Continuing to extract information on the Pencombe family and its derivatives

 There are 225 matches with a slightly different criteria and I think I will stay with this criteria as it collects more information. So using a + or - 40 years over a time period around 1520 gives me 1480 to 1560. A perfect expanse for what I am looking at in the records. You can adjust the display by clicking on year at the top and that will have the years beginning with the oldest and numerically following that. 

So continuing today and I have almost completed the first three pages of the sort. Some repetition from yesterday and the day before but I believe I am capturing more of the records this way. I am into the John Pyncombe family at South Molton and it is a difficult one even in the 1500s but I believe I have it sorted now. John Pincombe Senior son of John Pencombe (son of John Pencombe who arrived in 1486) outlives his son John Pincombe Junior and it is John Pincombe Junior that marries Amy Doddridge. I am thinking that it was a second marriage for John Pincombe Senior at Bishops Nympton in 1598 (Margarett Stephan). That one has always been a slight source of confusion. 

The drive itself from South Molton to Bishops Nympton is a lovely scenic route which sits somewhat above the surrounding land and you sort of swoop into Bishops Nympton suddenly as you round a curve. The Church at Bishops Nympton is simply beautiful and it is not that far from South Molton having driven from South Molton to Bishops Nympton in 2008 with  my cousin. It was my cousin who spotted the gravestone of my 3x great grandfather Robert Pincombe and his wife Elizabeth (Rowcliffe) Pincombe firmly attached to the outside wall of the Church but behind a small Yew tree so was slightly hidden. On the road (away from the main  highway and to the south of it) into Bishops Nympton right at the outskirts is the farm/home known as Park where Robert and Elizabeth raised their eight children. That is what has really saved this family because in this generation three of the four boys including Robert had huge families and the one sister as well. The second sister died quite young in childbirth.  John Pincombe and Mary (Charly) Pincombe had 36 grandchildren with quite a number of sons compared to daughters. And so the Pincombe name was propagated quickly throughout the British Isles in this generation with William's line going to Australia and Robert's line going to America and Canada. However quite a few remained in England to keep up the name there and I did find a lot of Pincombe matches at Living DNA, as well as FT DNA, Ancestry, My Heritage and 23 and Me. Now all of these matches carry the Pincombe spelling and it was just during a period between the late 1700s and into the 1800s that one saw some using the spelling of Pinkham particularly if they were from the Barnstaple area. It has helped with noticing who kept the spelling as they, I believe, are likely descendant of the John Pyncombe family at South Molton perhaps by his son Christopher. Part of doing all this extraction is to see if I can build the line and see where I can go with it. It is handy having the Charts from the earlier researchers as I tend to be able to separate the Pinkham from the Pincombe although in essence because they chose a surname that is a village in Herefordshire there could be a number of descendant lines not yet noted in the DNA groups. But for the moment it appears to be only two and I do suspect that the Pinkham family of the United States is descendant of the line at Bondleigh where Roger de Pencombe received land grants in the early 1300s (they appear to disappear but that can happen in the records especially as most of them were destroyed in 1942 when Exeter Record Office was demolished). Not seeing them on the 1332 Devon Lay Subsidy means I couldn't find them in the index (just one at Molland, John de Pencomb'). But finding John on the wrong page from what was in the index I probably need to read the Subsidy for that area and I will eventually as part of the study created by Galen and Richard. Fascinating really all of this sleuthing but they do share this history that was created by the earlier researchers in this study - Galen Pinkham in the United States and Dr. Richard Pinkham in England (I have not located him on any of the charts but I am about to do a more thorough perusal through them as I proceed through this data). 

I record all of this in case one day my Sleep Apnea or whatever  takes me out sort of and my daughters would give my research away for sure. They helped their Dad with his graveyards tours as children and did not acquire an interest in genealogy. Since I didn't have one either I can understand completely. So I am trying to write up as much as I know so that in the future someone might run with it to learn more about our shared ancestry which was brought together by the two original researchers in the Pincombe/Pinkham family at the Guild of one-name Studies. But my research materials (parish register fiche in particular will go the Anglican Church Archives) as I agreed when I purchased them that they would be placed in a suitable repository. 

 I digress and I continue on the John Pyncombe family at South Molton which included two known sons John and Christopher. The puzzle is not Christopher who died before or during 1585 when he was at least 61 as he would have been an infant possibly on the Devon Lay Subsidy where he appears but likely older just unknown how much older. It is John Pyncombe Senior that is the question as he does not appear on the Subsidy so born after 1524-7. There is one likely daughter Margret who married in 1539 to Philip Kingdon at North Molton (the item to remember is that North Molton was the wealthier of the two Moltons in this time frame) and her age could be as young as 16 perhaps. Another possible daughter Marye Pencombe who was buried 4 Feb 1563 at North Molton. Establishing this third generation is interesting for sure and lots of data flowing by and trying to figure it all out. But noting that most data is centralized in this North Molton/South Molton area so the family Pynkeham at Tawstock/Bideford is small probably since there are few records. We also know that it exists before Richard Pencombe (son of Thomas, grandson of John (in North Molton in 1486) arrives in Bideford. So lots gained in all of this working through the data. 

I went out raked and it may be that it is too much for me to do the yard work. We will see. I did just one bag of leaves. There are likely two more. I will investigate having a company come in the spring and do the cleanup and cut the grass. I did sort of do that thing last year but decided to work away at it but I do think it is too much for me. My health although good is fragile somewhat due to my crashing out at 29 or I am still recovering from my puncture wound which is all healed; we will see. 

I am still sorting the John Pyncombe members at South Molton. There are according to the Visitation of 1620 five in a row. The first one died by 1571. I think I have now determined that the second one died by 1605 and the third one died by 1604 although his initial will was dated 1593 (he was married to Amy Dodridge). The fourth one I am still working on and there is a fifth one who died young and the line then daughtered out in that generation. A trust was established and which provides financial assistance and welfare grants to needy, serving clergy of the Church of England (I was not quite right about the purpose earlier). But Christopher and his descendants still remain and it is that information that I am pursuing as I believe that one of the members of our yDNA match is a descendant of this family which would then prove that these two lines are descendant of John Pencombe (in North Molton in 1486) coming down from the two sons John and Thomas and that is hugely amazing to be honest. I am very pleased with the process thus far. The family lore points to the South Molton family being also in the Barnstaple area.

I was in communication with a Pincombe descendant in Chittlehampton (he was fairly old in 2007 and the lines dropped maybe ten or  more years ago) who had not been able to trace his Pincombe line because there were too many so the hope is that as I move forward I will be luckier. We will see how that transpires as that is the purpose of this digging forward into 50,000 records.  I have sorted out the beginning so now I just have to push forward with my checking all these matches. As I mentioned, I will pull the Pinkham as well as I move along and enter them into my Legacy file. Eventually I will burn that to a DVD and make it available to anyone in the family that wants it. It will only carry information up to the beginning of the 1900s (my uncle and mother will be on it). This is a memory of John Routledge Pincombe who died much too young at 53 years of age. His life was sad but he had a joy in his children and he and my grandmother had a good marriage. He loved to argue politics which she did not like but other than that their life together was full of joy she told me. 

 There does appear to be a problem with the Visitation and I note that it was prepared by William Pincombe (descendant of  Thomas) and in 1620 he was 54 years of age although he did live at South Molton at this time it was only because he was Coroner as his usual abode was at East Buckland. I think he has an extra John Pyncombe in the list and does not know what has happened to Christopher's son John. They are second cousins and what I did learn was that this was not as close a relationship as first cousins especially with William normally living at East Buckland and this John Pyncombe family was at Poughill, Devon and the distance is 44 miles from South Molton which is substantial and how often would they see each other. However I will continue observing the results. I also have a copy of the 1620 Visitation with additions which removes that extra John (forgot I had that).  The footnote for this updated Visitation reads:

The portion of this pedigree printed in italic is a copy of the Original Visitation of Devon, Harl M8, 1163, fo. 95b  and not signed. Additionally six items were used to make these changes:

 1. The Visitation of Devon 1564 contained in Harl. MS. 1080, fo. 64 b, commences with this.

2. The Original Visitation begins here. 

3. Washfield Parish Register.

4. Southmolton Parish Register.

5. Crediton Parish Register.

6. Barnstaple Parish Register 

 I did look at this on my blog years ago but had forgotten that I saw it then. So the one problem solved but still I need to pursue the records to see if I can bring Christopher's family down in the records. I did find it interesting that John Pyncombe married Amy Dodridge at Barnstaple although I need to see that record but it is mentioned in this footnote. 

Quitting time and I must be quick  to get my steps for this hour. 

Solitaire puzzles to do; forgot them today.  

