England's Immigrants Database 1330-1550

A rather tantalizing new set of documents (England's Immigrants Database 1330-1550) is available for searching:

http://www.englandsimmigrants.com/search/results?keyword=blake&startDate=1300&endDate=1600&col1=name&col2=nationality&col3=date&col4=origin&col5=residence&page=1

I, of course, searched on Blake and Pincombe. Pincombe does not appear as that spelling or as Pencomb/Pencombe/Pincomb.

This is the citation for this particular set of documents.  England’s Immigrants 1330 – 1550 (www.englandsimmigrants.com, version 1.0, 15 February 2015), http://www.englandsimmigrants.com/contact

The project is a collaboration between the University of York, The National Archives and the Humanities Research Institute, University of Sheffield.

Finding Richard le Blake coming from Normandy in 1274 had started my thinking outside of the box with respect to Blake in the British Isles. This set of documents further intensifies this thinking process as I found  54 entries in the database. In all likehood a number of the entries are for the same person but it does appear that there are 31 distinctive individuals (I excluded the four wives as I could not tell if they were actually English or immigrants with their husbands plus there are four female names mentioned so could be duplicating) coming to England from The Netherlands (6 one noted as Fleming), Normandy, France, Breton (2), Scotland (2) and Ireland (1). Only 13 have their place of origin noted. The male forenames include: Adam, Hayn, Henry, Herman, Hugh, John, Lodewicus, Patrick, Peter, Philip, Richard, Robert, Stephen, Thomas, Walter, and William. There are four female names: Agnes, Alice, Gunna (wife of Herbert) and Katherine. Four females are listed but only as the wife of and in this case wife of Henry Blake (2 entries), of Peter Blake and of John Blake.

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    Agnes        aft 29    Sep    1441    London
Blake    Alice        21    Apr    1440    Gloucestershire, St Nicholas
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    Katherine        14    Jul    1467    London
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
Blake    wife of Henry Blake            Oct    1441    London, Castle Baynard ward
Blake    wife of Henry Blake        18    Jan    1443    London, Castle Baynard ward
Blake    wife of Walter Blake        18    Jan    1443    London, Billingsgate ward
Blake    wife of John Blake        18    Jan    1443    London

Comparing this information to the map which I prepared from the occurrence of Blake in the Calendar of Patent Rolls is rather interesting as well.

http://kippeeb.blogspot.ca/2013/01/calendar-of-patent-rolls-summary-of.html

The entries in the Calendar of Patent Rolls range between 30 Jan 1230 and 16 Jun 1452. There is some overlap with this new database in terms of time. The Immigrants' database entries range between 10 Jul 1406 (one entry only) and then from 7 Apr 1440 to 16 Feb 1525 with the bulk of the entries between 1440 and 1443. Some of these people could be related especially where no nationality is given. For instance two Bretons William Blake and John Blake settled in Morchard Bishop, Devon and Bodmin Cornwall 1 Apr 1524 and before 16 Feb 1525 respectively. But tantilizingly is this the Cornwall/Devon Blake family that I am busy attempting to put together? There was also a John Blake, noted as Fleming, in Exeter Devon 24 Jul 1484 so a further Blake line to distract me.

Of special interest to me are the entires for Hampshire and Wiltshire where we can see that Richard Blake, noted as Irish, can be located at Salisbury Wiltshire 10 Jul 1440. There is a Stephen Blake, no nationality noted, 11 Jul 1440 at Millbrook Hampshire. John Blake, Dutch, 11 Jul 1440 at King's Somborne hundred, Hampshire. Robert Blake, French, 19 Sep 1441 at Great Somerford, Wiltshire. But as is often the case for immigrants to England, London has the largest number of Blake immigrants with about half of them being listed as living in London.

Another interesting immigrant is John Blake, Norman, 18 Apr 1524 at Eastbury, Dorset. Is he related to Richard le Blake who arrived in 1274? I can not find Blake as a surname in the modern French population but the possibility that it is an earlier form of the present day surname of Blanch[er] (both meaning fair blanc and blak) still remains.

