Busy research day yesterday and Sunday today

Lent 2 today and we have moved to a new person writing  the Lent without borders email. I found the theme to be very interesting "creational love dwelling among us" considering this last year of our lives as we begin to live again after COVID. The need to protect the earth has become one of my most prominent thoughts amongst others. God ever watching and waiting for us to become a more perfect people by His definition not ours one might note; He is demanding but the rewards have been endless throughout time. On this Sunday as every Sunday and every day for that matter for the last year Prayers for Ukraine and her peoples. Glory to Ukraine. 

Yesterday good accomplishment on the Siderfin in some ways although I had already extracted them from Carhampton but needed to ensure that there were no odd spellings or partial names that could be Siderfin elsewhere in these records (Somerset Lay Subsidy 1641-2). I once again find the Saffin/Saffyn family and have recorded them. Are they a different spelling for Siderfin in some of these areas? Not sure yet. The biggest accomplishment though was mostly on my whole look at Somerset in the context of both of my one name studies (Blake and Pincombe) as I extracted Blake along with all the other names that I am interested in from the Somerset Lay Subsidy of 1641. The extant records for Somerset Lay Subsidy 1641-2 only capture 1/3 of the people according to the writeup but it just happens to capture the areas in Somerset that most interest me although missing some of it. 1641 is a bit late for the beginning of the Blake family in Somerset as I really need to be back in the late 1400s into the early 1500s but it is an interesting survey and I found a number of entries:

Hundred    Parish    Surname    Forename    Suffix    £    s    d    Note   
Cannington Hundred    Plansfeild in Over Stowey    Blake    Humphrey    jun    G    4
Cannington Hundred    Edstock and Beer in Cannington    Blake    William        L    1     
Carhampton Hundred    Avell in Dunster    Blake    John            4    6    sub collector   
Carhampton Hundred    Withicombe    Blake    Agnes    widow        10           
Carhampton Hundred    Carhampton    Blake    Gregory            7           
Carhampton Hundred    Mynehead    Blake    John            3    5       
Carhampton Hundred    Dunster    Blake    Francis            2           
Carhampton Hundred    Dunster    Blake    Richard                6       
Huntspill and Puriton Hundred    Puriton    Blake    Humphrey        L    1        cert.   
Kingsbury West Hundred    Wellington    Blake    Robert            5    3       
Kingsbury West Hundred    Buckland St Mary    Blake    Robert            1    1       
Kingsbury West Hundred    Lideard Episcopi    Blake    James            10    3       
North Petherton Hundred    North Petherton    Blake    Samuel        L            petty collector   
North Petherton Hundred    Hamm (in Bridgwater)    Blake    James        L    1           
North Petherton Hundred    Poulett    Blake    Samuel        L    2           
North Petherton Hundred    Poulett    Blake    Nicholas        L    1           
North Petherton Hundred    Bridgewater Borough    Blake    Humphry    mayor    G    4           
North Petherton Hundred    Bridgewater Borough    Blake    Robert    gent    L    1           
Taunton Hundred    Kingston    Blake    John            7    8       
Taunton Hundred    Trull    Blake    Edith            2    6       
Taunton Hundred    Blagdon    Blake    William            6    6       
Taunton Hundred    Duddlstone    Blake    John            2    10    rator   
Taunton Hundred    St James Extra Portam    Blake    Agnes    wid           
Taunton Hundred    Liddeard Puncherton (in Bishops Lydeard)    Blake    John            6    11    
Williton Hundred    Halse and Dodington    Blake    Ann            2    0    
Williton Hundred    Halse and Dodington    Blake    Robert            3    7    
Williton Hundred    Nether Stowey    Blake    Edmund            1    0    
Williton Hundred    Kilve    Blake    William            1    8    
Williton Hundred    Sandford Brett and Torweston    Blake    James            4    4    
Williton Hundred    Watchett    Blake    John                6    
Williton Hundred    Crocombe    Blake    John            2    0    
Williton Hundred    Crocombe    Blake    William            1    0    
Williton Hundred    Old Cleve    Blake    Cicely    wid        1    6    
Williton Hundred    Old Cleve    Blake    Laurence            4    6          

Now completed I will save this for the Blake Newsletter looking at the Somerset Lay Subsidies. These are all Blake members that I would expect to find in the various locations in this time frame. by 1641 this family found in the early 1500s has increased rapidly. A project that needs to be done once I get to the Family History Library. I would also like to find a Devon Lay subsidy prior to 1485 just to confirm my thoughts on the Tyncombe family of Gidleigh and area. 

