Blake Newsletter, Volume 4, Issue 2

Blake Newsletter

Table of Contents
1.    Family of Theophilus Blake (Susan Osborne)
2.    Blake family in Cornwall
3.    England’s Immigrant Database 1330-1550
4.    Blake Family of Galway
5.    Blake yDNA

1.    Family of Theophilus Blake submitted by Susan Osborne
Theophilus Blake (Bleak) is likely at least 20 years old when we find him and his wife, Margaret (thought to be Margaret Kennet) on indenture records in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Efforts to go beyond this point in his life to an earlier time and place have so far eluded all who have been researching this line.

Before we proceed with his story we first need to clear up a problem that exists with the research on his family line connections that began with our research and the research of several others in the early 1980’s when researchers incorrectly linked the line of Theophilus Blake of the Virginia’s to the parents of a family in Hampton, New Hampshire.

It begins with page 210 of a book that was written by Carleton E. Blake titled "Descendants of Jasper Blake, Emigrant from England, to Hampton, New Hampshire, ca. 1643, 1649-1979". The research on this family is printed in its entirety in this book in a section titled "The Descendants of Jasper Blake of Hampton, N.H." by Perley Derby, A Handwritten Manuscript dated 1879 on file at the Essex Institute, Salem, Massachusetts.

On page 210 of this book is documented the family of Samuel and Ann (Ceilly) Blake and their children who were living in Hampton, New Hampshire. In 1722, this couple gave birth to a son they named Theophilus Blake after Theophilus Cotton, the first minister of the First Congregational Church (Unitarian) of Hampton Falls (NH) that was organized in 1711. Theophilus' parents, Samuel and Ann (Cealy) Blake, were among the first petitioners and signers of the church covenant.

Samuel and Ann (Seally) Blake gave birth to 8 children. Only 2 of those children are known to have survived childhood, Samuel Blake, Jr and Thomas Blake and it is thought that their son named Theophilus did not live beyond childhood because nothing more is known of him.

On paper this APPEARS to be a perfect match for the family of our Theophilus Blake, but as recent yDNA tests have shown, the Theophilus Blake of Hampton, New Hampshire is from an entirely different family that shares the same surname of Blake and is not evenly closely related to the Theophilus Blake (Bleak) found on records in Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.

At the time of this writing, seven people representing the lines of descent of 4 of the children of Theophilus Blake (Bleak) of Bath County, Virginia have submitted yDNA tests at Family Tree DNA. The results of these tests are printed on a chart showing the results of others sharing the surname of Blake, including those who are descended from the family of the Blake’s of Hampton, New Hampshire.

These results are found at the following web link: https://www.familytreedna.com/public/blake/default.aspx?section=yresults . The results for the group of descendants of Theophilus Blake of Bath County, Virginia are listed in category C1, English Ancestry (2). The results are documented as having English ancestry although it is not currently known for sure if Theophilus immigrated from Northern Ireland, Scotland or England. The results of descent of those of the family lines of Hampton, New Hampshire are documented on this chart under F1 ENGLISH EAST ANGLIA (Norfolk) - INCLUDES BLAKES POSSIBLY DESCENDED FROM PETER BLAKE ..

2.    Blake Family in Cornwall
Late July of 2014 I decided to work on the family trees of the Blake families in Cornwall. Unfortunately an accident to my back somewhat cancelled this work until I began again early in 2015. I extracted material for the Blake family around Landrake but was not seeing a set of trees that I could work with readily. I decided to move to Bodmin Cornwall and work around that area and I am still involved with that extraction. I hope to start displaying the information that I have found on the Cornwall Blake families. The mode of the display is still in my thought process. I do have subscriptions to Ancestry, Find My Past and My Heritage plus there is the ability to put trees up on Family Search. I will likely put them up on all sites.

3.    England’s Immigrant Database 1330-1550 (http://www.englandsimmigrants.com/)
I see this particular set of documents from which the above database was constructed as perhaps the most meaningful for Blake research since I came across the Calendar of Patent Rolls a while ago. This new set of documents (blogged: http://kippeeb.blogspot.ca/2015/02/englands-immigrants-database-1330-1550.html) revealed a set of immigrants to England with the surname Blake in the time period mentioned. There appears to be 31 unique individuals but I still need to work on that material. They have come from Continental Europe and Ireland. They are found in various places in England (see blog). It was a John Blake who settled at Bodmin Cornwall before 16 Feb 1525. The parish registers begin early in Bodmin (marriages 1559, baptisms 1558, and burials 1558). An interesting time ahead with this database.

4.    Blake Family of Galway
Finding in the Immigrants Database (above) a Richard Blake coming from Ireland to Salisbury, Wiltshire by 10 Jul 1440 was stunning to say the least. I felt compelled to finally begin a task I have thought about for a number of years. The extraction of the information that Marin J Blake published in his books on the Galway Blake family. At this time of writing I have now entered into Legacy Software the entire set of genealogical charts from Blake Family Records 1300 to 1600 A Chronological Catalogue with Copious Notes and Genealogies of many branches of the Blake Family which was published in London in 1902 by Elliot Stock, 62, Paternoster Row, E.C. I now must begin the long task of seeing if I can enhance this information (and find any possible errors) and eventually put this information up on websites. I do not know if this Richard is related to the Galway Blake family but I do need to understand Galway Blake family in Ireland. Plus I always planned to work on the Blake families of Ireland who are known to descend from other Blake families as well as the Galway Blake.

5.    Blake yDNA Study
Susan has mentioned the Blake yDNA study in her article on Theophilus Blake and I will mention a few more items.
Project Statistics
Combined Gedcoms uploaded 13
Distinct mtDNA haplogroups 25
Distinct yDNA haplogroups 11
Family Finder 21
Paternal Ancestor Information 61
Total Members 92
Unreturned Kits 5

This is an extraction of some of the Project Statistics. With only 13 Gedcoms it is not really possible to look at everyone’s lines in the study. The mtDNA results are not overly helpful in yDNA surname studies but do give one an opportunity to look at the deep ancestry of your mother’s mother’s …. line which could be helpful. There are 11 distinct yDNA haplogroups which is expected given the stated assumption on my part that Blake is a surname that has a number of founders. The Family Finder is, to my way of thinking, the way forward for any female Blake looking at her Blake line and is also helpful for males looking at cousin relationships on the Blake line. Lacking paternal ancestor (Blake) information for 31 members is problematic for a yDNA study.

Thank you to Susan Osborne for her article on Theophilus Blake. Any other submissions greatly welcomed. Please submit to kippeeb@rogers.com.

Robert Siderfin (1726 - 1788)

52 Ancestor Challenge - Challenge 13

Blake, King, Coleman, Pearce, Farmer, unknown, Lambden, Sarah (unknown), Knight, Ellis, Knight, Vincent, Butt, Durnford, Arnold, Molton, Cotterel, Bartlett, Alderman, Ann (unknown), Sherwood, unknown, Habberfield, Collings, Rawlings, Tanner, Dove, Morgan, Lywood, Canham, unknown, Peck, Pincombe, Charley, Rowcliffe, Pearse, Rew, Moggridge, Siderfin, Kent, Gray, Hilton, Cobb, Sproxton, Routledge, Tweddle, Routledge, Routledge, (unknown) Buller, unknown, Beard, Hemsley, Welch, Brockhouse, Cheatle, Woodcock, unknown Taylor, unknown, Harborne, Lewis, Roberts, Croxall, Lawley, unknown

Perhaps one of my most intriguing surnames in my decade of searching my ancestors has been Siderfin. Siderfin is one of my families that has been published. Although my line is incorrect (as is the authors), the author has done a tremendous job of bringing together all the extant records for this family and prior to the bombing of the Devon Record Office in 1942. I would like to go into the Record Office one day and see his files which were donated by his family after WWII so they are still intact. He supplies only abstracts of most wills and it would be handy to see if he actually transcribed some of the wills. James Sanders, JP, lived at South Molton, Devon. His book was titled: History of the Siderfin Family of West Somerset. It was published at Exeter by W J Southwood and Co., Dynamo Works in 1912.

Robert Siderfin was my 4x great grandfather. Not a lot is known about Robert. He was baptized 23 Jun 1726 at Cutcombe where his father Augustine taught school. His mother was Mary Davies and Augustine and Mary were married 29 Apr 1720 at Cutcombe. Robert was their second child, John Siderfin, the eldest, was baptized 14 Jan 1722 also at Cutcombe. Robert married Grace Kent 5 Feb 1752 at Selworthy (Selworthy was the home of Grace Kent). He and Grace baptized nine children (the first John baptized 1753 died young) but this is rather interesting as they were baptized in several different villages. It made me wonder if Robert was also a school teacher. Certainly his grand daughter Elizabeth Rew was a school teacher at Bishops Nympton and his father a teacher at Cutcombe. All of these children signed their marriage registrations including Elizabeth Siderfin the daughter of Robert Siderfin and Grace Kent and my ancestor. Elizabeth married John Rew 30 Jan 1792 at Selworthy. Their daughter Elizabeth Rew married John Pincombe at Bishops Nympton. Their son William Robert was my great grandfather.

The earliest record for this family found by James Sanders was in the Hundred Rolls of Somerset in the 4th year of the reign of Edward I (1274) and that Robert de Sidernefenne paid rent in the free manor of Brigford (now Brushford) Somerset. The name Sidernefenne is thought to mean the corner or side of the valley by the fen or swamp. He found nothing further for this family in Somerset until the mid 1500s. They were then located in the Manor of Luxborough and it was a William Sidervin (then deceased) with widow Wilmot Foster (now deceased at the time of the application) and the lord of the manor was John Foster. The son of William was Robert Siderfinne and he was applying for a lease of land held formally by his parents. Wilmot was a daughter of the grandfather of John Foster. The family was at Luxburough but there is no legal evidence of how this particular case was resolved.