The England's Immigrants Database being available has occurred at a rather interesting time. The Y haplogroup table has now been updated to show the effect of the YFull, Big Y, Gen 2.0, Britains DNA testing and other projects as noted on the website below. Within the haplogroup to which my Blake line belongs one can find (https://sites.google.com/site/compositeytree/home):

I2a1b M423 (19096091 G->A)
• • • • •I2a1b1 L161.1/S185.1 (22513718 C->T)
• • • • • •I2a1b1a L1498/Y4008 (18668472 C->T)
• • • • • • •I2a1b1a1 FGC7218/Y5280 (21354226 G->A) YFull subgroup                   Irish
• • • • • • •I2a1b1a2 FGC14448/Y5450 (7158983 A->G) YFull subgroup                   Irish
• • • • • • •I2a1b1a3 FGC7108/S2640 (14107847 G->A)
• • • • • • • •I2a1b1a3a FGC7197/S7703 (17494645 G->C)
• • • • • • • • •I2a1b1a3a1 S7714 (21345894 T->A)
• • • • • • • • • •I2a1b1a3a1a S8889 (4310132 A->G)

At this moment in time the S2640 has been assigned by BritainsDNA as the subtype but there are a number of other markers within this testing that further define our haplogroup. But the three markers mentioned above are ancestral in my paternal line (namely S7703, S7714 and S8889). This is a very very small haplogroup (0.9% of the I haplogroup which is only 18.1% of the entire database for Y DNA so a very small number) but is most commonly found in Ireland (however this chart does show that only I2a1b1a1 and I2a1b1a2 are said to be Irish) with my group I2a1b1a3 not being assigned to a particular ethnic group. Looking at the anonymized chart which BritainsDNA provided of the  15 testers in S185 looking at S2640 4 were ancestral and 11 derived; those derived belonging to I2a1b1a3. For S7703 5 were ancestral, with the other 10 derived; those derived belonging to I2a1b1a3a. For S7714  11 were ancestral with 4 only being derived; those derived belonging to I2a1b1a3a1. For S8889 13 were ancestral with 2 only being derived; those derived belonging to I2a1b1a3a1a. Of the 15 testers, my line does not have any matches since the four that have S2640 with my line also show new mutations beyond S2640. Although it could be that no one has tested yet to show that some of the other mutations in our signature do constitute a further subgrouping within I2a1b1a3 namely I2a1b1a3b. Still more to come in this field of yDNA testing!

Interesting that on this day I should find that a Richard Blake has come from Ireland to Salisbury Wiltshire 10 Jul 1440 (17 miles from Andover). However, I also find a John Blake, Dutch, even closer 11 Jul 1440 at King's Somborne hundred, Hampshire (about 9 miles from Andover).

On the one hand it might have been quite interesting to be descendant of Richard le Blake whose pedigree chart at 12 feet by 4 feet is an amazing piece of Blake family memoribilia but on the other hand finding a reason for my Blake line to be most commonly found in Ireland and an individual with the Blake surname bringing it to Salisbury Wiltshire is positively intriguing!

Knowing that Robert Blayke left his will in 1521 at Knights Enham (likely born circa mid 1400s as he was quite elderly) further intensifies this thought as he named his son Richard. So finding a Richard in 1440 at Salisbury from Ireland is certainly an interesting happening. Why would he go to Andover when he is in Salisbury? Good question but having driven in that part of the country certainly the green fields around Andover must have been very inviting. The route between Salisbury and Andover is all agricultural and the land looks particularly benevolent in terms of crops and flocks of sheep!

As more and more documents come on line from this early time period perhaps it will be possible to piece together the lives of our ancestors backwards into the past. It still continues to amaze me that this Blake line of mine was so long in the Andover area but the land was rich, they were farmers and it was a fairly quiet valley in terms of wars throughout England's history.