The Pincombe Charts created by Galen Pinkham and Dr. Richard Pinkham

 Sunday once again and I do love the flow of the week. Sunday is a quiet contemplative day. Another beautiful day in God's world. A bit cloudy but some sun expected for the day didn't check the weather forecast very closely. Church today and not sure where we will see. Perhaps always a surprise. The Anglican Church Services from England always remind me of my childhood which is very pleasant for sure. The Services here have the organ which is fabulous. The choir singing is spectacular. Still reading Job and it is slow reading as I go word by word. I am not sure I ever did that before. Job loved God and couild not be moved away from Him. From the depth of Job's soul he reaches out to God to understand and he feels fulfilled. The Psalms are next and I do love the Psalms. They surround one with beauty and mystery and God Himself. Thank you God for another morning in your world.

 For a long time after I acquired the Pincombe/Pinkham charts I mention in the title I contemplated how to best utilize this information. I photographed them all as a cousin in England had sent them to me. My line was incorrect I did notice that right away. My mother knew her line back to John Pincombe and Grace Manning at least that was what her father told her and my uncle did reinforce that (I have all of those Bishop Nympton records and there are several Pincombe families there in the 1700s and they readily separate out into their respective lines  descending from John Pincombe and Johane Blackmoore (married 22 Sep 1655 at Bishops Nympton)). So it was an incentive to really look at everything that I collected and I have a lot of information over time. All backed up on drives and shared around so as not to lose it. I have blogged a huge amount of it and my blog is backed up as well. Aside from that, it is time to utilize those charts and my account with Find My Past and do a little more sleuthing. I have purchased a number of sets of fiche from North Devon Parishes but Find My Past does have them online now and these old eyes like to be able to enlarge these fiche to read them. So I do that in preference. The Parish Registers were supposed to begin in 1538 which is really handy for this study. Many of them do but not all; some were lost to time and circumstance. Some are very difficult to read. There are nearly 1000 pages of Word text transcription for the Bishops Nympton registers beginning to end. That was my beginning and I discovered a real knack for reading the old script.

I have a study for Pincombe yDNA which I manage and Bill Bleak along with his supporters including me have one for the Blake yDNA. Both have been fascinating and I think finding these de Pencombe families in Devon in the 1300s is a real luxury to sorting out the lines of yDNA perhaps and it is also true of the Blake and I thank Barry Blake for his work initially in creating the different yDNA groups in the Blake lines (there are quite a few in England and Ireland and of course the United States and the Commonwealth plus other areas).  

The interesting part about the charts is that Dr. Richard Pinkham visited many Pincombe families in North Devon and they shared their family lines with him (he acknowledged them on the charts with their names). This work was done in the 1930s or into the early 1940s on I believe. I know that it was before or during the Second World War because he was able to read the Pincombe wills probated within the diocese held at the Exeter Archives. He then donated the Will Abstracts to the Society of Genealogists of which I was a member although I finally did let that membership go. Occasionally I think about picking it up again but for the moment I am not. We spent one day there collecting information that I knew they had and that included the wills which was marvelous as there was the will of my 4x great grandfather (John Pincombe) and others but especially his because I needed to know more about him in order to sort him for sure back to his parents John Pincombe and Grace Manning. 

This however is a research day and I am beginning the three generations starting with John Pencombe and given that his son John had a son Christopher who both also held goods (I must be more careful how I refer to ownership because the English are quite consistent with land or goods being the taxed item) one can not assume that John Pencombe (father to John, William and Thomas) was older because his children had all received goods plus his grandchildren also had goods. A quick check with the AI was revealing as I had a vague memory about the laws of inheritance which Henry VII quickly brought in because of all the deaths particularly young men at Bosworth Field in 1485 leaving a lot of underaged males as inheritors. Christopher and John have both inherited during the life of their father (and mother) but it could be from their mother's side and hence they could be quite young in 1524-7. None the less their father John was likely in his 20s and hence his father likely in his 40s or more. The ability of AI to recall all of this information in an organized manner is excellent and great help with my pursuit of the best story I can write (doing it myself so far from the documents is difficult - AI is a great addition to our lives). Although I normally use CoPilot I do sometimes use some of the others mostly out of curiosity. It will be a Creative Commons License under which I will produce this book and it will be free on my website plus I will upload it to the various places where I uploaded the Siderfin Books that I produced  (I do  need to do proofreading for the indexes which I will do in my spare time one of these days but I suspect it will be another year and I do have new material to add). Although some of the libraries I will upload to like the Guild of one name Studies does keep their Library for members of the Guild. But it will appear on my blog how you can download the book if you wish to have a copy. 

But back to the charts and the first chart is for North Molton and South Molton. For the most part I am not in agreement with this chart because it does not match the wills and the Devon Lay Subsidies or even the Visitation of Devon 1620 - it has some of the information but the descendancy then does not match the Parish Records. I will spend the day working my way through some of that data although this will also be a rest day for my eyes. They are getting old and need one day off a week. I may sort pictures for a while until Church time. 

Solitaire puzzles are done; I woke in the night and did them. I do that sometimes as it stops a runaway/busy mind that sometimes comes to me in the night. Breakfast also; exercises all done.  

 

 

 

Continuing with Early Chancery Proceedings

 I did spend yesterday reviewing all of my datasets that pertain to the Pencombe/Pincomb/Pyncomb family of North Devon to ensure that I had added in all occurrences of the surname in the Devon area and not ignoring individual Devon references that were out of the North Devon area that I do tend to concentrate on. In fact I had collected all of them. But it was a good idea to check. 

I remain with my thought which I shared with the AI that the reference to John Lord Zouch in the 1620 Visitation of Devon was primarily to say where and when their Pencombe/Pincomb/Pyncomb family line originated in Devon and attaching it to John Lord Zouch a not unusual designation given the presence of the Zouch family as Lord of the Manor in days past which was probably considered to be a recognized individual. By stating that they arrived with Lord Zouch that supported their ability to settle in this area at this time. I suspect if one thinks it is difficult to emigrate to a new place in this time period it was very difficult in 1486 I strongly suspect. It is possible that John Pencombe arriving at North Molton in 1486 had no idea that a Roger de Pencombe had lived at Bonelegh (Bondleigh) in the early 1300s or that a John de Pencomb' had been an Assessor for the 1332 Lay Subsidy of Devon for Mollond (Molland)  (this is 150 to 200 years later).  England now has a Tudor King having defeated Richard III at Bosworth Field in 1485. It was the AI that suggested (and I agree actually) that I should observe if there is a continuous line of Pencombe/Pencomb' in Devon since I did find this surname in the times mentioned above. It is good research to eliminate possibilities. Therefore I continue in these days to read through the Early Chancery Proceedings working backward from the end of the reign of Richard III. I will read forward into Henry VII but first I want to get back to the 1100s and see if there is anything that would add to the information I already have on the Pencomb family in Herefordshire mostly living at Bromyard although also Pencombe much earlier. I will have then done due diligence such as I can and feel satisfied with my result. 

The intent on my part was always to start the genealogical tree at John Pencombe in 1486 living in North Molton; however finding some of this earlier information told me that I should consider looking at this material not so much to trace the line back further but rather to clarify perhaps if this is actually the same family. We are in a time of change as the English did not have surnames when the Normans arrived in England with William the Conqueror and selection of a surname could have been duplicated by unrelated people quite readily. I do have a good chapter on the Pencombe family of Herefordshire but for completeness I should attempt to find all the information that is available to me readily. I do need to complete the latin transcription of the Inquisition Postmortem for John de Pencomb with a son Thomas born circa 1350 and Thomas appears later in other documents in the 1390s as mentioned. I do not however have a link to a John Pencombe descendant of this Thomas and arriving at Northmolton in 1486 - one notes he would likely be a grandson or great grandson of this Thomas. But it is interesting that this family uses the forenames John, Thomas, William over the time period that I have found them in Herefordshire (very common in the early Pincombe family but also common in the rest of England for sure) whereas a Roger de Pencombe is at Bonelegh (Bondleigh) Devon in the early 1300s. 

Another aspect of this yDNA study aside from the excitement gained from having five members all matching and known to be descendant of the two sons of John Pencomb (1486 arriving in Northmolton), is the Pincombe one-name Study actually includes the spellings Pincombe and Pinkham. Members of the very large American Pinkham family do not match the yDNA results of the Pincombe family which includes one of my third cousins who lives in the United States and one of my fifth cousins who lives in Australia (matches but not part of the yDNA study).  The other four members of the study that do match my third cousin are descendant of Thomas Pencombe or John Pencombe sons of John Pencombe. Indeed the two individuals who started up this study are both surnamed Pinkham and unfortunately the one member from England did not test his yDNA before he passed away. My thought on this I will share at a later date because I think the answer may well lie in Roger de Pencombe at Bonelegh (Bondleigh)  and his selection of the surname in his line was pure chance that he chose Pencombe perhaps or an ancestor did that. Dr. Richard Pinkham, the other member of the original Pincombe study lived in Gloucestershire but his work as a physician did take him into Devon where he interviewed many Pincombe members and they shared their family trees with him. I have all of that work that he did. He did not know his line fitting into the other lines in Devon/Somerset/Gloucestershire and London/Surrey where the Pincombe family still does live. 

