Ancestry matches and Pencombe

 I did work on the Pencombe family in Herefordshire and Devonshire for a few hours pulling out the data and adding it to the chapter. I contemplated ordering one document but did not do so yet. Prepared an interesting table also for the chapter. Then I decided to move to the Ancestry matches that I made up into a chart yesterday. With four people tested there are a lot of matches in four months since I last did the same - 36 matches in total. They tend to be well mixed in the four lines actually so always something interesting to look at for each line. The larger ones tend to be paternal which could be surprising as my father was an only child and we did not have any first cousins. But on my mother's side her brother did not have any children and her father was the only surviving child (although he did have a half-sister (so half second cousins there). I got through all of the matches once and now I just need to check to see if there are any matches less than 20 cM which will not show up in the 4th -6th cousin range. With the use of TIMBER the overall size of the match can be reduced by as much as 50% so I do tend to collect right to the 20 cM and the extras just to see if all of the siblings are matching an individual or just one or two or three. 

Good exercise day and completed everything plus adding in my ten flights of stairs (not continuous as I must go up and down and then up again and down but it does appear to be good exercise). I got the idea from visiting the museum the other weekend. I wasn't tired doing all the stairs but did rather realize how good the exercise was. 

Today finish the ancestry table and think about the Pincombe-Pinkham Newsletter which is due tomorrow; plus write it likely as I have ideas in mind. Then work on the le Blak family chapter. Funny that I am at that point in both books of looking at the mediaeval family period but perhaps not surprising because I am working somewhat in tandem although the two families are considerably different. 

We had our flash freeze and now at -13 celsius after a high yesterday of +14 celsius. Since I did not actually go outside I have not particularly noticed the change except the furnace did not run very often until the freeze came. 

Early morning exercises completed and I have a second cup of tea to drink with my Latin which is next. 

Another day in God's world and the Lenten Readings have been fabulous. They actually talk a lot about the time of Israel in the Bible which was so coincidental I think.

Chapter 12 - The Charleys of Coventry

 Chapter 12

The Charleys of Coventry

On one occasion, when visiting the Coventry District Nursing Association, the writer heard that a Miss Elizabeth Randall over 80 years of age helped the nurses one day a week with mending and sewing. She was connected with the Charleys and with the Neville Chamberlain family of Birmingham and spent some of her time at their home in the New Forest. She passed on the enquiry about her family to Mrs. Dora Charley, the wife of Ernest Charley, 153 Lythalls Lane, Coventry, who said that her father-in-law understood the original Charley family came over from France in 1685. They were Huguenots. Her father-in-law knew the Charleys in South Moulton in Devon and often talked of them. His grandfather remembered as the happiest day of his life when he was 12 years old leading his uncle’s horse through the streets of Ilfracombe, following his return from the battle of Waterloo. A Charley had once lived in Coventry and was a ribbon weaver. As Coventry was a centre where the Huguenots settled, it is probable that he was a refuge from France. It was said he had very beautiful hands. This is an interesting fact because, from many sources, it has been heard that this is a hereditary characteristic of the Charleys. Mrs. Dora Charley stated her husband’s family had very shapely hands.

The following is a copy of a sampler in the possession of the family:

Mary, daughter of John and Elizabeth, was born the 12^th of March, 1788. Sarah, their daughter, was born the 16^th of March, 1790. Elizabeth, their daughter, was born the 11^th of July, 1792. Izett, their daughter, was born the 10^th of January, 1795. Emma, their daughter, was born the 24^th of November, 1797. John, their son, was born the 13^th of December, 1800. Jane, their daughter, was born the 8^th of July, 1805. William, their son, was born the 21^st of November, 1807. Samuel, their son, was born the 14^th of July, 1811. Richard, their son, was born the 5^th of July, 1818.”

Mrs. Dora Charley says that her husband’s grandfather was the son Samuel mentioned in the sampler. He left Devonshire and went to Llandaff, Glamorganshire. He died June 12^th, 1900. There were two sons, Frederick and John Vellacott Charley.

Ernest Charley, Dora’s husband, says that both his great grandfathers, a Charley and a Vellacott used to ride to Exeter for the Grand Jury and send relays of 20 horses in advance. Ernest Charley said some of the family were in Ireland and in the linen trade.