Continuing with the Galway Blake family legacy file

Now well into the second book of Martin Joseph Blake on the Galway Blake family and working on the Kiltolla family. He has made some changes with his second book and there are another 40 pages of genealogical information. The changes though are quite small but occasionally significant. For instance the ancestor of the 1st Baronet of Twissell's grandmother was named as Mary Blake (wife of Robert Blake) daughter of Patrick daughter of John in the second book but Juliane Lynch in the first. I did some sleuthing but could not come up with anything except Martin's books for this information. People have used the information from the first book on world connect. I finally decided to go with Martin's second book and revised that particular entry. I will make note that it had been Juliane Lynch in the first book in the notes.This is amazing to see one of the Blake families of Ireland come together with one of the Blake families of England. However Richard Caddell is the founder of this Blake family in Ireland and this Blake family in England is descendant of the Blake family at Calne, Wiltshire through a female Blake line (my interpretation of the Chart held at the Swindon and Wiltshire Record Office) and from the Blake family at Knights Enham/Eastontown/Andover through the male line.

This file is getting to be quite extensive with 1706 individuals and 781 families. Thus far all but one Blake line is accounted for as descendant of Richard Caddell. My intent was to try and collect all the Blake lines that are in the Galway Blake family so that I can look at the other Blake lines in Ireland. My curiosity having been stimulated in that regard by the England's Emigrant Database listing a Richard Blake as coming to Salisbury England in the early 1400s from Ireland. One wonders at the definition of Emigrant at this stage. Was he simply the son of one of the Blakes who went to Ireland and listed in the Calendar of Patent Rolls? Would he be considered an emigrant? I suspect yes because one of the people on the list is listed as an emigrant even after marrying an English woman and living in England for twenty years.

Would I be considered an emigrant having three grandparents and a father born and raised in England? I would be, I would need to apply for a visa to stay past the time allotted and for citizenship I would need to apply for that as well just like anyone else who emigrated to England. That is not one of my thoughts, I would feel out of place in England. Although it is the place of birth of most of my ancestors (Ireland is starting to look like my great grandmother Ellen Taylor's ancestral home and Scotland is the home of my Routledge families), I have lived in Canada all of my life now almost 70 years long. I am Canadian born although my line here seems so short with just my mother, her father and his mother born here and all the rest came to Canada from England as immigrants! Three of four grandparents, seven of eight great grandparents and all sixteen of sixteen great great grandparents were born in England and all but the four grandparents, two great grandparents, four great great grandparents and two great great great grandparents died in England! And I have pictures of all of their gravestones here in Canada because they all lived within about 2 miles of London, Ontario, Canada. I have pictures of a number of the gravestones of my ancestors in England as well from our various trips there.

Parishes up to 25 miles from Bodmin, Cornwall

Having completed the parishes up to 15 miles from Bodmin I am now moving on to the block of parishes that are up to 25 miles distance. Family lines are emerging in my Legacy File which I shall share eventually with this blog. There will only be a few Cornwall parishes left after I complete this list. The next step will be to extract all the Blake names in the census in Cornwall from 1841 to 1911.

Parishes

Helston
Tresmeer
Warbstow
South Petherwin
Probus
Cuby with Tregony
St Michael Caerhays
Cornelly
Newlyn East
Callington
Lezant
Crantock
St Erme
Stoke Climsland
St Germans
Jacobstow
North Petherwin
Landrake
Merther
St Erney
St Gennys
Cubert
St Stephen by Launceston
St Thomas by Launceston
Launceston, St Mary Magdalene
Ruan Lanihorne
Sheviock
Lawhitton
St Dominick 
Veryan
Werrington
St Clement
Kenwyn
Perranzabuloe
Week St Mary
St Michael Penkevil
Truro, St Mary
Truro, St George
Truro, St John
Poundstock
Philleigh
St Stephens by Saltash
Whitstone
St John
Landulph
Calstock
Saltash
Kea
Gerrans
Torpoint
Feock
North Tamerton
Marhamchurch

William Knight ( - 1827)

52 Ancestor Challenge - Challenge 15

Blake, King, Coleman, Pearce, Farmer, unknown, Lambden, Sarah (unknown), Knight, Ellis, Knight, Vincent, Butt, Durnford, Arnold, Molton, Cotterel, Bartlett, Alderman, Ann (unknown), Sherwood, unknown, Habberfield, Collings, Rawlings, Tanner, Dove, Morgan, Lywood, Canham, unknown, Peck, Pincombe, Charley, Rowcliffe, Pearse, Rew, Moggridge, Siderfin, Kent, Gray, Hilton, Cobb, Sproxton, Routledge, Tweddle, Routledge, Routledge, (unknown) Buller, unknown, Beard, Hemsley, Welch, Brockhouse, Cheatle, Woodcock, unknown Taylor, unknown, Harborne, Lewis, Roberts, Croxall, Lawley, unknown

William Knight is the more elusive of my two Knight 4x great grandfathers.  There are two possibilities that he was the son of William Knight baptized 6 Jan 1735 at Spetisbury or he was that William Knight and simply waited until he was older to marry Sarah Ellis but indeed William Knight married Sarah Ellis 7 Aug 1775 at Winterborne Stickland. Since he has died before the census of 1841/1851 I do not know for sure where or when he was born/baptized unless he is the William Knight baptized at Spetisbury. I have left the option open even yet.

