Protestation Returns of 1641

The Protestation Returns of 1641 are an interesting "census" of an area. In the case of Somerset and Devon with the loss of the wills probated only in the diocese they provide a glimpse into life in 1641 in the various areas of Devon and Somerset. The wills being lost in the bombing of Exeter during World War II has proven to be a big loss in many ways although genealogy researchers in the 1800s often made precis copies of some of the more interesting wills (i.e. the person was interesting perhaps to clients or just known in an area). Then there were the people who wrote books about their families and they too produced a precis of wills that interested them at the time which was prior to World War II fortunately. This has been helpful to me in my quest for more information on the various Pincombe family members. However the 1500s has still not been solved for this family.  A search on Find My Past reveals 33 results between 1500 and 1580 plus another 2,333 if you select name variants with a lot of the entries being from the England and Wales Published Wills and Probate Indexes 1300-1858. Add in just the 20 years from 1580 to 1600 and there are another 1996 results with again the Wills and Probate Indexes providing many many entries. This is an all encompassing search so also includes the last name P. and there are Pincombe records from all over England in this time frame with various spellings. I think perhaps I will do the search with some of the specific spellings in mind. It is something I have thought about doing for a while. Along with the Protestation Returns of 1641 and the available wills plus the subsidies of the 1500s I might get an even better picture of the Pincombe family in this vital time when they are moving out from North Molton into Devon (and indeed into Somerset and Cornwall on occasion which are of interest to me). 

Devon entries from Find My Past

Search strategy - Pincombe, Pincomb, Pinkcombe, Pinkome, Pinkham, Pinckomb, Pinckham, Pencomb, Pencombe, Pyncomb, Pyncombe

Area - Devon, Somerset, Cornwall

Time - 1500 - 1600

Pincombe, 1500-1580, Devon -  7 results

Pincomb, 1500-1580, Devon -  0 results  

Pinkcombe, 1500-1580, Devon -  0 results

Pinkcomb, 1500-1580, Devon -  0 results

Pinkome 1500-1580, Devon - 0 results

Pinkham, 1500-1580, Devon -  0 results

Pinckomb, 1500-1580, Devon -  0 results

Pinckham, 1500-1580, Devon -  0 results

Pencomb, 1500-1580, Devon -  1 results

Pencombe, 1500-1580, Devon -  5 results

Pyncomb, 1500-1580, Devon -  0 results

Pyncombe, 1500-1580, Devon -  30 results

An interesting picture actually as the surname spelling that predominate for me in this time period of 1500-1580 are Pencomb or Pencombe or Pyncomb or Pyncombe or Pincombe. 

The last entry Pyncombe proved to be interesting with a number of duplications but of the 30 results 28 were at North Molton and two at Pilton. Pilton is near Barnstaple and the distance from North Molton to Pilton via present day roads is 15 miles or  24 kilometres. This particular entry is the banns book and the marriage register for Maryan Pyncombe to Roger Jule 29 Sep 1577. No other details are given (she could be a widow with the surname Pyncombe or it could be her birth surname). 

The Pencombe entry with five results with three at North Molton, one at East Buckland and one at Tawstock. 

The Pencomb entry at Roborough Devon was most interesting for a Thomas Pencomb in 1578 from the Devon Wills Index. 

The Pincombe entry with seven results had just one at North Molton, two at Bideford, two at Chittlehampton, one at Tawstock and one at Ilfracombe. 

I have often thought about looking at the results in Find My Past in this way and I believe I will work away at that quest today. I also did a search on the time period of 1420 to 1500 and no records of any of the spellings above were found on Find My Past. A similar search between 1400 to 1500 on the Discovery Catalogue at Kew did not reveal any Devon, Somerset or Cornwall results for any of these surnames but there were 21 results for Pencomb/Pencombe but all for the area in Herefordshire known as Pencombe Court.

I see it is already 9:54 and my breakfast must be the next item on the agenda. The morning has passed quickly.