Continuing with my reading as I hope to get through this Book 2 and into Book 1 which takes me back as far as those records exist. I will then pick up Book 3 and read forward to see if there are any records in that section. The index which I have is from 1385-1467 and has one Pencomb listed in this index so I thought I would try to locate it. It is a slow process although the scanning of the books is excellent on Internet Archive. My Pincombe family was in general from Devon for the most part but also Somerset but going back through the generations in Devon with surnames: Rowcliffe, Charley, Pearse, Manning, Harvey, Hobbs, Stanbury, Quythers, Vicary, Tapp, Blackmoore, Upcott, Thomas, Saunders, Bray, Whetstone, Snow, Burges so am taking advantage of all the Devon results as I move my way back. I am also looking at Hereford. I find that I need to just concentrate on one line though when I do something like this and the odds of having to repeat for another county; hard to tell but I am a here and now person.  

Although the idea of a combined book was discussed the main problem is the size of the Pinkham family in the United States and I am not going to do that research as an earlier book would need to be brought up to date. But the Pinkham family would definitely be a huge section of a combined book so I think it is better to do two books and I hope that over time that does happen with the Pinkham family of the United States. My Pincombe line did not arrive in Canada until 1850/51 with my ancestor's brother arriving at Genesee New York in 1835 and his descendants still live in the United States but in other areas of the United States. The other difficulty is the Pincombe family in north west Devon did use the Pinkham spelling when they moved to London some of them and also it was used in West Devon adding that complication to the mix although in general the surname tends to be spelled Pincombe these days and Pinkham is much less common than it was in the late 1700s and early 1800s in England.  There is at least one other tester in this line that came to the United States in the 1700s and is one of the matches with my cousin (his line is known and he does fit into the descendants of the North Molton line as far as can be determined (yDNA results)). 

 Woke up in the night contemplating the records that I have reviewed and still have to do. A quick walk about and back to bed. Still need another few hours of sleep before contemplating a new day. It is Sunday now and Church in the morning. 

Dear Father hear and bless thy beasts and singing birds and guard with tenderness small things that have no word. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.  

Heavy snowfall

 We are having a heavy snowfall but only 10 cm predicted but at the moment it is fairly thick coming down although not so much that the distance vision is limited. Just a lovely white snowfall on this beautiful world that the Creator produced and gave to us at a later time to protect and cherish.

Yesterday finished the cleaning and worked on the matches for chromosome 7. This one is very interesting as there is a length that is inherited by pretty much all of my close cousins that I have found testing all the way back to John Pincombe and Mary Charly who married at Bishops Nympton, Devon  8 Nov 1767. Their six children with their descendants are the progenitors of many of the Pincombe families in the Bishops Nympton area. Although John had a brother William (both sons of John Pincombe and Grace Manning who married 20 Mar 1725 at Bishops Nympton) William's only child, a son, William died at the age of 21 (his parents William Pincombe married Grace Smyth 13 Jun 1758 at North Molton). John and William also had a sister Grace who married John Butcher 31 Mar 1755 at Bishops Nympton But I have yet to trace their two surviving daughters beyond their baptism (another daughter and only son died as infants/young children). John (married to Grace Manning) was the only son of William Pincombe and Mary Vicary who married 17 Jun 1685 at Bishops Nympton. The only other sibling was Joan who was buried in 1726 at Bishops Nympton. This William traces back to John Pincombe and Johane Blackmoore who married 25 Sep 1655 at Bishops Nympton and of their other five children Thomas married Christian (unknown) and their single surviving child John Pincombe married Catharine Bryer at Bishops Nympton 3 Nov 1732 and their five children are the other Pincombe grouping in the Bishops Nympton area and are the progenitors of many of the Pincombe families also in the Bishops Nympton area. Another son of John Pincombe and Johane Blackmoore, Hugh married Sarah (unknown) likely at Swimbridge, Devon and the Pincombe families found in the Landkey, Devon area are their descendants. Working through this Chromosome 7 I may spot some of the descendants of these lines in the Living DNA matches or others that I have not noted before. 

There does look to be a potential for a lot of snow if it keeps up at the present rate. Although I have had fun skiing I am pretty tired from all that fun and will be putting the skis away for the rest of the month or two. It is not something that I generally would go out on my own and do at 80 years of age. Although I could go around the backyard but I have not done a lot of research these past couple of weeks and need to get back to that. Plus I really do enjoy my research just as I enjoy skiing and there is a time and place for everything especially at this age for sure.  

Continuing with Chromosome 7 today and I am about one quarter of the way through the matches. Thus far I have separated out Rawlings, Blake, Knight, Cotterill (coming down from my 4x great grandparents), and Pincombe. Half of my great grandparents in the first quarter of matches is  not too bad. I am not likely to locate Taylor from the Buller/Taylor grandparents and perhaps not Cotterill from the possible father of my paternal grandmother but likely Gray is a possibility. 

Drinking tea and must move to the solitaire puzzles and then begin my extractions of data.  

"Elbows up" and on our way but the route is heavy going

 One thing I am sure about any one who can live in Canada through the winters is up to the job of "Elbows Up" to get the jobs done here in Canada to bring our country to its glory as a producing nation but in a kindly way that we have learned from the First Nations. The land is our wealth and our security and our life and we must protect it as much as one can but it will give up its goodness to support the people of the land. We just have to find the best ways to do that and those best ways must fit into a business plan. I note that Enbridge is supporting the pipeline from Edmonton to Houston, Texas which is a straight through flow of crude to the south and allows for a healthy increase in that shipment. Although I would love to see an eastern pipeline to Ontario and the East it is  highly likely that Ontario would be the only province that had an actual pipeline built in the east and that the St Lawrence Seaway would have to be the conduit for any going further east. Does Ontario use enough crude to justify a pipeline? That becomes the great question although shipments to Quebec for their usage (which is also significant) are possible by road and by the seaway. Probably those in the know are putting those numbers together to determine if re-establishing our refineries to save the 3x the cost of buying it back is a good business case. 

The Nickle mine I find to be such a good idea and so long in the  making - I believe it dates back to the early 2000s although I am not that knowledgeable. Governments have just ignored Northern Ontario and the wealth there for her people is huge in terms of jobs and actual second job creation effects by the mine itself. Once one mine is effectively created under this new attitude then others will follow in their season because the support will be there. In a way that compliments Northern Ontario creating jobs and the consequential offshoots of better educational facilities (more funding for them), housing and all sorts of good things for the people. 

Monday is coming and it is Budget Day. An election would cost a fortune and I hope that is on everyone's mind as the House sits in debate and then votes. There is no value in an election at this time; criticism without constructive plans is useless. We can not live in the past; the past has changed very radically in just this short time. One doesn't fight tariff - how one country does their business should not be allowed to put us into a crisis ever again. Time to come to our greatness as a producer. We already lived through a past Conservative government whose answer to a downturn was panic and balance the budget no matter what. We do not need to experience that again. The debt level at the end of the 1800s in Canada was huge when we built the railway and we survived and we will again. I prefer careful cautious finance but with opportunity underwriting it I can loosen up those thoughts and this is the time; it is Canada's time to blossom. It is a must; our youth need jobs that uses their skill sets or if they do not have the specific ones then they can retrain and quickly. Their minds are fast and alert. Canada is an extremely wealthy country both in natural products and in the ability of all her people. Yes it will be hard; young families may have to live with their parents for a longer time but that is life and for children exciting and wonderful. They have been doing it in Europe for centuries! My children were welcomed to stay as long as they wanted and we were blessed to have them stay as long as they did including all sorts of wonderful extras that made our life much richer. Edward certainly took advantage of that as we traveled so extensively when our children were living with us long into their adulthood. Life moved very fast in those days when I first retired as there were so many places he wanted to go.  

Worked on Chromosome 4 and probably one third of the way through the matches. Thus far eight crossover points are proven and eleven to go. This chromosome has fewer matches and they tend to be clumped over particular lengths particularly Pincombe (both older and more recent). It always give me pause to think about the breaking up of these lengths into Pincombe, Gray, Rew, Rowcliffe, Charly, Manning, Vicary and Blackmoore. With the Living DNA data I am probably finding lengths that reach much further back into the past to make their connection but only rarely as far back as Blackmoore and Vicary (6x and 7x great grandparents).  Occasionally I do see autosomal back that far but it is rare. They could be especially back to Manning and Charly. When I see Australia and New Zealand in the country of location then I know that Manning and Charly are a possibility for them. In the United States it is more likely Pincombe/Rowcliffe but also Pincombe/Charly. But these small glimpses on occasion of a match that is definitely Pincombe related the possibility of Vicary and Blackmoore is there. Thus far I would say more than 50% of the matches have been Pincombe (I haven't tallied it). 