That William might not be one of these two has also occurred to me but I am unable to discover a reasonable "other William Knight" that resembles this William Knight. Others have said that he is the William Knight baptized  5 Aug 1739 at St James Shaftesbury son of George Knight and Mary Long who married 2 Oct 1735 in Shaftesbury and this record can be found at Ancestry.com. Indeed he does name one of his sons George. My grandfather though did think that his 2 Knight great grandparents were related and I can not find any relationship between these two families. So hovering in the background in my mind is the possibility that he was incorrect.

William and Sarah went on to have eight children (one daughter Sarah 1792) and seven sons William 1776, Elias 1779-1779, Ellis 1783-1851 (and my ancestor), George 1785, Samuel 1788, Stephen 1798 (others have 1790 but this baptism is missing), Joseph 1799. Most of this information I have from Robert Knight a cousin of mine who lives still in Dorset and has ready access to the record office in Dorchester. Hence my having had this information since 2007 or so. I have since verified it with the records on Ancestry. Another cousin of mine lives in Australia (Keith Ford) and he made the trek back to Dorset before I did and photographed the pages of the relevant registers in Turnworth which I also received from him in 2007. Thanks to both of these cousins for sorting out the Knight lines in Winterborne Stickland/Spetisbury for me.

William Knight could either be the William baptized 6 Jan 1735 at Spetisbury or the William baptized at Shaftesbury. No one can say for sure. But William baptized 1735 is the son of Henry Knight and Mary Oliver. They married 25 Dec 1727 at Spetisbury and had 15 children Henry 1729-1788, Sarah 1730-1730, Thomas 1732-1794, Mary 1733-1734, William 1735-, David 1736-aft 1771, John 1738-1738, John 1740-1740, Ann 1741-1741, Mary 1742-1742, John 1744-1744, John 1745-1745, John 1746-1747, John 1748-1750, and Mary 1749-1750. Henry Knight was the Parish Clerk at Spetisbury and he was buried 25 Sep 1778 at Spetisbury. I have not yet found a burial for Mary. The place of birth/baptism for Henry Knight and Mary Oliver is not known to me and they represent the top of my Knight tree. Imagine burying six children all named John. No child survived after David

Many of the men in this family were stone masons. There was a Knight family at Cann who were stone masons and some link this family back to this area. The thought is that they came down to the Blandford area following the great fire in that city to help rebuild it. The fire occurred Friday 4 Jun 1731. One notes that Henry Knight was already at Spetisbury as he married Mary Oliver 25 Dec 1727 so do question this notion. The George Knight at Shaftesbury could be from the Knight family at Cann but I do not know his occupation.

There was a Mary Oliver baptized 12 Oct 1709 at Tarrant Rushton (3 miles from Spetisbury) and the daughter of Thomas Oliver and Sarah his wife. Given the naming in this family Henry first son, Sarah  first daughter, then Thomas second son and Mary second daughter one could ponder the possibility that this is Mary Oliver married to Henry Knight 1727 at Spetisbury. I could not find a marriage for Thomas Oliver and Sarah but did find a baptism of William Oliver son of Thomas and Sarah 17 Jun 1705 at Tarrant Rushton. There was also a Mary baptized 1 May 1704 (buried 30 Jul 1704) all at Tarrant Rushton.

There was a Henry Knight son of Thomas Knight junior and Julian baptized 2 Feb 1701 at Mapperton (3 miles from Spetisbury and 5 miles from Tarrant Rushton).  Again I did not find a marriage but did find a number of siblings for Henry:

Sarah baptized 15 Nov 1691 at Mapperton
Peter baptized 21 May 1693 at Mapperton
Susanna baptized 10 Feb 1694/95 at Mapperton
Ann baptized 27 Oct 1696 at Mapperton
Anne baptized 29 Jan 1698 at Mapperton
Henry baptized 2 Feb 1701 at Mapperton
Christian baptized 22 Mar 1703 at Mapperton (service 11 Nov 1705 at Mapperton, buried at Netherbury)
Thomas baptized 7 Jul 1706 at Mapperton
John baptized 26 Jun 1709 at Mapperton

Looking at the burials for Mapperton and noting that in some instances (baptisms) Thomas Knight junior is recorded as being from Meith there is a Thomas Knight senior of Meith buried  23 Apr 1723. He was buried from Mapperton at Netherbury. Also buried at Netherbury from Mieth, Henry Knight, clerk of the parish 13 Oct 1714. Also buried from Meith at Netherbury Anne Knight 7 Feb 1724, and Edith Knight 29 Jul 1716. (Henry and Edith were married.) Have I perhaps using Ancestry uncovered my Knight family. This is the first time I have looked at Henry Knight and Mary Oliver in several years.

