emotte however had a brother William whose daughter Honor married in 1570. Could it be that Emotte perhaps lived to be quite elderly; perhaps as much as 90 years? The East Buckland Parish Registers do not commence until 1684 so are too late to help me with any such decisions. If one thought that Emotte was quite elderly when she died in 1620, then William could have been 70 in 1605 and born n the mid 1530s.

Enter the will of Johanne Pencombe date 1563 in which she mentions her sons William, John and Richard and sons in law John Locke and John Jasse plus she mentions grandchildren to whom she is giving each a heifer. Johane is not young when she dies. She could though be in her 50s rather than older which would place her birth around 1500  - 1510. A son born in the mid 1530s that is her oldest (since he is executor of her will) sounds plausible or he could have been born earlier and she later. But the time frame is interesting. Her husband could be Thomas Pyncombe who lived at Filleigh and died at East Buckland.  This Thomas is said to be a son of the Pyncombe that accompanied Lord Zouch to North Molton in 1485. This unknown Pyncombe is said to have three sons - two named John and one named Thomas. Looking at the subsidies paid by the Pyncombe family in the 1500s and 1600s I am tempted to believe that there were actually two sons who came with the original Pyncombe and they had the three sons mentioned above. The time frame suggests that all the Pincombes listed would have needed to have parents older than the Visitation chart suggests (a generation appears to be missing) to satisfy the following information gleaned from Genuki where there is an index prepared by a number of transcribers of  Beckerlegge, J.J. (Ed.). Index of the Wills and Administrations relating to the County of Devon proved in the Court of the Archdeaconry of Barnstaple, 1563-1858 (5 vols.) and these wills were held at the Devon Record Office (and fortunately prepared before they were destroyed in WWII bombing). The two wills that I have posted the last two days will not be in this list because they were probated at London. Noting the different spelling of the name between Bideford and North Molton Pynckham and Pyncombe. The name is pronounced "pink  um" which is the other spelling commonly found at this time along with Pincombe but both are pronounced the same although when I was a child I usually heard it pronounced as "Pin  cumb" but I grew up in London, Ontario, Canada and 100 years nearly after my 2x great grandfather had arrived in Canada. The yDNA of descendants of each of these two family lines at 25 markers is 22/25 - but does it prove a relationship. That remains to be seen.


Pyncombe     William     North Molton     DEV           1567   
Pynckham     William     Bideford     DEV           1570   
Pincombe     Edith         Tawstock     DEV     widow     1572   
Pyncombe     Peternell     North Molton     DEV           1591   
Pincombe     Richard     Bideford     DEV           1592   
Pyncombe     Edward         Tawstock     DEV           1594   
Pyncombe     Anthony     Warkleigh     DEV           1596   
Pinckomb               North Molton     DEV           1610   
Pinckombe               North Molton     DEV           1610   
Pynckomb               South Molton     DEV           1614   
Pynckomb               North Molton     DEV           1615   
Pynckomb     John         Barum [Barnstaple] DEV           1616   
Pyncombe     Emot         East Buckland     DEV           1620   
Pyncombe     Peter         Bideford     DEV           1622   
Pyncombe     George         North Molton     DEV           1624   
Pyncombe     John         Molland     DEV           1625   
Pyncombe     Lodovic     West Buckland     DEV           1625   
Pyncombe     Joan         Yarnscombe     DEV           1628   
Pyncombe     Ann         South Molton     DEV           1630   
Pyncombe     Philip         Bideford     DEV           1632   
Pyncombe     Amia         Molland     DEV           1636   
Pyncombe     William     Alwington     DEV           1637   
Pyncombe     William     Alwington     DEV           1637   
Pyncombe     Mary         Molland     DEV           1637   
Pincombe     William     Bideford     DEV           1641   
Pyncomb     Henry         South Molton     DEV           1644   
Pincomb     Anthony     Ashreigney     DEV           1662   
Pincomb     Mary         Buckland Filleigh DEV           1662   
Pincomb     Thomas         Bideford     DEV           1663    

All of these wills were probated at Barnstaple. When I discovered this online I had to rethink my Pincombe line in the late 1400s to the early 1600s. There were too many people leaving wills. I had originally postulated that William (d. 1605)'s seven sons had been the progenitors of these many lines but there are too many wills in the 1500s for that to be true.

I now postulate that there is a generation missing on the Visitation between Thomas Pyncombe of Filleigh and East Buckland and the unknown Pyncombe who lived at North Molton and had arrived circa 1485 in the company of Lord Zouch. Why would this unknown Pyncombe name two of his sons John? This isn't unheard of actually as I have instances in the Blake family in this time period when sons were called John the Elder and John the Younger; Robert the elder and Robert the younger. They appear to have the same mother so not a second family. However, the number of wills left in the 1500s by Pincombes makes this seem less likely. The charts that I have from an earlier group that studied the Pincombe family certainly has some interesting "heads" of Pincombe families in the areas mentioned above. They did not attempt to link them back to the Pincombe in 1485 at North Molton. Rather they begin suddenly in the early to mid 1500s.

