John Pincombe (1728 - 1795)

52 Ancestor Challenge - Challenge 8

Blake, King, Coleman, Pearce, Farmer, unknown, Lambden, Sarah (unknown), Knight, Ellis, Knight, Vincent, Butt, Durnford, Arnold, Molton, Cotterel, Bartlett, Alderman, Ann (unknown), Sherwood, unknown, Habberfield, Collings, Rawlings, Tanner, Dove, Morgan, Lywood, Canham, 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

My choice for the 52 Ancestor Challenge this week is John Pincombe. He was baptized 13 Feb 1728 at Bishops Nympton the son of John Pincombe and Grace Manning. He married Mary Charley 8 Nov 1767 at Bishops Nympton and until I went to the Society of Genealogists in London, UK I was unsure of his death date but there I found an envelope of transcriptions made by the earlier researchers in the Pincombe one name study prior to the bombing of the Exeter Record Office in World War II. What a find that was and the transcription reads:

 This information from the Principal Registry Exeter.

John Pincombe of Bishops Nympton
John Pincombe, proved (at Exeter CC) 7 May 1795

John Pincombe of Bishops Nympton, yeoman
Will dated 14 Jun 1794
To my wife Mary £200 and goods

To my son John P. an estate called Lambescombe in North Molton
on condition he pays his two sisters £20 each in five years 

To my son Robert Pincombe £ 80 when he is 21 and £ 5 yearly until then

To my two sons William and Robert Pincombe half each of 
the copyhold estate called West Wood in Bishops Nympton when
they are 21

To my son Thomas £ 300 when he is 21 and £ 5 a year until then

To my daughter Grace Pincombe £ 110

Residue to my son William Executor

Witnesses W. Bowden, Grace Down

Seal (a stag)

Proved 7 May 1795 by William Pincombe Executor

Because the will was dated I knew he had died after 14 Jun 1794 and been buried before 7 May 1795 which left me with just one burial for John Pincombe which was 9 Aug 1794 at Bishops Nympton.

John and his wife Mary had six children John, William Mary, Grace, Robert and Thomas. Robert was my 3x great grandfather. Mary married George Zeale 20 May 1794 and this explains perhaps why there isn't a bequest to Mary in the will other than payment by one of her brothers. Mary died in childbirth and was buried 28 Mar 1795 at Bishops Nympton. Grace married Richard Headdon 14 Apr 1806 at North Molton and one of her children married John Bond (Ann Headdon married John Bond 13 Apr 1836 at North Molton). Their son John Joseph Bond was a Mormon and he married Mary Jane Blake (daughter of William Blake and Sarah Barrow) and along with their daughter Lucy Ann made the trek to Utah where their daughter Sarah Jane was born 26 Jan 1865 at Kaysville. Descendants of this family continue to live in Utah.

Linking John back to the earlier Pincombe lines in Bishops Nympton proved to be a long task. I transcribed the entire set of parish registers for Bishops Nympton (952 pages in a word document) and then knowing that I had every Pincombe entry extracted them and put the family together. In general it was felt by several researchers known to me that all the Pincombes who lived at Bishops Nympton in the 1700s/1800s were descendant of John Pincombe and Johane Blackmoore who had married 25 Sep 1655 at Bishops Nympton. This couple had had six children: William, Johan and Wilmote (twins), John, Thomas and Hugh. John died at the age of 13 years. These lines became quite separated from each other over time including living in different villages so that it became difficult to put them back together. However, I did succeed by purchasing all the parish registers needed.

Hence John was the son of John Pincombe and Grace Manning who had married 20 Mar 1725 at Bishops Nympton. Then that John was the son of William Pincombe and Mary Vicary. This William Pincombe was the eldest son of John Pincombe and Johane Blackmoore. Then that John was the son of William Pincombe and Wilmote (unknown). This William was the first Pincombe born at Bishops Nympton in the Parish Registers and he was the son of Richard Pincombe and Ann (unknown). This Richard was the son of William Pincombe and Emotte Snow although I hedge on it somewhat because there is no mention of Richard's son William in William's will of 1602. Then William was the son of Thomas Pencombe and Johane (unknown). Thomas being the son of (unknown) Pencombe who came to North Molton in 1485 with Lord de la Zouch.

I do want to read the North Molton Manor Books if they have survived to learn more about the line at North Molton but the extant records appear to permit this line as written. Earlier researchers came to a somewhat similar conclusion with regard to the Bishops Nympton family being descendant of the North Molton Pincombe family.

I did transcribe the parish registers at North Molton and marriages, baptisms and burials in the 1500s follow.

