I do like what PM Stephen Harper wrote in his editorial

I agree with him as I did when he was Prime Minister until I didn't but that was ten years ago and more. Our best friend should ideally be the United States and They have been for over two hundred years; we share a huge border with them. A closer economic and custodial (we need to protect this continent) relationship would be even better and make us both stronger and I do like fresh fruit and vegetables (the American broccoli, cauliflower, and other items that I bought last week were excellent and fresh). Tariffs are a downer on the economy and it will be the farmers/manufacturers of goods and services in the United States who pay the price which is really not very fair to your own people to destroy their market and increase the prices they will pay everywhere for the raw materials that are cheaper to buy across this border than anywhere else. I do agree with PM Stephen Harper that giving the Americans a break on the price of oil being shipped by us to them to refine has always been a bonus for our good relationship. We could get a better price elsewhere but our good friends are right there to the south and we haven't done that (we have finished the pipeline to the ocean now for the surplus but the United States remains our preferred customer); friendship means a lot. It is really up to them to let their government know what they prefer (cheap gas at the pumps and a place to sell their produce/finished goods and we are eager to eat that for sure/buy their finished goods). We would put tariffs on reluctantly if the United States does because we value that great friendship. We will help defend the water border (and as Americans know we were into both World Wars right at the beginning in 1914 and 1939 so we can be counted on to defend Turtle Island as the First Nations refer to this part of North America if a foreign entity attacks this continent). I do think we need to spend far more on our military as I have been saying for a very long time; we need to provide more incentives to get the young people to enlist (free education at the end of their term of years and I understand that is a somewhat shorter period than I mentioned earlier in the United States so we could follow their guidelines on that they have years of experience). The loss of Canada as a buyer for cars and so many other items would be huge; we are after all 41 million people who buy a lot of cars (many people own two) and we continue to drive our wonderful Dodge Caravan made in Canada along with many other Canadians who own cars built by American companies on Canadian soil and they do go back and forth between Canada and the United States as they are built (and we are right next door so the cost of shipping it to us is pretty low comparatively). We are a country of raw materials with 75% of our exports to the United States being just that! We have to buy finished goods and foods during the long cold winter but we also store vegetables and other produce so can eat that but it would be a pity. There is a polar vortex coming just to remind us of how cold it can get here. But we are inventive and innovative and can build a manufacturing economy if we have to but the status quo has suited us as we are the same kind of people and our friendship is long standing.

Cleaning all accomplished and a work day. I shall be looking at the Blake Book once again although it should really be Pincombe but I will get to that next week. I am really very much into this le Blak/le Blake family of Berkshire/Wiltshire. I will be searching British History Online again today to have a look at what I can find.  A John le Blake in Cam, Gloucestershire leasing a house and land in 1332 was most interesting especially given its proximity to Calne. John le Blake is the son of William le Blake of Rockhill. I will pursue this as I could not yet locate Rockhill. In Herefordshire there is a Roger le Blake in the early 1300s as noted earlier. But the coincidence of the Blake family of Calne moving to Gloucestershire after refusing a title and having their manor house destroyed for that by Charles I is a strong memory. The Blake family is stubborn for sure and I do have Blake cousins in the United States with some way back in time actually matching me on Ancestry but I have at least two Blake lines deep in the past perhaps doubling up on the DNA there! I do have so many cousins in the United States (and Canada too).

I will add to this as the day progresses but it is breakfast time. 

Looking at the Parish Wargrave and its history one finds that the Manor of Wargrave was granted to Emma of Normandy (wife of Ethelred the Unready) circa 1061-5. Later Queen Edith held Wargrave. William, Duke of Normandy, later William I of England seized Wargrave and held it in demesne in 1086 and it belonged to the ancient demesne of the Crown. Henry I granted it to the see of Winchester circa 1189. I did not see any mention of Richard le Blak or his daughter Alicia although they appear on the Pipe Roll of the Bishopric of Winchester 1301-2 (Hampshire Record Series Volume 14) at Wargrave along with John Blak. Closeby at Waltham St Lawrence Hamo Blak and Walter Blak (son of Hamo). This area is 56 km NE of Andover by the road (somewhat shorter on horse back if one was so tempted). 

Going to the Discovery catalogue at the National Archives there are for a search term le Blake 287 items but looking only at 1100-1199 (3), 1200-1299 (20), 1300-1399 (98), 1400-1499 (18). If I use only le Blak there are 14 items but looking only at 1200-1299 (3), 1300-1399 (7) 1400-1499 (3) and the timeline does have Robert Blake (married to Avis Wallop) owning a Fulling Mill at Quemerford and his date of death is 1515. There is material on this Blake and I tend to use him as a starting point going backwards. 

