The header for each year is preceded with an @ sign to facilitate searching
@1600
11 July, St. Clement's Townstall,
`The period 1400-1600 was one of very rapid development both in ship-building and in armament, but information is fragmentary, and the period as a whole has been termed a `gap' in nautical knowledge.'
The decade 1600-1610 was a `little ice-age' over most of the northern hemisphere. (cf: 1608)
The East India Company founded:
` ... after the first flush of enthusiasm had died down, it met with increasing difficulty in raising funds to continue the trade ... even when setting out on its first expedition (1601) many of the subscribers failed to fulfill their engagements.'
Approximate year Bradbury House (White House)
The period 1600-1715 was the flowering of the south-west wool-weaving trade,
centred on
@1601
Statute of Poor Law. (in force to the middle of the 19th. century) `...
distinguishing as it did between `willful' and `impotent' poor, and placing the
burden of relief firmly on the local community, it all too often meant, in
practice, that the labourer `became virtually imprisoned in his parish.''
24 July: George Waymouth writes to the East India Company, proposing an expedition to discover the north-west passage.
` ... early in 1601, a serious blow was dealt to the infant company by the
loss of its Governor, Alderman and Sheriff Smythe, who had taken a leading part
in its foundation, and had guided its operations with energy and skill. This
unfortunate episode was the outcome of the rebellion of the Earl of Essex, and
took place while the company's first fleet, under Captain Lancaster, was still
in the
September: The East India Company agrees to underwrite another expedition.
`Another hindrance was that the company had allowed itself to be drawn into a scheme for despatching two pinnaces under George Waymouth [Weymouth], to discover a passage to the Indies by the north-west, and members were being pressed to find money for this venture.'
Branscombe: Gilbert Holcombe of Hole, married to Anne Courtney, sells Hole House to Ellis Bartlett, after 500 years of occupation by the Hole family.
Crediton: Eliz Brownscombe marries Bart Luckcome.
@1602
16 April, Stoke Damerel: Eliza Branscombe marries William Fitzgerald.(IGI)
2 May: John (Thomas?) Branscombe and the expedition of Captain George
Waymouth leaves Ratcliffe, to find a north-west passage to the Orient, for the
East India Company. [Ratcliff Cross, at Ratcliff, on the
`He left with the Discovery, 70 tons, George Waymouth as captain,
William Cobreth, master; and the Godspeed, 60 tons, John Drew, master, with
an experienced Muscovy Company agent, the Reverend John Cartwright, as his
mentor. There were provisions for his 34 men for eighteen months. He carried in
a tin box a fine illuminated letter from Queen Elizabeth to the Emperor of
China, with Latin, Italian and Spanish translations, (currently preserved, in
their box, in the Lancashire County Records Office, Preston.) showing that the
government regarded the mission as being a serious one. At sea, Waymouth showed
himself to be a very competent navigator. He managed, for example, to determine
his latitude under unfavourable weather conditions, which was a tribute to his
experience as well as his skill. He usefully examined the
His control over his men was not very effective, and he showed little of
that dogged tenacity and fanaticism which had distinguished the pioneer voyages
of John Davis, and was soon to bring
Waymouth set himself to complete a manual which he may well have begun some
years before, The Jewell of Artes, which he proposed to present to King
James in the hope of being supported by him in a further attempt to discover
the
The muster-roll of officers and crew, numbering 33, for the 1602 Waymouth
expedition includes a reference to a Thomas Brownscombe, of Bankfull,
`Waymouth [
Formation of the Dutch East India Company
`
Thirty years later his voyage was appraised by Captain Luke Foxe:
` ... hee neither discovered nor named any thing more then
In Amsterdam Henry Hudson, in 1609, read Waymouth's logbooks, which had come
into Dutch hands, and received letters and maps from Captain John Smith, in
23 July, Exmouth: Return of the exploratory voyage of cousins Captain
Bartholomew Gosnold and Captain Bartholomew Gilbert (not the son of Sir
Humphrey), `and divers other gentlemen', from the
The two ships, Godspeed and Discovery, return to
25 September, St. Mary Major,
Construction of Hatfield House completed, using bricks scavenged from the palace of 1497.
@1603
28 January, Littleham: Ellys Branscombe of Littleham marries Jone Wheaton. [poss
7 children: Wilmot (bp. 1607, poss m. 1638 Simon Hooper?), William (bp. 1609,
poss d. 1630?), Jone (bp. 1612), Dyna (1614-1615),
January: It is resolved by the East India Company that the pinnaces Discovery and Godspeed, employed by George Waymouth in his abortive voyage to discover a north-west passage (1602) should be sold and the attempt "utterlie be left of".
24 March: Reign of Queen Elizabeth I ends (since 1558), the last of the Tudor Dynasty (1485-1603). James I (VI of Scotland) succeeds to the throne (to 1625), the first of the Stuart Dynasty (1603-1714).
15 July: Sir Walter Raleigh, formerly a favourite of
Beginning of Tokugawa shogunate, in
Sir William Pole, antiquary, is Sheriff of Devon.
Charles Blount created Earl of Devon by patent. The title has been dormant since 1556. [title extinguished again when Blount dies, in 1606]
Crediton: Thos Brownscombe marries Agn Wotton.
@1604
29 January, Crediton: Philip Brenscombe marries Sibill Buchal.
George Waymouth presents his The Jewell of Artes to King James, in
the hope of being supported by him in a further attempt to discover the
` ... a fine piece of work, well-written, comprehensive, and illustrated
with a remarkable series of drawings and volvelles'. The largest section covers
navigation instruments, a further one shipbuilding (his own family trade), and
another Engines (miscellaneous devices). [also first designs for `model towns'
in
OED says the word profit is used for the first time in a written
document, but only in
Walter Yonge commences his diary while resident in Colyton. (to 1628)
7 October,
@1605
Captain George Waymouth explores parts of `
`In 1605 there sailed into Plymouth Sound a little craft under Captain
George Weymouth [Waymouth]. He had returned from the discovery of the
The remaining two Indians were delivered to
Original registers of baptisms, marriages and deaths in Dawlish exist from 1627-1975. An index of marriages exists, covering 1605-1837. There are also non-conformist records of the years 1814-37.
25 March, Clyst St. George: Elisabeth Branscombe buried. `vicesimo quinto
die martij supulta est Elisabetha Branscombe'
31 October: Guy Fawkes arrested,
It was also about this time that William Shakespeare finished writing King Lear.'
@1606
20 December, Ratcliffe: First Virginia colonists depart, aboard the Susan
Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery. [the last two
probably Waymouth's vessels from 1602, and Weldon's, 1604-1606]
`There was no fanfare. There was apparently not even any announcement-in
fact, only two of the colonists have left mention of the date. Yet that sailing
laid the foundation for the
John Brounsecoumbe of Whitstone makes his will. [a John is assessed in
the 1524, 1544 & 1581 subsidies for Whitestone, about four miles west of
The Earldom of
@1607
12 April,
15 April, Littleham: Wilmot, first child of Elias Branscombe & Joan (
27 October: Captain George Waymouth is granted a pension of 3s.4d per
diem, `until such time as he shall
receive from His Majesty some other advancement.'
[There is some evidence this is "hush money" to stop him talking to
the Spanish about his discoveries]
Raleigh Gilbert founds the first
Will of John Brounston of Morchard Episcopi (Morchard Bishop), proved in the Consistory Court of the Bishop of Exeter.
@1608
14 November, Sandford: Elizabeth, wife of Robert Brownscombe, buried.
French settle in
Mini ice-age in
The will of Thomas Brounsdon of Shipstor is administered.
@1609
4 January, Feniton: Dorothye Brannscombe marries Josias Skinner. (IGI) [daughter
of weaver Osmond Branscombe & Joan. Siblings: Peter, Grace, Thomas, George,
Joane? Josias may be related to George Skinner, rector of Feniton in 1614, when
Osmund's will is proved. According to that will, Dorothy & Josias have at
least one child, Elizabeth]
18 January,
24 April, Whitestone: John Brownscombe & Thomasine Parry marry. [a John Branscombe is assessed in the 1524, 1544 & 1581 subsidies for Whitestone, about four miles west of Exeter. In 1606, John Branscombe of Whitestone makes his will. This John & Thomasine appear in the records for Whitestone & Aishbury for the next fifty years. They may have the following children: Thomas (1612), Agnes (1616?), Susanna (1619), William (1620-1620?), Alice (1621). A John makes his will in 1622, although John & Thomasine are still around in 1660, to pay the poll tax. Thomasine makes her will in 1641. She is assessed separately for property in Aishbury, in the 1642 assessment]
17 October, Littleham: Jane Branscombe buried. [poss mother of Ellis Branscombe, m. 1603 Littleham, Joan Wheaton?]
23 November, St. Andrew's, Plymouth: Oliver Brenscombe, son of Avice, is baptised. (IGI)
10 December, Littleham: William, second child of Ellis Branscombe & Joan (Wheaton - m. 1603 Littleham), is baptised. [poss d. 1630 Littleham, unmarried? Poss siblings: Wilmot (bp. 1607, poss m. 1638 Simon Hooper?), Jone (bp. 1612), Dyna (1614-1615), Elizabeth (bp. 1616, poss m. 1656 Thomas Langford?), Elias (bp. 1619), Thomas (bp. 1622, poss m. 1646 Susanna Elson, poss d. 1660?)]
Nicholas Wadham, last male heir of the family of Edge Barton and Merifield, dies. His widow Dorothy [daughter of Sir William Petre], aged 75, `carried out his wishes with such vigour and promptitude that in spite of the obstructive tactics of a co-trustee, the new college [Wadham College, Oxford] was built and occupied before she died, nine years later.' [Wyndham says Somerset masons helped build it]
John Brownscombe of Exeter makes his will.
