Day 2 of cleaning

 Yesterday we did clean the entire top floor and today the middle floor is receiving the same treatment. The robot vacuum is a great invention and does most of the vacuuming. That leaves the dusting and scrubbing and I do that in 45 minute intervals. Works very well although I am tired by the end of the day for sure. At 76 heavy housecleaning is a chore. 

The Blake Newsletter is well on its way and I am looking at Robert (will 1521) and Richard (will 1522) first of all to show that they are likely father and son and that Richard was married to Jone (unknown) whose will was dated 1527. These two parents of Nicholas Blake and much has now been written about him by me. He was one of the names that I retained from childhood that and that he lived at Old House which turned out to be a handy thing to have remembered. Although I worked my way back slowly through the generations I did easily reach Nicholas. 

I found some items that I had completely forgotten about. I also am questioning the idea that the Robert who left his will in 1542 was the brother of Nicholas. In his will he mentions Nicholas first in a list and he is the first witness but does that prove that he was his brother? Living at Enham is also another possible proof. Enham was not that big a place but there are a lot of Blake males in this time frame all of whom I can pretty much place into the various Blake families. Another Blake researched Charlou Dolan did have Robert and Nicholas as brothers and I think in my newly into genealogy state it seemed natural to me that that would be true but I have now entered into that phase of genealogy where I always need some sort of proof to help me on my path. I actually do not find another Nicholas Blake in the area in this time frame so that is helpful for sure. 

The wills from the 1540s and before are a challenge although the ones after 1540 are often in English rather than Latin which is helpful. In his will Robert does not name any of his six sons Nicholas and that has always concerned me somewhat. But on the other hand Nicholas did not name any of his sons Nicholas either. Not sure where the name Nicholas was introduced into the family. Robert is likely the name of his paternal grandfather who left his will in 1521. Could it be that Nicholas was the name of the maternal grandfather (father of Jone (unknown) Blake) and that thought has just occurred to me. Great to write a blog actually; you never know what is going to pop into your head at any given moment. 

Back to the Probate of the will as it is really hard to decipher and I had left blanks when I first transcribed in back in 2014. 

Just 45 minutes to accomplish as much as I can before cleaning calls me back once again.