Marriages
15 Nov 1539 Margaret Pincumbe married Philip ____ydon
1 Jul 1560 John Pyncombe married Emet Hodge
29 Nov 1561 Ales Pyncombe married William Locke
26 May 1567 Margerett Pyncombe married William Squire
20 Jul 1567 Mary Pyncombe married George Squire

Baptisms and Burials
6 Jun 1543 Agnes Pyncombe daughter of William Pyncombe
8 Dec 1547 Mary Pyncombe daughter of William Pyncombe
8 Jul 1555 Marye Pyncombe daughter of John Pyncombe; buried 7 Dec 1555
5 Apr 1561 Johane Pyncombe daughter of John Pyncombe
18 Jan 1563 Marye Pyncombe daughter of John Pyncombe; buried 3 Feb 1563
29 Jun 1574 Peternell Pyncombe daughter of John Pyncombe
28 May 1592 Phillip Pyncombe son of George Pyncombe
9 Dec 1594 Emott Pyncombe daughter of George and Dorothie Pyncombe
15 Apr 1597 William Pyncombe son of George and Dorothie Pyncombe
9 Nov 1599 Johane Pyncombe daughter of George and Dorothie Pyncombe

18 Feb 1563 Elizabeth Pyncombe wife of William Pyncombe buried
13 Feb 1564 William Pyncombe buried
25 Mar 1565 William Pyncombe buried

 Ancestry of John Pincombe

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. John PINCOMBE (b 13 Feb 1728) - Bishops Nympton Devon England
8. John PNCOMBE (b 12 Jun 1692) - Bishops Nympton Devon England
9. William PINCOMBE (b 18 Oct 1656) - Bishops Nympton Devon England
10. John PINCOMBE (b 19 Jan 1622) - Bishops Nympton Devon England
11. Willyam PINCOMBE (b 23 Mar 1599) - Bishops Nympton Devon England
12. Richarde PINCOMBE (bc 1570) - East Buckland Devon England
13. Willyam PYNCOMBE (bc 1530) - East Buckland Devon England
14. Thomas PENCOMBE (bc 1500) - Filleigh Devon England

Looking at the ancestry of John one notes that my line was at Filleigh and then East Buckland. The parish registers for these two are simply not available prior to 1685 for Filleigh and 1684 for East Buckland. As I glance through the material I notice that there is a South Molton and District Archive: Local History Society and they have a newsletter. I think I should join this group and will look into that.

Who was the Pincombe who came to North Molton in 1485 with Lord de la Zouche. I have found some earlier records. There is one rather interesting entry in the Calendar of Patent Rolls for Thomas Pencombe. The earliest records in North Devon use the Pencombe spelling.

The online repository that has the Calendar of Patent Rolls (http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/patentrolls/)  is a freely searchable set of files made available as a project of Professor G.R. Boynton and the University of Iowa Libraries. It is from the time of Richard II:

1395 20 May Westminster (membrane 5)
Licence, for 100 s. paid in the hanaper by Philip Webbe, chaplain of a
chantry of St. Mary in the parish church of Bromyord, for the alienation
in mortmain by John Falke of a messuage in Bromyord, and by John
Hunte or another there, and by Thomas Pencombe and Robert Stanford
of five messuages and half an acre of meadow in the same place, not held in
chief, to the said chaplain and his successors, in aid of their maintenance.
18 Richard II, volume 5, page 582

Is it significant that this too was a Thomas Pencombe? There is a Bromyard in Herefordshire and ust four miles away is the village of Pencombe. In the Directory of 1851 (E.C. Lascelles) there is not any one of the Pencombe name but there is a farm called Pencombe Court where a farmer William Goode resides. The church there is said to be an ancient stone structure.

Lately I received an email from someone in Sweden who has traced his ancestry back into the 1700s and probably they were on the land back into the 1600s. However, he matched my 5th cousin with his yDNA test. We both found that rather interesting and he wanted to know if at some time there was a Pincombe who had moved to Sweden and since we were talking 1600s I really do not have any ideas on that but did put forward the notion that we might both be descendant of the Vikings! He was writing to my cousin but I have not yet heard back from him. Since I tried to write this cousin many years ago unsuccessfully it would be interesting to see if he will respond now.

This particular email came at a time when I had really set aside the yDNA Pincombe project because of the non match between Pincombe and Pinkham. The two earlier researchers had put these two families together but the yDNA results for Pinkham descendants in the United States was remarkably different from my cousin's results. I think I need to just sit back and wait to see what comes out of this project.

