Continuing to look at Robert Blake

 A beautiful Sunday and Church in a bit. Keeping to myself pretty much these days although everyday I am in conversation with my daughters. That is being 80 I think. Life is busy for them but they take minutes out of their day to be with me which is very kind of them. I appreciate it very much. Yesterday I wondered if I was getting a cold (I haven't had one in probably ten years of more) but I am wondering if I am using too many of my lemon (sugar-free) candies. My mouth was dry with the appliance that the dentist recommended so did that to keep the moisture level up. But I no longer use the appliance (I think I may have stopped grinding my teeth perhaps) and possibly I no longer need the lemon candies to a large extent. We will see how that goes. 

Yesterday I spent time looking for the gedcom that I uploaded to World Connect. Indeed I did find it but I added the wills and items after uploading I think perhaps as they do not show up in the gedcom file. Too bad but it was a long time ago and I was still on that learning curve for sure. It also resulted in my looking at the work of another Blake researcher who had linked back to Jone Blake who left her will in 1527 and was the mother of Robert, Nicholas and Elizabeth. Her line was going back to Robert and I never really thought about it at all but now I want to clarify all of this material. Unfortunately Charlou Dolan passed away in 2024 which I have only just realized. I am not the most frequent correspondent for sure but I do know she was somewhat suspicious of some of the connections and had done all that she was going to do a number of years ago as she moved to a different family. I do have all of her work and it is excellent. Nicholas was named in the will of Robert but not as a brother; he was a witness. However, Nicholas left his will in 1547 so thinking he was the brother of Nicholas sounds reasonable but at the time I was still a newbie when we were corresponding and I did not really think about Robert being anyone else at that time or even right up until yesterday. But is he the son of Robert Blake; that is really the question I think at this time. When I bought all of these wills from the Hampshire Record Office they had been probated in Winchester Diocese and were perhaps not available for purchase from afar (I purchased them around 2012 to 2014 I think). I could check that actually as I tend to keep receipts and things. The children mentioned by Robert who left his will in 1542 are named as such by Charlou. But these children are older than one would expect compared to the children of Nicholas although I need to really make some tables of all this information.

Nicholas, in his will, refers to the individuals who appear in the Berkshire Blake wills but this Robert does not in his will. I do have this theory about the Blake family in Berkshire being descendant of the le Blak family of Rouen, Normandy and eventually ending up in Calne as the founder Blake family there. Given their status I suspect that they were descendant of the Rouen family which had come to England in 1274 to setup a market. That one finds the le Blak family at Wargrave near Windsor is so very interesting and that they gradually moved to Calne fascinating actually (just  need to prove it beyond a doubt). Socially speaking the Blake family at Calne were at the "top of the ladder" so to speak in the 1300s and they continue at that social level through several centuries at least until the disagreement between the Blake family of Calne (refusing to accept a knighthood from King Charles I in the 1630s (need to check that date)) and they were basically chased off from the Calne area it appears for their refusal. Their manor house was demolished. 

But I digress. It does make sense that they are all related in this time period as there are not a lot of records for the Blake family in the Andover area this early (i.e. early 1500s) and the frequency of particular forenames does tend to give one the impression that this is one family. Looking at the Calendar of Patent Rolls for Blake between 1323 and 1452:

1323	Faxfleet	le	Blak	Simon	Hampshire		Edward II
1343	Westminster		Blake	Robert	Hampshire		Edward III
1352	Westminster	la	Blake	Alice	Hampshire		Edward III
1352	Westminster	le	Blake	Walter	Hampshire		Edward III
1352	Westminster	le	Blake	Henry	Hampshire		Edward III
1389	Clarendon Manor		Blake	John	Hampshire		Richard II
1389	Clarendon Manor		Blake	John	Hampshire		Richard II
1392	Windsor		Blake	Thomas	Hampshire		Richard II
1394	Westminster		Blake	John	Hampshire		Richard II
1402	Westminster		Blake	Andrew	Hampshire		Henry IV
1405	Westminster		Blake	John	Hampshire		Henry IV
1421	Westminster		Blake	John	Hampshire		Henry V
1452	Westminster		Blake	George	Hampshire			Henry VI

 The entries are rather interesting although do not in this list give the location in Hampshire but the presence of the le Blak in Hampshire most intriguing and the forenames of the family members also interesting. There are really not very many items in this list. As an aside the Le Blak family at Wargrave appears to move towards Hungerford and then Calne through the 1300s after they received the right to set up a market in England in 1274 (they were from Rouen, Normandy as mentioned). Robert, John, Thomas are all names seen in this Blake family at Andover. Alice la Blake is likely the daughter of Richard Le Blak (or a descendant) who applied for the license to set up a market. Alice la Blake is mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of 1301 at Wargrave. My thought is that she married into the family at Andover that then took on her surname as they did not have one which was pretty typical of the times in England at the end of the 1200s and into the 1300s. The advantages to  having a marriage between a Briton and a Norman are large for sure in that time frame. 

