Blake Family of South Carolina and the 1800 US Census

Having learned about the various Blake lines in North and South Carolina on the 1790 census, I will concentrate on South Carolina for the 1800 census in this post but will also look at the North Carolina Blake family as they appear to be descendant of the Somerset Blake family as well. I would like to look at them in separate posts and will follow the South Carolina Blake family through to 1940 on the census before returning to the North Carolina Blake family.

By 1800, individuals who did not support the resolutions by the Continental Congress and the subsequent American Revolution had been penalized for their non-support. However, not everyone left the United States; some paid the necessary fines and continued to live on their lands at somewhat diminished status following the signing of the peace treaty in 1783. In particular, anyone who did not take up arms against the fledgling republic was permitted to return. The children were permitted to return to their parent's properties as well.

In the US Census of 1800 for South Carolina there are 13 entries. We know that William Blake (the heir at law of Joseph Blake) died in 1803 and he had been living at St Bartholomew, Charleston. There is a William Blake there. Also at St Bartholomew is Daniel his son. Joseph is missing and indeed he is living in England with his family (5 sons and 2 daughters). William's line reads 4 males under 10, 3 males 16 - 25, 4 males 26 - 44, 1 male over 45; 3 females under 10, 4 females 16 - 25, 1 female 26 - 44, 1 female over 45. At this point in time I have no idea on who all of these people are other than William and his wife Ann (Izard) who would be over 45. Their daughter Anne is perhaps with them and she would be under 25 likely. Would it be possible that Joseph is there with his family which would account for another male 31 years of age and his wife possibly a similar age. At the most they would have 3 sons under 10 and perhaps daughters under 10 (2 at the most). Looking at the line for Daniel Blake also at St Bartholomew and there is one male under 10, 1 male 16 - 25, 2 males, 2 males 26 - 44, 1 female under 10, 1 female 26 - 44 and 1 female over 45. Daniel married 1 Jan 1800 and doesn't have any children on this census; only his wife. Perhaps there are relatives living with this family; this will be a slow process to discover any information on the individuals at their home.

On the 1790, we also had Edward Blake at St Andrew and St Phillips and St Michaels in Charleston but he is known to have died in 1795. On the 1800 census we have John Blake at St Andrews, Charleston and Edward Blake is said to have a son John. Edward was originally from Massachusetts so will investigate this family later. There are two other John Blake entries at Charleston.

There is a John Blake at St James Santee as there was on the 1790 census and I believe that this is a descendant of Humphrey Blake of Overstowey. In his line there is one male under 10, 1 male over 45, 3 females 11 to 16, 1 female 26 to 44. At the last census there were seven females. I need to investigate and a search on line led me to a webpage "The Blake Family in the Southern US" :  http://www.oocities.org/heartland/shores/9446/ (this is an archived site and I shall capture it since the owners have not moved it as far as I can tell). Unfortunately, quite a bit of the site has been lost but the parts that are usable tend to follow female lines. Since I am doing a one name study I only carry one generation of a female line (including my own!).

Now that I am into  looking at the 1800 census I realize that this is a formidable task just looking at the one state of South Carolina. I shall have to investigate other sites that have examined particular lines of these families. My intent is to try to build a site that examines the early history of the Blake family in each area and then hopefully people descended from these lines will test their yDNA to let us have a complete picture of the Blake family. We do know that the surname Blake ended up being used in different areas dating back before 1300 AD by unrelated people.

Before continuing with the census I want to look at the timeline for the quoted chart from the Blake Museum at Bridgewater (http://xaa.tripod.com/blakeeng.html):

1336  Robert E. Blake of Quemberford, Wilts. a juror in an 

      Inq. 22 Jan 1336
  son
1303 (Regnal year 31 Ed I from the Pedigree Chart of the Blake 

      family of Wiltshire showing Richard donated land to 

      the Knights Templar in Essex) Richard Blaque, alias 

      Blake of Wilts. m. Anne, daughter of William Cole
  son 
???? Henry Blake m. Elizabeth, daughter and co-heir of 

      Edward Dorrant
  son and heir
???? William Blake m. Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Power
  son and heir
???? Henry Blake m. Margaret, daughter and co-heir of 

     William Bellett
  son and heir
died before 1474  Robert Blake of Quemberford, Calne, 

