Cleaning all accomplished

Another week of cleaning accomplished and today a research day. I did absolutely nothing yesterday on research. It was a busy day. 

 Today though, unless it rains, will see me outside working in the garden for some time. But I also want to do some research and will continue adding the newest DNA matches into my various databases. There are still 36 matches to file away. So far the matches have been as interesting as I thought they might be. I skipped over quite a few because they did not add anything to the thousands of matches I have already in my databases. 

Phasing the great grandparents is going to be an interesting item to work on although I will continue writing the Blake book as I do that. I want to spend some time on the early Latin wills line by line just to see if anything has been missed. Working on documents written by your ancestors five hundred years ago is amazing and challenging. Were these people just like my grandfather or grandmother as I search back into my own past thinking of their thought pattern? My grandfather talked in particular about his grandparents and great grandparents as he did know one of the great grandparents personally and they had all died between 1808 and 1886 with most of them dying between 1840 and 1886. In the case of his mother's grandparents she knew all but her paternal grandfather very well since they all lived in the same area and closeby each other. In the case of his father's grandparents he was not quite as lucky in that regard with only one of them living after he was born but his mother who lived to the age of 89 was right next door when her son's young family was growing up and a widow and memories of my grandfather's grandmother Blake were very clear when he talked about her. So I do spend some time contemplating what my grandfather used to say about his family. The Blake family lived in Upper Clatford and the Knights lived in Turnworth but he did spend time there perhaps because his eldest sister lived with their grandparents until she married. She is found on the census at nine years of age with them. Samuel Knight and his wife Louisa (Butt) Knight had  eleven children (my great grandmother was their eldest) but only four of them lived past infancy. Their only surviving son Henry married Catherine Crankshaw 25 Dec 1878 at Chorley, Lancashire. They had just one child Samuel who along with his wife Rose Anna Yates emigrated to Canada where all their children were born in the early 1900s. My father never mentioned if he met any of these cousins (3rd) but I have corresponded with a number of them. They lived in Saskatchewan. So I need to prod this brain of mine and find the references so to speak that bring this information back to me. 

Even though I am first generation Canadian with deep roots in the British Isles going back many centuries (indeed my Blake line carries Western Hunter Gatherer yDNA some of the earliest in the British Isles after the Ice Age which rendered life there impossible) my citizenship is Canadian (as a young child I was granfathered in along with everyone else born in Canada before the 1st of January 1947). I have no rights in England other than those that might come to me as a member of the Commonwealth but pretty limited and the same is true for people coming to Canada (with the exception of Jay's Treaty of 1794 which permits the First Nations peoples to travel back and forth across the border between Canada and the United States readily). When I first went to England back in 2001 I was so excited to actually be in the island. When it was our turn at Customs my daughter quickly said who she was and why she had come and then it was my turn and I said who I was but pondered why had I come (this was my first international travel outside of North America). I said my father was born here and three of my grandparents and mumbled on a bit (I can remember saying all of that) and he looked at me kindly and asked me again why I came (which I successfully answered with a detailed mention of what we were doing travel wise, where we were staying and when we were leaving). That told me that my very long ancestry in the British Isles has no meaning because I do not live there (in this world we are all an organized people because that is how it works best). He was right and I really appreciated his patience with me.  

I did get the H11 Newsletter published and online. I generally for the first of May keep thinking year after year it is the Pincombe Newsletter but it is not; it is due 1st of June and I need to start thinking about that. The yDNA project for Pincombe/Pinkham has two distinct lines. The one points back to Western Hunter Gather and the other points to the Continent (Flemish likely). My line is the Flemish which I believe used the spelling Pencombe which is initially found at North Molton in the early 1500s and the notation on the Visitation for Pincombe in 1620 carries the note "Pyncombe of Northmolton came there with the Lord Zouch  about the beginning of H 7" and that refers to King Henry VII who defeated Richard III King of England at Bosworth Field in 1485 and became the King of England (Henry VII). John Lord Zouch was on the side of Richard III and was attainted, stripped of his civil rights and properties. He had relatives in Northmolton where he was received and I am becoming of the much stronger opinion that perhaps John Pencombe who accompanied him to Northmolton was his jailer rather than one of his retinue under attainment with him. Mostly because John Pencombe received land at North Molton. More reading of the early records might provide that answer. 