This morning at just past 5 the sky was clear and the moon now in slipper mode accompanied by Venus shining brightly high in the sky.  What a gorgeous sight and it always reminds me of the early morning when Edward and I were camping years and years ago in the north waking up to the beauty of the morning sky. I was just in my early twenties and Edward in his mid twenties and time was ahead of us and we grabbed hold of it and ran with it all over the northern province of Ontario enjoying the goodness of the land and seeing so much in our cedar strip canoe. 

Time to get some work done. Tea drank and solitaire puzzles to do. First breakfast eaten a while ago now and starting to feel hungry for the second breakfast. One pound up and three to go. For me it is more of a need to eat as I get hungry rather than a fascination with eating.  

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.

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.

Will of Edmund King, Alton, Hampshire - The National Archives, PROB 11/258, probated 31 Oct 1656

Edmund King, the testator, was married to Agnes (unknown).

There was a baptism for William King, Nov 1631, at Alton, Hampshire. (Family Search)

Although the Alton Parish Records do date back to 1615 for baptisms, 1629 for marriages and 1616 for burials, they do not appear to be online. Find my Past has only nine entries between 1590 and 1670.

Edmond King (age 32) married Joane Bushell (age 40) 22 Oct 1655 at Binsted near Alton, Hampshire

Edmund King buried 28 Jul 1656 at Alton, Hampshire (likely the testator)

Edward King buried 15 May 1668 at Alton, Hampshire

Jane King (age 22) married Allen Bryant (age 28) 26 Feb 1654 at Binsted near Alton, Hampshire

Joan King buried 22 Sep 1655 at Alton, Hampshire

Johan King buried 28 Jan 1637 at Alton, Hampshire

John King buried 9 Jan 1656 at Alton, Hampshire

(Male) King (infant) buried 26 Aug 1665 at Alton, Hampshire

William King buried 24 Sep 1668 at Alton, Hampshire

As far as I can tell just the burial for Edmund King relates to this particular will.

Was this family always at Alton? There are King families in Alton back into the 1500s.

A search on Find My Past did not reveal any King families similar to this in Hampshire other than in the Alton area.

Edmund named his daughters. First, Jane Rout with sons Thomas and John and daughter Dorothy, her husband is likely David Rout who signed the will as a witness. Second
Elizabeth Vanner with son John and husband is John Vanner identified as a son in law. Third, Margery Nash with sons George and John and daughter Rachell. George Nash is identified as a son in law. Fourth, Agnes Manning and her son John Manning and daughter Elizabeth Manning.  He also named his sons, Edmund King the eldest with daughter Anne. Thomas and William are his other sons named in the will and his joint executors.

He identified his brother as Henry King.

Transcriber: Elizabeth Kipp
Recorded: 3 Mar 2017
Source:  The National Archives, PROB 11/258
Name of testator: Edmund King
Place: Alton, Hampshire, England
Type of Record: Will
Dated: 16 Jun 1656, probated 31 Oct 1656

[In margin] Edmund King

1    In the Name of God Amen
2    I Edmund King of Anstie within the Parish of Alton
3    in the County of South[h]am[pton] the elder being sicke
4    in body but of good and perfect memory Thankes be given
5    unto Allmighty God therefore doe make and ordayne
6    this my last will and Testament First I give and
q    commit my soule into the safe keeping of Allmighty
8    God my maker and redeemer Sanctifyer and onely
9    preserver and my body to be buryed in the Church or
10    Churchyard of Alton aforesaid And I give unto
11    Agnes my loving wife my best bedsteed with the Bed
12    bolster, Coverlett and all belonging thereunto Alsoe
13    I give unto my said wife my tableframe, and fourme
14    in the Parlor the greatest Chest and Coffer there
15    the Cubbard, in the Hall all my brasse and Pewter
16    and all my linen two barrels, and the use of the two
17    Parlors with free ingresse, egresse and regresse to the fire
18    room and oven in the hall for her necessary use, alsoe
19    to the well for watch and to brew and wash in ye kitchen
20    and the use of halfe the Garden all dureing the Lease
21    from my brother Henrie, she my said wife to pay to
22    my Executors hereafter named one penny yearely at
23    the feast of Easter if it be lawfully demanded Alsoe I
24    Give and bequeath unto my said wife in monyes Ten
25    pounds to be paid her within one yeare after my death
26    Alsoe I give and bequeath unto my sonnes Thomas
27    and William my free Land called Anstie Copieland
28    and Anstie Copie with all and Singular Commons
29    Commodities and appurtenances there unto belonging
30    or in any wise appertaining To have and to hold to
31    them my said sonnes Thomas and William and unto
32    theire heires and assignes for ever Alsoe I give and
33    bequeath unto my daughter Jane Rout in money
34    seven pounds and ten shillings to be paid from within
35    three yeares after my death Alsoe I give and bequeath
36    unto my Granson Thomas Routt in money Twenty
37    shillings to be paid him within one yeare after my
38    death Also I give and bequeath unto my Granson
39    John Routt in money Twenty shillings to be paid
40    him within one yeare after my death Alsoe I give
41    and bequeath unto my Grandaughter Dorothy Routt
42    in money Twenty shillings to be paid her within one
43    yeare after my death And my will is that if any
44    of my said Granchildren doe dye before the tyme of
45    receiving there Legacy that then his or her Legacy
46    soe dyeing to become theire mothers my said daughter
47    Jane Routt Alsoe I give and bequeath unto my daughter
48    Elizabeth Vanner in money fourty shillings to be paid
49    her within two yeares after my Death Alsoe I give and
50    bequeath unto Granson John Vanner in money Twenty
51    shillings to be paid him within two yeares after my death
52    And my will is that if my said Granson John Vanner
53    doe dye before the tyme of the receiving his said Legacy
54    that then the same shall become his mothers my said
55    daughter Elizabeth Vanner Alsoe I give and bequeath
56    unto my daughter Margery Nash in money Twenty
57    shillings to be paid her within one yeare after my death
58    Alsoe I give and bequeath unto my Granson George
59    Nash in money Twenty shillings to be paid him within
60    two yeares after my death Alsoe I give and bequeath
61    unto my Granson John Nash in money Twenty
62    shillings to be paid him within two yeares after my death
63    Alsoe I give and bequeath unto my Grandaughter Rachell Nash
64    in money Twenty shillings to be paid her within two yeares after
65    after my death, and my will is that if any of my said Granchildren
66    doe dye before the tyme of the receiving theire Legacy that
67    then his or her Legacy soe dyeing to become their Mothers
68    my said daughter Margery Nash Alsoe I give and bequeath
69    unto my daughter Agnes Manning in money Twenty
70    shillings to be paid her within three yeares after my death
71    Alsoe I give and bequeath unto my Granson John Maning
72    Twenty shillings to be paid within three yeares after my
73    death Alsoe I give and bequeath unto my Grandaughter
74    Elizabeth Maning in money Twenty shillings to be paid
75    her within three yeares after my death. And my will is
76    that if any of my said Granchildren doe dye before the tyme
77    of their receiving theire said Legacy that then
78    his or her Legacy soe dyeing to become theire mothers my
79    said daughter Agnes Maning Alsoe I give and bequeath
80    unto Edmund my sonne all the rest of my Lands, and
81    Tenements not already given to have and to hold to him
82    the said Edmund and his heires and Assignes for ever from
83    and ymediately after that all the Corne by mee sowed thereon
84    bee by my Executors hereafter named cut, and carried away
85    Alsoe I give and bequeath unto the said Edmund my sonne
86    in money Twenty shillings Alsoe I give and bequeath
87    unto my Grandaughter Anne King my said sonne Edmunds
88    daughter in money Twenty shillings Alsoe I give and
89    bequeath unto Alice Hale widow in money five shillings
90    All the rest of my goods and Chattells not already given
91    I give and bequeath unto my said sonnes Thomas and
92    William whom I make sole Executors of this my last Will
93    And I doe request my loving sonnes in Law George
94    Nash and John Vanner to be Overseers of this my
95    will and I doe give to each of them for their paines taken
96    herein over and above such Charges as they shall bee att
97    Twenty shillings In witnesse whereof I have hereunto
98    sett my hand and Seale The sixteenth day of June in
99    the yeare of our Lord God One Thousand six hundred
100    fifty and six Signed Edmund King Signed sealed
101    and declared to be my will in the presence of Thomas Brannan
102    George Nash The marke of David Routt The mark of
103    John Vanner
104    This will was proved at London the One and Thirtith
105    day of October One Thousand six hundred fifty six before
106    the Judges for probate of will and granting Administrations
107    lawfully authorized by the oaths of Thomas King and
108    William King the sonnes ioynt Executors in the said will
109    To whom Administration of all and singular the goods
110    chattels and debts of the said deceased was committed
111    they being first by Comission sworne truly to Administer
112    the same

Will of Joan Moggeridge, Widow, Nettlecombe, Somerset - The National Archives PROB 11/177/35, probated 4 May 1638

Johan Moggeridge is the testatrix and she lived at Nettlecombe, Somerset. This parish is 3 miles south west of Williton and 15 miles west of Taunton. To place it in the area where my Moggeridge family was known to live, Nettlecombe is 5 miles south east of Dunster, 8 miles ESE of Wootton Courtenay, 10 miles ESE of Selworthy and 12 miles ESE of Porlock.