Always another project generated whenever I look at data in the past. It is a never ending work in progress which I find to be quite interesting. I would say that aside from a deep interest in science particularly Chemistry and DNA; my other love of learning is history- factual and at any point in time. I find ancient history to be absolutely fascinating and every new find contributes better to our understanding of our place on earth and how we have altered the planet not, at the moment, in a productive way but the children and grandchildren will be much more guarded with the planet and change will come that will restore some of the planet and hopefully all of it. 

Today Church at 10:30 on You Tube and before that I am adding to my exercise routines jumping jacks - I have been doing a set of 50 eight times a day but reading online advice it would appear that 100 three times a day is a good benchmark to reach for. So today I will attempt to do 75 in a set and four times a day. It will take time to reach that goal just as it took time to reach 50 so I will be staggering it over the days until I can accomplish 75 in a set four times a day. Why ever do I push myself; probably because I am an exercise fanatic which extends way back into my childhood and until I am no longer able to manage I will try. 

God bless the World and all of His peoples. On to breakfast but first that set of jumping jacks to start off the exercise day and that was successfully completed. The next session though is key as getting past 50 having eaten a large breakfast is more difficult although will spread it out so that I have a couple of hours in between. What a beautiful Sunday although somewhat cloudy but the trees have their branches lifted high waiting for that thrust of spring to waken them up once again from their long winter slumber.

The best of intentions

 Although I started this day with the best of intentions i.e. I was going to work on Chromosome 17, I ended up proofreading the will of Robert Siderfin (1628) which I had transcribed back in 2006 when I was first into Paleography. Needless to say it did need tweaking here and there plus I was not doing Latin Probates in those days so I did that as well. I had inserted the old one into the Siderfin Book I am working on with the idea in mind that I would proofread it and transcribe the probate. Remembering that after clearing away the breakfast dishes and unloading the dishwasher, it took first claim on my time. I am enjoying transcribing to be honest. I got away from it for a couple of years when Edward was ill although still do a little. But now I am back into research full time once again. I, for some odd reason, find reading the old English records a fascinating and not overly difficult thing to do. Granted there are some words that I can not get very readily and I do search online for possibilities. Eventually I mostly end up with what I really think it is or what someone else has thought it was. But those instances are not actually very often. I am finding that paleography is perhaps my niche in life at this time. 

Robert Siderfin whose will was dated 19 Aug 1627 and probated 31 Jan 1627 (Old Style so 1627/28) is possibly the Robert Siderfin mentioned in the Chancery papers during the latter part of Queen Elizabeth's reign. I can not yet be positive about that but I am slowly collecting up the information that is available and not captured earlier by James Sanders, JP in his book the Siderfin Family of West Somerset. Now that I am into this, I intend to basically republish the book (on my blog) with all the additions and I will clearly mark the additions and perhaps make note of areas where I am not agreeing with James Sanders. After 110 years it is appropriate to readdress this book about the Siderfin Family and ensure that any new information is worked into it. I am sure a hundred years from now even more will be available and some of my thoughts will be questioned as they should be. I spent enough years in Science studying and working that I would not be happy to think that people would accept all that I write as perfect. We are meant to question what is written so that we understand it better and make corrections where errors have been made in the past. 

