Forgiveness lightens the heart

Not the exact wording of Ephesians  4:31-32

Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.

Forgiveness is the meat of human kindness and takes us far in this world. Forgiving doesn't necessarily mean friendship but it does mean letting go of what is past and can not be changed.

Another beautiful day in God's world and we must make the best of it as the sun prepares itself to shine once again upon this earth that I stand upon. 

Cleaning all accomplished and back to research. I am going to do research light for a couple of weeks just to give my eyes a total rest. I always, pretty much, have to experience that tiredness for me to remember that my eyes are my limiting factor and need that special care to let them do their best. My eyes will never be 100%; they  never were. I remember the first colour television and the dreadful migraines that I had as a child. I actually used to sit in the room and not look at the television; just listen and I still do that to a certain extent. Gradually over time my eyes accepted that flashing changing colour and of course TVs have improved. But I never really was a TV watcher. I mostly watch the weather and the news but do enjoy Netflix. It has so many good movies that are just my kind of movie. Edward loved TV and could watch cooking shows by the hour those last few years. He really took to cooking and delved into all sorts of different kinds of recipes. When COVID arrived I took to sitting with him most mornings and watching because I think he was feeling the loneliness that COVID brought on for some people. He was used to being out and about every day shopping which he really loved to do (we both went; I always went with him everywhere that last ten years unless he wanted to go alone). When I look back now I am realizing that other than working on his autosomal DNA he never really did any writing except for the Ottawa Genealogists which he edited and produced; after we started to travel extensively in 2008. He collected items and put them into his tree which is now on World Connect and his website. We will maintain the website for a long period of time but the work that he did needs to be consolidated but I can not do that heavy work on his research. I do not have the background to do it although did  help to collect the information but it needs to have someone more familiar with the family than I am to work on it. Perhaps my older daughter; time will tell. 

For myself, I shall go a little slower into my next two books just as I took the Siderfin book fairly slowly (it was two years in creation). There is no rush and I have the files organized but there is a lot of transcription to do over the next couple of years but will take that slowly as well. I continue to look forward to actually fulfilling the desire of my grandfather for his Blake book of Andover and for my mother her Pincombe family book of Bishops Nympton although it will be more extensive (i.e. the North Molton family which was the first Pencombe in Devon and even a look at the possibility of Pencombe in Herefordshire being the founder of that surname) since Pincombe is a much smaller family. 

Prayers for Israel and Ukraine. Prayers for the children of Gaza. Let there be peace on earth. The other spots in the world that continue to be of concern prayers as well. Thank you to those who help to bring about peace in our world. May the UN be all that we prayed for in the beginning and be a solace to the world and a defender of the ancient rights of peoples.

I do wonder where the next Church Service will be; although I miss the Service at the Cathedral online I am finding this tour of the Churches of England in England quite wonderful on Sunday morning. Some I have visited and others it is nice to see them. The little Church in Turnworth always comes back to me as we spent perhaps an hour there, my cousin and I and our spouses. We found the grave stone for our mutual ancestor Samuel Knight and his wife Louisa Butt (2x great grandparents for both of us) who were the parents of our great grandmother Maria Jane (Knight) Blake. It was a quiet peaceful graveyard with a number of burials that form part of that Knight family tree. Samuel's brother Thomas was Parish Clerk for over thirty years in this quiet little village on the Winterbourne. One might wonder how a young woman born in Turnworth met a young man (Edward Blake) born in Upper Clatford but there were Knight relations in Upper Clatford and I suspect that Maria Jane was visiting/helping a relative when they met and they actually married at Upper Clatford rather than Turnworth. My father remembered a tall white haired man (Samuel, his great grandfather) as his family used to spend vacation time in the New Forest where his cousins lived (the Hall family - his father's eldest sister Louisa married Charles Hall) and Samuel must have been there as well as my father always associated Samuel with the New Forest. 

On to the day. Teatime and Jumping Jacks first. I have perhaps invented a new exercise that I do before the Jumping Jacks and after the Reverse Warrior that I added in. I probably am a bit of an exercise addict. I start with the Reverse Warrior (count of 30 left and right) just to loosen the spinal area and then go into a deep squat and  make circles ten times in each direction (2 repeats only) and then walk at least 100 steps before doing the now 80 Jumping Jacks. I can see my aim now is to move to a count of 50 with the Reverse Warrior and then perhaps 20 circles in each direction in the deep squat and then 100 steps and 100 jumping jacks. Followed by perhaps 30 to 50 steps and then a shoulder stand for the count of 60 and when you get up use just one hand to assist you. I repeat that again before breakfast and I am finding that the back spasms that I experience with cleaning are actually lessening. I do have arthritis in my spine as well as osteoporosis so do do that carefully but the strength training is great. The rotations in a squat position are not easy and one might want to check with a doctor/physio before starting on a very intensive exercise program first thing in the morning. I can not imagine a day without exercise and my stints with physio were very helpful at the time that I had injuries. It is tempting to just go every month to a physio and review some of my exercises but I haven't gotten back to that notion since my last exercise injury before COVID. Perhaps in time. My osteoporosis would probably benefit from ever more weight bearing exercises I haven't thought of doing! Now to enjoy my tea and Solitaire games. It is certainly interesting to have Alexa wish me Good Morning and my forename follows and then set my five minute timer. 

And an exciting event coming my way is the dogs coming to visit with me for a few days. We will have a great time. 

Huge projects

I do have several large projects for the fall independent of my writing/editing. There are four large piles that have to be shredded. There is one banker box of items that need to be scanned before shredding. Shredding the four large piles is difficult in some ways because a large part of it was letters between Edward and family members he met along the way. The letters begin with the usual things that genealogists talk about when they write to a long lost relative but some of this correspondence went on for twenty or thirty years and they became like pen pals sharing their lives with each other. I feel it is important that I shred all of this as it is private information between two people who found a friendship by mail that they enjoyed but it wasn't really meant to be shared with the world. My daughters have a nodding interest in genealogy but not strong enough to support picking up the traces which were left by Edward and carry on with all of this work. They may pick it up one day but this way they can use their own flavour of research and they are happy with that. The amount of material that Edward held was quite enormous thinking back now as I look around a house still full but not overwhelming in quite the same way. The fullness results from four people and then five living here for a period of time accumulating objects and not really wanting to part with them. Even I with my tendency to not gather dust so to speak do have some possessions that I have acquired although rapidly diminishing. One set was the VCR tapes and then DVDs that I bought (generally on sale) during my working days as I had planned this lovely retirement watching all the old movies (one in the morning and one in the afternoon) but my cousin did change all of that and I was able to persuade Edward to travel to Europe/British Isles which also changed how we did things in between trips. I liked to see absolutely everything that I could in any particular area that we stopped and so the huge lists began with the directions attached and on our tour travels we added in our own personal tours in the evenings whenever we arrived. It was fantastic. But I have given away most of the VCR tapes and a lot of the DVDs as well keeping just a basic set that I enjoy because I do not apparently have enough time in a day to watch one most days. Just sometimes. 

Yesterday I did some more work on the Answer document that pertains to the Siderfin family at Timberscombe and East Linch. It is proving to be an interesting story as in the answer Robert Siderfin and family relate most of what was in the complaint as far as I can tell since I elected not to buy the complaint as well. I really just wondered what they would say in the answer and whether it would help me to locate which family this was. Indeed it has and I am simply continuing to transcribe out of curiosity. I suspect that this Robert Siderfin the elder married an Ursula Franck either a Franck by birth or a widow as that is starting to emerge from the document. It will end up having no impact on the writing/editing that I have done thus far except to be a further proof. But we will see how the document flows and I am perhaps one fifth of the way through now. 

I am not in a rush particularly plus I am realizing that I need to do the Pincombe-Pinkham Newsletter for the 1st of September. That very nearly slipped my mind. In the past three months the idea of writing a book on this family has solidified and will be my next effort in writing in the new year as the likely beginning time. I continue to collect information and will also work in the same manner with this book as with the Siderfin. I will begin as far back as I am able to research and then bring the material forward although continuing to work backwards through the available census and the Parish records to the 1500s/1600s when these Pencombe/Pincombe/Pyncombe families dispersed from North Molton/South Molton area into North West Devon and other areas including London especially. It will be at least two years in the writing I estimate. The only advantage that I have with this book is personal history passed to me by my mother and then my uncle in the last  ten to fifteen years of his life when we used to spend time with him and he and I corresponded regularly or spoke on the telephone all of which I recorded and have available to me. That discussion though is limited to my  direct family only that lived first at North Molton and then in Bishops Nympton/Molland and then with Philip Pincombe in Gloucestershire as my direct line emigrated to Canada originally with others also in that direct line emigrating as well to Canada but also to the United States, Australia and South Africa. 

I have given myself until the end of the year to complete the Siderfin book and will publish it under a Creative Commons license in order that I can protect the contents from being published for profit making it free to download or be distributed to repositories that may wish a copy. Plus it will be then possible for descendants to edit my work with their own new publication even during my lifetime and correct/alter/change items for which new material is available or simply to maintain the lines and bring them forward as I will not publish anything that has occurred after 1920. 

Breakfast is next and I am hungry as usual. Last night we had a piece of salmon poached with dill which was quite delicious along with a broccoli salad which I quite enjoyed but that was many hours ago now! Another beautiful day in God's world and may peace be the choice of all of us as we manage our way through this wilderness of climate change and come to a better side by caution and care and respect and an end to greed, violence and envy. 

Caught up on the images from another researcher - almost finished

I did catch up on the images and in total  there are 810 items that I have selected. I did not select Pink or any derivatives of that possibility as that is a standing surname still found in the UK. There were smaller ones that I also discarded because they still exist in the UK and I can be limiting in my thoughts. I have a column that lets me restore the original entry form; there is a line for the image number making it easy to go back and check the image. I can separate Baptisms from Marriages easily. I have a single column entry for the year as well as the entire date. I have a separate column for the mother's name. By separating out the marriages I can easily acquire the spouses in a file. So I am happy with the file as it appears to cover any possibility of sort that might come to my mind. The Place is individual as well, the forenames and surnames each have their own columns. 

Next item to have a look at is the Herefordshire Visitation - I purchased all of the Visitations at some point in the past that could possibly or remotely interest me. Someday all of this will go to the Anglican Church Archives near me (if they still want it) and so I was generous in what I selected as they can make good use of it. The time for that is perhaps still far off but one never knows really. I am willing to continue writing until I have completed all of my tasks but my eyes are not one of my strong features unfortunately. That has been the case my entire life though and I have made it successfully this far. The medical student that once told my grandmother I would be blind by the time I was twenty was somewhat mistaken but he was only a student. I remember him saying that actually and thinking what a strange thing to say in front of a child - my solution was to learn Braille at the tender age of seven years! There were books in the library for that. Mostly I always ignored people as a child but did listen to what they were saying and always remembered to be polite as my mother had asked me to be like that since I did have this habit of being rather abrupt with people. I did notice though that if I found people to be overly friendly and difficult to keep away I could do the reverse and be very friendly and kind and forward a bit (not so much as to take up my time to any extent) and they would eventually leave me alone as they probably got tired of me fairly quickly! I am like an encyclopaedia and can talk up a storm of details when I want to do that. Enough about me for sure and back to work. I am no longer that polite because when I turned 75 and I was widowed I decided that I could revert to being me - very blunt. That way you will not get scammed quite so easily by people pretending to be friendly. 