She is perhaps quite elderly as her will is nuncupative. Cleanger Devon is likely Clayhanger. Holcombe Rogus is also in Devon. The brother of the testatrix is named as Thomas Stone and her nephew Alexander Stone and they live at Holcombe Rogus. The Mannyng family of Nettlecombe is also mentioned – Grace daughter of John. Chipstable Somerset is 7 miles from Nettlecombe where the Merch family lives also mentioned in the will. The Knowell family at Milverton is also mentioned. Her sister Grace lives at Holcombe (perhaps Rogus) and is the wife of John Helling. John Mannyng is her executor.

The National Archives (UK) has a document 1936 M/L/138 dated 1671 which has the following information 1. John Bluett, 2. Mary Clarke and William Franckpitt, Holcombe Rogus. Premises: Alexander Stone’s messuage Term: 1 life, Rent: 1 s 4 d, Fine £10

Searched through the PCC wills looking for the Stone, Helling, Knowell, Merch and Manning families mentioned above but did not see anything worth pursuing at this time. It does lend credence to the idea that the Moggeridge family was back and forth between North Devon and West Somerset.

Transcriber: Elizabeth Kipp
Recorded: 1 Apr 2014
Source: The National Archives, PROB 11/177/35
Testator: Joan Moggeridge, Widow
Place: Nettlecombe, Somerset, England
Type of Record: Will
Date of document: 28 Nov 1637, probated 4 May 1638
Condition: 17th century English, legible copy

[Margin]: T[estament] Joanne
[Margin]: Moggeridge

1    Memorandum that in the moneth
2    of November in the yeare of our Lord God one thousand six hundred thirtie
3    seaven and on or about the eight and twentieth day of the same moneth Johan Moggeridge
4    late whilest shee lived of Nettlecombe in the Countie of Som[er]set widow deceased
5    being sicke in bodie but of p[er]fect minde memory and understanding and being
6    desirous to make her last will and Testament and therby settle her estate did
7    utter and speake theis words or the like in effect following viz[ a vi]t First shee
8    gave and bequeathed unto Alexander Stone sonne of Thomas Stone of
9    Holcome Rogus her brother the som[m]e of ten pounds of lawfull money of England
10    Item she gave unto Grace Mannyng daughter of John Mannyng of Nettlecombe
    [Page 2]
11    aforesaid gent the som[m]e of eight pounds of lawfull money of England one coffer or chest
12    and her safeguard Alsoe she gave unto Radigon Merch daughter of Katherine Merch of
13    Chipstable in the Countie aforesaid widdowe one coffer two wastcotes and all such
14    implemente and houshouldstuff as she then had in the house and custodie of the said
15    Katherine and likewise all such ymplement and houshouldstuff as she then had in the house
16    and custodie of R[ue]ben Potter and Grace his wife of Cleanger in the Countie of
17    Devon Alsoe she gave unto Johan Knowell the wife of Thomas Knowell of
18    Milverton in the Countie of Som[er]set aforenamed one peece of greene woolen cloth
19    Alsoe she gave unto Elizabeth Helling her sister the wife of John Helling of Holcombe
20    aforesaid one smock Alsoe she gave unto Elizabeth Pugslie one peece of red
21    woolen cloath All the rest and residue of her goods and chattles not before herein
22    given and bequeathed she gave and bequeathed unto the foresaid John Manning
23    whome she made and no[mi]nated her whole and sole executor of this her last will and
24    Testament All such words or the like in effect were spoken by the said Johan
25    w[i]th an intent and purpose to make and declare her last will Att all and singular
26    which premises shee the said Joan was of good and p[er]fect memory in the p[re]sence
27    and heareing of the witnesses whole names are hereunder subscribed The m[ar]ke
28    of Margaret Webb witn[ess] the marke of Elizabeth Pougslie witness
29    Probatum fuit testamentum suprascriptumn apud London coram venli
30    viro dno Henrico Marten inte legume dcore Curia Prerogative Cantuar
31    viro Custode sino Comtie litime constituto Quarto die Mensis Maij anno d[omi]ni
32    millimo sexcemo tricesimo octano Juramento Johannis Manning gen of executoris
33    vinci in humoi teste noiat Cui commissa fuit admistrato bonorum unium et creditorium
34    defci de bene et fidelr admstrando ead Ad sca dei Evangelia Coram Roberto
35    Gaie clico vigore Comissoinis Jurat

Will of Elinor alias Eleanor Blake of Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire - The National Archives PROB 11/1516/434, probated 28 Nov 1810

Elinor Blake is the testatrix and I have not yet determined if she was of the City of London originally or of Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire. Close by to Ashton Keynes is Somerford Keynes (2 miles), Cirencester (5 miles).

The marriage of Christian Blake and Robert Swaysland was celebrated 6 April 1779 at Saint Clement Danes, Westminster, London, England (M04160-1 Family Search).

There is a Sarah Stafford, widow, 66 years of age, born in 1785 on the 1851 Census at Newington, Surrey and she was born at Newington, Surrey (Stockwell, Surrey is a chapelry parish at Lambeth). I could not discover if her maiden name was Blake.

Is George Renals her brother George Blake? Perhaps the Surrey wills will shed some light on this family.

Transcriber: Elizabeth Kipp
Recorded: 28 Nov 2013
Source: The National Archives, PROB 11/1516/434
Testator: Elinor alias Eleanor Blake
Place: As[h]ton Keynes, Wiltshire, England
Type of Record: Will
Date of document: 17 Aug 1807, probated 28 Nov 1810
Condition: 19th century English, legible copy

[Margin]: Elinor
[Margin]: oth[erw]ise
[Margin]: Eleanor
[Margin]: Blake
[Margin]: 6

1    I Elinor Blake late of Bermondsey in the
2    City of London but now of Aston Keynes in the County of Wilts do
3    make and ordain this writing to be my last will and Testament in manner and
4    form following viz [a vit] I give bequeath to my Sister Christian Swaisland
5    wife of Robert Swaisland now residing at No 16 Maglin Street London
6    the Interest of Two hundred pounds now out at Interest during
7    the term of her natural life and at her decease I give and bequeath
8    the aforesaid sum of Two hundred pounds with all the Interest that may be due or remaining unpaid on the said Sum of two hundred pounds to be equally divided
9    betwixt the four following persons viz [a vit] George or otherwise Renals
10    Butcher now residing at No 50 Tooly Street London Elinor Swaisland
11    the daughter of Christian Swaisland Mary Manning the daughter of Sam[ue]l
12    Manning of the Town of Cirencester Cordwainer and Elinor Manning
13    the daughter of the said Samuel Manning Cirencester aforesaid to be
14    equally divided betwixt them in four equal parts I give and
15    bequeath to Sarah Stafford the wife of ___ Stafford of Stockwell Cordwainer
16    I give and bequeath to John Manning the Son of Samuel Manning
17    of Cirencester likewise I give unto Elinor Swaisland and Elizabeth Stinler
18    each of them the sum of five pounds apiece to be paid at the time of
19    my decease I give unto William Blake the Son of my Bro[the]r George
20    to be paid at the time of my decease the Sum of twenty pounds I
21    give unto George the Son of my Bro[the]r George Blake the Sum of
22    Twenty pounds to be paid at my decease all the rest and residue of my
23    money I give and bequeath unto Thomas Selby of Ashton Keynes
24    his two daughters viz [a vit] the wife of Isaac Mathews and the wife of Jno
25    White both of Somerford in the County of Wilts I likewise give and
26    bequeath unto Mary White my Chest of Drawers my will and desire
27    is that this my last mentioned property shall be equally divided
28    betwixt my Bro[th]er in law Thomas Selby and his two daughters as aforesaid
29    and I do nominate and appoint George or otherwise  Renals to be the Executor
30    of this my last Will and Testament In Witness whereof I have
31    hereunto set my hand and seal that is my hand to the first part and my hand and Seal to this second part this seventeenth
32    day of August in the Year of our Lord 1807 Elinor Blake
33    Signed sealed and declared in our presence and we in her presence
34    and in the presence of each other have subscribed our names as
35    Witnesses to the execution thereof John Savory Esther Savory
36    Proved at London 28th November 1810 before the worshipful John
37    Danbury d[octo]r of Laws and Surr[oga]te by the oath of George she app[ointed] other[wise]
38    Renals described in the will George otherwise Renals the sole Executor
39    being sworn to administer

Will of Robert Blake, Gentleman, Ash Prior, Somerset - The National Archives PROB 11/804/495, probated 29 Nov 1753

The testator is the Robert Blake baptized 24 May 1710 at Ash Prior the son of John and Sarah Blake. He is also the brother of Joseph Blake whose will was blogged:

http://kippeeb.blogspot.ca/2013/10/will-of-joseph-blake-ash-prior-somerset.html

Their sister Betty married Richard Cridland and the Cridland family is mentioned in the will below. Also Susannah his sister who is 17 years younger than he is and in 1752 when the will is written is only 25 years of age and the need to provide her with the money from his father’s will has resulted in his taking out a mortgage. Robert is then 42 years of age so was 37 when his first son was born. Baptism of Robert Blake son of Robert and Elizabeth Blake 21 Jan 1747 at Ash Prior, Somerset. Baptism of John Blake son of Robert and Elizabeth Blake 12 Nov 1752 at Ash Prior, Somerset.

