Completely distracted by the book and the le Blak/le Blake family of Wiltshire/Berkshire/Gloucestershire. Prayers for the people of the Los Angeles area of California. Prayers for the souls of those lost to the flames. How sad to see so many deaths and homes/other property go up in flames. The experience of parts of the country burning is an unfortunate reality here in North America - we have many fires in British Columbia and Alberta as well as Ontario and Quebec and the other provinces for sure. I was proud to see that our PM Trudeau is sending the RCAF with support material to help fight the fires and Quebec is already there with their water bombers. We do like to help and America is our neighbour and best friend. Coming together to help each other is something that just happens when it needs to happen (our line-men driving down to the Carolinas and Georgia to help restore power after the hurricanes is another example and you come north to help us when we are the ones suffering). We will always be there for our American cousins and neighbours. Of course our lack of heavy snow cover means that our forested areas will be a tinder box when the snows melt. It is somewhat ironic that this deep cold that we usually get has intensified and does make one wonder about the future for Mother Earth. Mother Earth knows how to fix the system but the losses are astronomical (life and property). We can not manage God or Mother Earth. We must follow the science where ever it leads us! It is interesting though that over time we have managed to create the ability to provide electricity and so can now weather out the winter and probably even an ice age in reality - the problem will always be food in the north for sure. Climate change is the new battleground and the Arctic is right in the middle of it. We must protect the Arctic and not abuse its natural control of climate.
Contemplating the le Blak/le Blake family continued yesterday and I mentioned that further down on the chart is the section with which I most disagree but in reality I have searched and will continue to search for proof of the marriages coming down from the top of the chart but with little luck but that is hard to determine sometimes as the records, if available, are likely in the local area records where they occurred if a written record exists. I have decided that I should reproduce the chart in text line by line over the next little while and discuss what I have found. Finding the record of John le Blake leasing property in Cam, Gloucestershire in 1332 was rather an eye opener. Interestingly the Calne Blake family is later found in Gloucester after the destruction of their manor house at Pinhills near Calne.
The whole history of the Blake families of the British Isles is further complicated because there are a number of Blake founding lines. There were no surnames in England prior to the arrival of the Normans in 1066 at least not as we now know them. People were referenced by where they lived, a familiar characteristic or trade/occupation. That changed gradually in the British Isles over the next couple of hundred years with surnames becoming mandatory at a later date. But the surname Blake is found in England from the early 1200s on in the records in various places. I have published before a list of the Blake surnames on the Emigrants Database 1330-1550 and will repeat that interesting list here:
Surname Forename Nationality Day Month Year Residence
Blake Peter 6 Sep 1463 Bedfordshire
Blake Peter 20 Sep 1455 Bedfordshire, Dunstable
Blake John Breton bef 16 Feb 1525 Cornwall, Bodmin
Blake John Fleming 24 Jul 1484 Devon, Exeter
Blake William Breton 4 Apr 1524 Devon, Morchard Bishop
Blake John Norman 18 Apr 1524 Dorset, Eastbury
Blake John Dutch c 1524 Essex, Aveley
Blake Patrick 7 Apr 1440 Essex, High Roding
Blake John 10 Aug 1441 Gloucestershire, All Saints
Blake Robert 21 Apr 1440 Gloucestershire, Holy Trinity
Blake Robert 10 Aug 1441 Gloucestershire, Holy Trinity
Blake Richard Irish 10 Aug 1441 Gloucestershire, St Leonard
Blake Alice 21 Apr 1440 Gloucestershire, St Nicholas
Blake John Dutch 11 Jul 1440 Hampshire, King's Somborne hundred
Blake Stephen 11 Jul 1440 Hampshire, Millbrook
Blake Gunna Dutch 12 Jul 1440 Huntingdonshire, Huntingdon
Blake Herman Dutch 12 Jul 1440 Huntingdonshire, Huntingdon
Blake Henry aft 3 Dec 1450 Kent
Blake Hayn 27 Sep 1456 Kent, Ospringe