                  Wilts, m. Avice, widow of Roger,
                  son and heir of Jno. Malwyn, of Urchfont, 

                  Co. Wilts.  Avice d. 29 Oct 13 Edw IV.
  son 
Robert Blake, of Calne, Co. Wilts, heir of bro. John 
  son
died 1558  John Blaque bur. Overstowey, 18 Aug 1558
  son
died 1588 Humphrey Blake of Overstowey, Som. 

          bur. 28 Dec 1588, m. Anne
  son
died 1576  John Blake of Plainsfield, b. 1521, 

           bur. 10 Dec 1576 m. Joan
d 1592  Robert Blake, merchant of Bridgwater, Mayor of 

        Bridgwater 1574, d. Oct   1592, m. Margaret, 

        daughter of Wm. Symonds of Taunton
    

Four generations between 1336 when it is claimed that a Robert E Blake of Quemberford is a juror in an inquisition and the death of Avice Wallop (widow of Robert Blake) in1474 yields a time period of 138 years. I am now in my 60s and my great great great grandfather died in 1840 yielding a time difference of 171 years so that it is conceivable that all of these events occurred in the given time period. Richard is at the top of the Blake Pedigree Chart at the Swindon and Wiltshire Record Office (I have a copy) but who is Robert E Blake? Is he the Robert de Blakeland referred to in the books published by Blake descendants of the Blakes of Boston where Robert de Blakeland is said to be paying a subsidy in 1286 in the same area of Quemberford Wiltshire? Hopefully I will be able to purchase the pedigree chart from the Blake Museum in Bridgewater.

Blake Newsletter - Volume 1 Issue 2

Blake Newsletter

Table of Contents

1. yDNA Blake Study Group at FT DNA

2. Blake family of South Carolina

3. Request for papers

yDNA Blake Study Group at FT DNA is the largest of the Blake DNA groups and can be found here:

http://www.familytreedna.com/public/blake/default.aspx?section=yresults

Thanks to Barrie Blake, the results have been separated into their likely related haplogroups. The Norfolk Blake family descendant of Peter  Blake and Elizabeth Spelman has been clearly identified as R1a1a.  This family can be traced back to a Thomas Blake bc 1382 and dc 1439 at Swaffham Market, Swaffham, Norfolk, England. This family continued at Swaffham Market until Peter Blake and his wife Elizabeth (parents of Peter Blake married to Elizabeth Spelman) moved to Wimbotsham, Norfolk, England by 1470 as Peter was born at Wimbotsham. The purchase of Tonwells Manor in 1466 (there are several records held at the National Archives (Kew) in England which refer to John Skott of London, gentleman, delivering to John Fyncham, Henry Spelman and others two messuages with buildings in Wymbotesham ....including an indented charter, grant charter, letter of attorney and deed of quit claim) appears to have been completed by the Spelman family. Was this some sort of marriage settlement? Reading these particular documents may assist with understanding why Peter moved from Swaffham to Wimbotsham by 1470. They include: Hare 4630 214x4 5 Feb 1465/66, Hare 4631 214x4 5 Feb 1465/66, Hare 4632 214x4 5 Feb 1465/66 and Hare 4633 214x4 1 Jul 1468. For those unused to the Regnal Year the reference to 5 Ed IV refers to the 5th year of the reign of Edward IV which was 1465 (Edward IV became king on the death of his father 30 Dec 1460 although not crowned until 4 Mar 1461 but the regnal date begins with the ascension day). More information on the yDNA studies in future newsletters.

Blake family of South Carolina, that is descendant of Joseph Blake, Governor of South Carolina, can trace their line back to England with a definitive paper trail. Testing a member of this family with a paper trail back to Joseph would be a wonderful addition to the Blake yDNA study. It would provide both the haplogroup of this Blake family line and assist with determining the family line of Humphrey Blake the known progenitor of this line who was buried 28 Dec 1558 at Overstowey, Somerset, England and left his will naming his sons - John the elder, Robert, Thomas and John the younger.  Humphrey's son Robert married Margaret Symonds and their youngest son Humphrey married to Sarah Williams were the parents of Robert Blake, Lord High Admiral during the Commonwealth and Benjamin the father of Joseph Blake, Governor of South Carolina. Eight children of Robert Blake and Margaret Symonds lived to adulthood. I will add more details on this family in Somerset to a future newsletter. Robert was the eldest in the family. In my blog, "English Research from Canada" (http://kippeeb.blogspot.ca/2012/03/humphrey-blakes-american-descendants.html ) published 30 Mar 2012, I discuss Humphrey Blake's American descendants and will continue with this topic moving on to the census of 1800 having discussed the census of 1790 on 30 Mar 2012.