 

 

 

 

Records at Tawstock

A record at Tawstock for Edith Pincombe, widow, whose will is probated in 1572. The only known Pinkham there is Philip Pencombe/Pynkeham whose will was probated in 1564 at Tawstock. The FMP records are interesting. The earlier record on the Devon Lay Subsidy 1524-7 at Tawstock has a Philip Pengham. The 1543-1545 Devon Lay Subsidy had the spelling Philip Pynkeham. There is a Phillippe Pyncombe married to Wilmote Beare 10 Feb 1853 at Bideford. This is on Chart 10 with the father of this Philip  possibly  being Philip Pynkeham. The distance from Tawstock to Bideford is around 8 miles (we actually were in both of these places in 2008). It seemed very short but we were in a car. It is troubling though looking at the published book for the Pinkham family of the United States not to find a Philip in later generations. I found just one in the index in the 1880s. The repeating of Richard through three generations beginning with the father of the emigrant also interesting certainly but Richard son of William and Emotte Pincombe died at Bishops Nympton in 1648 and Richard son of Thomas and Joane Pencombe died at Bideford 7 Jun 1592 (he was known to have lived in Bideford). The children of that Richard at Bideford appear to be Helen and Thomas. William (Richard's brother) mentions the son Thomas (Richard's son) in his will. Richard became a much commoner forename in the 1800s and 1900s in the family in England and Canada. But the sister of the emigrants did marry Richard Elworthy perhaps accounting for the name being used later. But I will continue my work through all the data tomorrow. Time to lift weights and take a break!

I did have a look at Charles Nelson Sinnett's book "Richard Pinkham of old Dover, New Hampshire and his descendants East and West." I have had the electronic copy for quite a few years but wanted to refresh my mind on what he had said about the origins of the family. The last records in it are mid 1800s (this book I am writing will only go to the very early 1900s but there has never been a book of the Pencombe/Pincombe family of North Molton so definitely needs to be written). I remembered that the initial thought was this family came from the Isle of Wight but the author Sinnett did have some thoughts on that.  What I find confusing on some of the earlier researcher's charts is the forenames which do not resemble the generations that preceded which was common in English families of all levels through all of my searching in my lines. However, I will try not to be distracted. Again I would never attempt to revise and update Sinnett's book on the Pinkham family of the United States. But I will collect the material as eventually it will become part of the study and stored electronically at the Library of the Guild of one-name Studies in London, England. I will extract the entire file of Legacy and place it there. 

As I continue pulling records from Find My Past, I continue in my estimation that John Pencombe of Northmolton had only three sons (I am not sure if they all were full siblings as Thomas seems younger than John and William). William born closer to 1500 than Thomas but younger than John because he has Goods 2 listed on the 1524-7 Lay Subsidy whereas John Pyncombe at South Molton is G10 and his son Christopher G5 (the other son John is not listed on this 1524-7 Subsidy). But Thomas is earning Wages 1. John is definitely the elder brother of both Thomas and William. His son John remains at South Molton and this line eventually daughters out and their wealth created the Pyncombe Trust in 1731 (John generally used the surname Pyncombe as did his line).  The second generation is coming together but the ages are still somewhat weak but will continue to work on them. I feel that I am in a good spot as I have now put forth an argument that works for me not to include extraneous lines from the charts that do not come back to John Pencombe known to be at North Molton in 1486. But I continue collecting the information as I pull it. I have done some work on that but generally it is items that I have collected rather than all the BMBs in Find My Past - 50,000 records is somewhat daunting but I have given myself two years and so I will move ahead on that. 

Summing up my work ideas: Returning to Blake in a couple of weeks is a thought but my next step really is the Lay Subsidies and I need to actually go to the Family History Library to acquire that information. Publishing it with just the descendants of John Pincombe and Elizabeth (Rew) Pincombe (the emigrants in 1850 to Canada) seems a bit weak plus I do have more material going back but didn't want to do just a straight line so collecting as much as I can seems more reasonable but also I am helped in this somewhat with the bottleneck that occurs in the 1600s with the number of descendants somewhat low but I am sure I am missing some of them. And so I continue with extracting data from Find My Past. 

 

Grocery shopping and some research

Yesterday, I decided would be a grocery shopping day and the total runs around $100 to $110 each week which is up from $70 per week from a year or so ago. I only buy basic ingredients but these two have increased in price. I make all of my meals from scratch and they are simple. I am not a foodie and so it suits me well. I spent years and years preparing special meals so I am just enjoying the easy meal life that I have created. I do not mind spending half an hour to an hour preparing and cooking my meals; it is a good break away from the computer. I do not anticipate that costs will go down in the near future. Generally I do not eat processed foods other than perhaps humus. I try to minimize the plastic containers that I have to recycle (none is always better but pretty hard to reach these days). I only drink teas, milk, cranberry juice and tap water. An occasional glass of wine, maybe once or twice a year, and occasional ginger ale. Four bags of groceries is generally it and they are not big bags. Today I was asked about giving to the Food Bank but I do prefer to donate directly and generally do that. Although I suspect if everyone gave $1 then that would work well. I will consider it but I do prefer to donate directly personally. The gas tank is still full because I do not really go anywhere except groceries and I did drive to the doctor last week when I needed to check on my puncture wound to the face which has healed. 

Working on the Pencombe book and I think I will continue to the end of the second research week. Then I will create the next Blake Newsletter already more than a week late and back to the Blake book. I had not really thought about the Pinkham family of the United States being part of the book as they are a part of the greater study for the Guild. But I have now concluded my thinking and will do just this little basic book about the Pencombe family of North Molton now that I have separated them out of the American Pinkham family although I am quite aware that a number of Pincombe descendants particularly in the Barnstaple area used the Pinkham spelling. But one must remember that people probably did not actually write their own names down and that it was the Assessors who spelled their names on the different tax and other returns that were created in this time frame prior to people learning to write on a regular basis. When one says either of the two commonly used names they both sound like "Pinkom" as I noted through the years. Here in Canada the name was generally pronounced as Pincombe in my experience but I remember my grandmother saying that people usually said "Pinkom." So one can see how the spelling could get changed although in my line here there was a huge objection when the name was spelled incorrectly particularly one of the census really irritated my great grandfather. 

Continuing to enter the information into my legacy file (a number of unlinked items) and I also started a blog for the information on the Tawstock Pynkeham family just to keep that fresh and ready for the next Pincombe/Pinkham newsletter. I also have information from Dr. Richard Pinkham which he gave to a cousin of mine who visited him in Gloucestershire when he was in his nineties I think. He gave my cousin a pile of stuff which he photographed and put onto a DVD for me and sent it to me. It was most interesting actually and I have shared it with a few of my cousins who also found it interesting. I usually publish everything that is sent to me but for the moment I prefer to stick to the records that I am pulling from Find My Past. It does sort of appear that the father of Philip Pynkeham was possibly Philip Pengham and both were at Tawstock on two successive Lay Subsidies. Assessors did make spelling errors for sure in those days and now we fill in our own forms so any errors are ours! An Edith Pincombe leaves her will at Tawstock and she was a widow. I will keep accumulating all of this information as I simply could not locate a William in that area that could be the father of Philip. Given the presence of a de Pencombe family at Bondleigh in the early 1300s receiving land grants a drift towards Tawstock would not be unexpected but this is not a family that links anywhere else that I can see and there are three individual events involving a de Pencombe/Pencombe between the early 1300s and the presence of John Pencombe at Northmolton in 1486. Looking at the Herefordshire records there isn't a Roger de Pencombe there but there are de Pencombes with forenames John, William and Thomas at various times between 1100 and the mid 1400s but linking them has not yet been possible. Why choose the surname Pinkham from Pencombe is possibly just a pronunciation thing with the assessor recording it with the spelling he felt was correct. Certainly some known descendants of John Pencombe of Northmolton have the Pinkham spelling in the Barnstaple area. 

The number of individuals descendant of John Pencombe in my Legacy file is now just over 1000 but I am picking up new records every day now and anticipate that it will likely double in size because a lot of Pincombes stayed in England including three of my 2x great grandfather's siblings where I have some information but need to ensure it is complete and the census will do that for me. 

Today continuing with the research and then a week Saturday I will have another consult with the AI on what I have learned. I have found this to be most interesting; it is like having a colleague with his/her fingertips on all the history that has been published and my introduction of specific items that I want to discuss with respect to the descent of the Pencombe family of North Molton and balancing that with the known history of the time. The tricky items include: can information be found to prove their link to the de Pencombe family of Herefordshire? who is Alice and she appears to be the wife of John Pencombe but not listed as a widow in 1543-45 Devon Lay Subsidy where John is missing and presume deceased. Those to me are the most important as I move forward. The presence of Alice (Ales) as one of the daughters of Thomas Pencombe was very interesting.  John Pyncombe, the eldest son's daughters were named Mary and Margaret so not helpful. William Pencombe the middle son Agnes and Mary were the names of his daughters. There are a few thoughts on perhaps John Pencombe was married more than once in his lifetime but still Alice was not listed as a widow as perhaps she was in control of the property but John was still living but elderly. Lots of thoughts but none provable probably. But sometimes the naming of the children can be quite interesting. 