Second Virginia Company formed.
The telescope is invented, in Holland.
@1610
17 September: Osmond Brownscombe of Feniton, weaver, makes his will. [proved
3 June, 1614]
Thomas Cross carves his name into the window surround at Edge. He may have been a servant of Dorothy Wadham?
The Prince of Wales' feathers are carved next to his name.
@1611
King James version of the Bible published.
Sir Thomas Gates, Governor of Virginia, 1611-1614. (Born in Colyford)
The eminent London merchant, Sir James Bond, commissions George Waymouth, Gentleman, to build and equip a ship for him. He is to get together timber, and all necessities to construct a vessel of forty tons, to make a voyage of twenty men for one year. He lived long enough to build at least one more ship, and to earn the envy and hatred of a more famous shipbuilder, Phineas Pett, who maintained he was finally disgraced for his inadequacies.
John Speed's famous atlas, The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain, is published. It contained county maps, and remained in print until 1770. The map of Wiltshire shows Shaw, North Lydiard, Lydiard Bagpuize, Purton, Rodbourne, Eastcott and Swindon.
30 September, Charleton, Devon: William, son of Geo. & Joane Brownescom baptised. [this is the only entry for Branscombe in this parish, baptisms 1560-1719, burials 1561-1812, marriages 1562-1720]
@1612
12 April, Whitestone: Thomas Brownscombe, son of John, is baptised. [poss
child of John & Thomasine (Parry - m. 1609 Whitestone? poss siblings: Agnes
(1616?), Susanna (1619), William (1620-1620?), Alice (1621)]
26 May, Littleham: Jone, daughter of Ellis Branscome, is baptised. [poss third child of Ellis Branscombe & Joan (Wheaton - m. 1603 Littleham). poss siblings: Wilmot (bp. 1607, poss m. 1638 Simon Hooper?), William (bp. 1609, poss d. 1630?), Dyna (1614-1615), Elizabeth (bp. 1616, poss m. 1656 Thomas Langford?), Elias (bp. 1619), Thomas (bp. 1622, poss m. 1646 Susanna Elson, poss d. 1660?)]
3 August, St. Andrew's, Plymouth: Nicholas, son of Richard Brenscomb, is baptised. (IGI) [Richard a mariner? cf: 1619 Survey. This Nicholas poss father of Nicholas of Dawlish? see 1641 Protestation. cf: 1614 for poss bp. of brother Martin, 1615 for poss sister Margaret & 1623 for poss brother Henry]
27 September, St. Thomas the Apostle, Exeter: Joan, daughter of William Branscum, christened. (IGI) [there is no record, so far, of William senior's marriage. A William of this parish makes his will in 1635. Poss siblings William (1604), Thomas (1607), Elizabeth (1609)]
25 October, Allhallows London Wall: Eliz Branscom, marries Robert Slater. (IGI)
Nicholas Wadham founds Wadham College, Oxford. [posthumously]
Resolution, Captain Thomas Button, and Discovery, Captain John Ingram, set sail in April, to discover the north-west passage for the East India Company. (cf: 1602)
The will of Mark Brownscombe, of Upton Hellions, is administered in the ?court? [Crediton. cf: 1619 - duplication?]
@1613
?Dawlish: (Alice/Aline?) Braunscomb, & (Vobhr? Gregory?) marry.
?May, Sandford: Edward Brownscombe buried.
The will of Edward Brownscombe of Sandford is proved in the Consistory Court of the Bishop of Exeter,
Bovey Tracey: Al Brannscoumbe marries Rbt Gregory.
@1614
27 March, Mamhead: Agnes, daughter of John Brownscombe, baptised. [poss
siblings: John (bur. 1615), Margery (bp. 1616)]
3 June, Feniton: Will of Osmond Brownscombe, weaver of Feniton, proved, in the Archdeaconry Court of Exeter.
`To be buried in the churchyard of Fenyton
To Petter Brounscombe, my son, 33s 4d or my featherbed, and other goods including
my best brasse pann which I had before I maryed my wife that now is, and 3 tin
platter dishes marked with a broad axe
To my daughter Grace now the wife of William Saunders, household goods
To Dorothy, my daughter now the wife of Josias Skynner, household goods.
To my son Thomas Brownscomb 33s 4d
To my son George Brownscombe, goods
To George Brounscombe, the younger, goods.
To my daughters children, William, Thomas and Elizabeth Saunders, 3s 4d each
To my son Thomas his children 10s
To Joane Gould, Katherine and Chrisabel Gould my daughters children 12d each
To Elizabeth Skynner, my daughter's child 3s 4d
To the poor of Fenyton 3s 4d
Residue to my wife Joane, executrix
Overseers: John Ware & William Saunders
Witnesses: George Skinner, rector of Finiton, Jacobus Saunder, John
Weare, William Gould, George Brownscombe, William Saunder
Inventory: £17.10.4d
4 September, St. Andrew's, Plymouth: Martin, son of Richard Brenscom, baptised. (IGI) [poss brother of Nicholas, bp. 1612, sister Margaret, bp. 1615 & brother Henry bp. 1623? Richard may be a mariner - see 1619 Survey]
Branscombe family deeds for Drupe, Colaton Raleigh, 1614-1739.
(EPNI)
`Drupe Farm (now transformed into holiday cottages) was, in 1330, the home of William atte Thrope. In 1388 it was called Thorp and became Droope in 1679. The name is interesting in being the only example of the Old English Thorp (roughly, a dependent or outlying dairy farm belonging to a village or manor) which has been noted, in Devon.'
Approximate year of birth of Thomas Branscombe. (IGI)
26 December, Littleham: Dyna, poss fourth child of Ellis Branscombe & Joan (Wheaton - m. 1603 Littleham), is baptised. [d. 1615? poss siblings: Wilmot (bp. 1607, poss m. 1638 Simon Hooper?), William (bp. 1609, poss d. 1630?), Jone (bp. 1612), Elizabeth (bp. 1616, poss m. 1656 Thomas Langford?), Elias (bp. 1619), Thomas (bp. 1622, poss m. 1646 Susanna Elson, poss d. 1660?)]
@1615
13 March, Mamhead: John, son of John Brownscombe, buried. [poss siblings:
Agnes (bp. 1614), Margery (bp. 1616)]
12 May: Marriage License granted to Thomas Pooke of Silferton and Emeline Brownscombe of Tiverton. [cf: 1619 land transaction. Emeline may be the daughter of William Branscombe of Tiverton?]
26 August: William Branscombe of Plymouth paid for two days' work, at 10p per day, as a "server" on the construction of the Hospital of Orphans Aid. [first of a series of payments to October 7. Servers are listed alongside masons, so may have been the early term for a "bricky's labourer"!]
28 September, Littleham: Dyna Branscomb buried. [poss fourth child of Elias Branscombe & Joan (Wheaton - m. 1603 Littleham)? poss siblings: Wilmot (bp. 1607, poss m. 1638 Simon Hooper?), William (bp. 1609, poss d. 1630?), Jone (bp. 1612), Elizabeth (bp. 1616, poss m. 1656 Thomas Langford?), Elias (bp. 1619), Thomas (bp. 1622, poss m. 1646 Susanna Elson, poss d. 1660?)]
?December, Sandford: Charity Brownscombe, widow, buried.
The will of Charitie Brownscombe of Sandford is proved in the Consistory Court of the Bishop of Exeter.
24 December, St. Andrew's, Plymouth: Margaret, daughter of Richard Brenscom, is baptised. (IGI) [poss sister of Martin (1614), Nicholas (1612), Henry (1623)? Richard may be a mariner - see 1619 Survey]
Raphe Hamor, True Discourse. An early eye-witness account of the colonisation of America. Includes a description of the baptism and marriage of Pocahontas.
Bovey Tracey: Mgt Brownscombe marries John Beard.
@1616
17-20 February, County of Middlesex Sessions of Peace & Gaol Delivery,
1615/16:
`Nicholas Chester of St. Bride's, silkweaver, to give evidence against Edward Brownscomb, for stealing a carpet "of Aris work" and other things. The said Edward detained in gaol.'
11 August, Littleham: Elizabeth Branscomb baptised, poss fifth child of Ellys & Joan (Wheaton - m. 1603 Littleham). [poss m. 1656 Thomas Langford? Poss siblings: Wilmot (bp. 1607, poss m. 1638 Simon Hooper?), William (bp. 1609, poss d. 1630?), Jone (bp. 1612), Dyna (1614-1615), Elias (bp. 1619), Thomas (bp. 1622, poss m. 1646 Susanna Elson, poss d. 1660?)]
26 August, Mamhead: Margery, daughter of John Brownscombe, baptised. [poss siblings: Agnes (bp. 1614), John (bur. 1615)]
New England named.
Sir Walter Raleigh released from twelve years' imprisonment in the Tower of London [cf: 1603]. He sets off for South America, to look for gold, but disobeys James I's order not to attack Spaniards [cf: 1618].
Dirk Hartog nails up his pewter plate in Western Australia.
@1617
6 October, St. Andrew's, Plymouth: Henry Branscome marries Honor Turner. (IGI)
[IGI notes `relative of John R Turner']
5 November, All Hallows, London Wall: John, son of Alexander & Margery Branscomb, baptised. [Alexander's first wife - buried 8 November cf: 1620 Effyn]
8 November, All Hallows, London Wall: Margaret, wife of Alexander Branscombe, buried.
The will of John Brownscombe of Crediton is proved, in the Consistory Court of the Bishop of Exeter.