The will of Johanne Pencombe for anyone interested is below, I have included the probate as well to show that William did assume responsibility for his mother's will :

Recorded: 30 July 2011
Source: Public Record Office, London, UK, PROB 11/76 - Image reference 242/207
Place: East Buckland, Devon, England
Type of Record: Will
Dated: 7 May 1563

Condition: photocopy, bold, old English writing

[In margin] T[estator] Johanne Pencombe


1    In the name of God, Amen.  In the yeare
2    of our Lord God one thousand fyve hundred sixtie three and in the seaventh daie
3    of Maye That I Johane Pencombe widdowe of Est Buckland beinge of whole mynde
4    and in good remembrance (lauded be god) make and ordaine this my last will and
5    testament in this manner and forme followinge First I bequeathe my soule unto
6    allmightie God and my bodie to be buried in the Churche of Est Buckland there Item
7    I bequeath unto Richard Pencombe my sonne twentie poundes And to his sonne a
8    heafer of three yeares of age. Item I bequeath to John Locke my sonne in Law nyne
9    poundes. Item I bequeath to John Pencombe my sonne nyne poundes And to his
10    daughter a heafer. Item I bequeath to John Jasse my sonne in Lawe nyne poundes
11    Item I bequeath to John Jasse the younger six poundes thirteene shillings four pence
12    Item to Anne Takle twentie shillings Item to Amye Rolle six shillings eight pence
13    Item to Roberte Hollaniore a yearlinge Item to Thomas Hichton a ewe. Item to everie
14    of my Children's Children five shillinges eight pence. Item unto every of my godchildren
15    twelve pence apeece. Item to the poore twentie shillings. The residue of all my goodes
16    and everie parte thereof as well moveable as unmoveable not gyven nor bequeathed I give
17    and bequeath unto William Pencombe my sonne whome I make my executor and he to
18    bestowe it as he seemeth best And alsoe I devise and ordaine Sir John Taye John Hartill
19    and Richard Lympstable to be my overseers and wittnesses of this my last will and Testament
21    Probatum fuit Testamentum
22    Suprascriptum apud London coram venerabili, viro mag[ist]ro Will[iel]mo Levin Legium
23    Doctore ad exercend officium magisteri custodis sive Comissarii Curie Prerogative
24    Cant ltime deputat vicesimo tertio die mensis Octobris Anno Domini millesimo quin
25    Nonagesimo Juramento Thome Redman notary public procuratoris Willi[a]m Pencombe filii of
26    Executoris in h[uius]mo[d]i testamento nominat Qui commissa fuit administerato bonorum iurium et creditorum
27    Dicti defuncti de bene et fideliter administerand ad sancta dei Evangelia Jurat

Is this William married to Emotte Snow? No children are mentioned for William; no gifts as mentioned to the other grandchildren. Richard (my ancestor) was their fourth son (some could have died and been lost to time though; I keep remembering that). This will actually supports my idea that they married in the latter part of the 1560s rather than early on. William could be the youngest son as well and has remained at East Buckland to manage their farm there which is located at Filleigh. Filleigh is close to East Buckland having driven those roads a few years ago. It is a quick five minutes from East Buckland Church to Filleigh by car. I did not find a gravestone for any Pincombes at East Buckland but I also didn't find anything that old there. Either the Church has sunk or the ground has filled in around the Church as it sits in somewhat of a hollow. Or did they do it on purpose to protect it. The outside of the Church is very very old and I will add a picture to this blog. The inside at first glance strikes you as very fresh and modern looking except as you look about you realize that the wood is incredibly old but the condition of the Church is amazing for such an old building.

St Michael's Church, East Buckland (22 Apr 2008)

The interior of St Michael's Church, East Buckland (22 Apr 2008)


We had traveled a basically one lane road (with laybys periodically) through West Buckland and into East Buckland and the road was bordered with hedges about 14 feet high. We then continued on the road going south east towards South Molton and passed Filleigh on the way a distance of about 2 miles from East Buckland. Westcott is at Filleigh and was mentioned in William's will.

This will is dated 7 May 1563 but in the catalogue listing it is dated 23 October 1590 and the Probate note attached to the will does give this date as the date of probate. Why ever a will would be held for 27 years is amazing really and why do it in 1590? I wonder what the reason was for the late probate. Was it because of a sudden realization on the part of the Executor that it exceeded the limit for the Diocese to probate?