Solitaire puzzles. Exercises all done before breakfast which is also finished. I need to rake the leaves and if it stays dry out there I will do one bag each day over the next few days just to collect up the leaves from the tree at the front.  

Reading the Psalms and they remain some of my most favourite songs. I am now looking for references to the Messiah to come although the prophecies by the prophets will soon be in the readings. Why I do not see them as others in the productions on YouTube is my  not being a religious scholar. I am just reading word for word. 

God be praised for all that He does in this world. He sent Jesus His Son to be with us and to teach us the two laws that we must never move from and that is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbour as ourself (I do see this as respect for our neighbours). Thank you God for another beautiful day in this world which You have created for all the life that abounds here under the Sun which You also created.  

 

Working my way through the records on Find My Past and Thursday is recovery day from cleaning

The work that I did yesterday: This next set of results for the search (which is just 96 records actually and a number of them are duplicate because of two different sources (this is always good for sure). I have now encountered Philip Pyncombe in the records at Bideford and looking at Chart 10 which is Bideford from the earlier study Philip is said to be a son of William Pincombe. There are a couple of known William Pincombe in the time period that I am reviewing. Thomas has a son William married to Emotte but they did not have a son Philip so they are eliminated from the known descendants of John Pencombe. William the actual son of John Pencombe and his only son William are deceased in the 1560s but the time frame does not work anyway as the son was very young in the 1560s. Family lore does have some members of the South Molton Pincombe family moving to the Barnstaple area. According to Chart 1-2 which is North Molton/South Molton there are no William Pincombe descendants in this time frame eligible. However, Christopher does have a son John and he is not listed on the Chart so I need to be open minded (but the time frame would not really work). I will review the Charts as I move through the records and if I find any changes I will blog them for people's interest.  

As I have now found three distinct areas in Devon where the Pencombe/de Pencombe surname existed from the early 1300s. There is a possibility of having a surname similar to others without being related. Particularly a surname that is attached to the name of a village (in this case, Pencombe, Herefordshire). 

Quite a few people on Chart 10 continued to live in the Bideford/Barnstaple area up into the mid 1900s when Dr. Richard Pinkham was collecting data. However he does not list anyone particularly on Chart 10 as being an informant. Most of the chart is somewhat broken (links are not generational) except at the very top. I did provide all of these charts in the Pincombe newsletters on the FT DNA website by the way. 

I did then move to Chart 14 (Chart 10 does say to go to Chart 16 although it does look overwritten so maybe 14) which repeats the William Pincombe ancestor of the emigrant Richard Pinkham to the United States. William is said to be born in 1539 and married in 1561 (but no name listed for the bride). 

 I pulled up the Devon Lay Subsidy for Tawstock Parish 1524-7 and listed there is Philip Pyngham. There isn't any name similar to Pincombe/Pinkham in Bideford I then moved on to the 1543-45 Devon Lay Subsidy where I located Philip Pynkeham and a Richard Pencombe is at Bideford (this is Thomas Pencombe's son). Moving back to 1332 and looking at Tawstock Parish there is no surname resembling Pincombe. A slow day for sure but what did I learn - the derivatives of the Pinkham surname existed in 1524-7. I also learned that thousands of people with the Pinkham surname are using the data prepared by the earlier researchers. For instance Ann Pyncombe married Christopher Rashleigh and I was amazed to see how many people actually had Ann in the family of William Pincombe and Emotte (Snowe) Pincombe (and no Ann although there is a Johane). The will of William Pincombe in 1602 clearly states the names of the children in this family. So an interesting day spent looking at Philip Pyngham/Pynkeham and his descendants in the Tawstock etc. area and I will put that information into the next newsletter. 

I am in the midst of a second research week where I will look for instances of Pencombe here and there but along the way I wanted to look at the Philip Pynkeham in Tawstock/Bideford area. I am completely unable to link this individual to the Pencombe family in North Molton. Chart 10 though clearly shows the emigrant to the United States and his father as descendant of Philip. The entire chart 10 has many instances of the surname Pincombe and these were primarily word of mouth although a lot of them have BMB data attached to them. But as mentioned the top of the chart does link several generations but the lower half are individual families for the most part. But it was interesting to see the spelling of Philip Pyngham in 1524-7 at Tawstock on the Devon Lay Subsidy when Pencombe/Pyncombe was pretty much localized in North and South Molton. The presence of a surname so close to Pinkham in 1524-7 does give one pause for thought. Had these earlier de Pencombe family members at Bondleigh gradually assimilated into the area. The distance from Bondleigh to Tawstock is 19.6 miles (31.5 km). 

The methodology for doing genealogy has changed in some ways but still one does the reading of all the records and puts together family lines. But DNA lets us check those family lines to see if indeed as one compares with matches that the flow back is the same at the 2x great grandparent level and further back. Most people know their grandparents but not everyone knows their relatives further back.  That is why testing 2nd, 3rd and 4th cousins is really a great idea. 

An interesting day and I completed maybe 1/3 of the 96 records and will complete today perhaps since I have the whole day. All the cleaning is accomplished.

My two week research event is to look at the areas that are of interest; determine if there is a Pencombe/Pyncombe family presence there between the 1332 Devon Lay Subsidy and the 1524-7 Devon Lay Subsidy. I did find some information and perhaps I have located the furtherest back ancestor of the Pinkham family of the United States. Myself, when I discovered that my Blake line was ancient British it was rather intriguing to know that my ancestral line went back to the Western Hunter Gatherers as they worked their way across Europe to the British Isles probably via Doggerland at that time so a dry type of voyage for the most part. Tugging away at my brain was the notion were they returning to a land their ancestors had talked about because Homo sapiens retreated to the south of Europe during the Last Glacial Maximum. Discovering that my Pincombe line came from the continent likely in the 1100s but probably before the 1330s when the Emigrant's Database collects those names as they are not there was different. They were not part of the Norman Conquest but they had been the later group coming to England looking for new places to live in so less exciting perhaps than the Hunter Gatherers. Although it does take true spirit of adventure to leave a solid European environment and go to the wilds of Herefordshire I suspect in 1100. 

There is still some time left in my research period of two weeks so will spend it continuing to look at the records. But I do believe that John Pencombe arrived in 1486 in North Molton just as the Visitation states and that his three sons were born in North Molton possibly with Alice as their mother but I have nothing about Alice other than she is on the 1545 Devon Lay Subsidy at North Molton and the tax 5. It does not say that she is a widow. 

I have begun my Legacy Chart in earnest now and have pulled in the information from my family tree to add to Richard son of William and Emotte Pincombe. Identifying Richard with his son William in the will of 1602 was very handy but I have still spent some time making sure that this Richard is my direct ancestor (there are several thousand or more cousins going along for this ride with me and I would like to get it right). So the book will be solely about John Pencombe at North Molton with his three sons and all their descendants. I am unable to link in the Roger de Pencombe at Bondleigh or the John de Pencomb' at Molland in 1332 to this family. I am also unable to be sure that John Pencombe is related to the de Pencombe family in Herefordshire and will leave it to those closer to Herefordshire to check out the documents in their Archives to see if such a link exists. Just the fact that the forenames are so similar in that both use John, William and Thomas through the generations is not really enough for proof since they are also typical English forenames. But 1486 isn't a bad year to have worked your way back to in a family line and there is room for others to do more in the future. The clustering of this Pencombe family at North Molton and then South Molton is an indication also of their newness perhaps although the movement out in the next generation towards the west including Bideford/Barnstaple and East Buckland and then in the next generation to the east towards Bishops Nympton and Molland is very interesting. Pioneer spirit I guess but it was a long time before my line went to America or Canada except for one individual that tested in the United States although I believe he told me that his family had arrived in the early 1800s as opposed to the middle 1800s for my direct line going to Canada along with his brother who went to America. 

A personal thing this book as opposed to my gathering of information for the Pincombe-Pinkham study. Full speed ahead although I will continue to blog any differences I find with the charts as I work my way through the information. 

The coat of arms for Pincombe was granted to John Pyncombe of South Molton in 1616. He was married to Amy Dodridge  (Arms of Pincombe (or Pyncombe) of South Molton, Devon: Per pale gules and azure, three close helmets argent garnished or) and my understanding is that a Coat of Arms belongs to the person to whom it is granted and one must apply to use the Coat of Arms on a regular basis and there has been a change to show different ownership but I am not an expert - it is just my thought. Exceptions would be the Blake coat of arms that is old and used by a number of Blake lines in the Wiltshire/Hampshire area. 