Exeter, St. Thomas: Wm Brownscum marries Agn Mortimore.
@1618
27 January: Marriage License granted to Edmund Braunscombe of Dawlish and Mary
Kennard of Powderham.
27 January: Marriage License granted to Giles Ridgeman of Dawlish and Agnes Wichalse of Powderham.
16 May, Branscombe: Dame Dorothea Wadham dies, Edge Barton.
Carried from Eg the 18th May. Buried beside her husband, Sir Nicholas Wadham, (died: 1609) in the Wadham transept of Ilminster church. Sir Nicholas founded Wadham College, Oxford, although Dame Dorothy actually carried out his will in this regard, finishing the college construction in June 1614, and then ruling its' destiny until she died.
`She spent her widowhood at Edge, but was buried beside her husband in the Wadham chapel in Ilminster church. Nicholas had no male heir, and the estates passed to his sister Florence, whose husband, John Wyndham, had died in 1572. On her death a "fair inheritance" (according to the seventeenth-century historian, Tristram Risdon) "was divided among three worshipful families, Strangeways, Windham and Martin." Merifield became the sole property of Florence's son, Sir John Wyndham, who took a dislike to the house and razed it to the ground. The site is still known locally as Wadham's Castle, but no buildings survive. Edge also suffered, but less drastically, for it passed jointly to the families of Wyndham and Strangeways ... As far as is known the house was occupied by tenant farmers from 1618 until 1933.'
22 June: Elizabeth Brownscombe, (EPNI)
Sir Walter Raleigh is beheaded, on the order of James I, for disobeying instructions not to attack the Spanish, on a voyage to South America.
William Cavendish created Earl of Devonshire by patent. [true hereditary entitlement actually remained dormant in the seven dispossessed successive heirs of Edward Courtenay (1553), owners of Powderham Castle. Recovered by virtue of this evidence by William, Viscount Courtenay of Powderham, in 1831]
@1619
4 January & 22 July: Elizabeth Bronscombe, (EPNI)
10 March, Tiverton: Lease of a parcel of 10 acres at Howdon, and a quarter of Ashley Park to Thomas Pooke, husbandman of Silverton, from John Trelawney esquire of Trelawne, Cornwall, in reversion (?) of William Branscombe. (EPNI)
3 May, Whitestone: Susanna Brownscombe, daughter of John, is baptised. [poss child of John & Thomasine (Parry - m. 1609 Whitestone? poss siblings: Thomas (1612), Agnes (1616?), William (1620-1620?), Alice (1621)]
13 June, Littleham: Ellis Branscomb baptised. Possibly sixth child of Ellis & Joan (Wheaton - m. 1603 Littleham)? [poss siblings: Wilmot (bp. 1607, poss m. 1638 Simon Hooper?), William (bp. 1609, poss d. 1630?), Jone (bp. 1612), Dyna (1614-1615), Elizabeth (bp. 1616, poss m. 1656 Thomas Langford?), Thomas (bp. 1622, poss m. 1646 Susanna Elson, poss d. 1660?)]
22 June, St. Mary Arches, Exeter: Pascowe, daughter of Roberte Brownscombe baptised. (EPNI) [buried, 1620]
THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM'S SURVEY OF MARINERS & SHIPS, 1619
`A book of all the shipping, with their ages, names, burthens & ordnance, as also of all mariners, sailors and fishermen, with their names, ages and places, etc.'
Plymouth mariners at home
George Waymouth 48
Plymouth sailors at home
Richard Bremcombe 40
[lives in St. Andrews parish? May be father of Nicholas (1612), Martin (1614), Margaret (1615), Henry (1623), & poss grandfather of Nicholas of Dawlish?]
Plymstock mariners at home
George Bronsombe 40
Dawlish masters/mariners
John Waymouth 42
Dawlish sailors
Thomas Branscomb 30
Edward Branscomb 41
Thomas Waymouth 20
Shipping of Dawlish
Marye, 20 tuns, Newfoundland
Mayeflower, 12 tuns, at home
St. Marychurch mariners & sailors:
Christopher Waymouth 25
Christopher Waymouth 30
Andrew Waymouth 22
Anthony Waymouth 20
Digory Waymouth 32
George Waymouth 18
Richard Waymouth 60
Richard Waymouth 35
Robert Waymouth 30
Robert Waymouth 30
William Waymouth 60
William Waymouth 35
William Waymouth 34
William Waymouth 28
Cockington mariners/sailors:
George Way 20
Dartmouth mariners/sailors from home:
John Waymouth 35
Branscombe sailors:
Francis Bartlett 23
Humphrey Sholdner 24
Sailor
a member of a ship's company below the rank of officer, who was professionally
engaged in the sailing of the vessel.
Mariner
had two separate definitions. In one sense, it referred to any man employed on
a ship ... but it also applied to the most senior class of seamen, sometimes
indicating masters of ships who entered into voyages on their own account. Many
of those described simply as sailors would have regularly served aboard the New
England and Newfoundland fishing fleets.
Plymouth had a total of 278 seamen, in this survey Dartmouth 446.
What emerges most clearly is the great concentration of seamen in the area to the east of Dartmouth: not only just across the River Dart at Kingswear (93), and Brixham (153), but in such Torbay parishes as Paignton (100), and St. Marychurch (144). With 42% of the total, this was clearly the centre of south Devon's mariner population. Dawlish is another notable parish, with 133. The only places in east Devon with significant numbers of seamen were Sidmouth (103), and Beer & Seaton (80).
The survey shows that there was, in some cases at least, a great lack of imagination in the naming of ships: it was not uncommon to find several ships of the same name within the same port. For example, in 1619 there were three ships called the Hopewell, of Dartmouth, and in 1626, there were six ships called the John, in Dartmouth and Torbay. The Blessing, the Providence and the Prosperous were also particularly popular names.
Raleigh Gilbert of Greenway on the River Dart, is listed as being a ship owner.
In south Devon, ships were spread along the entire length of the coast, but the greatest number, not only in terms of the total number of ships, but also in tonnage, was located in and around Dartmouth (39%). Plymouth was second in rank in Devon.
DARTMOUTH CORPORATION SURVEY OF SHIPS, 1619:
Mr. Gourney & partners own the Anne, and the Silphine.
Mr. Thomas Gourneye owns the Christofer.
The founding of Batavia, the beginning of the Dutch colonial empire in the east Indies.
The will of Marcks (Mark?) Brownscombe of Upton Hellions, is proved in the Consistory Court of the Bishop of Exeter. [Crediton. cf: 1612, 1620 - duplications? Also cf: 1694 - Andrew Brownscombe of Upton Hellions]
Geo. Branscombe, butcher of Feniton, aged 38. [poss George, b. ABOUT 1571, son of weaver Osmund Branscombe & Joan, of Feniton, and mentioned in Osmond's will of 1614, where there is also mention of George the Younger, possibly this George's son? A George junior is issued with a marriage license on 25 January 1630/31. George senior may have the following siblings: Peter, Grace, Dorothy, Thomas, Joan?]
@1620
15 January, St. Edmund's, Exeter: John Bronscome buried. (EPNI)
23 March, Whitestone: William Brounscombe buried. [poss child of John & Thomasine (Parry - m. 1609 Whitestone? poss siblings: Thomas (1612), Agnes (1616?), Susanna (1619), Alice (1621)]
30 March, St. Peter's, Cornhill, London: Francis Brounescombe baptised, son of Alexander and Effyn.
`Thursday, 30 March: Francis son of Alexander Brounescome and Effym his wife brought at bed at Mr. Vowelles house'
15 April, Crediton: Alice, daughter of Robert Bronescombe, is christened. (IGI)
24 April, St. Edmund's, Exeter: Jane Bronscom, & Robert Herden married.
19 October, Chardstock: William Bascombe marries Joan Chub.
5 November, St. Mary Arches, Exeter: Pascowe, daughter of Robert Brounscomb, buried. (EPNI) [baptised, 1619]
According to the Visitation of Devon for this year, Honor, daughter of Thomas & Catherine Mapowder of Holesworthy, Devon (Holsworthy, nr. Bude?), is married to a Branscom of Morchard (Morchard Bishop? Mortham?). [cf: Branscombe of Morton, 1359 & Mapowder, 1699]
The Mayflower sets sail from Rotherhithe for New England, carrying the 102 Pilgrims, including 35 "Brownists", that is, separatists from the Church of England, whose position was thus more extreme than that of the Puritans in general.
`The period in which the Pilgrims lived was oppressive. People were burnt at the stake for saying things that upset the church or state authorities. There was no freedom of religion.
People died for believing in the wrong God. In fact the Spanish Inquisition was developed to hunt down and torture people who were suspected of not having the right religious beliefs. The Roman Catholic church dominated the world and the armies of Europe enforced its rules and regulations. The Thirty Years War tore Europe apart during the period as Catholics and Protestants fought over the fundamental questions of religion.
For decades it was an uncertain and violent world as the Spanish, Dutch and English fought over colonial possessions claiming different parts of America. Explorers like Sir Walter Raleigh were in favor one moment and then beheaded the next. The English King Henry VIII had broken with the Roman Catholic Church, creating the Church of England to facilitate his divorce and the seeds of bitter religious strife began to take root.
The England that the Pilgrims left was an England undergoing great change and upheaval. During the first quarter of the seventeenth century James I authorised the new Bible, Shakespeare was writing provocative plays like "Hamlet" portraying the problems of kings and princes. Ben Jonson was irritating people with his satirical essays, Milton was elevating people's thoughts with such poetic works as "Paradise Lost", John Donne was seducing his ladies with love poems and Francis Bacon was startling society with his scientific essays and lectures.'
