From the Carlisle Marriage Bonds:

So I am back to Thomas Routledge and Elizabeth Storye as the parents of Grace Routledge. The will abstract turned out to be too good to be true! I should have clued in when I saw George of Oakshaw and two children listed without his wife Grace. She had been buried in March 1767 although having two burials for Archibald Forrester at Stapleton did not help either as one was in 1766 when Grace was still alive. However, the correct one according to the correspondent was in May 1767. There was also the problem of Kirkbeckstown where Mary Routledge married to Thomas Routledge had been baptized and this family appeared to live there.

Thomas and Elizabeth baptized four children at Bewcastle whilst living at Oakshaw, William, Jane, Grace and Leonard. This fits the will abstract as there is a Leonard Routledge of Oakshaw mentioned along with George and the two children (my ancestor Elizabeth and her younger sister Peggy (Margaret)).

Once again this blog has more than proved its worth to me in acquiring new information from other researchers around the world.

This also fits in better with my mother's memory of her Routledge family. Three first cousin marriages although in reality it is more of a first cousin marriage and then a second cousin marriage thus far. Thomas Routledge married to Elizabeth Storye is a brother to Henry Routledge married to Margaret Tweddle. Now to fit George Routledge who married Grace Routledge into the Oakshaw picture!

Revised Ancestry of Grace Routledge:

1. Elizabeth BLAKE
2. Helen Louise PINCOMBE (b 18 Oct 1916) - Westminster Township Middlesex County Ontario Canada
3. John Routledge PINCOMBE (b 10 Sep 1872)- Lobo Township Middlesex County Ontario Canada
4. Grace GRAY (b 22 Mar 1839) - London Township Middlesex County Ontario Canada
5. Mary ROUTLEDGE (b 1804 and b 23 Jun 1813) - Bewcastle Cumberland England
6. Elizabeth ROUTLEDGE (b 27 Aug 1763) - (Raw) Bewcastle Cumberland England

Elizabeth's father's line
7. George ROUTLEDGE (b 18 Apr 1729) - (born at Todhills lived at Raw) Bewcastle Cumberland England
8. George ROUTLEDGE (b 10 Mar 1692) - (born at Stubb and lived at Raw) Bewcastle Cumberland England

Elizabeth's mother's line
7. Grace ROUTLEDGE (b 6 Sep 1741) - Bewcastle Cumberland England

Grace's father's line
8. Thomas ROUTLEDGE (b c 1712) - Bewcastle Cumberland England
9. William ROUTLEDGE

Thomas's mother's line
9. GRISSELL ROUTLEDGE

Still a lot to look at and hopefully one of these days some of my Routledge cousins will do Family Finder and we might actually be able to sort out these Routledge lines.

52 Ancestor Challenge - Challenge 37

Blake, King, Coleman, Pearce, Farmer, Mary (unknown), Lambden, Sarah (unknown), Knight, Ellis, Knight, Vincent, Butt, O'Ford, Arnold, Molton, Cotterell, Bartlett, Alderman, Shepherd, Sherwood, Elizabeth (unknown), Happerfield, Collins, Rawlings, Tanner, Dove, Morgan, Lywood, Lanham, 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

A true mystery woman perhaps, Jane Morgan could possibly be the Jenny Morgan baptized 21 Oct 1750 at Kingston Deverill daughter of Lazarus and Betty Morgan. This is seventeen miles from Woodford however.A name like Lazarus might have passed on one might think but this couple - William Dove and Jane Morgan married 1 Jan 1783 at St Thomas Salisbury did not have good fortune with their children with only Mary and Harry appearing to survive childhood. Plus baptisms do not always appear in the register for this family.

Also at St Martin Salisbury, Jenny Morgan daughter of Daniel and Jane was baptized 7 May 1755 (this couple lived at Salisbury, Salisbury is four miles from Woodford)). 

Moving into Dorset I found a Jenny Morgan baptized to William and Elizabeth at Pentridge 28 Oct 1753 which is just 14 miles from Woodford.

Also in Dorset at Hinton-Martell, Jane Morgan daughter of John and Elizabeth was baptized 27 Dec 1764 (Hinton-Martell is 20 miles from Woodford). 

I do not think it is possible at this time to connect Jane to her parents. Perhaps in the future I could be so lucky.

I found the burial of Jane Dove 2nd quarter 1839 at Amesbury RD. This is perhaps my 4x great grandmother. 

Ancestry of Jane Morgan:

1. Elizabeth BLAKE
2. Ernest Edward George BLAKE (b 20 Aug 1904) - Eastleigh Hampshire England
3. Edith Bessie TAYLOR (b 1 Apr 1875) - Kimpton Hampshire England
4. Elizabeth RAWLINGS (b 19 Oct 1853) - Enford Wiltshire England
5. William RAWLINGS (b 1825) - Enford Wiltshire England
6. Mary DOVE (b c 1790) - Woodford Wiltshire England
7. Jane MORGAN

The ydna results for my 3rd cousin once removed are now available and there is a 24 on 25 match with our known 5th cousin in Australia. That is 5th cousin to me and fourth cousin once removed to the current testor. The difference of one is actually rather handy as the new testor traces back to Robert and the match from Australia traces back to William both of whom are sons of John Pincombe and Mary Charley.

More to come and I believe that I will start a newsletter for the Pincombe/Pinkham family.

The matches in the Pincombe yDNA this past week have been phenomenal. I had not been able to persuade my closest Pincombe cousins to test (all third cousins) but at last long I do have a 3rd cousin once removed who has tested and he matches 24/25 with a fifth cousin in Australia. The one step out is rather convenient actually.

The Australian cousin descends from William Pincombe (baptized 21 Dec 1769 at Bishops Nympton, Devon son of John Pincombe and Mary Charley who married 8 Nov 1767 at Bishops Nympton) through his son William (baptized 1 Jan 1802 at Bishops Nympton) and he married Maria Torrington 15 May 1822 at Bishops Nympton. They had nine children a number of whom emigrated to Australia.

My recent tester descends from Robert Pincombe (baptized 4 Oct 1775 at Bishops Nympton and also a son of John Pincombe and Mary Charley) through his son Robert Pincombe baptized 2 Sep 1804 at Bishops Nympton) and he married Mary Shapland around 1835. They had two children both born in the United States.

I descend from Robert Pincombe through his son John Pincombe baptized 5 Jul 1808 at Bishops Nympton and married to Elizabeth Rew 9 Jan 1835 at Bishops Nympton. They had five children all born in Molland, Devon and they emigrated to Canada in 1850. John Pincombe was my 2x great grandfather.

A second result in the project matches 34/37 with my third cousin once removed and that particular tester is descendant of the Pincombe family at Barnstaple, Devon. These two Pincombe lines are separated by hundreds of years but interestingly enough they match on DYS458 with our fifth cousin having the value of 18 instead of the 17 which the two other Pincombes show at this particular allele. One is left to conjecture that perhaps 17 is ancestral to the Pincombe family with 18 being a mutation showing up in the descendants of William Pincombe. The other two differences with this other tester are in DYS464 where my cousin has 14,15,16,17 and the Barnstaple Pincombe descendant have 14, 15, 15, 16 as well as at DYS570 where my cousin has the value of 18 and the other tester 17 and also CDY, my cousin has 36-38 and the other tester 37-38. All of these markers are considered fast moving so that a mutation in one of them occurs frequently in people's lines if a mutation does happen.

Hopefully more Pincombe males will test in the study giving us a more complete picture of the Pincombe family.

I also am left with a rather clear answer to the riddle of the Pincombe and Pinkham families. They do appear to be distinctly different at least in some parts of Devon. The charts I have do show the tendency in some of the family lines to use the spelling interchangeably.

I now need to do a little research on Pinkham to see how far back I can find this spelling along with Tinkham in Devon and cornwall.

We spent the past week visiting my husband's relatives in southwestern Ontario and that included the Schultz family reunion as well as smaller visits with individual/groups of cousins. At every group we talked about testing in particular Family Finder but also mentioned 23 and Me as well as AncestryDNA. They all have particular displays that are exceedingly useful and I have tested at all of them. My husband has only tested at National Genographic 1.0 and FT DNA but he could extend his testing if that appealed to particular groups of his family.

We tend to really push autosomal testing as I rather think that that will eventually become the leading test for people to do in order to learn about all of their ancestry. But yDNA is also useful and we do mention that as well. Less so mitochondrial DNA but its value is great especially in the case of minimal information on your direct female line.

Our groups were variable in age so we tried to include reasons to test at any particular age. Testing siblings we really emphasized as I have learned so much from having results for three of my siblings and another is in the process which leaves me only one living sibling that has not yet tested. The other sibling that passed away in 1997 (my eldest brother) has a daughter and at some point I would like to test her (and her mother) to see if I can phase him out of their results.

I am still in the process of phasing our parents' DNA and waiting now for this next set of results. Testing siblings has become the new norm for DNA testing. There is so much to learn from your closest relatives especially when your parents have passed on. AncestryDNA is doing us a real favour by presenting our data as phased and I hope that eventually the other companies will provide that ability as well.

So how much interest did we stir up in DNA testing? Well I would say that three different groups are certainly considering doing testing for my husband. The benefits are enormous to his studies. He is the last of his direct family except for his children/grandchildren and his brother's children/grandchildren/great grandchildren. As we save up our nickles it would be nice to test his brother's descendants if they are willing as well. He also has first cousins and half first cousins although no success with testing them to date. These other groups are second and third cousins.

Once I have done all the testing on my siblings then I can start saving my nickles to test my cousins. I only have second cousins and half second cousins as my nearest cousins and have approached them on occasion to see if I could persuade them to test for particular lines. On my mother's side I have had good luck testing Pincombe and have three cousins now who have tested and the lastest tester matches my sister at 101 Centimorgans so is a really good match for a third cousin once removed. I suspect that we may have another matching line but have not yet found it. Another tester has a Pincombe/Pincombe marriage and so is also a really good result although strongest thus far with my brother although I have another brother testing that I think will be an even stronger match.

The matches that we do have can not always be rationalized into particular lines but I think that will improve as more and more of my closer known cousins test.

52 Ancestor Challenge - Challenge 38

Blake, King, Coleman, Pearce, Farmer, Mary (unknown), Lambden, Sarah (unknown), Knight, Ellis, Knight, Vincent, Butt, O'Ford, Arnold, Molton, Cotterell, Bartlett, Alderman, Shepherd, Sherwood, Elizabeth (unknown), Happerfield, Collins, Rawlings, Tanner, Dove, Morgan, Lywood, Lanham, 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

This is the one member of the Lywood family for whom I do not have a death date. The last child of George Lywood and Elizabeth Lanham (married 18 Jul 1780 at West Harnham) was baptized  7 May 1786 at West Harnham. Their other two children Jane baptized 17 Mar 1783 at Stapleford (7 miles from West Harnham, 2 miles from Fugglestone where her father was baptized) and John baptized 22 Jan 1784 at West Harnham.

There is a Lywood one-name study at the Guild of One Name Studies and that was my introduction to One-Name studies actually. Warwick Lywood sent me  an eight generation chart for my Lywood family starting with George baptized 7 May 1786 and going back to John Lywood who died at Compton Chamberlayne and whose son Robert was born at Fovant Wiltshire circa 1581. I was amazed as that was, at that point in time, my furtherest back tree.

George, baptized in 1786, is my Waterloo Veteran. I was very excited to find him. He was also my first ancestor to set foot in Canada as he served at the Halifax garrison in the early 1800s before moving on to the Peninsular Wars and from there to Waterloo with the 23rd Regiment of Foot.

But what of his father? I know absolutely nothing and searches occasionally online have not brought up any particular information. A search on the Wiltshire and Swindon Wills Search  reveals four wills:

Ref No    Title    Date    Name    Occupation    Community       

P2/L/563  Inventory, will  1725  Lywood, William  Burcombe
P2/L/574   Administration bond  1727  Lywood, Andrew  Fugglestone St Peter
P4/1718/21  Administration bond  1718  Lywood, Charles  Salisbury
P4/1727/16  Will  1727  Lywood, Mary  Stratford-Sub-Castle

 William Lywood whose will (not yet available on the Wiltshire site) was probated in 1725 is my 7x great grandfather. He was married to Mary Deart 15 Jun 1686 at Fovant, Wiltshire. They had three children: William (my ancestor) baptized 18 Dec 1687 at Fovant (and married to Sarah Bryan 27 Sep 1710 at Idmiston, Wiltshire), Mary baptized 2 Jun 1689 at Fovant and married to Alexander Marten 2 Apr 1711 at Ebbesborne Wake, Wiltshire and Susannah baptized 8 Mar 1690 and buried 13 Nov 1697 at Fovant.