The testator, Robert Siderfyn,  is living in the parish of Luxborowe (in the diocese of Bath and Wells, Somerset) and he asked to be buried in the Chancel of the Church at Luxborowe. He mentions a couple of people in the beginning of his will a Robert Siderfin, son of William Siderfin, Robert Westeron, son of William Westeron and Robert Siderfin son of Robert Siderfin of Minehead. He mentions that his sons and daughters have children. He then mentions his son William Siderfin, daughter (unmarried) Marie/Mary Siderfin, and his son Thomas Siderfin. Thomas and Mary are to have the remainder of his lease in South Wheddon tenement, Cutcombe. They also inherit his lease to keep 100 sheep at Brundon plus his property there. As well seven acres of wood in Luxborrowe (Priory Wood) for Thomas and Mary. He has a daughter Jane (likely married as he mentions her portion is not fully paid). Elner Westeron (the testator's sister's grandson) and Johanne Croutch (his granddaughter). His wife's name is Christian. He signs his will with his own hand (full signature Robert Siderfin) providing the transcription of the court recorder has been faithful. 

Already I have having problems with the genealogical chart produced by James Sanders at the back of the book. There are a number of records available now on the Somerset website that mention the children of the various Siderfin families so will extract all of that material as well. I may order some of the records (electronic copy). 

Recorded: 3^rd February 2006, re-transcribed 16 Nov 2021

Source: National Archives, Kew

Place: Luxburough, Somerset, England

Type of Record: Will

Dated: 19 August 1627; probated 31 January 1627 (old Style)

[in margin] Roberti Siderfyn (handwritten)

1	In the name of God Amen The
2	nineteenth daie of August in the yeare of our Lord God one thousand sixe hundred
3	twentie and seaven I Robert Siderfin of the parish of Luxborowe within the
4	dioces of Bath and Wells being somewhat sicke in body but of perfect minde
5	and memory praise bee to allmightie god therefore. I doe make this my last will and
6	Testament in manner and forme following. First I bequeath my soule to allmightie
7	god and my body to bee buried in the Chauncell of Luxborowe Item I give to the Cathedrall
8	church of Wells vij d. Ite[m] I give to Robert Siderfin the sonne of William Siderfin and
9	to Robert Westeron the sonne of Willia[m] Westeron and to Robert Siderfin the sonne of
10	Robert Siderfine of Mynehead to any of them one heafer yeardling Item I give to all the
11	rest of my sonne and daughter s children to every of them five Ewe sheepe apeece It[em] I give to
12	the poore of Cutcombe 6 s and to the poore of Luxborowe 6 s. Item I give to William
13	Siderfin my sonne my best meane and ploughstuffe for eight Oxin to bee deliv[ere]d him after the decease
14	of Christian my wife and the cubbard in the hall and table board in the same to bee delivered as abovesaid
15	Item I give unto Marie Siderfin my daughter unmarried two hundred pounds. Item I give and
16	bequeath unto Thomas Siderfin my sonne and Mary Siderfin my Daughter all that tearme of
17	yeares and estate which I have in a tenement called South Wheddon lying within the p[ar]ish of
18	Cutcombe Item I give unto the said Thomas Siderfin and Marie Siderfin my leasee for yeares
19	for to keepe one hundred sheepe upon Brundon and my whole interest and estate therein as
20	alsoe I give unto the said Thomas Siderfin and Mary Siderfin my lease for tearme of years
21	W[hi]ch I have in seaven acres of wood lying w[i]thin the p[ar]ish of Luxborrowe be my part of Priory
22	Wood and all such trees as are by the same lease granted mee w[i]th forsaid p[re]misses are lying
23	within the Countie of Som[er]set Item I give unto every of my Godchildren twelve pence apeece
24	And fourtie pounds of my said daughter Marys portion or el[s]e my daughter Janes portion
25	which is yet unpaid in a great parte is to bee paid by my sonne William unto one of them
26	W[hi]ch he upon good consideration hath undertaken to paie Ite[m] I give unto Elner Westeron [sister's grandson] and
27	Johanne Coutch [his granddaughter] three pounds apeece to bee paid w[i]thin two years after my decease the residue
28	of my goods not given nor disposed I give and bequeath unto Christian my wife and Thomas
29	Siderfin my sonne whom I make my sole Executors of this my last will In witness whereof
30	I have hereunto sett my hand Robert Siderfin Witnessed here unto The marke of
31	Christopher Webber The marke of Robert Copp[e]r The marke of John Burges
32	Probatum fuit Testamentum suprascriptum apud
33	London coram venerabili viro domino Henrico Marten Milite legum doctore
34	curie Prerogative Cantuariensis Magistro custode sive Commissario l[egi]time constituto
35	ultimo die mensis Januarij Anno domino iuxta  cursum et computationem Eccl[es]ie
36	Anglicane millesimo sexcentesimo vicesimo septimo Juramento Christiane Relicte
37	dicti defuncti et Thome Siderfyn filij dicti defuncti et Executorum in hu[ius]modi Testamento
38	Nominat quibus commissa fuit Administratio omnium et singulorum bonorum iurium
39	Et creditorum dicti defuncti de bene et fideliter Administrando eadem ad sancta dei
40	Evangelia Coram Petro Poole Cl[er]ico dioces de Chard Vigore Commissionis in
41	ea p[ar]te al[ia]s emanat Jurat. Ex[aminat]