Among 2885 emigrants from England to New England who departed during the next thirty years:
Robert Weymouth of Dartmouth, who settled in Kittery, Maine.
John Carter of Branscombe, who settled in Charlestown, Massachusetts.
First weekly newspaper in Europe published in Amsterdam.
Burial of the Emperor Wauli near Beijing - the most spectacular Ming tomb.
The will of Mark Brownscombe of Upton Hellions is administered. [cf: 1612,1619 - duplications? Also cf: 1694 - Andrew Brownscombe of Upton Hellions]
@1621
14 February, Talaton: Peter Branscombe marries Joan Escott. (IGI)
7 October, Whitestone: Alice Brownscombe, daughter of John, is baptised. [poss child of John & Thomasine (Parry - m. 1609 Whitestone?). Poss siblings: Thomas (1612), Agnes (1616?), Susanna (1619), William (1620-1620?)]
The wills of Joane & Thomas Branscombe of Chudleigh are proved the Consistory Court of the Bishop of Exeter.
George Brunscombe of Shobrooke (Crediton) and Robert Brownscombe of Cullompton make their wills.
The will of William Bronscombe of Tiverton is proved.
@1622
25 May: Captain John Brooke, Mate Bright, and 142 crewmen of the British East
Indiaman Tryal shipwrecked on the western Australian coastline. The
heavily-laden vessel had set sail for Java from Plymouth on 4 December 1621. On
board was a valuable cargo of trade goods, including golden ornaments, which
were highly prized by the Javanese nobility, and about 400 gold doubloons,
intended for the Company's trading post at Djakarta. None of this treasure was
to reach its destination. Instead, it was scattered across the seabed off the coast
of Western Australia. Brooke finally reached Djakarta, then known as Batavia,
on 26 June, after a journey of over 1000 kms, in a longboat. Bright sheltered
on Barrow Island with another group of survivors, then followed Brooke,
arriving in Java on 7 July. Almost one hundred of the crew perished in the
shipwreck.
23 June, Littleham: Thomas, poss. seventh and last child of Ellis Branscombe & Joan (Wheaton - m. 1603 Littleham), is baptised. [poss m. 1646 Susanna Elson? Poss d. 1660? Poss siblings: Wilmot (bp. 1607, poss m. 1638 Simon Hooper?), William (bp. 1609, poss d. 1630?), Joan (bp. 1612), Dyna (1614-1615), Elizabeth (bp. 1616, poss m. 1656 Thomas Langford?), Elias (bp. 1619)]
17 August: Marriage License granted to Tristram Braunscombe of Upton Pyne and Alice Tayler of same.
21 November, St. Andrew's, Plymouth: Henry Brenscome marries Jane Webb.(IGI) [IGI notes `relative of Rudolph J Wiley']
1 December, Sandford: Agnes Bunsonne [Branscombe?] & John Jacobbe marry.
15 December, Crediton: Christopher, son of William Brownscombe, christened. (IGI)
Year of an account of the founding of Plymouth in America, in the so-called Mourt Relation. Based in part on Governor William Bradford's history, otherwise destined to remain unpublished for over 200 years.
John Brounscombe of Whitstone makes his will. [A John m. 1609 Whitestone, Thomasine Parry. Poss son of John of Whitestone, mentioned in the 1524, 1544 & 1581 Subsidies for Whitestone, which is about four miles west of Exeter. John & Thomasine may have the following children: Thomas (1612), Agnes (1616?), Susanna (1619), William (1620-1620?), Alice (1621). A John & Thomasine are still around in Whitestone in 1660, to pay the poll tax. Thomasine makes her will in 1641. She is assessed separately for property in Aishbury, in the 1642 Assessment]
`The first regularly published newspaper was the Weekley Newes from Italy, Germany etc., issued in 1622 by Nicholas Bourne and Thomas Archer. Instantly, they were joined by a rival, Nathaniel Butter, who had previously shown that he possessed the true journalistic instinct, by published one-off sheets with details of sensational Yorkshire trials in 1605, and also foreign news, but he missed a golden opportunity to pre-empt the title Newes of the World by choosing the modest Newes from most Parts of Christendom. The first newspaper merger followed and the Butter-Archer team produced Newes of the Present Week. This did not necessarily appear every week, since sometimes there was not a lot happening. Even in the good weeks, the news was contained in a single quarto sheet, but it was publicly available and continued for years.'
Chudleigh: Eliz Brounscombe marries Ric Headon.
Crediton: Thos Brownscombe marries Thom Delve.
@1623
31 August, St. Andrew's, Plymouth: Henry, son of Richard Brenscome, christened.
(IGI) [cf: 1619 Survey - Richard may be a mariner & poss grandfather of
Nicholas of Dawlish? Other children Nicholas (1612), Martin (1614), Margaret
(1615)]
`29 Irish persons [were given poor relief] in Dawlish, as well as other persons described as Out of the Lowe Countries, or Out of fflaunders.'
The right of Sanctuary is abolished for criminals.
@1624
7 February, St. David's, Exeter: Simon Branscombe marries Joane Grigge. (IGI)
1 May: Marriage License granted to John Branscombe of Zeal Monachorum and Thomasin Colliton of same..
19 September, St. Thomas the Apostle, Exeter: Agnis Branscum, daughter of William Branscombe, christened. (IGI) [Poss William bp. 1604 this parish, son of William? cf: 1625 - duplication?]
Captain John Smith, General Historie of Virginia, published.
`Granting a monopoly was the easiest way for the monarch to encourage a trade or an industry, and was also a way to reward courtiers, who did not get salaries and hoped for substantial favours of just this sort. Because grants to courtiers came to be seen as an abuse, monopolies to individuals were prohibited in 1624, but corporations could still receive them, and they continued to be the basis for trade outside Europe in the seventeenth century.'
Crediton: Hy Brownscombe marries My Elston.
@1625
19 September, St. Thomas, Exeter: Agnis, daughter of William Branscum,
baptised. (IGI) [cf: 1624 - duplication? William's will, 1635]
Reign of King James I (VI of Scotland) ends (since 1603). Charles I succeeds to the throne (to 1649).
Dutch colonists found New Amsterdam. (New York)
War between England and Spain. `All ships bound for Newfoundland were held back until the Navy had its supplies and crews ensured.'
The wills of Wilmote Brounscombe, widow of Tiverton, and Alice Brownscombe
of Crediton, are proven in the Consistory Court of the Bishop of Exeter.
[Wilmota Bronscombe is taxed in the 1544 Subsidy at Stockleigh English, near
Crediton]
Crediton: Jn Brownscombe marries Suz Potter.
@1626
7 June, Crediton: Catheryn, daughter of Robert Brownscomb, is christened. (IGI)
17 July, Heavitree: James, son of John Branscombe, christened. (IGI) [poss sibling: Richard (1633). John of Heavitree signed the 1641 Protestation]
The wills of John Brownscomb and Edmond Brownscombe of Exeter are administered in the Archdeaconry.
The plague of 1626 led to a serious breakdown of control of the Freedom of the City of Exeter, when tradesmen began to move outside the walls in considerable numbers and to keep shops and hold markets in the suburbs, defying the customary restriction on trading to freemen.' [cf: 1679 - end of the plague in England]
John Bill's map of Wiltshire shows Swindon, Chiseldon, Wootten Bassett, Cricklade, and Shaw!
John Aubrey born (to 1697).
@1627
Original registers of baptisms, marriages and deaths in Dawlish exist from
1627-1975. An index of marriages exists, covering 1605-1837. There are also
non-conformist records of the years 1814-37.
Stoke Fleming: John Paige, London merchant, born.
`Like most of the `new merchants' Paige was a Londoner only by adoption. His migration from Stoke Fleming ... was one instance in an established pattern of mobility which had had consequences for London trade ... Paige was first sent to London, after an apprenticeship in Tenerife, by his master Gowen Paynter. Paynter, another West Countryman, was the fifth son in a family of traders and sea captains from Dawlish [cf: Joan Branscombe's will, 1590]. He had been a factor at Tenerife in the 1630s for three London merchants; John Paynter, probably his older brother, and Robert and Richard Lant, sons of an Exeter city mayor and leading City merchants in the Spanish trade.'
@1628
January: Dove, a pinnace, being victualled at Gravesend for a voyage to
Bantam for the East India Company. Nicholas Brinscombe will be in the crew. [poss
bp. 1612 Plymouth, son of mariner Richard, now aged about 14? Poss father of
Nicholas of Dawlish? cf: 1641 Protestation for Dawlish]
18 February: Marriage License granted to Humphrey Pitt of Crediton and Elizabeth Branscombe of same.
2 May, St. Edmund's, Exeter: Thomas Bronscom, servant to Richard Payne, buried. (EPNI)
18 May, Newton St. Cyres: Alice Brownscombe marries William Kemmell. (IGI)
12 June, St. Thomas the Apostle, Exeter: John Branscombe marries Richorde Lucombe.
@1629
June: `The Dutch ship Batavia went aground on the Abrolhos Islands, off
the Western Australian coast, near the present town of Geraldton. More than two
hundred passengers and crew managed to struggle ashore, and set the scene for
one of the bloodiest events in Australian history. Within two days of going
aground, Captain Pelsaert, with a small boat and a picked crew, began to
explore the islands and mainland for water, prior to sailing north to Batavia.
Four Aborigines were sighted on the Australian mainland, but these evaded the
Dutch attempts to approach them.'