Netherbury is just south of Beaminster and three miles from another Mapperton. Interesting and must pursue this another time. But for the moment I will list this baptism at Mapperton, as this is the village that is listed on Genuki rather than the one south of Beaminster, as the baptism for Henry with his father Thomas and his possible grandfather Thomas.

I should also list the other possible ancestry but will mention it only in this paragraph because I remain somewhat convinced that my grandfather was right and Eleanor and Ellis were related. George Knight (married to Mary Long),  I can not find a baptism for him although other researchers have his father as Richard Knight who married Mary (unknown) and was the father of Henry, George and Ann. One notes the forename Henry in this and the individual who created this family tree does have the family of Henry at Spetisbury descendant of this line. I am not convinced that this is correct although does then give credence to the thought that Eleanor and Ellis would then be related. As records come online it will be easier to determine the correct Knight line for my two 4x great grandfathers Knight!.

Ancestry of William Knight:

1. Elizabeth BLAKE
2. Ernest Edward George BLAKE (b 20 Aug 1904) - Eastleigh Hampshire England
3. Samuel George Blake (b 10 Feb 1875) - Upper Clatford Hampshire England
4. Maria Jane KNIGHT (b 27 Jan 1849) - Turnworth Dorset England
5. Samuel KNIGHT (b 25 May 1828) - Turnworth Dorset England
6. Ellis KNIGHT (b 17 Jan 1783) - Winterborne Stickland Dorset England
7. William KNIGHT
8. William KNIGHT (b 6 Jan 1734/35) - Spetisbury Dorset England
9. Henry KNIGHT ( possibly b 2 Feb 1701) - Mapperton Dorset England
10. Thomas KNIGHT (junior)
possibly
11. Thomas KNIGHT (senior)

 It has certainly been an interesting tour through the records for the Knight family and I shall repeat it once again when I look at John Knight my other Knight 4x great grandfather. Perhaps I will be right after all that this Knight family, although some were stone masons, were not descendant of the Knight family at Cann unless they traveled southward earlier than the Blandford fire of 1731. Some have the father of William as George as mentioned. George is not a name found in the Knight family (other than William) until much much later so have always felt that that direction lacked credence but on the other hand Henry does occur 15 times in the Knight family although in a later time period there are 16 Georges. The Henry forename is used on a regular basis from 1700 on.

Cornwall Blake continuing

I am continuing with the extraction of information and insertion of that information  into my Legacy software for the Cornwall Blake family. A number of family lines have emerged and eventually I hope to share all of that. I must admit that I do find it very very difficult as I do not know any family lore for the Blake families in Cornwall. I am basically looking at the records and trying to see if they fit together in a meaningful way.

Were there two distinct Blake families in Cornwall and that thought continues to plague me. Has the Blake family in Devon drifted over into Cornwall? Indeed there are several cases where agricultural workers in particular have moved into Cornwall and stayed there through a generation or more. Is the Blake family centered on Bodmin different from the Blake family at Landrake. With my latest extraction I have the Landrake Blake family moving further west in Cornwall and into Menheniot.

I do hope if anyone spots errors in my logic that they will write to me and say so. That would help to clarify the Blake lines. Should one think of the Blake who came to Cornwall in the early part of the 1500s as an Emigrant? He is in the Emigrant database (newly released) but is he an emigrant as we think of emigrants these days.? I actually do not think so. I suspect there was a lot of movement between various places as younger sons in particular moved further afield in search of property.

I am working on St Enoder these days and the list becomes shorter and shorter. Then I will need to go in and extract the rest of the parishes but what to choose as a centre point. Eventually I will simply check to make sure that I have all the parishes and then move on to the Census.

