BLAKE - BLAKE Museum at Bridgwater, Somerset

About 75% of the people who write to me about the BLAKE one-name Study are trying to connect back to the BLAKE family of Bridgwater, Somerset. They tend to have an oral history that includes a relationship (many times great uncle generally) to Robert BLAKE, Lord High Admiral during the Commonwealth period. They also, for the most part, are from American BLAKE families. The yDNA study which Bill BLEAK initiated around 2006 at Family Tree DNA was a bid to try and determine the yDNA line of the BLAKE family at Calne and area, Wiltshire which, by various charts, would include the BLAKE family at Bridgwater. What that yDNA study did uncover was that there are many founding lines for the BLAKE families in the British Isles. The website for the museum is quite extensive: https://www.bridgwatermuseum.org.uk/

Several years ago the museum added an interesting chart to their website and I am including a copy of one page in the chart which leads back to the earliest BLAKE on their chart. I did request permission to insert pages from this chart to my blog. The entire Chart is quite amazing and the details on the Somerset BLAKE family coincide well with the records that I have extracted from the various parish registers. My Question family of Dunster married into the Bridgwater BLAKE family (Jone Question married Nicholas BLAKE) but that is a whole other story!

*Used with permission

On seeing this chart for the first time I was struck by its resemblance to the BLAKE Pedigree Chart produced by the College of Arms for the BLAKE family using material from the Daniel BLAKE family of London, UK in 1690.

Having received permission from the Wiltshire and Swindon Archives I reproduce the similar chart from the BLAKE Pedigree. You can see the area of overlap between the two sections of the Chart. As mentioned it is possible to purchase this chart as eight images from the Wiltshire and Swindon Record Office (Reference Number 343/1MS).

I have not been able to ascertain at this time the author of the Chart held by the BLAKE Bridgwater Museum. The relationship of the Andover BLAKE family to the Calne BLAKE family is similar on both charts. The Chart produced by the College of Arms appears to be much older but there is more material on the Bridgwater Museum BLAKE chart.

I am somewhat suspicious that the older chart was used to produce the newer chart with additions. Both Charts appear to have been created in England as far as I am able to determine.

The BLAKE Chart on the Bridgewater Museum webpage does have an ancestor to the Richard BLAKE at the top of the College of Arms BLAKE Pedigree. Namely, Robert le BLAKE :

Robert le BLAKE is said to be "of Quemberford (Co Wiltshire) and named as a juror in an Inquisition postmortem dated 22 Jan 1336 and uncovered among deeds of Hungerford Bar [sp] footnote 1." I did do a search on the National Archives website in the Discovery Catalogue looking for BLAKE and Inquisition Postmortem. In the time period 1300-1399 there are ten records but I wonder if a juror would necessarily be part of the finding aid for a document (surprisingly there was a list of jurors as one of the documents). However there wasn't a record bearing date 1336. Having spent time at Kew they have done a tremendous job of organizing all this material into booklets and numbered appropriately). I am suspicious that perhaps this is in a County Archive (and not yet in the Discovery search engine) and Hungerford is in Wiltshire. Searching on the Wiltshire and Swindon Archival database located 27 records between 1200 and 1400. One particular record caught my attention in 1334 with Reference: 1720/120 and it was a Grant (at Calne) "By John de Fynemore to William Rolf of Blakelonde and Agnes his wife for their lives, of a piece of arable land in the field of Blakelonde (Blackland). Witnessed: John le Chamberleyn, Thomas de Takelberwe, Robert le Blake, William Asser, Adam le Schetere, William de Taseworthe. A second record in 1347 also mentions Robert le BLAKE as witness. Several more records in this time period with Robert BLAKE as witness. A record in 1353 with Reference 1720/148 of a Grant (at Chippenham) "By Richard le Scrivayn of Chippe[n]ham of licence to his tenant Juliana atte Slow, to exchange two acres of arable land at Kemerford (Quemerford in Calne) with Robert le Blake. Witnessed Roger le Tay..., John le Gode, John Waleys, John Bacon, William Cripce." This would seem to prove the presence of Robert le BLAKE in 1336 in the area mentioned.

There are a couple of notes added to this particular crop of the original chart. They appear on Blake_3.pdf in the set of pdf documents for this particular pedigree. 

I copy only the covering Notes, Note 1 and Note 4. 

Notes

Note 1 concerning the Blake Family copied from the "H" manuscripts ____

1690 "The Genealogie of the ancient and worthy Family of Blague or Blake of great antiquity in the County of Wilts where they had large possessions at Quemberford, Calne, Hillcott, with a fair mansion House at Pynhills now the seat of the Family. A younger Branch whereof transplanted themselves into Hampshire and sitting at Easton town were owners of several other Manors"

Note 4 The reference to Rob[er]t le Blake (1336) was discovered by Sir H Farnham _____ (Garter) who considers this link highly probable

The Note implies by the copying of the Title of the College of Arms BLAKE Pedigree that this earlier chart was used to construct the BLAKE Pedigree held by the Bridgwater Museum. I note that the descent of the BLAKE family in Hampshire is shown as a descent from Henry BLAKE and Margaret Bellett. Nicholas BLAKE of Enham (earlier blog in this series) whose will was probated 20 Jun 1547 is on the chart with siblings that are not mentioned in his will and the siblings that are mentioned not included other than Robert who is said to have died d.s.p. which is known to be incorrect from Robert's own will. However interestingly enough this chart does not name a Humphrey BLAKE as a brother which was the real reason that Horatio Somerby Gates used Nicholas BLAKE in his fraudulent genealogy of the BLAKE family in England incorporated into early BLAKE American genealogies. 

One is left to surmise that the Pedigree Chart at Bridgwater Museum has preceded the work of Horatio Somerby Gates and thus dated pre 1870s and Horatio Somerby Gates has utilized some of the information in this chart. It was interesting finding this as the possible source for the fraudulent work of Horatio Somerby Gates. That being said I can only think that the author of this Chart had acquired this material from another and that errors had crept into the BLAKE family at Enham, Hampshire. One notes on the chart below Robert BLAKE of Enham said to be married to unknown Snell with sons William, John, Richard and Robert. The transcription of this Robert's will (in Latin) was published by me as part of this Blogging Challenge:

http://kippeeb.blogspot.com/2020/02/blake-will-of-jone-blake-widow-enham.html

Robert does mention Thomas BLAKE and Richard BLAKE as sons in his will. There is a William BLAKE and a Robert BLAKE but relationship not clearly established in the will. I did not see a John BLAKE in that will. Not mentioning a child in the will has many reasons as I have discovered so tend to be benevolent in regard to that possibility. A crop of Chart 2 adds some imagery to this discussion.

Chart 2 includes a note which states "The exact connection of the Hampshire Blake with those of Wiltshire is not yet fully established the link here suggested seems the most probable." Possibly the best words of all since the will of Nicholas BLAKE of Enham does clearly show the chart to be inaccurate where he is concerned. I will discuss this particular section of the Chart in another blog at a later date.