13 June, Crediton: Charitie Brownscombe marries Thomas Avery. (IGI)
8 August, Shillingford St. George, Devon: John & Mary, son and daughter of John Branscombe, christened.. (IGI)
8 October, Chelvey, Somerset: Walter Brenscombe marries Elizabeth Beacham. (IGI)
Crediton: Phil Brownescombe marries Gra Phillip.
@1630
25 January: Marriage License granted to George Brownscomb junior, of Feniton,
and Grace Goule of same. [cf: 1619 poss son of George the butcher?]
12 September, Feniton: Peter, son of Peter Braunscombe, baptised. (IGI) [Peter senior poss son of weaver Osmund & Joan. cf: 1614 will. Peter junior may marry Dorothy Palmer in Feniton in 1649. They may have the following children: Joan (1654), Susanna (1656), Peter (1659), Martha (1664), Nathaniel (1665), Mary (1666), Hanna (1668). Peter junior's will may be administered in 1671]
25 September, St. David's Exeter: Agnis Branscombe marries Gilbert Carpenter.
19 November, Littleham: Bachelor William Branscombe buried (drowned). [poss bp. 1609 Littleham, second child of Ellis & Joan (Wheaton - m. 1603 Littleham)? Poss siblings: Wilmot (bp. 1607, poss m. 1638 Simon Hooper?), Jone (bp. 1612), Dyna (1614-1615), Elizabeth (bp. 1616, poss m. 1656 Thomas Langford?), Elias (bp. 1619), Thomas (bp. 1622, poss m. 1646 Susanna Elson, poss d. 1660?)]
11 December, Littleham: Ellize Branscombe buried. [poss Ellis, father of William above, and husband of Joan (Wheaton - m. 1603 Littleham?), OR his son Ellis (bp. 1619)?]
Thomas Halsey of Great Gaddesden, Hertfordshire, Pilgrim, emigrates to New Jersey. Some of his land, in Southampton, Long Island, NY, is still owned by his descendants.
Thomas Holcombe, born at Hole House, Branscombe, son of Gilbert, sails to America in the Mary and John, to found the American Holcombes.
@1631
27 February, St. Edmund's, Exeter: Annis Bronscomb, buried.
(EPNI) [Agnes?]
@1632
Letter from William Hoare, of the East India Company in Bantam, to the Company
offices in London, dated 30 January, received 4 September, per London.
Crew list of pinnace Dove, engaged in spice trade, includes Nicholas
Brinscombe.[poss bp. 1612 Plymouth, son of mariner Richard, now aged about
20? Poss father of Nicholas of Dawlish? cf: 1641 Protestation for Dawlish]
`When English merchants moved out into the world beyond Europe, it was natural enough that the Spice Islands became their ultimate objective. Transport cost so much that it was virtually impossible to make a profit by importing anything that could be produced locally; although salt cod was brought across the Atlantic, in general nothing but luxury goods like gold, silver, furs, and spices would yield a reasonable return after paying for a costly ocean voyage ... Spices suited this situation very well: they had a high value in proportion to their weight, they could not be produced in Europe, and they were always valued by rich people, who used them to mask the taste of the not-too-well preserved meat which was the best that anyone could hope for in the winter.'
Construction of Taj Mahal at Agra.
The will of William Brounscombe of Crediton, is lodged in the Consistory Court of the Bishop of Exeter.
`The Star Chamber forbade the dissemination of foreign news in 1632, unless an expensive licence was bought.'
@1633
22 April, Heavitree: Richard, son of John Branscombe, baptised. (IGI) [poss
sibling: James (1626). John of Heavitree signed the 1641 Protestation]
15 November, Dawlish: Brownscombe? buried. [unclear]
The Inquisition of the Roman Catholic Church forces Galileo Galilei, one of the founders of modern science, to recant, under torture, his theory that the Earth moves around the Sun. As he left the courtroom however, he was reported to have muttered "all the same, it moves".
Robert Waymouth joins the early settlers of Kittery, Maine, the colony organised by Francis Champernowne of Kingswear. He is mentioned in the will of Maine's first governor, Ferdinando Gorges [cf: 1605] in 1661, but is already dead by then.
@1634
William Wood: New England Prospect.
5 May, Whitestone: Agnes Branscombe marries John Pearse. (IGI) [poss child of John & Thomasine (Parry - m. 1609 Whitestone? poss siblings: Thomas (1612), Susanna (1619), William (1620-1620?), Alice (1621)]
23 August, St. M.M., Taunton: Dorothy Branscombe marries William Passion/Passons?].
Captain Bailey, a retired sea-captain, sets up the first Hackney Coach in London, at a stand by St. Clement Danes.
Rubens paints the Adoration of the Magi as an altarpiece for the Convent of the White Nuns at Louvain, Belgium. [now at King's College Chapel, Cambridge]
Crediton: Gra Brownescombe marries Ben Allyn.
@1635
4 February, St. Paul's Exeter: Edward Brancescom marries Jane Auggett.(IGI) [cf:
1638 - duplication?]
8 July: Elizabeth Branscombe and 13 others to be taken from Newgate prison, and delivered to Captain Thomas Hill or Captain Richard Carleton, for transportation to Virginia. To be executed, if she returns.
`Between 1615 and 1775 approximately 50,000 men, women and children were forcibly transported from Great Britain to the American Colonies. By far the largest number were convicted felons, who were destined to toil as plantation servants in the tobacco-growing colonies of Virginia and Maryland ... few of the felons contrived to return to their native country when their sentences expired, and it must be assumed that the great majority were assimilated into American colonial society. Statistically, therefore, they are the ancestors of hundreds of thousands of Americans living today ... to an overwhelming degree, the Colonies were settled by the poor, the dispossessed, and the lawless ... transportees were placed upon ships - usually ex-slavers - and sent to the tobacco colonies where they were sold to the highest bidder for a period of servitude lasting from seven to fourteen years. The arrangement was a happy one for England ... and continued right up to the Revolution.'
27 September, St. Andrew's, Holborn: Elizabeth Branscum marries Thomas Kelaway.
28 October, Sandford: John Bruncecombe, & Dorothy Laughton marry.
20 November, Dawlish: Thomas Brimicombe/Branscombe? buried. [poss. Thomas, mariner, aged 30 in the 1619 Survey?, although there is still a Thomas in Dawlish in 1641]
Date of oldest bell of peal of six at St. Winifred's, Branscombe.
Sir William Pole, antiquary of Colcombe, dies.
`A great Devonshire antiquary whose Collections have been quarried by generations of local historians and genealogists.'
Colcombe Castle, 1 km north of Colyton, came to the Courtenay family in the eighteenth century.
William Brannscombe of St. Thomas the Apostle, Exeter, makes his will. [Poss children: William (1604), Thomas (1607), Elizabeth (1609), Joan (1612), all bp. this parish]
The will of Joan Brannscombe of Broad Clyst, is administered in the Archdeaconry of Exeter.
@1636
29 June, Newton St. Cyres: Alice Brownscombe christened, daughter of Philippe
and Alice. (IGI)
17 October, Branscombe: John Michell and Nicholas Hewes of Branscombe, gentlemen, and others, surrender their rights in the rectory, parsonage impropriate, tithing garb and sheaf of Branscombe, and also the parsonage barn, to the Dean and Chapter of Exeter Cathedral. [cf: 1705 Elizabeth Michell, only daughter and heir of Benjamin Michell of Seaside, Branscombe. Married 1726 John Heard of Bridgwater, mother of Elizabeth, b. 1726/7 and m. 1747 to James Branscomb of Exmouth .Also cf: 1685 Judge Jeffreys refugees at Seaside Farm]
Most authorities credit Louis XIV with popularising the forerunner of the necktie, the cravat. It was named after the French word for `Croatian'. When a band of Croat mercenaries visited his court in 1636, Louis admired the silk handkerchiefs they wrapped around their necks and tied in front. He made the cravat a prestigious ornament of apparel.
`From the fall of 1636 through the spring of 1637, the English in New England waged a punitive war against the Pequot Indians. The Anglo-Pequot conflict was the outgrowth of a 1634 Pequot assault on an English trading barque on the Connecticut River, which resulted in the death of Captain John Stone and his crew.'
@1637
9 January, St. Thomas the Apostle, Exeter: Nicholas Branscombe marries Sussana
Sawdon/Samdon? (IGI) [cf: 1677 for possible duplication? Nicholas may be the
son of mariner Richard of Plymouth, bp. 1612? May also be the crew member of
the pinnace "Dove" which makes a voyage to Bantam for the East India
Company, in 1628? May be the Nicholas who baptises a son, Thomas, in Dawlish,
1657?]
23 January, Zeal Monachorum: The will of Thomas Brounscombe is proved before the Court of the Archdeaconry of Barnstaple.
29 January, St. M.M., Taunton: Joane Branskombe marries William [Papp(er)?].
16 April, St. Andrew's, Plymouth: Henry Branscomb marries Ann Love. (IGI)
15 October, Bishops Nympton: Anne, daughter of John Brownscombe and Agnes, christened. (IGI)
Thomas Morton: New English Canaan. Contemporary description of early American colonisation.
Crediton: My Brownescombe marries Pet Lupton.
@1638
17 January, Littleham: Wilmot Braunscombe marries Simon Hooper. [Wilmot poss
bp. 1607 Littleham, first child of Ellys Branscombe & Jone (Wheaton - m.
1603 Littleham)? Poss siblings: William (bp. 1609, poss d. 1630?), Dyna
(1614-1615), Elizabeth (bp. 1616, poss m. 1656 Thomas Langford?), Elias (bp.
1619), Thomas (bp. 1622, poss m. 1646 Susanna Elson, poss d. 1660?). Simon
& Wilmot may have at least 2 children: William (1639), Jane (1645-poss
1667?)]