Andrew Lywood and Charles Lywood I believe are sons of John Lywood and Cicelie Smith who married 21 May 1657 at Compton Chamberlayne. This John Lywood being the son of John Lywood and Sibbell Martin who married 14 Apr 1634 in Compton Chamberlayne. Again this John Lywood was the son of John Lywood  and unknown. One more generation back the father of John was also John Lywood married to Edith Thayer. This couple were initially listed as my 10x great grandparents but for the moment I trace back to Robert Lywood and Alice Baylie who married 10 Jan 1624 at Fovant. Was Robert a son of John Lywood and Edith Thayer, I do not, at present, know the answer.

Mary Lywood at Stratford Sub Castle is unknown to me.
   
The National Archives (UK) has six wills and to the best of my knowledge none of them is related to me but I will look at their wills today:

PROB 11/1776/81  Will  3 Sep 1830  John Lywood  Barton Stacey  Hampshire
http://kippeeb.blogspot.ca/2013/04/will-of-john-lywood-esquire-barton.html
PROB 11/4576/280  Will  7 Oct 1700 John Lywood, Mariner On Board HMS Queen
http://kippeeb.blogspot.ca/2013/04/will-of-john-lywood-mariner-on-board.html
PROB 11/1137/330  Will  28 Jan 1786  Lady Maria Lywood, Widow of Amsterdam
PROB 11/918/271  Will  9 May 1766  John Lywood, Gentleman Romsey Hampshire
PROB 11/2196/161  Will 11 Aug 1854  Leonard Lywood, Gentleman Barton Stacey Hampshire
PROB 11/713/578  Will  27 Nov 1741 Hugh Lywood, Cooper St Mary Matsellon otherwise Whitechapel, Middlesex

I have put in a link to the blog where any of the wills can be found already transcribed.

The will of Lady Maria Lywood (widow of the Reverend Johannes Christophous Morchard) does not add any details to the Lywood family. The next will for John Lywood, Gentleman, Romsey Hampshire refers to his daughter Mary Morchard and details the Capital Stock in the Bank of England which she mentions in her will. He mentions a grand daughter Anna Anthonietta Helena Morchard.

The will of Leonard Lywood (son of John Lywood at Barton Stacey) and I know is not linked to my George Lywood at this point in time. The ancestry of this Lywood family may go back prior to the 1600s but unknown to me. Contact Warwick Lywood at the Guild of one name studies for more information as he may be able to help with that.

I do not have anyone with the forename Hugh in my Lywood lines but will have a look at his will as well. The parish of St Mary Matfelon is popularly known as St Mary's Whitechapel. He only mentions his wife Sarah in the will (Hugh Lywood married Sarah Prosser 26 Oct 1733 at St Goerge in the East, Middlesex). He is possibly the son of William and Eliza Lywood baptized 19 Aug 1711 at Saint Anne Soho, Westminster. On Family Search there is a son Benjamin Reader Lywood baptized 16 Jul 1740 at St Botolph without Aldgate, London son of Hugh and Sarah Lywood. Looking at the marriage of William and Eliza[beth] Lywood it is likely that they baptized a number of children at Saint Anne Soho namely:

Elizabeth baptized 21 Feb 1700
Mary baptized 30 Jan 1703
Rose baptized 4 Oct 1705
William baptized 19 Sep 170/ buried 9 Dec 1741 St Anne Soho
Hugh baptized  19 Aug 1711
James baptized 25 Feb 1719

and at St James Westminster, Middlesex

Robert baptized 5 Dec 1699

Giving a possible marriage date by 1699 for William Lywood and Eliza[beth] unknown. 

There was a William Leywood baptized 16 Sep 1672 at St Sepulchre, London son of William and Elizabeth Leywood.  There is a burial for William Lywood 21 Nov 1729 at St Anne Soho.

Interesting the extra e in the baptism of 1672. Is this family related to the Lywood family of Wiltshire/Hampshire? It is a fairly rare surname managed by Warwick Lywood at the Guild of One Name Studies.

Using the Public Profiler site (http://www.publicprofiler.org/) and going to Great Britain Family Names Lywood was most commonly found in Wiltshire on the 1881 census with some in Hampshire and a very few in greater London (Twickenham and Croydon). Then looking at the World site Lywood is found in the United Kingdom and Canada with the highest frequency per million in Canada (2.52 as compared to 2.01 in the United Kingdon).

But I did not find a burial for George Lywood, my 4x great grandfather, in this 52 ancestor challenge. I think he may have been alive in 1791 as I find an outpatient admittance in Salisbury 11 Jun 1791 and again 17 Mar 1792. A record I found earlier was for a George Lywood born in 1778 who was buried 15 May 1796 but I can not find a George who fits into that in West Harnham where my Lywood family lived. I wonder if it is an error in transcription and that this George was actually born in 1750 and was 46 when he died. Perhaps one day I will have a look at the original Wiltshire parish registers.

 Ancestry of George Lywood:

1. Elizabeth BLAKE
2. Ernest Edward George BLAKE (b 20 Aug 1904) - Eastleigh Hampshire England
3. Edith Bessie TAYLOR (b 1 Apr 1875) - Kimpton Hampshire England
4. Elizabeth RAWLINGS (b 19 Oct 1853) - Enford Wiltshire England
5. Elizabeth LYWOOD (b 25 Dec 1826) - Milston Wiltshire England
6. George LYWOOD (b 7 May 1786) - West Harnham Wiltshire England
7. George LYWOOD (b 11 Nov 1750) - Fugglestone St Peter Wiltshire England
8. George LYWOOD (b 12 Feb 1723) - Fugglestone St Peter Wiltshire England
9. William LYWOOD (b 18 Dec 1687) - Fovant Wiltshire England
10. William LYWOOD (b 22 Oct 1665) - Fovant Wiltshire England
11. Robert LYWOOD (b 1 Mar 1628) - Fovant Wiltshire England
12. Robert LYWOOD (b c 1581) - Fovant Wiltshire England

We have been away most of September although I have actually blogged quite a bit compared to this past year. The beginning part we were down to Stratford for the Stratford Shakespearian Theatre and it did not disappoint. We saw three great plays; something my husband has always wanted to do through the years and we just never got to it but now this is the third year that we have done that. An absolutely unforgettable experience as the stage at Stratford is phenomenal allowing for the feeling of being right there with the players. I especially enjoyed our last play - The Physicists. It was a most interesting look at nuclear power and how it corrupts but yet it has been a life saver for others in health implications. Harnessing the atom has both its dark side and its extremely bright side.

Then we had our annual Schultz Family Reunion and talking about the Family Tree and testing DNA which was a theme which carried itself on into the next couple of days as we visited several groups of cousins trying to interest them in DNA testing. My husband has had good luck with his mother's side in terms of finding matches and proving lines but wanted to do the same for his father's side of the family. Matches are slowly growing there now and hopefully more. But one side of his mother's family, my husband's maternal grandfather is still lacking any coherent knowledge of the genetic accumulation and so we hope that this visit will result in several people testing and letting us learn more about the Link family which Ed has traced back to Tuningen, Schwarzwaldkreis, Wurttenberg in the late 1600s.

Then we were off to the New York State Family History Conference at Syracuse New York. An excellent conference and of course Ed is still searching for his elusive connection between Isaac Kipp born in 1764 in New York area and Hendrick Hendrickson Kip an emigrant to New Amsterdam/New York in the latter part of the 1630s. Other interests as well but principally solving the Kip line is high on  his agenda. He attended a lot of lectures on searching the early records and what might be there to help you in your quest.

For the most part I attended lectures on DNA and these were given by Blaine Bettinger and Judy Russell, two not to be missed giants in the field of DNA. I attended four of their lectures in total. Two others that I particularly found interesting were given by Matthew Knutzen. He provided two tantalizing lectures on the map collection at the New York Public Library and a crowdsourcing project that has produced interesting results. We have spent many hours at the New York Public Library and their collection of genealogical material is incredible. The map collection completes this textual collection in amazing ways. I also attended a lecture on the records of the DAR as I think they might help to solve the dilemma of Isaac Kipp. One day we must get to their library in Washington although things are coming online rapidly there as well.

The DNA lectures on autosomal DNA by both Blaine Bettinger and Judy Russell were most interesting. I am into autosomal DNA these days and I think that is the direction that family history research will move to for the most part although yDNA is still the leader in strictly surname research. I want to do more with all the autosomal DNA matches that I have been accumulating and I am slowly working through that process. My matches with the Lywood family have proven to be quite interesting even though I already knew that line back into the 1500s. Revealing the matches helps with the sidelines that feed into this family line and that, to me, is the great benefit of autosomal testing. For males I think testing their yDNA and autosomal is an absolute necessity to have it available to pass on to future generations. The mitochondrial is interesting but the other two are imperative. For women the autosomal testing is essential and the mitochondrial again interesting especially if you are brickwalled with your female line back.

The biggest most important item that came out of these talks was the absolute necessity of testing all of your siblings if that is possible and trying to phase your parent's/grandparent's DNA. Blocking them into familial lines is my aim ultimately and I did not see a lot of that discussed but I think it too is the future. No better gift to give to one's parents even though deceased that the ability of their descendants to have at hand all these tools to do as complete family research as possible. One doesn't know who will pick up the threads of one's research in the future so providing them with as many tools as possible is the best way forward.

Turning each new decade I have found myself intrigued by age and it started with turning 10 years of age. An entire decade old and I can remember thinking about that just as clearly now as if it had been yesterday. I have enjoyed reaching each new decade and continue to do so. Perhaps it was my grandparents who themselves reached each decade with joy and wonderment that they were spared to go forward when others were not that gives me that sense of wow.

But for me 70 has become a milestone where I plan during this next decade to minimize my "work" in genealogy. To start to backtrack and look solely at my own family. Listening to Judy Russell at the New York State Family History Conference I could sense her intense interest in her own family and certainly her talks were mostly about her families. That is the direction that I want to be moving in by the middle of this decade of the 70s and so at this time I dedicate myself to that end of being completely clear of extraneous research in my Blake and Pincombe family around the world. I hope that someone else will pick up the studies but I will consolidate what I have done and lodge it with the Guild and the Society of Genealogists because, even yet, the history of these families belongs to the United Kingdom more than it does anywhere else. I shall lodge the work that I have done on the Irish Blake family with the Record Office in Dublin where it can be found by any future researcher and that will complete the task that I set for myself 10 years ago when I took on the Pincombe family and 4 years ago when I decided to work on the Blake family.

This has been an exciting year for me working away on the Cornwall Blake family as I can see that it can be done area by area and bring together as much as you can and then construct family trees from the material thus accumulated. Hopefully by the end of the year I will have found as much as I can on Cornwall and start to move eastward into Devon. Will I make it to Hampshire through Somerset, Wiltshire and Dorset? I hope so because Hampshire is the home of my Blake family and I have through the years come up with a better understanding for me of my Blake family. Are we all linked in Hampshire? No, already there are two different yDNA lines (not markedly different but still separated by thousands of years) and as more people test their lines we may find even more as there were Blakes in the British Isles from very early dates in terms of people having surnames. The earliest records being in the 1200s thus far.

My thoughts on turning new milestones; enjoy the time that God has given us to walk upon this earth. One never knows the pitfalls ahead; one can only file away the pitfalls that lie behind us.

Why Blake and why Pincombe? My father was a Blake and my mother a Pincombe and so my work has been to remember their families as a tribute to them and those who came before them.

I love this blog. Often enough I do not reflect personally in it but it is interesting for me to go back sometimes and read where I have done so. One's thoughts are always evolving and changing as we age. That child of ten years was looking forward into the future and wondering what 20, 30, etc would be like. The reward for me is that I am still that child of 10 years; that married woman of 20 years; that mother of 30 years; that  "work at home" entrepreneur woman of 40 years; that "return to the workforce" woman of 50 years; that emerging genealogist of 60 years and now that grandmother of 70 years; each decade brings into one's life some new adventure; some change to the status quo that predominated the decade before.

A second brother of mine has tested and I have his ethnicity results to go along with the ethnicity results of another brother and myself reported on earlier. 

Myself                Brother 1                           Brother 2                      %  Region
99.9%                    99.8%                                100%                        European
98.5%                    97.2%                                  99.6%                     Northern European
54.2%                    47.3%                                  58.7%                     British and Irish
14.4%                    20.9%                                  21.2%                     French and German
  2.0%                      1.0%                                    2.9%                     Scandinavian
27.9%                    28.0%                                  16.7%                     Broadly Northern European

  0.3%                      0.9%                                                                  Southern European
                               less than 0.1%                                                    Italian
  0.3%                      0.8%                                                                 Broadly Southern European
  0.2%                      0.2%                                                                 Ashkenazi
  0.8%                      1.5%                                    0.4%                     Broadly European
  0.1%                      0.1%                                                                 Oceanian
less than  0.1%        less than 0.1%                                                  North African and Middle East
                                Less than 0.1%                                                 Sub saharan Africa
   0.1%                     0.1%                         less than 0.1%                Unassigned         

This brother is 99.6% Northern European, 100% European. He doesn't show any of the miniscule amounts that myself and brother 1 show. Interesting but the variety of English genes that make up my family lines is considerably different perhaps from others. I have five waves of immigration from England over a period of slightly less than 100 years from 5 distinct areas.

