Protestation Returns for Somerset

Spent a good portion of the day working my way through the Somerset Protestation Returns for Somerset. Since I was doing the task I also extracted Blake, Escott, Trill, Nurcombe, Westerne, Couch, Chorley/Charley/Churley, Question and Rew as well as Siderfin/Sidderfin. It was a task I had often thought of doing and the opportunity presented itself. I did not find any more Sidderfin/Siderfin names than I already had located using the index. I also have the Parliamentary copies of the original to look at from their excellent website. I need to read through Minehead. 

What I am trying to prove, and it looks even more doable than before, is that the three children baptized at Minehead are all children of the same Robert and Ursula (Webber) Siderfin known to be at Minehead. Namely that is Wilmot Siderfin in 1614, Robert Siderfin in 1616 and John Siderfin 1619. I know that my Siderfin family at Selworthy also lived at Bratton just outside of Minehead at that time but part of Minehead now. James Sanders himself mentions property at Dunster that his mother was involved with at some point. Dunster is the location for the Question family and John's son Robert married Elizabeth Question of Dunster and James' mother Elizabeth was the eldest daughter of the eldest son according to his chart). James Sanders in his pedigree chart lists three children below John Siderfin whom he names as the only descendant of Robert which is incorrect it would appear. Learning more about Wilmot and Robert Siderfin the other two children baptized at Minehead would be interesting. I do have the Parish Registers for Minehead both the fiche of the original records and the Index of those records. I am at that place in time when I handed over the project to my cousin and decided to take on the Blake one-name study. Although I found Siderfin very interesting I did feel that my cousin was in a better position to do the research that, at that time, needed to be done in person at the Somerset Record Office. Time has passed and more and more information is online including the excellent search tool of the Archives at Somerset with lots of information. 

Today I continue with the Protestation Returns and plan to complete that task. In my mind I already feel that I have accomplished the task of linking John at Selworthy in 1641 with the John baptized at Minehead in 1619. He does appear to marry late (his children are baptized in 1656, 1658 and 1660 making him 37 when the first child was baptized. His wife Thomasine was likely younger than him as she was buried in 1709 at Wootton Courtney. James Sanders links three children with this marriage of John and Thomasine and they are as follows: the eldest son of John was said to be a John and he lived at Wootton Courtney, the next son Robert lived at Selworthy and the youngest son William lived at Minehead. Thomasine's will would have provided a lot more information than the abstract but as life flows that is all that there is. The abstract only mentions the son Robert, a "cousin" Robert Siderfin of Linch and all the children of Robert and his wife Elizabeth (Question) Siderfin. But Thomasine was buried at Wootton Courtney and Robert lived always at Selworthy. 

Interesting conundrum and the solution does lie in what is available one hopes. It doesn't matter in the long run in terms of just who the John at Wootton Courtney and the William at Minehead are when I reflect on my own line but for the sake of the Siderfin family study and the revision of James Sanders text I need to find as much information as I can. Will I ever register the study again? At 77 that seems a bit of a pipe dream to be honest. I am seeing myself as publishing and winding down in my studies although still very active with them. 

So on with the study. On with the day and on with breakfast!

Glory to Ukraine and may she drive the Russians from her land. The murder of so many Ukrainian children, women and men hangs heavy on the world; one prays that the tanks will bring an end to this useless war of aggression that Russia has wrought on the world. May it be the last of such wars of greed for land and riches.

This is the day that the Lord hast made

I have been singing the song "This is the day that the Lord hast made" for days and days now whilst I am sitting at my computer waiting for the sunrise. The beauty of our world abounds and now we just have to figure out how to keep it beautiful and help to restore it to its proper environment before industrialization started to decay the atmosphere. There must be a way; we are intelligent beings and somewhere within us is the ability to bring back the good life for all of us. 

Yesterday turned out to be a grocery shopping day and so I am prepared for the next onslaught of snow which is predicted to be 15 to 25 centimetres of snow. I had to use just a little de-icer on my porch yesterday and hope that it keeps working as we shift into snow high gear. I hate to put it on but sometimes a little is necessary. It does look bleak outside right now. The snow has melted off the trees and the sky has the look of snow to come but no snow yet. 

Playing my solitaire games whilst writing my blog today. I just had the song in my head and decided to share it with my blog today. The hardest game today was Spider Solitaire and it took a little manipulation but I managed it the first time through and quite quickly. On to Tripeaks and the first run was 25,600 points and moving on from there. Back to my blog when I finish my games. Generally I do them first after making my tea to wake up my brain fully before I begin the work of the day which will be the Siderfin book. 

Yesterday I gathered up all my databases (mostly on CDs) to work on separating out the four lines that I have decided to create with Robert's (married to Christian) children - a William Line, a Robert Line, a Thomas line and the remaining five children - on Sanders chart (Sanders says in the text that there are eight children but only six listed) - William, Robert, Thomas, Janet, Elizabeth and Joan; on my chart (8 children) - William, Robert, Thomas, Christian, John, James, Elizabeth and Jane/Joan. On Sanders chart - Joan married William Webber and no husband listed for Janet or Elizabeth. On my chart - Christian married William Couch; Elizabeth married James Nurcombe and Jane/Joan married? or not at all. Still to be determined. 

