Pincombe-Pinkham - a singleton family?

As a child growing up my mother learned that there were several different Pincombe family lines. She did not think that they were related. During the 1840s and 1850s several distinct Pincombe families emigrated to Canada and lived in the London, Ontario area. They did not know if they were related and actually assumed that they were not. Now with the possibility of linking families with DNA I have been curious as to whether or not we can find that we do have a common ancestor.

The yDNA Pincombe study at FT DNA has found that there are a couple of distinct lines for Pincombe-Pinkham. The earlier researchers for the Pincombe-one-name-study had produced sixteen charts showing that the two names were used by similar family groups. For instance a Pincombe family at Barnstaple, Devon used the Pinkham spelling after they moved to London, UK. In another case a Pinkham family that emigrated to New Hampshire colony also showed the earlier Pincombe spelling and then later Pinkham.

The tester for my Pincombe line is a descendant of our mutual 3x great grandfather Robert Pincombe (married to Elizabeth Rowcliffe 7 Jun 1803 at Bishops Nympton, Devon). He is my third cousin once removed and my siblings and I match him as anticipated for a third cousin once removed (and better for some of my siblings). That gives us a baseline for the Pincombe family at Bishops Nympton from the latter part of the 1500s to the present. Going back one generation, the parents of Robert Pincombe were John Pincombe and Mary Charlie/Charley who married 8 Nov 1767 at Bishops Nympton. They had four sons and two daughters. A descendant of their son William has also tested his yDNA (fifth cousin to us) and he is a perfect match to my third cousin once removed thus moving back another generation the yDNA match.

My fourth cousin (daughter of the yDNA tester) also tested at Ancestry where there was a match with a descendant of Aaron Pincombe and Elizabeth Withicombe who married 24 May 1802 at St Giles in the Wood. I have not been able to find parents for this Aaron Pincombe but it is interesting that a descendant of this line matched my fourth cousin (but not myself). Unfortunately this kit has now disappeared at Ancestry.

Of interest, following back on my ancestral line takes me to William Pincombe who married Emotte Snow.  This William died in 1602 and was living at East Buckland when he wrote his will which named his seven sons and two daughters. I have only been able to trace down a couple of these sons - Richard (fourth son) is my likely line. I do not know the names of the husbands for the two daughters thus far. Given the number of sons, the possibilities for descendants is quite large in the Pincombe line. I am slowly extracting all the early Pincombe entries.

Lately I have been in correspondence with a possible descendant of Aaron Pincombe and his wife Elizabeth Withicombe although he himself has only officially traced his line back to John Pincombe and Mary Thomas. I suspect this John Pincombe is a son of Aaron Pincombe and Elizabeth Withicombe.

I often wonder how much interest there is within the Pincombe family to pursue a DNA study. It is a large enough family to have a good sized yDNA study but this study grows very slowly.