There is a family tree in the book which commences with John Siderfin and Christian his wife of Luxburough and they were the parents of William Sidervin married to Wilmot Foster. They had a son Robert and a daughter Jone (married to Webber). Robert and his wife had six children: William, Robert, Thomas, Janet, Elizabeth and Joan.  The line that my family possibly descends from appears to come down from Robert married to Priscilla Webber (Robert lived between 1587 and 1636). They had a son John who lived at Wootton Courtney and was b circa 1614. This John may have been the father of John b 1656 at Wooton Courtney, Robert b 1658 at Selworthy (married to Thomasine) and William b 1660 at Minehead. However the chart that was produced in the book does not really answer that question.

My own line begins with Robert married to Thomasine but I do not think he was b 1658. He is more likely born in the mid 1630s as his son is Robert b 1658 and married to Elizabeth Question (not Elizabeth Blackford as is written in the chart). Elizabeth Question was the daughter of Augustine Question and it is their son Augustine that is my ancestor.

Correcting the book by Sanders is an important part of my Siderfin research.

Ancestry of Robert Siderfin

1.  Elizabeth BLAKE
2.  Helen Louise PINCOMBE
3.  John Routledge PINCOMBE (b 10 Sep 1872)- Lobo Township Middlesex County Ontario Canada
4.  William Robert PINCOMBE (b 11 Jun 1837)- Molland Devon England
5.  Elizabeth (Betsey) REW (b 20 Dec 1801) - Selworthy Somerset England
6.  Elizabeth (Betty) SIDERFIN (b 19 Jun 1759) - Selworthy Somerset England
7.  Robert SIDERFIN (b 23 Jun 1726) - Cutcombe Somerset England
8.  Augustine SIDERFIN (b 27 Dec 1692) - Selworthy Somerset England
9.  Robert SIDERFIN (b 3 Aug 1658) - Selworthy Somerset England
10. Robert SIDERFIN circa 1630s

Blake and le Blake mentioned in the Calendar of Patent Rolls as serving in Ireland

I have put in a number of hours on the books by Martin Blake on the Galway Blake family and have managed to imput over one thousand names thus far along with the material. He did such an excellent job relating all of the Blake families as they descend from Richard Caddell alias Blake. Since my family yDNA is not R1b as has been seen for branches of the Galway Blake family I know that I am not likely a direct descendant of Richard Caddell but wonder who is the Richard Blake who came from Ireland in the early 1500s to the Salisbury, Dorset area.

I am going to go into my word file from the Calendar of Patent Rolls and extract all the entires of individuals coming and going to Ireland as there are a number of them. It should be fairly straightforward as I extracted all of the text and can just search on Ireland.

1292  24 Mar Westminster (membrane 18)

John de Fulburn, staying in England, nominating Nicholas Taf and

Thomas le Blake in Ireland for one year.

20 Edward I, volume 2, page 480


1292 26 Mar Westminster (membrane 18)

Andrew de Fuleburn, clerk, staying in England, nominating Nicholas

Taf and Thomas le Blake in Ireland for one year.

20 Edward I, volume 2, page 481


1293 26 Mar Cambridge (membrane 21)

John de Fulburne, staying in England on the king's service, nominating

Philip de Fulburne and John le Blake in Ireland, for one year.

21 Edward I, volume 3, page 7


1304 29 Jun Stirling (membrane 14)

Letters for Gilbert son of Thomas de Clare, staying in England, nominating

William de Edenham and Geoffrey le Blake their attorneys in

Ireland for two years. By p.s.

32 Edward I, volume 4, page 237


1351 22 Jun Tower of London (membrane 25)

Protection with clause nolumus in Ireland for Master William Blake,

parson of the church of Ardmolghan, in the diocese of Meath.

25 Edward III, volume 9, page 106


1366 30 Jun Westminster (membrane 40)

Richard Vynegre, staying in England, has letters nominating

Geoffrey Travers and Roger Blake as his attorneys in Ireland for

one year. David de Wollore received the attorneys.

40 Edward III, volume 13, page 296

In 1291 mentioned as being in Ireland serving the named individual,  there is Thomas le Blake, In 1293 there is John le Blake, in 1304 there is Geoffrey le Blake, in 1351 there is Master William Blake, and in 1366 there is Roger Blake.

Glancing through the records though I did notice some Irish place names so this is perhaps a larger task than a quick search. Will save that for another day; I get distracted away from my progress easily enough.

Newsletter to come

Commencing on the Blake Newsletter today and should publish by the end of March or early April. I will talk about the Blake family in Cornwall and my progress there with charting the families. I will also talk about the new England's Immigrant Database 1330-1550 - a fascinating new tool to work on the Blake Family. A third topic will be the family of Theophilus Blake with the work submitted by Susan Osbourne and thank you very much to her for that material. A fourth topic will be the extraction of information from Martin Blake's books on the Blake family of Galway.  Likely I will also mention the Blake yDNA study which continues, in my mind and that of the other administrators, another fascinating way to look at the Blake families of the British Isles. The Blake family is an ancient family in the British Isles and their surname can be found in early records dating back into the 1200s. It was an illusion to think that all of the Blakes were descended from one Blake and the records are proving that this thought was quite incorrect and that Blake has a number of origins both within the British Isles and from Continental Europe. The more people who test their yDNA the greater the opportunity to take these lines back to these early founder lines.

Since my my paternal line (Blake) belongs to an ancient haplogroup of the British Isles named Deer Hunters by BritainsDNA and I2a-IslesB4 by Ken Nordvedt, the surname Blake is likely an acquired one at some point distant in the past thus far prior to the mid 1400s. This haplogroup to which my paternal line belongs is designated as I-L161/L1498 at the  FT DNA I2a project. Other members of this small subset do not have the surname Blake but do trace back to ancient lines in southern England (Devon and Cornwall) with  my line being in the Andover, Hampshire area back to the mid 1400s thus far in my tracing. BritainsDNA has provided further information naming this particular haplogroup subclade as being commonest in the South to Southwest of Ireland at around 2-3% of their database and around 2% in Southwest England (including Hampshire). This particular haplogroup is also found in the Balkans giving one the thought that my ancient ancestor left the Ice Refuge in the Balkans after the last Ice Age and headed for the extremes of the land area as the ice fields retreated north and hence found themselves in Ireland and a path back towards England (although none in Wales) and Doggerland where they possibly made their way into the now British Isles. For myself, the ancient history of my peoples most fascinates me as both my maternal and paternal DNA lines are ancient to the British Isles. My autosomal results also predict a large British Isles ancestry but also some Northern European and Scandinavian (those two being the smaller components of the ethnic heritage that is shown at AncestryDNA, BritainsDNA, FT DNA and the Genographic Project). I am considering doing the entire genome of one of my brothers and will save up my pennies but now nickles for that endeavour as our penny has now gone extinct!

Nathanael Lambden (1718 - 1799)

52 Ancestor Challenge - Challenge 12

Blake, King, Coleman, Pearce, Farmer, unknown, Lambden, Sarah (unknown), Knight, Ellis, Knight, Vincent, Butt, Durnford, Arnold, Molton, Cotterel, Bartlett, Alderman, Ann (unknown), Sherwood, unknown, Habberfield, Collings, Rawlings, Tanner, Dove, Morgan, Lywood, Canham, unknown, Peck, Pincombe, Charley, Rowcliffe, Pearse, Rew, Moggridge, Siderfin, Kent, Gray, Hilton, Cobb, Sproxton, Routledge, Tweddle, Routledge, Routledge, (unknown) Buller, unknown, Beard, Hemsley, Welch, Brockhouse, Cheatle, Woodcock, unknown Taylor, unknown, Harborne, Lewis, Roberts, Croxall, Lawley, unknown

One of my brickwalls and this line was known to me from my earliest days of doing genealogy back in 2003. Elizabeth Lambden was born in 1766 and died in 1862. She was my 3x great grandmother and daughter of Nathanael Lambden. She was also known to my grandfather as Elizabeth continued to work until she was well into her 90s. Somewhat of a symbol of ability and perseverance to my grandfather. She was the mother of his grandmother who lived next door to his family in Upper Clatford. Elizabeth Lambden married  Isaac Farmer 16 Aug 1789 at Woodhouse, Andover. Both Isaac and Nathanael signed the marriage register although Elizabeth did not. The last child of Isaac and Elizabeth, Ann, was born just four years before her father died at the age of 44 years. More about Isaac Farmer later. Ann married John Blake 4 Sep 1823 at Andover Parish Church and their eighth child Edward was my great grandfather.

For a while I thought that Nathanael was baptized at Bradfield, Berkshire but I found his burial registration on the Burial Index for Hampshire and discovered he was said to be 82 years of age at his date of burial 9 Jan 1799 at the parish Church in Andover (Find My Past). That would give him a year of birth circa 1717-1718 which fits in much better with the Nathanael Lambden baptized 25 Apr 1718 at Thatcham, Berkshire. The Bradfield baptism was not leading me anywhere back in time but did not let that deter me from looking at it. But this burial record definitely does change my direction and I investigated the Lambden family at Thatcham. They occasionally wrote their name Lamden as well just to make note of that. I know that Nathanael was married to Sarah from the baptisms of their four children (Nathaniel 23 Oct 1751, John 15 Jan 1758, William 21 Sep 1760, and Elizabeth  16 Mar 1766 all at Andover Parish Church). I have been through the baptismal register at St Marys Andover and these are all the Lambden baptisms for this couple and I find that just two of these children married and had families. More investigation needed perhaps though on John and William at some point.