The will of Robert (probated 31 Jan 1627/28) lists his children and the child of his sister Jone married to William Westeron/Westerne. The son of Jone named as Robert Westeron and his son is Elmer Westeron. Robert's children - William with son Robert; Robert with son Robert (living at Minehead); Marie (daughter unmarried); Thomas Siderfin; Mary Siderfin (South Wheddon is mentioned for both of them along with the lease to keep one hundred sheep at Brundon); Jane; granddaughter Johanne Coutch; wife Christian. Probate to Christian (widow). 

Again, Sanders in the text mentions that Robert (will probated 1627/28) and Christian have eight children but only lists six. Robert has a granddaughter Mary born circa 1612 and a grandson Thomas born 1618 (could Robert have forgotten to note that Thomas and Mary were his eldest son William's children? A number of William and Christian's children died young. With these thoughts in mind I continue with my review of the Protestation Returns for Somerset. I did not find anything new yet but like the Devon Returns I shall look at them all through the day. 

Cleaning all accomplished and the next five days belong to the Siderfin book although I generally do get distracted by emails and the like!

On to the day and breakfast.

 

Time marches onward and progress on the Siderfin book

 Yesterday was devoted heavily to working on the Siderfin Book. I have more or less completed the third generation with a few loose ends I am still working on. It had a major stumbling block as James Sanders had Robert Siderfin (son of William Sidervin and Wilmot Foster) dying in 1612 but there is a will in 1627 for a Robert Siderfin naming his children and sister's child. There isn't a will in 1612 for a Robert Siderfin. His age in 1627 would be estimated at 87 which was a very long lived life at that time. The estimated 1540 year of birth was based on his parent's likely marriage in 1534-5 given the indenture that was created as the marriage portion for Wilmot (Foster) Siderfin by her father John Foster and Robert appears on the Muster Roll of 1569 although he could have been as young as 16 perhaps so that year of birth could be 1540 to 1544 which would then give him an estimated age at death of 83. The baptisms of his children begin in the 1580s which has him as rather older when his children were born and has been a challenge in my thoughts but there isn't an inkling of the maiden surname of his wife Christian or their date of marriage. The will of 1627 names his children and grandchildren as well as the child of his sister (except for a Mary/Marie mentioned in the will as a daughter but one child Elizabeth is missing from the will and she married James Nurcombe 30 Sep 1616 at Luxborough and has a death date of 1668 on Sander's Pedigree Chart. He does mention his granddaughter Johanne Couch (daughter Christian married William Couch 3 Jun 1616 at Luxborough). The records are definitely thin on the ground in this time period and the parish registers for Luxborough in the 1500s have been "eaten" making them rather difficult to read but the name Siderfin does rather stand out where it exists fortunately. 

Today I continue with the Third Generation and hopefully moving onto the Fourth Generation. The size of Robert's family makes this a rapidly expanding family and I will do the Fourth Generation as four separate charts - namely one for each of the three sons leaving a large family - namely William, Robert and Thomas - and one for the overall family including the daughters of Robert. I have not done the task of working the table down for the daughters as being a one-namer the second that one changes their surname I may or may not record the first generation although generally I do not but in this case I will attempt to bring the line down a couple of generations if that is possible (in this case there is the Couch family, the Nurcombe family and perhaps one other as I have not discovered if the youngest daughter Jane married - she is mentioned in the will regarding her marriage portion). Mary remains a bit of an enigma since there is a Mary in the will but not an Elizabeth! Mary Elizabeth would have been a common name as the female children were often given the name Mary along with another forename and the boys were often given Joseph along with another surname but not perhaps as often as the forename Mary is given. We are now into the times of Queen Elizabeth when the Anglican Church was becoming more prominent in England with Elizabeth as Supreme Governor (Queen Mary returned the Church of England to its former position as part of the Church of Rome and the Pope as Head of the Church). 

I will do some shifting of text so that all of the text dealing with the Second Generation is part of that section. There is still more text to go through in the Third Generation portion. When I first read "The Siderfin Family of West Somerset" book by James Sanders I was quite pleased with all the material but I can see where my changes will make it more readable and less of an historical tome of events in the Siderfin Family brought together with subtitles of the most eventful happenings in the Family over a period of three hundred years. 