1818 - Bewcastle, Cumberland
1832 - Etton, East Riding of Yorkshire
1850 - Bishops Nympton, Devon and Selworthy Somerset
1908 - Birmingham, England and Bermondsey, Surrey
         - Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire and Rugeley, Staffordshire
1913 - Upper Clatford, Hampshire and Turnworth, Dorset

Although this may not appear to be remarkably different considering the size of England most of my ancestors came from small villages dating back in their family lines hundreds of years.

Already I can tell with this third mentioned tester at 23 and Me and the fifth one of my siblings to test their autosomal (and other) DNA, that the percentages that we each received from our four grandparents was exceedingly different. Our matches tend to be extreme in terms of how much with most of us being quite different from each other. Phasing of my parent's DNA is the intent of doing all this testing and we are about to begin now working on that. We had started using the FT DNA data but now with several sets from 23 and Me we will proceed.

The next batch of testing is to do at least one sibling at AncestryDNA (I am already there) and perhaps two if I can find a second one willing to do that.

My understanding is that the Ethnic Percentages from 23 and Me tend to be the best picture of our ethnicity. Knowing each one of my siblings I had already formed an opinion on which grandparent that they most resembled and eventually I may take a crack at our grandparent's phased DNA as well. That will require some assistance from cousins and we do not have any first cousins and few second cousins and half-second cousins on both sides of our families. There are a number of third cousins and these will be the ones that I will have to rely on to work on the grandparents. We will see how far I progress with that!

But I do wonder what happened to the minute amounts of southern Europe including Italian, Sardinian, the Middle East and North African found in the rest of us?

52 Ancestor Challenge - Challenge 39

Blake, King, Coleman, Pearce, Farmer, Mary (unknown), Lambden, Sarah (unknown), Knight, Ellis, Knight, Vincent, Butt, O'Ford, Arnold, Molton, Cotterell, Bartlett, Alderman, Shepherd, Sherwood, Elizabeth (unknown), Happerfield, Collins, Rawlings, Tanner, Dove, Morgan, Lywood, Lanham, 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

Perhaps one of my greatest discoveries of this past year was the correct spelling of the surname of the wife of George Lywood. Listed as Canham for all the years that I have been researching; finding it to be Lanham has been a breakthrough. I discussed my breakthrough earlier in the year as it was a random search that disclosed it to me:

 http://kippeeb.blogspot.ca/2015/05/52-ancestor-challenge-benefits.html

Doing the search for the surname Canham and ending up looking for Lanham was a completely random happening which yielded great results. Then entering the corrected surname into my tree at Find My Past was an avalanche of new results permitting hopefully the linkage back to the father of Elizabeth Lanham as Joseph Lanham/Lannum. The marriage of George Lywood and Elizabeth Lanham 18 Jul 1780 at West Harnham fits so clearly into the records for this family. Their children were baptized:

Jane Lywood (no baptism found), married James Tyneham 9 Aug 1797 at West Harnham
John baptized 22 Jan 1784 at West Harnham
George baptized 7 May 1786 at West Harnham (my ancestor)

Elizabeth Lanham could be baptized 12 Aug 1754 at Melksham daughter of Joseph Lannum and Elizabeth Willmore/Wilmar. They themselves were married 22 Sep 1752 at Melksham. Elizabeth was a widow at the time of her marriage.

This Joseph could be the son of Joseph Lanham (clothier) and Hannah Grimshire and they were married 30 Jun 1695 at Amesbury. I have not yet found a baptism for either Joseph or for Hannah who was buried 30 Sep 1739 at Melksham. A Joseph (possible son of Joseph and Hannah) married Agatha Stevens 3 May 1728 at Bradford on Avon. There was a Joseph Lannum baptized 17 Sep 1729 at Melksham son of Joseph and Agatha Lannum. Do these all link together? I had a match on AncestryDNA with another Lywood descendant and I wrote to mention my latest find. He checked it out and came back with "In agreement." But now I would like to look at it in more depth.

Now for a little geography just to make sure that all of these places are in a reasonable distance from each other. The search engine at Find My Past revealed these possibilities to me and I now need to give them a longer look.

Melksham where an Elizabeth Lanham was baptized is 30 miles from West Harnham but Bradford on Avon is closeby Melksham. Amesbury is close to West Harnham. Is it practical to think of Elizabeth as being baptized at Melksham in 1754 and married to George Lywood in 1780 at West Harnham? The marriage of Joseph Lanham and Hannah Grimshire (grandparents of Elizabeth) at Amesbury lends credence to this possibility. Hannah (married at Amesbury) is buried at Melksham where they are living at that time.

Can I find a baptism for Hannah Grimshire? There is a baptism for a Hannah Grimshire 12 Oct 1678 at Amesbury daughter of Thomas and Hannah Grimshire. That would have her only seventeen years old when she married Joseph Lanham at Amesbury and 61 if this is her burial 30 Sep 1739 at Melksham. There is a Thomas Grimsheere married to Hannah Jarvis 25 Nov 1677 at Amesbury. Hannah appears to be the only baptism for this set of parents. Interesting that the spelling of the Lanham name is that at Amesbury but at Melksham one finds Lannum and Lanham.

Another interesting commonality is in the naming of the children of Joseph Lannun (baptized 17 Sep 1729 at Melksham son of Joseph and Agatha Lannum and married to Elizabeth Willmore/Wilar 22 Sep 1752 at Melksham) all baptized at Melksham:

Elizabeth Lannum no baptism found but  buried 20 Jan 1753 at Melksham
Elizabeth Lannum baptized 12 Aug 1754
Agatha Lannum no baptism found but buried 7 Jul 1756 at Melksham

No other children found for this couple. Elizabeth would have been sixteen years of age when her father was buried 6 Apr 1770 at Melksham.

There are no wills for Lannum but there are wills for Lanham at Melksham and other places:

Ref No    Title    Date    Name    Occupation    Community       

P1/12Reg/296B  Will  1770  Lanham, Joseph  Melksham
   
P1/1843/18  Will, wrapper  1843  Lanham, William Randell  Tailor and draper  Salisbury
   
P1/L/257  Administration bond, inventory  1708  Lanham, William  Whiteparish
   
P1/L/487  Will  1770  Lanham, Joseph  Innholder  Melksham
   
P2/1806/57  Will, wrapper  1806  Lanham, William  Cooper  Upavon
   
P2/1819/64  Administration bond  1819  Lanham, Hannah  Widow  Bishopstone, South
   
P2/1820/22  Administration bond, wrapper  1820  Lanham, Edward  Bachelor  Bishopstone, South
   
P2/2Reg/99A  Will  1550  Lanham, John  Martin 

P2/L/102  Administration bond, inventory, will  1605  Lanham, Robert  Martin 
   
P2/L/111  Administration bond, inventory, will  1607  Lanham, Robert  Husbandman  Bishopstone, South
   
P2/L/176  Account, administration bond, inventory  1629, 1630  Lanham, William  Martin  

P2/L/211  Inventory, will  1636  Lanham, Gabriel  Bishopstone, South 
   
P2/L/266  Inventory, will  1661  Lanham, Thomas  Yeoman  Bishopstone, South
   
P2/L/345  Inventory  [1676]  Lanham, William  Lace maker  Martin
   
P2/L/384  Commission, inventory, will  1685  Lanham, John, senior  Broad weaver  Wilton
   
P2/L/458  Inventory, will  1703  Lanham, John alias George  Broad weaver  Wilton
   
P2/L/504  Inventory, will  1712  Lanham, John  Cheesemonger  Wilton 
   
P2/L/518  Administration bond  1713  Lanham, Joseph  Amesbury
   
P2/L/601  Will  1734  Lanham, Thomas  Yeoman  Bishopstone, South
   
P2/L/800  Administration bond  1793  Lanham, Henry  Bachelor  Market Lavington
   
P25/1774/4  Administration bond  1774  Lanham, Henry  Westbury
   
P25/1815/2  Oath, will  1815  Lanham, William  Tiler and plasterer  Westbury
   
P4/1718/18  Two inventories, will  1718  Lanham, Philip  Cooper  Salisbury
   
P5/15Reg/320B  Will  1715  Lanham, Mary  Spinster  Heytesbury
   
P5/1690/28  Inventory, will  1690  Lanham, Mary  Widow  Heytesbury
   
P5/1712/34  Administration bond  1712  Lanham, William  Heytesbury
   
P5/1715/23  Will  1715  Lanham, Mary  Spinster  Heytesbury
   
P5/1749/33  Will, wrapper  1749  Lanham, Richard  Heytesbury
   
P5/1756/20  Will  1756  Lanham, Alice  Widow  Heytesbury

I need to learn more about the Lanham family and why their surname was Lannum at Melksham in the parish records. I did find the Lannum spelling on Family Search. In Find My Past it appears to be Lanham for the same individual. The marriage bond for Joseph Lanham and Elizabeth Wilmar (widow) at Melksham of 1752 lists John Rutty as bondsman. Why are there two wills listed for Joseph Lanham in 1770 at Melksham? Are there two who died in the same year?

Joseph Lanham married at Rowde Hannah Banks of Lacock 23 Aug 1738. Joseph was of Melksham but I am suspicious that his wife Agatha was deceased as no more children after the burial of Agatha.

I also found the Marriage Licence Bonds transcription for Joseph Lannum 3 May 1728 at Amesford with marriage at Bradford. He was a cloth worker living at Amesbury and Agatha Stephens was of Melksham. So it would appear that the Joseph Lannum/Lanham at Amesbury is also the Joseph Lannum/Lanham at Melksham where he was a clothier. Another interesting record for a baptism of Joseph Lanham 6 Oct 1754 at Market Lavington son of Joseph (no other details).

Do I have enough evidence to show that the Joseph Lanham at Amesbury was also the Joseph Lanham at Melksham? It would appear that the marriage bond does give sufficient information. I need to purchase the wills (both are available) although Elizabeth his likely daughter was not married until 1780 so will not likely show any relationship to the Lywood family into which I postulate she married. However did George and Elizabeth meet one is left to ponder but losing her father at 16 years of age probably changed her life especially as that father had gone bankrupt as a clothier in Melksham. If I could learn more about her mother perhaps I could learn more about the daughter and where she was located after her father's death.

I did not yet purchase the wills but will do so eventually.

Ancestry of Elizabeth Lanham:

1. Elizabeth BLAKE
2. Ernest Edward George BLAKE (b 20 Aug 1904) - Eastleigh Hampshire England
3. Edith Bessie TAYLOR (b 1 Apr 1875) - Kimpton Hampshire England
4. Elizabeth RAWLINGS (b 19 Oct 1853) - Enford Wiltshire England
5. Elizabeth LYWOOD (b 25 Dec 1826) - Milston Wiltshire England
6. George LYWOOD (b 7 May 1786) - West Harnham Wiltshire England
7. Elizabeth Lanham (b 12 Aug 1754) - Melksham Wiltshire England
8. Joseph Lannum (b 17 Sep 1729) - Melksham Wiltshire England
9. Joseph Lannum
10. Joseph Lanham

I received a transcription from a correspondent in Australia of the Will of Archibald Forster. The abstract I have published several times on my blog and a few weeks ago I published a revised abstract from this correspondent. I have now been provided with a full transcript of that will and add it here to that discussion on the Routledge family of Oakshaw from which I descend. The original abstract had distracted me from the set of parents that I thought were parents of my Grace Routledge who married George Routledge. I knew from my mother that these Routledge marriages were of first cousins according to her. Thomas Routledge and Elizabeth Routledge descendants of Henry Routledge and Margaret Tweddle and George Routledge and Grace Routledge were not first cousins but rather 2nd cousins once removed. Discovering the will abstract I began to surmise that Grace's parents were Mary Routledge of Kirkbeckstown and Thomas Routledge of Hill. However another researcher knew that the Mary Routledge, widow, referred to in the will was married to a John Routledge and that her surname was not Routledge. That was good news actually as it took me back to Thomas Routledge and Elizabeth Storye as the parents of Grace.