This is my mother's maiden surname and in memory of her I have attempted to carry on her research into her own family line. She knew her line back to John Pincombe and Grace Manning having seen it in a family Bible which has been since lost to time. I never saw that particular Bible. The one that I saw was the property of my great grandfather William Pincombe and contains the only document that is now extant for his marriage to Grace Gray the records having been destroyed when the local church burned to the ground with all the records.

Will of John Pincombe of Molland dated 3 Apr 1837 (probated 17 Apr 1840) (Source: Inland Revenue Wills - p 884)

The will of John Pincombe of Molland (deceased 19 June 1838) is a rather interesting one. This John was a brother to my 3x great grandfather Robert.

The reason for my Pincombe line coming to Canada passed down through the family was Robert Pincombe (eldest brother to my John Pincombe (2x great grandfather)) who had emigrated to the United States prior to 1835 came back with stories of the rich land to be had for a reasonable price already under cultivation with buildings. Robert had returned to marry Mary Shapland sometime in 1835 and they went back to the United States (Gennessee New York to be precise) almost immediately. Leaving England and coming to Canada was like little more than moving from county to county, except you had to cross an ocean to do it, if you happened to be English/Scot/Irish.

In his will written 3 April 1837, the above mentioned Robert has already returned to the United States and John does not mention him at all. He does though mention all of the other children of Robert Pincombe and Elizabeth Rowcliffe (my 3x great grandparents) with the exception of Elizabeth who has married Richard Elsworthy. Robert Pincombe (my ancestor) in his will had passed all of his copyhold land to his brothers in 1827 and left a number of legacies to his children which were to be paid from the profits of the copyhold land one might assume (although not written). John Pincombe (the present testator), his brother William Pincombe and brother in law Philip Rowcliffe were the Executors of that will.

In this will John identifies himself as being of Great Woods in Molland. This is the property that was held by him for his entire adult life. He is first found on Great Woods in the 1780s. This is now a Grade II Listed Building:

http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-397880-great-woods-farmhouse-molland

MOLLAND
SS 72 NE
14/51 Great Woods Farmhouse
-
20.6.67
II
Farmhouse. Probably C16, with late-C19 addition and mid-to late C20 alterations. Rendered over stone rubble and cob. Gable-ended asbestos-slate roof, formerly thatched. Rendered front lateral stack, tops of stacks of C19 red brick. Plan and development: Probably 3-room and cross-passage plan,  facing west with ground falling to right. Central room with full-height projection and external lateral stack to front, probably with cross passage to right. Service room to right with external lateral stack to rear and upper room to left with entrance in left-hand gable end. C19 wing to rear of upper room with integral brick end stack and lean-to outshut to north.  Old list description mentions open fireplaces, hall with beams and joists, and kitchen with plain timber ceiling. Sawn purlin ends visible in left-hand gable end.

I find the reference to it likely being a 16th Century dwelling most interesting. At some point I want to do a history of the property as I suspect it was one of the properties that William Pincombe (married to Emott Snow) held. My ancestor John Pincombe was a butcher and farmer in this time period at Molland living at Gatcombe. John Pincombe (the testator) does not have any sons so I am assuming that his reference to himself as Elder is because my John Pincombe is considered the younger in this case (both living in Molland). They are fairly close together with John Pincombe (butcher) the younger at Gatcombe being about 1 mile north west of Molland and John Pincombe the Elder at Great Woods being about 1 mile to the south west of Molland. The only other Pincombe at Molland in this time period is Thomas (brother to John at Gatcombe) and he is a wheelwright.

The will commences with his remembering his two brothers William at Bishops Nympton and Thomas at Twitchen and his remaining sister Grace married to Richard Headdon. He remembers his niece Philippia Baker (daughter of Thomas Pincombe at Twitchen) married to Henry Baker. At the end of the will we discover that the witnesses include Richard (to be mentioned) Pincombe, Henry Baker and George Cockram. To the best of my knowledge George Cockram is not related to the Pincombe family. He then remembers the sons of his deceased brother Robert Pincombe  Richard (signer), Philip the youngest, Thomas and George the next two in birth order before Richard (Richard is the second youngest). Then John Pincombe (2nd eldest son of Robert) Butcher is mentioned and there is some confusion on people's part because his aunt Grace Pincombe (sister of the testator's father John) was married to John Butcher and their son was named John Pincombe Butcher but he died as an infant at the same time as his mother died (in childbirth likely or shortly thereafter). He remembers two of Grace Headon's children John and Grace and coincidentally they are the only unmarried ones. The other two boys and three girls are married or living away from the area. One of Grace's daughters Ann married John Bond and their son John Joseph Bond was a Mormon who (with his family) made the trek to Salt Lake City probably in the 1860s. In particular though he mentioned his child born out of wedlock by Ann Smaldon - Mary Pincombe Thorne and she is to inherit Great Woods and Eastweek from him. Great Woods is a freehold but Eastweek he has by Copyhold so lifetime only. He also mentions Thomas Pincombe son of his brother Thomas at Twitchen. He has mentioned the daughter Phillippa already (married to Henry Baker one of the witnesses) but does not mention the other nine living children of Thomas! That is likely because the copyhold land that Robert passed to John and William will now pass to Thomas although not mentioned in the will. Most of the children are still young as well whereas all the others mentioned are adults. William Pincombe Junior of Bishopsnympton is the son of his brother William who also lives at Bishops nympton and is unwell at this time. Again only William is mentioned and not the other living children Mary married to William Matthews (has three children) and Anna married to John Hole (has four children) - the other children have died young. It would appear that most of the legacy recipients are unmarried children of his siblings.