Reading the news today and once again are the Nazis Putin and his enablers going to be able to hold the world ransom so that it can steal Ukraine? The threat of nuclear war has forever been bandied about over the seventy seven years of  my life. We will probably need nuclear weapons in our future if only to move asteroids out of the way of the planet but threatening us constantly with global annihilation is just a childish two year old way of saying I want it and if I can not have it then I will destroy everything. Russia, as a country, has a unique and beautiful history over the thousands of years of its existence. Too bad that the psychopathic Nazis Putin and his enablers have a goal that is untenable in the modern world. We can not let brutes run our world; we all lose because today it is Ukraine but what is it tomorrow? Give Ukraine the equipment that it needs to push the Russians back to the borders established at the end of the Soviet Union. No one asked the Soviet Union to wage wars that caused its bankruptcy and the break up of the Soviet Union. Millions of people were freed from enslavement behind an Iron Curtain when the Soviet Union collapsed; this war will come if Russia does not get out of Ukraine - they can not unilaterally hold an illegal referendum without the United Nations being part of it to declare it a free election and then claim that land as part of Russia. Armageddon looms again and the way to God is through Jesus and the path is through the New Commandments not some wishy washy statements made by a corrupt Rasputin like Patriarch Kirill. If he cared about the Russian Orthodox Church and the millions of adherents in Russia he would support Ukraine's right to be free. But it is all about power and money and his own glory and so he treats the Russians like serfs and tells them lies to get them to go to war against their blood; their cousins and neighbours. We must not lose the beauty of the words that Christ brought to us. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. The second is like onto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself; There is none other commandment greater than these. One of the great mysteries of the Russian Orthodox Church is their belief that one faithful person with one icon can rebuild the sacred Russian Orthodox Church which has its roots deep in the Christianity created by Christ Himself. There can be wicked people Russia - remember Rasputin - support Ukraine not the Nazis Putin and his enablers who have taken over your government. Russia belongs to the Russian people not the Nazis Putin and his enablers.

Sarah Moggridge (1731 - 1807)

52 Ancestor Challenge - Challenge 6

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

Purely accidental that I have chosen another 4x great grandmother but Sarah Moggridge rather intrigued me.The surname was a new one for me although I had seen it in Devon near Bishops Nympton. The discovery of my Somerset ancestors was a real surprise. Etched in stone on the memorial stone of John Pincombe and Elizabeth Rew (my emigrant ancestors from Devon) were the words "Native of Devon." A good deal of lost time was spent initially looking for an Elizabeth Rew/Rue (the spelling of her name appeared to be in doubt on this side of the Atlantic). But eventually I learned about PCC wills and quickly found a will for a John Rew probated in 1848 where he mentioned his daughter Elizabeth Pincombe. In his will he asked to be taken back from Sheepwash where he was living with his son Thomas and family to Selworthy to be buried as close as possible to his wife. That was my first clue that Elizabeth Rew was from Somerset. Serendipitously I surmised that perhaps the reason that I found John Pincombe and his sons John and William on the 1841 census at Molland Devon by themselves (wife and Elizabeth, an infant, missing) was because Thomas and his sister Elizabeth Pincombe had gone to Selworthy to bring John to live with Thomas. I indeed did find them on the census at Upper Hopcott Farm, Wootton Courtney with the aunt of Elizabeth Ann (Siderfin) Nurcombe, an uncle Robert Siderfin, Elizabeth's brother Thomas and a number of children belonging to all of these families.

Further research brought me back to Selworthy as the place of birth for Elizabeth Rew as the daughter of John Rew and Elizabeth Siderfin (married 30 Jan 1792 at Selworthy). John Rew was the son of John Rew and Sarah Moggridge (married 25 Jun 1761 at Selworthy). I have the fiche for this parish register and it reads:

The Banns of Marriage between John Rue and Sarah Moggridge were duly published in this Church Sunday the 31st of May for the 7th of June and for the 14th of June in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and sixty one by me Nath: Brice Curate

John Rue and Sarah Moggridge were married with Banns the 25th of June in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Sixty one Nath: Brice Curate.

This marriage was solemnized between us John Rew Sarah Rew in the presence of Betty Brice and William Hide.

Searching through the Selworthy Parish Registers I did find a Sarah Moggridge baptized 28 Dec 1731 daughter of Symon and Mary Mogridge. I found a burial for Sarah at Selworthy 31 May 1807 which read Sarah Rew widow 74 years which gives her a birth year of 1732. Moggridge is not a common name in the Selworthy Parish Records and I found just the two baptisms in this register  one for older sister Mary and Sarah. Simon Mogridge married Mary Phelp 9 Feb 1724 at Selworthy (and this is the only Moggridge marriage in this time period) and both are buried at Selworthy Simon 9 Nov 1766 and Mary Mogridge 11 Jul 1762.

Sarah and John baptized six children at Selworthy:

Mary 26 Jul 1762
Sarah 7 Feb 1764 (married William Bricknole 19 Sep 1778 at Selworthy)
John Rew 27 Feb 1766 (married Elizabeth Siderfin 30 Jan 1792 at Selworthy)
William Rew  13 Dec 1767
Betty 26 Dec 1769 (married John Kent 8 Jun 1805 at Selworthy)
Thomas 5 Apr 1772 (married Ann Horn 25 Oct 1803 at Selworthy)

Although Simon Mogridge married at Selworthy he does not appear in the baptisms at Selworthy. I found just one Symon Mogridge baptized in the latter part of the 1600s and that was at Culbone and I do not have the parish registers for Culbone so have not yet been able to verify that entry. It is from Marth Southwood's excellent transcriptions for west Somerset parishes:

http://www.wsom.org.uk/Registers/CulBap16861741.htm

Symon Mogridge son of David and Emot Mogridge baptized 28 Mar 1686. Two other sons Henry and John were baptized 2 Oct 1684 and 27 Dec 1692 and that is the extent of the baptisms for this couple at Culbone.