So a few items to work on this month along with the gardening.  All this traveling by the Prime Minister and those who accompany him in several capacities as these tend to be the opportunity to showcase Canadian industry around the world. Mostly I am not watching the news or reading the news unless it is archaeological or about DNA. The Prime Minister has things in hand along with his Cabinet. I am hoping that the Opposition will find a way to help to support getting our young employed in the trades and in the military. There are jobs and these jobs are all fantastic right at the greatest changes in research and development and not sitting at a desk inputting data  which an AI will soon do much faster and with greater efficiency. Grab hold of these exciting opportunities and every elected and those wanting to be elected should be out there in their constituency helping this to happen. 

Time to do the Solitaire Puzzles.  

Ash Wednesday and Valentine's Day

It happens that these two days come together often enough in my lifetime. They are both days of love and God has played a role in the development of both I think. Ash Wednesday is a day of thought in the Christian Church remembering Jesus and his love for mankind. Remembering why God sent him just once to live amongst us for those so privileged to have done so. Today there will be two Ash Wednesday Services that I will attend online through You-Tube. I think You-Tube is a great service but one must use it wisely and not listen to those who just use it for greed whether for money or ideas that lead to more money for them. One must be cautious listening to others speak. 

Yesterday I worked on the Pencombe family and principally reading through Henry VII's activities in the Calendar of Patent Rolls. John Lord Zouch had a great deal of property in England most of which was taken away when he was declared a traitor by the Parliament in 1485 and attainted for his part in supporting Richard III of England. Normally I would not be reading about one of the great Lords of the Realm of England but my ancestor came with him to North Molton at the beginning of the Reign of Henry VII which was 1485. So I set myself the task of reading through all of the Patent Rolls that referred to Lord Zouch and there were 16 records in Volume I most of which were granting the lands that had belonged to him to others. The first mentioned that he was a traitor and the tenth reinstated him as if it had never happened but he only got to keep the land that had belonged to his father (presumably the rest was given to him by Richard III) and so that part of the story ends. Did I learn anything about John Pencombe (likely his name was John since he appears on the Lay Subsidy as John)? I learned absolutely nothing but I think I am now left with the impression that he did not come to North Molton until John Lord Zouch was reinstated 11 Jul 1486 as that property was given to his line by Henry III and so his father would have owned it. I guess in that way I have learned something; the date that he was probably asked to accompany John Lord Zouch to North Molton. They probably arrived shortly thereafter. It does take time for all these things to come to pass though as one of the last items was 25 May 1488 at Canterbury when the King approved a grant to help Joan, wife of John Zouche, of 100 marks for her entire life. It was an interesting foray into the lives of the rich and famous looking for traces of my ancestor. The time period between the arrival and the Lay Subsidy is 38 years and by then he does have one grandchild mentioned on that subsidy (the child of his eldest son John Pencombe - Christopher Pencombe).  John's youngest son Thomas is working for wages and the third son William is also on a small holding so likely the middle son. The daughter Margaret married Philip Kingdon 15 Nov 1539 at North Molton so perhaps the youngest  (although I have not yet determined if this was John's son John's daughter).

My Inquisition Postmortem is ready for download I note in my email so will do that today but then move on to Blake. It is the day to work on the Blake book. Looking at Free BMD the surname Pencombe is uncommon and none that I could really link to Herefordshire. But it is an interesting thought as the line came to North Molton in likely 1486.

Teatime. Documents arrived and downloaded and they are just a perfect size. I was a little nervous when it was going to be two pages. So that is great and I shall work on them tomorrow. Latin going well and I have now prepared a word list as well as the sentence list that I have been creating as the days pass. I need to think if I should start creating declensions charts of the verbs, nouns, etc. This is an interesting time teaching myself Latin but using the principles of the way that French was taught to me in school (and German at University). Occasionally I let my mind wander forward to when I shall begin French in the fall. I would like to improve my spoken french for sure. The German would be one year later. Interesting really to think of myself at 80, if God so wills, speaking four languages. It would be sort of funny. I was not really a language student; science interested me far more in my youth but mostly inclined towards medicine when I was at university. But history was always sort of my hobby; we grew up talking about politics and the world situation when I was a child. We even argued on occasion. But my run is finished and on to breakfast.