Request for papers and if any member of the Blake family wishes to submit material for publication please address it to kippeeb@rogers.com.

Elizabeth Kipp (née Blake), BA, PLCGS

Blake one-name study (http://www.one-name.org/profiles/blake.html)

Humphrey Blake's American descendants

Yesterday I input all of the information that I gleaned from the South Carolina Genealogical Newsletter on the descendants of Humphrey Blake which included both the American and British descendants. It is fascinating that in general members of this family were born in England with one or more sons coming to the United States in their adulthood (some marrying in England and some in the United States) and then returning to England when their children were born. This tendency to return lessened by the mid 1800s with the Blake males who chose to live in America remaining here and marrying in the United States and their children being born in the United States.

I decided to look at the American census starting with the 1790s and working my way up to the 1930 (and soon 1940) to capture data on the Blake family of South Carolina. In general I am spending quite a bit of my research time on my Blake one name study; I will also work on my Pincombe one name study but I am at the point in that study where my yDNA project really needs to take off and I haven't been successful in recruiting people to test in that study. I hope to improve that with a newsletter.

This newsletter on the Blake family due 1 April 2012 (Issue 2) will mostly be on the Blake family of South Carolina. I would like to attract a descendant of this family to the yDNA study for the Blake family. Having a known descendant of any line of a family is extremely important in a yDNA study and even more so for a family that is as widespread as the Blake family. Once a member of the Somerset Blake family tests then we can look at the results and compare with the other known results and eventually we might be able to determine the Wiltshire Blake family found at Calne in the 1200s.

I shall write my blog over the day today as I check on the US census results beginning with 1790. Quickly I can see by the number of Blake families on the 1790 census that the article only centered on the eldest son/inheritor of the father's estates in England and America that returned to England. I shall now attempt to place these families. Since we are going back to a singleton son born in 1700 Joseph and Joseph and his wife Sarah Lindrey it is noted that this couple had three sons - Daniel with no issue, Robert who died as an infant and William who became Joseph's heir at law as the only son with surviving sons. William married Anne Izard and I am becoming quite fascinated with the Izard family as it might appear that this is a cousin (perhaps 2nd or 3rd) marriage. This couple had two sons Joseph and Daniel who themselves had a total of seven sons although not all of them survived infancy and several of them did not marry. But it might appear that these two sons were the progenitors of the Blake family in South Carolina with Joseph being born in 1769 and Daniel in 1775. The first thought is can I find them on the 1790 census or will I find their father William who died in 1803. Indeed I do find a William at St Bartholomes, Charleston, South Carolina. The article would appear to verify this is the William Blake who was elected to the Commons for St Bartholomews. He is by far the wealthiest Blake on the census roll for South and North Carolina. The question then comes to mind who are the rest of the Blake members on the census? First I will see if some of these entries are duplicated if that is possible to conclude that as there are 37 entries in total. If you read the label on the census it states for the Parish of St Andrews in Charleston: Schedule of the whole number of persons in the parish of St Andrew. Comparing Edward Blake of St Phillips and St Michaels in Charleston and Edwd Blake of St Andrew also in Charleston - the first entry shows 2  free white males over 16 and 3 white females and the second shows only 1 male over 16. A couple of questions come to mind - who is Edward Blake? is he counted twice in this census (and perhaps more than twice) because he owns properties in different parishes?

Wikipedia does answer that query in that the law required a visitation of every household. Now a days we would only count ourselves as being in one household even if we owned several and in looking at the 1790 census only the head of the household counted himself/herself at more than one residence. This does cut down on the 37 entries which also include the estate of several Blake members where a Blake is living near to or next to the estate. But I haven't answered the question of who is Edward Blake? How does he fit into the South Carolina Blake family? He isn't enormously wealthy like William but does hold substantial property. However, he can be eliminated as a direct line descendant of William Blake of South Carolina.