I have blogged some of this material earlier but I want to concentrate on items that would show movement from Normandy to Hampshire to Berkshire to Wiltshire as I predict that would have been the movement following 1274 when Richard le Blak was awarded the right to set up a market in England. One had to remember he was a Norman and would have preference in this England conquered by William now replaced in this time frame by King Edward I of England whose attachment to Normandy was probably sufficiently strong to assist anyone coming from Normandy to be successful.

But before I do that I need to look at the documents showing a Richard le Blak along the Hampshire coast earlier. I find it interesting that he is near Windsor (Wargrave is in that area) on a King's demesne in 1301 having received the right to set up a market in England in 1274 as shown by the Calendar of Patent Rolls. One would not necessarily proceed immediately to England but would need to prepare somewhat and then select locations where such a market would be profitable. Certainly near Windsor would be very profitable! But likely one would start along the coast of Hampshire which is right across the Channel. Hampshire was a wealthier area as well compared to the other counties. Hence the search at the National Archives. 

Looking at le Blake

1100-1199

Entry 1: There is a John le Blake in Worchestershire and he was the son of John Blake but the date range is up to 1500 on a conveyance and I do know there is a Blake family in Worchestershire and I do not believe they are related. 

Entry 2: Margery le Blake widow at Haydoneswyke (Haydon Wick is suggested) and it is Tax but the date is 1100-1600. Since she is a widow I usually do not follow these items but Haydon Wick is just north of Swindon so close to the Berkshire border interestingly but one would need to read the document E 326/6191 to see whether the date refers to the land or the family (likely the land).

Entry 3: The third item is for a Roger le Blake and in Wiltshire interestingly enough with a date range of 1100 - 1603 but does not mean that the land was held by the Blake family in 1100. There is a Roger Blake of interest in the Calne Blake family who left his will in 1557. I will keep this as reference if I do indeed trace down the Calne Blake family. The property is at Ricardeston held by the Abbot of Stanleg' and there is a Stanley Abbey near Chippenham Wiltshire at Bremhill. Chippenham to Calne is about 11 kilometres. So an interesting find if I happen to trace this family down. Includes seals and legends so could be interesting. E 40/12128

1200-1299

Entry 1:  A William le Blake is at Southampton, Hampshire in 1289. Interesting and I will keep track of this item. C 241/4/67A Certificate of Statute Merchant and Statute Staple

Entry 2: same as Entry 1 in 1100-1199 search

Entry 3: same as Entry 2 in 1100-1199 search

Entry 4: Richard le Blake, burgess of Shoreham (Sussex) in 1290. The other members on the certificate are noted as Alien merchants in Winchester. I found this item interesting. C241/14/70 (I may already have this record).

Entry 5: Stephen le Blake is named as a merchant of Southampton, Hampshire in 1286. C241/7/288.

Entry 6: Stephen le Blake (same location, same year). C241/6/36

Entry 7: John le Blake of Hatfeld Regis, Essex and a quitclaim in 1295.

Entry 8, 9, 10: Thomas le Blake and he is a witness on a Quitclaim 17 May 1293 at Swalecliffe (likely the County of Kent since the record is at Canterbury Cathedral Archives and Library). There is a Blake family in this early time period in East Anglia, London and down into Kent and Surrey. I suspect they are from The Netherlands as  Blake entries continued into 1330 to 1550s from The Netherlands. The other argument for this are the yDNA results in the Blake yDNA study at FT DNA and more on that once I get into writing up. CCA-DCc-ChAnt/T/6

Entry 11: same as Entry 3 in 1100-1199 search

Entry 12: Robert le Blake of Southorpe, Lincolnshire, Road agreement 11 Apr 1272. This is before the Calendar of Patent Rolls grant to Richard le Blak. It is known that there were other Blake lines in England prior to and coincidental to the presence of Richard Blak at Wargrave in 1301. 

Will complete tomorrow. Interesting day. 

 

 

le Blak and le Blake

Reading through the 1200s and 1300s in the Archives (National Archives of the UK) and the really great part of this archives is they also include the Archival databases of the counties in England and other (like Berkley Castle). Eventually the Calne Blake family does end up in Gloucestershire after their mansion house at Pinhills is destroyed by Charles I because Henry Blake would not take a title. But interestingly I am also finding the le Blake family at Cam, Gloucestershire in 1332 leasing land  and the distance to Calne, Wiltshire is close enough (about 50 kilometres). 