Blake John Scot 26 Sep 1465 Lincolnshire, Rathby
Blake Agnes aft 29 Sep 1441 London
Blake Henry aft 29 Sep 1441 London
Blake John aft 29 Sep 1441 London
Blake John aft 29 Sep 1441 London
Blake John aft 29 Sep 1441 London
Blake John aft 29 Sep 1441 London
Blake Patrick aft 29 Sep 1441 London
Blake Thomas aft 29 Sep 1441 London
Blake Walter aft 29 Sep 1441 London
Blake Hugh 5 Sep 1449 London
Blake Adam 8 Aug 1456 London
Blake Katherine 14 Jul 1467 London
Blake Walter 18 Jan 1443 London, Billingsgate ward
Blake Henry Oct 1441 London, Castle Baynard ward
Blake Henry 18 Jan 1443 London, Castle Baynard ward
Blake John 9 Oct 1441 London, Cripplegate ward
Blake John 18 Jan 1443 London, Cripplegate ward
Blake Henry 5 Sep 1449 London, Farringdon without ward
Blake John 11 Oct 1441 London, Queenhithe ward
Blake John 18 Jan 1443 London, Queenhithe ward
Blake William 18 Jan 1443 London, Tower ward
Blake Lodwico Dutch 24 May 1440 Northamptonshire, Yarwell
Blake Lodewicus Dutch 18 Aug 1441 Northamptonshire, Yarwell
Blake Richard Scot 15 Sep 1451 Northumberland, Newcastle upon Tyne
Blake Philip 5 Jul 1440 Shropshire, Shrewsbury
Blake Robert 28 Aug 1441 Warwickshire, Coventry
Blake Robert French 19 Sep 1441 Wiltshire, Great Somerford
Blake Richard Irish 10 Jul 1440 Wiltshire, Salisbury
Blake Richard Irish 7 Sep 1441 Wiltshire, Salisbury
Blake Peter 10 Jul 1406
I have not included a number of women with the surname Blake as at marriage in this time frame the surnames of women changed to that of their husband (the case with me as well since my maiden surname is Blake). I do have a theory though that my Blake surname came from a female Blake marrying into a family in Andover (likely at Knights Enham given the later proximity) and proving that is something I do dedicate time to very often. The wills from the Blake family at Speen, Berkshire mentioning the Blake family at Andover somewhat fascinating in the mid 1500s. There would be an enormous benefit to my line to take the Blake surname of a wife way back in the late 1200s early 1300s given the preference towards the Normans in terms of land acquisition. It could also have created this folklore within the family that there was a connection to the Blake family eventually at Calne. All whimsical thoughts of course but interesting none the less. Proof being found is often the result of following such whimsical thoughts known as serendipity in genealogy. I see it as more of a "gut" feeling but serendipity if that suits is fine with me.
But that being said there were many people in England with the surname Blake prior to 1330 when the Emigrants Database begins. This list created from the Calendar of Patent Rolls for the times of Henry III, Edward I, II and III has many interesting entries. This is a portion of the database:
Number Year Month Day Place Prefix Surname Forename Location Relationship King Volume Page # membrane
1 1230 1 30 Hertford le Blake Willelmum Hertfordshire Henry III 2 353 7d
184 1274 5 30 Westminster le Blak Richard Rouen, France Edward I 1 51-52 15
3 1281 5 30 Westminster le Blake Walter Oxfordshire Edward I 1 441 16
5 1282 5 19 Worcester le Blake Adam Devonshire son Edward I 2 20 13
4 1282 5 19 Worcester le Blake Jordan Devonshire father Edward I 2 20 13
7 1286 11 6 Clarendon le Blake John Sussex Edward I 2 327 5
6 1288 Worcester le Blake Thomas Worcestershire Edward I 2 306 14d
10 1292 8 26 Pickering le Blake Ralph Yorkshire Edward I 2 498 8
8 1292 3 24 Westminster le Blake Thomas Ireland Edward I 2 480 18
9 1292 3 26 Westminster le Blake Thomas Ireland Edward I 2 481 18
11 1293 3 26 Cambridge le Blake John Ireland Edward I 3 7 21
185 1296 5 20 Roxburgh le Blak John Balymor, Ireland Edward I 3 189 15
12 1298 9 15 Carlisle le Blake Thomas Cumberland Edward I 3 359 8
13 1299 4 1 Westminster le Blake John Yorkshire Edward I 3 402 33
14 1302 7 24 Westminster le Blake William Oxfordshire Edward I 4 85 18d
15 1303 4 20 Beverley le Blake Roger Herefordshire Edward I 4 134 26
16 1304 6 29 Stirling le Blake Geoffrey Ireland Edward I 4 237 14
186 1304 8 29 Morpeth Blak William Suffolk Edward I 4 283-284 8d
17 1305 3 20 Westminster le Blake Henry Dorsetshire Edward I 4 349-350 13d
18 1305 3 20 Westminster le Blak Robert Dorsetshire Edward I 4 349-350 13d
187 1308 3 10 Westminster Blak Henry Norfolk Edward II 1 51 23
188 1308 3 10 Westminster Blak John Norfolk Edward II 1 51 23
189 1308 3 10 Westminster Blak Walter Norfolk Edward II 1 51 23