For Nathaniel's baptism I find only the notation that the father was Nathaniell Lambden and that he was buried 3 May 1721 at Thatcham. I could not find a marriage for him and no first name for his wife. Two children were baptized by this Nathaniell including Hannah 4 Dec 1720 also at Thatcham and buried as the daughter of Nathaniell lately deceased 8 Feb 1722. I could not find a baptism for this Nathaniell but there was a family baptizing children in this time frame at Thatcham. Johnb Lambden married Susana Willes 27 Apr 1684 at Thatcham. They were buried at Speenhamland John 17 Nov 1754 and Susana 11 Apr 1726. They baptized three children in the records John 4 May 1698, Susannah 14 Jul 1702, and Ruth 18 Mar 1708 all at Thatcham. But having married 1684 at Thatcham there are, perhaps, baptisms missing including one for Nathaniell perhaps.

There is a John Lambden married to Ann at Wargrave baptizing children including a John Lambden 7 Apr 1658 but that would make the John Lambden buried 17 Nov 1754 at Speenhamland Berkshire 96 years of age. Not an impossibility after Elizabeth Lambden was 96 when she died! But more research is needed on these Berkshire Lambden families when time permits.

Ancestry of Nathaniel Lambden:

1. Elizabeth BLAKE
2. Ernest Edward George BLAKE (b 20 Aug 1904) - Eastleigh Hampshire England
3. Samuel George Blake (b 10 Feb 1875) - Upper Clatford Hampshire England
4. Edward Blake (b 2 Jan 1845) - Upper Clatford Hampshire England
5. Ann FARMER (b 19 Apr 1804) - Little London, Andover, Hampshire England
6. Elizabeth LAMBDEN (b 16 Mar 1766) - Andover Hampshire England
7. Nathanael LAMBDEN (b 25 Apr 1718) - Thatcham Berkshire England
8. Nathaniell Lambden

The Blake family of Galway

I did begin my extraction of the Blake family material in Martin Blake's excellent set of records on the Blake family of Galway. I am entering the information into Legacy and have added 197 individuals which includes 98 families. This is an extensive work on his part and will also include the Blake family that came to the London, Ontario area in the 1800s. As children people would ask if we were related to this family as I grew up in London, Ontario. The recent release of the Immigrants Database to England with a Richard Blake coming from Ireland to the Salisbury area is rather interesting. Richard Caddell alias Blake who is the head of the Galway Blake family had two sons that are not traced down thus far - Nicholas and Valentine. My ancestor who left his will in 1547 was named Nicholas with his father being Richard and his father Robert and they lived in the Andover area but I have not yet had a look at the Manor Books to see if they can be traced back further on paper.

Our yDNA says that our haplogroup occurs around 2% in Connacht Ireland and 3% in Munster (just to the south of Connacht). Connacht is the larger area in which Galway is a unit. Could our Blake line be Irish after all? That would be a surprise. I must admit that I am becoming very very interested in the Irish Blake family at Galway. Why did Richard Blake come to Salisbury in 1440? Who is this Richard Blake? Of note though our haplogroup also can be found at the rate of 2% in South West England which includes the area from Hampshire to Cornwall. 2% in East Anglia and 2% in Leinster, and 1% in Ulster. These figures coming from our testing at BritainsDNA.   But this is for I-S185 known as the Deer Hunters so we are talking about a group of hunter-gatherers who probably arrived in the British Isles when it was still attached to the Continent via Doggerland and the British Isles was one landmass.The time period as much as 8000 years ago.

In my entering I have now come across an unlinked Blake line in the Galway family (perhaps it will be linked in later or it could be a separate Blake line). In 1745 Margaret Blake daughter of John Blake and Eveline Lynch married Mark Blake of Knockmore, Co Mayo in 1745. When I extracted the Blake records from the Calendar of Patent Rolls I found a number of references to Blake members going to Ireland. Would a descendant of one of these Blake members then become an Immigrant when he returned to England? All very interesting and I feel compelled to begin this work at this time along with my Cornwall extraction of information.

I must get back to doing a few wills a week as well though! And gardening will soon be part of my life again! At least one hopes so but yesterday's snow certainly put that timetable somewhat in the future.

Signs that spring has come to Ottawa

Having had the coldest winter I can ever remember in my entire life and learning that this was one of the warmest winters ever in the world, I was hoping that perhaps spring would come our way today.

The heavy white snow that is falling today though is indicative of this time of year - the snow that falls when it is 20 degrees celsius below zero is dry and fluffy and easy to move but the stuff that greeted us today is like moving cement! Fortunately we have a snow blower.

Hereis hoping that our still three feet snow piles will start to diminish a little quicker now that the temperature has warmed up to zero degrees celsius. It could be worse of course we could live in the maritimes which has been absolutely inundated with snow this past week.

But the cheery thought in all of this is that that wet heavy snow tells us that spring is definitely coming one of these days but I expect we will still have snow cover into April as usual.

Just a little break from my usual blog. I am busily working away on the parishes around Bodmin and I can see patterns which is really great. I shall share them soon enough and feel free to send me any thoughts that you have on how I have arranged this set of Blake families. It would be great to have people test their yDNA in their Blake lines. Since the Blake that came to Bodmin before 1525 was from Bretagne I suspect that the name that matches this one in France is likely Leblanc or Blancher. I was looking on ySearch to see if there are Leblanc entries and indeed there are. But if it is a characteristic surname as most believe these days then there could be several different DNA results. Or they could be, as my line in Hampshire, very ancient to the British Isles and simply acquired the surname through marriage with a Blake female or of course there is the possibility of an illegitimate birth but I wonder if there were that many illegitimate births before 1600. I do not find a lot in the parish registers.

I think that when people took on surnames their choices were probably influenced by a wife already having a fixed surname especially if there was a small piece of property that went with the marriage.

Emails concerning the Blake family

Lately I have received half of a dozen emails from people asking me about different lines of the Blake family in the British Isles. Because I am now into newsletter mode and working on the BMBs for Cornwall I am probably not going to respond until after mid April. Apologies on that and I will try to send out this short mention in an email to the senders as well.

I am always looking for people interested in doing particular sections of Blake and I have no intention of taking your work and claiming it as my own. I intend to put my work up on Family Search along with all the data that I have collected as I do each tree. I should do that with the Joseph Blake branch at Upper Clatford and will look into doing that sooner rather than later so that I do the same as I develop trees. If anyone knows that there is an error in any of the trees I would love to hear that as well since I can correct it if you send me the relevant sources to make the changes.

I think of this entire process as my contribution to the Blake family. I will be 70 this year and this is my hobby for which I do not need any credit personally. I am quite happy to share the limelight with hundreds or thousands of other Blakes. If each of us put together what we know and gradually build  a set of trees on Family Search. I also use My Heritage and Ancestry and Find My Past and potentially could put trees on any of these sites or match up with existing trees.

Martha Pearse (1736 - 1798 or 1802)

52 Ancestor Challenge - Challenge 11

Blake, King, Coleman, Pearce, Farmer, unknown, Lambden, Sarah (unknown), Knight, Ellis, Knight, Vincent, Butt, Durnford, Arnold, Molton, Cotterel, Bartlett, Alderman, Ann (unknown), Sherwood, unknown, Habberfield, Collings, Rawlings, Tanner, Dove, Morgan, Lywood, Canham, unknown, Peck, Pincombe, Charley, Rowcliffe, Pearse, Rew, Moggridge, Siderfin, Kent, Gray, Hilton, Cobb, Sproxton, Routledge, Tweddle, Routledge, Routledge, (unknown) Buller, unknown, Beard, Hemsley, Welch, Brockhouse, Cheatle, Woodcock, unknown Taylor, unknown, Harborne, Lewis, Roberts, Croxall, Lawley, unknown

Martha Pearse, my 4x great grandmother, married Philip Rowcliffe 9 Apr 1760 at South Molton and their daughter Betty (baptism) and Elizabeth (as an adult) was baptized  20 May 1777 at Bishops Nympton and married Robert Pincombe 7 Jun 1803 at Bishops Nympton. Martha had three siblings all male Philip (baptism unknown) but married to Joan Rock 2 May 1803 at Mariansleigh and their son John Rowcliffe married Eliza Brown at Mariansleigh with their eldest daughter Elizabeth marrying Richard Pincombe (from Beaford, Devon) 4 Dec 1851 in Usborne Township, Huron County, Ontario, Canada). A descendant of that family wrote to me asking how her Pincombe line fitted into mine but I am still working on that (father of Richard was William and mother Mary but thus far I have not found any linkage). It turned out we were related through the Rowcliffe family! George Rowcliffe, the second brother was baptized 9 Jul 1774 at Bishops Nympton and buried at South Molton 11 Oct 1849 and is said by some to be the father of Philip Rowcliffe who married Susanna Brown 16 Sep 1828 at Kennerleigh. Their son John died in Victoria British Columbia 6 Mar 1921. However the death duty index of 1849 has John (likely brother of George) as executor. The third brother William does not appear in the Parish Registers of Bishops Nympton with a baptism but he is likely the William Rowcliffe buried 6 Dec 1854 at South Molton. It is unknown whether he married.

Martha was the daughter of Philip Pearse and Grace Hobbs who married 7 Apr 1728 at South Molton. They had five children:

Philip baptized 19 Jan 1728 at South Molton
Grace baptized 19 Feb 1730 at South Molton
Philip (twin) baptized 8 Jul 1733 at South Molton
Martha (twin) baptized 8 Jul 1733 at South Molton and buried 7 Jul 1734 at South Molton
Martha baptized 23 Jan 1736 at South Molton.

There are two Martha Rowcliffes buried at South  Molton 7 Jan 1798 and 26 Mar 1802. Perhaps now several years since I found this information I can determine which one is my Martha. But it is still impossible to tell which one is my Martha. Philip Rowcliffe was buried 22nd Mar 1802 at South Molton.

Philip Pearse (father of Martha) was baptized 12 Nov 1703 at South Molton the son of John Pearse and Martha Quythers. All of this information to follow I extracted from the Parish Registers of South Molton which I have on fiche.  John Pearse and Martha Quythers were married 9 May 1686 at South Molton. They baptized six children at South Molton:

Roger 2 Oct 1686
Hannah 31 Jan 1687/88
Alice 22 Apr 1690
Mary 9 Mar 1692/93
Elizabeth 21 May 1700
Philip 12 Nov 1703

I have not made any attempt to follow the other children through the Parish Registers to date but will have a quick glance at Find My Past.