The parents of Robert the testator and Joseph his brother along with the other children baptized to this couple Mary 17 Jan 1706; buried 15 Nov 1722, Betty 22 Feb 1714, Anne 12 Jul 1717, Sarah 2 May 1720 and Susannah 11 Feb 1727 were John Blake and Sarah Uppam (of Ash Prior) and they were married 15 Jan 1705 at Bicknoller (5 miles west of Overstowey). Unfortunately nothing is known of this John. Was he related to the family at Overstowey (Bicknoller is just 5 miles from Overstowey).

There is a webpage with the poor law rate for 1659, 1688, 1693, 1705, 1717, 1718, 1771, 1787 and 1819:

http://www.paulhyb.homecall.co.uk/parishes/bickcw.txt

Blake entries include:
1771 Mr John Blake late Dobels
1771 Thos Blake Williamses
1787 Mr Blake for Woolson
1787 Mr Blake for Dobles
1819 Joan Blake at Woolston (for herself)
1819 George Blake (Wm Sully owner) Bottom at ?

Perhaps that answers my question somewhat as there are no entries for Blake at Bicknoller before 1771. Why did John Blake and Sarah Uppam marry at Bicknoller? A mystery.

Another interesting comment that John Blake of Lower Weacombe (near Bicknoller) by will dated 1716 left £100 to provide clothing for the poor. This is a will that would have been most interesting but is not the will of John Blake married to Sarah Uppam. I wonder if this will still exists in some form since it is mentioned in British history online:

http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=117147

Bicknoller is part of the larger parish of Stogumber. We know that Richard Blake married to Grace Napcot had property at Stogumber and they had two sons John and Richard. Richard left his will which was probated in 1666 and he was married to Ann Jessop; blogged:

http://kippeeb.blogspot.ca/2013/10/will-of-richard-blake-gentleman.html

This John died in 1716 and the last child of John and Sarah Blake was born/baptized in 1727 (Susannah) so not the correct John for this family.

Working through now and going back to the will of Robert Blake yeoman of Halse as this family in the will below also has property at Halse:

http://kippeeb.blogspot.ca/2013/10/will-of-robert-blake-yeoman-of-halse.html

is the John son of Robert in this will the father of this Robert? Once I get all these wills done then I will start to enter all the material into Legacy and see if I can find any linkages back to the Humphrey Blake family at Overstowey.

I am beginning to wonder if my information gathering is getting too huge for me to keep it all straight in my mind. I think I am reaching that point but would like to finish Somerset before I start to bring these wills together in a more rigorous fashion.

Transcriber: Elizabeth Kipp
Recorded: 28 Oct 2013
Source: The National Archives, PROB 11/804/495
Testator: Robert Blake, Gentleman
Place: Ash Prior, Somerset, England
Type of Record: Will
Date of document: 4 Feb 1752, probated 29 Nov 1753
Condition: 18th century English, legible copy

[Margin]: Robert
[Margin]: Blake

1    In the Name of God Amen
2    I Robert Blake of Ash Pryors in the County of Sommerset
3    Gent do this fourth day of February One Thousand Seven
4    hundred fifty and two make this my last Will and Testament
5    as followeth Imprimis I Give devise and bequeath unto my
6    Good Friends John Fraunces of Coombflorey in the County aforesaid
7    Esquire and Tho: Cridland of the same place and county Gentleman
8    and to the survivor of them and to the heirs and Executors
9    of Such Survivor all my Lands Tenements and hereditaments
10    Both real and personal situate lying and being in the parishes
11    of Ash Pryors Halse Storgursey and Stowey and also all that
    [Page 2]
12    Estate which I lately purchased of the Bishop of Bath and Wells lying
13    and being in the parish of Huish all which lands and Tenements are in
14    the County aforesaid and all Such as are in any other place whatsoever
15    and all my estate and interest therein Subject however to the Sum of
16    Nine hundred and thirty pounds and to Mr Cridland of Coombflorey Sen[io]r
17    on a Mortgage to him of all my Estates Real and personal in the parish
18    of Halse in the County aforesaid which Sum of Nine hundred and thirty
19    pounds I borrowed of him the said Mr Cridland as well to pay my said
20    Sister Susanna Blake her portion as also to purchase two lives of the
21    Bishop of Bath and Wells on my Estate at Huish and my Will is
22    that my Sister Susannah be paid her portion of Five hundred
23    pounds at the end of Six Months from the date of the notice I Gave
24    her of the payment of it which will be on the 25th of July next there
25    being in the hands of Mr Cridland five hundred pounds part of
26    the Mortgage Moneys for that purpose as will appear by a
27    declaration of his in my custody and also Subject to the payment
28    of all other my just debts and Legacies and I do hereby charge
29    all my Lands Tenements personal Estate and hereditaments with
30    the payment of the same Upon Trust nevertheless that the said
31    John Fraunceis and Tho: Cridland and the Survivor of them do
32    receive the rents and profits thereof and pay out of the same
33    unto my Wife Elizabeth the Sum of Forty pounds per annum
34    by quarterly payments during her natural Life On Condition
35    however that my said Wife doth relinquish her right and title
36    to all dower of Such Lands as She is dowable of which right if
37    she refuses to relinquish then and in such case my Will is that
38    the above charge of Forty pounds per annum payable to my Wife
39    and all other Sums hereinafter mentioned to be payable to her
40    shall be absolutely void nor Shall She have any benefit thereof
41    and also allow my Son Robert Blake for his education and
42    maintenance as much as they my Trustees shall think fit
43    until he arrives to the age of twenty One and when he attains
44    that age then my Trustees to be seized of all my before
45    mentioned Lands Tenements personal Estate and hereditaments
46    to the use of my said Son Robert and the heirs Male of
47    his Body lawfully begotten and for want of heirs Males of
48    his Body so begotten then to the issue Female of his Body
49    lawfully begotten and for want of such issue then to my
50    Trustees and to the Survivor of them and to the heirs and
51    Executors of Such Survivor Upon Trust that they permit my
52    Brother Joseph Blake to receive the rents and profits of all
53    my above mentioned Estates for and during the Term of Ninety and
54    nine years or for Such part of the Term as Shall run out in
55    his life time and from and after the Term aforesaid or Such
56    number of years as Shall expire in his life time then to my
57    Trustees aforesaid the Survivor of them the heirs and Executors
58    of Such Survivor to be Seized to the use of the heirs Males of the
59    Body of my said Brother lawfully begotten and for want of
60    heirs Males to the issue Female of my Said Brother lawfully
61    begotten and if he dies leaving no issue behind him then my Said
62    Trustees and the Survivor of them to be Seized to the use of the said John
63    Cridland and Richard Cridland Sons of Richard Cridland of Milverton
    [Page 3]
64    Gent their heirs Executors and Assigns forever not as joint Tenants but
65    as Tenants in Common but my intention and Will is that if my Wife
66    happens to be with Child at the time of my death that Such Child shall if my
67    Son Robert dyes without issue inherit all my before mentioned Lands
68    Tenements personal Estate and hereditaments in the same manner and
69    with the same Limitations as my son Robert Blake is to inherit by this
70    Will and I do hereby give Such Child with which my Wife shall be
71    ensient at the time of my death Five hundred pounds to be paid
72    when Such Child Shall attain the age of Twenty One as also twenty
73    pounds per annum to be paid Quarterly for its maintenance and
74    education which Sum of Five hundred pounds and also Twenty pounds
75    per annum my Said Trustees and the Survivor of them are to raise out
76    of my Estates before mentioned by Sale Mortgage Lease or otherwise
77    but if my Wife is not with Child at the time of my death then my
78    Will is that Ten pounds per annum more to be added to the Forty pounds
79    before directed to be paid to my Wife making in the whole Fifty pounds
80    which sum my Trustees are to pay her Quarterly as long as she lives
81    and if my Said Son Robert Blake shall happen to dye without issue
82    and living his Mother than then and from that period of time my
83    Will is that Ten pounds per annum more be added to the Fifty pounds
84    above mentioned making in all Sixty pounds which Sum my
85    Trustees and the Survivor of them are to pay in manner and form
86    aforesaid and in case the Sum of Sixty pounds or any part thereof
87    Shall be behind and unpaid by the Space of two Months is Shall
88    be lawful for my said Wife Elizabeth to enter on such part of
89    my Lands and Tenements as I can charge with the payment
90    of the said Sixty pounds and take them into her own possession
91    until the said Sum of Sixty pounds or any part thereof be
92    satisfied and paid and I do will that my Wife shall have the
93    Great Parlour hall and Little parlour of my house with Chamber
94    over and also the best Garden and Green Courts until my
95    Son Robert comes to the age of Twenty One and I do hereby
96    devise the Guardianship of my Son to my Trustees and the
97    Survivor of them and I do hereby charge all my Real
98    and Personal Estate for the indemnification of my Trustees
99    from all charges they or either of them may be put to in the
100    execution of the Trust hereby reposed in them and I do also will
101    that my Quick and dead Stock be Sold by my Trustees aforesaid
102    whom I make Executors of this my last Will Rob[er]t Blake
103    Signed Sealed published and declared by the said Robert Blake
104    the Testator to be his last Will and Testament in the presence
105    of us who Subscribed our names as Witnesses in the presence of
106    the said Robert Blake and at his request Edward Bryant
107    Upton Manning Rob[er]t Coles
108    Whereas my Son John was not born at the time of
109    making my above Will and thereby no provision was made for
110    him now my Will further is and I do hereby order my Trustees
111    above named to raise the Sum of Six hundred pounds out of any
112    or all the Estates above mentioned by Sale Mortgage or Lease
113    and also the farther Sum of Twenty pounds per Annum the
    [Page 4]
114    Sum of Six hundred pounds to be paid him when he shall attain
115    the age of Twenty One and the said Sum of twenty pounds to be paid
116    him Yearly for his Maintenance and Education until he shall attain
117    that age and then the Sum of Twenty pounds per Annum to cease and
118    in case my Son Robert dies without issue of his Body lawfully
119    Begotten that then my Son John shall inherit all my Real and
120    personal Estates in the Same manner as his Brother was to inherit
121    Rob[er]t Blake Signed Sealed published and declared to be a Codicil
122    to the above Will in the presence of us who subscribed our Names
123    in the Testators presence and at his request Geo: Farewell Edw[ar]d
124    Bryant Upton Manning
125    This Will was proved at London with a Codicil annexed
126    the Twenty Ninth day of November in the year of Our lord One
127    Thousand Seven hundred and fifty three before the Right honourable
128    Sir George Lee Knight doctor of Laws Master Keeper or Commissary
129    of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury lawfully constituted by the
130    Oath of John Fraunceis Esquire and Thomas Cridland the Executors
131    named in the said Will To whom Administration was granted of all and
132    Singular the Goods Chattels and Credits of the said deceased being first
133    Sworn by Commission duly to administer the same.

