Continuing with the Calendar of Close Rolls

 The Calendar of Close Rolls is telling me that the Blake family members mentioned in these Rolls are probably primarily Norman or economic migrants from Europe who associated with the Normans. Only one so far in Hampshire and likely in the Southampton area. The Richard le Blak appears to be in this area in Southampton in the late 1200s as he moved towards Wargrave by the early 1300s which is close to Windsor. All of this is just thinking as I read through this material and has no basis in actual dating that I have done in the past; I am working mostly from memory and looking for instances of Blake that are not Norman. I generally attribute them to Norman because they are serving the Norman overlords in a facilitating occupation (clerks etc). The Norman King has been in England now since 1066 so very well established across the English counties particularly around London and into the Midlands. Working on Edward III today and that takes me from 1327 to 1377. 

I believe I will have a consult with the AI Copilot next Saturday giving me another week to continue putting together the first two to three generations. It takes time to pull the material together; make sure I have translated all the Latin into English in the wills. I need to look for the Hampshire Lay Subsidies and I do have some of them in book form. So a few projects ahead but I wanted to review some of this material on the Close Rolls and the Patent Rolls (Patent Rolls I did a number of years ago but again want to review them as I work my way through the late 1200s into the 1300s).  

 A Roger Blake in Bodmin, Cornwall in the 1330s-early 1340s is interesting as I did a study on the Blake family in Cornwall which generally showed that the earliest Blake in Cornwall was from Breton (blogged all of that probably a decade ago now). 

 Continuing into the 1340s and the le is dropped from the name although they continue to be administrative type people so I am suspicious they are Norman or economic emigrants as those listed on the Emigrants Database I quoted yesterday. This database is on the National Archives of the UK website. The Midlands or London tend to dominate the records. 

 By the  mid and towards the latter part of the 1300s there are a number of Blake mentions in the Close Rolls of Edward III in Wiltshire. Interesting the Blake family in London and Richard Blake is a citizen and vintner of London. Richard Blake of London in the  mid to late 1300s appears to be in a position of confidence and support to the local people. No idea who he is. I think though given the trusts mentioned that he is asked to take part in one is left to think he is Norman. 

Completed Edward III and the next set will have me glancing at  Richard III for sure although Henry VII will also likely be a must looking for the Pencombe family possibly.