It is always interesting to read this lengthy will where the individual is unmarried and he mentions all of his siblings, his nephews and nieces. It does so help to tie a family together. Plus there is always the curiosity why didn't he marry Ann Smaldon; presumably she was Ann Thorne since the name of their child was Mary Pincombe Thorne. The set of wills that I am now doing (three of them) tie together the children of John Pincombe and Mary Charlie/Charly/Charley but the will that John himself left was lost in the bombing of Exeter Record Office in WWII unfortunately as was the will of his father John Pincombe married to Grace Manning. This family though did make an effort in Canada to retain the genealogy of their family in England. There was a Bible with the genealogy back to John Pincombe and Grace Manning which I saw as a child. The Bible that has my great grandparents Pincombe Wedding Registration does not contain any details prior to the marriage of William Robert Pincombe and Grace Gray.

The will of John Pincombe the elder of Great Woods (my 3x great grand uncle) follows:


Recorded: 26 Oct 2011
Source: Inland Revenue Wills - p 884
Place: Molland, Devon, England
Type of Record: Will
Dated: 3 Apr 1837 (probated 14 Apr 1840)
Condition: photocopy, light, modern English writing
Type: four pages - Original will (2 pages) and Probate (2 pages)

1 I John Pincombe the Elder of Great Woods in the
2 parish of Molland in the County of Devon Yeoman being at this time
3 sick of Body but of perfect mind and understanding do make and ordain
4 this my last Will and Testament in the following manner - First I give and
5 bequeath unto my Brother William Pincombe the sum of ten pounds Also
6 I give unto my Brother Thomas Pincombe the sum of ten pounds Also I give
7 unto my sister Grace Headon the sum ten pounds Also I give unto niece
8 Philippia Baker the sum of forty pounds. Also I give and bequeath unto my
9 Nephew Richard Pincombe son of the late Robert Pincombe the sum of Thirty
10 Pounds Also I give unto Philip Pincombe my nephew the sum of ten pounds
11 Also I give unto my two Nephews Thomas and George Pincombe Brothers ten
12 Pounds Also I give unto my Nephew John Pincombe Butcher the sum of
13 Ten pounds Also I give unto John Headon my Nephew the sum of ten
14 pounds Also unto my niece Grace Headon the sum of ten pounds - the above
15 Legacies to be paid by my Executors at the expiration of one year after my
16 decease. Also I give unto the poor people of Molland and Bishopsnympton
17 the Sum of twenty shillings in Bread. Also I give and devise and bequeath
18 unto my natural Daughter Mary Pincombe Thorne Daughter of Ann Smaldon
19 All that freehold Estate called Great Woods in the parish of Molland with
20 the appurtenances situate lying and being in the aforesaid parish Molland
21 unto her and unto her Children lawfully begotten and unto her heirs for
22 ever My will is that my said Daughter Mary Pincombe Thorne shall have
23 the whole of the freehold property left by me at my decease on her attaining
24 the age of twenty one years she is not to sign over nor mortgage nor sell
25 nor contract any debt on the aforesaid Estate during the time of her natural
26 life and at her decease I give devise and bequeath the whole of such freehold
27 property left to her by me at my decease unto the heirs, children lawfully
28 begotten of the said Mary Pincombe Thorne the Eldest Son if any to have the
29 freehold property but in default of Sons the eldest daughter and to her heairs
30 for ever the Proprietor of Great Woods may make a jointure to his Wife
31 not exceeding twenty pound a year But if the said Mary Pincombe Thorne
32 before she attains the age of twenty one years and leave no Child or Children
33 nor Grandchildren lawfully beggotten Then I give devise and bequeath all
34 that Freehold Estate called Great Woods in the parish of Molland unto my
35 two Nephews Thomas Pincombe of Twitchin Jun[io]r and John Pincombe Jun[io]r of
36 Molland to them two and to their heirs for ever the said Thomas Pincombe
 [Page 2]
37 and the said John Pincombe may if he succeed to the freehold Estate or
