The wills of the 1500s have been a real gift to looking at the Blake family of Enham. My next stop was to be the will of Thomas (son of Robert will dated December 1521).
Testator: Thomas Blake
Place: Enham, Hampshire, England
Type of Record: Will
Date of document: 15 Oct 1540, probated 15 Jun 1541
Condition: 16th century English, legible copy
[Margin]: 1541U-06
1 Jn die no[m]i[n]e Ame[n] Jn the yere off owr Lorde MDXLI the 15th
2 day off October J Thomas Blake sykke off bodye and hole off mynde
3 and memorye make my testament and last Wyll yn maner and foorme
4 foloynge first j bequeth my sowle unto almygthty god to owr Lady
5 saynt marye and to the hole c[o]mpanye off heven And my bodye
6 to be buryede yn the chyrchyard off Andev[e]r j bequethe and gyve
7 unto the hye altare off the sayd churche off andev[er] xij d Item
8 to alys munday j bequethe a cowe and vj yoongs j wyll also that
9 at my morytlie myade be bestoede upon the powr pepull a
10 quarter off whete Item j wyll th[a]t Joh[ann]is my soone have and holde
11 the howse at Enam callyd Rawkyns w[i]th all the aporte[nancs] and th[a]t he
12 also have and ynioy all the grownde and landys ther w[i]thyn the sayd
13 Enam the w[hi]ch j do holde off my lorde Sandy he yn as good a state
14 and ryghte as j have the same ferdermore j gyve unto rychard
15 Munday and Jhon[nes] Blake my soone x ps for to ov[er]see thys my testament
16 And also j make my soone Robert and my dowrther Margaret myn
17 executors off all my goods not bequeathed moveabyll and unmoveabyll
18 provydyde th[a]t my dettys due unto the sayd rycharde munday the
19 w[hi]ch ys 6 nobles iij s iiij d and unto John[nes] Blake my sonne the w[hi]ch ys
20 x ps be payd off my goods by my execytors The rest off
21 all my goods and catell j gyve holely unto my execytors
22 to se yt bestoed and dysposyd for the helthe off my sowle att
23 ther al byteremente and plesuere In wytnesse off all thys ys m[r]
24 Thomas Brotwynge Vycare off Andev[er] and Sy[r] Johan[nes] Patye mo[r]row masse
25 pryst ther the w[hi]ch were att the makyinge hereof present
26 P[ro]bat[um] approbat[um] et insinuat[um] fuit p[rese]ns testam[entum] apud
27 winton cora[m] Mag[is]tro Edmundo Stuarde doctere
28 Rev[er]end in xxo pris etc xv t[h] die Junij Anno d[omi]ni
29 1542 Comissaq[ue] fuit adm[in]strat[io] om[nium] et sing[u]lor bonor[um]
30 sup[ra]script[um] defuncti Margaret Blake un[a] execut[oribus]
31 in h[uis]mo[d]i test[amentum] no[m]i[n]at[orum] insat[ ] etc Res[er]uata p[otes]tat cons[er]ter
32 administer[ando] conf[e]rend Roberto Blake alteri execut[oribus] etc
Thomas (son of Robert (will dated Dec 1521) and brother to Richard) inherited Rawkyns in his father Robert's will (Dec 1521). In this will he passes it on to his son John. Robert, also his son and his daughter Margaret are named as executors of his will. I have tentatively played with the idea that Margaret is married to her second cousin Nicholas Blake. There isn't really anything to prove that other than finding small matches in the autosomal DNA that are very very distant and not necessarily in "common areas" which can and do often extend back a long way. Nicholas would be my 12x great grandfather and it is likely that Nicholas' grandson Richard also married his likely 3nd cousin Jone Blake also descendant of Robert Blake (his brother) thus reinforcing this Blake autosomal DNA. It is a daughter of Nicholas' grandson Richard who married Robert Sedgewicke and their children were born in the Royal Colony of Massachusetts and remained in the United States of America. It is a thought only and does not control my thoughts but it is interesting to find small matches so far back and not in a "common area" that points at the British Isles. He mentions Alys Munday without really saying anything further about her. Richard Munday and his son John Blake are named as overseers in the will. Richard Munday, when he is widowed is likely the individual who married Margaret Blake after Nicholas died. I need to transcribe Richard's will to see if he mentions Alys in the will (as his daughter but I suspect she is his wife at this time). But that is an abstraction from this will which does mention all the children of Thomas.