I have divided up the main file into four workbooks in Excel - 1500s, 1600s, 1700s, and anything else but it is mostly 1800s.  I will concentrate on the 44 entries from the 1500s for the next Issue of the Pincombe-Pinkham Newsletter. Trying to fish out thoughts that I have as a result of entries that I do not recognize (I will add that information to each line as I go through the items singly). I think I will now sort on the Baptism/Marriage column and then put a few lines between the two sets of data and re-sort into year range. In the 1500s this yields 30 baptisms and 14 marriages. I do have a Notes column where I can record the known items and how they relate to John Pencombe (thought to be by me the first Pencombe at North Molton with Lord de la Zouch in the latter part of the1480s).

Baptisms

There are six entries for North Molton until  the early 1560s and then one in the 1570s, four in the 1590s. 

There are two entries for Bideford in the 1560s, another in the 1580s and four in the 1590s. 

One entry for Ilfracombe in the 1570s. 

There is one entry in the 1570s for Roborough by Torrington, three in the 1580s and three in the 1590s. 

There is one entry for Chittlehampton in the 1570s. 

There is one entry for Molland in the 1590s. 

There is one entry for Barnstaple in the 1590s.

There is one entry for Bishops Nympton in the 1590s.

Marriages

There are six entries for North Molton until the mid 1560s.

There is one entry for Roborough by Torrington in the 1570s.

There is one entry for Bideford in the 1570s, there are two entries in the 1580s.

There is one entry for Charles in the 1570s.

There is one entry for Barnstaple in the 1590s.

There is one entry for Bishops Nympton in the 1590s.

There is one entry for Abbotsham in the 1590s.

These entries do give you an impression that the center was North Molton (and the Visitation of Devon 1620 did give support to that idea). The movement appeared to be mostly to the west of North Molton, slightly south of North Molton but not really very much to the east. The Charles entry seems somewhat out of place in the Marriages. I will carry on with these thoughts in tomorrow's blog. The newspaper is starting to shape up in mind somewhat but still pretty fluid.

Reviewed the Herefordshire Visitation 1569 and did not find any entries for Pencombe. Not surprising given that one of the name accompanied Lord de la Zouch to North Molton in the latter part of the 1480s. If they had land they probably lost it before or when King Henry VII was crowned. Likely right after the Battle of Bosworth Field which would account for John Pencombe leaving with Lord de la Zouch. That some members of the family remained in Herefordshire is in the records but they do appear to be of reduced circumstances. A very polite English idiom from my childhood that my grandmother used to use!

Will have to see what sort of tax subsidies are online for Herefordshire. 

Will continue working on the new information (from yesterday's new image) to insert it and one to go. Added the new set and it is all Cornwall. Joe Flood and I have had that discussion on Pincombe in Cornwall - he wondered if that was their ancient home and this data doesn't begin until the 1600s leaving one to ponder that likely it is simply spill-over into Cornwall from Devon and mostly in Morwenstow, Bodmin, Talland, and Morval. No entries for the 1500s with the earliest being 1614 at Morwenstow. They could be economic migrants and will look into that. The forenames are generally as expected although Nicholas is uncommon. Pincombe does not appear on the Visitations of Cornwall although will have a longer look just to make sure I did not miss a particular spelling.

Gardening is starting to beckon. The last hosta plant was starting to emerge so I cleared away the growth of wild flowers to give it breathing room. Perhaps today we might get a little garden soil spread around as it is going to rain this evening into tomorrow. Bedding plants all purchased but will not likely plant them before the end of the month - time will tell on that. The grass is growing nicely. The trees are quickly filling in now. The racoon is getting braver and was actually sitting in the bird feeder but I banged on the window and the next door neighbour chased him off of his property and so he scampered away. He/she wasn't on my back doorstep this morning. Generally they stay away from people but will be back all summer I am sure. The rabbit is afraid of the racoon I would say. The birds are not bothered. A big crow flying at a racoon suspended on the feeder could give it a run for its life for sure! The racoon must be hungry though but it is garbage day today so was perhaps just getting a look at the lay of the land. Smart mammals for sure. Good memories.

Woke up again today with strains of different hymns in my mind - a lovely way to wake up. God's world is always with us; we are very blessed. Breakfast soon; the best meal of the day for sure although last night we had orange chicken - my daughter's style. It was lovely. Tonight I think it is some sort of a bean dish with special pasta and some fresh asparagus and we also picked up some lovely fresh spinach. I do love spinach. I may have been in the minority in my childhood  but my grandfather would always let me eat the spinach right out of the garden and there is nothing tastier when the first greens are showing up in the garden. 

Interesting weather continuing

Another rainy day perhaps; snow was mentioned but not yet seen and we are  1 degree celsius so anything is possible. Weather in Canada in April is very unpredictable except perhaps by our wonderful weather people. 

The Bible Reading today was from 1 Peter 1:13-25 and the entire passage is interesting but I especially like a quote:

"Humans wither like grass,

and their glory fades

like wild flowers.

Grass dries up,

and flowers fall

to the ground.

But what the Lord has said

will stand forever."

I summarize the section before this quote to say that the New Commandments which Jesus brought to us from God are a winning constant in our lives. We must love the Lord God with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our mind this being the first and greatest commandment and the second is like unto it (and I take it to mean it is also one of the greatest commandments) We must love our neighbour as ourselves. Love is the key word and we must find that in our world because only our true love of the world will save it. That is why we created the United Nations. 

On to the Kipp Newsletter today; cleaning all accomplished and I would like to finish it by the end of the week so that I can get back to the Siderfin book. Next month I want to work on Pincombe once again. 

The Pincombe history goes back (known to us) to the late 1480s in Devon and I believe it extends back even further in Herefordshire at a place called Pencombe at least to the early 1300s. Although I created a yDNA study at FT DNA I have done very little with it partly because the number of testers is so small. One of my third cousins once removed has tested and he matches our mutual fifth cousin in Australia taking the line back to John Pincombe married to Mary Charly in 1767 at Bishops Nympton, (John was baptized 13 Feb 1728 and son of John Pincombe and Grace Manning who likewise married 20 Mar 1725 at Bishops Nympton) since they are the most recent common ancestors (MRCA) for them. Another match within the project is likely descendant of the Barnstaple/Bideford branch of the family although a name change has blurred that a little but it was a female COAD who reverted back to her maiden name having been married to a Pincombe (early 1800s) and they had several children. Family lore of the Pincombe family at South Molton has members of that family moving to the Barnstaple area in the 1600s but I have not yet proven that line. This would take the matching line back to John Pincombe son or grandson of  Pencombe who came to North Molton with Lord de la Zouch in the late 1400s. There is another match in common with this group of three (using the Pinkham surname) and his line traces back to an emigrant to the English Colonies in 1750 but little is know about his ancestor and I have not yet put time into looking at that. There is a second group of known descendants of the Richard Pinkham family of Dover, New Hampshire (although one uses the Pyncombe spelling) and there are two members of this group that are close and a third that is in the same general area of match. Although yDNA studies are very interesting and informative they do not take into account events in the history of a family particularly the case when a family line is daughtering out and a decision is made to "adopt" one of the sister's children as a descendant of a brother who does not have children. This can happen long ago in the past and will likely lead to an apparent break in the line (in the case of primogeniture though titled or landed property can not pass in this way but most property in the Pincombe/Pinkham family was freehold or copyhold). Although a non paternal event is suggested by some as a reason I suspect that very often in the past it was an adoption where possible inheritance depended upon the son of a daughter in a line daughtering out taking on his uncle/grandfather's surname and inheriting the property. The more people who test the easier it might be to spot such events particularly if they occur after the introduction of the parish registers and their regular use. One set of data is R haplogroup and one set is I haplogroup. I will do a little more work on the deep ancestry of both of these groups for the next newsletter to discuss the areas to which the deep ancestry points.The British Isles does have areas that were more likely to be one haplogroup or another although this is percentage more than a lack of or non existence in any area.

I have a project with a set of papers listing events which has been given to me by another researcher in the family that I want to work on in May; so my May will be busy with gardening and analyzing. Sounds like a wonderful time although I am still only a little convinced on gardening but it is my daughter's joy to garden. 

Off to breakfast, the day is young but rather wintery looking at the moment but that is April; one is used to it.

My largest match next to my siblings

A rather large match for a 2nd-3rd cousin that I could not place has finally been given a spot on the tree. This individual and I (and my four siblings) share the MRCA of John Blake and Ann Farmer of Upper Clatford, Hampshire, England. Problem solved that has lurked in the background for quite a while. It is however a very large match for a third cousin once removed (I share 247 centimorgans or 4%) so I am tempted to think he is also related to me on the Knight line as he shares many Knight matches in common with me (and my siblings). So a little longer adventure there perhaps (unless it is just a very large match which could happen). We do have some large Blake matches (just none quite this large) with descendants of my father's first cousins (i.e. my second cousins). The interesting comparison is a match with my second cousin on my mother's side (Buller line) where we share 227 centimorgans or 3%. It has been a tantalizing match for sure ever since it first came up. A similar match in the same family line of Farley is only 98 centimorgans (my third cousin once removed). So an interesting match for sure that still has a story behind it I suspect.

Back to Siderfin once again today. I did not accomplish very much yesterday with all the cleaning. I want to continue working on the 2433 hits on Find My Past. It would be good to complete that task by mid June which I think is most probable. Along the way I do end up doing some other background checking as the hits can sometimes take quite a while to place. I am also going to start the Kipp Newsletter next week and do the main issue of H11 although will consider whether to put it up online. Time will tell but I will get it completed. 

A new match on Ancestry with the Siderfin family has proven to be very interesting as well. I am able to place this person into the line coming down from my 3x great grandmother's sibling Thomas Siderfin who rather disappears from the Selworthy area as a young man. This family, being very large, would have had to find their spot in the world for sure since the property was going to go to the eldest. My line, descendant from John Rew and Elizabeth Siderfin did end up at Bratton near Minehead at some point and after Elizabeth died John would move to his son's farm in the Bishops Nympton area where he is found in 1848 with his will being probated and kindly identifies my ancestor Elizabeth (Rew) Pincombe as his daughter and that he wants to be buried beside his wife in Selworthy, Somerset. A perfect will since he lists all of his married daughters and so much genealogical information all in one place. One dreams of such wills. Linking Elizabeth back to her birth family proved to be a fascinating story of census, serendipity, and just good luck. That happened way back when I really knew almost nothing about doing English genealogy but followed some of the guides in my course work and I was rewarded very largely. 