The will:

In the name of God Amen, I Archibald Forster of Cleughside in the parish of Bewcastle and County of Cumberland being in perfect health and sound understanding and disposing memory and constitute and absolutely ordain this to be my last will and testament in manner and form following, That is to say Inprimary I do give and bequeath and devise unto my friend Alexander Kennidie and his wife Sibella of Cleughside all my personal and real estate subject to my funeral expenses and the legacies hereafter mentioned as followth
Item: -  I give and bequeath unto my relation Sibella wife of the abovenamed Alexander Kennidie of Cleughside my house or houses at the Lineholmford Miln Damhead in the parish of Stapleton with the garth or gardings to her own proper use and chooses …… (illeg) her.
Item:- I give and bequeath unto Hellenor the wife of Robert Henderson the sum of twenty pounds sterling. Also I give and bequeath unto Catherine daughter of the said Robert Henderson the sum of one pound ten shillings. Also I give unto the rest of said Robert Henderson’s children the sum of one shilling each
Item:-  I give and bequeath unto John Kennidie son of the abovenamed Alexander Kennidie of Cleughside the sum of thirty pounds sterling and the one half of all my sheep that I die possessed of.
Item :-  I give and bequeath unto William Kennidie son of the abovenamed Alexander Kennidie of Cleughside the sum of thirty pounds sterling and my clock and my Bible and my bed that I lie on and the one half of all my sheep that I die possessed of.
Item:-  I give unto Catherine Kennidie daughter of the said Alexander kennidie of Cleughside the sum of thirty pounds sterling.
Item:-  I give to Elizabeth Kennidie of Cleughside the sum of twenty pounds sterling. I also order that the several sums bequeathed to Alexander Kennidie of Cleughside’s children that his or her sum be payed as they separately arrive at the age of twenty one years.
Item:-  I give unto Mary Routledge widow of Crossgreens or Strandheads the sum of one shilling and I give unto Grace Routledge her daughter the sum of one pound ten shillings because she was named after my deceased sister. Also I give to Mary daughter of the abovenamed widow the sum of one shilling.
Item:- I give unto Adam Routledge and John Routledge and Henry Routledge sons of the abovenamed Mary Routledge widow of Crossgreens the sum of one shilling each.
Item:-  I give unto Catherine wife of Thomas Dowglass of Ash the sum of one shilling.
Item:- I give unto William Routledge son of the late William Routledge of Oakshaw the sum of one shilling.
Item:-  I give unto Henry Routledge of Border Rigg’s three children the sum of one shilling each.
Item:- I give unto George Routledge and his two children of Oakshaw the sum of one shilling each.
Item:-  I give unto Leonard Routledge of Oakshaw the sum of one shilling sterling.
Item:- I give unto John Routledge my sister’s son the sum of one shilling sterling.
I do nominate and appoint the said Alexander Kennidie and his wife Sibella of Cleughside sole joint executors to this my last will and testament to pay all the above legacies, funeral expenses and to receive and discharge all my debts.  In witness thereof I have hereabout set my hand and seal the twenty fifth day of March in the year of our Lord one Thousand seven hundred and sixty six.
Signed: - Archibald Forster
Signed and sealed before these witnesses John Forrester sworn and Francis Armstrong sworn. Sworn witnesses
Proved June 12 1767

It is still quite exciting to see my two 4x great grandfathers mentioned in this will and the reference to George as being of Oakshaw is very handy. I have George traced back a couple of generations but can now be more directional in my research.

Recommenced phasing of the parent's DNA with one section X being worked on by one sibling and I am working on Chromosome 22. Wanted to try a particular pattern working on the shortest one and it does appear to be working well. I created a Mendelian Genetic Chart showing the different combinations. With five sets of data (four complete and one integrated in from FT DNA) I am getting better results than with the FT DNA data on three people. That is to be expected because five is always better than three! I continue to be amazed at how I am the one that is different. I guess when you feel different in a family then perhaps you actually are!

I am just starting now to write to cousins to see if they would be willing to test. That would let me work on my grandparent's DNA as well. Curiosity about DNA led me to genealogy back in the early 2000s and it continues to lead my research. I still delve into a lot of old records but the DNA helps me to focus on particular lines. A match in any of those lines helps to verify the research that I do further back in some lines - Lywood is a good example where I now have two separate DNA matches at AncestryDNA which are between seventh cousins. There do not appear to be any other lines on which we are related and these are 4th to 6th cousin matches. One would assume that I inherited more on my Grandmother's Blake side to have these matches show up so strongly. Once I have tested one of my brothers at Ancestry DNA I will see how his matches compare to mine. A project for this next month actually is getting that test kit mailed out.

52 Ancestor Challenge - Challenge 40

Blake, King, Coleman, Pearce, Farmer, Mary (unknown), Lambden, Sarah (unknown), Knight, Ellis, Knight, Vincent, Butt, O'Ford, Arnold, Molton, Cotterell, Bartlett, Alderman, Shepherd, Sherwood, Elizabeth (unknown), Happerfield, Collins, Rawlings, Tanner, Dove, Morgan, Lywood, Lanham, 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

I have two ancestors (thus far) born out of wedlock but raised by their mothers. Elizabeth Peck was the mother of my second one. Elizabeth was baptized at Milston Wiltshire 15 Apr 1758 daughter of Joseph Peck and Ann Holmes who were themselves  married 26 Jul 1740 at Milston and they baptized eight children at Milston:

John baptized 28 Apr 1741
Thomas baptized 15 May 1744
Samuel baptized 26 Apr 1747
Jane baptized 9 Feb 1751
Jonah baptized 27 Mar 1753
Anne baptized 30 Apr 1755
Elizabeth baptized 15 Apr 1758
Mary baptized 15 May 1761

Joseph was himself baptized 4 Apr 1718 at Milston (son of Thomas Peck and Johanna Holmes who were themselves married 13 Sep 1705 at Milston) and Ann Holmes was baptized 17 Jul 1712 at Figheldean. Joseph was buried 7 Oct 1791 at Milston and Ann was buried 5 Jul 1778 at Milston. An autosomal DNA match (actually several) link back to Thomas Peck and Johanna Holmes using Ancestry DNA. Being able to prove lines with DNA is a real treat. The paper trail looks excellent but verifying with an autosomal DNA match is one of the treats of DNA testing.

I have never done very much work on the siblings of my Peck ancestors or my Holmes. Were Joanna Holmes and Ann Holmes related? I have not solved that mystery yet either.

The daughter of Elizabeth Peck, Martha, married George Lywood a soldier returning from the Battle of Waterloo. That has always made me curious wondering if Martha's father was also a soldier who died in the Peninsular Wars. Martha Peck was baptized 1 Jul 1792 at Milston.

I have the parish registers (baptisms and burials for Milston) and will extract the information on the Holmes family to see if I am able to make any connections.

Milston Parish Register Baptisms
Robert Holmes baptized 11 Mar 1551
Nicholas Holmes baptized 11 Mar 1551
Jacob Holmes baptized 24 Dec 1556
Margery Holmes baptized 3 May 1559
Alice Holmes baptized 16 Oct 1564
Elizabeth Holmes baptized 24 Jan 1581 daughter of Nicholas
John Holmes 10 May 1588 son of Nicholas
Henry Holmes baptized 24 Aug 1591 son of Nicholas
Edmund Holmes baptized 22 Aug 1594 son of John
Margery Holmes baptized 2 Aug 1596 daughter of John
William Holmes baptized 5 Oct 1599 son of John
Elizabeth Holmes baptized 2 Oct 1601 daughter of John
William Holmes baptized 15 Apr 1614 son of Richard
Margery Holmes baptized 21 Sep  1614 daughter of John junior
Anne Homles baptized 4 Feb 1619 daughter of John Holmes ?
Mary Homles baptized 4 Feb 1619 daughter of John Holmes ?
Dorothy Homes baptized 16 Jul 1620 daughter of John
John Holmes baptized Oct 1622 son of John
Jane Homes baptized 17 Apr 1725 daughter of Thomas and Jane (Holmes BT)
Jane Homes baptized 17 Sep 1726 daughter of Thomas and Jane (Holmes BT)

Milston Parish Register Burials
Margery Holmes buried 10 Mar 1580
Elizabeth Holmes buried 31 Jan 1581
John Holmes buried 25 Feb 1581
Edmund Holmes buried 21 Dec 1596
Agnes Holmes 6 Feb 1600 (widow)
Alice Homes buried 16 May 1622 wife of Nicholas (Holmes on BT)
Nicholas Homes buried 7 Mar 1624
John Holmes buried 24 Jan 1631
Jane Homes buried 18 Apr 1725
Jane Homes buried 28 Oct 1726 (BT Holmes)
Jane 1754
Sarah 1780

Family Search
Thomas Holms married Jane Waterman 4 Apr 1716 at West Harnham

There does appear to be a family early on at Milston of:

Nicholas Holmes married to Alice (unknown)
Elizabeth Holmes baptized 24 Jan 1581 daughter of Nicholas
John Holmes 10 May 1588 son of Nicholas
Henry Holmes baptized 24 Aug 1591 son of Nicholas

The next family unit is for John Holmes as father and there may be two John Holmes at Milston at that time with one of them being possibly the son of Nicholas. However neither Joanna Holmes or Ann Holmes my ancestors are listed in these records.

There are many Holme families at Figheldean and Figheldean is just one mile from Milston.

Parish Registers Figheldean Baptisms

John Holmes
Susanna Holmes baptized 13 Apr 1610 daughter of John

Edward Holmes married Thomsan 
William Holmes baptized 20 Mar 1654
Sarah Holmes baptized 6 Jul 1656

Richard Holmes married Sarah
John Holmes baptized 15 Jul 1657
James Holmes baptized 18 Feb 1659

Thomas Holmes married Martha
George Holmes baptized 20 Sep 1659
Thomas Holmes 7 Jul baptized 1661
William Holmes baptized 22 Mar 1662
Charles Holmes baptized 22 Feb 1664
George Holmes baptized 15 Apr 1667
Alexander Holmes baptized 28 Dec 1669
Roger Holmes baptized 4 Feb 1671
Mary Holmes baptized 27 Dec 1674

George Holmes married Elnor
Elnor Holmes baptized 25 Dec 1660
William Holmes baptized 9 Mar 1667

William Holmes (junior) married Susanna
Alice Holmes baptized 20 Apr 1663
James Holmes baptized 17 Apr 1666
Margery Holmes baptized 27 Nov 1668

John Holmes married Mary Dory 5 Sep 1664 at Figheldean

George Holmes (junior) married Ann C 11 Jun 1666 at Figheldean 
Ann Holmes baptized 4 Jul 1669
Isabell Holmes baptized 31 Mar 1672
Thomas Holmes baptized 21 Dec 1674
Joane Holmes baptized 8 Jul 1676

Nicholas Holmes married Dorothy
William Holmes baptized 5 Sep 1668
Mary Holmes baptized 20 Aug 1671
Ann Holmes baptized 4 Jan 1673
Henry Holmes baptized 24 Jun 1677
 
John Holmes (and Ann) of Ablington
Anna Holmes baptized 28 Oct 1670
John Holmes baptized 8 Nov 1672
Ellen Holmes baptized 1 Jan 1674
George Holms baptized 4 Aug 1677
James Holmes baptized 13 Jul 1684

William Holmes married Catherine
William Holmes baptized 12 Jun 1672
Mary Holmes baptized 18 Dec 1673

Richard Holmes married Margaret
Margaret Holmes baptized 25 Apr 1684

Nicholas Holmes married Elizabeth Storrer 6 Aug 1683 at Figheldean
Nicholas Holmes baptized 8 Jun 1685

John Holmes married Edith
John Holmes baptized 7 Mar 1685
Anne Holmes baptized 22 Nov 1687
Jane Holmes baptized 20 Oct 1689
John Holmes baptized 31 Jul  1691
Thomas Holmes baptized 6 Aug 1693
George Holmes baptized 11 Nov 1695
Richard Holmes baptized 18 Dec 1698

John Holmes married Elizabeth King 16 Feb 1690 at Figheldean

Charles Holmes married Alice (husbandman)
Thomas Holmes baptized 24 Apr 1690
John Holmes baptized 18 Jun 1692
Richard Holmes baptized 4 Nov 1694
Mary Holmes baptized 22 Jan 1696
Anne Holmes baptized 9 Dec 1699
Ann Holmes baptized 19 Apr 1700
William Holms baptized 7 Dec 1701
Elizabeth Holms baptized 6 Apr 1704 (button maker at baptism)
James Holmes baptized 3 Mar 1706 (labourer at baptism)
Mary Holmes baptized 22 Jan 1709

John Holmes married Mary (carpenter)
John Holmes baptized 23 Nov 1693
Mary Holmes baptized 17 Jan 1695
Elizabeth Holmes baptized 13 Feb 1697
Nicholas Holmes baptized 31 Jan 1702
William Holmes baptized 25 Mar 1706
James Holms baptized 9 Apr 1712

Alexander Holmes married Sarah  (husbandman)
Alexander Holmes baptized 10 Feb 1693
Sary Holmes baptized 27 Nov 1697
Mary Holms baptized 29 Feb 1699
Mary Holms baptized 11 Dec 1701
Elizabeth Holmes baptized 9 Dec 1703 (labourer at baptism)
Rachell Holms baptized 6 Apr 1708
John Holmes baptized 29 Oct 1711

