Galway Blake Family and the Blake Family at Twizzell

As I work through Martin Blake's books and I have now completed the initial entry, I am proofreading. As well I decided to enter in a little more material on the Blake family of Twizzell Castle. Robert Blake married Sarah Blake of Twizzell Castle.

Just to look back at Robert Blake's ancestry, his grandfather Alderman Robert Blake married Mary Blake. These two were sixth cousins having in common Walter Blake their 5x great grandfather who was one of the sons of Richard Caddell alias Blake.

Sarah Blake's ancestry has also been blogged on earlier and can be found under the label for Twizell.

 http://kippeeb.blogspot.ca/search/label/Twizell%20Castle

Just to recap it here she was the third daughter of Sir Francis Blake and Elizabeth Carr. Her mother was the heir of William Carr of Ford Castle. Sir Francis was the son of Francis Blake and Catherine Brown. This Francis was the son of Thomas Blake and Eleanor Hall. Thomas was the son of John Blake and Margaret Blake and herein lies a rather interesting conundrum. There are several pedigree charts relating to this Blake family. I have tried to sort them out since they differ slightly but the families of John Blake and of Margaret Blake lived at East Anton, John's location is described as Easton Anton, near Andover, Hampshire and he is the son of William Blake senior of this location. Margaret is described as the daughter of William Blake of East Anton (no mention of Andover which I think is perhaps significant). However I only do find one East Anton.  This village does not appear in A Genealogical Gazetteer of England compiled by Frank Smith published at Baltimore, Maryland 1968. But having noticed, hopefully, once again that this book is published in the United States. I shall have a look at Samuel Lewis' multi-volume Topographical Dictionary of England (published 1831 and 1833 (possibly others)). I did download Samuel Lewis' books (they are on Google Books) but East Anton or Anton, East can not be found in these books.

British History Online:

http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/hants/vol4/pp345-358

British History online though did not fail me and I found the following information:

Smannell is situated 2½ miles north-east of the town, it contains the hamlets of Woodhouse, East Anton, Little London and Finkley. Finkley House is the seat of the Rev. Robert Finch. The northeastern part of the parish is well wooded, including the southern portion of Doles Wood, which was parcel of Finkley Park or Finkley Forest. A survey of this park, taken by order of the Parliamentary Commissioners in 1652, exists at the Public Record Office. (fn. 22) At that date it contained 841 a. 1 r. 17 p., together with a lodge standing therein. There were 7,149 timber trees and saplings growing in it, and there were also various copses in the park, (fn. 23) usually fenced in, and containing 620a. 2r. The 150 deer in the park were valued at £100 and the rabbits at £50. 'The wood and woody ground called the Ridges,' (fn. 24) which was parcel of Finkley Forest, contained 5,120 trees, and the underwoods there were worth £40. Richard Cromwell was then the chief ranger, and William Cooke the keeper. The inhabitants of King's Enham, Knight's Enham and East Anton had certain rights of common of pasture in Finkley Park, and 20s. yearly and 9s. yearly were paid to the ranger and the keeper respectively towards the making of fences by the tenants of King's Enham farm, under Magdalen College, Oxford, who from time immemorial had had common of pasture there for seventy cows and one bull from Mayday to Michaelmas. Four years after his accession Charles II granted Finkley Park to George Duke of Albemarle and his heirs for ever. (fn. 25)

In May's Wood is preserved the name of an ancient manor. Charlton is further south, a mile from Andover on the Hungerford road.