I do have the Porlock parish registers and did find Moggridge/Mogridge family members there. A number of entries are there for this family and another researcher looking at Mogridge/Moggridge has a blog discussing the Moggridge family.

http://mogbloglife.blogspot.ca/search/label/Moggridge

http://mogbloglife.blogspot.ca/search/label/Mogridge

He corrected me on one of my Moggridge lines and I have changed that item and thank you to him for the information.

I have not yet found the marriage of David and Emot.

Ancestry of Sarah Moggridge (beginning with myself):

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. Elizabeth (Betsey) REW (b 20 Dec 1801) - Selworthy Somerset England
6. John REW (b 27 Feb 1766) - Selworthy Somerset England
7. Sarah MOGGRIDGE (b 28 Dec 1731) - Selworthy Somerset England
8. Symon MOGRIDGE (b 28 Mar 1686) - Culbone Somerset England
9. David Mogridge ?



I reread the microfiche and do not feel any further ahead with the earlier ancestry of this family. Philip mentions Wootton Courtney in his blog and I also have the fiche for this parish.

Wootton Courtney Baptisms:

John Moggeridge son of Philip baptized 5 Sep 1630
Isott Moggeridge daughter of Philip baptized 28 Oct 1632
Robert Mogeradge son of Philip baptized 28 Mar 1635
Philip Mogridge son of Philip and Joan baptized 13 Feb 1636
Robert Mogridge son of Philip and Joan baptized 19 Aug 1638
Margaret Moggeridge daughter of Philip and Joan baptized 10 Jun 1640

Elizabeth Moggeridge daughter of David and Elizabeth baptized 25 Jul 1702
Robert Moggeridge son of David and Elizabeth baptized 1 Sep 1705
David Moggeridge son of David and Elizabeth baptized 14 Sep 1709
Joan Moggeridge daughter of David and Elizabeth baptized 23  May 1714
Henry Mogridge son of David and Elizabeth baptized 7 Feb 1718


William Moggridge son of John and Joan baptized 2 May 1743
Alice Moggridge daughter of Joan and Joan 21 Jan 1744
Robert Moggridge son of John and Joan 4 Feb 1746
Betty Moggridge daughter of John and Joan 4 May 1749

James Moggridge son of Henry and Joan 28 Jan 1764
Robert Moggeridge son of Henry and Joan 21 Nov 1766
Betty Moggeridge daughter of Henry and Joan 12 Mar 1769
Henry Moggridge son of Henry and Joan 28 Feb 1771
William Moggridge son of Henryu and Joan baptized 27 Feb 1774


Joan Moggridge daughter of William and Ann baptized Feb 1770
Ann Moggeridge daughter of William and Ann baptized 8 Nov 1772
 
Thomas and John Moggridge sons of William and Ann baptized 8 Jan 1774

Wootton Courtney Marriages

2 Nov 1695 Timothy Rew and Grace Moggeridge (parents of my John Rew so a second line)
25 Oct 1742 John Moggridge and Joan Allen
30 Apr 1757 Christopher Vicary and Elizabeth Mogridge
27 Apr 1769 William Moggridge and Ann Parish
22 Nov 1769 William Baker and Betty Moggridge
14 Apr 1777 William Moggridge and Sarah Roberts
15 Nov 1779 Henry Mogridge and Elizabeth Richards
12 Mar 1789 William Mogridge and Joan Brooks
16 May 1801 Thomas Hole and Joan Mogeridge

Burials at Wootton Courtney
2 May 1636 Robert Moggridge
27 Feb 1636 Philip Moggridge son of Philip
2 Aug 1638 Robert Moggeridge
15 Feb 1653 Philip Mogridge
22 Dec 1654 Joan Mogridge
11 Aug 1723 Robert Moggridge son of David
7 Nov 1732 David Moggeridge
10 Mar 1749 Joan Moggridge
15 Dec 1754 Elizabeth Moggridge
30 Apr 1760 John Moggridge
27 Feb 1763 Betty Moggeridge
23 Jan 1774 Ann Moggridge
23 Jan 1774 Thomas Moggridge
23 Jan 1774 John Moggridge
2 May 1774 James Moggridge
4 Jul 1774 Joan Moggridge
18 Dec 1774 William Moggridge
3 Nov 1776 Henry Moggridge
6 May 1787 Betty Moggridge
16 Jun 1801 Henry Moggridge
8 Feb 1806 Sarah Moggridge
22 Feb 1817 William Moggridge 73 years
26 Jan 1819 Elizabeth Moggridge 87 years 


I am left thinking that Grace Moggeridge is perhaps a descendant of Philip and Joan Moggeridge (perhaps a grand daughter since she married in 1695 and they had children between 1630 and 1640. She was perhaps born circa 1665 to 1675. She would need to be a daughter of John as he was the only son who survived.