Good advancement looking at North Molton

 Yesterday was a day of discovery with regard to North Molton. I actually discovered a two book thesis created by Norman Arnett in 1965 in England although the thesis itself is not online. But I did find one section looking at the population of North Molton had been reproduced in a journal. It was interesting to read through that. It would be wonderful if all of these theses could be put online as there is so much thought in them by young and eager researchers working towards advanced degrees. I may scan Edward's thesis and put it up online as his research is still ongoing around the world and he is still cited in people's work as his work was some of the initial study in his field. When I think of the waste of his entire class year that went on and did PhDs and did not receive tenured faculty positions in Canada I am truly concerned that we would educate so many students and then hire people who were from elsewhere outside the country - some for sure as diversity in research is important but not all - our own students should come first. If diversity is so great where are the Nobel prizes going; how many Canadian Nobel prizes are there in the history of Nobel prizes? Employment for our own first; diversity comes after that.

As I delve into the History of North Molton I am fortunate that British History Online has so much information available. An interesting Inquisition Postmortem for a John Pencombe was abstracted and he is the person of interest to me at the moment as I rather think it was his grandson or great grandson that came to North Molton with John Lord Zouch in the latter part of the 1480s although now I am wondering in what capacity he did come (I ordered the full document and it will come if possible to reproduce in a month or so but it is from one hundred years earlier; I just want a base to work with there in Herefordshire). Was he, the Pencombe who came, an adherent to the cause of Richard III or was he simply sent by the now King Henry VII to accompany the attainted John Lord Zouch to his relation's home in North Molton. Since the Pencombe family acquired lands in North Molton the latter does sound more likely. It could be that such a record exists in the files of King Henry VII. History is fascinating, I have always thought so actually but did not choose that as my study course, and pursuing it now in my old age is certainly a fascinating experience. 

I am gradually getting the revised Siderfin book to repositories so that it is available to researchers although the reads on my blog do indicate a large interest and this is not  a large family by any means as one would describe it as a small study. I am surprised not to have any comments with regard to my premises as I am sure lots of people have opinions but it is a very small family. It also takes time to disagree with a person.

Today is Blake research today and I  am still working on the yDNA chapter but also looking forward to talking about the early history of Andover, Hampshire, England although this family when it is first seen in the records is at Knights Enham which is now part of Andover. The John Blake that I noted in the early 1300s was a while ago and although I clearly remember seeing it I was a newbie at the time and did not properly record it. I always rely on my memory but these days I record in detail the source! Memory is good; but the written word much better.

Breakfast time is soon but a little more work first and I am charging up my Fitbit as it was running out. The Fitbit though needs replacing one of these days, it is over two years now since it was given to me and the newer ones are interesting. Does it control my life? not really as I can do without it but it is nice to have the 24 hour reflection on how I spent the day as exercise is important to me. I must start looking at the newer ones. 

Pencombe, Pincombe, Pinkham - Discovery Catalogue, Kew, UK

 This document for a Pencombe in Herefordshire has come up on the Discovery search. Reference C 135/178/25 and it is a John Pencombe or de Pencombe. Inquisition, Post Mortem, Series I, Edward III. I shall have to order it as I did not collect that one when we were at Kew our several times. Not sure why but I did not find it on my search list so maybe wasn't indexed or I just missed it. It is listed as being between 25 Jan 1363 and the 24 Jan 1364. I have requested a record review which can then move to a scan and my purchase of the scan. It will be an interesting document if they are able to scan it. 

I was absolutely amazed at some of the documents which were available to look at when we visited Kew in 2010 and 2013. In just three years a great deal of indexing had been done between the two trips and I was able to look at documents that were hundreds of years old. One in particular - Pincombe - was still rolled up with its likely original cording which I untied so that it could be unrolled and photographed. My fingers were actually shaking as I did so but those documents were pretty sturdy. This one unrolled was immaculate on the inside - it was an amazing moment actually. And I had a pile like that to go through. We spent almost four solid days at Kew on the second trip.

The forename William (Pencombe) does not select any records to view on the discovery database nor did I find anything for Christopher, Richard or Robert other forenames found in this family in the 1500s. The forename Thomas will bring up at least one of which I do have a copy: From the Calendar of Patent Rolls and the reference C 143/424/7. The original image is very interesting but also under copyright so cannot show that one on my blog (it is all in Latin):

1395 20 May Westminster (membrane 5)
Licence, for 100 s. paid in the hanaper by Philip Webbe, chaplain of a
chantry of St. Mary in the parish church of Bromyord, for the alienation
in mortmain by John Falke of a messuage in Bromyord, and by John
Hunte or another there, and by Thomas Pencombe and Robert Stanford
of five messuages and half an acre of meadow in the same place, not held in
chief, to the said chaplain and his successors, in aid of their maintenance.
18 Richard II, volume 5, page 582

The document's information tells me that this Pencombe family is established in this Pencomb area but I never do find a lot of records for them in Herefordshire. So likely a small freeholder perhaps with obligations to the Lord of the Manor locally although a mystery how this Pencombe family came to be associated with John la Zouche, 7th Baron Zouch, against whom an attainder was issued in 1485 (reversed in 1495). This Zouch  family is generally associated with North Molton amongst other holdings. 