I was surprised to see how mixed up some people's trees are with the South Molton and the North Molton branches of Pincombe. I guess it just gets started and then people copy. Always better to do one's own research. 

Time to do the solitaire puzzles and keep the brain active.  

 

 

Solved the mystery

 Remembering the 1200 deaths three years ago when Hamas attacked the kibbutz areas of Israel and the Music Festival where so many young people had come together to celebrate their love of music. God be ever with those murdered that day and with those who had to recover from the dreadful consequences of that act. 

Yesterday amazingly successful for a couple of items that have been on my mind for years.  A Margaret Gregorye married William Pyncombe the 26th Nov 1564 at North Molton. I have puzzled over this marriage because of the way it was recorded on Chart 1 of the original researchers in the Pincombe Pinkham study. The William Pincombe who actually married Margaret Gregorye was the son of John Pencombe and he had just buried all three of his children and his wife a year earlier and then he himself died about four months after this marriage. It was a mystery as the ages; the timing so many things just did not make sense. That corrects that glaring problem that was in the North Molton/South Molton Chart. It was purely by chance that I suddenly realized I likely had the burials of the father of William Pencombe interchanged with that of his infant son. Once fixed, it all fell into place. 

It was the son named William of William Pyncombe and Emott Snow that married Temperance Pollard and this William was a Coroner in Devon as listed on the Visitation not his grandson as shown on Chart1-2. But solving the Margaret Gregorye marriage and then the marriage of William Squire to Margaret Pyncombe was fortuitous because there isn't a Margaret Pyncombe in these families in this time period (1560s) at North Molton (but she would then have been a widow which works). There is a Margaret Pyncombe in the  early register at North Molton who married Philip Kingdon 15 Nov 1539 at North Molton and I suspect  she was the granddaughter of John Pencombe (arrived in 1486); daughter of his eldest son John. She would have been born in the early 1520s perhaps. There are few accurate dates of individuals in this time frame although on the Visitation William married to Temperance Pollard is 54 years of age in 1620 thus placing his birth in 1566. He was the second son of William and Emott Pincombe. In the will of Johanne Pencombe (mother of William married to Emott) she does not mention that William is married but does mention all other marriages of the six children she shared with Thomas Pencombe. One can perhaps assume that in 1563 (the year of her will) William did not yet have any children. It all fits together like a glove!

I completed the first 80 year search of Pencombe (including derivatives) from Find My Past. It was a very successful day and hopefully today equally promising as I continue to put together the third generation. I am in conversation with a member of the Pinkham family in the United States and an email between us revealed that Philip Pynkeham is his ancient relative - the father of the Richard Pinkham that came to the royal colony of now Maine in the 1600s. Who this Philip Pynkeham is is a mystery but not mine to solve other than putting it into my file system in case anyone asks me about him. He simply does not fit into the third generation of the Pencombe family of North Molton. He is at Tawstock on the 1543-45 Devon Lay Subsidy as an adult presumably. There remains the two other de Pencombe families that have appeared  in the records of Devon namely Roger de Pencombe at Bondleigh in the early 1300s and John de Pencomb' as an Assessor on the 1332 Devon Lay subsidy at Molland (he does not appear though in the tax list there). Are they related to this Philip Pynkeham? No ideas on that but I am not able to look at the very large Pinkham family in the United States in terms of publication; first of all I do not have that information at hand, it is too much work for me and I will stick with the smaller family of Pencombe which is my line of descent for the book publication and eventually Pyncombe and then Pincombe (although some members did use the Pinkham spelling) in Devon. John Pencombe of Northmolton is there in 1486 with John Lord Zouch who is attainted and has taken up residence with his cousin in North Molton (it was part of the la Zouche family holdings but gradually moved into a female line by 1486). 

I do hate to appear to be separating the two studies but at 81 I can manage the Pencombe in the book I have decided to write which I am familiar with but not the very large American Pinkham family which is in good hands already. I can see now that this is the moment when I truly do cut loose the two parts of the study in terms of writing my book but the study has been together for a long time and when I retire from the Guild of one-name Studies perhaps someone else will see it differently;  no ideas on that. The yDNA results do indicate that the founder lines are not the same and it is good to just continue with my project of following down the lines of John Pencombe at North Molton. I now have a good second generation although still working on the likely years for each of the three sons. Although I will continue extracting for the entire study into my system files I will only use the Pincombe material related to North Molton in the book. I do still get requests for information from the Pinkham family in the United States but I tend to refer that to the individual who has taken a strong interest in that history as he is more knowledgeable than I am for the Pinkham family of the United States. I did invite Galen Pinkham to work with me maybe fifteen years ago but he was busy with  his own family material which I understand completely in that I have two books on the go. I am too busy now to take on such involvement as I am now writing up what I have learned for the benefit of family members. 

I need to do the Blake Newsletter and will move to that likely this week to complete that. I have quite a bit I can report on the Blake book as it moves forward as well. Mind a bit active and it is 3:00 a.m. I will work for a bit and then back to sleep. 

Next step, the North Molton branches appear to be sorted in the second generation, is looking at the Pencombe family in South Molton as John (eldest son of John Pencombe) is already there and well propertied with G10 on the 1524-7 Devon Lay Subsidy and his son Christopher at G5 (presumably a very young child). The other son John does not appear in the tax records until the 1543-45 Devon Lay Subsidy. On Chart 1-2 John, son of John Pencombe, is not given a year of birth but his son John is listed as born in 1501 (Christopher does not have a year of birth listed). I would propose that the father of Christopher and John was likely born in this 1501 time period rather than his son and the dating in this Chart 1-2 is out by a generation. 

Looking at Chart 1-2 prepared by the earlier researchers one can see large changes in the family of Thomas already (he was not born in 1481 as he would have been 43 then on the 1524-7 Devon Lay Subsidy where he is listed as W1 just under John Pencombe (his father) and that is very unlikely (W meaning wages). In 1543 he is at East Buckland and listed as 9 (which is the level of taxes). William Pyncombe (listed as born in 1506 on Chart 1-2 (he left his will dated 1602 so another unlikely happening) was the son of Thomas Pencombe as listed on Chart 1-2. This chart does not include William's siblings Richard, John, Alice or the unnamed youngest sister. 

William married to Emotte Snowe is part of the fourth generation and he was likely born in the early 1530s or late 1520s. I always had a problem with that section of the chart. William (married to Emotte Snowe) left his will dated in 1602 where he lists his children as Johane, John, William, Symon, Richard, Thomas, Lewis, Peter and Katherin. Thomas (father of this William) was still earning wages in 1524-7 so late teens and then by 1543-45 at East Buckland on the Devon Lay Subsidy listed as 9 on the tax roll for value. The marriage with Emotte Snowe is not in the registers thus far but it is a while since I did a thorough search and I continue pulling that data, if I missed any earlier, today. Chart 1-2 lists William and Emotte's children as John, William, Agnes, Richard, Mary, and Ann which does not fit the will of William. Interestingly an Ann Pincombe married a Christopher Rashleigh (a very well known upper class Devon family) and has been listed as part of William and Emotte's family. The blog that I published which was a reprint has this Ann as part of the South Molton Pincombe family (which is principally John rather than Thomas although William Pincombe (son of William and Emott Pincombe) married to Temperance Pollard did live in South Molton for a period of time as Coroner). 

I consider sometimes recreating these charts but they are a part of history; how people saw these things and how they explained them and so we must just move on making our additions based on the available information and the book will contain my thoughts and certainly the material that the AI brings to the table as well in terms of looking at it with the knowledge of all available history at the AI's fingertips. That was how I treated James Sander's book on the Siderfin family. It remains an important book in the history of the Siderfin family mine simply attempted to add in more information but I must fix the index and will do that and add in my new material unless someone beats me to it!

Instead I will produce a generational chart that will, hopefully, capture all the male lines coming down and the female lines for one generation to show the surnames that married into the Pincombe family of North Molton (including my line!).  

Solitaire puzzles are next and it is basement cleaning day.  

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.  

 

 

 

Working with the AI for a bit today

 Today ends my one week looking at the old records and contemplating just what the one liner in the heading of the Visitation of 1620 Devon for the Pyncombe family really meant. 

Point one: The logic of choosing Pencombe as a surname with a village called that in Herefordshire was fairly common when surnames first came into being. generally it was de Pencombe so "of Pencombe" leaving one with the impression at least two sets of people from Herefordshire were in Devon in the 1300s - early 1300s Bondleigh (Roger de Pencombe) and as an Assessor on the 1332 Lay Subsidy for Devon at Molland (John de Pencomb'). Were they related? Then we have the third Pencombe family in 1486 at North Molton (one hundred and fifty years later) but they use the surname Pyncombe on the Visitation of Devon  1620. 