Roger likely buried 11 Jan 1694/95 at South Molton
Hannah possibly married (2 marriages at South Molton in the 1720s - a mite late but perhaps)
Alice possibly buried 7 Jun 1691 at South Molton
Mary possibly buried 28 Mar 1694 at South Molton or possibly married in the 1720s
Elizabeth nothing particularly found

John Pearse (married 1686 at South Molton) is likely the John Pearse baptized 14 Apr 1660 at South Molton and the son of Robert Pearse and unknown. This Robert Pearse is likely baptized Mar (no date given) 1631 at South Molton and the son of Robert Pearse and Elizabeth Dickes who were themselves married 13 Jun 1629 at South Molton. This Robert is possibly the son of John Pearse baptized 25 Jun 1602 at South Molton. There is a notation after John's name in the register "glovier." There is a marriage which I just found of Johannis Pearce and Anna Powle 6 Jul 1601 at South Molton. Missed my first go through the register about 6 years ago.

But I am still unable to find the marriage of a Robert Pearse father of John Pearse baptized 14 Apr 1660. However this is the time when Parish Registers are often missing information for instance births were recorded in this register during the Commonwealth but no marriages found yet by me.

The likely ancestry of Martha Pearse:

1. Elizabeth BLAKE
2. Helen Louise PINCOMBE (b 18 Oct 1916) - Westminster Township Middlesex County Ontario Canada
3. John Routledge PINCOMBE (b 10 Sep 1872)- Lobo Township Middlesex County Ontario Canada
4. William Robert PINCOMBE (b 11 Jun 1837)- Molland Devon England
5. John PINCOMBE (b 5 Jul 1808)- Bishops Nympton Devon England
6. Elizabeth (Betty) ROWCLIFFE (b 20 May 1777) - Bishops Nympton Devon England
7. Martha PEARSE (b 23 Jan 1736) - South Molton Devon England
8. Philip PEARSE (b 12 Nov 1703) - South Molton Devon England
9. John PEARSE (b 14 Apr 1660) - South Molton Devon England
10. Robert PEARSE (b Mar 1631) - South Molton Devon England
11 Robert PEARSE (b 25 Jun 1602) - South Molton Devon England
12 John Pearse

Noted on my webpage the following information re the Pearse family in this part of Devon:

 There is a John PEARSE on the Protestation Returns for Bishops Nympton in the 1640s (this would need to be John Pearse b 28 Apr 1605 if it is him). The 1723 Loyalty Oaths list: Benjamin Pearse at Lapford, Edward Pearse of Combe Martin, Samuel Pearse of Ashwater, Jonathan Pearse of Warrington, Edward, John and Gideon Pearse of Holsworthy, John Pearse of Chittlehampton, John Pearse of Morebath, John Pearse of Northam, Richard Pearse of Hartland, Michael Pearse of Chulmleigh, Philip Pearse of Bickleigh, Robert Pearse of Hartland, William Pearse of Shebbear, and William Pearse of Broadclyst. The Pearse family is very large in Devon (I have only listed a few of the members signing the Loyalty Oath in 1723).

A redo of the lookups in South Molton proved to be interesting and I remain rather convinced that this is my line of Pearse. Finding the marriage of Robert circa 1650s would be interesting as I have managed to locate all the wives for this family other than the wife of Robert baptized 1631. My mother did know of Martha Pearse although I can not now remember what she may have said about Martha just that the mother of Elizabeth Rowcliffe had been Martha Pearse.

BIFHSGO meeting - Ulster Genealogical Society

A superb meeting for BIFHSGO and John Reid reports in his blog:

http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.ca/2015/03/ulster-day-at-bifhsgo.html

We were sorry that we had an opera in the afternoon or we would have stayed all day. No Irish ancestry known for myself but just a hint that there might be a Scot Planter in the background with some Irish marriages in that line. Plus there is that elusive Blake emigrant from Ireland to Salisbury, England in the early 1400s which rather intrigues me. Given our paternal yDNA line that points to southern Ireland as being the place where this particular haplogroup is found most commonly I must say that I am becoming very intrigued with Irish research. That his name was Richard is also very interesting but does separate him possibly from the Richard Blake line which lived in the Calne Wiltshire area in a similar time frame and whose Pedigree Chart is located at the Swindon Wiltshire Record Office. I really wanted to have such information as I could not link my line to the Calne Wiltshire line at least on the male side of the Blake family. Richard Blake married Jone Blake in the early to mid 1580s and Jone was possibly from the Calne Wiltshire Blake line.

Fortunately Martin Blake went in to the Dublin Record Office during the latter part of the 1800s and transcribed all of the Blake documents that he found for Galway and some others as well in his publications on the Blake families in Ireland. They are principally Galway but now I have a renewed incentive to spend more time on his books. I would like to extract them into Legacy and produce a Galway Blake Gedcom to use and it is beginning to seem like it might just be something to do sooner rather than later. The reason that is so fortunate is of course due to the destruction of the Dublin Record Office during the Irish Civil War in 1922. Everything went up in flames especially the records of the Church of Ireland which is part of the Anglican Communion and because their records were deemed to be state records they were housed "safely" in the Dublin Record Office. Needless to say many records in Ireland now remain in the hands of the local priest which has its drawbacks but they are rapidly coming on line so that should solve the problem of looking at them from a distance.

But I remain committed at the moment to working on the Cornwall Blake family and will continue extracting the Blake records and putting them into Legacy. It is an enormous task as it turns out (and I rather expected it to be but had to find a path that worked uniquely for me and it has taken a little while) and then I need all the census and I have all the PCC wills but the OPCs in Cornwall do sometimes have the Wills on line from the Diocese which I do lack. I should say if anyone has a keen interest to work with me on the Cornwall Blake family I would welcome your interest. This is one of my two one-name studies with the Guild and I would like to leave it somewhat further ahead in terms of collection of data so that when I do deposit it at the Guild/SOG someone can pick up the study where I left off (if they are so willing) and find out even more about the Blake family. I have now placed a time limit on my Blake research and it will not extend past 2025 but will go to 2020. I tend to work on 5 year plans in genealogy and it has worked well for me thus far. 

Blake families in Cornwall

I have completed the set of parishes around Bodmin and decided that my next step will be to look at the parishes that are up to 15 miles away from Bodmin and do their BMDs next.

Lanhydrock
Cardinham
Warleggan
Lanlivery
Lostwithiel
St Breward
Luxulyan
St Neot
St Winnow
Michaelstow
Roche
St Teath
Tywardreath
St Veep
Golant, St Sampson
Par
Lanteglos by Camelford
Lanreath
Lanteglos by Fowey
St Dennis
Charlestown
Fowey
Pelynt
St Columb Major
Liskeard
Duloe
St Keyne
St Mewan
Lansallos
St Stephen in Brannel
Minster
St Merryn
St Clether
Tintagel
Menheniot
Davidstow
St Enoder
Laneast
Morval
North Hill
Talland
Colan
Mawgan in Pydar
St Ive
St Ives
St Martin by Looe
Mevagissey
Forrabury
St Ewe
Lesnewth
Trewen
Quethiock
St Columb Minor
Treneglos
Creed
Newquay
Ladock
South Hill
Mawnan

Another major task but I am feeling that this process is somewhat more controlled than earlier. There are a few trees developing.

No ideas on how long this will take but as I am doing this I will create paper trees to help me with linking individuals when that is possible.

George Routledge (1729 - 1816)

52 Ancestor Challenge - Challenge 10

Blake, King, Coleman, Pearce, Farmer, unknown, Lambden, Sarah (unknown), Knight, Ellis, Knight, Vincent, Butt, Durnford, Arnold, Molton, Cotterel, Bartlett, Alderman, Ann (unknown), Sherwood, unknown, Habberfield, Collings, Rawlings, Tanner, Dove, Morgan, Lywood, Canham, unknown, Peck, Pincombe, Charley, Rowcliffe, Pearse, Rew, Moggridge, Siderfin, Kent, Gray, Hilton, Cobb, Sproxton, Routledge, Tweddle, Routledge, Routledge, (unknown) Buller, unknown, Beard, Hemsley, Welch, Brockhouse, Cheatle, Woodcock, unknown Taylor, unknown, Harborne, Lewis, Roberts, Croxall, Lawley, unknown

George Routledge my 4x great grandfather is the second 4x great grandfather with the surname Routledge. He is also the second one to be of the Oakshaw Routledge family as it is generally referred to in the Dodgson Manuscript. He is also listed in the Dodgson Manuscript unlike my earlier ancestor challenge written about Henry Routledge. A good deal is known about the descendants of this George Routledge.

George was baptized 17 Apr 1729 whilst living at Todhills, Bewcastle, Cumberland the son of George Routledge (mother's name missing but I am hoping that a document that I am going to review today will help with that particular item). He died 12 Jun 1816 living at Row also in Bewcastle. He was married twice and I am descendant of his first family with Grace Routledge (and the third of my three Routledge 4x great grandparents thus far known to me) and they were married 16 Jun 1763 at Bewcastle. His second marriage which is recounted in The Dodgson Manuscript was to Elizabeth Armstrong 1 Jun 1768 at Lanercost. Elizabeth Armstrong was also descendant of the Oakshaw Routledge family as her mother Mary Routledge was the daughter of John Routledge and Elizabeth Dodgson. Mary was their eldest daughter. John and Elizabeth were married 11 May 1710 at Stepleton, Cumberland and they baptized ten children (eight of them at Bewcastle but the baptism of Mary has not yet been located).  Mary's brother William (baptized at Lanercost) and married to Jane Routledge 14 Nov 1753 at Brampton is also interesting because of their two sons John and Richard Routledge with Richard having purchased the property of my ancestor Thomas at Parkhead before he emigrated to Canada. They are referred to in a letter that George, son of my Thomas, wrote back to Archibald Armstrong in 1839 from London Township, Ontario, Canada. Mary Routledge married Joseph Armstrong 15 Nov 1735 at Bewcastle just to round out the story and their daughter Elizabeth was baptized at Lanercost 3 Jan 1738. George Routledge and Elizabeth baptized six children at Bewcastle. I will discuss the children of George and Grace (George's first wife) when I write about Grace Routledge.

