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. 

 

 

Minus 18 degrees celsius

 Another cold morning but also not unusual for this part of Canada this time of year. The second snow storm is finished and the cleanup and snow is mentioned for later this week. One should always be careful what you wish for but the snow load on the yard is now getting to be adequate to provide lots of moisture in the spring. 

Thankfully the Delta plane turn-over coming in from Minneapolis, MN at Pearson International Airport in Toronto had a 100% success rate in passenger and crew departing the aircraft (which was burning - one of the motors I think). Excellent work by the first responders in Toronto. I remember the last one in the early 2000s which was an Air France which slipped off the runway and over 300 people were saved with no loss of life. We will learn eventually as the plane is mostly still intact. All flights were diverted but a good distance away for sure with the closest diversion being Waterloo but most to Montreal or Ottawa so those people heading for Toronto had another big trip ahead of them to get home or where they were going. I actually have experienced flying in and out of Pearson on a very snowy day. Absolute clockwork on their part to keep the airport running smoothly. We are, in Canada, a snow covered country for a good period of the year. 

Cleaning all accomplished but no actual work done on my studies but maybe today. I had finished up the last blog with the Latin text of the will of Robert Blake (d 1521). I am going to check my transcription and convert the Latin text to English. I want to see if I had any errors in my transcription. I will do the same with the will of his son Richard who died in 1522. Richard had two brothers as well Thomas and Robert who lived into the 1540s and I have their wills as well. As far as I have been able to determine at this time Robert represents the patriarch of this Blake family (I do not know his parents) in the Andover area and his three sons all had sons and daughters which creates a number of Blake lines in this area. Were they the only Blake families in the Andover area? That appears to be true although the fraudulent works of Horatio Gates Somerby paints a different picture of this family and there are the two charts - Blake Pedigree Chart and the Blake Family chart both produced in England which have conflicting information. That is my goal partly in this month although it will be extended because I added in the Charts. The original goal was to look at the le Blak family of Rouen Normandy and see if I could prove that the Calne Blake family was descendant of this particular Norman family. 

Cleaning the basement has prime priority plus clearing away the snow I did not clear away yesterday on the porch and patio but the laneway is clear. So another busy day and hopefully it will warm up a little. My arthritis hates the winter. 

The first will in Andover area for a Blake is Robert Blake in 1522. I will continue to work on this both the latin and the transcription through the day but this is the large cleaning day so will be sporadic.

Recorded: 3 Jan 2014
Source: Hampshire Record Office, 1522B-04 

Testator: Robert Blake
Place: Enham, Hampshire, England
Type of Record: Will
Date of document: 16 Dec 1521

[Margin]: 1522B-04 

1    In die no[m]i[n]e Ame[n] xvj die dece[m]b[r]is An[n]o d[omi]ni M ccccc xxj Ego Robertij  Blayke co[m]pos me[n]t[i]s et sane memoyre

1. In the name of God, Ame[n], the 16th day of December 1521 I Robert Blayke, in sound mind and memory 
2    asti[pula]tus testame[n]tu[m] [i]n hunc modu[m] In primis do et lego a[n]i[m]am mea[m] deo p[at]ri o[mn]ipote[n]ti corpus qu[e] meu[m] sepeliendu[m] [i]n cimit[t]erio
 

2. have written my will in this way. First of all, I give and bequeath my soul to the almighty father God, my body to be buried in the cemetery

3    p[ar]ochialij eccl[es]i[a]e s[an]cti michaels de Enh[a]m It[e]m do et lego ad mat[ri]ce ecclesie xii d It[e]m do et lego ecclesie de enh[a]m
 

3.  of the parish Church of Saint Michael of Enham. Also I give and bequeath to the Mother Church 12 d. Also I give and bequeath to the Church of Enham

4    xl s et una[m] vaccam It[e]m do et lego ecclesis de andever xl oves vel p[or]cus eap quod et iij ls quas yearly kyne

4. xl s  and one cow. Also I give and bequeath to the Church of Andever xl sheep or pork ___ that and iij  which