Searching on Pencombe and Devon brings up three documents. The first is the will of Joane Pencombe the likely widow of Thomas Pencombe which was written in 1563 but not probated until 23 October 1590 although why it was not is a mystery. Her husband Thomas disappears from the records in 1544 and no reference to his will is found.

Recorded: 30 July 2011
Source: Public Record Office, London, UK, # 207
Place: East Buckland, Devon, England
Type of Record: Will
Dated: 7 May 1563

[In margin] T[estator] Johanne Pencombe

1    In the name of God, Amen.  In the yeare
2    of our Lord God one thousand fyve hundred sixtie three and in the seaventh daie
3    of Maye That I Johane Pencombe widdowe of Est Buckland beinge of whole mynde
4    and in good remembrance (lauded be god) make and ordaine this my last will and
5    testament in this manner and forme followinge First I bequeathe my soule unto
6    allmightie God and my bodie to be buried in the Churche of Est Buckland there Item
7    I bequeath unto Richard Pencombe my sonne twentie poundes And to his sonne a
8    heafer of three yeares of age. Item I bequeath to John Locke my sonne in Law nyne
9    poundes. Item I bequeath to John Pencombe my sonne nyne poundes And to his
10    daughter a heafer. Item I bequeath to John Jasse my sonne in Lawe nyne poundes
11    Item I bequeath to John Jasse the younger six poundes thirteene shillings four pence
12    Item to Anne Takle twentie shillings Item to Amye Rolle six shillings eight pence
13    Item to Roberte Hollaniore a yearlinge Item to Thomas Hichton a ewe. Item to everie
14    of my Children's Children five shillinges eight pence. Item unto every of my godchildren
15    twelve pence apeece. Item to the poore twentie shillings. The residue of all my goodes
16    and everie parte thereof as well moveable as unmoveable not gyven nor bequeathed I give
17    and bequeath unto William Pencombe my sonne whome I make my executor and he to
18    bestowe it as he seemeth best And alsoe I devise and ordaine Sir John Taye John Hartill
19    and Richard Lympstable to be my overseers and wittnesses of this my last will and Testament
21    Probatum fuit Testamentum
22    Suprascriptum apud London coram venerabili, viro mag[ist]ro Will[iel]mo Levin Legium
23    Doctore ad exercend officium magisteri custodis sive Comissarii Curie Prerogative
24    Cant ltime deputat vicesimo tertio die mensis Octobris Anno Domini millesimo quin
25    Nonagesimo Juramento Thome Redman notary public procuratoris Willi[a]m Pencombe filii of
26    Executoris in h[uius]mo[d]i testamento nominat Qui commissa fuit administerato bonorum iurium et creditorum
27    Dicti defuncti de bene et fideliter administerand ad sancta dei Evangelia Jurat

List of Wills on the Devon Genuki website for Pencom(b)(e):

Pencomb     Christopher     South Molton     DEV           1585     W     le     BARN     BECK     W.      
Pencomb     Christopher     Southmolton [South Molton]     DEV           1585     W     le     BARN     BARN-R           £152-15s-8d
Pencomb     Eme     North Molton     DEV           1588     W     le     BARN     BECK     W.      
Pencomb     Thomas     Roborough     DEV           1578     W     le     BARN     BARN-R           £7-4s-8d
Pencomb     Thomas     South Molton     DEV           1601     W     le     BARN     BECK     T.      
Pencombe     Joane     East Buckland     DEV     widow     1590     W     co     PCC     PROB 11     76      
Pencombe     Johann     Estbuckland [East Buckland]     [DEV]     widow     1590     W     co     PCC     JHW     67 Drury      
Pencombe     Johanne     East Buckland     DEV           1563     W     tr     PCC     WWW    
Pencombe     John     North Molton     DEV           1576     W     le     BARN     BECK     W.      
Pencombe     John     Northmolton [North Molton]     DEV           1576     W     le     BARN     BARN-R           £46-19s-4d
Pencombe     Philip     Tawstock     DEV           1564     W     le     BARN     BECK     W.      
Pencombe     Richard     Chittlehampton     DEV           1588     W     le     BARN     BECK     W.      
Pencombe     William     North Molton     DEV           1564     W     le     BARN     BECK     W.      
Pencome     John     South Molton     DEV           1571     W     le     BARN     BECK     W.      