Simon, the father of Sarah Moggridge, was possibly the Simon baptized in 1686 at Culbone. Culbone is seven miles from Wootton Courtenay and 3 miles from Porlock. I do have the parish registers for Porlock and the transcription for the early records but I really need to read them for myself to see all the Moggridge/Moggeridge entries.

It is rather interesting that the Rew family is found at Sheepwash and my Pincombe family at Molland in the 1800s and the Moggridge family lived at Molland in the 1700s. One wonders at the coincidence of that actually.

Will of John Rew dated 4 Jan 1840 and probated 10 Mar 1848 - Source: The National Archives - PROB 11/2072 - Image Reference 51/38

The will of John Rew was my first introduction to transcription of wills. I had been trying rather unsuccessfully to find parents for Elizabeth Rew who married John Pincombe at Bishops Nympton 9 Jan 1834. She was reputed to be a school teacher at Bishops Nympton was the only extra information that I had to go on. Plus from the census I knew she was around eight years older than John (33 years of age when she married John in 1834). They had five children John (b 1834), William Robert (b 1837 and my ancestor), Elizabeth Anne (b 1839), Richard (b 1842) and Louisa (b 1844). With the Pincombe family I could often use names to help me with the parent quest but this set of parents appeared to do their own thing although William Robert carried the name of John's father Robert (William is a very common Pincombe forename and the name of the brother next in age to John who had died as a 15 year old in 1825. Elizabeth was the name of John's mother (Anne is still somewhat of a mystery), Richard was a surprise and reaches back a long way in the Pincombe family except one of John's brothers was also Richard. Louisa is simply an unusual name in the Pincombe family.

A couple of clues perhaps I thought at the time were the two names Anne and Louisa. Neither proved to be useful in my quest. There were Rew families in the Bishops Nympton area but none had a daughter Elizabeth who fitted the time frame. The witnesses on the marriage registration proved to be the most help although it wasn't until I purchased the Bishops Nympton fiche that I knew those names. Thomas Rew and Robert Nurcombe were the witnesses. I found a Thomas Rew on the 1851 census at Sheepwash and his place of birth was amazingly Selworthy Somerset. At this point I should have put the Rew and Nurcombe families together and did try. I purchased the census for Somerset (before indexes were available!) and tried that method but a lot of people lived in Somerset in the area of Selworthy.

It was about that time that I had the notion of looking at wills for the Rew family and discovered the will of John Rew probated 10 Mar 1848 at  Bishops Nympton, Devon and at that time I had family lore that told me the John Pincombe/Elizabeth Rew family emigrated to Canada in 1848. Family lore can be very good and it can really throw you off the traces. In this case, it was somewhat helpful as I had this family coming to Canada in 1848 at what appeared to be a time after a father might have just passed away. I bought the will and it was my first purchase of wills from the National Archives (UK) website. It was so easy and straightforward and there was my will right in front of me just 3 pounds 50 pence later! The will though was difficult to read I thought initially but a quick scan gave me the name Elizabeth Pincombe. My first Eureka moment I think! Time has passed by and I can not now remember if that was the first but it must have been close.

Now that will is fairly easy to read but a lot of transcription has passed under the bridge for me plus my palaeography course which was really the eye opener for me. Up until that time I would have to leave out words with the old style of letters and work on each one individually. Once I took the course I could skim wills quickly and get the gist much more comfortably than before.

I had the father of Elizabeth Rew and a clue in the will that told me his wife was buried at Selworthy and he wanted to be buried there as well (he had been living at Sheepwash Farm near Bishops Nympton). More digging into the records and I found the marriage of John Rew and Elizabeth Siderfin and once found I quickly discovered that they had a daughter Elizabeth (actually two daughters born on that day so twins with Charlotte being the other daughter).

I then discovered a book on the Siderfin Family of West Somerset and thanks be to God there was my ancestress Elizabeth Siderfin in the book named as Elizabeth Rew in a will. It was my first real introduction to wills and I was hooked. Wills have become very much one of my leading research tools but I do realize that I am lucky to find so many wills but actually wills were left by people from all walks of life. One of my older wills was written by a shepherd in Wiltshire in 1610 so do not forget wills just because your people may have been agricultural labourers. They may have left a will as William Peck did at Milston Wiltshire.

The will opened up an entire family line starting with Elizabeth Rew my 2x great grandmother. I met descendants of all of her siblings on line at Genes Reunited. Elizabeth was the only one in her family to emigrate with all the rest remaining in England to this day.

The Nurcombe family was certainly a hint as well. Ann Siderfin (sister to Elizabeth Siderfin) married John Nurcombe and the census of 1841 revealed an amazing group at her home. I shall relate that one later.