I shall try to keep on track with my genealogy work as we pull away from the COVID watershed in time. Before COVID my blog tended to be about my research but it did become somewhat political and I did not actually intend to be quite so political although my thoughts are exactly that my thoughts and I can be, in my small part of the world, rather political but tend to stick to that at home only (politics is not a good dinner conversation). I captured all of my blog from this watershed time into my Life Story just because I decided to do that. A whole lot happened in my life during that time and I wanted to record it for anyone in my family that wanted to read it. 

The second cleaning day of the week and it is the easier one - the basement. We are promised a 14 degree celsius day today  which should result in more melting. We still have a lot of snow although the grass is showing quite well now. My crocodile on the roof has melted down into the look of Perce Rock off the coast of Quebec in the Gulf of St Lawrence. It is very small now and will not likely take my eavestrough off any more although I can say it has not moved even when it looked like a rather large crocodile. Next year I shall try to knock the pile off to one side with a broom to keep it somewhat less large. We had a lot of snow this year. 

On to breakfast and cleaning day. I shall have time to work on Siderfin today.

Completed the 1524-7 Devon Lay Subsidy

It was a very useful task to read through the entire 1524-7 Lay Devon Subsidy. The Tyncombe family was I believe larger at this time than in the later Subsidies but still centered around the same area. I still believe they are a different free standing and much older Devon family. I did not find any more individuals that I would add to the Pencombe family in this time period. I did manage to collect names that might assist me in understanding the families that married into the Pincombe family (mine) in the Bishops Nympton area where they lived from the latter part of the 1500s until the mid 1800s. 

Today I want to return to the Siderfin census and BMBs continuing the marrying up those two files which then take me from 1911 back into the 1600s. I do have the Somerset Lay Subsidy in 1641-2 and will also need to hunt out my London information as some of the Siderfin family were in the London area in the 1600s. The bulk of the records in the 1700s and 1800s belong to my Siderfin line likely coming down from Robert (Robert 3, William 2, John 1). Likely I will need to look at the 2000 plus entries for Siderfin in Find My Past but it would be easier if I could just go through that set quickly. I do not believe that all these Siderfin lines daughtered out with the other son's lines (namely William (Robert 3, William 2, John 1) and Thomas (Robert 3, William 2, John 1) but looking at James Sander's chart I could be mistaken on that as he does show most of these lines daughtering out. I do need to determine if any of these lines did come down to the 1900s still carrying the Siderfin surname. Some say that I should not use that term as it sounds derogatory; I tend to see it from the viewpoint that another line did not daughter out because in this case a Siderfin helped to carry on another line. I do not think one would call me a feminist by today's standards; I just see everybody as absolutely equal under Heaven. I believe that man and woman are equal and that life flows better when men and women work together for the betterment of the world.

Heavy snow today and as I look out the window the snow is coming down thickly; I believe it is to last most of the day at least until mid-afternoon. Will it be our last big snowfall of the year. Hard to tell. We often get our heaviest snows in March but this has been a heavy snowfall year and generally we do get snow falls into April but they tend to be lighter in April. Even in March I still love the falling snow. It has an ethereal beauty all of its own. Somehow dreary rain just does not compare. But I have spent most of my life in Canada, trips into the United States through the years (many of them) and our trips to Europe and the British Isles and Mexico. Will I travel a lot more? No ideas on that.  The desire to travel is not strong in me unless I am going to see something that I really want to see. My first air flight was in 2001 to Rome, Italy. A pilgrimage for me and it was a fantastic experience being over the Atlantic Ocean (I mostly slept but woke up in time to see the sunrise as we flew over the Alps). Rome was wonderful and my first European City to visit and we flew from there to London, England and my second European City to visit. Both were wondrous and I still relish that first flight and those two cities. I was fifty six years of age and strange that I never flew before but I just never had any place that I wanted to go to that involved flying nor did my job ever require me to fly anywhere. Had I married and gone to Africa when I was seventeen that would have been a boat trip likely as it was in the early to mid 60s when traveling by boat was commoner. Life flows and at each time in your life there are moments when the path divides but depending on our age that path is determined by parents or by yourself. It is nice to be an adult determining one's path. 

On to the day; breakfast awaits. Probably I will not be outside today unless I clear the patio at the back of snow.

More data coming forth for the Siderfin book

 When I first had the idea of a slight revision to James Sanders book "The Siderfin Family of West Somerset" I had no idea that it would result in a complete rewrite and accumulation of new data that has since been scanned and available on line. I now have 44 pages with the original book having 60 pages including the Pedigree Chart and I am  just into the Fourth Generation. There are some gaps that I can not fill easily but I can check at the Family Search Library on some of the material in the spring. I do not see myself driving there during the winter. 

The next two weeks will hopefully see me through the Fourth Generation and let me move on to the Fifth Generation after publishing the next issue of the Pincombe-Pinkham Newsletter. I did hear back from my Pinkham match and not surprising he is from the Barnstaple Pincombe family. During the 1700s some of the members of this family at Barnstaple starting using the Pinkham surname. I do not really know when the Pinkham surname first arose although I do not find it before the Pincombe surname. When you say Pincombe - it sounds like that to me but I know that my great uncle said it somewhat differently and one could end up spelling it as Pinkham. I wonder at what point the pronunciation changed since the original surname was Pencombe and I do rather think it would have been closer to the way that I have been saying Pincombe.

 Although we did see Pincombe cousins when I was a child - mostly at the large funerals - I did not spend a lot of time with any of them so do not know them that well plus I have now lived away from my "growing up" place for more than 45 years. Although when we went back to meet with all of our Pincombe cousins to plan the Pincombe Profile - that was my one request that before I published it I would meet with everyone so that they could look at it and add changes. My own line daughtered out - my mother was a Pincombe and my Pincombe uncle did not have any children. Plus they had left the Pincombe farm (and there were a lot of them) in 1925 years before I wrote the profile so I wanted their input plus I wanted to highlight them in the profile because they were still on the various farms in the area. 

Looking at autosomal DNA results can be very interesting. I tend to not really do much with results that are less than 20 centimorgans. However, ancestry can be an exception on occasion as they run all of the results against a piece of software known as Timber which removes "ethnic" lengths from the final result. It can result in a smaller match and I have several good examples in my lines including Pincombe. When I discovered the Pinkham matches who traced back to the New Hampshire/Maine Pinkham family (emigration was in the 1600s) I was pretty shocked actually. I had not expected to find any such matches. I need to look at the trees to see what I can see and that is one of the steps. I also need to look at the matches in common. 

The original Pincombe project was created by Dr Richard Pinkham and Galen Pinkham and they did an excellent set of research charts (16 of them in total) and the alternate surname in the project was Pinkham. The thoughts were that it was a singleton surname but the yDNA results of my two cousins (one in Australia and one in the United States)  do not match any of the Pinkham yDNA results. One of the cousins who tested is a third cousin once removed and the other is a fifth cousin with our Most Recent Common Ancestor being John Pincomb and Mary Charly who married 8 Nov 1767 at Bishops Nympton, Devon, England and the Australian cousin is descended from their second eldest son William and the American cousin is descended from their third son Robert (also my ancestor). For a while I did try to persuade other cousins to test but with two matching results it did not seem to be necessary but any new testers are always welcomed. 

At some point in the past and it was the mid 1700s for the Barnstaple Pincombe family Pincombe members did start using the surname Pinkham. There was some thought that it could have originated as Tinkham but pulling out the available data on the Tinkham family does look like a free standing surname resulting from a placename. It should be an interesting article to write although I again am very leery of matches that are small lengths of autosomal DNA. 

I have always felt that my management of the project did not do enough for the Pinkham spelling so hope that can be rectified at some point in the future. 

Todays Bible Reading from 1 Corinthians 1:10-17

 The Bible Reading today was especially poignant. 1 Corinthians 1:10-17 and the guidance therein. The Concordance says of this section Paul is feeling somewhat dismayed by the issues that have arisen in Corinth and he trusts that by discussing the authentic Christian perspective that the appropriate conclusions will be drawn. In this century many of us have become more accepting of people's rights and that too is in the commandments that Jesus gave to us. We must not lose the beauty of the words that Christ brought to us. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. The second is like onto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself; There is none other commandment greater than these. Ukraine is part of all of that; Russia attacked Ukraine for many false and anti-Christ reasons and those reasons should resonate around the world - the evil which Russia has created goes against everything that Christ said with these commandments which he gave to us. We must help Ukraine to stand against this evil that the Nazi Putin and his enablers have thrust upon all of us. The continuing threat of nuclear annihilation which is behind the sickening smiles of Nazi Putin and his sycophants is a tragedy for all of us and we must supply Ukraine with what they need to drive the Russians back into their own country. There the people of Russia must manage their country and rid themselves of these psychopathic Nazis Putin and his enablers. They are ruinous to our world - all of us suffer from their inability to be good citizens of the world.

Great progress on the Siderfin book as I reached back to the early part and did the searching to prove the line that my Siderfin cousin suggested was correct and so it was. It was a good find on his part especially as the chart in the book did not really make sense as the children of Robert Siderfin and Grace Kent were born at the same time as their parents. I think though that James Sanders (whose mother was deceased for thirty years at the time of his writing this particular book) simply was confused and the chart does present itself with possibilities of interpretation although clearly he was attaching his line to the wrong John Siderfin. Carrying forward and I am once again at the Third Generation and will continue with that today. I have a clear three weeks to work before I must start the Pincombe-Pinkham Newsletter for the 1st of March. These two families merge in my mind because John Pincombe (my 2x great grandfather) married Elizabeth Rew at Bishops Nympton and Elizabeth's mother was Elizabeth Siderfin married to John Rew. My DNA matches with this family are most interesting because they are double the size with Elizabeth Rew having a twin sister Charlotte who married Daniel Love and the descendants of this line are matching me as if they were third cousins instead of the fourth cousins which they are and many of them have tested. 

Watched the sunrise and it was a winter sunrise with a faint glow in the sky telling me there is more snow to come; another seven or eight centimetres on the bird feeder yesterday. The birds though search down through the snow and find the seeds and chirp happily as they meet together on the bird feeder. They are hardy those birds that stay here in the winter. 

On to breakfast. 

Discussion written for the Pincombe Newsletter

 Wrote the discussion on John Pincomb who married Grace Manning in 1725 at Bishops Nympton with the view of a winter wonderland outside my window. Love the snow; going south is fun in mid-winter just for a break but overall I love living in a country which is covered with snow half of the year. It is so refreshing to look out on the fresh white snow and since my window faces the backyard I can see that white fresh snow most of the winter as it slowly climbs up the fence around the yard. Usually a metre standing (or more) by the end of the winter. 