All of these individuals are more or less known to me in my database. Positively identifying them is not too difficult (but is subjective) given the limited number of people in this area. 

There are a lot of various spellings of Pincombe/Pinkham but I am concentrating on the 1500s. 

The other two documents gleaned from the search terms Devon and Pencombe refer to the Raisheleigh family of South Molton and Barnstaple and John Pencombe known to be at South Molton in the 1580s. This is interesting because it is in both the South Molton and Barnstple area. It may show that the John Pencombe in South Molton and the John Pencombe in Barnstaple are one and the same which is another proof I am also looking for as one of the yDNA testers is descendant of the Barnstaple Pincombe family. This would take the proof back from John Pincombe/Mary Charly generation (my 4x great grandparents) all the way to John Pencombe and his wife Emma (John being my 11 x great granduncle). That would be amazing for sure. I have never clearly understood the relationship between the Rashleigh family and the Pincombe family. Christopher Rashleigh married an An Pincombe in the early 1600s but it could be that I might be able to resolve this. It has been confusing because the article in Devon Notes and Queries says that An is a daughter of William married to Emot Snow but they had just two daughters according to his will - Johane and Katherin. So perhaps a shortform for Johane - just An. No ideas on that but it is intriguing. The only problem I have with it; The line of Thomas was not armigerous (William was his son and William had a son so also a grandson); that belonged to the eldest son in this era so perhaps they were only alluding to the fact that the uncle of An Pincombe was armigerous (John Pencombe or South Molton) when the comment was made in the Notes and Queries (Devon) that she was from an armigerous family. Interesting though to think about all of these things I have not looked at for twelve years. I pulled away from some of the really heavy research when Edward took ill in 2011 and never really got back into the early reading again until this past winter. 

Searching on Pincombe/Pincomb reveals eleven records but nothing particularly new in the 1400s/1500s. Searching on Pinkham does not reveal anything prior to 1700 which is about the time when I noticed this spelling entering into the Pincomb family of West Devon. Occasionally there were signs of it like Philip Pinkeham at Tawstock in the mid 1500s. But searching on Pinkeham does not reveal any entries. So have I learned everything that I can from the National Archives searching just on the surname? I did begin the process to order the Postmorten Inquisition for John Pencombe (1363-1364) which is a bit early to be helpful in 1485-89. It is too early for the War of the Roses (1455-1485) and the Battle of Bosworth Field (1485) but might give me some insights into this family in Herefordshire prior to these times. It is a lean time for records although as the continuous task of indexing the information that sits in the National Archives one never knows what might surface in the year's ahead. After all the UK has been through a lot of wars in their past where these precious documents were constantly being hidden in deep dark places to protect them and it was probably done in a hurry so misplaced items was probably a reality. As time passes they will meet the light of day in this great century which sees the scanning and permanent imaging of these ancient documents which are amazingly in very good shape for imaging often enough! Even with my camera I was able to make some good images of the early documents that I was able to review.

Yesterday was the last day for chicken stew (three days again and keep trying to head towards my daughter's idea that two days is enough in a row!). But I must admit that having two days without cooking is actually fun. The joys of being 77 for sure; just following one's inclination which for me is being a hermit just as I was in my teen years. Polite of course as my mother insisted but not having my life full of things that I do not really want to do (like meetings, social interactions and the like). I do always try to be polite; it is a good policy and really what Jesus brought to us in the new commandments. 

On to the day, breakfast is next.

Ash Wednesday - 2023

As we enter the most sacred time in the Church Year which culminates in Holy Week and Easter Sunday, may God bless the world and give us the strength to deal with those who care only about themselves and threaten us with nuclear war. That they would even dare to destroy your planet and all of your creations is beyond the pale. We are a God-loving and God-fearing people who respect this land and do not foolishly threaten those who share this planet with us. Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord and I do wait on God's vengeance for what is being done to the peoples of Ukraine by Russia and Belarus. Belarus well knows that Ukraine is not going to attack them. Presumably Lukashenko is also a Psychopathic Nazi calling up 100,000 to 150,000 to prepare to fight. Next thing he will be threatening us with nuclear weapons as well.