James Holmes married Eleanor (shepherd)
Sarah Holmes baptized 1 Oct 1698
Hester Holmes baptized 8 Jul 1701
Susanna Holms baptized 5 Nov 1704

James Holmes married Mary (carpenter)
Judith Holmes baptized 2 Jun 1699
Dorothy Holmes baptized 30 Oct 1700
Susanna Holmes baptized 20 Jun 1709

James Holmes married Mary (husbandman)
James Holmes baptized 1 May 1701
William Holmes baptized 20 May 1703
Mary Holms baptized 5 Apr 1705 (labourer at baptism)
William Holms baptized 18 Jun 1707
John Holmes baptized 18 Jun 1707
Sarah Holms baptized 1 May 1712 
Elizabeth Holmes baptized 29 Jul 1713
Thomas Holmes baptized 5 Dec 1715
Grace Holmes baptized 25 Aug 1717

George Holms married Elizabeth (shepherd)
Charity Holms baptized 13 Jun 1700
George Holms baptized 25 Oct 1701
John Holmes baptized 15 Nov 1703
Thomas Holmes baptized 22 Sep 1710
James Holms baptized 14 Feb 1714

John Holmes married Elizabeth (shepherd)
Dorothy Holmes baptized 17 Dec 1704
John Holms baptized 26 Oct 1706
Mary Holmes baptized 15 Aug 1708
Susanna Holmes baptized 15 Dec 1711
Hester Holmes baptized 18 Feb 1714

George Holmes married Abigail of Ablington
Mary Holmes baptized 16 Aug 1710
Ann Holmes baptized 17 Jul 1712 
Martha Holmes baptized 8 Jul 1715


Alexander Holmes married Elizabeth
John Holmes baptized 1 Jul 1714

BBS
Thomas Holmes baptized 15 Dec  1668
Charles Holmes baptized 9 Apr 1671
 
Although this information doesn't add to my Peck family at all, it does give me a look into the Holmes family. Ann Holmes (if this is the correct one) marrying Joseph Peck is older than her husband and rather elderly having her last couple of children. She would have married late but I have not yet found another Ann that would fit into this family. Finding someone whose tree matches me with DNA results would be rather interesting. The results show a possibility that Joanna Holmes was an aunt to Ann Holmes but further research is likely needed to really prove that line.

Ancestry of Elizabeth Peck:

1. Elizabeth BLAKE
2. Ernest Edward George BLAKE (b 20 Aug 1904) - Eastleigh Hampshire England
3. Edith Bessie TAYLOR (b 1 Apr 1875) - Kimpton Hampshire England
4. Elizabeth RAWLINGS (b 19 Oct 1853) - Enford Wiltshire England
5. Elizabeth LYWOOD (b 25 Dec 1826) - Milston Wiltshire England
6. Martha PECK (b 1 Jul 1792) - Milston Wiltshire England
7. Elizabeth PECK (b 15 Apr 1758) - Milston Wiltshire England
8. Joseph PECK (b 4 Apr 1718) - Milston Wiltshire England
9. Thomas PECK (b 19 Dec 1676) - Milston Wiltshire England
10. Thomas PECK (b ~1640) - Milston Wiltshire England
likely
11. William PECK (b 1605) - Milston Wiltshire England
12. William PECK (b 1576) - Milston Wiltshire England
13. John PECK

52 Ancestor Challenge - Challenge 41

Blake, King, Coleman, Pearce, Farmer, Mary (unknown), Lambden, Sarah (unknown), Knight, Ellis, Knight, Vincent, Butt, O'Ford, Arnold, Molton, Cotterell, Bartlett, Alderman, Shepherd, Sherwood, Elizabeth (unknown), Happerfield, Collins, Rawlings, Tanner, Dove, Morgan, Lywood, Lanham, 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

I have known the name Mary Charley/Charlie since childhood in terms of her being the wife of John Pincombe father of Robert Pincombe my three times great grandfather and the father of the emigrant John Pincombe who came to Canada with his family in 1850/51. It must have been a name that intrigued my mother because she retained that name from her childhood. Her father had died when she was just eight years old although it was likely reinforced by family gatherings during her childhood.  She remembered seeing a Family Bible which traced this Pincombe line back to John Pincombe and Grace Manning and their marriage took place at Bishops Nympton 20 Mar 1725. The thought crosses my mind that such a Bible would have had to cross with John Pincombe when he emigrated to Canada but the only Bible I have seen for the Pincombe family is held by my half-second cousin and I have copies of the family pages in that Bible. I do remember seeing that particular Bible as a child but do not recall anything other than the pages for which I have images. It is possible that there was a loose page in that Bible which showed the family line as this was a family that found their genealogical information to be very important particularly the spelling of their surname! There were three sons and two daughters of John Pincombe the emigrant (all were born in England) and I have never met most of the descendants. We did, some of us, get together to prepare a bio for the Pincombe Family when the Westminster and Delaware History Books were published and representatives of each of the sons were present at that gathering. I wrote the bio but had imput from everyone. The slant was basically on the Pincombe family which stayed in the Westminster area (my own line had moved into London, Ontario after the death of my grandfather in 1925). The two daughter's lines were not consulted mostly because none of us knew descendants that lived closeby.

I have had two recent communications from possible cousins on the Charley line. The first was as a result of an autosomal DNA match with an individual still living in Devon England where Mary Charley was likely born and certainly died. Mary was buried at Bishops Nympton Parish Church.The second is descendant of the Charley line in Jamaica and this line traces back to Combe Martin, Devon.

Information on possible Mary Charley from Find My Past:

Mary Charley baptized 11 Nov 1738 at Combe Martin daughter of Richard and Joan
Mary Chorly baptized 27 May 1741 at Tiverton St Peter daughter of William
Mary Chaarley baptized 5 Sep 1747 at Tawstock daughter of John and Grace
Mary Chorley baptized 15 Jun 1743 at Great Torrington daughter of George and Margaret

An exercise apparently not done by me earlier! at least not with varying the surname. Tawstock is 13 miles from Bishops Nympton where John Pincomb lived and where he married Mary Charlie in 1767. Tiverton is 14 miles from Bishops Nympton. Great Torrington is 17 miles from Bishops Nympton. Combe Martin is 18 miles from Bishops Nympton. All are within equal distance from Bishops Nympton and all are born in a time interval that would work for the marriage. Richard is a name that is used for the second last son of Robert Pincombe (third son of Mary). William is the name of her second son and John is the name of her first son and husband. George is the third son of Robert (third son of Mary). All the forenames do occur in the family. I will have to eliminate each of these Marys to see if that is helpful.

Mary signed the marriage register with a distinct hand but she signed it as Mary Pincombe unfortunately. The priest has written her surname as Charlie on both the Banns Register and the Marriage Register.

What happened to the four Marys listed above:

Mary Charley buried 3 Feb 1746 at  Parracombe
Mary Charley banns read at Goodleigh and the marriage 5 Nov 1759 to Robert Beard of Symbridge
Mary Charley married Joseph Jago 31 Jan 1765 at Kingskerswell
Mary Charley buried 15 Jul 1769 at Torquay St Marychurch
Mary Charley married at Tawstock 1 Sep 1772 a George Rogers
Mary Churley born circa 1740 and buried 7 Mar 1817 at Uffculme
Mary Charlie married John PIncomb 8 Nov 1767 at Bishops Nympton
Mary Churley buried 20 Jan 1792 at Uffculme
Mary Churly married 4 Jan 1771 to Robert Jordan at Culmstock
Mary Shirley married 26 Oct 1759 to John Whellan at St Andrew Plymouth
Mary Cherlie banns read at Bishops Nympton 27 Sep 1767 John Pincomb
Mary Chorley buried 13 May 1757 at Tiverton St Peter
Mary Chorley married 3 Apr 1763 William Mogford at Bampton
Mary Chorley married 26 Jul 1767 John Moore at Hartland
Mary Chorley married 8 Jun 1772 William Fulford at Tiverton

I am left with two of the Marys - one baptized at Combe Martin and the second baptized at Great Torrington. It is definitely interesting that a Mary Chorley married a John Moore in 1767 at Hartland. Hartland is 15 miles from Great Torrington and 2 miles from Bishops Nympton. The spelling of the surname is distinct for each of these marriages although Charlie is the priest's choice for the spelling as Mary signed her name Mary Pincombe. So is this my Mary?:

Mary Charley baptized 11 Nov 1738 at Combe Martin daughter of Richard and Joan

I never see the name Joan used in this family. I never see the name Richard used in this family until the grandsons of John and Mary are born to Robert Pincombe their third son and Elizabeth Rowcliffe and Richard and Elizabeth name their 5th son Richard. So a mystery there perhaps.  There is a Richard Charley buried 15 Apr 1765 at West Buckland (2 years before the marriage of John Pincombe and Mary Charlie). He left a will which was probated in 1768 and, of course, lost in the bombing of the Exeter Record Office during World War II. It might have been helpful if Mary Pincombe was his heir! There is another Richard Charley buried 16 Nov 1785 at West Buckland. I couldn't find a baptism for Richard Charley on the Find My Past website that would fit. West Buckland is 11 miles from Combe Martin and 8 miles from Bishops Nympton.

An earlier blog I had set my sights on Hugh Charley of Combe Martin as the father of my Mary but the records on Find My Past do not support this idea (they are shown on Family Search but are a patron submission). I have a published book for the Charley Family and there is mention of the Charley Family in North Devon. The chapter is interesting and written in a folksy style and mentions a couple of record groups including the Churchwardens at Combe Martin:

1699 John Charley
1714 Richard Charley
1729 Richard Charley
1730 Richard Charley
1814 John Charley
1815 John Charley
1820 John Charley
1822 John Charley

Evidence that Richard Charley was at Combe Martin along with the baptism of Mary. Nutcombe Farm at Combe Martin is mentioned and I did find the mention of a Nutcombe which is mentioned under Combe Martin on the Genuki site and 10 miles from West Buckland. Was Richard the father of my Mary; he appears to have had a son Richard perhaps as well. There were still Pincombe families in this area at this time who were related to my John Pincombe. Does location play into a decision?

All of the other Mary Charleys born in the right time period have been eliminated. This Mary baptized at Combe Martin appears to have survived. Marrying at her husband's parish might not be that unusual especially as her father is deceased. She could be living with relatives at Bishops Nympton as she is said to be of Bishops Nympton on the marriage registration and banns.

Is John Charley the father of Richard Charley? Is Hugh Charley the father of John Charley and the emigrant from Ireland mentioned in the book Romance of the Charley Family?

http://kippeeb.blogspot.ca/2012/04/romance-of-charley-family-charley.html

The burial date for Mary can not yet be determined as there are two burials at Bishops Nympton in this time period and no age mentioned. Again so much material lost in the bombing of Exeter Record Office.

1. Elizabeth BLAKE
2. Helen Louise PINCOMBE (b 18 Oct 1916) - Westminster Township Middlesex County Ontario Canada
3. John Routledge PINCOMBE (b 10 Sep 1872)- Lobo Township Middlesex County Ontario Canada
4. William Robert PINCOMBE (b 11 Jun 1837)- Molland Devon England
5. John PINCOMBE (b 5 Jul 1808)- Bishops Nympton Devon England
6. Robert PINCOMBE (b 4 Oct 1775) - Bishops Nympton Devon England
7. Mary CHARLEY (b 11 Nov 1738) - Combe Martin Devon England
possibly
8. Richard CHARLEY

A new member of the team looking after the Blake yDNA study. Patti Blake Goff has family lore that her Blake line (father was a Blake) descends from the Blake family at Galway. She joins the team to look at the Blake family in Ireland gradually working her way into that post. In the meantime enquiries on the Irish Blake family should continue to come to me and I continue to be the main person working on the assigning of Blake members to groups. There is one new member that I need to assign and will get to that process.

Where am I at with my Blake one name study? I have had a really busy summer and gradually getting back into genealogy once again. I have a few new projects which will take up a little of my time at the moment. They are long term projects and of great interest to me personally. They will tend to predominate in five years time when I step away from my Blake one name study.