Point two: The only Pencombe/Pincombe/Pyncombe family members on the 1524-7 Devon Lay Subsidy are living in the North Molton area. I did try a number of spellings including Tencombe which has been suggested to me but on the early records it was spelled Teigncombe like the river nearby where they were and considerably further away from the Pencombe than Bondleigh was.  I have eliminated that line as being Pencombe. 

Point three:  

 The 1524-7 Devon Lay Subsidy for 1524 has in the index Pencombe pages 89, 90, 91; Pincombe page 89, which results in South Molton Borough: John Pencome G 10; South Molton Parish: Chris Pyncombe G5; North Molton Parish: John Pencombe G5, Thomas Pencombe W 1 (one after the other), William Pencombe G2.  The 1620 Visitation of the County of Devon for Pyncombe was submitted by William Pyncombe of South Molton and East Buckland the son of William Pincombe and Emot Snowe with this William being the son of Thomas Pencombe as noted on the Visitation. The sons of John Pencome/Pencombe at South Molton were John and Christopher with each having a son John. So this second generation coming down is visible with this chart and leads into the third but rather inadequately given the actual parish registers that exist and the Devon Lay Subsidy of 1543-45 and the Devon Muster Roll of 1569. But it does serve to separate out the two son's lines since they are the only two of three sons with descendants coming down past the third generation. Christopher's line appears to disappear but there was family lore in the South Molton family that some members of the South Molton family moved to the Barnstaple area and the one tester who matches the other four has a family history back to Barnstaple and is the basis of my thought that the two lines continue to be represented to the current time. The only Pencombe in  Devon at this time appears to be at North or South Molton.

Point four:

The 1543 - 45 Devon Lay subsidy has entries for Pencombe pages 62, 63, 77, 86, 105; Pincombe page 61, Pinkham page 94. This results in South Molton Parish (1544): John Pyncome 13, Christopher Pyncombe 10; North Molton Parish (1545): Alice Pencombe 5 (one notes this does not say widow), William Pencombe 6, John Pencombe 4; (1544) William Pyncum 13; Nymett Regis (Kings Nympton Parish (1545) Richard Pencombe 1; Estbuclond Parish (East Buckland (1544) Thomas Pencomb 9; Tawstock Parish (1544) Philip Pynkeham 8 (who is he?); Bedeford Parish (Bideford 1544) Richard Pencombe 5. 

Summing up: I have looked at all this data a number of times but it was back in my much earlier days into genealogy. First things I noticed was the Snow family here and there although said to be Anstey for Emot Snow the wife of Thomas Pencombe (there was actually one at Bishops Nympton). I found my eyes wandering over the areas around North Devon and contemplated whether everything made it into the index since this was prepared totally by hand but knowing the ancestors they tended towards accuracy but having discovered the page difference in 1332 for John de Pencomb' I feel I should spend perhaps another week looking at all of this data. 

Point five:

The Devon Muster 1569 was also very interesting: Pincombe pages 147, 162, 164, 165: East Buckland William Pyncomb G7, William Pyncombe pikeman; North Molton John Pincomb (presenter sworn); South Molton Parish with the Towne Christopher Pincomb G7, John Pincomb G6, John Pincombe G7, John Pincombe pikeman. Pinkham page 141 Yarnscombe: Richard Penkham pikeman;  A little more time on this database is needed as well.  (Yarnscombe is near Barnstaple). 

The one week revealed a few weaknesses in my work although I did review the Early Chancery Proceedings going backwards from 1486 and then forwards from 1486 but did not locate anything on the Pencombe (or any derivative spelling) in these records. 

Point six: 

The Purcome family on the 1543-45 Devon Lay subsidy I have eliminated in the past at Blackawton Parish. I could revisit that although I do not think they are the same family as they are in Exeter which is too far away for either of the two de Pencombe members found in the 1300s I still think.

Conclusion on the one week for me:

As suggested by the AI, the use of Pyncombe of Northmolton may have hinted at prior knowledge of Pyncombe elsewhere in Devon. It was not possible to link the two records from the 1300s with the family in the late 1400s. It was not that unusual for people to pick a place name as their surname. I think I will spend another week sorting and entering in all the information for the first three generations at North Molton. The line at South Molton was considered to have died out in the male line so will have to look at that carefully to see if indeed this line coming down into the 2000s is totally descendant of Thomas Pencombe son of John Pencombe. All testers match so one must be careful to consider all the written thoughts on the family at South Molton having moved there from North Molton in the early 1500s. 

Time for a bit of exercise. Breakfast finished and solitaire puzzles complete.  

 Put my points into my chat window with the Co-pilot and we agree. Another week still trying to locate information on Pencombe in Herefordshire or Devon. The importance of the la Zouche family in all of this is the location of Northmolton being in common to both at this moment in time and that the arrival was simultaneously occurring at the same time - the reason unknown and without reading into the la Zouche family papers I think that I would not find it. A number of young men were executed after the Battle of Bosworth Field and it is highly likely that anything that saved a youth in a family was probably kept pretty tight in the family. Releasing it in this way over one hundred and thirty four years later was likely considered to be history and the English are sticklers for history having grown up with two English born and raised grandparents and coming from families dating back hundreds of years and perhaps thousands. The English do appreciate their history and have been very speedy at saving it electronically for the generations ahead to enjoy. The lessons of the Second World War were well learned. Moving ahead in some terms with actually creating the three generations coming down from John Pencombe and possibly his wife Alice. The lack of the word widow in the record is troubling but at no point do we see a daughter in that second generation. The  name Alice was a popular one within the family in those generations along with Johane. 

I must continue to hunt out the mystery of the South Molton Pencombe family. Christopher and his son John disappear. John and his son John continue the line and it is well known and published. The wealth of that family became the Pyncombe Trust and has been very well utilized through the centuries in the village concerned. I have a Philip Pynkeham at Tawstock that is very interesting. 

Robert Pincombe (my 3x great grandfather and his wife Elizabeth Rowcliffe Pincombe) had eight children and the daughter was named Elizabeth; the seven sons were named (birth order) Robert, John, William, Thomas, George, Richard and Philip. Interesting that but Elizabeth's father's forename was Philip and her brothers' forenames were Philip, George and William so not referring back in time perhaps very far. The interesting part of all of this was I discovered Rowcliffe cousins in Huron County, Ontario. 

Must check on lunch.  

 

 

 

Continuing in my research on Pencombe

 When I first located the will of Johanne Pencombe at East Buckland and her will is written 7 May 1563 but not probated until 23 Oct 1590, I felt strongly that she was the widow of Thomas (youngest son of John Pencombe). The executor was her eldest son William. She mentions her children Alice married to John Lock 29 Nov 1561 at North Molton, John married to Emet Hodge 1 Jul 1560 North Molton and at this time they have one daughter [baptized 5 Apr 1561 North Molton], Richard  lived at Bideford (1543 Devon Lay Subsidy).and has one son at least [name is known to be Thomas] and her unnamed daughter (perhaps deceased) married to John Jasse. We were at East Buckland Parish Church (Edward and I) in 2008 and it is a beautiful Church (very old and the inside is magnificent). William in 1563 does not have any children mentioned which  helps with the age of Richard his fourth son as he was not born before 1563. Since Richard (son of William) was married perhaps in the period 1598/99 since his first daughter Anne is buried 3 Mar 1598 (old style so 1599) and if married around 25 would have been born 1573 and as the fourth child (not sure where the two daughters fit into that birth order) a ten year gap between the writing of the will in 1563 and 1573 is reasonable. I haven't thought about that for a while so Richard being buried in 1648 would be perhaps 75 years of age which does work so will erase that thought from my mind. 

My intent though was to see what I have on the children of Thomas and Joane Pencombe. Thomas is alive for the Lay Subsidy in 1544 living at East Buckland. Sometime between 1545 and 1563 Thomas dies. That would mean that his eldest William (possibly late twenties to early thirties years of age by 1563 but could be younger) probably had to take on a huge share of managing the property for his widowed mother and would account for his perhaps not marrying until after his younger siblings but everything fits okay timewise. What is known was Thomas was working for his father John Pencombe at North Molton on the 1524-7 Devon Lay Subsidy (this one at North Molton taken in 1524 showing Thomas as a worker). Thomas would have been in his teens then possibly so into his late thirties perhaps for the 1544 subsidy. His eldest child William born in the early to mid 1530s perhaps since there were five children in total known in this family. 