Bishops Nympton Registers

As Christmas Day comes nearer I realize that I will not quite complete the last group of records although very close. There are still 400 burials to convert to the excel chart and I will leave them now until after Christmas Day although if there is a lull in activities I may find myself completing them :)

In total the Bishops Nympton Parish Registers have yielded 7302 baptisms, 1284 marriages, 5398 burials (with 400 still to convert for a total of likely 5798 burials), and 365 banns. These registers run from the late 1550s to the late 1980s yielding 430 years of history for this small village in North Devon. For myself, I descend from a number of families with deep roots in Bishops Nympton dating back to the earlier parish registers - Pincombe (from the mid 1590s on), Thomas, Tapp (from the early 1600s on), Blackmoore, and Manning (middle 1600s on) with the Thomas and Blackmoore families being in the earliest registers. My Pincombe and Tapp families were from North Molton and my Manning family from Landkey.

Thoughts for the New Year and I shall be downsizing my efforts in genealogical activities once again as my home commitments become somewhat larger and my time for genealogy smaller. I will be concentrating on my Blake one name study and my Pincombe one name study.

The latest Pincombe yDNA results are most interesting in that the Pinkham descendant does not match the results of my likely 5th cousin. Finding someone to test my direct line from Robert Pincombe would be really great as it would give me a baseline from which to look at all the data. The Pinkham result is quite within the realm of results to be expected from Devon. We are still awaiting results beyond the first 12 but a quick test with Withey's Haplogroup Predictor does yield I haplogroup rather than the R1b that is predicted for the results of my 5th cousin on ysearch. Since he is unwilling to be part of the project and has entered the data himself I would really like to have results in the study that are from a known cousin. Will have to wait and see on that.

The original researchers for the Pincombe one name study have linked the Pinkham and Pincombe family as having a common ancestor. yDNA results are really the only way to determine if in reality this was a true common ancestry.

Will of William Pincombe of Molland Devon dated 30 Oct 1637 - PROB 11/188 - Image Reference 392/350

The will of William Pincombe at Molland Devon quite perked my interest. My emigrant ancestor John Pincombe had farmed at Molland (Lower Gatcombe Farm to be exact) until 1850. I still do not know how he acquired his farm and references to Gatcombe and Molland occur in several wills for the Pincombe family.

This William Pincombe is known to me. He is the son of John Pincombe who was himself the eldest son of William Pincombe and Emotte Snowe (and so the eldest brother of my Richard Pincombe).  That information was a long time working through. I read the will a few years ago but couldn't place him initially. The relationships he mentions include his Uncle Thomas Pincombe and his brother John Pincombe. He mentions his kinsman Hugh Thomas and I wonder if Hugh is his brother in law or his first cousin - the use of the word kinsman still confuses me in a will. I do not know the name of the wife of John Pincombe his father. I do know from the will of William Pincombe (see blog 30 Jul 2011) that the children of John Pincombe (his eldest son) were William, John and Marye and his will was written 20 Dec 1602. William (will 1602) does not mention any property that was given to his eldest son John or his second son William - they must have already received their inheritance.

William in his will below doesn't mention any relationship between John Pincombe at Bishops Nympton or William Pincombe at Filleigh. They were his first cousins probably - William being the son of his Uncle William who had himself left a will in 1625 whilst living at East Buckland (Filleigh being nearby). His cousin William (son of Uncle William) was living at Filleigh according to this will. He had married Bridget Worth.

It is convenient though to be able to place this William in the family lines - the will helps to establish the family lines but unfortunately his daughters have not yet married and his son also unmarried and they are all under 21 years of age at the time of writing of the will. No neices or nephews are mentioned so I am left to wonder if John Pincombe his brother or Marye Pincombe his sister have married. Then Hugh Thomas his kinsman I am unable to place at all. Always a will may answer some questions but generally produces a whole host of other questions!

I am also curious why he mentions John Pincombe at Bishops Nympton (the only John there is a half brother to my ancestor William (baptized 1599 at Bishops Nympton). Since William (will 1602) and his wife Emotte Snowe had had nine children there were a lot of cousins though and the names John, William and Thomas are very frequent in this time period)! Although a second John Pincombe does not appear in the Bishops Nympton records, John Pincombe at Bishops Nympton could be the brother of William Pincombe at Filleigh. It is a possibility that has just entered my thoughts - I do not know where this John lived and choosing one member of the family might encourage one to choose the other brother as one of the overseers as well. I shall keep that one in my thinking cap as it is a distinct possibility. Coming from a large family, it is highly possible that the two eldest brothers kept close through the years and hence their children would have been close. Richard was the fourth son (and my ancestor).

The family that the priest at Bishops Nympton had me write to may be descended from one of these elder brothers as well. If one is not into genealogy then answering stray letters from far away and extremely distant cousins may not be something that one makes time for in a busy life. I can quite understand that.

Initially when I found this will for William Pincombe at Molland I wondered if it would answer any questions about my line back since my ancestor was last at Molland before he emigrated to Canada. But quite definitely my line was of Bishops Nympton; I have all the family lore that takes me back to John Pincombe and Grace Manning - going back further was more difficult but as I put together the family of William Pincombe and Johane Blackmoore from the Parish Records the descent down was obvious. William and Johane had six children (four sons and two daughters). One son died at 13 years of age (John) but the other three sons all had families with William (my ancestor) and Thomas being the two Pincombe lines at Bishops Nympton on the 1723 Oaths and William occupying/owning land at Bishops Nympton. I do not know what Thomas did for a living and that is still to discover. Hugh farmed at Landkey. The two daughters I have not yet found marriages for them - Johan and Wilmote were twins.