I want to get back into the Cornwall Blake line. I have had one email from an individual descendant of this line questioning my thought that Blake in Cornwall was an emigrant in the early 1500s. Certainly my grandfather when he spoke of his Blake line believed that they had been in the Andover area for ever and I think that most people think that way. I think they may well have been in that general area for the last eight thousand years and one day proof might arise to substantiate that thought. But the testing by BritainsDNA certainly points to a very ancient line for this haplogroup. The I2a study at FT DNA does the same placing this group in the British Isles well before 4000 years before the present. How to handle such emails? Should one abandon a project because it goes against the thinking of an individual writing to you? I really do not know the answer to that question. I am an outsider looking in; I live in a country which was populated probably twelve thousand years ago or more by emigrants from Asia who also feel the same way that their people have been here for ever. What is forever anyway? Is it more than four generations because by four generations back a lot of people have forgotten where their families live unless a consistent effort was made to pass that information down. I was lucky that way in that my parents constantly mentioned where their families had lived in England (my father came to Canada as a child) and my mother is my only Canadian line with myself, my mother, her father and his mother being my only ancestors born in Canada and to date I only have known ancestors born in various counties of England.

So who does genealogy serve? It should serve everyone as it is the story of our ancestral lines all of which eventually converge way back in time. There was a time when the first Homo species arose on the earth probably spontaneously and successively as each one fought to survive in the environment into which it entered. We now know that many did not survive and that eventually only Homo Sapiens (our species) survived to multiply and occupy this planet. Genealogy serves that group of people because we are all one big family and eventually we will lay down our weapons and live together as God intended. Not one of us is superior to the other; our DNA tells us that.

Off my soapbox and I will return to Cornwall Blake once again extracting all the Blake entries from the census beginning in 1841 and moving forward this time. I tried the reverse and it was meaningful but this time I have the parish records for the earlier Blake lines there so should be able to do some linkages and discover where various family members ended up as the census moves towards 1911. The 1939 Register is soon to be released to help bridge that gap and the 1921 census not so far away now. I hope to have a picture of the Cornwall Blake family available to look at by the end of the year. To the best of my knowledge no one has tested their yDNA with a proven line back to the Blake families in Cornwall; certainly the present day descendants could be from those early Blake lines in both Cornwall and Devon and perhaps further afield.

Working on the 1841 census for Cornwall and extracting Blake entries and entering them into Legacy. This does appear to be working as I am finding most of the people on the 1841 census thus far. I worked my way backwards looking at everyone born at Landrake but it did not seem to be coming together in logical family lines as I worked back. Using Bodmin as a center does appear to be working much better.

Will use this post to add anything in that I need to remember and that I haven't been able to place into the Legacy File. 

52 Ancestor Challenge - Challenge 42

Blake, King, Coleman, Pearce, Farmer, Mary (unknown), Lambden, Sarah (unknown), Knight, Ellis, Knight, Vincent, Butt, O'Ford, Arnold, Molton, Cotterell, Bartlett, Alderman, Shepherd, Sherwood, Elizabeth (unknown), Happerfield, Collins, Rawlings, Tanner, Dove, Morgan, Lywood, Lanham, 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

Philip Rowcliffe was baptized 4 Apr 1721 at Merton the son of Andrew Rowcliffe and Joan Harvey who were themselves married 8 Jun 1720 at Merton. Philip married Martha Pearse 9 Apr 1760 at South Molton and their daughter Elizabeth (baptized 20 May 1777 at Bishops Nympton) married Robert Pincombe  7 Jun 1803 at Bishops Nympton.

Philip and Martha had four children, two baptized  at Bishops Nympton:

Philip born circa 1767 and married Joan Rock 2 May 1803 at Mariansleigh (descendants of this family also emigrated to Canada and were known to my Pincombe ancestors)

George baptized 9 Jul 1774

Elizabeth baptized 20 May 1777

William  born circa 1780

Even now looking more than 10 years later for an actual baptism for the other two children I do not find one for Philip or for William.


Philip was the son of Andrew Rowcliffe and Joan Harvey who were themselves married 8 Jun 1720 at Merton. They baptized five children at Merton:

Philip baptized 4 Apr 1721 and married to Martha Pearse 9 Apr 1760 at South Molton, buried 22 Mar 1802 at South Molton
Mary baptized 30 Apr 1723 and married to William Smale 9 Dec 1754 at Merton
Elizabeth baptized 16 May 1727 and married to Thomas Fraine 25 Jul 1763 at Merton
William baptized 9 Mar 1730 and married to Elizabeth Spare 22 Feb 1764 at Merton, buried 12 Jul 1811 at Merton (82 years of age)
Andrew baptized 11 Jun 1732 at Merton and married to Wilmote Leverton 28 Oct 1766 at Merton

Thinking about these two lines of Smale and Fraine I have never attempted to trace them down so perhaps I will look at that for Philip's siblings. Plus I have not really noted the descendants of Philip, my ancestor, other than my own line. I think that I will create a Rowcliffe tree in Legacy.

The Rowcliffe family is rather interesting Andrew Rowcliffe was likely the Andrew baptized September 1761 at Merton son of Andrew and Mary Rowcliffe. Andrew is likely the Andrew buried 3 Feb 1687 at Merton. Linking this family back to the known Rowcliffe family in Devon has not been accomplished by me. I have gathered a little information however on this family at Merton as I have the Parish Registers for Merton. They begin rather late in 1693

The ancient family of Rowcliffe was found at Yarnscombe which is eight miles from Merton. William Rockley of Yarnscomb married Jone Bagbeare of Bagbeare and they had four sons and one daughter:

Thomas Rocliff of Yearnscomb married to Christian Horne and this is the line that is recorded in the Visitations of Devon 1620. I do not find my Andrew in that line and suspect that he was not descendant of Thomas.

George Rowcliffe living in 1555 and buried by 1620 had two daughters

John Rowcliffe had three sons

Aldered Rowcliffe had four sons

Emme married to unknown

There is a will for Samuell Rowcliffe, yeoman of Merton, probated 24 Jun 1657 which is a must read and will transcribe for this blog post. At a quick glance he has sons named George, Richard and Samuell and a daughter Jone. No mention of Andrew is this will. Could he be a son of George, Richard or Samuell? Of note, George is a forename that was used in the Rowcliffe family along with Philip and William.

Transcriber: Elizabeth Kipp
Date: 18 October 2015
Source: National Archives of the UK - PROB 11/265/584
Testator: Samuell Rowcliffe, Yeoman
Location: Merton, Devon
Date of Will:  25 Nov 1650, Probated 24 Jun 1657

1.   In the name of God Amen
2.   I Samuell Rowcliffe of the Parish of Merton in the Countie of
3.   Devon Yeoman being att present in perfect health and sound of
4.   memorie and minde (thankes be unto Almightie God) doe make
5.   and ordaine this to be my last Will and testament in manner
6.   and forme following Imprimis I recommend my Soule unto the
7.   hands of Almightie God my Maker and Creatour of whome I have
8.   to finde mercie and forgivenes of my sinnes in and through the merritts
9.   of Jesus Christ my Saviour and Redeemer And I bequeath my Bodie
10. to Christian buriall in the parish Church of Merton aforesaid whensoever it
11. shall please God to call me out of this miserible World Item I give and bequeath
12. unto my Wife Jane the Tableboard which stands in my hall and the
13. bord Bedstead and the furniture thereunto belonging which is in the
14. under Roome adioyning unto the Hall and the Ammory which stands in
15. the saide Roome and all the fyrewood which shall happen to be in my
16. Towne place att the time of my decease Which promisses my will is
17. she shall inioy upon Condition that she suffer my Children to inioy the proffitts
18. of my Tenement one Quarter of a yeare after my decease and thereto
19. have her dett of them during that time and not otherwise Item I give
20. and bequeath unto my daughter Jane Thirtie pounds lawfull English
21. monie to be paid her within one yeare after my decease Itemn I give
22. and bequeath unto my daughter Joane Thirtie pounds lawfull English
23. monie to be paid her within one yeare after my decease Item I give and
24. bequeath unto my Sonne George Tenn pounds lawfull English monie to
25. be paid him within one yeare after my decease Item all the rest of my goods
26. and Chattells not herein by me given and bequeathed as aforesaid both
27. moveable and immoveable I give and bequeath unto my Sonns Richard
28. and Samuell ioyntly and equallie whome I make and ordaine Executors
29. of this my last Will and Testament Item my will is that if it please
30. God anie or either of my three Children herein first named shall happen
31. to decease unmarried Then the Legacie by me given to the partie soe
32. deceasyng to be distributed to the Survivour or if two of them happen to decease
33. as aforesaid Then theire Legacies to be given to the Survivour of my
34. Three Children first in  theise presents named In Witnesse of the promisses
35. I doe publish this to be my last Will and Testament And have hereunto
36. sett my hand and Seale The five and twentith day of November An[n]o
37. domini One Thousand Six hundred Fiftie The Signe of Samuell
38. Rowcliffe Teste Thomas Bennett The Signe of Phillip Rowcliffe
39. The Signe of Thomas Upcott
40. Whereas I have by my Lifetime
41. already paid and secured to be payd The marriage portion of my
42. daughter Jone within mentioned my will is That all that Legacies
43.  with mentioned by me bequeathed unto her shall cease and be utterly void
44. from her and remaine due unto my Executors within mentioned And this I
45. doe hereby declare to be my Will and intent In witnesse whereof I have hereunto
46. subscribed The two and twentith day of March One thousand Six hun-
47. dred Fiftie two The Signe of Samuell Rowcliffe In the presence of Thomas
48. Bennett The signe of Thomas Upcott
49. This Will was proved att London The
50. Fower and Twentith day of June In the yeare of our Lord God
51. the yeare of our Lord God One thousand six hundred Fiftie and Seaven
52. before the Judges for probate of Wills and granting Administrations
53. lawfully authorized by the oathes of Richard and Samuell Rowcliffe
54. the Sonns and Sole and only Executors named in the above written Will
55. To whome Administration as all and singular the goods and Chattells and
56. deceased was granted and Committed they being first Legally sworne
57. by vertue of a Commission truly and faythfully to administer the same.

Interesting to find a Phillip Rowcliffe mentioned as a witness although not mentioned in the body of the will. Could Andrew be a son of this Phillip Rowcliffe in that he does name a son Philip? The wills for the Rowcliffe family were mostly lost in the Second World War with the bombing of the Devon Record Office.

There are four other wills that I will transcribe also at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury

1. Thomas Rowcliffe yeoman of Kings Nympton probated 5 Jul 1658

Kings Nympton is just 11 miles from Merton and 6 miles from Bishops Nympton making it a rather interesting will to read as well.

Transcriber: Elizabeth Kipp
Date: 18 October 2015
Source: National Archives of the UK - PROB 11/279/169
Testator: Thomas Rowcliffe, Yeoman
Location: Kings Nympton, Devon
Date of Will:  10 Mar 1657, Probated 5 Jul 1658