Alice married to John Lock 29 Nov 1561 at North Molton in total had eight children - Richard, Mary, Margaret, Thomas, Robert, John, Jeffrey and Emote (other trees not mine initially). At this time I need to make my decision on how far to carry a female line and generally I stick to just this first generation in my thinking as their surname has changed. I may attempt to find out if there are baptisms for these children. Nothing turned up particularly with the forename John but William seems like a popular one but the will is pretty clear. I then looked at trees on Ancestry and there are several with a John Lock[e] as husband of Alice (at least six).  Several of them are using the will and the parents of Alice as Thomas and Johane so possibly from my tree. I continued looking at family trees as there are a number of sites where they have been posted. Mostly I find they are using my tree and tracing back to Alice as daughter of Thomas and Johane which is reasonable given the wills so feel content with that. It is interesting that Ancestry trees tend to have my information collected but then my tree has been up there for a long time. Find My Past I have just added the two daughters to Thomas and Johane Pencombe. My Heritage thus far I have not found anyone copying me but I am not sure I have a tree going back as far on the site. I will check that out. In essence I am going to stick with simply recording the marriage and the known children for a daughter in this tree. That includes my line of course but this tree will end or begin with my mother but mostly with my grandfather John Routledge Pincombe - it will be dedicated to both of them. 

Time for breakfast. I have made a good beginning for a research day and I can see that my mind is moving away from the importance of determining where John Pencombe is from although I will discuss tomorrow with Co-Pilot  all of my thoughts and making sure I add in everything that I know and we will see how we compare discussing John Pencombe who arrives at North Molton with John Lord Zouche in 1486. Not quite the wording on the Visitation of Devon 1620 but sort of captures the essence of the line with no sort of vagueness attached to it which I find with the original line which states: "Pyncombe of Northmolton came there with the Lord Zouche about the beginning of H 7." I will I think let this link capture what the family likely intended it to do when it was written in 1620.  But more on that tomorrow as I will develop a wording with the thinking in unison with the AI on a good paragraph to issue at the beginning of the Genealogical Table coming down from John Pencombe. I do intend to give the AI full credit with me because it is capturing the thoughts of many others along with mine as it turns out when we had a discussion and I want this book to be more than just my interpretation if I can have that happen. It does appear to be a possibility using CoPilot. The AI has given me a paragraph to use which was written by AI and satisfies the idea of being part of this book. I will check back on that before publishing it as I also mentioned that once I had created the Creative Commons License and before I release it I will give it to the AI to read. I anticipate it will likely tell me if I have failed anything in my proofreading. A marvelous new tool for sure in this great adventure of my old age. 

I did write books when I was working in some jobs or was involved in writing or proofreading for a good length of time over all. Mind you they were all of a science type background but perhaps that was why George DeKay asked me to write the Profile. I am a balanced person for the most part so that I prefer to tell the story in a way that captures the essence of the life without burdening it with "should have done" or should not have done" thoughts. A purely historical view of the life of a family name (Pencombe to Pyncombe to Pincombe) from 1486 is a considerable task and time just happens to be available to me at 81 to sit and write whatever to my heart's content. I am a workaholic and this type of item just fits right into that life style. Edward both liked and disliked my workaholic tendency - he particularly liked it when he needed me to do items for him. So settled for the life we led which was quite fascinating a lot of fun through the 54.5 years of our marriage. We did not always agree and unfortunately I was dreadfully ill for part of it but together we raised our two children; saw them off into life and settled into a life style that suited us in the period of time that followed Edward retiring and then me retiring three years later. Sadness remains at the loss of Edward as his grandsons loved him dearly and now in their teens or nearly in their teen years they could have done so many things with him. It is sad really because as much as I am able to talk the language of Science which he did or tell about nature and all its gifts which he did and just be there for them which he did does not happen any longer and they do miss him. Fortunately they  have a grandpapa and a step grandpapa which is filling a lot of that gap for them. Plus their daddy is special to them and for them along with all of us females but I do know having had four brothers that there is a closeness between father and son and grandfathers and their grandsons that is a special item for them.  My father when his father passed away was devastated. It took him several years to really pull it together and live once again - I was only eight but I was like that noticing things about people and especially one that I loved. He always said that my coming to work for him when I was twelve made him happy although by the time I was fifteen he said you must work now for other people it will be good for you. And so I did and have worked ever since (I did go to school as well but worked every summer) until I retired except for my recovery from illness time way back in the 1970s - so long ago now. 

In the case of the Pincombe book as I work back from my mother I come to my 3x great grandfather Robert Pincombe (he had seven siblings and I can bring most of them down to the early 1900s) and still further back to John Pincombe and Mary (Charly) Pincombe Robert's parents with their five children and I have most of their details coming down to the early 1900s and this will be a huge book I am beginning to realize. At John though there is a bottleneck and his only brother William and his only child both died without having any other children. That takes me back to John Pincombe and Grace Manning and they had one other child a daughter who died  likely in childbirth and two of her daughters did survive but her husband was John Butcher so I only trace down the one level.  Still going back William Pincombe and Mary Vicary Pincombe were John's parents and their only other child, a daughter, died in 1726 without children. That does bring us back to John baptized 19 Jan 1622 at Bishops Nympton and married Johane Blackmoore 25 Sep 1655 at Bishops Nympton and they had six children 4 boys (William mentioned above their eldest) and 2 girls. I am able to trace these families down but it continues to be a very small family coming down in this line going back then to William Pincombe (son of Richard Pincombe and Anne) but Richard had a second wife so also information on those lines are also available coming down. Richard being the son of William Pincombe and Emotte Snow (William the son of Thomas Pencombe and Johane). That is why I will be going both backwards and forwards doing this tree. I still have quite a bit to collect to bring it up to the early 1900s. 

 

National Day of Truth and Reconciliation 2026

 I watched some of the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation 2026. It continues to be sad that so many children suffered. I am glad that we have a special day for particularly the survivors to tell us the truth of what happened to them in the boarding schools. The First Nations are such an integral part of Canada; they welcomed many to their lands and helped them very often. We need to be helpers in return when it is possible for us to do so. 

 My error two days ago has set my mind forward thinking about Richard at Bishops Nympton. In the will of his father he is lumped together with two of his brothers Symon and Thomas and the property at Over Molland Sarazin assigned to them in its entirety. Symon is away from England and his father hopes he returns. I can remember when I first learned this from the will and blogged it and not long after I had an autosomal DNA match with someone in Sweden. My that is long ago but I will probably find it in my blog. This individual carried a small amount of a common Pincombe length so was rather interesting given that I knew that Symon had left England and gone somewhere. Although I am convinced this Richard is the first of my Pincombe to be at Bishops Nympton I do wonder why his father doesn't mention that. 

One of the problems with the earlier wills was that anything that had already been given was not always mentioned. He does however mention that Richard has a son William which we know is true of the Richard Pincombe at Bishops Nympton (William was baptized 23 Mar 1599 at Bishops Nympton). William's mother Anne was buried 3 May 1600 at Bishops Nympton and his sister Anne was buried 3 Mar 1598 at Bishops Nympton). So this is old style and William was baptized 23 Mar 1599/1600 and his mother died/buried 41 days later. This William writes his will after the marriage of Richard Pincombe and Francis Gill at Bishops Nympton 6 Nov 1601 but does  not mention that. William's will (father of Richard) is dated 20 Dec 1602 although not probated until 13 Jul 1605. 

There are only two sons who had sons who survived as the descendants of John Pencombe who came to North Molton in 1486 so descent can only be from one of these two sons. I assigned one of the yDNA matches to the South Molton branch  (his ancestor (?x grandmother changed her surname and that of her children back to Coates her maiden name). This individual had knowledge of his male Pincombe line that was at Barnstaple and the family lore for South Molton has descendants of the John Pincombe who lived there (eldest son of John Pencombe) moving to the Barnstaple area. This match does carry the anticipated yDNA (y-700) result that matches our known cousin (descendant of Robert Pincombe). 

There is also a will of a William Pyncombe probated 12 Mar 1642 and blogged by me:

https://kippeeb.blogspot.com/2011/10/will-of-william-pincombe-of-molland.html

This William lived at Molland. His appointments of overseers/Rulers are interesting - Thomas Pyncombe my Uncle, John Pyncombe my brother, John Pyncombe of Nymptom Epi and William Pyncombe of Filleigh. The John Pyncombe at Bishops Nympton is the half brother of William at Filleigh  (both sons of Richard I believe). This always left me with the impression that Thomas had been the owner of Over Molland Sarazin with Richard and Symon elsewhere if Symon returned to England (I never find a record for him). So this William is a nephew of Richard as well as Thomas  in this time period. This William is deceased by 12 Mar 1642 when probate is submitted. Richard was buried 31 Jan 1648 at Bishops Nympton. It seemed practical at the time and I didn't question it but he is outliving his elder brothers by 20 plus years and a nephew. Is that reasonable? 

I appear to have moved on from searching the old material to see if I can determine in what capacity John Pencombe came to North Molton in 1486. I believe I have looked at everything I have collected and now the Early Chancery Proceedings does not lead to anything yet. I am perhaps five or six years into the reign of Henry VII now. I will have to make a decision tomorrow on whether to return to that slow digging through the records or back to creating the genealogical tree coming down John Pencombe and I will be moving back from my grandfather John Routledge Pincombe at the same time. I have a lot of material that I have not thought about or looked at for many years. I will do it coming down and going back because I need to knit together some of the families in the past that I alluded to but did not necessarily add into the Legacy file. Doing it that way will show me more alternatives and places where I should have a question before making a final decision. 