The will of William Pincombe at Molland:

Recorded: 17 Oct 2011
Source: Public Record Office, London, UK, PROB 11/188 - Image Reference 392/350
Place: Molland, Devon, England
Type of Record: Will
Dated: 30 Oct 1637 (probated 12 Mar 1642)
Condition: photocopy, bold and light writing, some smudges, old English writing

[in margin] T[estator] Will[ia]m Pyncombe

1 In the name of God Amen The thirtith
2 day of October in Anno D[o]m[ini] one thousand six hundred thirtie seaven
3 I William Pyncombe of Molland in the County of Devon yeoman being
4 sicke and weake of body but thankes be given to allmighty god of p[er]fect
5 minde and memory revokeing all former wills and testaments doe make and
6 ordaine this my last will and testament in manner followeing First I com[m]end
7 my soule into the hands of god my maker redeemer and Saviour hopeing assuredly
8 through the only merrits of Jesus Christ to be made partaker of life ev[er]-
9 lasting As for the worldly goods wherewith it hath pleased god to endowe me
10 I give dispose and bequeath the same as followeth Imprimis I give and
11 bequeath unto the poore of the parrishe of Molland aforesaid twenty shillings
12 to be distributed by my Rulers and overseers the next Saboth day after
13 my buriall Item I give to all my godchildren twelve pence a peece Item
14 I give and bequeath unto Hugh Thomas my kinsman tenn shillings Item
15 I give and bequeath unto Johan Pincombe my daughter fourscore pounds
16 of lawfull money of England to be imployed by my Rulers to her use
17 w[i]thin two moneths after my decease Item I give and bequeath unto
18 Elizabeth Pyncombe my daughter fourscore pounds in money to be imployed
19 to her use likewise w[i]thin half a yeare after my decease Item I give
20 and bequeath unto Johan Pyncombe my wife one bedd and bedsted p[er]formed
21 Item my will intent and meaneing is that yf the said Johan and Elizabeth
22 my daughters or either of them shall chance to dye before they or either
23 of them shall accomplishe the ages of one and twenty yeares Then the
24 said somme of fourscore pounds shall remaine unto the longest liver of
25 them and my executrix propor[t]ionably to be devided betwixt them
26 the residue of all my goods and chattels moveable and unmove-
27 able not given nor bequeathed my debts and legacies payed my
28 funerall rights and duties discharged I doe nowe give and bequeath
29 unto William Pyncombe my sonne whome I doe make my wholle and
30 sole executrix of this my last will and testament And I doe ordaine
31 and appoint Thomas Pyncombe my Uncle John Pyncombe my brother
32 John Pyncombe of Nympton Epi and William Pyncombe of Filleigh
33 to be my Rulers and overseers and to assist my executrix in the
34 execution performance of this my last will and testament In witness whereof I
35 have hereunto sett my hand and seale dated the day and yeare first
36 above written Signed William Pyncombe Memorand[um] before then sealing
37 and delivery hereof my will intent and meaneing is that yf the above
38 said William my executor doe happen to dye before he shall accomplish the full
39 age of one and twenty yeares then his por[t]ion of goods and chattles
40 shall come and remaine unto the foresaid Johan and Elizabeth my
41 daughters Sealed and delivered by the said William Pyncombe and
42 by him published to be his last will and testament in the p[re]sence of the
43 Sig[ne]d Thomas Pyncombe signed John Hoosgood Test. John Braye

I have not yet found marriages for William, Johan or Elizabeth the children of William the testator but I have not yet transcribed the Parish Registers of Molland - another future project! I have Parish Registers 1, 2 and 3 which covers the period 1538 for marriages and 1541 for baptisms and burials up to about the 1790s. I realized after I bought them that I hadn't brought them up far enough because my ancestor was baptized at Molland in 1837 (the first not to be baptized at Bishops Nympton in 250 years) and I should have purchased the next two registers - another time I will do that. But for the moment once I have completed North Molton (and South Molton comes next) then I will move on to Molland.

I now have two competing studies the Pincombe one name study which is so very centralized in Devon (and London after the mid 1700s) and the Blake one name study which has a very strong pull as it is my childhood surname. Nowadays one thinks of one's surname as life long but in the 1960s women were still for the most part taking on their husband's surname.

Full Genetic Scans on mitochondrial DNA

I continued working on the subgrouping of the T_FGS study group and completed the assignments to subgroups. I now need to add the mutations that belong to the particular subgroupings to the description and decide on a colour scheme. Although this isn't my mtDNA, the sample is my husband's line, it was an interesting couple of years spent looking at the grouping for T haplogroup.

 I think that if you are interested in testing your DNA and in particular the mitochondrial DNA the most practical and efficient way is to do the Full Genetic Scan. Overall the cost has diminished greatly and it is a very practical way to test in that there are no further tests in this area. My family finder results amazed me as I have a fourth cousin or greater match with someone whose family has always been in England. I still need to sort through the material which she sent to me. I suspect that the attachment is through my mother's Buller line - perhaps Christopher's mother was of German descent. Living in London as he did plus being executor of so many wills has left me wondering about who he was. My Buller day will look some more at the Buller records at St Olave where he buried his wife, two of his children and then himself although they attended St Mary Magdalene Bermondsey and baptized their children at St Mary Magdalene.

Now having published the paper, it has freed my mind up to look at the H11 mtDNA haplogroup which is my line. Having this likely "resting spot" for my mutations in Agryllshire Scotland has set my thoughts towards how my line ended up in the Midlands of England. I remember my mother talking about her thoughts on her ancestry and she suspected Irish but could that have been Scot-Irish! Would my ancestor have emigrated from Ireland to England looking for work at some time in the past? My grandmother's mother used to sing an Irish lullaby to the children. But it was a popular lilt and a lot of people could have sung that particular tune I suspect. I really have very little to go on with my great grandmother Ellen Taylor's family other than her father being a shoemaker in Birmingham. As far as I can ascertain none of Ellen's possible sisters had daughters so any matches would have to be more distant. Ellen's likely mother did not have any sisters so I am back to her mother Ellen Lawley who was born in 1819 in Wellington Shropshire England. Other than knowing that her father was Joseph I do not have any further information yet. I am  hoping that she might have had sisters with descendants.

The Devon Genuki pages updated with the index of wills prepared by Beckerlegge, J.J. (Ed.)  Index of the Wills and Administrations relating to the County of Devon proved in the Court of the Archdeaconry of Barnstaple, 1563-1858. Since my mother's paternal family comes from this area I pulled out my families from the index: Blackmore, Bray, Burges, Charley, Harvey, Hobbs, Manning, Moggridge, Pincombe, Pearse, Rew, Rowcliffe, Snow, Stanbury, Tapp, Thomas, Upcott, Vicary, Whetson.  I also pulled the Blake entries for the Blake one name study. It would be interesting to discover the ancestry of that particular Blake family in Devon - there appears to be a thought that it might be the Hampshire Blake family from Knights Enham.

I must get back to transcribing Abbotts Ann once again. I shall put a high priority on those parish registers to complete them.

Pincombe and family, Visit to FHC

A two part post today as I am beginning the day by looking once again at my Pincombe family in Bishops Nympton and the families that married into the Pincombe family (I am sure that members of the other families see this exactly opposite :) ).

The Blackemoore family at Bishops Nympton and mine appears to have been there from the beginning of the Parish Registers was initially a puzzle for me. I had found the marriage of Johan Blackemore and John Pincombe and believed them to be the parents of William Pincombe who married Mary Vicary 17 Jun 1685 at Bishops Nympton and they were the parents of two children in as much as I am able to determine. John was baptized 12 Jul 1692 at Bishops Nympton and his sister Joan was buried 26 Mar 1726 but I do not have a baptism for her. Their mother was buried 5 Apr 1726 and all at Bishops Nympton.

Once I established that the chart that I had inherited from the earlier Pincombe researchers was incorrect - the marriage between Grace Manning and John Pincombe was a John Pincombe from a different line - then I was able to move backwards. I determined that the parents of my John Pincombe married to Mary Charley (Charlie) were indeed John Pincombe and Grace Manning since the John Pincombe that was a son of John Pincombe and Catherine Bryer was clearly someone else in the register.

I could then go back to the family of John Pincombe and Johane Blackemore and follow their children's lines which brought me to John Pincombe and Catherine Bryer through a different son. Then I had Johane Blackemore and which one was she. That proved to be quite straightforward that she was the daughter of Anthonie Blackemore (Anthonie was buried just three months before the wedding and the bride's mother is identified as Johane) and his father was Thomas Blackemore who appears on the Devon Visitation of 1620. This visitation lists the ARMS: Or, on a fess between three moors' heads side-faced, couped sable, three crescents argent and CREST: A moor's head erased sable, gorged or.

All these crests are very interesting and I think over time I will accumulate them just for "meat on the bones" of our ancestors. In this case I can trace directly back to the holder of this coat of arms (Thomas Blackemoore). Now that I have worked that through I will add it all to my Pincombe one name study Legacy tree which is slowly growing and will eventually be on my website.

I could photograph all the charts and put them up and may do that one day but for the moment I think they are confusing since I have found some of them inaccurate. They were put together by the earlier researchers using information gleaned first hand from informants. Although interesting, I feel more comfortable with the BMB, will and land information being used to reconstruct family lines. It is easy to mix lines!

My post will continue later with my observations from the Family History Centre as we will be off to there in another hour or so.

I spent the entire three hours on the Hutton Cranswick microfilm. I was able to find the marriage of John Sproxton and Anne Huser in 1659. I am not sure where this Sproxton line is going actually. I did some searching on the Internet last night (I only just learned about my Sproxton line last fall when we went to Salt Lake City and I could see the correct spelling - incorrectly spelled on the IGI) and there was a village called Sproxton in North Riding of Yorkshire which is in the Domesday Book as the King's Land. The Sproxton family seem to be quite old and they lived at Wakefield WRY in the 1500s. The next record to search is the Protestation Returns for Hutton Cranswick to see if the Sproxton family is there in 1641-42. The PRs only go back to the late 1650s. There are three Sproxton males baptizing children in the second quarter of the 1700s - Richard (my ancestor), Isaac and John. I need to keep reading the film to find all the Sproxton entries.