I will take a break for a bit from writing and work on finishing Chromosome 13 and then on to Chromosome 12. I am nearing the half-way point in the chromosomes with the longest ones ahead of me for sure but also I have more long matches as I work my way backwards. Perhaps one of these days my 2nd cousins Buller will test where I can see their results and I will have more support for any theories that I develop from results of people that I do not know but have family information in their records making it easier for me to place them in family lines. Having five siblings tested though does make a big difference especially the four of us who tested at 23 and Me. 

The last day of November and I have completed all of my Microsoft Solitaire card games once again I have a complete set of games from 2012 to the present. I do love playing Microsoft Solitaire first thing in the morning I can feel it waking up my brain cells. Exercise for the brain before it begins the day's work.

Today I shall spend a little time thinking about the Autism and Behaviour courses at Algonquin College. They are a practical look at how to work with children using the ABA methodology. This has worked so well with my grandson but now that he is seven we need to ensure that we are following the method 24/7 which my daughter and her husband are doing but I am mixed in now so must also ensure that I too am following the approved methodology as well and that I understand what I am doing so that I can be of more support to them. We made books the other day and I think that that is something that I am skilled at so can help him to work with that. I found two sticker books on subjects that he likes so would like to work with him making story books with those stickers. The other day was the beginning of that process. 

Other than that my schedule of running for 40 minutes, then out with the dogs for a 40 to 45 minute walk around the yard with lots of trees to occupy me and picking up after the dogs as well. Then in the afternoon my calisthenics and I need to work in my weight lifting as that doesn't get done these days very often. In the evening a walk around the basement while talking to my other daughter for our daily one hour chat. The day does pass quickly and I can generally manage 16000 to 20000 steps per day.

Harvey and Charley family

 I decided to type the book "The Romance of the Charley Family" since it was published in the 1930s and now out of print and copyright. It is really just for my own purpose anyway. I read the book perhaps ten years ago when I bought it from a small bookstore in Somerset online. My Charley family is illusive. The priest entering the name of Mary Charly/Charley was misread as Charlie leading me astray initially way back when I first found the marriage registration on Ancestry. I was also very new to genealogy and I knew her name was verbally Charly/Charley/Charlie because my mother knew her line back a considerable distance when I was a child having learned it from her father and other family members. My mother would actually be thrilled with everything I have found out about her family but I never knew of her interest in genealogy until I moved away with my husband to Ottawa. Then in her weekly letters she started mentioning some of the things that she was doing and there it was; the occasional trip to the Family History Library and talking about her discoveries. At the time I was not really very interested in genealogy from that perspective. It did take the advent of personal DNA testing to bring me into that fold!

I read through the foreword as I was typing the author mentioned that her great aunt Emma Charley of Blakeney, a sister to her grandfather George Charley, had a daughter who married a Harvey. That of course sent me into Find My Past and I found Emma Charley the daughter of James Charley and Emma Virgo at Blakeney Gloucestershire in the Non-Conformist Register. On the census in 1841 with her brother George three years younger. By 1841 Emma the eldest had six siblings younger than her. I found Emma's marriage to William No[a]kes at Westbury on Severn, Gloucestershire December quarter 1856. Frank Charley Nokes was born Dec quarter 1859 at Bromsgrove. Rosa Clara Nokes was born Mar quarter 1864 at Bromsgrove.  Ernest William Nokes was born Jun quarter 1866 at Bromsgrove. Laura Emma Nokes was born Jun quarter 1868 at Bromsgrove. Kate Maud Nokes was born Mar quarter 1870 at Bromsgrove. 

One of these daughters married into the Harvey family. Laura Emma Nokes married Frank William Harvey Sep quarter 1892 at Bromsgrove. Most of the Charley lines in this book are tracing back to the 1840s when they arrived in Gloucestershire during the Irish Famine times and they were from Northern Ireland. 

Looking back at my Harvey and Charley families; my Harvey family was at Merton Devon where Andrew Rowcliffe married Joan Harvey 8 Jun 1720. Their son Philip married Martha Pearse 9 Apr 1760 at South Molton. Their daughter Elizabeth Rowcliffe married Robert Pincombe 7 Jun 1803 at Bishops Nympton. It was Robert Pincombe's mother Mary Charly that had married John Pincombe 8 Nov 1767 at Bishops Nympton. This Mary Charly is likely the daughter of Richard and Joan Charley born circa 1738 at Combe Martin, Devon. The Devon Charley family was in the Combe Martin area from at least 1699 on as Nutcombe Farm near Combe Martin was in their hands at that time. There does appear to have been a problem with alcohol in the family and the family suffered losses at various times due to that. The family crest that they used is similar to the one used by the then present Belfast Northern Ireland family and the belief is that they came from Belfast before 1699 to this area of North Devon. A DNA study of the Charley family would certainly be interesting. I just found it interesting to see similar names in the two families. I missed that on the first read through. Of my five siblings, the ones that have Irish in their ethnicity as tested by the various companies also have larger and more Pincombe matches than say myself where I have mostly English ancestry with some Scot, some Swedish and Northern European but the English is prominent around 70 to 80%. My Pincombe matches tend to be the smallest comparing me to my four siblings that have tested. DNA does really simplify genealogy to some extent!

Pincombe newsletter will be late

This has been a very busy summer and I am somewhat slow getting going on the Pincombe-Pinkham Newsletter. It will be mid September before it appears unfortunately. I have a few thoughts to pursue and a couple of items that I have neglected to follow up on.

My DNA study on the Pincombe family has actually been quite significant. Over time I have collected DNA matches on nearly every chromosome between my siblings and myself. The yDNA for the John Pincombe line has been well established. John Pincombe was baptized 13 Feb 1728 at Bishops Nympton son of John Pincombe and Grace Manning (they married 20 Mar 1725 at Bishops Nympton). He married Mary Charlie/Charley 8 Nov 1767 at Bishops Nympton and they had six children with yDNA results from two different sons being available to look at (a descendant of son William and a descendant of son Robert). I do not tend to look at the mitochondrial line as the surname changes each generation and not a lot of information can be gleaned on the Pincombe family itself from such a survey of results.

And the downsizing continues

I always wanted to be more involved with the Society of one place studies and do have Bishops Nympton and Upper Clatford listed as my one place studies. However, it is a distraction from my transcription and so I decided that I would also terminate that membership and that will be next April. When the opportunity and time presents itself I can take up the mantle once again if my two favourite villages are available. I have visited both of them when we were in England and I have stories about Upper Clatford that my grandfather told me which makes that one even closer to me.

I am surprised at how freeing separating myself from these responsibilities has become. Another task that I have had for a long time online parish clerks for several parishes including Bishops Nympton and Winterbourne Clenstone. I have a few others but mostly I have stepped away from those others over the past 9 years that my husband has been ill. I shall consider letting these other two go although I have so many records for Bishops Nympton that it does seem a pity to step away from it. I shall consider that one very carefully. Everything that I have for Winterbourne Clenstone is online.

I have nearly 1000 emails in my inbox once again although everyone has been answered. I shall work away at getting back to less than 50 once again. A lot of them can just be reviewed/filed/discarded but I need to work through that process. I do not like to discard/file immediately and that gets me into trouble in terms of a full mailbox.

I already downsized my commitment at FT DNA with regard to administration of DNA studies. I am down to the bare bones there - Blake, Pincombe, H11, Hampshire, T_FGS, and T2. I do almost nothing with the T haplogroup studies these days. There are plenty of hands-on people there. That leaves me with just the four studies and probably a dozen emails a day with them although some days heavier than that. 

I have also after 16 years terminated my continuous membership with Genes Reunited as of May 2020. I really never look at that site these days. It is an excellent site as I have met descendants of all of the siblings of my 2x great grandmother Elizabeth (Rew) Pincombe on that site. All live in England with just Elizabeth coming to Canada as an emigrant in 1850/51. 

I seldom have time to look at the Society of Genealogists' Website and that is something that I want to start doing. I would like to give them my Blake and Pincombe files eventually if they desire them that is.

Pincombe-Pinkham - a singleton family?

As a child growing up my mother learned that there were several different Pincombe family lines. She did not think that they were related. During the 1840s and 1850s several distinct Pincombe families emigrated to Canada and lived in the London, Ontario area. They did not know if they were related and actually assumed that they were not. Now with the possibility of linking families with DNA I have been curious as to whether or not we can find that we do have a common ancestor.

The yDNA Pincombe study at FT DNA has found that there are a couple of distinct lines for Pincombe-Pinkham. The earlier researchers for the Pincombe-one-name-study had produced sixteen charts showing that the two names were used by similar family groups. For instance a Pincombe family at Barnstaple, Devon used the Pinkham spelling after they moved to London, UK. In another case a Pinkham family that emigrated to New Hampshire colony also showed the earlier Pincombe spelling and then later Pinkham.

The tester for my Pincombe line is a descendant of our mutual 3x great grandfather Robert Pincombe (married to Elizabeth Rowcliffe 7 Jun 1803 at Bishops Nympton, Devon). He is my third cousin once removed and my siblings and I match him as anticipated for a third cousin once removed (and better for some of my siblings). That gives us a baseline for the Pincombe family at Bishops Nympton from the latter part of the 1500s to the present. Going back one generation, the parents of Robert Pincombe were John Pincombe and Mary Charlie/Charley who married 8 Nov 1767 at Bishops Nympton. They had four sons and two daughters. A descendant of their son William has also tested his yDNA (fifth cousin to us) and he is a perfect match to my third cousin once removed thus moving back another generation the yDNA match.

My fourth cousin (daughter of the yDNA tester) also tested at Ancestry where there was a match with a descendant of Aaron Pincombe and Elizabeth Withicombe who married 24 May 1802 at St Giles in the Wood. I have not been able to find parents for this Aaron Pincombe but it is interesting that a descendant of this line matched my fourth cousin (but not myself). Unfortunately this kit has now disappeared at Ancestry.

Of interest, following back on my ancestral line takes me to William Pincombe who married Emotte Snow.  This William died in 1602 and was living at East Buckland when he wrote his will which named his seven sons and two daughters. I have only been able to trace down a couple of these sons - Richard (fourth son) is my likely line. I do not know the names of the husbands for the two daughters thus far. Given the number of sons, the possibilities for descendants is quite large in the Pincombe line. I am slowly extracting all the early Pincombe entries.

Lately I have been in correspondence with a possible descendant of Aaron Pincombe and his wife Elizabeth Withicombe although he himself has only officially traced his line back to John Pincombe and Mary Thomas. I suspect this John Pincombe is a son of Aaron Pincombe and Elizabeth Withicombe.

I often wonder how much interest there is within the Pincombe family to pursue a DNA study. It is a large enough family to have a good sized yDNA study but this study grows very slowly.