5    habet i[n] custodia Item do et lego uxori mee x £ q[uod] joh[han]es howton debet It[e]m do et lego uxori mee x quarte
6    rodas frume[n]ti et xx ordeu[m] It[e]m do et lego tome filio meo cc omn[ia] It[e]m do et lego andre blayke una[m] tenem[entum]
7    gra[tia] victus It[e]m do et lego tome longe unu[s] diplade et una came[ra]cia It[e]m do et lego tome filio mee una bictel[  ] and una whipblade
8    cu[m] p[ar]ts et un[u]m par[ ] notay monay It[e]m do et lego thome filio una ara[bilis] terra que vocato bene semers
9    cu[m] ______ It[e]m do et lego Wyllimo gelzeyr una[m] toga[m] It[e]m do et lego rycardo goldyng alia[m] toga[m] It[e]m do et lego
10    Robarto tary una tunica[m] It[e]m do et lego unicum que suor[or] meor[um] videlicet viro[rum] ac mulier[is] una[m] ane[llus] It[e]m do et
11    lego tome filio meo duas diplades ab It[e]m do et lego robarto Galavay una[m] toga[m] It[e]m do et lego tome
12    filio meo duas diplades It[e]m do et lego Wyllmo blayke una[m] vacca[m] It[e]m do et lego tome filio meo duas pullos
13    et duo verv[ex] It[e]m wyllmo Fuynere debet m[eo] ppt viij modios frume[n]tie et quoliket modio[s] xvi s It[e]m Assigno
14    Tome filio meo una t[enement]a que vacat[o] Rawkynys It[e]m do et lego volo q[uod] una[m] p[re]sbite[r] celebr[at] et in ecclie par[is]h de Enh[a]m
15    p[ro] salute a[n]i[m]e meo et p[ro] ecclie _______ p[ro] spac[iu]m un[ius] anni It[e]m do et lego robarto blayke una[m] vacca[m] et residuum om[n]i[um] bonor[um]
16    meor[um] test[amentu]m mobilium q[uam] immobilium It[em] do et lego ricardo filio meo quo[s] ordino meos veros executores ut
17    ip[s]e disponat p[ro] salute a[n]i[m]e meo hiis testib[u]s d[omi]no johane battey thoma blayke robarto tary
18    et aliis
19    Also I reserve to my sonne Richarde my farme and my tenemente that I do dwelth nowe

Continued with Blake yesterday

 I did continue with Blake yesterday and did not hear back yet from the other repository where I requested a document but they are busy places. I find them to be most helpful. 

No new thoughts on Richard le Blak found at Wargrave other than he is simply not there in records that I have looked up at the Berkshire Archives. Possibly he was there just a short time fortunately when the Pipe Rolls were taken. Since Windsor is close to Wargrave it might explain that as a Norman coming to England might for reasons of placement gravitate to this area first. I suspect he arrived along the coast and then gradually moved inward trying to decide where to settle. Choosing Wiltshire is perhaps not a surprise although I think some of his family is found in Hampshire in the areas around Andover. I am still in the mode of proving that. Not sure if I will ever have more than family lore to go on but I think that the two charts that have been produced are very interesting. Obviously this was of interest in the latter part of the 1600s  although the family that contracted to have the Blake Pedigree Chart produced by the College of Arms no longer carried the Blake surname and had been gone from the Andover area for several generations. Thomas Blake (ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales), does not in his will mention any family in London and he lived at Finkley near Andover. It is my understanding that one considers first cousins to be close family but second cousin and beyond is not quite so close (that would appear to be the British way). The Blake Family Chart held by the Blake Museum in Bridgwater was, I think, created by Edward Blake of Crewkerne but I have no proof of that but certainly he was interested in linking the Somerset family to the Blake family at Calne and probably chanced upon the Blake Pedigree at the College of Arms and noted the lovely little circle which had a John Blake as the ancestor of Robert, Lord High Admiral during the Commonwealth Period. Again there are a few problems with that section of the Blake Pedigree. The Blake Family Chart is in general a genealogical chart of the Somerset Blake family with two inserts - one the line back to Calne and two the line from the Andover Blake family back to the Calne Blake family. Neither of which really has what I would call solid proof but records of family events like marriages, births, deaths were maintained very locally and thus more difficult to prove in that early time period. 

I also started to read the Pencombe book that I am writing and today will be a Pencombe day although I have a couple of projects for Blake that I will also continue through today and tomorrow. 