Looking next at the Blake family in Fairfield, South Carolina and includes Archelaus, Archibald, Fanny, and John. Again a check online reveals a marriage between William Blake and Phanuel "Fanny" Hornsby circa 1773. William Blake died 22 Jan 1781 and this information from the Hornsby/Stroud Family Bible at Winthrop University (Dacus Library, Rock Hill, York Co., South Carolina) according to the author: http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/m/c/l/Rex-Mclaurin/GENE1-0004.html . The children of William and Fanny were Thomas Early Blake and John William Blake. The two older children died in Missouri and Alabama respectively with no known death place for the youngest John. This accounts for Fanny who would have been a widow in 1790 (William died in 1781) and is listed with two sons under 16 (Thomas Early was born in 1776 and John William was born in 1781) and two females (herself and her daughter born in 1775). The necessity is to find the parents of William Blake who was born circa 1740 according to the researcher. On the basis of this information he can now be eliminated as a possible descendant of the South Carolina Blake family. Another researcher (http://www.fritziinc.com/tree/pafg533.htm#12717) has the father of Dr. John William Blake who married Leah Phamuel Ann Hornsby as Thomas Blake of Isle of Wight, Virginia. This family lived initially in Virginia and later in  or near Wake North Carolina. Possibly this author has an error in the date of birth for one of John William Blake's brothers James who was born in Wake and appears on the census in 1790 at Wake. Thomas Blake has parents William Blake and Mary Sessoms and they were married circa 1700 according to the author. William being also born in Isle of Wight, Virginia and his parents are listed as Thomas Blake and Alice Champion with Thomas being born in Isle of Wight, Virginia. Thomas' parents were listed as William Blake and Hannah Tolman with no location given. The father of this William is listed as Robert who was born in England in 1607 and died in 1657. He is said to be a brother of Humphrey Blake and a son of Humphrey Blake of Over Stowey Somerset. This will need to be investigated to determine the line that has a Robert and Humphrey son of Humphrey Blake and Elizabeth Durant. Further back this Humphrey is said to be a son of Humphrey Blake and Agnes James. This Humphrey then the son of John Blake (the elder) who married Johan (said by this author to be Rawson) and from there back to Humphrey Blake and the erroneous information of Somersby on this Blake family. I do not have any descendants of the Humphrey Blake and Agnes James line. John Blake the elder left his will

1577

Will of JOHN BLAKE the Elder of Over Stowey:

To be buried in the chancel of Overstowey.

Twelve pence to the St. Andrew, church of Wells.

Ten shillings to the poor of Over Stowey.

Ten shillings to the poor of Nether Stowey.

Ten shillings to the poor of Spaxton.

To eldest son Humphrey Blake all tenements in Plainsfield which are in the tenure and occupation of Otywell Artur. Also my land in the parish of Aisholt in the tenure of Humphrey Luker. Also all the premises in free Socage of the manor of Estgrenwiche.

To son William Blake all my land in the parish of Bishops Lydeard in Bishops Wood and Bishops Downe. Also one tenement in Plainsfield in the tenure and occupation of Robert Jenkins and all my land in Padnoller in the parish of Spaxton in the tenure and occupation of John Burnell.

To son Richard Blake all my land in Wurstin in the parish of Burnham  late in the tenure and occupation Nicolas Sheperd and now in the tenure of one Smithes and of the widow Everett‘s children.

To Johan my wife and son Richard all my interest in the Rectorie or personage of Over Stowey.

To son Humphrey, four oxen, home furnishings and six silver spoons.

To daughter Alice Richards, ten shillings.

To daughter Ann Saunders, ten shillings.

To Isabel Selleck, ten shillings and ten shillings to her son.

To all my godchildren, twelve pence.

Residue to wife Johan.

Executors: Wife Johan and sons William and Richard.

Overseers: Mr. Thomas Mallett, Esq. Robert Blake and Robert Selleck.

Witnesses: Samuel Mercer, Robert Blockinge, Ottywell Artur, Richard Blake, Robert Black, Thomas Blake, Humphrey Blake, William Blake and Richard Blacke.