Who was George Routledge baptized 1729.

"Elizabeth Armstrong one of the Female line of the Routledges of the Flatt and second Wife of George Routledge the former owner of Raw and Murrayholm in Bewcastle. (1768. June 1. Geo. Routledge of the parish of Bewcastle, and Eliz: Armstrong of this parish married by Lic. Wit. Thos Armstrong. Marge Routledge [Lanercost par. register]). Elizabeth Armstrong above named whose ancestors farmed Parknook, Bewcastle, and were from the Birkbush Armstrongs parish of Abbey Lanercost Cumberland. She was Cousin to the late Christopher Armstrong owner of Birkbush. (1735. Nov. 15. Marr. Bond at Carlisle. Joseph Armstrong, Flowry Hurst, p Lanercost, bach, age 30, and Mary Routledge, Flatt, p Bewcastle, spinster.) (1739. Jan. 3. Elizabeth dau of Joseph Armstrong of Flowry hurst, bap [Lanercost par. reg.]) She Died at Murrayholm in or about aged years (missing but her age would have been 91 as she died 14 Oct 1829 at Murrayholm).  The said Elizabeth Armstrong informed her Grandson George Routledge who in 1843 is the Owner of Raw, Murrayholm and Bankhead Estates, That her Grandfather John Routledge above named as being the Owner of Flatt in 1700. And a younger Brother named Thomas was Owner of Highonset and an Estate at Flatt were descended from the Routledges of Oakshaw (formerly Akeshaw) and came from the Oakshaw in or about 1700 as before stated and that John Routledge her Grandfather was generally called Old Akeshaw of the Flatt and the Ancestors of the present Owner of the Flatt. (1700. Nov. 18. Will: Routledge Alias Akeshaw buried. [Bewcastle B. T.]) And that Thomas Routledge his younger Brother was Father to John Routledge Owner of Scotchtown formerly of Highonset Bewcastle and Grandfather to Thomas Routledge the only son of John who still holds a life Interest in Scotchtown Estate and now in 1843 residing with his Wife Margaret Little at Garthside parish of Abbey Lanercost Cumberland, and the said above named Thomas Routledge Brother of John Routledge commonly called Akeshaw of the Flatt was also Greatgrandfather on the Maternal side to the above named George Routledge residing on his Estate at Bankhead before named in 1843.

Thomas Routledge who came from Oakshaw to Flatt was Uncle to Grace Routledge the Wife of John Dodgson of Stoneknowe and the said Grace Routledge was Aunt to Elizabeth Armstrong above named Elizabeth Armstrong’s Mother being a Sister to Grace and the Daughters of John Old Akeshaw of the Flatt before named."

Source: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rutledge/DodgsonManuscript.htm

From this document Elizabeth has given the relationship of George to the Oakshaw Routledge family as being a great grandson of Thomas Routledge who was brother to John Routledge commonly known as Akeshaw of the Flatt whose father was William Routledge the son of James Routledge who died in 1700 at The Flatt, Bewcastle.

From a Will abstract the following can be gleaned:

Carlisle Record Office Will of Archibald FORRESTER of Cleughside, Bewcastle [Bc] 1767, pg 63.    
Grace Forrester, deceased poss. The mother of John Routledge
John Forrester, Wit
Adam Routledge s o Mary, Wid
George Routledge, of Oakshaw, Bc, father of 2 children
Grace Routledge, daughter of [d o ] Mary Routledge, Wid
Henry Routledge, s o Mary R*
Henry Routledge of Borderrigg, dec., father of 3 children
John Routledge s o Mary R*, Wid
John Routledge, my "sister's son, possibly s o Grace
Leondard Routledge of Oakshaw
Mary Routledge of Crossgreens or Strandsheads, Wid, mother of Grace, Mary, Adam, John & Henry
Mary Routledge, d o Mary, Wid
William Routledge of Oakshaw, deceased, father of William R*
William Routledge of Oakshaw s o late William Routledge
Francis Armstrong, Wit
Catherine Dowglass of Ash w o Thomas Douglas
Thomas Dowglass [sic Douglas] of Ash husband of Catherine
Catherine Henderson d o Robert & Helenor Henderson
Helenor Henderson wife of Robert and mother of Catherine
Robert Henderson husband of Helenor & father of Catherine
Alexander Kennedie  of Cleughside, Friend husband of Sibella
Catherine Kennedie of Cleughside, d o Alexander
Elizabeth Kennedie of Cleughside
John Kennedie of Cleughside s o Alexander
Sibella Kennedie of Cleughside w o Alexander
William Kennedie of Cleughside s o Alexander

One day I must get hold of the original will as it could give me a little more wording around these references to my 2 4x great grandfathers. But the will captures a moment in time just before George's wife Grace died in 1768 and just after Henry Routledge died in 1765. George at that time was living at Oakshaw. His wife Grace Routledge's parentage is not of Oakshaw directly so he is living there on hios own account as the maternal greatgrandson of Thomas Routledge mentioned above.

The document which I do have  is from the National Archives of the UK and reference C 11/2598/24 and was created in 1721. It is a Bill and answer with plaintiffs George Routledge, yeoman of Raw and the defendant Allan Routledge. There was, according to The Dodgson Manuscript an Allan Routledge in Row in 1630 and checking this particular set of documents the reference is likely to an Indenture dated 1630. The following information (an exerpt and the entire copy can be seen in blog post: http://kippeeb.blogspot.ca/search/label/1630%20Indenture%20of%20the%20Manor%20of%20Bewcastle
can be gleaned on Allen Routledge:

Allan Routledge, of Cum Crooke

Allan Routledge for a Tenement, without a house at Saughs, rent 3s 4d, a day
mowing, a day shearing, and for Carriages 2s.

In the Protestation Returns of 1641-42 there is no mention of an Allan Routledge. But there is a George Routledge son of James and Elener of the Ash (Francis is a second son), another George Routledge.

Earlier in the 1604 Land Survey of Bewcastle can be found:

Bayley Ashes Routledge, James Routledge, George Father
Bayley Bayley Routledge, Jerrat Routledge, George Father
The Quarter The Quarter Routledge, Quintain Routledge, George Father
Bayley Bayley Routledge, Adam Routledge, James Father
Bayley Bayley Routledge, James Routledge, James Father
Bayley Bayley Routledge, Thomas Routledge, James Father
The Quarter The Quarter Routledge, William Routledge, James Father

Is this the same James father of Adam, James, Thomas and William but also son of George along with Jerrat and Quintain? On The Protestation Returns just 37 years later there is James and Elener of the Ash with sons Francis and George and could this be James son of James as the father of Francis and George. Putting these Routledge families together is a major task.

Looking at the 1604 Land Survey the following are listed as fathers and sons:

Adam with son Adam

Allen with son John

Andrew with sons John, Thomas, Archibald, James and Adam

Archibald with son William

George with sons James, Jerrat and Quintain

James with sons Adam, James, Thomas, and William

Jarret with son Thomas

Jeffery with sons Thomas and Richard

John with sons Cuthbert, Jerrat, Thomas, Cuthbert, Thomas, William, George, Clement, George and Quint (Is there more than one John as Father?)

Martin with son James

Nicholas with son Edward

Quintain with sons Simon, Andrew, Simon, Francis, Andrew and John (two with forename Quintain?)

Richard with sons Jenkin, George, and John

Robert with son Jock (listed on another document and likely the Laird of the Routledge Clan)

Rowland with sons Anthony, Edward, Cuthbert

Thomas with sons Richard and William

William with sons Edward, Alexander and John

The possibility exists that there are some grandfather/son/grandson relationships in this listing.

There is a very large difference in the numbers of Routledge males in 1604 as compared to the 1630 Indenture. There are 51 names in the 1604 list and only 21 in the 1630 Indenture and only 23 in the Protestation Returns of 1641.

What is known about George Routledge of Row/Raw mentioned in this document is that he appears to have baptized five children at Bewcastle - Isobel, Jane, George (1726-1729), George and Jane. At the time of the writing of the document only Isobel and Jane have been baptized and they are living at Todhills and not at Row. I am looking for a female Oakshaw Routledge connection according to the Dodgson Manuscript and it is that Thomas Routledge baptized 22 Jul 1695 at Bewcastle baptized 7 children at Bewcastle (wife unknown) including a daughter Jane baptized 14 Oct 1737 at Bewcastle. She married a Routledge and their daughter married George Routledge son of George Routledge and Elizabeth Armstrong. Their son George is the individual mentioned as living at Raw in 1843 in The Dodgson Manuscript.