1.    In the name of God Amen
2.    the Tenth day of March in the yeare of our Lord One thousand six
3.   hundred fiftie and seaven I Thomas Rowcliffe of Kingsnimpton in
4.   the County of Devon Yeoman being sicke of bodie but of good and perfect
5.   memory thanckes be to God And Calling to remembrence the uncertaine
6.   Estate of this transitorie Life and that all flesh must yeeld unto death
7.   when it shall please God to Call doe make constitute ordaine and declare
8.   this my last Will and testament in manner and forme following revo-
9.   king and annulling by theise presents all and every Testament and
10. Testaments Will and Wills heretofore by me made and declared either
11. by word or by writing and this to be taken only for my last Will and Testam[en]t
12. and none other And first being sorrie from the bottome of my hart for
13. my sinns past most humbly desiring forgivenes for the same give and
14. Committ my soule unto Almightie God my Saviour and Redeemer
15. In whome and by the merritts of Jesus Christ I trust and believe assuredly
16. to be saved and to have full remission and forgivenes of all my sinns
17. And that my soule with my Body att the generall day of resurection shall
18. rise againe with ioy and through the merritts of Christ death and passion
19. possesse and inheritt the Kingdome of heaven prepared for his Flock and chosen
20. child my Bodie to be buried in such place where it shall please my Executor
21. hereafter named to appoynte and for the settling of my Temporall Estate
22. and such Goods Chattells and debts as it hath pleased God farr above my
23. deserts to bestowe upon mee I doe order give and dispose the same in manner
24. and forme following First I will that all those debts I owe in right or in Con-
25. science to anie manner of person or persons whatsoever shall be well and
26. truly Contented and payd or desired to be paid within Convenient time
27. after my decease by my Executor hereafter named Item I give and bequeath
28. unto Christopher Lymbre Elizabeth Lymbre and Marian Limbre Sonne
29. and daughters of Christopher Limbre deceased Thirtie pounds a peece
30. to each of them to be paid within one yeare after my decease (that is
31. to say) Tenn pounds a peece to every of them the said Christopher Elizabeth
32. and Maryan above the Twenty pounds a peece given them by their sayd
33. by theire said Father  Christopher Limbre Item I give and bequeath
34. unto Mary Limbre daughter of the aforesaid Christopher Limbre and
35. Isott Tipper daughter of Anthonie Tipper deceased by vertue of anie Lease
36. or Leases all the right Estate title terme and interest that I now have of and
37. in a Certaine Tenement Called or Commonly knowne by the name of
38. East heale situate lying and being in kingsnymptom aforesaid to be held
39. by them ioyntly during the terme of theire naturall lives yeelding and
40. paying yearely and everie yeare unto Elizabeth Rowcliffe my now Wife
41. the Summe of tenn pounds by fower even and equall portions the said terme
42. to Commence and beginne immediatelie from and after my decease and
43. if shall happen that the said Mary Limbre and Isott Tipper shall die
44. before Elizabeth my Wife my will is that my Land being the Sixth part
45. of the abovesaid Tenement called East Heale be charged with the above said
46. annuitie of tenn pounds a yeare hereby given and bequeathed unto Elizabeth
47. my said Wife Item I give and bequeath unto the aforesaid Mary Lymebere
48. and Isott Tipper the Inheritance of my Land in Eastheale aforesaid being
49. the Sixth part of the said Tenement (that is to say the said Inheritance
50. to the longest liver of either of them the said Mary Limbre and Isott Tipper
51. and to the heires of the Survivour of them for ever Item I give and bequeath
52. unto Ananias Kelly Frances Kelly Agnes Elyanor Joane Elizabeth and  
53. Sarah Kelly Sonne and daughters of John Kelly deceased the Sume of
54. Six shillings and Eight pence a peece to every of them to be paid within one yeare
55. after my decease Item whereas I have alone since given and bequeathed my
56. said Tenement unto Mary Limbre and Isott Tipper presently after my
57. death it is now my will and testament that my said Wife Elizabeth shall
58. have the use and proffitts of all the said Tenement for the terme of two
59. yeares after my death for the payment of my debts and Legacies anie
60. thing in this my will and Testament mentioned in anie wise not with-
61. standing Item I give and bequeath unto the poore of the parish of Kingsnympton
62. aforesaid the summe of twenty shillings to be imployed for them as a
63. stock Item I give and bequeath unto Daniell Rowcliffe William and Thomas
64. Rowcliffe Sonnes of William Rowcliffe deceased six shillings and Eight pence
65. a peece to every of them to be paide within one yeare after my decease and
66. alsoe I give and bequeath unto Anthony Tipper sonne of Anthony Tipper
67. deceased the summe of six shillings and Eight pence to be paid likewise within
68. one yeare after my decease Item all the rest of my goods and Chattells
69. not hereby disposed of moveable and immoveable I doe give and bequeath
70. unto Elizabeth my Wife whome I doe hereby constitute and appoynte to be
71. my lawfull and sole Executrix witnesse my hand and Seale the day
72. and yeare above said in presence of those whose names are hereunder
73. written the marke of Thomas Rowcliffe Witnesses hereunto Jenner Smith
74. witnes John Thorne John Cole Lewes Steeven
75. This will was proved in London the
76. fifth day of the Month of July in the yeare of our Lord God
77. One thousand six hundred Fiftie and Eight before the Judges for probate
78. of Wills and graunting Administrations lawfully authorized by the
79. oath of Elizabeth Rowcliffe the Relict and sole and onlie Executrix
80. named in the above written last Will and testament of the deceased
81. To whome Administration of all and Singular the goods Chattells
82. and debts of the said deceased was graunted and Committed she
83. being first legally sworne by vertue of a Commission truly and
84. faythfully to administer the same

Looking into Find My Past there are a number of interesting Rowcliffe entries at Kings Nympton including this family mentioned in the will above - father William Rowcliffe with sons Daniel, William and Thomas. Eastheale is mentioned in this will and will try to figure out if Little Heale where the Rowcliffe family lived near Bishops Nympton is associated with this property. The answer is no. Little Heale is close to Bishops Nympton and East Hele is north of Kings Nympton just below the highway to the west of South Molton.

2. Thomas Rowcliffe yeoman of Burrington probated 17 Aug 1653 PROB 11/228/447

Transcriber: Elizabeth Kipp
Date: 18 October 2015
Source: National Archives of the UK - PROB 11/228/447
Testator: Thomas Rowcliffe, Yeoman
Location: Burrington, Devon
Date of Will:  25 Nov 1650, Probated 17 Aug 1653

1.    In the name of God Amen I Thomas Rowcliffe of
2.    Burrington in the Countie of Devon yeoman being perfect memory doe publish
3.   declare and sett fourth this my last Will and Testament in manner and
4.   forme following Imprimis I give and bequeath my Soule unto Almightie God
5.   my Creator and my body to Christian Buryall Item I give and graunt
6.   deed and bequeath unto Latice my daughter all that messuage tenement
7.   lands meadowes pastures feedings commons of pasture in both Hetherleigh Moor
8.   and Totte and herbe garden thereunto belonging with theappurtenances in the present
9.   possession and occupation of Allexander Taylder or his assignees or assigne Scituae
10. lying and being within the foresaid parish of Hatherleigh and alsoe all that
11. Messuags Tenements Lands Meadows Pastures feedings and hereditaments common
12. of pastures in Hatherleigh Moor with thappurtenancs now in the tenure and
13. occupation of ____ Hatch gent or his assignees or assigne To have and to
14. hold the said Messuage Tenement Cottage and other the premisses with thappurtenances
15. now in the Tenure of Alexander Taylder imeadiatly from and after the
16. death or decease of Agnes Taylder daughter of the sayd Allexander Taylder
17. for and during the Terme of one and Twenty yeares from this time ensueing
18. fully to be constituted and ended by and under the year by rent of twenty eight
19. shillings and foure pence to be paid quarterly by equall porcions to be
20. devided and by and under the  repairing sustaining and mayntaininge
21. of all and Singular the said demised premisses in all needfull and necessary
22. reparations during the terme hereby granted And Alsoe the said Messuage
23. Tenement and premisses together with comons of Pastures in
24. Hatherleigh Moor with all and Singular thappurtances now in the tenure
25. and possession of _____ Hatch Imeadiatly following and after the death
26. decease or any other determination of Mary the now Wife of the sayd
27. Hatch and George Stablake Sonne of John Stablake late of Hatherleigh
28. deceased for and duringe the like terme of one yeare fully to be contracted
29. and ended by and under the yearly renting seaventeene shillings of lawfull English
30. money to be paid quarterly by equall portions to be devided by and under the
31. reparing sustaining and mainteyninge of all and Singular the said last Demised
32. premisses with needfull and necessary reparations when and another shall
33. require provided allwaies and my Will and meaneing is that if my sonne John
34. Rowcliffe who is my heire apparent doe  att any time within the time of two
35. yeares before he shall accomplish his age of one and twenty yeares Well and truly
36. Consent Satisfie and paye or Cause to be paid unto the said Latecia my
37. daughter and his sister soe much Current English money as shall accomplish make
38. of all and compleate upp the issues and proffitts which shall be payd and wherby
39. made. All payments Taxes and demands being deducted the Sum of one hundred pounds
40. out of the sayd Messuage Land and Tenement hereby mentioned to be Granted
41. shall be frustrated made voyd and discontinued to all intents and purposes Item
42. I give bequeath devise and Allott out Fortye pound to be Bestowed upon and in
43. some Messuage Land or Tenement for the use and behoofe therein expressed that is to
44. saye for the lives of Joane my Wife John Rowcliffe my Sonn and Latecia my
45. daughter and my Will is that the said Joanne my Wife is to enioy the Whole Estate
46. for and during her Naturall life provided allwaies that if the sayd Forty pound
47. be not bestowed in ___ within the space of three yeares after my death According as
48. that is above expressed that then my Will is that the sayd Somme of Forty pounds
49. shall be imployed for the best bennefitt of my Soone and Daughter for their
50. better Maintenance Item I give to Margeret Rowcliffe my Sister three pounds
51. To be paid Within two yeares after my death Item I give to Elizabeth Rowcliffe
52. my Sister three pounds to be paid to her Within two yeares after my death Item
53. I give and bequeath unto Arthur Rowcliffe my Brother three pounds to be paid
54. lhim Within the space of two yeares after my death Item I give and
55. bequeath unto John Rowcliffe my Sonne my best brasse pott Item I give
56. and bequeath unto Latecia my daughter my best brasse pann Item I give and
57. bequeath and doe alott twenty pounds to be Imployd for the best Bennifitts
58. ______ maintenance of my two children during their minoritye
59. and for what sums of money shall be left at the end Twenty pounds after
60. such time to my children shall be to gett them Maintenance my Will and
61. Meaninge is that the same shall be to and for the ______ sett and behoofe
62. of John Rowcliffe my Sonne wholly And I doe desir Arthur Rowcliffe and John
63. Delbridge to have the ordering putting fourth and employing the sayd summe of
64. twenty pounds for the best benefitt of my sayd Children And to be Trustees for that
65. purpose in the best manner they may Item I give to Thomas Delbridge my
66. Freind Twenty shillings to be paid within two years after my death
67. Item All the Rest of my goods and Chattells not before herein given and bequeathed
68. I give and bequeath unto Joane my Wife and her I doe make my whole and
69. sole Executrix to doe my desir paid my Legacies discharged and my Funerall
70. expenses freed Provided alwayes and my Will and Meaning is that in Case
71. that Joane my Wife shall Marry Within one and twenty yeares after my
72. death that then all such goods Chattells and moneys which shall be left and remayne
73. after such time as my debts Legacies and Funerall expences being paid and discharged
74. shall be to and for the use benefitt and behoofe of my two children John and Latecia
75. And the Survivor of them And I doe desire Arthur Rowcliffe my Brother and John
76. Delbridge to see how my last Will duly performed observed for wittnesse I the sayd
77. Thomas Rowcliffe to here unto sett my hand and Seale the eight day of June in
78. the yeare of our Lord God one Thousand Six hundred Fiftie and two the signe of
79. Thomas Rowcliffe Sealed Signed and declared and published in the presence of us
80. Henry underdowne the signe of John Alford the signe of William Penecott
81. of Burrington Arthur Rowcliffe
82. This Will was proved at Westmynster before the Judges for Probate of Wills and
83. granting Amons the 17th day of August 1653 by the oath of Joan Rowcliffe
84. Sole Executrix within named in the said to whom was committed Admon of all and Singular
85. the goods Chattells and debts of the sayd Thomas deceased she being first Sworne by Commission
86. duly to Administer the same.

This will also very interesting gives me a small family tree with Thomas the testator having a brother Arthur and a sister Margaret and his children Leticia and John. He is likely the Thomas Rowcliffe son of John Rowclyffe and Lattice Isaac who were themselves married  4 Feb 1600 at Atherington. I found three baptisms for this couple:

Catorne Rowclyffe baptized 22 May 1603 at Burrington
Margaret Rowclyffe baptized 3 Oct 1605 at Burrington
Elizabeth Rowclyffe baptized 24 Jan 1607 at High Bickington

There is an Ann Rowclyffe married to William Hearing 2 Jul 1638 at Burrington


3. George Rowcliffe yeoman of Bishops Nympton probated 28 Nov 1849 PROB 11/2103/230

Continuing on with the last two wills and this next one is for George Rowcliffe yeoman of Bishops Nympton and he is the son of  Philip Rowcliffe and Martha Pearse and hence my 3x great granduncle. He was baptized 9 Jul 1774 at Bishops Nympton and buried 11 Oct 1849 at South Molton.