Philip Rowcliffe (1721 - 1802)

52 Ancestor Challenge - Challenge 42

Blake, King, Coleman, Pearce, Farmer, Mary (unknown), Lambden, Sarah (unknown), Knight, Ellis, Knight, Vincent, Butt, O'Ford, Arnold, Molton, Cotterell, Bartlett, Alderman, Shepherd, Sherwood, Elizabeth (unknown), Happerfield, Collins, Rawlings, Tanner, Dove, Morgan, Lywood, Lanham, unknown, Peck, Pincombe, Charley, Rowcliffe, Pearse, Rew, Moggridge, Siderfin, Kent, Gray, Hilton, Cobb, Sproxton, Routledge, Tweddle, Routledge, Routledge, (unknown) Buller, unknown, Beard, Hemsley, Welch, Brockhouse, Cheatle, Woodcock, unknown Taylor, unknown, Harborne, Lewis, Roberts, Croxall, Lawley, unknown

Philip Rowcliffe was baptized 4 Apr 1721 at Merton the son of Andrew Rowcliffe and Joan Harvey who were themselves married 8 Jun 1720 at Merton. Philip married Martha Pearse 9 Apr 1760 at South Molton and their daughter Elizabeth (baptized 20 May 1777 at Bishops Nympton) married Robert Pincombe  7 Jun 1803 at Bishops Nympton.

Philip and Martha had four children, two baptized  at Bishops Nympton:

Philip born circa 1767 and married Joan Rock 2 May 1803 at Mariansleigh (descendants of this family also emigrated to Canada and were known to my Pincombe ancestors)

George baptized 9 Jul 1774

Elizabeth baptized 20 May 1777

William  born circa 1780

Even now looking more than 10 years later for an actual baptism for the other two children I do not find one for Philip or for William.


Philip was the son of Andrew Rowcliffe and Joan Harvey who were themselves married 8 Jun 1720 at Merton. They baptized five children at Merton:

Philip baptized 4 Apr 1721 and married to Martha Pearse 9 Apr 1760 at South Molton, buried 22 Mar 1802 at South Molton
Mary baptized 30 Apr 1723 and married to William Smale 9 Dec 1754 at Merton
Elizabeth baptized 16 May 1727 and married to Thomas Fraine 25 Jul 1763 at Merton
William baptized 9 Mar 1730 and married to Elizabeth Spare 22 Feb 1764 at Merton, buried 12 Jul 1811 at Merton (82 years of age)
Andrew baptized 11 Jun 1732 at Merton and married to Wilmote Leverton 28 Oct 1766 at Merton

Thinking about these two lines of Smale and Fraine I have never attempted to trace them down so perhaps I will look at that for Philip's siblings. Plus I have not really noted the descendants of Philip, my ancestor, other than my own line. I think that I will create a Rowcliffe tree in Legacy.

The Rowcliffe family is rather interesting Andrew Rowcliffe was likely the Andrew baptized September 1761 at Merton son of Andrew and Mary Rowcliffe. Andrew is likely the Andrew buried 3 Feb 1687 at Merton. Linking this family back to the known Rowcliffe family in Devon has not been accomplished by me. I have gathered a little information however on this family at Merton as I have the Parish Registers for Merton. They begin rather late in 1693

The ancient family of Rowcliffe was found at Yarnscombe which is eight miles from Merton. William Rockley of Yarnscomb married Jone Bagbeare of Bagbeare and they had four sons and one daughter:

Thomas Rocliff of Yearnscomb married to Christian Horne and this is the line that is recorded in the Visitations of Devon 1620. I do not find my Andrew in that line and suspect that he was not descendant of Thomas.

George Rowcliffe living in 1555 and buried by 1620 had two daughters

John Rowcliffe had three sons

Aldered Rowcliffe had four sons

Emme married to unknown

There is a will for Samuell Rowcliffe, yeoman of Merton, probated 24 Jun 1657 which is a must read and will transcribe for this blog post. At a quick glance he has sons named George, Richard and Samuell and a daughter Jone. No mention of Andrew is this will. Could he be a son of George, Richard or Samuell? Of note, George is a forename that was used in the Rowcliffe family along with Philip and William.

Transcriber: Elizabeth Kipp
Date: 18 October 2015
Source: National Archives of the UK - PROB 11/265/584
Testator: Samuell Rowcliffe, Yeoman
Location: Merton, Devon
Date of Will:  25 Nov 1650, Probated 24 Jun 1657

1.   In the name of God Amen
2.   I Samuell Rowcliffe of the Parish of Merton in the Countie of
3.   Devon Yeoman being att present in perfect health and sound of
4.   memorie and minde (thankes be unto Almightie God) doe make
5.   and ordaine this to be my last Will and testament in manner
6.   and forme following Imprimis I recommend my Soule unto the
7.   hands of Almightie God my Maker and Creatour of whome I have
8.   to finde mercie and forgivenes of my sinnes in and through the merritts
9.   of Jesus Christ my Saviour and Redeemer And I bequeath my Bodie
10. to Christian buriall in the parish Church of Merton aforesaid whensoever it
11. shall please God to call me out of this miserible World Item I give and bequeath
12. unto my Wife Jane the Tableboard which stands in my hall and the
13. bord Bedstead and the furniture thereunto belonging which is in the
14. under Roome adioyning unto the Hall and the Ammory which stands in
15. the saide Roome and all the fyrewood which shall happen to be in my
16. Towne place att the time of my decease Which promisses my will is
17. she shall inioy upon Condition that she suffer my Children to inioy the proffitts
18. of my Tenement one Quarter of a yeare after my decease and thereto
19. have her dett of them during that time and not otherwise Item I give
20. and bequeath unto my daughter Jane Thirtie pounds lawfull English
21. monie to be paid her within one yeare after my decease Itemn I give
22. and bequeath unto my daughter Joane Thirtie pounds lawfull English
23. monie to be paid her within one yeare after my decease Item I give and
24. bequeath unto my Sonne George Tenn pounds lawfull English monie to
25. be paid him within one yeare after my decease Item all the rest of my goods
26. and Chattells not herein by me given and bequeathed as aforesaid both
27. moveable and immoveable I give and bequeath unto my Sonns Richard
28. and Samuell ioyntly and equallie whome I make and ordaine Executors
29. of this my last Will and Testament Item my will is that if it please
30. God anie or either of my three Children herein first named shall happen
31. to decease unmarried Then the Legacie by me given to the partie soe
32. deceasyng to be distributed to the Survivour or if two of them happen to decease
33. as aforesaid Then theire Legacies to be given to the Survivour of my
34. Three Children first in  theise presents named In Witnesse of the promisses
35. I doe publish this to be my last Will and Testament And have hereunto
36. sett my hand and Seale The five and twentith day of November An[n]o
37. domini One Thousand Six hundred Fiftie The Signe of Samuell
38. Rowcliffe Teste Thomas Bennett The Signe of Phillip Rowcliffe
39. The Signe of Thomas Upcott
40. Whereas I have by my Lifetime
41. already paid and secured to be payd The marriage portion of my
42. daughter Jone within mentioned my will is That all that Legacies
43.  with mentioned by me bequeathed unto her shall cease and be utterly void
44. from her and remaine due unto my Executors within mentioned And this I
45. doe hereby declare to be my Will and intent In witnesse whereof I have hereunto
46. subscribed The two and twentith day of March One thousand Six hun-
47. dred Fiftie two The Signe of Samuell Rowcliffe In the presence of Thomas
48. Bennett The signe of Thomas Upcott
49. This Will was proved att London The
50. Fower and Twentith day of June In the yeare of our Lord God
51. the yeare of our Lord God One thousand six hundred Fiftie and Seaven
52. before the Judges for probate of Wills and granting Administrations
53. lawfully authorized by the oathes of Richard and Samuell Rowcliffe
54. the Sonns and Sole and only Executors named in the above written Will
55. To whome Administration as all and singular the goods and Chattells and
56. deceased was granted and Committed they being first Legally sworne
57. by vertue of a Commission truly and faythfully to administer the same.

Interesting to find a Phillip Rowcliffe mentioned as a witness although not mentioned in the body of the will. Could Andrew be a son of this Phillip Rowcliffe in that he does name a son Philip? The wills for the Rowcliffe family were mostly lost in the Second World War with the bombing of the Devon Record Office.

There are four other wills that I will transcribe also at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury

1. Thomas Rowcliffe yeoman of Kings Nympton probated 5 Jul 1658

Kings Nympton is just 11 miles from Merton and 6 miles from Bishops Nympton making it a rather interesting will to read as well.

Transcriber: Elizabeth Kipp
Date: 18 October 2015
Source: National Archives of the UK - PROB 11/279/169
Testator: Thomas Rowcliffe, Yeoman
Location: Kings Nympton, Devon
Date of Will:  10 Mar 1657, Probated 5 Jul 1658