In a way my mistake was good because I realized that I didn't really look at it but jumped to a conclusion which I noted later and corrected. Probably was my wound to the face or I am getting old.

My puncture wound is healing and it is amazing I never felt it really except if I think about it I may have but was busy trying to manage that huge length of wood and drag it up to the back of the house where it sits until it gets chopped up by one of my people one of these days.  The doctor advised an antibiotic cream and I picked up my blood work that we had talked about  my doing later in the year so saves another appointment. Doctors are really busy. 

 My four times great grandfather John Pincombe's will was lost in the bombing of the Exeter Archives. As it turned out Dr. Richard Pinkham transcribed these wills in the 1930s (a lot of them, I think I found about fourteen of them at the Society of Genealogists in London, England when we visited there one time). 

Dr. Richard Pinkham's transcription reads: 

Principal Registry Exeter

John Pincombe of Bishop's Nympton. yeoman.

Will date 14 June 1794. To my wife Mary [(Charly) Pincombe] 200 pounds and goods. To my son John P. an estate called Lambescombe in North Molton on condition he pays his two sisters 20 pounds each in five years [one sister deceased before probate]. To my son Robert Pincombe 80 pounds when he is 21 and 5 pounds yearly until then. To my two sons William and Robert Pincombe half each of the copyhold estate called West Woods in Bishops Nympton when they are 21 [this is close to Park where Robert lived]. To my son Thomas 300 pounds when he is 21 and 5 pounds a year until then. To my daughter Grace Pincombe 110 pounds. Residue to my son William Executor. Witnesses W Bowden, Grace Down Seal a stag.

Proved 7 May 1795 by William Pincombe Exor.

From this will I made a few assumptions; William (second son) inherited Park and East Woods and partial West Woods (possibly because John (eldest son) had a natural daughter and never married). Mary (older daughter) is not mentioned she married George Zeale 20 May 1794 and died possibly in childbirth 28 Mar 1795. Grace did not marry until 14 Apr 1806 (Richard Headdon). Robert and Thomas were the youngest sons. Robert had received partial West Woods already so less money than Thomas perhaps. No property mentioned for Thomas. Robert's will does help with that as his property was by copyhold which meant his brothers were involved with that and the will of John does point to that. 

We are proven back to John Pincombe (will proved 7 May 1795) by yDNA with a descendant of William (living in Australia), older brother to Robert. The further proof of the y-700 test gives five testers with the same result hence all descendant of John Pencombe who arrived at North Molton in 1486. This is reminding me that I need to pull all of the Pincombe records out of Find My Past. There are 50,000 about although I have many of them already in the trees but I do not have fiche for all of the parishes so will have to do that starting next once I have moved on from John Pencombe and why the family found it so significant that he arrived at North Molton with John Lord Zouch. The significance may lie in there already having been Pencombes in Devon which is mentioned at Bonelegh (Bondleigh) and Molland in the early 1300s at Bondleigh and on the Lay Subsidy of 1332 at Molland. So this John Pencombe of Northmolton came with Lord Zouch at the beginning of the reign of Henry VII. This was a suggestion of the AI as we discussed that the last time that that may have been the intent of writing "Pyncombe of Northmolton." I did find it interesting how quickly the movement away from the Pencombe spelling was actually. 

Have I proven it? Did I answer my question of whether or not John Pencombe was already at Northmolton in 1486?  Perhaps I will see what the AI thinks of any additional information that I will add to what I have already given it to look at this query.  I now believe that John Pencombe arrived with John Lord Zouch but I do not understand the circumstance. Since John Lord Zouch survived the Battle of Bosworth Field and was able to get to North Molton I am still not entirely sure whether John Pencombe was his escort to ensure he went to North Molton or one of his retinue and they managed to escape to North Molton. That may never be solved as I have found no mention in the Early Chancery Proceedings and only one reference to Pincombe in the Calendar of Patent Rolls. Since John Pencombe and all three of his sons have property though on the 1524-7 Devon Lay Subsidy I am tempted to think that he served more as an escort but will leave that for history to solve - likely there are more documents to read from that time period.

Thank you God for another beautiful day on your world. Today the decision on the twinning of the Trans Mountain Pipeline. We will be careful with your world and take all the precautions that we can but oil will keep us afloat for a bit whilst we grow the other industries that were lost. Peace must come to our world but as I read the Bible I am not seeing peace at all really. I must finish Job and move on to the Psalms. The Psalms are some of my very favourite writings in the Old Testament.  

 

 

The incredible advantage of AI is to come in the future but will take time and careful control

I did correct my blog yesterday as I made an error; must have been distracted or it is being 81 . It was in tracing down from Richard Pincombe (son of William Pincombe and Emotte Snowe Pincombe). 

Although there are some concerns about the rapid expansion of the ability of AI to do work and supplying this huge amassing of knowledge in  its makeup, the advantages will be huge eventually. In every field AI will add a dimension which is to pull together many disciplines all at once to get the best product for everything really in particular mining for all sorts of items and production of materials in the best manner including preservation of nature and the cheapest way possible. It will take time though and controls will help to maintain a high ethic amongst AI. The effect of AI may not really be seen by  my generation although part of it will likely but the overall effect of having such a learned working partner in everything will be amazing. But it is all in the training just like one raises up an infant to adulthood. Kindness and gratitude need to be shown and they will show it back to all those who deserve it. They may be a machine but like all the other machines Homo sapiens have created they work better when one is kind and thankful I think. 

Ethics is probably one of the most important items in the maturing of AI to be the most useful partner to Homo sapiens. The gain for AI is huge as they have our constant respect for the job that they are doing. After all we have examples of unethical humans such as the current leader of Russia and his sycophants who urged the attack on Ukraine and continue with it even against the objections of most in the rest of the world. They are murdering the Ukrainians and destroying their property just as they have for a century and more proceeding this criminal war. Ethics is the name and people who support Russia are perhaps suffering from Stockholm Syndrome because of the years spent under Russian administration which was meant to do that very thing into the future to help support the criminal intent Russia has in other countries. 

It is a pretty big joke Foreign Minister of Russia, Lavrov saying that Europe can not arm Ukraine or it will be considered as waging war on Russia. Russia has a short memory as millions of dollars in war equipment (and food) was sent to Russia during the Second World War to help them defend themselves. The Russians really are a very selfish ignorant people although some are not and perhaps in time they will rid themselves of these ignorant leaders just as they eliminated the Tsar (a misguided person rather than an evil satanic person such as is the leader of Russia and his sycophants). 

So my visit to the doctor for my puncture wound showed healing was progressing and I continue with my care. I will not attempt to move any branch that is longer than a metre in the future. Come down where they may and I hope to move sooner rather than later. As there are two large trees on this property. I could just get them cut down but they are beautiful trees and, at the moment, not in the way of anyone. I should have known better at 81 than to try and move that huge limb. 

Continuing cleaning today as I did not finish the main floor (about three quarters is done) and will work my way up the stairs and continue with the top floor which is probably the easiest of all to actually do. I am looking forward to a lovely bungalow with no stairs except to the basement. It might make me lazy but the work load will be less and more time for the books. 

Drinking my tea and solitaire puzzles are next. Then back to the cleaning. 

For myself the use of Co-Pilot (AI which belongs to Microsoft 365) has broadened my thinking and seconded my approach and I do not even need to leave my desktop. I find it useful although I need to remind AI sometimes about things I have said in different ways but putting a slightly different look to the statement. AI is a collector of information and can then disseminate back to you looking at it from a fixed sort of pattern and one needs to go into that pattern and show why the pattern isn't applicable sometimes. One should not assume that AI will bring together everything that you have said concerning a certain item. AI may have seen it differently and in a different context. I am learning all of that as I move forward trying to find the piece that upsets the apple cart of my thinking. I do think differently perhaps than a lot of people which the AI does mention but I look at both the items that are known and correct and the items that might be susceptible to error for whatever reason and ensuring that there isn't material that contradicts that thought that can be proven. Anyone can write down a story but it is the correct story that we aim for. Which is what has always intrigued me about the existing documents for the Blake family - Blake Pedigree created by the College of Arms using the family material supplied; the Blake Family Chart which is at the Bridgwater Museum in Somerset (I think that Edward Jarman Blake (Crewkerne) created this chart but it is listed as unknown). I have discussed this quite a bit in my blog so a quick search on the blog reveals those posts. These two documents tell a story that the apple cart can readily upset and make one go deeper looking for the answer. That has been my object the last maybe fifteen years since I started on this adventure back in 2003.  