As well on the tape are the PRs for the villages of Skerne, Watton, Beswick, Christ Church - Bridlington Quay, and Burton-Agnes. All of these also interest me so I can see that I shall be quite busy with this tape until it has to go back 19 September 2009. I was unable to find baptisms for Grace Wiles, Margaret Garrit or Anne Husey who are my 6x, 7x and 8x great grandmothers respectively. I was feeling a bit impatient for Driffield PRs to come but I think that the wait will be quite advantageous to let me completely finish this microfilm first. The Bradfield PRs I will look at again before I send it back but there isn't anything in it that can help me to discover if this is my Nathanael Lambden.

Landkey Parish Registers - 23 January 2009

Landkey Parish Registers completed up to 1653 and there are 715 baptisms, 278 marriages and 582 burials. The burials of infants and young children continue to dominate the register. Many of the marriages are from places nearby like Barnstaple, Bishops Tawton, and South/North Molton. It makes me very keen to see the Church at Landkey. Perhaps it was such a charming area or perhaps the priest was more accommodating for marrying although he always identifies the home parish of the people being married from the 1640s on.

I now have the marriage for Thomas Manninge and Elizabeth Upcott and it would appear that they live in the village. There are Manning and Upcott families in the village but neither of them appear to fit into any of these families so are perhaps siblings of the adult family members since the Upcott family has only just appeared and the Manning family appears and disappears!

We went to see Australia (the movie) today and it was an amazing film. One tends to forget that Australia was very much on the firing line in the second World War. The theme of the movie was quite fascinating.

Tomorrow I shall continue on with the Landkey Parish Registers as I would like to complete the four fiche for this parish which brings me up to around the mid 1700s. After that I do not have a strong interest in Landkey as my families all converged on Bishops Nympton in the mid 1600s (the ones that weren't already there). The entries are quite well spaced and have been fairly legible for the most part. I had two screens today that were very faint and on one I had to give up on four entries (all burials). That was the pity as the burials are not on the IGI and are a particular interest of mine.

Landkey Parish Registers - 21 January 2009

I have completed to the end of 1642 for the Landkey Parish Registers. The priest makes these interesting little drawings to direct your eye towards the correct column of material. Sometimes he has little drawings in other spots on the page. The handwriting is fairly reasonable although sometimes a little tight so that one has to scrutinize carefully to deduce what he has written. Mostly the same names but new ones creeping in and old ones disappearing. A number of couples come from Barnstaple to be married at Landkey. I didn't visit the Church there so do not know if it is a particularly nice one that attracted people for their marriages. Perhaps they were of the village before and wanted to return to marry there - all sorts of thoughts on that as I work my way through the records. The death rate for infants is quite high and when I am done I may just do a few calculations on that. I now have 590 baptisms, 189 marriages and 473 burials entered into my excel database. One family is excluded from the IGI - Wilkey. Sometimes it is difficult to interpret the entry and that is perhaps why. Whenever the entry isn't in the "usual" format it tends to be omitted from the IGI.

Other than that I haven't done much else today on genealogy. Did do the laundry - now that we are empty nesters there isn't too much of that actually. Since we are mostly home all the time I tend to wear just a couple of warm outfits (heavy sweaters and slacks) and wool worksocks so that we just do laundry twice a week. Only wash dishes once a day and it takes about five minutes. Finished for the day but ended up working into the evening as the day was broken up a bit this afternoon as we took the dogs for a walk.

Tomorrow I will continue with transcribing the Landkey registers - I am on the second fiche and getting close to finishing the 2nd row (5 rows to a fiche). I have only four fiche which brings me up to the mid 1700s. That should satisfy my interest in the Pincombe, Manning and Upcott families at Landkey as they are at Bishops Nympton by the 1600s for my direct line. The Manning and Upcott ancestors are buried at Bishops Nympton which is what attracted me to the baptism of John Manninge at Landkey plus he was baptized in 1655 which fits into the Manning that was the father of Grace Manning my ancestress who married John Pincombe at Bishops Nympton in 1725.

I also need to work on my presentation at Gene-O-Rama on Family Studies and DNA. It is only 30 minutes this time and I will concentrate on some of the good results that we have from a couple of family studies and compare that with the paper trails that are available.

Landkey Parish Registers - 20 January 2009

Continuing on with the Landkey Parish Registers, I completed another six years bringing me up to 1636 completed. New names do enter about one to four per year with some names disappearing. I now have 486 baptisms, 151 marriages and 388 burials. I have found only a few discrepancies with the IGI online but there are about 30 baptisms missing. The marriages agree quite well but the priest has added in the parish of the individuals that are not "of Landkey parish" which can be very handy. The burials are the real plus though as the IGI only has the burials of young children for the most part. I am still not seeing my Manning family any too frequently but the Upcott family finally appeared there. I am not sure that Elizabeth Upcott is from Landkey - I rather suspect she is from Witheridge but will need to do those registers to find that answer! I will soon see my Pincombe family there and hope to sort them out as Hugh is a sibling to my William Pincombe (6x great grandfather). All of his children were baptized at Landkey and his marriage is supposed to be there to Sarah but I haven't located it on the fiche. Some part of the fiche are difficult to read and I may be missing it - hence my reason for transcribing the parish registers. A good method for small parishes but a real task with larger ones. I hope to do Andover Hampshire one of these days to sort out the period from 1550 to 1700 (I have the fiche up to the early 1900s).

More discussion with others on the Vicary family. I had an error on my webpage (innocent actually as I picked it up from worldconnect a while back). I have now removed that particular item and replaced it with Alexander Vicary senior as the father of Alexander Vicary junior. This is not proven and I have debated removing it as I either say that I have proof or give the reasons for picking the individual. This is still weak on my webpage. I have removed most items from my webpages now that I do not have proof for the link. My initial thought in including some of the items was that I had received them from another researcher and my pages are becoming more and more visible and people do contact me. It allows me to discuss the entry and see if they have any further proof than I have of the connection. I probably need to state the controversy though in my preamble for each of my ancestral lines and will do that where it is needed. For the most part I do not go past what I can prove.

We have watched the Inauguration of the new United States President today for a good part of the day. I liked his Inaugural address and did think that he had a few key phrases that are memorable but perhaps not quite the same as President Kennedy's "Ask not what your country can do for you; but ask what you can do for your country." The people who came to see the ceremony were incredible. We have been to Washington DC in the area where the people were standing and it is an enormous area. There is so much hope being directed at President Obama and it was wonderful to see him so eager to accept the mantle of such a burden. The impact upon the black people of America will be a wondrous event to see in my lifetime. I can remember segregation and desegregation and how painful that was for the United States. God bless America and God bless President Obama, his family and his administration. God speed to them all.

Landkey Parish Registers - 19 January 2009

Another six years completed of the Parish Records for Landkey and they continue to be the same people with the occasional new person. No sign of the Manning family at the moment - between children as the young ones become adults and start their own families. I am getting to the point where I should start to see some of the Manning children as adults. The spelling of Manning developed through the years.

I spent a little time on Rose Ash looking at the Vicary family as per the request I had yesterday about Bishops Nympton and the author mentioning her connection to the Vicary family of Rose Ash. I sent off my records from the parish register which pretty much go against the usual reporting for this family. It is really necessary to check the parish registers in order to prove the connections in families. The IGI (which is quite good) nevertheless does not include some of the extra information found in the Parish Registers which helps to link families and there are some errors and omissions plus it does not include the burial registers other than for infant and young children.

We watched another episode of the History of England BBC series. They are quite exceptional and I highly recommend them. This evening I shall watch a movie; haven't decided which one yet. Six hours transcribing is enough for one day.

Bishops Nympton Parish Register

Completed another three years of marriages in Bishops Nympton bringing me up to 1773. There are 33 more images on the microfiche to transcribe to 1812. Then I will have completed all the records from the earliest (mid 1500s) to 1812 for Baptisms, Marriages and Burials. I have done a word for word transcription and I am also converting that to an excel file for easy sorting and searching. I am the on line parish clerk for Bishops Nympton and use the file at least two or three times a week for individuals asking questions about the parish. For myself, I have a number of ancestors who lived in Bishops Nympton some for several hundred years and more - Pincombe, Rowcliffe, Pearse, Thomas, Manning, Snow, Charlie, Tapp, Vicary, and Blackmoore. Having an excel file would permit me to sort on these families and separate out the lines a little easier than straight reading of the text! Eventually I would like to do a one name study of the Village of Bishops Nympton beginning with the families that are found there in the 1500s and their descendants as they trace down in the village using tax rolls, oaths, freeman's lists, etc.

Getting ready for Christmas and must try and make my stollen today. Still shopping to do as well. I bought four sets of fiche that I wanted, a book on transcribing early latin from the National Archives, another couple of books on DNA and a book on Hampshire subsidies from the 1500s for people to give me for Christmas. I didn't look at them when they arrived although it was very very tempting. I shall be busy with all of that material after Christmas as well. I have also ordered another set of two parish registers from Leicestershire and have an order for Wiltshire and Hampshire ready to go after Christmas. My family used to ask me what I wanted for Christmas in the past and I could never think of anything - genealogy has certainly given me new sources for Christmas presents to myself!