1.    In the name of God Amen
2.    the Tenth day of March in the yeare of our Lord One thousand six
3.   hundred fiftie and seaven I Thomas Rowcliffe of Kingsnimpton in
4.   the County of Devon Yeoman being sicke of bodie but of good and perfect
5.   memory thanckes be to God And Calling to remembrence the uncertaine
6.   Estate of this transitorie Life and that all flesh must yeeld unto death
7.   when it shall please God to Call doe make constitute ordaine and declare
8.   this my last Will and testament in manner and forme following revo-
9.   king and annulling by theise presents all and every Testament and
10. Testaments Will and Wills heretofore by me made and declared either
11. by word or by writing and this to be taken only for my last Will and Testam[en]t
12. and none other And first being sorrie from the bottome of my hart for
13. my sinns past most humbly desiring forgivenes for the same give and
14. Committ my soule unto Almightie God my Saviour and Redeemer
15. In whome and by the merritts of Jesus Christ I trust and believe assuredly
16. to be saved and to have full remission and forgivenes of all my sinns
17. And that my soule with my Body att the generall day of resurection shall
18. rise againe with ioy and through the merritts of Christ death and passion
19. possesse and inheritt the Kingdome of heaven prepared for his Flock and chosen
20. child my Bodie to be buried in such place where it shall please my Executor
21. hereafter named to appoynte and for the settling of my Temporall Estate
22. and such Goods Chattells and debts as it hath pleased God farr above my
23. deserts to bestowe upon mee I doe order give and dispose the same in manner
24. and forme following First I will that all those debts I owe in right or in Con-
25. science to anie manner of person or persons whatsoever shall be well and
26. truly Contented and payd or desired to be paid within Convenient time
27. after my decease by my Executor hereafter named Item I give and bequeath
28. unto Christopher Lymbre Elizabeth Lymbre and Marian Limbre Sonne
29. and daughters of Christopher Limbre deceased Thirtie pounds a peece
30. to each of them to be paid within one yeare after my decease (that is
31. to say) Tenn pounds a peece to every of them the said Christopher Elizabeth
32. and Maryan above the Twenty pounds a peece given them by their sayd
33. by theire said Father  Christopher Limbre Item I give and bequeath
34. unto Mary Limbre daughter of the aforesaid Christopher Limbre and
35. Isott Tipper daughter of Anthonie Tipper deceased by vertue of anie Lease
36. or Leases all the right Estate title terme and interest that I now have of and
37. in a Certaine Tenement Called or Commonly knowne by the name of
38. East heale situate lying and being in kingsnymptom aforesaid to be held
39. by them ioyntly during the terme of theire naturall lives yeelding and
40. paying yearely and everie yeare unto Elizabeth Rowcliffe my now Wife
41. the Summe of tenn pounds by fower even and equall portions the said terme
42. to Commence and beginne immediatelie from and after my decease and
43. if shall happen that the said Mary Limbre and Isott Tipper shall die
44. before Elizabeth my Wife my will is that my Land being the Sixth part
45. of the abovesaid Tenement called East Heale be charged with the above said
46. annuitie of tenn pounds a yeare hereby given and bequeathed unto Elizabeth
47. my said Wife Item I give and bequeath unto the aforesaid Mary Lymebere
48. and Isott Tipper the Inheritance of my Land in Eastheale aforesaid being
49. the Sixth part of the said Tenement (that is to say the said Inheritance
50. to the longest liver of either of them the said Mary Limbre and Isott Tipper
51. and to the heires of the Survivour of them for ever Item I give and bequeath
52. unto Ananias Kelly Frances Kelly Agnes Elyanor Joane Elizabeth and  
53. Sarah Kelly Sonne and daughters of John Kelly deceased the Sume of
54. Six shillings and Eight pence a peece to every of them to be paid within one yeare
55. after my decease Item whereas I have alone since given and bequeathed my
56. said Tenement unto Mary Limbre and Isott Tipper presently after my
57. death it is now my will and testament that my said Wife Elizabeth shall
58. have the use and proffitts of all the said Tenement for the terme of two
59. yeares after my death for the payment of my debts and Legacies anie
60. thing in this my will and Testament mentioned in anie wise not with-
61. standing Item I give and bequeath unto the poore of the parish of Kingsnympton
62. aforesaid the summe of twenty shillings to be imployed for them as a
63. stock Item I give and bequeath unto Daniell Rowcliffe William and Thomas
64. Rowcliffe Sonnes of William Rowcliffe deceased six shillings and Eight pence
65. a peece to every of them to be paide within one yeare after my decease and
66. alsoe I give and bequeath unto Anthony Tipper sonne of Anthony Tipper
67. deceased the summe of six shillings and Eight pence to be paid likewise within
68. one yeare after my decease Item all the rest of my goods and Chattells
69. not hereby disposed of moveable and immoveable I doe give and bequeath
70. unto Elizabeth my Wife whome I doe hereby constitute and appoynte to be
71. my lawfull and sole Executrix witnesse my hand and Seale the day
72. and yeare above said in presence of those whose names are hereunder
73. written the marke of Thomas Rowcliffe Witnesses hereunto Jenner Smith
74. witnes John Thorne John Cole Lewes Steeven
75. This will was proved in London the
76. fifth day of the Month of July in the yeare of our Lord God
77. One thousand six hundred Fiftie and Eight before the Judges for probate
78. of Wills and graunting Administrations lawfully authorized by the
79. oath of Elizabeth Rowcliffe the Relict and sole and onlie Executrix
80. named in the above written last Will and testament of the deceased
81. To whome Administration of all and Singular the goods Chattells
82. and debts of the said deceased was graunted and Committed she
83. being first legally sworne by vertue of a Commission truly and
84. faythfully to administer the same

Looking into Find My Past there are a number of interesting Rowcliffe entries at Kings Nympton including this family mentioned in the will above - father William Rowcliffe with sons Daniel, William and Thomas. Eastheale is mentioned in this will and will try to figure out if Little Heale where the Rowcliffe family lived near Bishops Nympton is associated with this property. The answer is no. Little Heale is close to Bishops Nympton and East Hele is north of Kings Nympton just below the highway to the west of South Molton.

2. Thomas Rowcliffe yeoman of Burrington probated 17 Aug 1653 PROB 11/228/447

Transcriber: Elizabeth Kipp
Date: 18 October 2015
Source: National Archives of the UK - PROB 11/228/447
Testator: Thomas Rowcliffe, Yeoman
Location: Burrington, Devon
Date of Will:  25 Nov 1650, Probated 17 Aug 1653

1.    In the name of God Amen I Thomas Rowcliffe of
2.    Burrington in the Countie of Devon yeoman being perfect memory doe publish
3.   declare and sett fourth this my last Will and Testament in manner and
4.   forme following Imprimis I give and bequeath my Soule unto Almightie God
5.   my Creator and my body to Christian Buryall Item I give and graunt
6.   deed and bequeath unto Latice my daughter all that messuage tenement
7.   lands meadowes pastures feedings commons of pasture in both Hetherleigh Moor
8.   and Totte and herbe garden thereunto belonging with theappurtenances in the present
9.   possession and occupation of Allexander Taylder or his assignees or assigne Scituae
10. lying and being within the foresaid parish of Hatherleigh and alsoe all that
11. Messuags Tenements Lands Meadows Pastures feedings and hereditaments common
12. of pastures in Hatherleigh Moor with thappurtenancs now in the tenure and
13. occupation of ____ Hatch gent or his assignees or assigne To have and to
14. hold the said Messuage Tenement Cottage and other the premisses with thappurtenances
15. now in the Tenure of Alexander Taylder imeadiatly from and after the
16. death or decease of Agnes Taylder daughter of the sayd Allexander Taylder
17. for and during the Terme of one and Twenty yeares from this time ensueing
18. fully to be constituted and ended by and under the year by rent of twenty eight
19. shillings and foure pence to be paid quarterly by equall porcions to be
20. devided and by and under the  repairing sustaining and mayntaininge
21. of all and Singular the said demised premisses in all needfull and necessary
22. reparations during the terme hereby granted And Alsoe the said Messuage
23. Tenement and premisses together with comons of Pastures in
24. Hatherleigh Moor with all and Singular thappurtances now in the tenure
25. and possession of _____ Hatch Imeadiatly following and after the death
26. decease or any other determination of Mary the now Wife of the sayd
27. Hatch and George Stablake Sonne of John Stablake late of Hatherleigh
28. deceased for and duringe the like terme of one yeare fully to be contracted
29. and ended by and under the yearly renting seaventeene shillings of lawfull English
30. money to be paid quarterly by equall portions to be devided by and under the
31. reparing sustaining and mainteyninge of all and Singular the said last Demised
32. premisses with needfull and necessary reparations when and another shall
33. require provided allwaies and my Will and meaneing is that if my sonne John
34. Rowcliffe who is my heire apparent doe  att any time within the time of two
35. yeares before he shall accomplish his age of one and twenty yeares Well and truly
36. Consent Satisfie and paye or Cause to be paid unto the said Latecia my
37. daughter and his sister soe much Current English money as shall accomplish make
38. of all and compleate upp the issues and proffitts which shall be payd and wherby
39. made. All payments Taxes and demands being deducted the Sum of one hundred pounds
40. out of the sayd Messuage Land and Tenement hereby mentioned to be Granted
41. shall be frustrated made voyd and discontinued to all intents and purposes Item
42. I give bequeath devise and Allott out Fortye pound to be Bestowed upon and in
43. some Messuage Land or Tenement for the use and behoofe therein expressed that is to
44. saye for the lives of Joane my Wife John Rowcliffe my Sonn and Latecia my
45. daughter and my Will is that the said Joanne my Wife is to enioy the Whole Estate
46. for and during her Naturall life provided allwaies that if the sayd Forty pound
47. be not bestowed in ___ within the space of three yeares after my death According as
48. that is above expressed that then my Will is that the sayd Somme of Forty pounds
49. shall be imployed for the best bennefitt of my Soone and Daughter for their
50. better Maintenance Item I give to Margeret Rowcliffe my Sister three pounds
51. To be paid Within two yeares after my death Item I give to Elizabeth Rowcliffe
52. my Sister three pounds to be paid to her Within two yeares after my death Item
53. I give and bequeath unto Arthur Rowcliffe my Brother three pounds to be paid
54. lhim Within the space of two yeares after my death Item I give and
55. bequeath unto John Rowcliffe my Sonne my best brasse pott Item I give
56. and bequeath unto Latecia my daughter my best brasse pann Item I give and
57. bequeath and doe alott twenty pounds to be Imployd for the best Bennifitts
58. ______ maintenance of my two children during their minoritye
59. and for what sums of money shall be left at the end Twenty pounds after
60. such time to my children shall be to gett them Maintenance my Will and
61. Meaninge is that the same shall be to and for the ______ sett and behoofe
62. of John Rowcliffe my Sonne wholly And I doe desir Arthur Rowcliffe and John
63. Delbridge to have the ordering putting fourth and employing the sayd summe of
64. twenty pounds for the best benefitt of my sayd Children And to be Trustees for that
65. purpose in the best manner they may Item I give to Thomas Delbridge my
66. Freind Twenty shillings to be paid within two years after my death
67. Item All the Rest of my goods and Chattells not before herein given and bequeathed
68. I give and bequeath unto Joane my Wife and her I doe make my whole and
69. sole Executrix to doe my desir paid my Legacies discharged and my Funerall
70. expenses freed Provided alwayes and my Will and Meaning is that in Case
71. that Joane my Wife shall Marry Within one and twenty yeares after my
72. death that then all such goods Chattells and moneys which shall be left and remayne
73. after such time as my debts Legacies and Funerall expences being paid and discharged
74. shall be to and for the use benefitt and behoofe of my two children John and Latecia
75. And the Survivor of them And I doe desire Arthur Rowcliffe my Brother and John
76. Delbridge to see how my last Will duly performed observed for wittnesse I the sayd
77. Thomas Rowcliffe to here unto sett my hand and Seale the eight day of June in
78. the yeare of our Lord God one Thousand Six hundred Fiftie and two the signe of
79. Thomas Rowcliffe Sealed Signed and declared and published in the presence of us
80. Henry underdowne the signe of John Alford the signe of William Penecott
81. of Burrington Arthur Rowcliffe
82. This Will was proved at Westmynster before the Judges for Probate of Wills and
83. granting Amons the 17th day of August 1653 by the oath of Joan Rowcliffe
84. Sole Executrix within named in the said to whom was committed Admon of all and Singular
85. the goods Chattells and debts of the sayd Thomas deceased she being first Sworne by Commission
86. duly to Administer the same.