38 their descendants may make a Jointer to their wives at ten pounds a year
39 not exceeding ten pounds a year each. Never to be mortgage nor sold
40 I also give and bequeath unto Mary Pincombe Thorne my Copyhold Estate
41 called Lower Eastweek situated the parish of Bishops nympton when she attains
42 the age of Twenty four year All the rest residue and remainder of my
43 property wheresoever and whatsoever I give upon trust unto Thomas Pincombe
44 my Brother and William Pincombe Jun[io]r of Bishopsnympton whom I nominate
45 and appoint sole Executors of this my last Will and Testament the[y] are to pay
46 and receive all monies connected with the property real and personal by me
47 at my decease untill my Daughter Mary Pincombe Thorne shall attain the
48 age of twenty four years when she is to have the whole of such property
49 in the hands of my Executors in trust. My Will is that my Executors in
50 trust are to pay unto Mary Pincombe Thorne the sum Forty pounds a
51 year to paid in two half yearly paym[en]ts But I confide entirely in the
52 judgment integrity and discretion and ability of my Executors in trust wheather
53 the[y] may think it right & proper or not have the whole of the property real
54 and personal at that time or not to have the whole of the property real and personal in the hands of the Executors in trust until she attains the
55 age of twenty four years, my Executors in trust are to use their own discretion
56 the[y] are to pay all my lawful debts legacies and funeral expences In Witness
57 whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this third day of April 1837
58 John Pincombe [signed and sealed]
59 Signed sealed and declared by the said
60 John Pincombe the Testator for his last Will
61 and Testament in the presence of we who have
62 set our names
63 Richard Pincombe [signed]
64 Henry Baker [signed]
65 George Cockram [signed]
66 Codicil to this will I give to the Executor William Pincombe the sum of Ten
67 pounds - John Pincombe [signed]
 [Page 3] [p 884 in margin]
68 21 July
69 No. 18
70 For the Stamp Office
71 Copy of the Will and Codicil
72 of John Pincombe late of
73 Molland Devon Freeman dec[ease]d
74 Executor
75 Thomas Pincombe of Twitchen
76 Devon Yeoman
77 (Power being resigned to
78 William Pincombe the other
79 Executor)
80 South Molton
81 Proved in the Principal Episcopy
82 of the Lord Bishop of Exeter the
83 14th April 1840
84 Testator Dec[eased] 19 June 1838
85 Effects sworn under £600
86 Ralph Barnes
87 Dep[ut]y Registrar
88 22 Apr 1840 [seal]
89 For 464
 Folios at 6 . 5 . 6
90 [page 4]
91 FOR EXECUTORS
92 Appeared personally Thomas Pincombe of
93 the Parish of Twitchen in the County of
94 Devon Yeoman one of the
95 Executors named in the last Will and Testament with one
96 Codicil thereto of John Pincombe late
97 of Molland in the said County Yeoman
98 who died on the nineteenth Day of June 1838
99 and made Oath, that he had made diligent search and due enquiry
100 after, and in respect of the Personal Estate and Effects of the said Deceased, in
101 order to ascertain the full Amount and Value thereof; and that to the best of
102 his Knowledge, Information, and Belief, the whole of the Goods, Chattels,
103 and Credits, of which the said Deceased died possessed within the
104 Diocese of Exeter (exclusive of what the Deceased may have
105 been possessed of or intitled to as a Trustee for any other Person, or Persons.
106 and not beneficially. (A) but including the Leasehold Estates for Years of the
107 Deceased, whether absolute or determinable on Lives, and without deducting
108 any Thing on Account of the Debts due and owing from the Deceased) are under
109 the Value of Six hundred pounds
110 to the best of this Deponents Knowledge, Information, and Belief, (B) and
111 this Deponent lastly made Oath, that the said Deceased was not possess of
112 or intitled to any Leasehold Estate or Estates for Years of the Deceased, whether
113 absolute or determinable on a Life or Lives, to the best of this Deponents
114 Knowledge, Information, and Belief.
115 Sworn on the fourteenth
116 Day of  April 1840
117 before me
118 Thomas Pincombe [signed]
119 G M Mather B D Surrogate