Routledge marriages in the Bewcastle Parish Register (old style, ie year begins 25 Mar)

18 May 1665 James Noble and Magdalen Routlidge
1 Jun 1665 James Routlidge and Ellinor Routlidge
26 Feb 1666 William Routlidge and Margarett Nixon
15 Nov 1666 Patricke Sanderson and Margarett Routledge
19 Nov 1667 Thomas Routledge and Isobell Nixon
16 Nov 1667 William Bell and Agnes Routledge
28 Apr 1668 Andrew Routledge and Elizabeth Wilson
6 Feb 1669 John Routledge and Elliner Micholson
May 1669 Thomas Routledge and Dorothye Nixon
22 Jul 1676 William Routledge and Isobell Story
16 Nov 1676 William Henderson and Illinor Routledge
3 Jul 1677 Adam Routledge of Belbanke and Elinore Armstrong
10 Jul 1677 Andrew Armstrong and Grizill Routledge
13 Oct 1677 Adam Story and Isobell Routledge
3 Nov 1677 Thomas Routledge of Camolflatt and Mary Routledge
28 Nov James Routledge of Craggs and Ellinor Armstrong
1686 ? Story and Jennet Routledge
3 Feb 1687 Thomas Nixon and Elizabeth Routledge
22 Nov 1691 John Routledge of Bewcastle and Catherine Armstrong
21 Jul 1692 Robert Routledge and Grizzell Foster
7 Nov 1692 Andrew Noble and Jane Routledge
25 Nov 1693 William Taylour and Anne Routledge
8 Jun 1698 William Foster of Ash and Jannet Routledge of Cragges
22 Nov 1698 William Nixon of Slacks and Elizabeth Routledge
26 Jun 1701 John Hetherington and Elizabeth Routledge
11 Jul 1702 Thomas Routledge and Jane Mophett
8 Jul 1704 Archbald Routledge and Elizabeth Nixon
17 Nov 1704 John Routledge and Mary Armstrong
1704 William Routledge and Grissell Routledge
10 Oct 1706 John Scott and Anne Routledge
26 Nov 1708 John Foster and Isobell Routledge
12 Jul 1709 Richard Routledge and Jane Story
13 Feb 1711 John Routledge and Margaret Waugh
6 Jun 1711 Abraham Dixon and Anne Routledge
10 Jun 1712 Thomas Routledge and Anne Doney
24 Aug 1712 Leonard Routledge and Elinor Dodgson
12 Jun 1712 Leonard Story and Anne Routledge
14 Jun 1712 Thomas Routledge and Anne Noble
24 Jul 1712 Christopher Harding and Anne Routledge
31 Jul 1712 Thomas Routledge and Grizell Armstrong
6 Dec 1712 Andrew Forster and Jennat Routledge
11 Jun 1713 Thomas Routledge and Elizabeth Allan
22 Jul 1713 Joseph Elliot and Hannah Routledge
14 Jun 1716 Archibald Routledge and Jane Nixon
1 Aug 1717 Arthur Routledge and Katharine Forster
6 Nov 1718 Andrew Kile of Kirkandery and Mary Routledge
28 May 1719 John Breckins and Jane Routledge
19 Nov 1725 John Armstrong and Ellinor Routledge
28 Nov 1725 James Armstrong of Lannercost and Elizabeth Routledge
17 Jun 1726 William Routledge and Blanch Edgar of Carlisle
14 Nov 1727 Robert Routledge and Anne Nixon
29 Jul 1730 John Waugh of Lanercost and Anne Routledge
17 Jan 1733 William Routledge and Esther Athol
5 Feb 1733 Thomas Routledge of Oakshaw and Elizabeth Storye of Lanercost
5 Feb 1733 William Armstrong and Abigail Routledge
2 Aug 1733 Matthew Turner of Sandcrook and Jannet Routledge of Highonset
14 Nov 1733 Thomas Routledge of Flatt and Anne Routledge of Flatt
18 Nov 1733 Thomas Routledge of Hill and Mary Routledge of Kirkbeckstown
7 Jun 1735 Robert Armstrong and Mary Routledge
4 Dec 1735 Joseph Armstrong and Mary Routledge
8 Jul 1737 John Nixon and Frances Routledge
27 Jun 1738 William Forester and Jane Routledge
26 Nov 1741 John Dodgson and Grisel Routledge
25 Nov 1741 John Tweedle and Sybella Routledge
25 May 1743 Richard Pott and Elizabeth Routledge of Lanercost
14 May 1744 John Armstrong and Elizabeth Routledge
22 May John Armstrong and Isobel Routledge
14 Jun 1744 William Nixon and Eleanor Routledge
12 Aug 1744 James Henderson and Jane Routledge
7 Jun 1745 William Routledge and Mary Elliot of Lanercost
16 Jun 1745 Robert Routledge and Jane Armstrong
28 Nov 1745 Francis Forrester of Kirkandrews on Esk and Ann Routledge
23 Nov 1745 Thomas Routledge and Ann Allan of Lanercost
2 Dec 1747 John Forster and Mary Routledge

Baptisms of George Routledge

16 Apr 1667 ? of Thomas Routlidge of Pikehead
24 May 1668 George son of James Routledge of Raw
3 Oct 1676 ? son of George Routledge of Know
17 Oct 1767 ? son of John Routledge of Parke
28 Oct 1691 George son of Adam Routledge of Roanstrees
15 Jan 1692 George son of Richard Routledge of Crags
10 Mar 1692 George son of George Routledge junior of Stub
1715 ? son of John Routledge of Flatt
29 Jan 1726 George son of George Routledge of Todhills
18 Apr 1729 George son of George Routledge of Todhills

Not a lot of George Routledge that could be referred to in the 1721 document. The 1668 George son of James Routledge of Raw has always been an interesting individual and then 10 Mar 1692 George son of George Routledge junior of Stub and that George potentially could be the father of the George Routledge of Todhills baptized in 1729. There are no George Routledge marriages this early in the Bewcastle Parish Register.

There is one on Family Search:

George Routledge married to Elizabetha Graham 3 Jun 1713 at KirkLinton

Kirklinton is 8 miles from Lanercost and ten miles from Bewcastle.

Looking for George Routledge marriages has been in the past difficult and continues in that state.  More records coming on line might assist with discovering the line of George and the names of their wives. Either the mother or one of the Grandmothers of George is surnamed Routledge and a daughter/grand daughter of Thomas Routledge of Oakshaw. But George himself is referred to as of Oakshaw in the will so is he the son of George  junior of Stub and is this George in turn a son of Adam of Roanstrees or of James of Raw (otherwise known as Row)?

The 1721 document I mentioned earlier and which I must transcribe one of these days names the wife of George Routledge of Raw as Blanch. The document also names a Robert Routledge and an Andrew Graham. The time periods in the particular item date from 1713 to 1722 at a quick read.

A Blanch Routledge died 23 Feb 1788 at the age of 94 years. No other reference to her in the Bewcastle Parish Register that I have found thus far. There was a Blanch Routledge baptized 3 Jun 1668 daughter of Mr Richard Routledge of Bewcastle.

Possible ancestry of George Routledge

1. Elizabeth BLAKE
2. Helen Louise PINCOMBE (b 18 Oct 1916) - Westminster Township Middlesex County Ontario Canada
3. John Routledge PINCOMBE (b 10 Sep 1872)- Lobo Township Middlesex County Ontario Canada
4. Grace GRAY (b 22 Mar 1839) - London Township Middlesex County Ontario Canada
5. Mary ROUTLEDGE (b 1804 and b 23 Jun 1813) - Bewcastle Cumberland England
6. Elizabeth ROUTLEDGE (b 27 Aug 1763) - (Raw) Bewcastle Cumberland England
Elizabeth's father's line
7. George ROUTLEDGE (b 18 Apr 1729) - (born at Todhills lived at Raw) Bewcastle Cumberland England
8. George ROUTLEDGE (b 10 Mar 1692) - (born at Stubb and lived at Raw) Bewcastle Cumberland England

The document that I need to transcribe though is rather interesting as it lists both the property at Raw and the property at Borderigg where Henry Routledge farmed. Was there any relationship between these two men whose children eventually married. My mother always commented that the Routledge ancestors were cousins. Still to look at is Grace.

Henry is known to be of Oakshaw but not listed as such in the abstract to the will of Archibald Forrester mentioned above but George is listed as of Oakshaw and he is known to be a great grandson of Thomas Routledge brother of John Routledge Laird of The Flatt.

Wills for the Black family at the National Archives (UK)

A search on the National Archives of the UK site yields 235 wills for members of the Black family with three from the 1500-1599 time period, 10 from the 1600-1699 time period, 97 from the 1700-1799 time period and 125 from 1800-1899.

Blake wills on the other hand held at Kew  include 2 for the time period 1400-1499, 25 for the time period 1500-1599, 143 for the time period 1600-1699, 267 for the time period 1700-1799 and 309 for the time period 1800-1899 or a total of 746 wills.

Most of these wills I will actually be looking at as I collected them when we were in London at Kew five years ago. But I may just take this opportunity to insert information into this blog about each will and whether I should transcribe them for the Blake study. 

The three from 1500-1599 would be interesting and they include (there is a Blake family at Speen and a Blake family at Lydiard Bishop's in this time frame):

Will of Henry Black, Mariner of Brightlingsea, Essex 20 May 1566 PROB 11/48/468

-will transcribe

Will of William Black, Yeoman of Speen, Berkshire 9 Oct 1557 PROB 11/39/420

- this appears to be the same will as William Blake of Speen Berkshire which I transcribed but it was dated 1552 and had a probate, this one has a probate dated 1557. I shall transcribe it as well.

Will of John Black or Blacke of Lydiard Bishop's, Somerset 28 Jan 1577 PROB 11/59/10

-will transcribe


The ten from 1600-1699 include (I will transcribe all of these over time):

Will of John Black of Ottringham Marsh, Yorkshire 30 Sep 1653 PROB 11/226/752

Will of William Black of Cleric, Wraysbury 9 Jul 1667 PROB 11/324/377

Will of Merrald Black, Widow of Saint Botolph without Aldgate, Middlesex 11 May 1687 PROB 11/387/206

Will of Anne Black, Maiden of Upchurch, Kent 30 May 1679 PROB 11/359/706

Will of Christopher Black, Mariner of Saint Paul Shadwell, Middlesex 22 Sep 1691 PROB 11/405/413

Will of John Black, Barber and now Doctor's Mate of His Majesty's Ship Norwich of London 7 May 1674 PROB 11/345/25

Will of John Black, Tailor of Saint Mary Le Strand, Middlesex 30 Apr 1652 PROB 11/221/530

Will of Barbara Black, Widow of Saint Martin in the Fields, Middlesex 19 Sep 1649 PROB 11/209/279

Will of David Black or Blacke 15 Oct 1634 PROB 11/166/322

Will of Thomas Black or Blacke of Coychurch, Glamorganshire 4 Feb 1605 PROB 11/105/93

A search on the Discovery Catalogue yielded an enormous number of Black references 8,026 with 185 from the time period 1000-1099 but most are for places names however there is a reference to Beorhtric Black in the Little Domesday Book at Hanchet Hall, Little Wratting, Suffolk and several other place names in Suffolk.  Another reference to Aelfric Black at Lilley, Hertfordshire in the Great Domesday Book and other places in Hertfordshire. An Alwine Black at Brixton, Broadwood Kelly, Devon also in the Great Domesday Book and other places in Devon. A William Black at Whitstone Devon in the Great Domesday Book. A Robert Black at Wye, Kent in the Great Domesday Book. Finding these early reference to Black as a surname is rather interesting and they precede the presence of Blake in England as far as I can tell.