This will also very interesting gives me a small family tree with Thomas the testator having a brother Arthur and a sister Margaret and his children Leticia and John. He is likely the Thomas Rowcliffe son of John Rowclyffe and Lattice Isaac who were themselves married  4 Feb 1600 at Atherington. I found three baptisms for this couple:

Catorne Rowclyffe baptized 22 May 1603 at Burrington
Margaret Rowclyffe baptized 3 Oct 1605 at Burrington
Elizabeth Rowclyffe baptized 24 Jan 1607 at High Bickington

There is an Ann Rowclyffe married to William Hearing 2 Jul 1638 at Burrington


3. George Rowcliffe yeoman of Bishops Nympton probated 28 Nov 1849 PROB 11/2103/230

Continuing on with the last two wills and this next one is for George Rowcliffe yeoman of Bishops Nympton and he is the son of  Philip Rowcliffe and Martha Pearse and hence my 3x great granduncle. He was baptized 9 Jul 1774 at Bishops Nympton and buried 11 Oct 1849 at South Molton.

Transcriber: Elizabeth Kipp
Date: 18 October 2015
Source: National Archives of the UK - PROB 11/2103/230
Testator: George Rowcliffe, Yeoman
Location: Bishops Nympton, Devon
Date of Will:  2 Jan 1841, Probated 28 Nov 1849

1.   This is the last Will and Testament
2.    of me George Rowcliffe of Bishops Nympton in the County of Devon
3.   Yeoman I give devise and bequeath unto my Nephews John Rowcliffe and
4.   George Rowcliffe late of Woolfardisworthy in the said County Yeoman (Sons
5.   of my Brother William Rowcliffe and their respective heirs executors admin-
6.   istrators and assigns All those my messuages tenements mills and farms
7.   commonly called  or known by the names of Bridge Mole Mills Little Heale
8.   Mole Park and West Silcombe situated lying and being in the several
9.   parishes of Rose Ash and Bishops Nympton in the said County of
10. Devon or one of them And also all other my freehold copyhold and
11. leasehold messauges lands tenements and hereditaments and real estate
12. situated in the parishes of Rose Ash and Bishops Nympton aforesaid and
13. elsewhere And also All my Goods Chattles and Personal Estate
14. and Property whatsoever and wheresoever Subject nevertheless to and
15. charged with the payment of all my just debts the expences of my
16. funeral and of proving this my Will To hold the same (subject and
17. charged as aforesaid) unto and to the use of my said Nephews John
18. Rowcliffe and George Rowcliffe as Tenants in Common and not adjoint
19. Tenants and their respective heirs executors administrators and assigns
20. for ever And I hereby nominate constitute and appoint my said nephews
21. John Rowcliffe and George Rowcliffe Executors of this my last Will
22. and Testament And lastly I hereby revoke and make void all other Wills
23. by me heretofore made In witness whereof I the said George Rowcliffe
24. the Testator have hereunto subscribed and set my hand and seal this
25. second day of January in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
26. hundred and forty one George Rowcliffe Signed Sealed
27. Published and Declared by the said George Rowcliffe the Testator as
28. and for his last Will and Testament in the presence of us present at the
29. same time who at hios request in his presence and in the presence of
30. each other have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses thereto
31. J G Heard  James Pearse  J Galliford
32. This is a Codicil to the last Will and Testament
33. of me George Rowcliffe of Bishops Nympton in the County of Devon
34. Yeoman which will is dated the second day of January One thousand
35. eight hundred and forty one I give and bequeath unto my niece Betsey
36. Elworthy wife of Richard Elworthy of Bratton Fleming the sum of two
37. hundred pounds for her own separate use for which her receipt along
38. shall be a good discharge I direct the same sum to be paid by my
39. Executors in my said Will monies out of my residuary estates at the
40. end of twelve months after my death and which I charge with the
41. payment thereof I ratify and confirm my said Will in every respect
42. except so far as the same is hereby altered and I direct this Codicil
43. to be annexed thereto and taken as part thereof In witness whereof
44. I have hereto set my hand this twenty seventh day of August One
45. thousand eight hundred and forty nine The Mark of George
46. Rowcliffe Signed by the said George Rowcliffe the Testator as and
47. for a Codicil to be annexed to and taken as part of his Will in the
48. presence of us present at the same time who at his request in his
49. presence and in the presence of each other have hereto subscribed our
50. names as Witnesses J Galliford Wm Oram Jr
51. Proved at London with a Codicil 28th November 1849
52. before the Judge by the Oath of John Rowcliffe the Nephew one
53 of the Executors to whom Admon was granted having been
54. first sworn by Comon duly to administer. Power reserved of
55. making the like grant to George Rowcliffe the Nephew also the
56. other Executor when he shall apply for the same.

This was rather interesting about Betsey Elworthy as she was a daughter of Robert Pincombe and Elizabeth Rowcliffe (and my 3x great grandparent). Betsey and Richard Elworthy were to emigrate to Canada in 1855.  George, the testator, is 75 years of age at his death. Philip, his eldest brother is still living as is William father of George and John the legatees. Elizabeth Rowcliffe Pincombe died in 1823. This is a rather interesting family as the father of the testator Philip (and my 4x great grandfather) was 39 when he married and 56 when my 3x great grandmother was born. He was 81 years of age when he was buried 22 Mar 1802 at South Molton. His wife Martha Pearse was fifteen years younger than he was. The eldest son of Philip and Martha also Philip is the line that emigrated to Huron County by 1851. I haven't done any work on this family to determine when they did arrive. The next will is for Philip Rowcliffe.

4. Philip Rowcliffe gentleman of Mariansleigh probated 2 May 1851 PROB 11/2133/117

Transcriber: Elizabeth Kipp
Date: 18 October 2015
Source: National Archives of the UK - PROB 11/2133/117
Testator: Philip Rowcliffe gentleman
Location: Mariansleigh, Devon
Date of Will:  1 Jun 1848, Probated 2 May 1851

1.   This is the last Will and Testament
2.   of me Philip Rowcliffe of Mariansleigh in the County of Devon
3.   Gentleman I give and bequeath unto my   daughter Charlotte Rowcliffe
4.   and my Nephews John Rowcliffe and George Rowcliffe sons of my brother
5.   William Rowcliffe their executors administrators and assigns the sum of five
6.   hundred pounds upon the following trusts viz as to and concerning One
7.   hundred pounds upon the following trusts for my Son John Rowcliffe for his
8.   own use and as to and concerning the sum of one hundred pounds other
9.   part thereof Upon trust for my grand children John Rowcliffe James
10. Rowcliffe and George Rowcliffe (children of my said Son John) to be
11. equally divided between them as tenants in common and in case any or
12. either of my said Grandchildren shall be under the age of twenty one
13. years without having been married then Upon trust for the other or other
14. of my said Grandchildren and if more than one in equal shares and as to and
15. and concerning the sum of two hundred pounds (other part of the said sum
16. of five hundred pounds Upon trust to permit and empower my said daughter
17. Charlotte Rowcliffe to receive the annual income of the said sum or other
18. stocks funds and securities whereon the same shall be invested for the term
19. of her natural life And after her death then as to the said sum of two
20. hundred pounds and the stocks funds and securities or upon which
21 same shall be invested Upon trust for all the children of my said Son
22. John Rowcliffe to be equally divided between them as tenants in common
23. and if any of them shall die under the age of twenty one years without
24. having been married then Upon trust as to as well the share
25. originally limited under this Executory Trust to any and every child
26. so expired for the others or other of the same children and if more than
27. one in equal shares and as to and concerning the sum of one hundred
28. pounds the residue of the said sum of five hundred pounds and the stocks
29. funds and securities in or upon which the same shall be invested Upon
30. trust to permit and empower my daughter Betsey Buckingham to receive
31. the annual income of the said sum of One hundred pounds or the stocks
32. funds and securities in or upon which the same shall be invested for
33. the term of her natural life and after her death then as to the same
34. sum of One hundred pounds and the said stocks funds and securities
35. Upon trust for the child if only one and if more than one all the children
36. of my said daughter Betsey Buckingham to be equally divided
37. between them as Tenants in Common if any or eith of them
38. shall die under the age of twenty one years without having been
39. married Then upon trust as to as well the share originally limited
40. under the prepreceding trust as the share or shares eventually limited
41. under this Executory trust to any and every child so dying for the others or
42. other of the children of my said daughter Betsey Buckingham and if
43. more than one in equal shares I empower my said Trustees to invest
44. the said sum of five hundred pounds or so much and such parts or part
45. thereof as shall remain in their hands in their her or his names or name
46. in or upon any of the public stocks funds or securities of the United
47. Kingdom or in or upon any real or other good securities or security at
48. interest with liberty for the said trustees or trustee in their her or his dis-
49. cretion to vary and transpose the investments from time to time for any
50. other investment of the preceding description I give and bequeath
51. All my Goods Chattels and Personal Estate whatsoever (subject to
52. the payment of my debts my funeral and testamentary expences and
53. the said legacy or legacies unto my said daughter Charlotte Rowcliffe her
54. executors administrators and assigns for her and their own use I
55. appoint my said daughter Charlotte Rowcliffe Executrix of this my
56. Will and I revoke all other Wills by me made in Witness whereof
57. I the said Philip Rowcliffe the Testator have hereunto subscribed and
58. set my hand and seal this first day of July One thousand eight hun-
59. dred and forty eight Philip Rowcliffe proved declared published
60. and declared by the above name Philip Rowcliffe (the Testator) as and
61. for his last Will and Testament in the presence of us (present at the
62. same time who at his request in his presence and in the presence of
63. each other have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses thereto
64. James Pearse South Molton Devon F Hartnoll Jr
65. Proved at London 2nd May 1851 befrore the Judge by the Oath of
66. Charlotte Rowcliffe Spinster the daughter the sole Executrix to whom Admon
67. was granted having been first sworn by Common duly to administer.

Again this is my third great granduncle. He married Joan Rock 2 May 1803 at Mariansleigh. The three children identified in the will:

Charlotte baptized 26 Dec 1804 at Bishops Nympton
John baptized 22 Oct 1810 at Rose Ash (he emigrated to Canada, was married twice and I have 15 children in total for him)
Betsy born at Rose Ash circa 1812 and married to Joseph Fairchild Buckingham 4 Apr 1831 at Mariansleigh.

The descendants of John with some born in Huron County (Usborne) and the rest in England would be my fifth cousins. I should do a bit of tracing down in these families as it could be accounting for some of my Canadian matches. John had an enormous family.

Solving my Rowcliffe line back before Andrew does not appear to be readily done. Interesting that there is a Philip Rowcliffe at Merton when Samuel signs his will in 1650. Andrew, the father of my Philip Rowcliffe would perhaps have been born between 1640 and 1660.  He is likely the Andrew Rowcliffe who was buried 3 Feb 1687 at Merton. Is Philip a brother to Samuel the testator in the first will transcribed above?