Ann Vincent (1755 - probably by 1841)

52 Ancestor Challenge - Challenge 14

Blake, King, Coleman, Pearce, Farmer, unknown, Lambden, Sarah (unknown), Knight, Ellis, Knight, Vincent, Butt, Durnford, Arnold, Molton, Cotterel, Bartlett, Alderman, Ann (unknown), Sherwood, unknown, Habberfield, Collings, Rawlings, Tanner, Dove, Morgan, Lywood, Canham, unknown, Peck, Pincombe, Charley, Rowcliffe, Pearse, Rew, Moggridge, Siderfin, Kent, Gray, Hilton, Cobb, Sproxton, Routledge, Tweddle, Routledge, Routledge, (unknown) Buller, unknown, Beard, Hemsley, Welch, Brockhouse, Cheatle, Woodcock, unknown Taylor, unknown, Harborne, Lewis, Roberts, Croxall, Lawley, unknown

Ann Vincent/Vinsent and I list both spellings of her surname. Ann was baptized at Dewlish and the second child in her family with the forename Ann (the first was spelled Anne but she died as a child in 1752). Ann's parents were James Vinsent/Vincent and Ann Moulam/Moulain/Mowlam. They were married 28 Nov 1733 at Dewlish, Dorset. Ann had seven siblings: Sarah 1735, Anne 1737-1752, Mary 1739, Francis 1740, James 1743, John 1745, and Benjamin 1749. All baptized at Dewlish. Their mother Ann Moulam/Moulain/Mowlam was also baptized at Dewlish 16 Dec 1712 and she was buried there circa 1768. Her parents were William Moulan/Moulain/Mowlam and Elizabeth. I have not yet found their marriage although they baptized 8 children at Dewlish but many died as infants including twins baptized in 1719. For a long time I did not have the parents of Ann because I was looking in the wrong place namely Shapwick where one finds the marriage of James Vinsent and Ann Moulam's daughter Ann to John Knight.

My Knight family is actually quite interesting and I will be tracing those two 4x great grandparents to a common ancestor - another case of pedigree collapse in my lines going back. That is to come as I do have two Knight lines.

I do not know anything about the Vinsent/Vincent or the Moulam.Moulain/Mowlam families but suspect they may be French Huguenot. I may pursue that notion at a later date. It is possible that James was the son of an Edward who was himself perhaps the son of Johannis Vincent/Vinsent. The registers do not clarify these entries that others have added to their family trees on My Heritage but I will keep that in the back of my mind. James was buried 20 Jun 1769 at Dewlish with Ann having preceded him in 1768 and also buried at Dewlish.

John Knight (Ann Vinsent's husband) was a bricklayer and also had a property on which he paid tax according to the records held at Find My Past. I have not traced down all of the lines in the family of John Knight and Ann Vinsent  namely Joseph 1785-1785, Eleanor 1786-1870 (my ancestor), Sophia 1789, Martha 1796 and John 1800. John certainly left descendants as he can be found on the census. Eleanor Knight married a distant cousin Ellis Knight and they had 13 children (something my grandfather remembered (a baker's dozen he called their children) and lived first at Spetisbury and later Turnworth. Samuel, their 11th child was my 2x great grandfather and he married Louisa Butt. Their daughter Mary Jane Knight married Edward Blake and they were my great-grandparents.

We visited Turnworth and saw the memorial stone for Samuel and Louisa and also visited the church which was somewhat of an awesome event for me. The skelton key which I held in my hand (opened the Church) was ancient and surely rested in the hands of Samuel at some point in the past. Thomas, Samuel's brother, had been parish clerk for thirty years. I can tell by the records that on occasion Samuel helped him with his tasks. To have touched an object that your ancestor touched is truly an unforgettable experience. Samuel died 12 years after his wife and as I touched the memorial stone I thought of this tall thin white haired man as my father remembered him and likely he too would come and touch the gravestone of his wife (the stone was likely put up for her as the carving was not the same).

Going and visiting the places where your ancestors lived, seeing the house that they lived in and walking the paths that they walked is perhaps one of the most meaningful experiences that I have had doing my genealogical research.

Ancestry for Ann Vincent/Vinsent:

1. Elizabeth BLAKE
2. Ernest Edward George BLAKE (b 20 Aug 1904) - Eastleigh Hampshire England
3. Samuel George Blake (b 10 Feb 1875) - Upper Clatford Hampshire England
4. Maria Jane KNIGHT (b 27 Jan 1849) - Turnworth Dorset England
5. Samuel KNIGHT (b 25 May 1828) - Turnworth Dorset England
6. Eleanor KNIGHT (b 12 Dec 1786) - Spetisbury Dorset England
7. Ann VINCENT (b 26 Oct 1755) - Dewlish Dorset England
8. James VINCENT

1. Ann VINCENT (b 26 Oct 1755) - Dewlish Dorset England
2. Ann MOULAM/MOULAIN/MOWLAM (17 Dec 1712) - Dewlish Dorset England
3. William MOULAM/MOULAIN/MOWLAM

The intent on working through these stories is to see if I can find anything more and definitely I have learned that the name has several possibilities and I have collected a lot of sibling's names. The addition of a parent Edward to James Vincent is interesting and perhaps a Johannis as the father of Edward.

I begin the second quarter of the year with this posting. I have managed to keep up thus far and perhaps I will do the two Knight lines with my next two postings.