This will also made me rethink the Pincombe family. I knew that John had come to Canada and purchased a farm for 750 pounds and did have the thought that Elizabeth had inherited money that then let them come to Canada. This was not the case at all. John himself sold his property in Devon and used that cash to fund their trip and buy the new farm in Canada. That set me to looking at Pincombe wills with an eye to following the properties which proved to be most useful in sorting out the Pincombe families in my direct and collateral lines back.

The will of John Rew (my 3x great grandfather):

Recorded: 21 May 2005
Source: The National Archives - PROB 11/2072 - Image Reference 51/38
Place: Sheepwash, Bishops Nympton, Devon, England
Type of record: Will – John Rew, Yeoman, Bishopsnympton
Dated: 4 Jan 1840 (Probated 10 Mar 1848)
Read: Electronic File
Copy: bold, late 18th century writing

1 This is the last Will and Testament
2 of me, John Rew, of Bishops Nympton in the County of Devon, Yeoman. First I desire
3 that my body may be privately and decently interred without any funeral pomp and at as
4 little expense as possible in the Church yard belonging to the Parish of Selworthy in the coun
5 ty of Somerset and as near to the remains of my late wife as can be. I give and bequeath unto
6 each and everyone of my daughters Mary Watts Sarah May Charlotte Griffith and Eliza
7 beth Pincombe the sum of five pounds of lawful money of Great Britain and I direct
8 that the same Legacies shall be payable and paid by my executor hereinafter named at
9 the end of six months next after my decease Also I give devise and bequeath unto my son
10 Thomas Rew his heirs executors administrators and assignes All my real estate goods or
11 chattels Personal Estate and property whatsoever and wheresoever subject ne
12 vertheless to and charged with the payment of all my just debts the expences of my funeral
13 and of proving this my will and the said pecuniary Legacies To hold the same (subject
14 and charges as aforesaid) unto and to the use of my said son Thomas Rew his heirs exec
15 utors administrators and assignes for ever Thus I hereby nominate institute and appoint
16 my said son Thomas Rew sole Executor of this my last will and testament And Lastly
17 I hereby revoke and make void all other wills by me heretofore made In witness whereof
18 I the said John Rew (the Testator) have hereunto subscribed and set my hand and seal
19 this fourth day of January in the year of our Lord one thousand and eight hundred and
20 forty – John Rew [signed] [his seal] – Signed Sealed Published and Declared by the said
21 John Rew (the Testator) as and for his last will and testament in the presence of us present
22 at the same time who at his request in his presence and in the presence of each other
23 have hereunto subscribed our names as witness thereto – J G Pearse [signed]
24 J Galliford [signed]
25 Proved at London 10th March 1848 for the Judge by the oath of Thomas
26 Rew the son the sole Executor to whom Admon was granted having been first sworn
27 by Commission duly to administer

Rew Family of Selworthy

"Cast in stone" does give one the feeling of accuracy and I searched and searched for my 2x great grandmother Elizabeth Rew all over North Devon as the tombstone of John Pincombe and Elizabeth Rew reads quite distinctly as Native of Devon. I was trying to come up with a reason for Elizabeth Rew and her eldest son John Pincombe to be missing from the 1841 census at Molland (her husband John, second son William Robert and daughter Elizabeth were all on the census in 1841 there).

Finding the will of her father John Rew was most helpful in that regard

Recorded: 21May 2005, Elizabeth Kipp

Source: The National Archives – 38.pdf

Type of record: Will – John Rew, Yeoman, Bishopsnympton

Dated: 10 Mar 1848

Read: Electronic File

Probate 11/2072

This is the last Will and Testament

of me, John Rew, of Bishops Nympton in the County of Devon, Yeoman. First I desire

that my body may be privately and decently interred without any funeral pomp and at as

little expense as possible in the Church yard belonging to the Parish of Selworthy in the coun

ty of Somerset and as near to the remains of my late wife as can be. I give and bequeath unto

each and everyone of my daughters Mary Watts Sarah May Charlotte Griffins and Eliza

beth Pincombe the sum of five pounds of lawful money of Great Britain and I direct

that the same Legacies shall be payable and paid by my executor hereinafter named at

the end of six months next after my decrease Also I give devise and bequeath unto my son

Thomas Rew his heirs executors administrators and assignes All my real estate goods or

chattels Personal Estate and property whatsoever and wheresoever subject ne

vertheless to and charged with the payment of all my just debts the expenses of my funeral

and of proving this my will and the said pecuniary Legacies To hold the same (subject

and charges as aforesaid) unto and to the use of my said son Thomas Rew his heirs exec

utors administrators and assignes for ever Thus I hereby nominate institute and appoint

my said son Thomas Rew sole Executor of this my last will and testament And Lastly

I hereby revoke and make void all other wills by me heretofore made In witness whereof