Since I have found the surname Black prior to the emergence of Blake in England I feel that I can now set aside any thoughts on having to do Black with Blake. Where the names become interchanged (i.e. Blacke for Blake) it is simply a spelling error on the part of the writer.

Black as a surname

I decided to look at a set of records for the Black family on Find My past ranging from the mid 1400s to the mid 1500s.

The earliest record that I found was for a William Black baptized 1540 at Northam Devon (no parents given) and it was the only baptism between 1460 and 1540.

There were 25 burials for Black family members between 1500 and 1580 and they were from all over England - Sussex, Durham, Yorkshire, Suffolk, Kent, Surrey, Hampshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Somerset. Only one was listed as Blake or Black.


For Blake in the same time period there were eight baptisms, and 125 burials.

The surname Blake does appear to be much commoner in this early time period. It would be interesting to find earlier references to Black family members prior to the parish records.

Looking at Free BMD for births for Black from 1837 to 1851 and the total is1756. The deaths for Black in this same time period 1109. The marriages for Black in this same time period 820.


Looking at Free BMD for births for Blake from 1837 to 1851 and the total is 4310. The deaths for Blake in this same time period 2978. The marriages for Blake in this same time period 2180.

The Blake surname continues to much commoner in this time period. Could Black just be a derivative of Blake? (Again I decide in a later post that Black is an independent surname which arose in England at the time of the Great and Little Domesday survey so prior to Blake in England.)  Going through the parish registers thus far I seldom see an error on the part of the priest recording the surname but occasionally I know that Blacke should be Blake simply because it follows along logically. I have never particularly looked at Black entries and at this point in time will only do so when a family disappears from the parish register and I am trying to find them.

It was an interesting exercise and as I mentioned I would never have taken on Blake as a one name study if I was including Black as well. It would be just too large for me to handle and I would have stuck with Blake in Hampshire/Wiltshire/Berkshire area since my known lines do not stray from this area until my grandparents and father came to Canada (a brother of my grandfather had come first to Toronto in 1911 and this was perhaps part of the enticement to come although my grandfather always planned on returning to England but two world wars later and many of his siblings were gone and his wife died here he simply stayed on and died here. Lucky for us as we got to have this very interesting grandfather living with us as children!).

But the point being raised about the Blake family in Landrake I shall as I work my way through that parish take note of any Black references in the surnames. I left Landrake because it was getting complicated to think through and decided I needed to look at all of Cornwall before I tried to do more than I had already done in terms of putting trees together. Black could be a clue in Landrake of which I will make use when I return.

R1b study for Black and Blake families

The R1b groupings in both Blake and Black studies are numerous and will take more time to analyze.

The Group that is labeled H Irish Ancestry in the Blake yDNA study (said to include Blakes who descend from Sir Thomas Blake b c 1183) is very similar to the group in the Black study (which includes a Blake member) bearing label Lineage V. They are related in a genealogical time frame.

The group that is labeled I Irish Ancestry (Supplementary) in the Blake yDNA study does not have any similarities in the Black study that would be related within a genealogical time frame and probably longer.

The group that is labeled F2 English East Anglia (Suffolk) in the Blake yDNA study does not have any similarities in the Black study that would be related within a genealogical time frame and probably longer.

 The group that is labeled E1 English Ancestry (4) in the Blake yDNA study does have one interesting match but it is only 30/37 so not considered significant for genealogical purposes especially as the surnames do not match.

With K German Ancestry the members have a slight match with this same Blake yDNA grouping but again not within a genealogical framework.


The possibilities for D English Ancestry (3) in the Blake yDNA are three in number but 30/37 so not a match within a genealogical framework with the Black grouping.

The last group is G Irish Ancestry (Galway-Towerhill, Kiltolla) in the Blake yDNA and comparing it with the Black yDNA study. There is one entry that is 31/37 and his surname is Rankin. I have discarded this as a non match.

Just one group appears to match one of the Black groups and that is Lineage V in the Black study and H Irish Ancestry (possible descendants of Sir Thomas Blake) in the Blake yDNA study. Sir Thomas Blake was said to be born circa 1183 and the son of Richard Caddell alias Blake. I have not done very much on the Irish Blake family so simply present this chart as it was prepared by Barrie Blake in terms of the Irish Research. I do hope to revise all the headings for the Blake yDNA study as time passes.

A followup to my earlier post on Blake or Black

The Calendar of Patent Rolls (http://sdrc.lib.uiowa.edu/patentrolls/search.html) is a project of the University of Iowa Libraries and made available on line by them under the leadership of Dr G.R. Boynton.

Checking for Black in that particular set of documents I found that Black occurred 278 times but I was unable to eliminate the colour black from this search overall but could use the find function and then search only for Black. That still gave me 74 matches on the first page. Checking through by eye all of the instances of Black refer to the colour black (alone or as a place name) and not an individual except for references like Mr J G Black, BA of the Public Record Office who was involved in the preparation of the material and the Black Prince. The second page of search results yielded 69 instances but again they were either the colour black (alone or as a place name) or Mr J G Black mentioned above or a new item the Black order (referring to a Roman Catholic order). The last page of the search results yielded 45 instances of the word Black. In one instance Alexander Ratonner is referred to as Black Saundre. There is one reference to the surname Niger with Black in brackets following (1338-1340 (during the reign of Edward III)). I am left to think that Black did not occur as a surname in this earlier time period 1216 to 1452 or they did not do anything that brought them to the attention of the Crown (as that possibility always exists).

Is it possible that it arose as a derivative of Blake - no ideas on that actually and again if anyone wants to take the surname Black on it would certainly be interesting to compare (a later post corrects this thought and I do believe that Black is a surname that arose in England prior to the surname Blake coming from the Continent). There is a yDNA study and I decided to check that out at this time as well. They have 225 members. Now I was almost hopeful as I searched out this data but nothing in my line. However I decided to grab the data and will do a comparison with the Blake yDNA study.

The Blake yDNA project

 https://www.familytreedna.com/public/blake?iframe=yresults

includes haplogroups: I, R, T and G.

The Black yDNA project

http://www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/black/results?raw=1

includes haplogroups  E, G, I, J, L, Q, and R.

We can eliminate E, J, and Q from the discussion as they only occur in Black and we can eliminate T from the discussion as it only occurs in Blake.

The discussion then will look at haplogroups I, R, and G. G is the smallest so will examine it first and there is no similarity in thousands of years between the Haplogroup G entry in Blake and the Black entries so no common ancestry since surnames have been adopted.

Haplogroup I is the next largest and my own Blake line is part of haplogroup I. Looking at I-M223 which is the group to which descendants of Theophilus Blake belong there is one entry that is similar but only 11/12, 19/25 and 27/37 and this is not considered to be related. Looking at I-M253 there are a number of entries in both Blake and Black. In the Blake study two begin with 13, 23 and I matched them up with the one in the Black study thus beginning and they matched 31/37 which is considered as not matching. Another one beginning 13,24 in the Black study I also compared with this group and the match was 7/12 again not matching is the interpretation. At this time I will make note that the Black study includes Schwartz/Swartz (or Black in German). The group that is left begins 13,22 and there are four samples in Black and 4 samples in Blake. One of the comparisons yields 21/25 and again this is not considered to be a match. Another sample in Black has only 12 markers and the match is 10/12 and generally this is not considered a match as there are just too few markers to analyze. More markers should be looked at before entirely eliminating since we are looking at surnames and the possibility that they are related. The last two Blacks that I am comparing with Blake are interesting but they do not match any member of the Blake group exactly but their differences are within the possibility of being related but I note that the name of one individual is Swartz and of the second Jensson so both continental surnames.

Haplogroup I-M170/253 is a third I haplogroup in the Blake study and there are seven samples in the Black study. I eliminated the testers who differed between 7 and 11 markers on 37 as not being related in a genealogical time frame. That left two who were 31/37 and had further markers to look at. Checking further the differences are such as to exclude both of these samples although interestingly enough one of the Blake samples does resemble these two and is a new addition to the study. Within the grouping to which he is assigned he does not match anyone for instance he differs from my brother's sample by 8 on 12 but because of his haplogroup he does belong to this rather ancient sub clade of the British Isles showing how much variety there can be within a subclade.

Haplogroup R1a will be the next group examined. The group in the Blake study are rather a good match for each other and known to be descendant of Jasper Blake the emigrant to New Hampshire Colony. There are 8 Black samples and 5 Blake samples. Four of the eight Black samples differ between 3 and 5 on 12 so are not a match. Two of the Black samples differ by 6 and 8 respectively on 37 markers and would not be considered a match with this Blake group. The remaining two differ by 4 on 37 or 33/37 and are within the realm of possibility. But they do not match each other and one traces back to Alexander Black 1820-1860 and the second to a Philip Black b c 1750 in Cumberland County PA.

Haplogroup R1b has been broken down into a number of study groups in the Black study and there are matches within a number of these groups.  I will comment further on this group tomorrow. My day at the computer has finished!