19 1310 6 12 Windsor le Blake John Yorkshire Edward II 1 231 4
20 1312 8 24 Westminster le Blake John Shropshire Edward II 1 487 21
21 1313 7 26 Westminster le Blake Henry Gloucestershire Edward II 2 7-8 17
23 1314 10 16 Lincoln le Blake Gilbert Lincolnshire Edward II 2 189 15
22 1314 3 12 Westminster le Blake William Herefordshire Edward II 2 91 20
190 1315 11 1 Clipstone le Blak Gilbert Lincolnshire Edward II 2 369 15
24 1315 9 1 Lincoln Blake Hugh Northamptonshire Edward II 2 350-351 22
26 1315 7 12 Westminster le Blake John Berkshire Edward II 2 405 29d
25 1315 10 6 Walsingham le Blake John Yorkshire Edward II 2 355 21
27 1316 5 4 Westminster Blake Adam Devonshire Edward II 2 495 23d
191 1316 3 21 Langley le Blak Gilbert Lincolnshire Edward II 2 440-441 29
28 1316 8 12 Bentley le Blake Robert Hertfordshire Edward II 2 588 25d
29 1316 8 12 Bentley le Blake Robert Hertfordshire Edward II 2 592-593 17d
30 1318 5 28 Westminster le Blake Osbert Essex Edward II 3 175 25d
31 1319 5 18 York le Blake Robert Norfolk Edward II 3 368 13d
32 1320 8 8 Stratford le Bow le Blake John Hertfordshire Edward II 3 539-540 19d
34 1320 8 8 Stratford le Bow le Blake John Hertfordshire brother Edward II 3 539-540 19d
33 1320 8 8 Stratford le Bow le Blake Warin Hertfordshire brother Edward II 3 539-540 19d
35 1322 5 6 York Blake John Oxfordshire Edward II 3 154-155 16d
36 1322 5 18 York le Blake John Cambridgeshire Edward II 4 169-171 6d
37 1323 2 13 Pontefract Blake John Oxfordshire Edward II 4 257-258 5d
38 1323 7 15 Burstwick Blake John Oxfordshire Edward II 4 368-369 23d
192 1323 7 24 Faxfleet le Blak Simon Hampshire Edward II 4 374-375 17d
39 1323 12 11 Ravensdale Blake William Gloucestershire Edward II 4 444-445 25d
193 1324 3 28 Westminster le Blak John Surrey Edward II 4 448 20d
194 1325 2 10 Westminster le Blak John Oxfordshire Edward II 5 136 34d
195 1325 8 8 Havering atte Bower Blak John Norfolk Edward II 5 158 32
40 1326 3 6 York le Blake Richard Buckinghamshire Edward III 1 289 22d
196 1327 1 10 Kenilworth le Blak Richard Warwickshire Edward II 5 346 2
197 1327 12 27 Worcester le Blak Robert Worcestershire Edward III 1 203 1
41 1328 11 24 Westminster le Blake Richard Buckinghamshire Edward III 1 354-355 12d
This list of 55 items sorted by Year (taken from a much larger list of 210 items found for Blake (various spellings) in the Calendar of Patent Rolls) demonstrates the activities of many many Blake members in various parts of England between 1230 and 1330. The yDNA results do show that there are a number of Blake founding families.
I did not do the initial arrangement of the DNA results (Barrie Blake of Australia did produce that original sort) but I have tried to maintain his thoughts because he often was in discussion with various Blake lines and I have tried to simply update with respect in particular to the Y-700 etc tests done since this sort was made. Some of the groups are stand-alone and can clearly trace back to select areas in the British Isles. But the abundance of results does point to many Blake founders.
Today will also be a Blake day although I will only spend part of the time on the Blake book. I also want to start once again re-phasing my grandparents atDNA and my great-grandparents including the more than 100 new matches that I have acquired since 2022 when I did not actually complete the task but was distracted by the Siderfin Books which I wrote (an update to James Sanders publication: History of the Siderfin Family of West Somerset, 1912, Exeter, England). The two books (amazing really that a 412 page book and a 170 page book update his 48 page book!) are available on my website:
http://www.kipp-blake-families.ca/elizabethmain.htm#SIDERFIN
Scroll down in the Siderfin section and the two books are at the bottom of this section.
Up an hour already, it is minus 7 degrees celsius now and it is cloudy. Perhaps snow here but you get the best snow around 0 degrees celsius as our good friends and neighbours in the southern United States know well as they are being inundated with snow at the moment whilst we just have cold; when it is so cold it does not snow effectively.
Teatime and then yoga and then breakfast. Another beautiful day in God's world on the North American continent. We in Canada feel blessed to live here by the grace of God and the kindness of the First Nations.
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