Border Reivers and Thomas Routledge and a little on Blake

I have been doing some transcription for Thomas Routledge who manages the Routledge Clan.

This document is from the National Archives (UK):

Inquisition and declaration by justices as to unlawful assembly of Thomas Carleton of Askerten and others at Bewcastle, Cumberland - STAC 3/2/37 (also see STAC 3/2/65)

Heading: To my lord of the kyngs ma[jes]tie most honorable Privey Counsell

Date (within document): decimo sexto die Augesti Anno regni Edwardi sexti (Edward VI reigned 28 Jan 1547 to  6 Jul 1553) so this is the 16 August 1552.

It has a list of 190 names of tenants of Lord Dacre who were involved in this unlawful assembly and Thomas does plan on publishing this list at the moment in his book due to go to the publishers later this year. If he changes his mind as the list is lengthy then I will publish it on the blog later this year. It still needs a little cleaning up ! but is now at least readable. The document is in latin and my transcription somewhat rough in that regard but the names are easily understood.

I continue with another document from the time of Henry VIII also quite interesting and with its own list of names. Our interest is in the Routledge name which we both share, his surname and the surnames of two of my 3x great grandparents (Thomas Routledge and Elizabeth Routledge) who married at Bewcastle, all of their children were born at Bewcastle and they all traveled to southwestern Ontario in the summer of 1818 to take up farms in London Township, Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada. My cousin George DeKay continues to live on one of these original farms of the Routledge family. He and I share a common ancestor in Robert Gray of Holme on the Wolds who married Elizabeth Cobb and three of their sons came to Canada the first two around 1832 (still hunting that elusive boat list) Robert Gray (my ancestor who married Mary Routledge) and William Gray (his ancestor who married Mary Beverley).

I should be back to Blake will transcription shortly.

I received a rather interesting email from a descendant of the Blake family at Portsea. He has an interesting blog which he mentioned and I have become a follower of this site:

http://melvynsmudlarkinglifeinpompey.blogspot.ca/2013/11/the-portsea-blakes-family-tree.html

I shall have a look today to see if I am able to find his ancestor John Blake in some of the work that I have done although he has read my blog already but sometimes I do not have everything up on the blog and will check that out for him. It is always fascinating to hear from Blakes around the world. Our family name has traveled from the British Isles to every country in the world I am beginning to think as I hear from people in so many of them.

In my lifetime I can only accomplish so much on the Blake family and I dearly hope that others will take up the challenge of learning about the Blake families and carry it on into the future. My own line at Andover was so large in the 1500s and I wonder did they found many lines in the towns and villages of Hampshire? DNA studies have not yet proven that but rather that this surname has spontaneously evolved in a number of areas in the British Isles as a characteristic surname. I know that my own line going back tended towards blondness with blue eyes. My grandfather's eyes were gray blue coloured (actually both of my grandfathers had blue eye colouring and both of my grandmothers were brown eyed). My eyes are hazel with a blue eye ring lending credence to the thought that eye colour is determined by a number of genes. My eyes are a good example of that.

A few more days on Routledge and then back to Blake. I will be working on some of the older wills for a bit in Hampshire as I have accomplished all of the later ones that I hold. Hampshire record office has nearly 200 Blake wills from 1700 to 1900 which I should like to have a look at when we next are in Winchester. I am also gradually purchasing wills from them but working on the older wills first. There is the census for the 1800s which I also need to work on for Blake and the Parish Registers but there I have only just cracked the surface. A lot of work to do and still my Blake one name study website to get up and running again. Time marches onward and I must find time for that.

The long cold winter is upon us here in Canada and we are gradually building up our snow/ice cover giving me more time inside to work on genealogy. Back to work for the day! Although I am not as busy as when I worked at the hospital, I still keep pretty busy for being retired!