Lots of excitement here in Canada with the Liberal Party now replacing PM Justin Trudeau as the leader and there are seven so should be interesting and I was happy to see Jaime Battiste enter into the leadership race. He is First Nations and I am really happy to see so many First Nations coming forward to lead our country. They bring with them the thousands of years of history that belong to this area of North America called Canada or Turtle Island (it is growing on me). 

President Trump attended the Davos Economic Forum remotely and is still not happy with Canada. That is sad actually as I do believe we are the best friend of the United States of America (as well so many Canadians are related to Americans). Although I think the idea of the 13 provinces/territories becoming 13 new states is an interesting idea; it does appear to be less interesting to the Republican party in power at the moment (I do not believe the Democratic Party or the Independents have commented on the idea). It would certainly have a huge effect on their Congress bringing in 41 million people in thirteen states and all the resultant new senators and members of the house. Together though we will protect, maintain and defend this continent (and whomever forms the next government really does need to get their act together and supply the military appropriately, enrich the value of a term of service in the military and provide free education when they retire as they are often still quite young). I still think the idea of a closer economic union between Canada and the United States is an excellent idea put forward by Premier Doug Ford of Ontario (Ontario being my province) and I would humbly suggest that our federal policing forces become more merged so that it is easier to maintain this very very large continent north of Mexico. Then we would have only water borders and intake only at the airports or oceanports and all individuals wanting to come would have to be approved by both countries. I do like that idea personally and think there is a great opportunity to really, the two countries, be a major powerhouse of economic activity. We have an enormous amount of natural resources and we ship 75% of these natural resources to the United States of everything we send to them. It is the oil that causes us to have a deficit otherwise the deficit would be the other way around as we purchase enormous amounts of food, finished products from the United States or from American companies that operate in Canada. We did have a number of automobile manufacturers long ago bought up by American companies which is one of the many reasons that cars continue to be produced right here in Canada and we buy them in great numbers. But I am avoiding politics at the moment as it reduces my thinking time for the books and that is my first priority as I move towards 79.5 years of age. I like the name "Gulf of America" actually; it suits that body of water as the whole continent is composed of North, Central and South America surrounding it. A nice legacy item for President Trump for sure. 

Breakfast time, tea drank and yoga next.

Finally a working day

Yesterday saw the cleaning completed and visions of the work week ahead. Today continues to be Blake; I will get back to Pincombe but my mind is very much on this month of Blake looking at the le Blak family of Berkshire found on the Pipe Rolls in 1301. Are they whom I think they are? Not sure; I have a theory that this family gradually moved towards Calne. Why did they chose Calne one might ask?  By 1353 a Robert le Blake is at Quemerford with a land exchange between two individuals. Ref: 1720/148 (Discovery, Archives UK). 

Searching on Blake in The History of Parliament website (https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1386-1421/member/blake-john-i ) I found another interesting individual that I feel is helpful in this regard. John Blake of Winchester, Hampshire served in Parliament in 1388 and 1395. In the last couple of days I have mentioned the Blake family in this southern part of Hampshire. He was said to be a merchant in Winchester and later had a fulling mill at Priors Barton (part of modern day Winchester). There are a  number of wills for the Blake family in this area and I think they are a separate group that one can see in the Blake yDNA study but refrain from actually putting a name to that group for the moment. But they do not match the possible Blake line at Calne. To date, no one descendant of the Blake line at Calne (with a proven line) has tested in the study. But if I am correct that this is the le Blak family of Wargrave, Berkshire found on the Pipe Rolls in 1301 and Richard le Blak on this roll possibly the Richard le Blak of Rouen, Normandy who received a patent to set up a market in England in 1274. The same History of Parliament website also has a write up on John Blake II  representing Calne in 1415 (John Blake I, his father,  is mentioned d 1395 and John Blake I was from also Calne and said to be a lawyer representing Calne in 1381, 1384 and 1385). John Blake II inherited family property in 1412 at Blacklands.  This John does not appear on the Pedigree Charts for the Blake family and the History of Parliament website for Calne mentions that the John Blake II was the son of John Blake I and that likely Robert Blake was their kinsman. Looking at the list of Calne representatives on this page is this article referring to the Robert Blake who represented Calne in 1421; I suspect the answer is yes. The Blake Pedigree Charts do not list other than the eldest son it would appear. Since land passed father to eldest son; there were not enduring records from one generation to the next except locally. I did discuss this in my blog:

https://kippeeb.blogspot.com/2022/09/sorting-out-blake-records-at-calne.html

At the time of writing this article 28 Sep 2022 I did not come to any conclusion mostly because I think it comes down to place and ability to have been part of a family. Finding a Robert le Blake at Calne as early as 1334 though remains an interesting find and the reference 1720/120 on the Discovery (Archives UK) website and mentioned as item 16 in the above blog. 

Time for yoga and breakfast. I will return to this interesting discussion.  Looking again at the first image of the Blake Pedigree Chart created by the College of Arms in 1690 and the Blake Chart created in the mid 1800s:

The upper image is the original size but the lower image is cropped but both charts contain the similar time frame. The problem with the lower chart is the number of individuals between known material - there is not a sufficient time interval in the chart below between the top person in the chart Robert le Blake and the bottom person in the chart Robert Blake (married to Avis (Wallop) (Malewyn)). The top reference though to a Robert le Blake of Quemberford, Co. Silts named as juror in an Inq. Postmortem dated 22 Jan 1336 (found amongst deeds in the Hungerford Bar apparently) is interesting because it links Robert le Blake back to Hungerford which is very near the border with Berkshire. Was it that items of consequence were dealt with at Hungerford rather than Calne or Swinford for that matter? Or had he traveled back to Hungerford to deal with a family matter. Placing a Richard Blaque alias Blake as his son is very peculiar given that the earlier chart has Richard at the top. 

 

I did write a blog which looked at all of the Robert le Blake records that I located at the various repositories and created a life chart of records for this individual in as much as I was able:

https://kippeeb.blogspot.com/2024/03/looking-at-first-six-generations-of.html

This blog dated 14 Mar 2024.

The link between this Robert and the Malewayn/Malewyn family is very interesting especially given that a descendant of this Robert married Avis Wallop widow of John Malewyn. But definitely I did conclude that Richard as a son of this Robert le Blake was not really possible. So returning to the thought that Robert is the son of Richard (unknown to whom he is married) but again the three generations down to Robert Blake married to Avice (Wallop) Malewyn is simply too short a time period even for very young marriages. 

 The link with a Grant to Joan widow of Robert Blake and John her son DD/WHb/2025 (South West Heritage Trust) I have related to this being the Robert Blake present at the Inq PM in Hungerford in 1336 as his then widow and a son John is even more interesting and is this John Blake I, member of parliament for Calne and the location of the grant in Echelhampton is very close to Calne. It is this collection of material on Robert le Blake/Robert Blake that gives me the thought that this line descends from Richard le Blak. Have I proven it? I have merely established a premise that is possible. More research into the records may well reveal whether this premise stands up to a further test of the records. 

Having said that I will continue through this month into next month to attempt to establish more proof for this premise. 

On to Latin and then back to this rather interesting acquisition of data.

I think I need to purchase DD/WHb/2025 from the South West Heritage Trust. The document 1720/120 is found on the UK Archives website and located at the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre but Robert le Blake is only a witness so will not learn a great deal from reading that document.  The document 1720/148 is very interesting and I will try to order a copy from the Swindon and Wiltshire Archive.

The Inquisition Postmortem at Hungerford might also be interesting but it does sound like it is a private collection. It simply gives more credence to the presence of Robert le Blake in Wiltshire quite early i.e. 1336. It generally takes a month or so for a document to come from the South West Heritage Trust although it is now a while since I ordered anything so can not be sure until I hear from them. In the meantime I need to review my chapter on the le Blak family and make some revisions. I actually do not want to go into much detail other than a possible line coming down from Richard le Blak with a rough time frame. When Robert Blake married to Avis (Wallop) Malewyn is reached then there are wills to help along the way. Plus some documentation from a very respected earlier scholar looking at the children of Robert and Avis Blake and their crests and subsequent lines. 

That will be tomorrow's work I think I may just take a peak at the Pencombe book thus far written. 

Mid-afternoon already; the days pass quickly.