I the said John Rew (the Testator) have hereunto subscribed and set my hand and seal

this fourth day of January in the year of our Lord one thousand and eight hundred and

forty – John Rew [signed] [his Seal] – Signed Sealed Published and Declared by the said

John Rew (the Testator) as and for his last will and testament in the presence of us present

at the same time who at his request in his presence and in the presence of each other

have hereunto subscribed our names as witness thereto – I G Pearse [signed]

J Galliford [signed]

Proved at London 10^th March 1848 for the Judge by the oath of Thomas

Rew the son the sole Executor to whom Admon was granted having been first sworn

by Commission duly to administer

The will was an eye into the past. He clearly records the name of his daughter Elizabeth Pincombe and interestingly he dies at his son Thomas Rew's farm at Sheepwash in 1848. In 1841 Thomas Rew is also missing from his home along with his eldest daughter Joanna Rew. Where have these two family groupings gone? I surmised that they had gone to bring the father to Sheepwash to live with Thomas and his family. A bit of serendipity ensued as I decided this one evening after Ancestry acquired the British Census to sign up for World Membership. That same evening I signed up I found Elizabeth Pincombe, John Pincombe, Thomas Rew, Joanna Rew, John Rew, Robert Siderfin, Ann Nurcombe, John Nurcombe and their children. All of them were staying at Higher Hopcott Farm. I knew from the will that John Rew's wife was buried at Selworthy. I was slowly inching towards the truth about Elizabeth Pincombe's birthplace. 

I continued searching the census and found that Thomas Rew was born at Selworthy. Initially I had heard from a cousin that Thomas Rew was a twin of Elizabeth Rew. This was, in fact, incorrect but interestly the witnesses on the marriage registration for John Pincombe and Elizabeth Rew were Thomas Rew and Robert Nurcombe. All of these pieces of information brought me to the name of John Rew's wife which was Elizabeth Siderfin sister to Robert Siderfin on the 1841 census and Ann Nurcombe (nee Siderfin) sister to Elizabeth Rew.

This leads me then back to the Siderfin Family of West Somerset and the actual line of Elizabeth Rew - Somerset not Devon. I finally put together all the files for the Siderfin one name study and sent them off to the Archives for the Guild and Mark Siderfin. I am excited waiting to see the development of the study under Mark Siderfin's guidance. 

I want to continue with transcribing the Somerset parish registers in this time slot starting with the next research day.

2010 - New Year and first post

The New Year has arrived and it is already the fourth day in before my first post of the year. We have had a few snowfalls of mostly 5 to 10 centimetres so our ground level is gradually building up. The advantage of the cold is the more compacted snow falls :) The snow will now build up (unless global warming hits us) until mid April when it will rapidly decrease yielding the green fields of May. It is always that way here and the green generally survives until mid Summer (and all summer if no drought) when we start watering a little. I can only remember a couple of years when water was rationed in our area. With the Ottawa River only steps away we always have plenty of water.

Our Christmas Tree is waiting to come down on the 6th although I may take it down today. This is the shortest season on record for us as the tree did not go up until after the wedding on the 19th. We just never got to decorating it. The last of the wedding cupcakes are being eaten and there is just 1/4 of the golf cake left.

Last night I backed up my machine on my external drive so I am ready to start once again to search through the records but I shall concentrate for the moment on our son-in-law's families. I want to complete the chart for his paternal grandmother. I am hoping that we might be able to get some pictures as well to add to the tree.

I will also spend some time on the Siderfin family with the new information which I received from a descendant of the elusive Thomas Siderfin baptized 1777 and the youngest brother of my 3x great grandmother Elizabeth (Betty) Siderfin baptized 1759. Grace (their mother) did not mention Thomas in her will but she wrote the will before he was born. Why she didn't add a codicil is a mystery. His father Robert mentioned only his three sons in his will (John, Robert and Thomas). Robert died at Selworthy and Grace at Knowle but she was widowed 11 years and I suspect was living with her eldest son John at Knowle. She was only 68 when she died. The published book on this family has done a rather interesting thing. First of all the father of my Elizabeth (and her siblings John, Mary, Grace, Elizabeth, Ann, Robert and Thomas) is said to be Robert brother to Augustine. The father of John, Robert and Thomas is said to be Robert son of Augustine. They both have Grace Kent are their wife. I have searched the records for Selworthy and do not find two Robert Siderfins married to Grace . Since Robert brother to Augustine would have been 67 when he married and 74 when my 3x great grandmother was born I have always been somewhat dubious but being new to Genealogy I did not feel that I could challenge the book without a good deal of proof. My 2x great grandmother Elizabeth Rew was born at Bratton (property which had been given to Robert and Thomas by their father Robert) and in 1841 we find John Rew and Robert Siderfin with Ann sister to Robert and Elizabeth living at Higher Upcott Farm (Wootton Courtney). Finding them together is quite fascinating. We know at this point John Rew traveled back to Devon with his son Thomas and his daughter Elizabeth (Rew) Pincombe as he died at Thomas' farm Sheepwash in 1848. Unfortunately Robert Siderfin didn't live to 1851 to show us the relationship but one would hardly expect to find him living at the Nurcombe farm if he wasn't related to Ann. Interestingly the Chapman family that is found there is also related to the Nurcombe family. These were difficult times for small farmers as the land was being reclaimed by land owners and many of them were without land to farm. John and Robert though were quite elderly and could simply have decided to no longer farm.