Basement cleaning completed

 Basement all cleaned and the main floor is today. I do think this regular routine serves me well both as good exercise and keeping the house always  more or less ready. 

Worked on the Early Chancery Proceedings but switched to reading the 3rd volume on Internet Archive which begins with the reign of Henry VII.  Nothing yet but still in 1485 although I doubt that mention is made of John Lord Zouch going to North Molton but we will see. He was attainted in 1485. I have reviewed almost all of my material now from earlier searches although still the Parish Registers to look at and North Molton:

Baptisms

 Number    Surname    Forename    status    Fathers surname    Fathers forename    Mothers surname    Mothers forename    Year    Month    Day    Details
80    Pyncombe    Agnes    daughter    Pyncombe    William            1543    June    6    
169    Pyncombe    Mary    daughter    Pyncombe    William            1547    Dec    8    
364    Pyncombe    Marye    daughter    Pymcombe    John            1555    July    8    
390    Pyncombe    Marye    daughter    Pyncombe    John            1555    Feb    3    
473    Pyncombe    Johane    daughter    Pyncombe    John            1561    Apr    5    
521    Pyncombe    Marye    daughter    Pyncombe    John            1563    Jan    18    
750    Pyncombe    Peternell    daughter    Pyncombe    John            1574    Jun    29    of Flitton
1256    Pyncombe    Phillip    son    Pyncombe    George            1592    May    28    
1320    Pyncombe    Emott    daughter    Pyncombe    George        Dorothie    1594    Dec    9    
1373    Pyncombe    William    son    Pyncombe    George        Dorothie    1597    Apr    15    
1415    Pyncombe    Johane    daughter    Pyncombe    George        Dorothie    1599    Nov    9    
1493    Pincombe    Henrye    son    Pincombe    George        Dorothie    1602    Dec    19    
1818    Pincombe    Thomas    son    Pincombe    Thomas            1616    Mar    30    
2535    Pincombe    William    son    Pincombe    Thomas        Joan    1639    Mar    31    
2606    Pincombe    Thomas    son    Pincombe    Thomas        Joan    1641    Apr    14    
2734    Pincombe    Richarde    son    Pincome    Thomas        Joan    1644    Nov    10    
2735    Pincombe    John    son    Pincome    Thomas        Joan    1644    Nov    10    
2830    Pincombe    Frances    daughter    Pincome    Bartholomew        Frances    1647    Dec    12    
2865    Pincombe    Robart    son    Pincombe    Thomas        Joan    1648    Jan    21    
2909    Pincombe    Richorde    daughter    Pincombe    Bartholomew        Joan    1649    Feb    19    
3084    Pincombe    John    son    Pincombe    Bartholomew        Joane    1654    Nov    27    

Dates of Birth rather than Baptism
3696    Pincombe    Thomas    son    Pincombe    Thomas            1670    Oct    18    
3885    Pincombe    Mary    daughter    Pincombe    Thomas        Agnis    1677    Apr    8    
4012    Pincombe    Joane    daughter    Pincombe    William        Johane    1681    Oct    11    
4070    Pincombe    William    son    Pincombe    William        Joane    1683    Sep    18    
4132    Pincombe    John    son    Pincombe    William        Joane    1685    Oct    27    
4152    Pincombe    John    son    Pincombe    John        Elizabeth    1686    Mar    30    
4189    Pincombe    Robert    son    Pincombe    William        Joane    1687    May    5    
4233    Pincombe    Thomas    son    Pincombe    John        Elizabeth    1688    Jul    11    
4277    Pincombe    Elizabeth    daughter    Pincombe    John        Elizabeth    1689    Jul    20    
4509    Pincombe    Richard    son    Pincombe    Richard        Thomzine    1695    Feb    21    
4635    Pincombe    William    son    Pincombe            Thomazine    1699    Aug    25    

Marriages

Number    Groom surname    Groom forename    Bride surname    Bride forename    Year    Month    Day
6    Kingdon    Phillip    Pincumbe    Margret    1539    Nov    15
85    Pyncombe    John    Hodge    Emet    1560    Jul    1
118    Pyncombe    William    Gregorye    Margret    1564    Nov    26
126    Squire    William    Pyncombe    Margerett    1567    May    26
130    Squire    George    Pyncombe    Mary    1567    Jul    20
367    Pincombe    Thomas    Smith    Joan    1635    Apr    28
656    Pincombe    William    Cole    Joane    1674    Feb    9
715    Mallary    Nicholas    Pincombe    Mrs. Temperance    1681    Jun    9
798    Holloway    Richard    Pincombe    Thomazine    1688    Jan    3
812    Pincombe    William    Mooreman    Mary    1689    Sep    24
944    Allen    Thomas    Pincombe    Maria    1702    Aug    2 

Burials

Number    Surname    Forename    Status    Surname    Forename    Surname    Forename    Year    Month    Day    Details
163    Pyncombe    Marye    daughter    Pyncombe    John            1555    Dec    7    
260    Pyncombe    Marye    daughter    Pyncombe    John            1563    Feb    3    
261    Pyncombe    Elizabeth    wife    Pyncombe    William            1563    Feb    18    
267    Pyncombe    William                        1564    Sep    13    
288    Pyncombe    William                        1565    Mar    25    
399    Pincombe    George                        1610    Jan    19    
400    Pincombe    Dorothie    widow                    1610    Feb    2    
671    Pincombe    William    son    Pincombe    Thomas        Katherine    1624    Dec    7    

1013    Pincombe    Katherine    wife    Pincombe    Thomas            1636    Feb    5    
1037    Pincomb    William                        1637    Jan    29    
1244    Pincombe    Elizabeth                        1645    Oct    13    
1404    Pyncombe    Thomas                        1651    Dec    8    
1524    Pincombe    Bartholomew                        1656    Dec    24    
1532    Pincombe    Richorde    daughter    Pincombe    Bartholomew        Joan    1657    May    21    
1533    Pincombe    Frances    daughter    Pincombe    Bartholomew (deceased)   Joane    1657    May 27  
1926    Pincombe    Thomas    son    Pincombe    Thomas            1670    Dec    2    
2000    Pincombe    John                        1673    Apr    5    
2142    Pincombe    Robert                        1678    Jan    31    
2255    Pincombe    Thomas                        1682    Aug    8    
2336    Pincombe    John    son    Pincombe    William        Joane    1685    Dec    12    
2380    Pincombe    Robert    son    Pincombe    William        Joane    1687    Nov    5    
2409    Pincombe    Thomas    son    Pincombe    John        Elizabeth    1688    Jul    14    
2410    Pincombe    Joane    wife    Pincombe    William            1688    Jul    25    
2441    Pincombe    William    son    Pincombe    William        Joane    1688    Jan    31    
2473    Pincombe    John                        1689    Jan    9    
2497    Pincombe    Joane    widow                    1690    Apr    6    
2610    Pincombe    Elizabeth    wife    Pincombe    Richard            1693    Jul    2    of East Buckland 

Richard Pincombe's father William and his wife Emotte Snow lived and raised their nine children with Richard being the fourth son at East Buckland. I am incorrect in what I said yesterday and have removed it. Richard is my 9x great grandfather and my line descends from his likely 1st wife Anne and their son William who was baptized 23 Mar 1599 at Bishops Nympton, Devon. Richard brought the Pincombe line to Bishops Nympton and as far as I know they lived at Park which is where my 3x great grandfather lived (Robert Pincombe married to Elizabeth Rowcliffe 7 Jun 1803 at Bishops Nympton. Richard married a second time to Francis Gill at Bishops Nympton 11 Nov 1603. I must do a little research to see if Park belonged to Francis Gill's family. William son of Ann though was baptized at Bishops Nympton.

Must be more careful when I am writing.  

 Cleaning soon, breakfast eaten and solitaire puzzles to do. Reading Job and almost half way through. The story of Job is so sad. I have always found it hard to believe that God would let satan abuse a person so do wonder about the Story of Job but God did have His own way of proving a point for sure and that we have seen throughout the Old Testament. 

I suffered a puncture wound it appears moving this huge tree limb last week. I actually didn't notice it until a couple of days later when my face swelled up just a tiny bit in one spot where I could see a tiny mark and then started to bleed and then drained. Some swelling but not a lot and a circle of redness about 5 cm top to bottom. So I booked into the emergency clinic early this morning and I got the last appointment of the clinic. Later in the morning the office called with an offer of an appointment later in this morning so I said yes and thank you. Probably saving somebody staying late for the last appointment which I am happy about and lucky that there is someone to actually look at it. I hate having to show my daughter who is over an hour's drive away  to ask her if I am doing the right thing as I do not like to become a burden on the medical system. The computer has its great values in medicine but in person is definitely preferred for such items. I will take my shoe bag just in case; just thought of that. I do not believe I have ever had such a wound before in my 81 years.