I am left still with an unknown Robert Blake and notably Thomas' son Robert inherits all his goods not yet bequeathed both moveable and unmoveable and names him executor along with his sister Margaret. This often tends to be the eldest son. The Robert Blake that Robert Blake (will dated Dec 1521) mentions remains unknown and hence my suggestion that he was a third son of Robert who predeceased his father. To me it makes sense given the area of Enham is not huge by any means and one is left wondering that you would have so few Blakes really and not have them related. So I continue with that thought which I haven't actually had before until the other day that Robert Blake (will dated Dec 1521) had a third son Robert deceased prior to his father. That brings us to Jone Blake (widow) at Enham who leaves her will in 1527 as below:
Testator: Jone Blake, widow
Place: Enham, Hampshire, England
Type of Record: Will
Date of document: 23 Mar 1527/1528
Condition: 16th century English, legible copy
[Margin]: copied test[ament]
1 Jn die no[m]i[n]e Ame[n] the yer of owre lord god oon thowsand five hundredth xxvij the xxiij day of the month of marche
2 J Jone Blake widow w[i]t[h] hoyll mynde and a good memorye maketh my laste wyll and testmente in thys man[ner] Fyrste J
3 commend my soll unto allmyghty god owre lady saynt marey to all the saynts in hevyn and my Body to be buryd in
4 the chyrche or the chyrche lyttyn of saynt mykell of enahm Jt[em] J gyffe and bequeth onto the mother chyrche of saynt swe
5 thyns xii d Jt[em] J gyvv and bequeth to the chyrche of enahm vj s viij d Jt[em] J gyvv and bequeath xxvj s viij d to be dystrybute
6 unto poor pepyll in pen[n]y doyll Jt[em] J gyff and bequeth unto my curat Sy[r] Rychard Mersser xx d Jt[em] J gyff and bequethe
7 to Sy[r] John Batte xx d Jt[em] J gyff and bequeth to mayntenyg of the morrow masse prest in Andover xx d Jt[em] I gyff and bequeth
8 to mayntenyg of Jhs masse in the chyrche of Andover xx d Jt[em] J gyff and bequeth unto the p[ri]or of the freer Augustines
9 in wynchest[er] xx d Jt[em] J gyff and bequeth to Sy[r] Joh[a]n[nis] Whyte freer xx d Jt[em] J gyff and bequeth unto ev[er]y of freer of the
10 seyd Augustynes th[a]t ys prest iiij d and to ev[er]y novesse ij d of the sayd place Jt[em] J gyvv and bequeth to the chyrche of Fosket
11 to mayntenyg of the light before saynt Jamys and saynt Aidan xx d Jt[em] J gyff and bequeth unto my dowghter Elsabet
12 mylne xx shepe beside thyos th[a]t she hathe allredy and oon Cowe th[a]t J bowght of hyr and xij s iij d of money and my gretst
13 pan and fowre plat[t]erst J gyff and bequeth unto my son Nycolas Blake the tabyll in the hall and oon clothe callyd the hallyg
14 and two yryne racks Jt[em] J gyff and bequeth unto my son Robert Blake oon yryne broche and xviij shepe the wheche
15 shepe he hath in kepyng Jt[em] J gyff and bequeth unto Thome Jesra of Fosket oon yryne broche The resydew of
16 all my goods moveabyll and unmoveabyll J have not legate J gyff and bequeth unto my child[er]ne Nycolas Blake
17 Robert Blake and to Thome Jesra of Fosket and the sayd goods to be devydytt emongys them equaly ev[er]y oon of
18 them elyke mo[r]e[or]l[e]ss Jt[em] J make my sonys Nycolas Blake and Robert Blake my trell executors and Thomas Jesra of
19 Fosket my sup[er]visor th[a]t he see my last wyll and testament Jnplet[ed] and fulfyllyd and the foresaid executors to dypo
20 se for the heylth of my soll as thay shall see moyst expedient the witnesses Sy[r] Rychard Mersser Syr
21 Joh[a]n[nis] Batte Nycolas Blake Robert Blake w[i]t[h] others
Jone Blake names her children Robert, Nicholas and Elsabet who is married to unknown Mylne. Compared to the other wills the property of this widow is large leaving one to wonder if her husband was an elder son. When people wrote wills particularly when they were probated locally everybody knew everybody else and did not always provide all the tiny details that help us to understand who everyone was. So I have taken a bit of poetic license as I postulate this new idea of mine having now decided that Richard was not the father of Robert, Nicholas and Elsabet. If correct Robert (son of Jone) has already received the property that would have belonged to the eldest son of Robert (will dated Dec 1521). Later wills show that this Robert (six sons are named in his will) and a goodly amount of property available to pass to them is mentioned which will be seen eventually as we reach that generation. This is Charlou Dolan's family line and her research, although I did not always agree on every line where my line was involved, was very well done. But there were so many repeated names and by the time I came along twenty years after she did her research more was available to look at. Unfortunately Jone does not name her husband but the eldest son is Robert which is interesting actually.
So I feel as if the first and second generations are intact and leading into the third generation. I still do not know who William Blake and Andrew Blake were but the reference to Boswell is most interesting and relates to the Blake family at Speen Berkshire and my references to this line being descendant of Richard le Blak who received a Patent to set up a market in England.
I will go with this for the moment as I move forward. What ends up being published under the Creative Commons License may be as I said curtailed somewhat with an extra chapter or I will begin with Robert (will dated Dec 1521) and further back if I can find more details on the John Blake listed in the 1300s at Andover.
I think my brain is done for the day and will now continue by working on the photo books. Tomorrow I will actually put the generational chart together and then move for a bit to the Pincombe although I will continue with my Blake searches after I create my Research Plan going forward now.
The sun is shining and I will likely wait until later in the day to work outside.
On to the Photo Albums.
Another beautiful day in God's world and we are blessed to have such a beautiful world from God the Creator. We must keep it up and that can only happen if the those who are in control of the greater share of the monetary value of the world donate to protect it. The world needs to be protected from human overuse but in Canada we are trying very hard to off set that human overuse of the environment. Our huge forests provide cabon capture along with the artificially created carbon capture techniques which also work well. The three great oceans that surround us also help to protect the environment but we must maintain them as well - money is always needed for these types of projects that protect the world God the Creator gave to us.
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