Charley family

An interesting set of emails have gone back and forth between another member of the Charley family and myself. This Charley family is mentioned in the published book on the Charley family by Irene H Charley published in 1970 and titled: The Romance of the Charley Family. The crest of the Charley family appears on the front of the book. Chapter 13 talks about the Charley family of Jamaica and this individual is a descendant of that family.

My own line does not appear in the book as such but would possibly be considered to be in the chapter about North Devon although the spelling is Charlie by the priest. He had Mary sign as Mary Pincombe so I shall never know how she spelled her name! unless I am rather lucky.   For those unable to obtain a copy of this particular publication, The Devon family of North Devon is said to be descendant of a Hugh Charley who was of Irish descent. That this Hugh Charley came from Belfast and that they were located in Combe Martin and Kentisbury as yeoman farmers. I have recorded records for the Hugh Charley family at Combe Martin and Kentisbury in another blog:

http://kippeeb.blogspot.ca/search/label/Kentisbury

Chapter 10, page 69 begins the chapter on The Charleys of North Devon. Mention is made of a Hugh Charley and his wife Izis and for whom spoons were apparently created with the date 1761 and the initial I.C. They farmed at Combe Martin and Kentisbury. The oldest record that I have for a Charley family at Combe Martin is the baptism of the oldest child of Hugh and Charity Charley named Hugh and this baptism took place 25 Jan 1676. Most of the information is on the Charley family in the 1800s and1900s with a comment that they had been in North Devon for several centuries.

According to the book there is a marriage of Hugh Chorley (did he leave Ulster?) marrying Izis Watts at Bradford 17 Nov 1668. Is he the Hugh Charley found at Combe Martin as a church warden in 1699 (the book hints at that). A silver spoon was handed down in the North Devon family with the initials I.C. 1761.

The book has carefully gathered together a lot of information on the Charley families around the world with a number of genealogical charts. I can not yet place my Mary Charlie/Charley in any of these families although she likely was born in North Devon somewhat closeby to Bishops Nympton where she married John Pincombe in 1767. That she signed the parish register at this time is interesting in itself.

She has signed her name with a clear hand and nicely formed letters.

There are no other Charley/Chorley/Churley/Charlie families in the Bishop Nympton parish records at this time.

It is always nice to hear from possible cousins and I have a match on autosomal DNA with a person who has a Charley in his line. If we are able to find the common ancestor this might lead back to the Charley family at Comb Martin.