(Eldest child of Humphrey Blake of Over Stowey.)

source and original not seen by me:  http://www.portbury-hundred.co.uk/wills.htm

I will attempt to discover evidence of the children of Humphrey Blake and Agnes James. This family is not as wealthy as the other Blake lines in South Carolina and they appear to live eventually in North Carolina before moving further west. The other brothers of John William Blake married to Fanny Hornsby were John Blake, Etheldred Blake, Samuel Blake, Benjamin Blake and Thomas Blake. All of these brothers would be old enough to have married and had sons by the 1790 census who may or may not appear on the census. I find a Thomas Blake at Montgomery North Carolina with Randle Blake just two lines above and a John Blake at Stokes, New Hanover and Rowan, North Carolina. A Dempsey Blake appears on the same page at Wake as James Blake. They both have young families (boys are all under 16). A later find is this website: http://xaa.tripod.com/blake1.html which debunks the notion that the Thomas Blake at Isle of Wight Virginia was related to the Somerset Blake family. This author does not attempt to take the family further back from Thomas simply stating that Thomas was born about 1640 and that was determined by his will of 30 Jan 1707 (OS) a copy of which can be located apparently as it was proved 20 Dec 1709 Isle of Wight Co., Virginia (Will Book 2, page 501).Hence these Blake entries from the 1790 census will go under other.

At St James Santee in Charleston we have side by side John Blake, the estate of Richard Blake Senior and the estate of Richard Blake Junior. John appears to have all daughters and living at the estate of Richard Blake senior is a female head and at the estate of Richard Blake junior a lone male over 16. The Parish Registers for St James Santee show a Richard Blake, Planter buried 3 May 1783 at the age of 79. Also in the South Carolina Gazette Mr. John Blake of St James Santee married Miss Polly Jeanerette in 1784 (http://rainydayresearch.com/indices/sc_wg/sc_wg1784.html). Also from the St James Santee Parish Register the burial of Richard Blake, junior Planter 20 Feb 1774 but no age given. His likely father died at 79 in 1783 putting his birth at 1694. His son could have been born by 1730 or earlier putting his age over 40 at his burial. The wife of Richard Blake senior was buried 2 Jun 1772 (Anne). There are a number of Richard Blakes in the Humphrey Blake line but they have not been traced down thus far. Definitely I would put this family line into the likely descendants of Humphrey Blake at Overstowey.

There are two John Blakes at St Phillips and St Michaels in Charleston; one has a second male over 16 and the other has seven females besides himself. In general the direct line from William/Joseph Blake voted against involvement in the revolutionary movement but this John Blake and an Edward Blake also at St Philip and St Michael, Charleston voted yes. Earlier Edward was shown to be a descendant of the Massachusetts or New Hampshire Blake family. It is possible that one of these Johns is related to this same line. No idea on the second John Blake with a second male over 16. The John with seven females is definitely the one referred to as ratifying the revolutionary movement as he was somewhat wealthy with the other being less so. The website (http://rainydayresearch.com/indices/sc_wg/sc_wg1784.html) includes tax information for this Blake family.

A Mrs. Blake at St George, Charleston is also wealthy but does not need to be placed unless I can find the name of her husband. Originally part of St Andrews Parish and Edward Blake lived at St Andrews as well as St Phillips and St Michaels. Is she perhaps related to Edward Blake?

Census of 1790, South Carolina and North Carolina for the Blake family

Descendant of Benjamin Blake/Joseph Blake
William Blake      St Bartholomes, Charleston, South Carolina       

Descendant of Humphrey Blake at Overstowey
John Blake     St James Santee, Charleston, South Carolina

Mrs Blake     St Georges, Charleston, South Carolina       

Richd, Junr (Esta) Blake      St James Santee, Charleston, South Carolina       

Richd, Senr (Esta) Blake      St James Santee, Charleston, South Carolina       

Other
Edward Blake     St Andrews, and St Phillips and St Michaels, Charleston, South Carolina       