How childish; how infantile that really is. Watching the faces of the smiling syncophants as  they cheered on the Nazi Psychopathic Leader Putin is a sad sight before God. When all that aid was landed in Russia by the Western allies to help them fight the Nazis during the Second World War Stalin had the grace to thank them for helping to fight against Nazis tyranny. No one should be attacked by their neighbour so ruthlessly as Ukraine has been by the Nazi Psychopaths of Russia (we all (the so-called West) stand with Ukraine and will continue to give them the arms they need to kick the Nazi Psychopathic Russians out of their country). Russia basically remains untouched even though there is enough power in Europe alone to send Russia back into the Stone Age but we wait for the goodness that must be there in the Russian people to stop this monster and his smiling syncophants that we could see yesterday during the Nazi Psycopathic Putin's speech. Can they actually look at themselves in a mirror and see how disgusting those few Russians are that control millions of Russians. Their faces are forever recorded in digital format so that we will always know who they are. Their sons are sitting down to dinner with their families; most Russians' sons are being told to fight and die in a war against their cousins, their neighbours and their best friends. After all Ukraine stood between the Nazi armies of the Second World War and Russia fighting valiantly to help protect Russia. Your lust and greed for land is disgusting you Nazi Psychopaths. 

Cleaning all completed and on to the Pincombe-Pinkham Newsletter. I have worked through what I believe to be the next edition of that early family Chart; labeled Chart 1. It is unlikely that I can complete Chart 2 for North Molton as I want to purchase a CD that has to come by mail and that will take time. But for the moment I am pleased with my progress with the original Pencombe who arrived at North Molton in the beginning of the reign of Henry VII with Lord de la Zouch. I am missing Bideford in the 1524-7 Subsidy but should have it once I have ordered the CD and it has arrived. 

I also worked on the Ancestry autosomal DNA matches that my siblings, my cousin and myself have with individuals who, according to their online trees, descend from Richard Pinkham an early emigrant to the Royal Colony of New Hampshire circa 1642. The Excel file has 35 entries with 5 of the members having multiple entries for the different siblings/cousins. There are 26 distinct individuals in total in the chart. I have removed five individuals from consideration as descendants of Richard Pinkham because I can trace them back to an emigrant who came later to the American Colonies and the United States of America as it became at a later time. There are five private trees reducing the number of significant matches to 16 individuals. Another five individuals list their ancestor at Charleston, Massachusetts Bay Colony or other than New Hampshire and they have also been excluded for the moment. That leaves a total of 11 individuals who appear to be descendant of Richard Pinkham of New Hampshire. These matches range from 8 centimorgans to 12 centimorgans. Normally I would only look at matches of 20 centimorgans or more but Ancestry uses a piece of software called "Timber" to extract DNA from matches that are common to particular areas rather than specific family inherited DNA. The four siblings have a varied amount of shared Pincombe DNA and I in particular only share on one particular chromosome with my known cousin making matches rather interesting within our family grouping. Unfortunately none of the eleven matches fits into a category where my cousin and I are matching the same person as that would tell us which chromosome and the actual location of the match shared with the individual. Only two of the matches in this group of eleven are shared by more than one sibling/cousin. I will present this material in the Newsletter although the IDs of the individuals will be anonymized. 

Why would I choose to use such small amounts as a demonstration of possible cousin-ship especially when we are looking at individuals who would be 10th cousins? The main reason is a small case study that I did earlier with such matches in the Sedgwick-Blake family of Massachusetts and my own Blake line in the Andover, Hampshire, England area. Joanne Blake baptized 16 Oct 1612 at St Marys Andover married Major General Roberte Sedgwicke 6 Jan 1634 and her brother William Blake married Ann Hellier 5 Sep 1644 at St Marys Andover. William is my 8x great grandfather and there are a number of small shared matched between my siblings, myself and descendants of the Sedgwicke family. Totally unexpected but there is a likely reason. The parents of Joanne and William were Richard Blake and Jone (Blake) Blake. The grandfather of Richard and great grandfather of Jone was Nicholas Blake married to Margaret (Blake) Blake. The close marriages resulted in a concentration of Blake DNA albeit a good distance back but allowed for these small matches to occur. The other item of interest is the effect that the software "Timber" mentioned earlier has on matches. Since I have a number of matches with known cousins who have also tested elsewhere or transferred their Ancestry results to another database I know that "Timber" can do a sizeable reduction in the size of the shared DNA. Hence a match of 12 centimorgans can come much closer to 20 centimorgans - my preferred minimum.