So more thinking and considering the work of Charlou as I know she did a great deal of research but she did not have all the original wills for this family at Andover as I received only points from these documents from her. I do believe this is all the same Blake family (the la Blake family would be associated by marriage rather than being related) but will continue considering how to fit them together. Richard Blake does identify one of his sons as Robert and another son appears to be Nichi on the will which I interpreted as Nicholas (a daughter is mentioned but not names (she was Elizabeth)). I will continue looking at the wills to ensure that I have gleaned everything from them that is helpful. 

Robert (he appears to spell his name as Blayke but I do not think he wrote the will himself as the writing in English at the bottom is not quite the same but I am not an expert for sure). Robert is the father of Richard who left his will in 1521 and he did name Thomas and Richard as his sons so it does make sense that Robert is the son of Richard since Richard mentions his eldest son Robert. But the ages of the children seem to be not quite as expected so need to review that. Nicholas' sons William and Edmund appear to be younger than the children of Robert although William did leave his will in 1582 (35 years after his father passed). I guess I am a knitpicker but perhaps we all benefit in the long run from the knitpicking!

Washing clothes now and then breakfast and Church. Somewhere in between I will do the Solitaire puzzles of the day. God is in the Heavens watching and waiting for us to do the right thing to have that uplifted plain of peace where all can live in happiness. 

 

 

Quit Claim of Johanna la Blake - 25 March 1291/2

This is a copy of a document that was mentioned to me by Barrie Blake and I lately found it on the website of Conway's of Ireland under the notes for this website. Robert Le Blake is said to be the bailiff to the Bishop of Wells. This document is said to be written after 1272. The location Oakley and Ramsdell is in the County of Hampshire, England. Ramsdell being a small village near Basingstoke (seven miles distant). The document is written before 7 July 1307 because Edward I died at that time and he was the son of Henry III. As you will see further down this is not actually a will for Johanna la Blake but rather a Quit Claim. The original document does  not list any other members of her family than her deceased husband unfortunately.

http://www.fritziinc.com/tree/pafn1833.htm

WILL OF JOHANNA LA BLAKE after 1272

Johnanna La Blake (wife of Robert Le Blake)

After 1272
To all the faithful, etc., I Johanna La Blake, send greeting in the Lord. Know that I have remitted and altogether quit claim for self and heirs to Brother William,  Prior of Swithun’s and the Convent, all my right and claim, present or possible, to all lands and holdings formerly belonging to Robert Le Blake, my late husband in Oakley and Ramsdell. Moreover, neither I nor my heirs nor anyone in our house shall set up or assert any right to or claim over the holdings aforesaid. And for this remission and quit-claim the Prior and Convent have given me eighteen marks of silver down.

In witness whereof, etc.
Witnesses, etc.

Given at Winchester of a Monday, being Annunciation Day, in the year of the reign of King Edward, son of Henry.

Looking at the National Archives website there are a couple of interesting items that mention the Blake family namely an Inquisition and return dated 1286 C241/6/36 which mentions Stephen le Blake and this written at Winchester to the Sheriff of Hants. A similar document also in 1286 C 241/7/288 mentions Stephen le Blake. I am unable to find this particular document (quitclaim) for Johanna la Blake in the National Archives website.

At the Hampshire Record Office in Winchester there is an item 44M69/C67 which mentions as a witness John le Blake dated 17 Oct 1331 and there is a second one dated 31 Dec 1360.Still no record of the quitclaim for Johanna la Blake.

I then discovered searching on line another item (freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/.../pages 54_74.doc) which discusses a deed in the Cathedral Archives (Winchester) (II, p. 26, No. 27) by which Johanna la Blake, in the reign of Edward I, quit claims to the Prior and Convent for eighteen marks of silver all the rights over lands and holdings in Oakley and Ramsdell Parishes which had belonged to her late husband and the deed is dated Monday, March 25th, 1291/2. The quoted text follows:

"Universis Christi fidelibus praesens scriptum visuris vel
audituris Johanna la Blake salutem in Domino. Noveritis me remisisse et omnino quietum clamasse pro me et haeredibus meis imperpetuum Fratri  Willelmo Priori S. Swithuni Wyntoniae et ejusdem loci Conventui totum jus et clamium meum quod habui vel aliquo modo habere potui in omnibus terris et tenementis quae fuerunt Roberti le Blake quondam [fratris?] mei [in] Est Acley et Rammesdelle. Item, quod nec ego nec haeredes mei seu aliquis nomine nostro aliquid juris vel clarnii in praedictis tenementis exigere vel vendicare [poterimus] in futurum. Et pro hac remissione et quieta clamantia dederunt mihi praedicti Prior et Conventus octodecirn marcas argenti pro manibus.  In cujus rei testimonium praesenti scripto sigillum meum apposui [it is unfortunately lost].   Iliis testibus, Dominis Symone de Wintonia, Willelmo de ….. setis, militibus ; Johanne de Nutleygh, Alano de Suttone, Ricardo de Mertone (?) Nicholao de …., et Johanne Randolf, Johanne de Herrior (Heriard?) Willelmo ….. et multis aliis. Datum Wintoniae die Lunae in festo Annunciationis Dominicae anno regni Regis Edwardi filii regis H[enrici] …..

TRANSLATION,

To all the faithful, etc., I Johanna la Blake, send greeting in the Lord.  Know that I have remitted and altogether quit-claimed for self and heirs for ever to Brother William, Prior of St. Swithun's and the Convent, all  my right  and  claim, present or possible, to all lands and holdings formerly belonging to Robert le Blake, late my husband, in Oakley and Ramsdell. Moreover, neither I nor my heirs, nor anyone in our house shall set up or assert any right to or claim over the holdings aforesaid. And for this remission and quit-claim the Prior and Convent have given me eighteen marks of silver down.   In witness whereof, etc.  Witnesses, etc.  Given at Winchester of a Monday, being Annunciation Day, in the year of the reign of King Edward son of Henry.

It is mentioned on the first website (Conway's of Ireland) that Robert le Blake was bailiff of the bishop of Wells and I did find mention of this in British History online:

http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=67369&strquery=Blak%27

Grant by Alexander Hose to St. Andrew and the dean and chapter of Wells, for his soul and his ancestors', of the tenement late of Henry Tracy in Wells in the street towards the Torr in almoin, with warranty. Witnesses: Peter prior of the hospital of Wells, Robert Blak' bailiff of the bishop of Wells, Richard Norr', Richard Brun, William Brun, William Mercer, John Machun.
R.I. f. 103d

There isn't a date attached to this particular comment but the preceding entry and the following entry are April 1257 and August 1258. As always my question is who is this Robert Blak'? Being a bailiff to the Bishop of Wells which is located in Somerset is he somehow related to the Blake family that is descendant there?  Is Johanna la Blake the wife of this same Robert Blak' who hold lands in Oakley and Ramsdell which is near Basingstoke. Is it perhaps correct to attach this Robert le Blake (husband of Johanna Blake) to the Robert Blak' who is bailiff to the bishop of Wells? The time period is long between 1257  and 1291 when the quit claim was written (34 years). I am somewhat dubious of the claim that the Robert le Blake married to Johanna la Blake is the bailiff to the bishop of Wells in 1257/58. As one could see by the Calendar of Patent Rolls there are many many Blake families in England although this early period does not have many entries. The Richard le Blak who was a merchant from Rouen in 1272 is obviously a different person which is in itself helpful to establish that there are these different individuals with the surname Blake/Blak/le Blake/le Blak.

Another interesting item which appeared in my search comes from the Register of Bishop William Ginsborough 1303 to 1307 and it was edited for the Worcestershire Historical Society by J.W. Willis Bund and printed for the Worcestershire Historical Society by James Parker and Co., Oxford, 1907.

http://www.melocki.org.uk/registers/1303_Ginsborough.html


Under 1305 there is an item: Letters dimissory for Robert le Blake, clerk, to any bishop of the province of Canterbury, for all minor orders. Bredon, 14 Kal. Jan., same year.

Under 1306 this item: Institution of Robert le Blake, acolyte, to the church of Kydermynstre, vacant by resignation of John de Ulbeton, last rector [1], on the presentation of the prior, brothers and sisters of Mayden Bradeleye, in the diocese of Salisbury; letters to the official of the archdeacon of Worcester. Bredon, 2 Id. Feb., same year.

[1] Giff. Reg., W.H.S., p. 128, ante, p. 80

Under 1306 another item: Commission to master Robert le Blake, rector of the Church of Kyderminstre, to hear a matrimonial cause between Isabel Pagge and John Pagge of Brimesgrave. Bredon, 1 Kal. Maii, same year.

As I see my task over the next ten years that I would like to devote to the Blake one name study, this collection of information will bring together the "proven" pieces of Blake history and perhaps give a more rounded picture of the Blake family in the time period prior to 1500.