4 February, St. Paul's, Exeter: Edward Brancescom, marries Jane Auggett. (IGI) [cf: 1635 - duplication?]
21 July, St. Mary Major, Exeter: Susan Bramscombe marries Giles Westcott. (IGI)
Captain John Underhill, News From America. Contemporary account of new colonies.
Delhi replaces Agra as Mughal capital. Red Fort constructed.
Whitstone: poss marriage of Susanna Braunscombe?
@1639
Scottish Rising. (to 1640)
26 January, St. Thomas the Apostle, Exeter: Thomas, son of Alexander Bronescombe is christened. (IGI) [cf: 1620 Alexander & Effyn, 1696 will of Richard Hayne]
17 November, Littleham: William, son of Symon Hooper, baptised. [poss first child of Simon Hooper and Wilmot (Branscombe - m. 1648 Littleham)? Poss sibling: Jane (1645-poss 1667?)?]
Dawlish: Nich Brownscombe marries Eliz Murry.
Crediton: Mgt Brownscombe marries Sym Phillip.
@1640
Dawlish: Branscombe & (?) marriage? [only a possible]
Thomazin Bromscombe of Whitston makes her will.
[cf: 1641 - duplication? poss m. 1609 Whitestone, John Branscombe? Whitestone
is about four miles west of Exeter. John & Thomasine may have had the
following children: Thomas (1612), Agnes (1616?), Susanna (1619), William
(1620-1620?), Alice (1621). John & Thomasine are still around in Whitestone
in 1660, to pay the poll tax. Thomasine is assessed separately for property in
Aishbury, in the 1642 Assessment]
William Bartlet of Branscombe makes his will.
@1641
13 March, Upottery: Mary, daughter of Richard Brannscombe baptised. (IGI)
29 April, St. Martin's, Exeter: Marga Branscomb marries Thomas Berry. (IGI)
12 October, Bishop's Hull, Somerset [Taunton]: Edward, son of Thomas Branscombe, marries Amy Hadden of Creech.
22 August, St. Mary Arches, Exeter: Joshua Braunscombe signs the Protestation. (EBMI) [cf: 1641 Protestation returns for St. Mary Arches, below. Also cf: 1652/3 when Joshua, son of Joseph is baptised in St. Olave, followed by Joshua, son of Joshua, a year later in the same parish]
The unrest which prevails in parliament during the passage of a bill for the Attainder (?) of the Earl of Strafford, leads to the national forced "referendum" known as the Protestation. It was a declaration in support of `... the true reformed Protestant Religion ... against all Popery and Popish Innovations within the Realm.' It was designed to dissuade the king from using his army to threaten parliament, and rescue Strafford, who was confined in the Tower of London. Eventually the tension led to the Civil War, in August 1642 ... The returns are of considerable value to the genealogist and local historian. Not until two hundred years later, with the advent of the first named census returns, is there to be found such a complete listing, parish by parish, of every adult male inhabitant. [However, there are 56 parishes missing in Devon, 48 of which are from the south-east corner of the county, between Exeter and the Dorset border]
PROTESTATION OF 1641
CULLOMPTON PARISH - HAYRIDGE HUNDRED
Robert Brownscombe
Richard Brinscombe
FENITON PARISH - HAYRIDGE HUNDRED
George Branscombe
Peter Branscombe - Overseer
UPLOWMAN PARISH - TIVERTON HUNDRED
Bartholomew Branscombe
John Brownescombe
HEAVITREE PARISH - EXETER
John Branscombe
ST.LEONARD'S PARISH - EXETER
Alexander Brounscombe
ST.MARY ARCHES PARISH - EXETER
Joseph Branscomb
[Joseph is probably a locksmith, apprentice of William Hoppin(g), clock maker, and mentioned in William's will of 1643. In 1646, Joseph Brownscombe, locksmith, becomes a Freeman of Exeter. In 1652, Joshua, son of Joseph, is baptised in St. Olave's, followed in 1656 by a son John. In the 1660 Poll Tax, Joseph and his wife are registered at St. Olave's. Also in 1660, another son, Thomas, is baptised to Joseph, this time in St. Mary Arches. The following year, William is baptised, and in 1662 another (or the same?) William. In 1673, Joseph, a locksmith, son of Joseph, succeeds his father as a Freeman of Exeter. In 1683, Mary, daughter of Joseph, is baptised in St. Thomas. Also cf: Branscombe, Drupe, Blackborough, Colaton Raleigh, lands & marriage settlements ... (EPNI) 96M/47/15]
UPTON HELLIONS PARISH - WEST BUDLEIGH HUNDRED
Andrew Braunscomb
John Brounscomb
Mark Brounscomb
[cf: 1612,1619,1620 - wills of Mark of Upton Hellions. Also cf: 1694 - Andrew Brownscombe of Upton Hellions]
GREAT TORRINGTON PARISH - FREMINGTON HUNDRED
Robert Brimscomb
COOKBURY PARISH - BLACK TORRINGTON HUNDRED
Richard Bromacombe
William Bromacombe
Gregory Bromcombe
DAWLISH PARISH - EXMINSTER HUNDRED
Nicholas Bronscombe
[poss son of Richard, mariner of Plymouth, bp. 1612 St. Andrew's? Poss m. 1637 Exeter, Susanna Sawdon? Poss father of Nicholas of Dawlish, m. 1677 Exeter?]
Thomas Bronscombe
John Hunte
Thomas Hunte
Henry Voyse
Richard Waymouth
Richard Daling - Overseer
MORCHARD BISHOP PARISH - CREDITON HUNDRED
Thomas Brownston
COLEBROOKE PARISH - CREDITON HUNDRED
John Brounscombe
CREDITON PARISH - CREDITON HUNDRED
John Brownscombe
Robert Brownscombe
Robert Brownscombe
Robert Brownscombe
Thomas Brownscombe
William Brownscombe
KENNERLEIGH PARISH - CREDITON HUNDRED
Robert Brunscombe
NEWTON ST.CYRES PARISH - CREDITON HUNDRED
Edward Bowenscombe
Edward Brounscombe
John Brounscombe
Philip Browenscombe
BISHOPS NYMPTON PARISH - WITHERIDGE HUNDRED
John Brownescombe
SOMERSET PROTESTATION RETURNS 1641
CORFE PARISH - TAUNTON DEAN HUNDRED
Richard Bradscume
John Barascume
SOMERSET SUBSIDY ROLLS 1641
OTHERY PARISH - WHITLEY HUNDRED
Margaret Haulsey G3
DRAYTON PARISH - ABDICK & BULSTONE HUNDRED
Alice Hambridge G4
The Irish Troubles.
John Ogilby, map-maker, is in Dublin running a theatre.
Thomazin Brownescombe of Whitston makes her will. [cf: 1640 - duplication? Poss m. 1609 Whitestone, John Branscombe? Whitestone is about four miles west of Exeter. John & Thomasine may have had the following children: Thomas (1612), Agnes (1616?), Susanna (1619), William (1620-1620?), Alice (1621). John & Thomasine are still around in Whitestone in 1660, to pay the poll tax. Thomasine is assessed separately for property in Aishbury, in the 1642 Assessment]
William Brownescombe, of Crediton - testamentary cause.
`The printing of domestic news began when the Star Chamber was suppressed,
in 1641. Starting in a modest way, the first Diurnalls
or Mercuries concentrated on political news and comment, mainly critical
of the King.'
Whitestone: poss marriage of Thomas Braunscombe and Thomasine Splatt?
Crediton: William Brownscombe, testamentary cause (1641-1648).
Crediton: Thos Brownscombe marries Urs Narramore.
@1642
17 March, St. M.M., Taunton: Thomas Branscomb marries Elizabeth Pardie.
8 August, Dawlish: William Branscombe buried. [reasonably clear]
13 December: In the morning, Abel Tasman sights `a large, high-lying land', which proved to be the south Island of New Zealand, but his course was too far to the north to see even the snowy summits of the ranges that guard the western ramparts of Otago.
1642 ASSESSMENT
AISHBURIE PARISH:
Thomasin Brownescombe assessed at 16s 3d.
[poss m. 1609 Whitestone, John Branscombe? Whitestone is about four miles west of Exeter. John & Thomasine may have had the following children: Thomas (1612), Agnes (1616?), Susanna (1619), William (1620-1620?), Alice (1621). John & Thomasine are still around in Whitestone in 1660, to pay the poll tax. Thomasine makes her will in 1641]
SOMERSET SUBSIDY ROLLS 1642
HILBISHOOPES PARISH - TAUNTON HUNDRED
Thomas Branscombe 0s 5d
[this is Bishops Hull - probably Thomas senior. cf: Protestation Returns 1642]
LYLSDON PARISH - NORTH CURRY HUNDRED
William Halsey 3s 0d
SOMERSET PROTESTATION RETURNS 1642
TAUNTON PARISH - TAUNTON DEAN HUNDRED
William Halsey
DUNSTER PARISH - CARHAMPTON HUNDRED
John Branscombe
HULL TITHING - BISHOP'S HULL PARISH - TAUNTON DEAN HUNDRED
Edward Branscombe
Thomas Branscombe senior
Thomas Branscombe junior
[this may be one family - Edward & Thomas junior may be brothers, Thomas senior their father. See 1641 for possible marriage of Edward. Thomas junior may have married in this year, Elizabeth Pardee, in Taunton district & emigrated to Sussex County, Delaware, cf: 1687]
Taunton, Somerset: poss year of marriage of Thomas Branscombe and Elizabeth Pardee? (IGI)
English Civil War. (to 1651)