However, I digress. My correspondent finds that her ancestors were born at Derby whereas I have them born in Somerset. I was incorrect and made those corrections. That is a project for today aside from the work on French Canadian ancestry. I do want to eventually get back to my Blake family and the records I was transcribing. The new DNA Blake webpages are excellent and I hope will lead to a discovery about my Blake line. Thus far no one has tested other than my brother for the Hampshire line as far as I can tell. Most of the individuals testing are for the Irish Blake lines, the Devon Blake lines and the Norfolk Blake lines. I am still not sure that anyone has tested that can trace back to Somerset or Wiltshire. The new site though is dedicated to the Blake family and an excellent resource for anyone searching out their Blake ancestry.

Timberscombe Bishops Transcripts - 1

I started working on the Timberscombe records today and I am using the FreeREG templates with the GSU Number and Film Number tacked on the end. Thus far I have completed to the end of 1605 with 20 baptisms, 6 marriages and 28 burials. The next page is missing the top portion so the March/April 1606 baptisms are lost except for one single name which I can read - Nurcombe. I was actually surprised to find Nurcombe at Timberscombe as they tended to be at Wiveliscombe in the 1600s. However those records are a later time period so perhaps this is a very interesting discovery. My 3x great grandmother Elizabeth Siderfin's aunt Ann married John Nurcombe in the early 1800s at Selworthy with his parents John Nurcombe and Mary Chapman marrying at Wootton Courtney.

I expect that I will learn a great deal from these registers and I am rather hopeful to find my Moggridge family there in the early days. I did learn that the Moggridge family are actually a Devon family which moved into Somerset in the 1600s. They still remained in Devon as well at Twitchen which was later farmed by Thomas Pincombe (youngest brother of my 3x great grandfather Robert Pincombe).

I had an interesting query for Bishops Nympton on the Snell family. The Snell family continued to live at Bishops Nympton well into the 1900s and are found in the 1770s in the Parish Register for their first entries at Bishops Nympton. One of those many interesting families that arrived in the 1700s along with my Charley family. It is curious why they decided to come to Bishops Nympton at that time. As I learn more and more about the area that detail may well reveal itself. My Pincombe line is found there continuously from the late 1500s.

Tonight my husband gave a very interesting lecture on his family lines that emigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony (from England mostly) in the 1600s. He could do the same talk with his Dutch ancestors to New Amsterdam in the 1600s actually as he has a number of rather interesting people there as well. It still amazes me that so much of his family history was lost when they came to Canada although with early deaths of mothers who would have carried the stories to the children one can understand this loss of knowledge. I can never decide which one is the most interesting but I honestly have never seen so many Baptists ministers in one person's family line!

The next project to prepare for is my talk at BIFHSGO in the Fall on Case Studies. I have pretty well covered a number of studies already which includes my husband's Kipp line which is interesting but no new candidates to add to the knowledge of the three brother's descendants. I will probably not discuss the Kipp line this time. I would like to do my Blake line and will continue to hunt out information on that line. There is also the T study which I have finally finished proofreading and certainly there are interesting items in the results that I could discuss. I need to review that with my three co-investigators before hand to ensure that I am not including anything that they would prefer to wait until publication of our paper.

Tomorrow I will continue to work on the Timberscombe Bishops Transcripts.

Siderfin Family

I have had the opportunity to spend some time studying the Siderfin family of Somerset (principally Luccombe, Luxworthy, Selworthy, Dunster, Minehead and Wootton Courtney). My 3x great grandmother was Elizabeth Siderfin daughter of Robert Siderfin. I have had a couple of queries about the genealogical chart which was produced in a book on the Siderfin family. I myself was somewhat perplexed by the Chart but the individual who wrote the book would have likely had knowledge of his mother's first and second cousins so felt that his chart may have been somewhat more accurate than my own studies on this family. However, as I read and reread his book I am realizing he may have been mistaken in his tracing of my direct family line and that they were actually descended from Augustine Siderfin rather than his uncle Robert Siderfin. Augustine was the local school teacher and my 2x great grandmother was also a school teacher as well as her older sister. My 3x great grandmother signed her marriage registration in 1792. I had linked one of her sisters to the Nurcombe family but in his book he notes a Nutcombe family. I need to work my way through an extensive will that mentions all the siblings of my 3x great grandmother and discover the relationship of this individual to the family and it may well be the clue that lets me link back through Augustine. Robert (current father of my Elizabeth) would have been 103 when he died and over 60 when he married  so I have always debated it somewhat because of the enormous age disparity. Robert, son of Augustine has always been a possibility.