Richard le Blak was on the Pipe Rolls at  Wargrave, Berkshire in 1301-2 and with him his daughter Alice la Blak and there is also a John Blak at Wargrave. Near to Wargrave there is Hamo Blak and his son Walter Blak at Waltham St Lawrence. This group of people does rather interest me because there are wills for the Blake family members in the 1500s written in the Speen Berkshire area that mention the Blake family in Andover. It is about 60 kilometres by present day roads which wind about somewhat so perhaps 50 kilometres or could be less. The interesting part is that Speen is closer to Wiltshire and just north of Andover. It may simply be coincidence and I want to avoid convincing myself that the le Blak family found at Wargrave is the Blake family of Calne unless I can find adequate proof. There are a lot of pluses for this thought - this was a Norman family granted a market license in 1274. Certainly Normans often received steps up from King William (Duke of Normandy) although this is two hundred years later. Most influential people were Norman but not all; many of the lords of the manors who existed before the arrival of William the Conqueror were still on their lands (although paying fealty to a Norman overlord for sure).  

The Pedigree Chart for Blake prepared by the College of Arms with material provided by the Daniel Blake family of London in 1690  and this is the top of the Chart.

 This beautiful manuscript is about four feet by twelve feet and is held by the Swindon and Wiltshire Archives. It is possible to purchase eight images that include all of the chart by writing to them. The cost is quite low actually. 

The beginning text reads: "The genealogie of the ancient and worthy family of BLAGUE, BLAAKE or BLAKE, of great antiquity in the county of Wilts, where they had large possessions in Quemberford, Calne and Hilcot with a fair mansion house called PINHILLS, now the seat of the family, a younger branch whereof transplanted themselves into Hantshire and settling at Easton Town, were owners of that and divers other mannor from whence the BLAKEs of Middlesex, etc. are immediately descended faithfully collected out of the several visitation books of the said counties remaining in the College of Arms and deducted to the issue of Daniel BLAKE of London, Anno 1690."

William Blake at Easton Town died in 1582 and this chart is produced just over 100 years later. His will, and over time I have discussed whether there was a possibility of two William Blake individuals living in this area but I have not found anything that would prove the presence of two William Blake lines other than this chart (further down) and the visitations of one particular family. The question in mind though is did Horatio Gates Somerby come across this information and simply link this William to Nicholas because of the wills of both William and Nicholas but then decide on the basis of the Visitations that this was a family descendant in the male line from the Calne Blake family? It is interesting and I have been on this route before but I believe I will devote the next couple of weeks to really looking intently at all the information I have collected; discover if I need to order any more material although I do have quite a bit already and then perhaps make a general conclusion on my thoughts and then move forward to the next stage of the book. It is at such moments that I ponder the thought of being there in Winchester going through the old records but I will leave that for another as it will merit a great deal of attention in the years ahead and I remain with the thought that what I have accumulated can be placed with restrictions to family only and academic researchers. I do not want anyone to publish my work beyond what I publish but using my transcriptions, thoughts and other proofs they can do as they wish with that information.

Time for yoga very shortly. This morning has been very productive thinking wise and I like to have these moments when I just stop and think about what I am doing and where I can go next. 

One of the problems with the text above from the parchment Pedigree is taking the line at Andover back to Roger Blake and Mary Baynard and naming a son William. I have never been able to find in the wills or the Visitations or any other document that they had a son William. That the dating of the death of this William Blake in 1582 and there being a will for a William Blake at such time is provocative because he identifies himself in that will by naming his siblings as the son of Nicholas. Interesting really and it will be an exciting couple of weeks likely as I work my way through everything I have collected including many old records. In my mind is the memory of my grandfather talking about Nicholas Blake and who  he was not. Why would they even do that as Nicholas died in 1547 leaving his will? He was not wealthy by any means although did hold land at Knights Enham. But the attachment of Blake lines to this William (lines that moved away from Andover in the 1600s) leaves one with a great deal to contemplate because a number of these descendants of the Andover Blake family much further down the line did move to America and became interested in their Blake ancestor (even going so far as to test their yDNA which is how I really got into this study of Blake because I have four brothers myself and did test two of them (one was already deceased) and the discoveries on their yDNA were most fascinating especially as they did bring home to me the memory of my grandfather saying this Blake line was always at Andover reminiscent of the language used by the First Peoples here in Canada. It is something that people say who have an extremely long connection to the land. Fascinating really. 

Time for Yoga.