I did not come across any mention of this will in the book that I have noticed but will watch for it. The will of Robert Siderfin in 1689 is mentioned and he was at East Lynch, Timberscombe.

 

BLAKE - BLAKE Museum at Bridgwater, Somerset

About 75% of the people who write to me about the BLAKE one-name Study are trying to connect back to the BLAKE family of Bridgwater, Somerset. They tend to have an oral history that includes a relationship (many times great uncle generally) to Robert BLAKE, Lord High Admiral during the Commonwealth period. They also, for the most part, are from American BLAKE families. The yDNA study which Bill BLEAK initiated around 2006 at Family Tree DNA was a bid to try and determine the yDNA line of the BLAKE family at Calne and area, Wiltshire which, by various charts, would include the BLAKE family at Bridgwater. What that yDNA study did uncover was that there are many founding lines for the BLAKE families in the British Isles. The website for the museum is quite extensive: https://www.bridgwatermuseum.org.uk/

Several years ago the museum added an interesting chart to their website and I am including a copy of one page in the chart which leads back to the earliest BLAKE on their chart. I did request permission to insert pages from this chart to my blog. The entire Chart is quite amazing and the details on the Somerset BLAKE family coincide well with the records that I have extracted from the various parish registers. My Question family of Dunster married into the Bridgwater BLAKE family (Jone Question married Nicholas BLAKE) but that is a whole other story!

*Used with permission

On seeing this chart for the first time I was struck by its resemblance to the BLAKE Pedigree Chart produced by the College of Arms for the BLAKE family using material from the Daniel BLAKE family of London, UK in 1690.

Having received permission from the Wiltshire and Swindon Archives I reproduce the similar chart from the BLAKE Pedigree. You can see the area of overlap between the two sections of the Chart. As mentioned it is possible to purchase this chart as eight images from the Wiltshire and Swindon Record Office (Reference Number 343/1MS).

I have not been able to ascertain at this time the author of the Chart held by the BLAKE Bridgwater Museum. The relationship of the Andover BLAKE family to the Calne BLAKE family is similar on both charts. The Chart produced by the College of Arms appears to be much older but there is more material on the Bridgwater Museum BLAKE chart.

I am somewhat suspicious that the older chart was used to produce the newer chart with additions. Both Charts appear to have been created in England as far as I am able to determine.

The BLAKE Chart on the Bridgewater Museum webpage does have an ancestor to the Richard BLAKE at the top of the College of Arms BLAKE Pedigree. Namely, Robert le BLAKE :