Archelaus Blake     Fairfield, South Carolina             

Archibald Blake     Fairfield, South Carolina             

James Blake     Wake, North Carolina

Dempsey Blake     Wake, North Carolina   

Fanny Blake     Fairfield, South Carolina              

John Blake     Fairfield, South Carolina       

John Blake     St Phillips and St Michaels, Charleston, South Carolina   
  
John Blake     St Phillips and St Michaels, Charleston, South Carolina       

Baker Blake      Bertie, North Carolina       

B Wiggins Blake     Bertie, North Carolina        

Elizabeth Blake     Hertford, North Carolina              

Elizabeth Blake     Carteret, North Carolina             

Henry Blake     New Hanover, North Carolina             

Isham Blake     Orange, North Carolina               

Jacob Blake      Stokes, North Carolina             

John Blake      Stokes, North Carolina             

John Blake     New Hanover, North Carolina             

John Blake     Rowan, North Carolina       

Joshua Blake     Duplin, North Carolina             

Randle Blake     Montgomery, North Carolina             

Thomas Blake     Montgomery, North Carolina        

Edward Blake      Johnston, North Carolina        

The remaining Blake members on the census are all in North Carolina. I will place them all in other for the moment. Are they perhaps descendant of Thomas Blake of Isle of Wight and the story continues on this interesting line. There is a descendant chart at the Blake Museum in Bridgewater and the tracing down shown on this chart is purported to be (http://xaa.tripod.com/blakeeng.html)

Robert E. Blake of Quemberford, Wilts. a juror in an Inq. 22 Jan 1336
  son
Richard Blaque, alias Blake of Wilts. m. Anne, daughter of William Cole
  son
Henry Blake m. Elizabeth, daughter and co-heir of Edward Dorrant
  son and heir
William Blake m. Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Power
  son and heir
Henry Blake m. Margaret, daughter and co-heir of William Bellett
  son and heir
Robert Blake of Quemberford, Calne, Wilts, m. Avice, widow of Roger,
     son and heir of Jno. Malwyn, of Urchfont, Co. Wilts.  Avice d. 29
     Oct 13 Edw IV.
  son
Robert Blake, of Calne, Co. Wilts, heir of bro. John
  son
John Blaque bur. Overstowey, 18 Aug 1558
  son
Humphrey Blake of Overstowey, Som. bur. 28 Dec 1588, m. Anne
  son
John Blake of Plainsfield, b. 1521, bur. 10 Dec 1576 m. Joan
     William Blake of Plainsfield, bur. 13 June 1642 m. Anne
          William Blake of Pitminster, bapt. 10 July 1594, d. bef. Jan
          1664 Dorchester, MA, m. Agnes Bond
Robert Blake, merchant of Bridgwater, Mayor of Bridgwater 1574, d. Oct
      1592, m. Margaret, daughter of Wm. Symonds of Taunton
     William Blake of Tuxwell b. 1561, d. after 1601
          William Blake, Capt/Commander of frigate Tresco, which was
          lost in 1651, off Jersey, Channel Is.
              Thomas Blake, on the frigate Centurion, 1656  [This
              Thomas disappeared from English records after this time.]
              [He is proposed as being the Thomas Blake of Isle of
              Wight Co., VA]
     Humphrey Blake of Bridgwater bapt. 26 May 1563, bur. 19 Nov 1625,
          m. Sarah, dau. of John Williams of Powlett, Som., 12 sons, 1
           dau.                     
          #1 Sir Robert Blake, Admiral, General of the Sea for
             Cromwell, M. P. for Bridgwater 1640, bapt. 27 Sep 1598,
             bur. 4 Aug 1657
          #11 Benjamin Blake of Bridgwater bapt. 7 Nov 1614 Joseph
             Blake of Plainsfield bapt. 26 Apr 1663, d. bef. 7 Oct
             1700, Gov. of South Carolina

This is an interesting chart as I had not seen the entry for Robert E Blake of Quemberford, Wiltshire as a juror in an inquisition 22 Jan 1336 prior to this. The chart at Swindon and Wiltshire Record Office begins with Richard Blake/Blaque marrying Anne daughter of William Cole and this chart lists Richard as the son of Robert E Blake. This chart indicates that Robert Blake (son of Robert Blake and Avis Wallop) [known to be married to Margaret Inglefield] had a son John Blaque who was buried at Overstowey 18 Aug 1558. The only problem with this is that Robert and Margaret are only shown to have two children Roger who married Mary Baynard and Anne who married Robert Baynard on the Swindon and Wiltshire Record Office chart. How to solve this mystery and I think once again a timeline is in order to determine if the dates can match up to the data. I shall eventually acquire a copy of this chart from the Blake Museum in Bridgewater. I have now taken advantage of their comment form on their website to submit an enquiry re the above mentioned chart. It is interesting to see that Humphrey Blake is listed as a son of a John Blaque. In yesterday's post I did postulate that John was a potential parent of Humphrey but the line of descent was considerably different following the chart of the Blake Pedigree located at the Swindon and Wiltshire Record Office.