Transcriber: Elizabeth Kipp
Date: 18 October 2015
Source: National Archives of the UK - PROB 11/2103/230
Testator: George Rowcliffe, Yeoman
Location: Bishops Nympton, Devon
Date of Will:  2 Jan 1841, Probated 28 Nov 1849

1.   This is the last Will and Testament
2.    of me George Rowcliffe of Bishops Nympton in the County of Devon
3.   Yeoman I give devise and bequeath unto my Nephews John Rowcliffe and
4.   George Rowcliffe late of Woolfardisworthy in the said County Yeoman (Sons
5.   of my Brother William Rowcliffe and their respective heirs executors admin-
6.   istrators and assigns All those my messuages tenements mills and farms
7.   commonly called  or known by the names of Bridge Mole Mills Little Heale
8.   Mole Park and West Silcombe situated lying and being in the several
9.   parishes of Rose Ash and Bishops Nympton in the said County of
10. Devon or one of them And also all other my freehold copyhold and
11. leasehold messauges lands tenements and hereditaments and real estate
12. situated in the parishes of Rose Ash and Bishops Nympton aforesaid and
13. elsewhere And also All my Goods Chattles and Personal Estate
14. and Property whatsoever and wheresoever Subject nevertheless to and
15. charged with the payment of all my just debts the expences of my
16. funeral and of proving this my Will To hold the same (subject and
17. charged as aforesaid) unto and to the use of my said Nephews John
18. Rowcliffe and George Rowcliffe as Tenants in Common and not adjoint
19. Tenants and their respective heirs executors administrators and assigns
20. for ever And I hereby nominate constitute and appoint my said nephews
21. John Rowcliffe and George Rowcliffe Executors of this my last Will
22. and Testament And lastly I hereby revoke and make void all other Wills
23. by me heretofore made In witness whereof I the said George Rowcliffe
24. the Testator have hereunto subscribed and set my hand and seal this
25. second day of January in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
26. hundred and forty one George Rowcliffe Signed Sealed
27. Published and Declared by the said George Rowcliffe the Testator as
28. and for his last Will and Testament in the presence of us present at the
29. same time who at hios request in his presence and in the presence of
30. each other have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses thereto
31. J G Heard  James Pearse  J Galliford
32. This is a Codicil to the last Will and Testament
33. of me George Rowcliffe of Bishops Nympton in the County of Devon
34. Yeoman which will is dated the second day of January One thousand
35. eight hundred and forty one I give and bequeath unto my niece Betsey
36. Elworthy wife of Richard Elworthy of Bratton Fleming the sum of two
37. hundred pounds for her own separate use for which her receipt along
38. shall be a good discharge I direct the same sum to be paid by my
39. Executors in my said Will monies out of my residuary estates at the
40. end of twelve months after my death and which I charge with the
41. payment thereof I ratify and confirm my said Will in every respect
42. except so far as the same is hereby altered and I direct this Codicil
43. to be annexed thereto and taken as part thereof In witness whereof
44. I have hereto set my hand this twenty seventh day of August One
45. thousand eight hundred and forty nine The Mark of George
46. Rowcliffe Signed by the said George Rowcliffe the Testator as and
47. for a Codicil to be annexed to and taken as part of his Will in the
48. presence of us present at the same time who at his request in his
49. presence and in the presence of each other have hereto subscribed our
50. names as Witnesses J Galliford Wm Oram Jr
51. Proved at London with a Codicil 28th November 1849
52. before the Judge by the Oath of John Rowcliffe the Nephew one
53 of the Executors to whom Admon was granted having been
54. first sworn by Comon duly to administer. Power reserved of
55. making the like grant to George Rowcliffe the Nephew also the
56. other Executor when he shall apply for the same.

This was rather interesting about Betsey Elworthy as she was a daughter of Robert Pincombe and Elizabeth Rowcliffe (and my 3x great grandparent). Betsey and Richard Elworthy were to emigrate to Canada in 1855.  George, the testator, is 75 years of age at his death. Philip, his eldest brother is still living as is William father of George and John the legatees. Elizabeth Rowcliffe Pincombe died in 1823. This is a rather interesting family as the father of the testator Philip (and my 4x great grandfather) was 39 when he married and 56 when my 3x great grandmother was born. He was 81 years of age when he was buried 22 Mar 1802 at South Molton. His wife Martha Pearse was fifteen years younger than he was. The eldest son of Philip and Martha also Philip is the line that emigrated to Huron County by 1851. I haven't done any work on this family to determine when they did arrive. The next will is for Philip Rowcliffe.

4. Philip Rowcliffe gentleman of Mariansleigh probated 2 May 1851 PROB 11/2133/117

Transcriber: Elizabeth Kipp
Date: 18 October 2015
Source: National Archives of the UK - PROB 11/2133/117
Testator: Philip Rowcliffe gentleman
Location: Mariansleigh, Devon
Date of Will:  1 Jun 1848, Probated 2 May 1851

1.   This is the last Will and Testament
2.   of me Philip Rowcliffe of Mariansleigh in the County of Devon
3.   Gentleman I give and bequeath unto my   daughter Charlotte Rowcliffe
4.   and my Nephews John Rowcliffe and George Rowcliffe sons of my brother
5.   William Rowcliffe their executors administrators and assigns the sum of five
6.   hundred pounds upon the following trusts viz as to and concerning One
7.   hundred pounds upon the following trusts for my Son John Rowcliffe for his
8.   own use and as to and concerning the sum of one hundred pounds other
9.   part thereof Upon trust for my grand children John Rowcliffe James
10. Rowcliffe and George Rowcliffe (children of my said Son John) to be
11. equally divided between them as tenants in common and in case any or
12. either of my said Grandchildren shall be under the age of twenty one
13. years without having been married then Upon trust for the other or other
14. of my said Grandchildren and if more than one in equal shares and as to and
15. and concerning the sum of two hundred pounds (other part of the said sum
16. of five hundred pounds Upon trust to permit and empower my said daughter
17. Charlotte Rowcliffe to receive the annual income of the said sum or other
18. stocks funds and securities whereon the same shall be invested for the term
19. of her natural life And after her death then as to the said sum of two
20. hundred pounds and the stocks funds and securities or upon which
21 same shall be invested Upon trust for all the children of my said Son
22. John Rowcliffe to be equally divided between them as tenants in common
23. and if any of them shall die under the age of twenty one years without
24. having been married then Upon trust as to as well the share
25. originally limited under this Executory Trust to any and every child
26. so expired for the others or other of the same children and if more than
27. one in equal shares and as to and concerning the sum of one hundred
28. pounds the residue of the said sum of five hundred pounds and the stocks
29. funds and securities in or upon which the same shall be invested Upon
30. trust to permit and empower my daughter Betsey Buckingham to receive
31. the annual income of the said sum of One hundred pounds or the stocks
32. funds and securities in or upon which the same shall be invested for
33. the term of her natural life and after her death then as to the same
34. sum of One hundred pounds and the said stocks funds and securities
35. Upon trust for the child if only one and if more than one all the children
36. of my said daughter Betsey Buckingham to be equally divided
37. between them as Tenants in Common if any or eith of them
38. shall die under the age of twenty one years without having been
39. married Then upon trust as to as well the share originally limited
40. under the prepreceding trust as the share or shares eventually limited
41. under this Executory trust to any and every child so dying for the others or
42. other of the children of my said daughter Betsey Buckingham and if
43. more than one in equal shares I empower my said Trustees to invest
44. the said sum of five hundred pounds or so much and such parts or part
45. thereof as shall remain in their hands in their her or his names or name
46. in or upon any of the public stocks funds or securities of the United
47. Kingdom or in or upon any real or other good securities or security at
48. interest with liberty for the said trustees or trustee in their her or his dis-
49. cretion to vary and transpose the investments from time to time for any
50. other investment of the preceding description I give and bequeath
51. All my Goods Chattels and Personal Estate whatsoever (subject to
52. the payment of my debts my funeral and testamentary expences and
53. the said legacy or legacies unto my said daughter Charlotte Rowcliffe her
54. executors administrators and assigns for her and their own use I
55. appoint my said daughter Charlotte Rowcliffe Executrix of this my
56. Will and I revoke all other Wills by me made in Witness whereof
57. I the said Philip Rowcliffe the Testator have hereunto subscribed and
58. set my hand and seal this first day of July One thousand eight hun-
59. dred and forty eight Philip Rowcliffe proved declared published
60. and declared by the above name Philip Rowcliffe (the Testator) as and
61. for his last Will and Testament in the presence of us (present at the
62. same time who at his request in his presence and in the presence of
63. each other have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses thereto
64. James Pearse South Molton Devon F Hartnoll Jr
65. Proved at London 2nd May 1851 befrore the Judge by the Oath of
66. Charlotte Rowcliffe Spinster the daughter the sole Executrix to whom Admon
67. was granted having been first sworn by Common duly to administer.

Again this is my third great granduncle. He married Joan Rock 2 May 1803 at Mariansleigh. The three children identified in the will:

Charlotte baptized 26 Dec 1804 at Bishops Nympton
John baptized 22 Oct 1810 at Rose Ash (he emigrated to Canada, was married twice and I have 15 children in total for him)
Betsy born at Rose Ash circa 1812 and married to Joseph Fairchild Buckingham 4 Apr 1831 at Mariansleigh.

The descendants of John with some born in Huron County (Usborne) and the rest in England would be my fifth cousins. I should do a bit of tracing down in these families as it could be accounting for some of my Canadian matches. John had an enormous family.

Solving my Rowcliffe line back before Andrew does not appear to be readily done. Interesting that there is a Philip Rowcliffe at Merton when Samuel signs his will in 1650. Andrew, the father of my Philip Rowcliffe would perhaps have been born between 1640 and 1660.  He is likely the Andrew Rowcliffe who was buried 3 Feb 1687 at Merton. Is Philip a brother to Samuel the testator in the first will transcribed above?

Find My Past has the following rather interesting entries for the Rowcliffe family at Merton between 1560 and 1640:

Will for Andrew Rowcliff 1687 Court of the Archdeaconry of Barnstaple
Burial for Andrew Rowcliff 3 Feb 1687
Burial for Samuel Rowcliff 2 Jan 1687
Will for Samuel Rowcliff  1692 Court of the Archdeaconry of Barnstaple
Burial for George Rowcliffe 27 Nov 1697
Burial for William Rowcliffe 10 May 1716

Both of these wills are lost in the bombing of the Record Office at Exeter unfortunately. Proximity is always interesting but can not assume this is all one family. If you then enter just Devon into the search engine for Rowcliffe on Find My Past between 1560 and 1640 there are 281 results but most wills for this family were lost in the bombing.

A search on Rowcliffe looking for something written earlier on the family and I disovered this book which is at the Devon Record Office presumably with the closure of the WestCounty Record Office:

White, D.M. A family record. Landford: The Author [1996] 1 vol: ill, maps, ports. [Raymond: Chapter on Routleff/Rowcliff/Rowtcliffe family of Devon] [Westcountry Studies Library sx929.2/ROU]

I have sent a note to the Devon Record Office and to the Devon research group on rootsweb to see if I might be able to discover more about this book.

In the meantime I can see my Rowcliffe line just so far and the rest is hidden to me but perhaps revealed one day.

Ancestry of Philip Rowcliffe:

1. Elizabeth BLAKE
2. Helen Louise PINCOMBE (b 18 Oct 1916) - Westminster Township Middlesex County Ontario Canada
3. John Routledge PINCOMBE (b 10 Sep 1872)- Lobo Township Middlesex County Ontario Canada
4. William Robert PINCOMBE (b 11 Jun 1837)- Molland Devon England
5. John PINCOMBE (b 5 Jul 1808)- Bishops Nympton Devon England
6. Elizabeth (Betty) ROWCLIFFE (b 20 May 1777) - Bishops Nympton Devon England
7. Philip ROWCLIFFE (b 4 Apr 1721) - Merton Devon England
8. Andrew ROWCLIFFE (pre 1687)
perhaps
9. Andrew ROWCLIFFE

I usually avoid politics partly because I am a Conservative and by nature that is something really personal and I prefer to just get along with it and vote that way and have done so for most of my voting career. Occasionally I step outside of that box very cautiously and in wonderment that I could possibly vote for something that is simply not a part of my life. Liberalism just seems to be a big step away from the way that I think. But Dalton McGuinty gave me that thought that we should force the Provincial Conservatives to redo the party; get rid of the top echelon and let the grassroots Conservatives come to the forefront once again. Hopefully that is now happening provincially because I am not really caring for the present Liberal government or how the McGuinty era ended. A very promising beginning he brought in a Health Tax that saved our hospitals from becoming unable to manage. I was working in the hospitals in those days and had this notion that a Health Care Tax would be the way forward and shared it in my own quiet way. Not likely that it was original with me but I was really happy to see it happen and I see the way forward once again as increasing that Health Tax by 5% a year for at least four years in order to shore up our hospital finances. Having worked with residents over the years when I was working in the hospitals I am really disliking this present stance against the doctors. It was hard work to keep our doctors once graduated here in Ontario and I would rather not see that undone because the present Liberal government has to balance the budget after their wastes of the last couple of years. Balancing it on the doctor's backs just isn't fair and they are willing to have the next two years with no increases. Perhaps they would like to consider forfeiting some of their own salary to make up for their actual losses over the past six years! The increasing costs of health care are a result of an aging population. This idea that the cost of services has to somehow be offset is something that I can not accept in some cases particularly in the case of health care.

Another place in which money needs to be spent is in the preservation of our national heritage; our identity; what makes us Canadian and I am earnestly hoping that Library and Archives Canada can once again be brought back to its former position at the forefront of that collection.

The needs for health care will grow exponentially as the baby boomers reach into their old age. Fortunately a lot of the baby boomers have saved their money and are content in retirement and can afford to pay for an increase in the Health Tax. It isn't a lot of money but multiplied by millions it provides an infusion into the hospitals to keep them current and viable. All of the hospitals; not just a few chosen ones!

But I set aside my dislike for the provincial Liberals and voted for Justin Trudeau's party and in my riding that is Andrew Leslie and he has won. An excellent person for us to send to the House of Commons and I see a brillant career for him following his own brillant career in the military. I was happy to see the numbers climb for the Liberals and their majority government. I look forward to seeing Justin Trudeau work towards his goals for Canada.