The sites of the Roman roads from Old Sarum to Silchester and from Winchester to Cirencester both pass through the parish, crossing one another near the hamlet of East Anton. Balksbury Camp is near the Upper Clatford boundary. There are two barrows near Finkley. Though little has been discovered within the parish itself, Andover is the centre of a district extraordinarily fertile in Roman remains. (fn. 26)

The Grammar School.—John Hanson in 1569 gave £200 to be invested at the rate of £16 per annum for the maintenance of a free school within the town. The schoolmaster was to be a graduate of Oxford or Cambridge. The money was placed in the hands of Bishop Horne, then Bishop of Winchester, to be employed by him as Hanson requested. This money the bishop entrusted to William Blake, senior, and his son, William Blake, junior, and they, in connexion with John Blake, gave a bond to the bishop for payment of the £200 and the £16 yearly at a certain time. The bond was not to be found at the death of the bishop, and some time afterwards William Blake, of East Anton, 'being moved in conscience for that the said sum of £200 was given to so good a use and purpose,' is found 'entering into another obligation unto Walter Wayte, then bailiff of Andover, in the sum of £400 to make good the loss.' Richard Blake gave the site and the Corporation built the schoolhouse. Richard Kemish, by will dated 25 September 1611, left £5 per annum to the school. 

Footnotes:
22. Parl. Enr. Hants, no. 18.
23. Viz. Mongomery, Great and Little Nutthill, Little Wydell, Wayting Oake and Deereman Copses.
24. This is the modern Ridges Copse.
25. Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. xxiv, fol. 174.
26. See Victoria County Histories Hants, i, 294, &c.

As one can see there is mention of two William Blakes, one at Andover one might presume since this is an article on Andover and one at East Anton. The one at Andover being referred to as William Blake senior. Luckily Bishop Robert Horne was a well known Churchman and the mention above does give a date in the time period for William Blake senior and William Blake of East Anton. He died circa 1579 according to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

I had not put all of this together earlier but had from the subsidy records surmised that there were indeed two William Blakes at Andover in this time period. William Blake Senior died in 1582 and left his rather lengthy will which I transcribed.

 http://kippeeb.blogspot.ca/2012/09/will-of-william-blakeyeoman-of-andover.html

Richard Blake was another son of William Blake senior (and my ancestor) and he would have been an adult in this time frame. He married Jone Blake in the early to mid 1580s. I am still not positive on the Blake line for Jone Blake. Her father has been listed as William Blake on the Visitation in one instance.

This does rather prove that in the correct time period there were indeed two William Blakes. The William Blake at East Anton was the father of Margaret Blake who married John Blake who was a son of William Blake the elder.

Although Horatio Gates Somerby attempted to link all these families at Andover I believe he is very much in error. Certainly Nicholas Blake, whom he mentions, was the father of William Blake senior,. Edmund Blake, Alice Blake married to (unknown) Godwin and Elizabeth Blake married to the son of her mother's second husband Richard Munday. Nicholas mentions his children and Margaret Munday in her will verifies these children as does William Blake senior when he mentions his siblings. Horatio Gates Somerby gave a son Humphrey to Nicholas and this Humphrey according to Somerby moves to Plainfield Somerset and is the progenitor of the Blake family in that area.

Interesting that this line at Andover eventually becomes linked to the Galway Blake line with the marriage of Sarah a 4x great grandchild of Nicholas Blake mentioned in the above paragraph. Bringing these two trees together in this fashion is quite interesting and eventually I intend to put the entire tree up on World Connect.

The other question that comes into all of this is William Blake at East Anton descendant of Roger Blake and Mary Baynard? This is found on the Blake Pedigree Chart located at the Swindon and Wiltshire Record Office. The will of Roger Blake only mentions his eldest son and youngest daughter but he is known to have had several other children.

 http://kippeeb.blogspot.ca/2013/01/will-of-roger-blake-esquire-of-calne.html

The Visitation of Wiltshire does not list a son William Blake for this couple. Which is actually correct? I am tending towards the idea that William is the son of Robert Blake and Mary Baynard and in that case the children of Robert Blake (Galway) and Sarah Blake (Twizzell Castle) are also related to the Blake family at Calne Wiltshire. Bringing together a very large group of Blake families. But the descendants of the Calne Wiltshire Blake family through this line do not carry the yDNA of the Blake family at Calne because it was a daughter in each case who married into another Blake line.

I shall continue building this rather interesting file in Legacy for the Blake family. At this point I need to consider whether I should indeed begin a new file under the combined name and keep the Galway file separate. I will think on that.