On to breakfast. Beautiful sunrise but we are promised another snowstorm.

Beautiful sunrise but cold again

Only minus 14 degrees celsius at 7:30 a.m. this morning and we are promised a snowfall later today. The laneway all melted out so ready for the next deluge. Cleaning all accomplished yesterday and will finish today with just the basement to do. 

Continuing to solidfy the first three generations of Pencombe at North Molton/South Molton. It would be fascinating to know the surname of John Pencombe's son John's wife. Her first name was likely Emma but all else is lost to time perhaps although  the Manor Books for South Molton might be helpful. Since he is shown with Goods at 10 on the 1524-7 Subsidy and his son Christopher (who is likely a young child) with Goods at 5 his marriage must have been to an heiress. Perhaps it is significant that John Pencombe at South Molton was taxed in South Molton borough and his son Christopher was taxed in South Molton Parish. South Molton is a beautiful town with its beautiful facade on the main streets dating back to the days of wool merchants. We visited it in 2008. 

A little searching on the Discovery Catalogue at the National Archives of the United Kingdom reveals an item of interest in 1363/64 for a John Pencombe. Too early to be the Pencombe with Lord de la Zouche at North Molton but interesting to see that the name John was used by this Hertfordshire family.  I do not see any mention of a John Pencombe of Hertfordshire being investigated at the relevant time period before 1489 when he likely arrived at North Molton. The Manor Books of Pembroke Hertfordshire might provide more information. There is mention of John Pencombe and Thomas Pencombe in some of the records held by the National Archives. 

I tend to think this is a young person who has come to North Molton with Lord de la Zouch, likely as a page. He was protected for his devotion to Lord de la Zouch and brought with de la Zouch when he finally was released from being attainted and restored to some of his lands in 1489. Guessing age around 15 would make him old enough to marry by 1500 and the four children would have been born over a period from 1500 to 1520 perhaps since we find Thomas, next to the youngest possibly as his sister Margret Pencombe married in 1539 (Philip Kingdon 15 Nov 1539 at North Molton) when she would have been in her early 20s or older. Earning wages and found beside John Pencombe at North Molton one might think Thomas is in his teens in 1524 as the records were used from this year being the best preserved of the original documents. Interesting really and I must get into those early Pencombe documents that I photographed at Kew in 2010 and 2013. They are in latin and slowly my ability to manage improves - very slowly but perhaps sufficient to help me as I work through the early generations of this family. Interesting how the name evolved from Pencombe to Pyncomb(e) to Pincomb(e) and in the West Devon area around Bideford and Barnstaple to Pinkham. 

The question does remain though was there a distinct family named Pinkham in 1500 as we do find an outlier of this family with the name Philip Pynkeham at Tawstocke on the 1544 Subsidy with a worth of 8. By 1581 this is an Edward Pencombe at Tawstocke with Goods worth 5 at Tawstocke. By 1641the Protestation Returns do not list anyone in Fremington with the Pencombe etc surname. Moving forward to 1733 and the Freeholders Book at Fremington there isn't anyone with the surname Pencombe etc listed. If for what ever reason this family lost their land they would not appear in these early records other than the BMBs  of the parish which I shall have a look at in the Fremington Hundred and mostly at Tawstocke. I am unable to place Philip into the early family at this point in time so in the fourth generation he remains an outlier. Richard Pencombe at Bideford is, I suspect, a descendant of the North Molton line but I am at this time unable to assuredly place him into the family structure. However, I continue to forge ahead. 

Having reached this point I shall work on the autosomal DNA matches at Ancestry which have proven to be rather interesting given that I (along with my siblings and cousin) appear to have matches with a number of individuals who trace back in their trees to a Richard Pinkham of Dover Neck, New Hampshire. 

On to breakfast and the cleaning.