Blake family of South Carolina

The Blake family of South Carolina descendants are in the best position for tracing their ancestry back to Somerset; their emigrants are known descendants of Humphrey Blake of Overstowey in that Benjamin Blake was a brother to the Lord High Admiral Robert Blake and the trace back from Benjamin and Robert is quite direct.

I have been entering this family into my legacy Blake one name chart. However, the parents of Humphrey are still somewhat of a mystery. If one looks at the Blake Pedigree chart created from the Visitations then the furtherest back ancestor in this line that goes back to Calne Wiltshire is a John Blake who was the second son of  William Blague/Blake of Lacock, Wiltshire who married Margaret Browne of Wablyn (daughter of William Browne of Wablyn). I have not yet discovered where Wablyn is but assume it was the name of their family home perhaps. William was the son of David Blague/Blake who had married Joane Mallet. Continuing back in this line the parents of David were John Blague/Blake who had married Margaret Dyncham/Dinham/Denham. This John is a known son of Robert Blake and Avice Wallop (widow at time of marriage to Robert) who is mentioned in his mother's will as being 40 years of age or more.

Hence the line from Somerset back to Calne Wiltshire is assured by the chart which is based on the Visitations and for the most part would be accepted as proof of descent. However, the descent from John down to Robert, Lord High Admiral has not been added to this chart. The will of Avice Blake was probated in 1474 at which time her son John was 40 years of age (his date of birth extrapolated back could have been 1434 or earlier). Humphrey the known ancestor of Robert, Lord High Admiral, was buried in 1558 at Overstowey.

John's son David and then David's son William and William's son John are the known descendants from the Calne Wiltshire Blake family. If one assumes a generation length of 30 years then David might have been 10 years of age in 1474 and his son William might have been born in 1494 and his son John might have been born in 1524. However Humphrey died in 1558 leaving behind adult children so he was likely born in the early 1500s. The assumption of 30 year generations may be too long so moving it to 20 years then David could have been born in 1454, his son William in 1474, his son John in 1494 permitting Humphrey then to be born by 1514 which would make him 44 when he died and he could have had adult children. However, there is still a difficulty with this assumption as his eldest son John (the elder) was known to be born circa 1521 although I am still checking for proof of this assertion. One of John's daughters married 2 Oct 1569 (Alice married James Richards) giving her a possible birth date of circa 1547 - 1551 and she was the third child. This makes a birthdate for John of 1521 quite plausible. Perhaps John (son of Robert Blake and Avis Wallop) was older than 40 since the will states: John Blake is her son and nearer heir and is 40 years old or more. Timelines are so very important for genealogical research in order to ensure that what you are predicting is even plausible.

To my knowledge no linking information from Humphrey back to John Blake at Lacock has been found but I am very new at the Blake family history and further research may yield such information. Placing it all on a time line lets one then regard the available information to see if a proposition can be fulfilled with extant evidence. Certainly this family bore the crest of the Wiltshire Blake family. The name Humphrey may itself provide clues as it was not a usual name in the Blake family at this point in time.

To my knowledge no member of this family has tested their yDNA and that would be a bonus for our yDNA study. I have avoided very much becoming involved with the yDNA study other than collaborating with the individuals who manage the study. Blake is such a large study that one cannot do everything and it has been well managed by Barrie Blake in terms of placing the various Blake haplogroups into a rigorous table that permits one to then examine the Blake surname with respect to their yDNA.

I will continue building the family line for the descendants of Humphrey Blake from the journal article in The South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, volume 1, number 2, April 1900 pages 153 - 166. There are a couple of other articles published on this family in the same journal which I will attempt to locate. Interestingly there was a singleton ancestor for this line in Joseph Blake born 1700. I found it rather amazing that in this line and my own Blake line there is a singleton Joseph although mine was born in 1730 in Andover Hampshire UK!