Thus far though I would have to conclude that comparing the yDNA studies of Blake and Black does not lead anyone to the conclusion that they are related in the haplogroups thus examined.

Blake or Black

A comment was received on one of my blogs which mentioned the following:

"I'm another descendant of the Landrake Blakes,so thanks for all your work on them. I've not read all previous posts but just wonder why you think the Blakes were immigrants around 1300.That is when people started using surnames,apart from the 'de placename' type.. I suspect that the name may be the same as Black, as spelling was very variable and vowel shifts are common. Even in the 19th cent. one of the Landrake families was entered in a census as 'Blake'.

Tony Wise"

I have skirted around the surname Black through all my time doing this one name study on the Blake family. I think it is partly because I think that Blake is a distinctive and ancient surname that is attached to particular family groupings. I always felt that it had several founders and the England's Immigrant Database showed that to be true with around 30 distinct individuals coming from the Continent and other places in the British Isles (notably Ireland) to England between 1330 and 1550. According to books on surnames (and I will list a few below) there weren't any surnames in Britain prior to the Norman Invasion. There were by names and aliases but no hereditary surnames. This was brought to Britain by the Normans.

Why do I think that Black and Blake are different? I have found, on rare occasions, in the parish registers the surname Blake spelled Blacke - these occasions are rare and I tend to discard them as being a spelling error on the part of the priest. Hence I have never collected the surname Black as I work my way through the registers and other documents. But the comment gave me pause to consider that I should occasionally check out these new sources of information to see what they have on Black as a surname.

 Looking at the England's Immigrants Database (http://www.englandsimmigrants.com/ ) I found 21 entries for the surname "Black(e)".

I eliminated seven of them because they referred to the Black Book of Winchester which also listed the particular individual and this book was edited by W.H.B. Bird of Winchester in 1925. Another eight were eliminated because they referred to Black Torrington hundred in Devon. That left me with two locating in Devon, one each in Essex, Northumberland and Middlesex and the last individual was said to be English (married to an Englishwoman). The individual in Essex lived at Black Notley and so was eliminated. The individual in Northumberland lived at Black Hedley so also eliminated. Thus eliminating 17 of the 21 entries.

Jacobus Black was from India and a servant to Thomas Gale living at Dartmouth, Devon

John Blacke was returning from the Holy Roman Empire but had lived in England for 25 years and is linked by a researcher (William Page) to a John Blagge/Black a grocer in London. No location given in this record. This is rather interesting because I do have a Blake line in London that is quite ancient to that City so will keep this gentleman in mind.

John Goldsmyth living at Exeter, Devon and originally from Flanders had the alias Black John Goldsmyth. In the account he is also named as John Blake. This entry too is quite interesting and I need to check to see if it came up with the entries in the Blake search.

John Black servant to Richard Savage of Monken Hadley, Edmonton, Middlesex hundred (no place of origin given).

So an interesting foray into these records and I thank the correspondent for querying Blake and Black as possibly being surnames in common. Because the name Blake appears to be distinct from an early time in English records I do think that it was an established surname belonging to the grouping "Characteristic Surname." Would this prove that they were the same since the surname is said to mean two different characteristics on the one hand referring to a very pale person and on the other a person who was swarthy. But I suspect as a surname Black was not a very common one but rather given to place names especially when you note that 17 of the 21 entries referred to place names in this sample.

In the Cornwall Records I have not found the spelling Black for Blake other than the occasional time and generally it is Blacke not Black.

Aside from the hugeness of the project if I thought about doing Black with Blake, I just do not think that the two surnames have a common ancestry. If I thought it I probably wouldn't have taken the project on as it would just be too huge and would have stayed just with my Blake line in Hampshire! But I will bear in mind the need to actually look at the records to see in those early years if there were Black entries.

Looking at Black on the Public Profiler software (developed by researchers at University College, London, UK:

The Surname is said to be Celtic and of Scottish origin according to this website. The highest frequency for this surname is in Australia and New Zealand, United Kingdom, then Canada, the United States, Ireland, Denmark, Luxembourg, Hungary and Germany (for the top ten countries). 

Population increases in the Colonies/former Colonies of Great Britain can account for these high frequencies as the number of children people had in the colonies was often much greater than in the British Isles itself. The numbers in Europe are rather interesting though and I wonder if they can be accounted for by British Isles people moving to the Continent since the entry of the UK into the Common Market. So once again an interesting foray into the Black surname and probably I should do a comparison map of Blake:

Blake is less frequent than Black worldwide but again the frequency in particular countries is highest in Australia, then Ireland, United Kingdom, New Zealand, United States, Canada, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland and Denmark. Again colonies/former colonies of Great Britain show the highest numbers. Australia leads the way for both Black and Blake. Perhaps one day someone will study Black and then a comparison may be run between the two to determine their individuality or commonality. At the moment I believe that they were distinctive names with Black arising later (this I do revise as in a later blog I mention that Black was a surname in the Great and Little Domesday Books and so was present in England prior to Blake/Blak) as a surname when the bulk of the population in the British Isles took on surnames. I remain convinced that Blake as a surname probably evolved on the Continent and came to England. 

However, I also say that individuals in England took on the surname Blake because in my own line the yDNA says that my Blake line is ancient to the British Isles hence they acquired this surname for whatever reason (and that is one of my must do research queries) at times in the past. Certainly by the mid 1400s my line was using the surname Blake/Blayke. Did they acquire the surname by marriage with a female having the Blake surname? They did have a small piece of property at Knights Enham and finding the earlier history of that property may well give me that answer. For that I need to go to the Record Office in Winchester and have a look at the early records. They do exist and in them is likely the answer. Since I live in Canada I always hope that someone else descendant in my line will do that but perhaps it may yet be me as we still plan to go to England a few more times in the years to come. 

More Blake descendants testing their yDNA may help to solve the mystery of Blake in England. I should imagine that there was a certain novelty to taking on surnames and acquiring one from a daughter of an immigrant with the surname Blake would certainly be one way. Blake was already a prominent surname in the British Isles probably because of individuals from Normandy coming to England with this surname and receiving government posts that put them into eminent positions and more visible to the overall population. That may have increased the ability of individuals with the Blake surname being able to convince people (possibly through marriage) to take on the surname. I know that Richard le Blake, merchant from Rouen, had at least one daughter Alice la Blake. Interestingly in a similar time period at Basingstoke, Hampshire there was also a Joanna la Blake that I have mentioned in an earlier blog. She was married to a Robert le Blake.

http://kippeeb.blogspot.ca/2013/04/quit-claim-of-johanna-la-blake-25-march.html

The Pipe Rolls of Hampshire 1301 also mention Richard le Blake and possibly his children:

Place                                Surname    Forename       Date

Wargrave                        Blak          John              1301-2
Havant                             Blak         Laurence       1301-2
Wargrave                         Blak, la    Alice              1301-2  (daughter of Richard le Blak)
Wargrave                         Blak, le    Richard          1301-2
Merdon                            Blak, le    Thomas          1301-2
Waltham St Lawrence     Blak          Hamo             1301-2
Waltham St Lawrence     Blak          Walter            1301-2 (son of Hamo Blak)
Staplegrove                     Blake, le    William         1301-2

http://kippeeb.blogspot.ca/2014/08/city-of-ottawa-archives-bifhsgo-section.html

No mention of Robert le Blake or Joanna la Blake but Robert was already known to be deceased. Joanna mentions her heirs but no names and she could also be deceased as this is ten years later for the Pipe Rolls. Interesting that there are so many entries already for the Blak(e) family just in the Pipe Rolls of Hampshire. I will check the Pipe Rolls of Hampshire my next visit to the BIFHSGO Library.

One other item to mention is the Blake Pedigree Chart held at the Swindon and Wiltshire Record Office. This immense chart (12 feet by 4 feet) takes us back to the time of EdwardI/EdwardII and a particular mention of a land transfer helps to date it even more accurately. The progenitor of this Blake family is said to be Richard Blaake/Blague of Wiltshire Esquire married to Anne daughter of William Cole (the coat of arms is that of the Cole family of Devon). His son is said to be Henry married to Elizabeth Dorrant. The Pipe rolls above do not have a Henry Blak/le Blak but they are also the Pipe Rolls of Hampshire not Wiltshire. Were there two Richard Blakes in this time period? It is all a mystery because the Blake families in Hampshire and Wiltshire are quite ancient back into this time frame. I need to also mention my little map of Blake in England from the Calendar of Patent Rolls blogged here:

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

Already by the mid 1400s and going back to the early 1200s there were Blake families located all over England although the numbers do not represent people so much as entries and one person could represent a number of entries. One would need to read through all the information and at some point I shall attempt to redo the map looking solely at families. But the frequency of Blake quite fascinated me even at this early time period. One of these days I shall also compare it to the 1881 census for Blake in England.

Lots more work to do and for these reasons I will continue to consider that Blake is distinct from Black. Just recovering from a bout of  influenza but wanted to respond to the comment. Back to resting and reading!

Surname Books

A Dictionary of English Surnames, Revised Edition. P.H. Reaney, Oxford University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-19-860092-5

Families of County Galway, Volume VI of the Book of Irish Families, great and small. Michael C. O'Laughlin, Irish Genealogical Foundation, 2002. ISBN 0-940134-00-4

The Surnames of Wales for family historians and others. John and Sheila Rowlands. Genealogical Publishing Company Inc, 1996. ISBN 0-8063-1516-4

The Surnames of Ireland. Edward MacLysaght, Irish Academic Press, 1999. ISBN 0-7165-2366-3

Penquin Dictionary of British Surnames. John Titford, Penquin Books, 2009. ISBN 978-0-141-02320-5

The Surnames Handbook: A guide to family name research in the 21st Century. Debbie Kennett, The History Press, 2012. ISBN 978-0-7524-6862-4

Surnames, DNA, and Family History. George Redmonds, Turi King and David Hey. Oxford University Press, 2011. ISBN 978-0-19-958264-8