Find My Past has the following rather interesting entries for the Rowcliffe family at Merton between 1560 and 1640:

Will for Andrew Rowcliff 1687 Court of the Archdeaconry of Barnstaple
Burial for Andrew Rowcliff 3 Feb 1687
Burial for Samuel Rowcliff 2 Jan 1687
Will for Samuel Rowcliff  1692 Court of the Archdeaconry of Barnstaple
Burial for George Rowcliffe 27 Nov 1697
Burial for William Rowcliffe 10 May 1716

Both of these wills are lost in the bombing of the Record Office at Exeter unfortunately. Proximity is always interesting but can not assume this is all one family. If you then enter just Devon into the search engine for Rowcliffe on Find My Past between 1560 and 1640 there are 281 results but most wills for this family were lost in the bombing.

A search on Rowcliffe looking for something written earlier on the family and I disovered this book which is at the Devon Record Office presumably with the closure of the WestCounty Record Office:

White, D.M. A family record. Landford: The Author [1996] 1 vol: ill, maps, ports. [Raymond: Chapter on Routleff/Rowcliff/Rowtcliffe family of Devon] [Westcountry Studies Library sx929.2/ROU]

I have sent a note to the Devon Record Office and to the Devon research group on rootsweb to see if I might be able to discover more about this book.

In the meantime I can see my Rowcliffe line just so far and the rest is hidden to me but perhaps revealed one day.

Ancestry of Philip Rowcliffe:

1. Elizabeth BLAKE
2. Helen Louise PINCOMBE (b 18 Oct 1916) - Westminster Township Middlesex County Ontario Canada
3. John Routledge PINCOMBE (b 10 Sep 1872)- Lobo Township Middlesex County Ontario Canada
4. William Robert PINCOMBE (b 11 Jun 1837)- Molland Devon England
5. John PINCOMBE (b 5 Jul 1808)- Bishops Nympton Devon England
6. Elizabeth (Betty) ROWCLIFFE (b 20 May 1777) - Bishops Nympton Devon England
7. Philip ROWCLIFFE (b 4 Apr 1721) - Merton Devon England
8. Andrew ROWCLIFFE (pre 1687)
perhaps
9. Andrew ROWCLIFFE

Mary Charley/Charlie (1738 - 1797 or 1803)

52 Ancestor Challenge - Challenge 41

Blake, King, Coleman, Pearce, Farmer, Mary (unknown), Lambden, Sarah (unknown), Knight, Ellis, Knight, Vincent, Butt, O'Ford, Arnold, Molton, Cotterell, Bartlett, Alderman, Shepherd, Sherwood, Elizabeth (unknown), Happerfield, Collins, Rawlings, Tanner, Dove, Morgan, Lywood, Lanham, unknown, Peck, Pincombe, Charley, Rowcliffe, Pearse, Rew, Moggridge, Siderfin, Kent, Gray, Hilton, Cobb, Sproxton, Routledge, Tweddle, Routledge, Routledge, (unknown) Buller, unknown, Beard, Hemsley, Welch, Brockhouse, Cheatle, Woodcock, unknown Taylor, unknown, Harborne, Lewis, Roberts, Croxall, Lawley, unknown

I have known the name Mary Charley/Charlie since childhood in terms of her being the wife of John Pincombe father of Robert Pincombe my three times great grandfather and the father of the emigrant John Pincombe who came to Canada with his family in 1850/51. It must have been a name that intrigued my mother because she retained that name from her childhood. Her father had died when she was just eight years old although it was likely reinforced by family gatherings during her childhood.  She remembered seeing a Family Bible which traced this Pincombe line back to John Pincombe and Grace Manning and their marriage took place at Bishops Nympton 20 Mar 1725. The thought crosses my mind that such a Bible would have had to cross with John Pincombe when he emigrated to Canada but the only Bible I have seen for the Pincombe family is held by my half-second cousin and I have copies of the family pages in that Bible. I do remember seeing that particular Bible as a child but do not recall anything other than the pages for which I have images. It is possible that there was a loose page in that Bible which showed the family line as this was a family that found their genealogical information to be very important particularly the spelling of their surname! There were three sons and two daughters of John Pincombe the emigrant (all were born in England) and I have never met most of the descendants. We did, some of us, get together to prepare a bio for the Pincombe Family when the Westminster and Delaware History Books were published and representatives of each of the sons were present at that gathering. I wrote the bio but had imput from everyone. The slant was basically on the Pincombe family which stayed in the Westminster area (my own line had moved into London, Ontario after the death of my grandfather in 1925). The two daughter's lines were not consulted mostly because none of us knew descendants that lived closeby.

I have had two recent communications from possible cousins on the Charley line. The first was as a result of an autosomal DNA match with an individual still living in Devon England where Mary Charley was likely born and certainly died. Mary was buried at Bishops Nympton Parish Church.The second is descendant of the Charley line in Jamaica and this line traces back to Combe Martin, Devon.

Information on possible Mary Charley from Find My Past:

Mary Charley baptized 11 Nov 1738 at Combe Martin daughter of Richard and Joan
Mary Chorly baptized 27 May 1741 at Tiverton St Peter daughter of William
Mary Chaarley baptized 5 Sep 1747 at Tawstock daughter of John and Grace
Mary Chorley baptized 15 Jun 1743 at Great Torrington daughter of George and Margaret

An exercise apparently not done by me earlier! at least not with varying the surname. Tawstock is 13 miles from Bishops Nympton where John Pincomb lived and where he married Mary Charlie in 1767. Tiverton is 14 miles from Bishops Nympton. Great Torrington is 17 miles from Bishops Nympton. Combe Martin is 18 miles from Bishops Nympton. All are within equal distance from Bishops Nympton and all are born in a time interval that would work for the marriage. Richard is a name that is used for the second last son of Robert Pincombe (third son of Mary). William is the name of her second son and John is the name of her first son and husband. George is the third son of Robert (third son of Mary). All the forenames do occur in the family. I will have to eliminate each of these Marys to see if that is helpful.

Mary signed the marriage register with a distinct hand but she signed it as Mary Pincombe unfortunately. The priest has written her surname as Charlie on both the Banns Register and the Marriage Register.

What happened to the four Marys listed above:

Mary Charley buried 3 Feb 1746 at  Parracombe
Mary Charley banns read at Goodleigh and the marriage 5 Nov 1759 to Robert Beard of Symbridge
Mary Charley married Joseph Jago 31 Jan 1765 at Kingskerswell
Mary Charley buried 15 Jul 1769 at Torquay St Marychurch
Mary Charley married at Tawstock 1 Sep 1772 a George Rogers
Mary Churley born circa 1740 and buried 7 Mar 1817 at Uffculme
Mary Charlie married John PIncomb 8 Nov 1767 at Bishops Nympton
Mary Churley buried 20 Jan 1792 at Uffculme
Mary Churly married 4 Jan 1771 to Robert Jordan at Culmstock
Mary Shirley married 26 Oct 1759 to John Whellan at St Andrew Plymouth
Mary Cherlie banns read at Bishops Nympton 27 Sep 1767 John Pincomb
Mary Chorley buried 13 May 1757 at Tiverton St Peter
Mary Chorley married 3 Apr 1763 William Mogford at Bampton
Mary Chorley married 26 Jul 1767 John Moore at Hartland
Mary Chorley married 8 Jun 1772 William Fulford at Tiverton

I am left with two of the Marys - one baptized at Combe Martin and the second baptized at Great Torrington. It is definitely interesting that a Mary Chorley married a John Moore in 1767 at Hartland. Hartland is 15 miles from Great Torrington and 2 miles from Bishops Nympton. The spelling of the surname is distinct for each of these marriages although Charlie is the priest's choice for the spelling as Mary signed her name Mary Pincombe. So is this my Mary?:

Mary Charley baptized 11 Nov 1738 at Combe Martin daughter of Richard and Joan

I never see the name Joan used in this family. I never see the name Richard used in this family until the grandsons of John and Mary are born to Robert Pincombe their third son and Elizabeth Rowcliffe and Richard and Elizabeth name their 5th son Richard. So a mystery there perhaps.  There is a Richard Charley buried 15 Apr 1765 at West Buckland (2 years before the marriage of John Pincombe and Mary Charlie). He left a will which was probated in 1768 and, of course, lost in the bombing of the Exeter Record Office during World War II. It might have been helpful if Mary Pincombe was his heir! There is another Richard Charley buried 16 Nov 1785 at West Buckland. I couldn't find a baptism for Richard Charley on the Find My Past website that would fit. West Buckland is 11 miles from Combe Martin and 8 miles from Bishops Nympton.

An earlier blog I had set my sights on Hugh Charley of Combe Martin as the father of my Mary but the records on Find My Past do not support this idea (they are shown on Family Search but are a patron submission). I have a published book for the Charley Family and there is mention of the Charley Family in North Devon. The chapter is interesting and written in a folksy style and mentions a couple of record groups including the Churchwardens at Combe Martin:

1699 John Charley
1714 Richard Charley
1729 Richard Charley
1730 Richard Charley
1814 John Charley
1815 John Charley
1820 John Charley
1822 John Charley

Evidence that Richard Charley was at Combe Martin along with the baptism of Mary. Nutcombe Farm at Combe Martin is mentioned and I did find the mention of a Nutcombe which is mentioned under Combe Martin on the Genuki site and 10 miles from West Buckland. Was Richard the father of my Mary; he appears to have had a son Richard perhaps as well. There were still Pincombe families in this area at this time who were related to my John Pincombe. Does location play into a decision?

All of the other Mary Charleys born in the right time period have been eliminated. This Mary baptized at Combe Martin appears to have survived. Marrying at her husband's parish might not be that unusual especially as her father is deceased. She could be living with relatives at Bishops Nympton as she is said to be of Bishops Nympton on the marriage registration and banns.

Is John Charley the father of Richard Charley? Is Hugh Charley the father of John Charley and the emigrant from Ireland mentioned in the book Romance of the Charley Family?

http://kippeeb.blogspot.ca/2012/04/romance-of-charley-family-charley.html

The burial date for Mary can not yet be determined as there are two burials at Bishops Nympton in this time period and no age mentioned. Again so much material lost in the bombing of Exeter Record Office.

1. Elizabeth BLAKE
2. Helen Louise PINCOMBE (b 18 Oct 1916) - Westminster Township Middlesex County Ontario Canada
3. John Routledge PINCOMBE (b 10 Sep 1872)- Lobo Township Middlesex County Ontario Canada
4. William Robert PINCOMBE (b 11 Jun 1837)- Molland Devon England
5. John PINCOMBE (b 5 Jul 1808)- Bishops Nympton Devon England
6. Robert PINCOMBE (b 4 Oct 1775) - Bishops Nympton Devon England
7. Mary CHARLEY (b 11 Nov 1738) - Combe Martin Devon England
possibly
8. Richard CHARLEY