London and Surrey Marriage Bonds and Allegations 1597-1921

The addition of the London and Surrey Marriage Bonds and Allegations 1597 - 1921 to Ancestry may prove to be helpful to me. It was in this database at the Family History Library back in 2008 when we visited Salt Lake City, that I discovered the marriage of Henry Beard and Jane Blakeley 8 Feb 1785 at St Mary Magdalen, Bermondsey, Surrey. I had Henry's will of 1795 where he referred to his wife as Jane which was somewhat confusing considering that his first wife's name was Elizabeth. That in turn let me find the will of Jane Beard which added more details on Christy Buller (husband of Mary Beard who was Henry's daughter by his first marriage). Christy Buller (father of Henry Christopher Buller) is an interesting individual; he ran a slop business which I understand is production of sailor's uniforms. Through the years, he was called upon to be executor of many of the family wills and to manage the estates of these families. But I have not yet been able to solve the mystery of Christy Buller. He is buried at St Olave Bermondsey just before the graves are re-interred at Bunhill. Thus far the St Olave records are not on line prior to 1813. I await that event most enthusiastically. I hope to learn more about the Buller family from those records. Christy buries his two infant children there and his first wife as well. Since they attended St Mary Magdalen as a family I rather think St Olave must have had a family significance (the Beard family was buried at St Mary Magdalen). His slop shop was just across the street and slightly down the street from the location of St Olave Church.

Searching the London and Surrey records may prove interesting and I shall spend some time doing that. My brief look at them in Salt Lake City was just an after thought on the last afternoon. There are quite a list of Buller records there at the various churches which I found this family at in London. Are they related to these other Buller families? I have a number of wills for the Buller families in London but thus far none has revealed any relationship to the Buller family at St Mary Magdalen and St Olave.

Next time we are at Kew I want to spend a little time on the Buller family. It is a well documented family in England with some fairly famous members but I have no family stories that attach me to any of these particular lines. My grandmother's father died when she was 14 (her mother having died when she was 11) and they were taken to live at Marston Green Cottages Children's Home (she and her four younger siblings). At 15, if your education was complete you could leave the home and take a job and in her case she lived with her mother's sister Kate Taylor and worked in Birmingham visiting her siblings where whilst visiting in the winter of 1908 she learned that her two youngest sisters were to be sent to Canada (the two older children had already been sent in 1905 and 1906). My grandmother decided to emigrate on the same boat they were taking and had managed to find a job in London, Ontario where the youngest was to be sent.

There is a mystery in all of this because of the stories which were passed down to us. Firstly Ellen (mother of my grandmother) was said to have been divorced (this would help to explain the eldest half sister who lived in London, Ontario but was actually the illegitimate daughter of Ellen). The story was further compounded by changing the name of their mother to Rosina Decalma and the half sister had listed her parents as Edwin Taylor and Ellen Taylor. To help protect her I suspect, my grandmother than used this other name as did her siblings for their mother. Their father having been Edwin Denner Buller. But more interesting family lore has Edwin being disowned by his family for marrying a divorcee. This would explain why the children are placed in the home; likely his family was unaware of his death until later and by then they had all gone to Canada. Sifting through the actual documents and relating them to the family lore has been an interesting adventure. Fortunately, I had gone to visit my grandmother's youngest sister about 36 years ago now and learned the details of the children's home but she was only 1 when her mother died and 4 when her father died and was unable to correct any of the stories that had been created. It wasn't until I located the census records that I realized that the Rosina Decalma was erroneous! and that was in 2003 (my visit to my great aunt being in 1976).

I have still not met any descendants of this family line on line. They are all likely still in England. The Welch family did move away from Birmingham to the Handsworth area prior to the birth of my grandmother and likely all contact was lost with this family by the Buller family after the death of Sarah Welch (my 3x great grandmother) in 1872. For the Taylor family, I do not think that there are any direct descendants of the likely parents of Ellen - Ellen Roberts and Thomas Taylor. None of the children appear to have married with several being school teachers and again this family had moved to Ashton under Lyne by the late 1870s. Ellen Taylor must have returned to Birmingham to have her first child (illegimate) as she is found at the Aston Workhouse on the 1881 census. How she met Edwin Denner Buller and when and where they married is all a mystery although all the birth registrations of their seven children do bear the notation Ellen Buller formerly Taylor and the informant is sometimes Ellen and sometimes Edwin. One day I may solve the mystery of this family but at the moment what I know most is that my maternal mtDNA with its unusual mutations is found in Ayrshire/Argyllshire Scotland and Antrim, Ireland with the closest full genetic scan matches being found in Ossettia. Somewhere in there is an amazing story just waiting to be written!

Of course there is always the possibility that Ellen Taylor was herself the migrant coming from Ireland or Scotland to Birmingham although records indicate she was born in Birmingham but Edwin Denner Buller was the informant on her death registration and he may not have known!