And it rages on

The Bible Reading today brought me back once again in my mind to the illegal and deadly war that Russia has produced in Ukraine. In 2 Peter 1 it is authored likely by St Peter but with the aid of Silvanus:

" Do your best to improve your faith by adding goodness, understanding, self-control, patience, devotion to God, concern for others, and love. If you keep growing in this way, it will show that what you know about our Lord Jesus Christ has made your lives useful and meaningful. But if you don't grow, you are like someone who is nearsighted or blind, and you have forgotten that your past sins are forgiven. "

Russia has been a sinful nation; we overlooked their enforced occupation of Eastern Europe in 1945 because we had just fought a deadly war and we did not want to continue that; we, the so-called west, have more respect for the world and its peoples. The prayers and the hopes (and my child mind recalls the Berlin Airlift because my brothers were pretending to be airplanes flying into Berlin running around the living room (I was three years of age and it is one of my earliest memories likely because it was such a tense time in the world in 1948)) were that we could have peace and so we settled for what happened as the allies closed in on Berlin and ended the war in Europe. As the years passed we tried to get along with Russia and when the Soviet Union fell apart (because Russia invaded Afghanistan and became bankrupt from doing that) we simply stood by as the Iron Curtain, created by Russia as the overlord of the Soviet Union collapsed, and helped those countries that claimed their independence once again to become free and sovereign States as accepted by the United Nations. We all tried to get along with Russia; including Russia in trade agreements and companies tried to help Russia to make better use of their natural resources - it was Russians oligarchs who became rich on the backs of the hard working Russians; no gain for the Russian people. Then Russia threw all of that away and attacked Ukraine demanding that they become a vassal state of Russia for ridiculous reasons that make no sense when the history of the world is examined. Russians are the nazis, psychopathic nazis who have invaded a sovereign country and continue their murderous war against the children, women and men of Ukraine. Russia has created this war. We continue to help Ukraine because that is what we in the so-called West do; we help people to throw off a nazi, psychopathic leader and his enablers.

Glory to Ukraine. Death to the invading Russians. 

Continuing prayers for the peoples of Turkey and Syria as they deal with the earthquake's over 45,000 deaths and continuing to rise. People still being found alive under the rubble thank God. 

I continue working on my Pincombe-Pinkham Newsletter. I am happy with the first and second generation at North Molton but do have two outliers as timewise they are in that space of years when the Pincombe family was at North Molton (and South Molton) only  - namely   Philip Pynkeham on the 1544 Subsidy at Tawstocke and Richard Pencombe on the 1544 Subsidy at Bideford. They are at an age to be related to the third generation of Pencombe coming down from the Unknown Pencombe who arrived at North Molton with Lord de la Zouch according to the Visitation of Devon 1620. Lord de la Zouch being John LaZouche, 7th Baron Zouche, 8th Bar St Maur. The time period is the early part of the reign of Henry VII and a more exact date could be when the King removed the attainder and he was restored to some of his property in 1489. 

A George Pincombe is named as a grandson of William (East Buckland, Filleigh) and son of William (son of William and Emmott (Snow) Pincombe ( by the earlier researchers)). I did note surprisingly that there was a court case with a George and Dorothy Pincombe  - Litigation (1603-1625) - C 2/Jas1/P9/46 and the location for this particular case involved land in the parish of Dunster, Somerset. Since Pincombe is a fairly rare surname in Somerset in the 1600s that rather caught my eye.  George and his wife were buried at North Molton in 1610 the case with them involved would have carried on into their children's generation (Philip 1592, Emott 1594, William 1597, Johane 1599, Henrye 1602). There is a Henry Pincombe at South Molton on the Protestation Return in 1641 and a Philip Pincombe at Satterleigh. 

I do have the children of William and Emmotte (Snow) Pincombe as John, William, Symon, Richard, Thomas, Lewis, Peter, Johane and Katherin which does differ from the earlier Chart 1-2 (this from the Will of William Pincombe (PCC will probated 1602).  

The problem remains that William in his will of 1602 mentions his grandchildren but does not mention the two children of William his son (their baptisms are missing but they were baptized before 1602). I shall go back to the original once again and make sure I did not miss anything in my transcription. John the eldest (he married first so was making him the eldest) is mentioned with three children (William, John and Mary), Richard fourth son (and my ancestor) is mentioned with one son William. Although I have John as the eldest I do note that William is the first son mentioned in the will (he married four years after John). John is not mentioned until the end when William and John along with a neighbour Anthony Widlake are named as overseers and William's wife Emmott as executor. It has always been a confusion the Chart with the will. William could have already received his portion in terms of land. More research to really straighten out the said sons of William (George and William).

On to breakfast and the day. It was minus 16 degrees celsius so back to very cold winter once again.  

Came back and corrected the earlier paragraph about George Pincombe. Eyes getting tired I guess and it now reads as it should. The earlier researchers placed George as a grandson of William (East Buckland, Filleigh).