@1643
20 May, Dawlish Agnes Branscombe marries Robert Tripe? [cf typed ms. by P.R.
Whiteaway, "The History of Rixdale Farm, Dawlish and the Tripe
Family", WCSL Exeter]
24 October, Exeter: Joseph Branscombe named in the will of William Hopping of Exeter. Joseph is a locksmith, apprenticed to William, a clock-maker. William's father constructed the famous clock of St. Mary Steps church. The will gives to Joseph `my great buke horn and my vice in the new shop'. Later members of the Hoppin family worked as locksmiths in Exeter well into the eighteenth century. `Three of Hoppin's apprentices became freemen of Exeter - Branscombe, Peter Halstaffe the elder and John Peryam, gunsmith'. [Joseph is registered in the St. Mary Arches parish, in the 1641 Protestation returns. In 1646, Joseph Brownscombe, locksmith, becomes a Freeman of Exeter. In 1652, Joshua, son of Joseph, is baptised in St. Olave's, followed in 1656 by a son John. In the 1660 Poll Tax, Joseph and his wife are registered at St. Olave's. Also in 1660, another son, Thomas, is baptised to Joseph, this time in St. Mary Arches. The following year, William is baptised, and in 1662 another (or the same?) William. In 1673, Joseph, a locksmith, son of Joseph, succeeds his father as a Freeman of Exeter. In 1683, Mary, daughter of Joseph, is baptised in St. Thomas. Also cf: Branscombe, Drupe, Blackborough, Colaton Raleigh, lands & marriage settlements ... (EPNI) 96M/47/15]
`The Royalists started in Oxford the Mercurius Aulicus in 1643, trumped by the London-published Parliamentarian Weekley Intelligencer, and the Mercurius Civicus, which was illustrated. having used the power of the press to help him win, Cromwell suppressed it, and licenced only the official Mercurius Politicus (editor John Milton) and the Publick Intelligencer (editor, the brilliant polemicist Marchmont Nedham).'
Crediton: Rbt Brownscombe marries Thom Temblett.
@1644
2 June, Crediton: Ambrose, son of Grace Brownscombe, christened. (IGI)
Dawlish: William Branscombe buried. [only a possible]
Manchus found Ch'Ing dynasty, China.
Globe Theatre, in Globe Alley Southwark since 1599, burns down.
Crediton: poss marriage of Mary Brounscomb alias Bounsell?
@1645
19 January, Littleham Jane, daughter of Symon Hooper, baptised. [poss d.
1667? Poss second child of Simon Hooper and Wilmot (Branscombe - m. 1648 Littleham)?
Poss sibling William (1639)?]
Tasman circumnavigates Australia, and discovers New Zealand. [cf: 1642]
`In the ... parish of Colyton, out of a population which at that time could
not have exceeded a thousand souls, there died in the two years 1645-6, of `the
sicknesse', as the recording minister
notifies in the margin of the grand old register, four hundred and fifty-eight
persons.' (Hamilton Rogers, "Memorials of the West", 1888, p.9)
Civil War: Salcombe Regis said to be the last place to hold out for King Charles.
@1646
18 February, Feniton: Elizabeth Brannscombe marries William Stoakes. (IGI)
30 March, Littleham: Thomas Branscomb, marries Susanna Elson. [Thomas bp. 1622, poss fifth & last child of Elias & Joan (Wheaton - m. 1603 Littleham? Poss siblings of Thomas: Wilmot (bp. 1607, poss m. 1638 Simon Hooper?), William (bp. 1609, poss d. 1630?), Dyna (1614-1615), Elizabeth (bp. 1616, poss m. 1656 Thomas Langford?), Elias (bp. 1619). Poss children of Thomas & Susanna: William (1647, poss m. 1676 Mary Crutchet?), Art (1649), Thomas (1652, poss m. 1702 Joan Adams? Poss d. 1715), James (1656), Sarah (1659, poss m. 1683 Thomas Wish)?]
11 September: Joseph Brownscombe, locksmith, apprentice of William Hopping, deceased, admitted to the freedom of the city of Exeter. [Joseph is registered in the St. Mary Arches parish, in the 1641 Protestation returns. Apprentice of William Hoppin(g), clock maker, and mentioned in William's will of 1643. In 1652, Joshua, son of Joseph, is baptised in St. Olave's, followed in 1656 by a son John. In the 1660 Poll Tax, Joseph and his wife are registered at St. Olave's. Also in 1660, another son, Thomas, is baptised to Joseph, this time in St. Mary Arches. The following year, William is baptised, and in 1662 another (or the same?) William. In 1673, Joseph, a locksmith, son of Joseph, succeeds his father as a Freeman of Exeter. In 1683, Mary, daughter of Joseph, is baptised in St. Thomas. Also cf: Branscombe, Drupe, Blackborough, Colaton Raleigh, lands & marriage settlements ... (EPNI) 96M/47/15]
John Aubrey (1629-97) comes across the Great Circle of Avebury, while riding to hounds.
`He was so excited by the place that he declared it " ... to exceed Stonehenge as a cathedral does a parish church."' (Godwin & Anderson, p.33)
In the reign of King John, there had been as many as twenty-eight little sandstone churches in Exeter City. But in 1646, an ordnance of Parliament resulted in all but four (St. Petrock, St. Mary Major, St. Mary Arches and St. Edmund) being sold, or used as burying places, or as schools. Happily, many were bought by their parishioners and, two years later, were returned to their proper parochial uses. But immense damage had been done, and some never fully recovered All Hallows on the Walls remained in a ruinous condition until the nineteenth century, when it was wholly removed ... and replaced ... in 1845, with a church of the same name built on a site to the north of the old one.
Crediton: Rbt Brownscomb marries Amy Snow. [cf: 1686, 1694 for other Branscombe/Snow marriages]
@1647
The Commonwealth.
`Exeter's relationship with the English Crown remained a constant: the Semper Fidelis motto bestowed by Elizabeth I saw it through the Civil War with the adaptability of the Vicar of Bray, and it only drew the line at James II, supporting the Duke of Monmouth's rebellion before welcoming William of Orange.'
8 July, Holy Trinity (Christ Church), Cork, Ireland: John Branscom, marries Ann Belcher. (IGI)
2 November, Crediton: Alice Brownscomb marries Robert Gullock. (IGI)
5 December, Littleham: William, first child of Thomas Branscomb of Littleham & Susanna (Elson - m. 1646 Littleham), baptised. [poss m. 1676 Mary Crutchet? Poss siblings: Thomas (1652, poss m. 1702 Joan Adams? Poss d. 1715), James (1656), Sarah (1659, poss m. 1683 Thomas Wish)?]
Dawlish: Eliz Brounscombe marries Jn Lumber.
Crediton: Al Brounscombe marries Rbt Gullocke.
@1648
Crediton: William Brownscombe, testamentary cause (1641-1648).
@1649
14 October, Littleham: Arthur, son of Thomas Branscombe, is baptised.
17 October, Feniton: Peter Brannscombe marries Dorothy Palmer. (IGI) [Peter poss bp. 1630 Feniton, son of Peter, grandson of weaver Osmund & Joan. His father's will may be made this year, or it could be Peter junior's, administered in 1671? Dorothy & Peter may have the following children: Joan (1654), Susanna (1656), Peter (1659), Martha (1664), Nathaniel (1665), Mary (1666), Hanna (1668)]
Peter Osmond/Branscombe of Feniton makes his will. [The will of Osmond Branscombe, weaver of Feniton, is proved in 1614. The will of Peter Branscombe of Feniton, probably his grandson, is administered in 1671. This may be the son of Osmund & Joan, Peter junior's father]
Reign of Charles I ends, (since 1625) when he is beheaded by hangman Richard Brandon. It marks the start of the Interregnum, when various governments of the Commonwealth and Protectorate take over until the Restoration of 1660. `During this period, many ecclesiastical records are fragmentary and probate records will be found in the PCC records at the PRO Chancery Lane.'
Russians reach the Pacific Ocean.
Littleham: Poss year of birth of Art[hur?], child of Thomas Branscombe of Littleham & Susanna (Elson - m. 1646 Littleham)?
@1650
1 August, Holy Trinity (Christ Church), Cork, Ireland: John, son of John &
Ann Branscom, baptised. (IGI) [cf: 1658/9, 23 January - George baptised]
Classic Maori period begins on the South Island of New Zealand.
In literature, `coomb' appears in the second half of the sixteenth century, probably introduced from local use; a century later it was still treated as a local southern word.
Branscombe family lands & marriage settlements at Drupe, Blackborough, Colaton Raleigh. (to 1715) (EPNI)
The first of the Branscombe/Hart marriage settlements (to 1715). [cf: 1712 Branscombe/Hart marriage in Exeter]
Richard Clapp of Sidbury, a sequestration official, sold a tenement in Branscombe to Richard Huse of that parish, and another Branscombe man, Elliss Bartlett (assessment commissioner from 1657) bought a tenement there in 1650 from two carpet-bagging Londoners who had been the first purchasers from the trustees. [cf: 1656 - Grace Clapp]
Littleham: A gap in the burial register, 1650-1657.
Exeter, St. Mary Steps: Jn Branscom marries Ans Squyer.
@1651
1 April: Elizabeth Brinstcome, 'of Banton's of Taws[stock]', is apprenticed for
7 years to Ley of Barnstaple.[Edward Banton/Bainton/Bauton, a general
labourer (?) on the Tawstock estate of Henry, fifth Earl of Bath and Rachel,
Countess of Bath]
`As late as 1651, a map of Virginia placed the Pacific Ocean a mere 10 days' trek from the head of the James River.'