Robert le BLAKE is said to be "of Quemberford (Co Wiltshire) and named as a juror in an Inquisition postmortem dated 22 Jan 1336 and uncovered among deeds of Hungerford Bar [sp] footnote 1." I did do a search on the National Archives website in the Discovery Catalogue looking for BLAKE and Inquisition Postmortem. In the time period 1300-1399 there are ten records but I wonder if a juror would necessarily be part of the finding aid for a document (surprisingly there was a list of jurors as one of the documents). However there wasn't a record bearing date 1336. Having spent time at Kew they have done a tremendous job of organizing all this material into booklets and numbered appropriately). I am suspicious that perhaps this is in a County Archive (and not yet in the Discovery search engine) and Hungerford is in Wiltshire. Searching on the Wiltshire and Swindon Archival database located 27 records between 1200 and 1400. One particular record caught my attention in 1334 with Reference: 1720/120 and it was a Grant (at Calne) "By John de Fynemore to William Rolf of Blakelonde and Agnes his wife for their lives, of a piece of arable land in the field of Blakelonde (Blackland). Witnessed: John le Chamberleyn, Thomas de Takelberwe, Robert le Blake, William Asser, Adam le Schetere, William de Taseworthe. A second record in 1347 also mentions Robert le BLAKE as witness. Several more records in this time period with Robert BLAKE as witness. A record in 1353 with Reference 1720/148 of a Grant (at Chippenham) "By Richard le Scrivayn of Chippe[n]ham of licence to his tenant Juliana atte Slow, to exchange two acres of arable land at Kemerford (Quemerford in Calne) with Robert le Blake. Witnessed Roger le Tay..., John le Gode, John Waleys, John Bacon, William Cripce." This would seem to prove the presence of Robert le BLAKE in 1336 in the area mentioned.

There are a couple of notes added to this particular crop of the original chart. They appear on Blake_3.pdf in the set of pdf documents for this particular pedigree. 

I copy only the covering Notes, Note 1 and Note 4. 

Notes

Note 1 concerning the Blake Family copied from the "H" manuscripts ____

1690 "The Genealogie of the ancient and worthy Family of Blague or Blake of great antiquity in the County of Wilts where they had large possessions at Quemberford, Calne, Hillcott, with a fair mansion House at Pynhills now the seat of the Family. A younger Branch whereof transplanted themselves into Hampshire and sitting at Easton town were owners of several other Manors"

Note 4 The reference to Rob[er]t le Blake (1336) was discovered by Sir H Farnham _____ (Garter) who considers this link highly probable

The Note implies by the copying of the Title of the College of Arms BLAKE Pedigree that this earlier chart was used to construct the BLAKE Pedigree held by the Bridgwater Museum. I note that the descent of the BLAKE family in Hampshire is shown as a descent from Henry BLAKE and Margaret Bellett. Nicholas BLAKE of Enham (earlier blog in this series) whose will was probated 20 Jun 1547 is on the chart with siblings that are not mentioned in his will and the siblings that are mentioned not included other than Robert who is said to have died d.s.p. which is known to be incorrect from Robert's own will. However interestingly enough this chart does not name a Humphrey BLAKE as a brother which was the real reason that Horatio Somerby Gates used Nicholas BLAKE in his fraudulent genealogy of the BLAKE family in England incorporated into early BLAKE American genealogies. 

One is left to surmise that the Pedigree Chart at Bridgwater Museum has preceded the work of Horatio Somerby Gates and thus dated pre 1870s and Horatio Somerby Gates has utilized some of the information in this chart. It was interesting finding this as the possible source for the fraudulent work of Horatio Somerby Gates. That being said I can only think that the author of this Chart had acquired this material from another and that errors had crept into the BLAKE family at Enham, Hampshire. One notes on the chart below Robert BLAKE of Enham said to be married to unknown Snell with sons William, John, Richard and Robert. The transcription of this Robert's will (in Latin) was published by me as part of this Blogging Challenge:

http://kippeeb.blogspot.com/2020/02/blake-will-of-jone-blake-widow-enham.html

Robert does mention Thomas BLAKE and Richard BLAKE as sons in his will. There is a William BLAKE and a Robert BLAKE but relationship not clearly established in the will. I did not see a John BLAKE in that will. Not mentioning a child in the will has many reasons as I have discovered so tend to be benevolent in regard to that possibility. A crop of Chart 2 adds some imagery to this discussion.

Chart 2 includes a note which states "The exact connection of the Hampshire Blake with those of Wiltshire is not yet fully established the link here suggested seems the most probable." Possibly the best words of all since the will of Nicholas BLAKE of Enham does clearly show the chart to be inaccurate where he is concerned. I will discuss this particular section of the Chart in another blog at a later date.