Prince Charles, later Charles II, hides in an Oak tree in Boscobel Wood during his flight to France, after defeat at the Battle of Worcester. He is reputed to have taken refuge in Bovey House.
End of English Civil War. (since 1642)
[As a result of the Civil War] `... feudal tenures were abolished and replaced by modern freehold ... the English landed class turned lordship into ownership and instead of feudal lords became real owners of the land. This was the most important change in the whole of English history. Instead of drawing labour services or fixed feudal dues in money or kind from their estates, like the Russian or French landlords who could not increase their incomes without cheating or oppressing their peasants, the English landlords could do what they liked with their land. They could farm it, let it to the most efficient farmer for the highest rent, mine the minerals under it, build on it or let it on long leases to developers, or of course sell it for any of these purposes. This freedom to do as they pleased with their land ... was to have a great effect on the coming of the Industrial Revolution and the building of the railways ... this helps to account, too, for the exceptional size and prosperity of the `middle ranks'. The rising incomes of the landed class were spent on consumer goods and improvements to their estates which put money into the pockets of the manufacturers and traders and, as it were, `primed the pump' of the whole economy so that almost everyone had money to spend and almost everyone benefited from the resultant prosperity. Income and small amounts of capital were thus widely diffused, and thousands of small but ambitious businessmen actively sought opportunities for increasing their profits and expanding their turnover.'
@1652
30 May, St. Olave's, Exeter: Joshua, son of Joseph Branscom, christened. (IGI)
[Joseph is registered in the St. Mary Arches parish, in the 1641
Protestation returns. Apprentice of William Hoppin(g), clock maker, and
mentioned in William's will of 1643. In 1646, Joseph Brownscombe, locksmith,
becomes a Freeman of Exeter. In 1656, John, son of Joseph, is baptised in St.
Olave's. In the 1660 Poll Tax, Joseph and his wife are registered at St.
Olave's. Also in 1660, another son, Thomas, is baptised to Joseph, this time in
St. Mary Arches. The following year, William is baptised, and in 1662 another
(or the same?) William. In 1673, Joseph, a locksmith, son of Joseph, succeeds
his father as a Freeman of Exeter. In 1683, Mary, daughter of Joseph, is
baptised in St. Thomas. Also cf Branscombe, Drupe, Blackborough, Colaton
Raleigh, lands & marriage settlements ... (EPNI) 96M/47/15]
16 August, Littleham: Thomas, second child of Thomas Branscomb & Susanna (Elson - m. 1646 Littleham), baptised. [poss m. 1702 Joan Adams? Poss d. 1715? Poss siblings: William (1647, poss m. 1676 Mary Crutchet?), Art (1649), Thomas (1652, James (1656), Sarah (1659, poss m. 1683 Thomas Wish)?]
First London coffee-house opened in Cornhill, by Pasqua Rosée, a Turk.
Foundation of Cape Colony by the Dutch.
Crediton: Thom Brownescombe marries Jn Hollerd.
@1653
28 February, St. Olave's, Exeter: Joshua, son of Joshua Branscombe, christened.
(IGI) [cf: 1652 Joshua, son of Joseph, baptised in St. Olave]
2 December, Heavitree: Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Branscombe, christened. (IGI) [Richard poss b. 1623, son of John? Other poss children of Richard: Elizabeth (1655), John (1657), Mary (1660), James (1663), Katheren (1667), Richard (1670), Richard (1671), Mary (1672)]
The registration of baptisms, marriages & burials passes from ecclesiastical to civil authority, under Cromwell's Commonwealth.
Crediton: Thos Brownescombe marries My Lowman & Jn Brownescombe marries My Terry.
@1654
26 January: A complaint of Thomas Holford of London, white baker, against
Michael Chadwell & John Crispe, mentions a tenement occupied by Robert
Brancome in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire.
22 January, Broomfield, Somerset: Clemency Branscombe marries Stephen Young. (IGI) [relative of Brigham Young? cf: IGI entry for 23 Jan 1655 - poss daughter?]
1 February, Feniton: Jone, daughter of Peter Branscombe, christened. (IGI) [Peter poss bp. 1630 Feniton, son of Peter, grandson of weaver Osmund & Joan. Peter's will may be administered in 1671? He married Dorothy Palmer, 1649 Feniton. Poss other children: Peter (1659), Martha (1664), Nathaniel (1665), Mary (1666), Hanna (1668)]
Littleham-cum-Exmouth: The Churchwardens' Accounts for the parish church of St. Margaret & St. Andrew this year include:
Paid to Andr. Peryam and his two men for drawinge of stones and laying ye Ch. flore being 28 da. worke ... 1.16.0.
Crediton: Fra Brownescombe marries Mgt Smale.
@1655
23 January, Somerset: Clemency Branscombe marries ? (IGI) [IGI claims this
is a marriage, although it notes `no parents are listed', indicating it really
means it's a christening. It's an unusual entry, with the note, `Rel: Brigham
Young. cf: 1654 22 Jan., a similar entry regarding the marriage of Clemency
Branscombe and Stephen Young]
20 September, St. Peter's, Exeter: John Branscombe marries Ann Lea. (IGI) [IGI notes `of Knowstone, Devon, relative of Thomas Harding'. Poss settled Oakford, which is 5 miles east of Knowstone? Poss children: Hugh (1658), Joyce (1661), John (1664), Mary (1666)]
2 December, Heavitree: Elizabeth Branscombe, daughter of Richard, baptised. (IGI) [Richard poss b. 1623, son of John? Other poss children of Richard: Elizabeth (1653), John (1657), Mary (1660), James (1663), Katheren (1667), Richard (1670), Richard (1671), Mary (1672)]
Crediton: Eliz Brownescombe marries Walt Tapper.
@1656
9 February, Feniton: Susanna, daughter of Peter Branscombe, christened. (IGI) [Peter
poss bp. 1630 Feniton, son of Peter, grandson of weaver Osmund & Joan. A
Peter's will administered in 1671. Peter married Dorothy Palmer, 1649
Feniton. Poss siblings: Joan (1654), Peter (1659), Martha (1664), Nathaniel
(1665), Mary (1666), Hanna (1668)]
22 March, St. Olave's, Exeter: John, son of Joseph Branscombe, christened. (IGI) [Joseph is registered in the St. Mary Arches parish, in the 1641 Protestation returns. Apprentice of William Hoppin(g), clock maker, and mentioned in William's will of 1643. In 1646, Joseph Brownscombe, locksmith, becomes a Freeman of Exeter. In 1652, Joshua, son of Joseph, is baptised in St. Olave's. In the 1660 Poll Tax, Joseph and his wife are registered at St. Olave's. Also in 1660, another son, Thomas, is baptised to Joseph, this time in St. Mary Arches. The following year, William is baptised, and in 1662 another (or the same?) William. In 1673, Joseph, a locksmith, son of Joseph, succeeds his father as a Freeman of Exeter. In 1683, Mary, daughter of Joseph, is baptised in St. Thomas. Also cf: Branscombe, Drupe, Blackborough, Colaton Raleigh, lands & marriage settlements ... (EPNI) 96M/47/15]
26 May, Woodbury, Devon: John Branscombe marries Grace Clapp. (IGI) [this is the first Woodbury reference in the database. There may be some connection, through the christian names of John & Grace's children, to Philip Brenscome & Sibill (Buchal - m. 1604 Crediton) and Phil Brownscombe of Crediton (1597). Poss children: Grace (1657), John (1659), William (1661), Philip (1664), Samuel (1665), Samuel (1670). Poss John's will administered, 1698, Broad Clyst?]
20 August, St. Peter's, Exeter: Mary Branscombe marries Peter Wickett. (IGI)
14 September, Littleham: James, third child of Thomas Branscomb of Littleham & Susanna (Elson - m. 1646 Littleham), born. [poss siblings: William (1647, poss m. 1676 Mary Crutchet?), Art (1649), Thomas (1652, poss m. 1702 Joan Adams? Poss d. 1715), Sarah (1659, poss m. 1683 Thomas Wish)?]
1 December, Littleham: Elizabeth Branscomb, third child of Elias & Joan (Wheaton - m. 1603 Littleham), marries Thomas Langford. [poss bp. 1616 Littleham? Poss siblings: Wilmot (bp. 1607, poss m. 1638 Simon Hooper?), William (bp. 1609, poss d. 1630?), Dyna (1614-1615),Elias (bp. 1619), Thomas (bp. 1622, poss m. 1646 Susanna Elson, poss d. 1660?)]
Spanish and Portuguese Jews, fleeing the Inquisition, establish the first Jewish congregation in London since 1290.
Crediton: Wm Brownscomb marries Reb Gibbins.
@1657
5 April, Woodbury: Grace, daughter of John Branscombe, christened. (IGI) [poss
first child of John & Grace (Clapp - m. 1656 Woodbury)? Poss siblings: John
(1659), William (1661), Philip (1664), Samuel (1665), Samuel (1670)]
15 April, St. Gregory's, Dawlish: Thomas, son of Nickolas Brancombe, christened. (IGI) [Nicholas poss son of Richard, mariner of Plymouth, bp. 1612 St. Andrew's? Poss m. 1637 Exeter, Susanna Sawdon? Poss sibling: Nicholas of Dawlish, m. 1677 Exeter?]
26 December, Heavitree: John, son of Richard Branscomb, christened. (IGI) [Richard poss b. 1623, son of John? Other poss children of Richard Elizabeth (1653), Mary (1660), James (1663), Katheren (1667), Richard (1670), Richard (1671), Mary (1672)]
`Shepherds Bush Green is a triangular piece of grass an acre or two in extent. There seems to be no recognized derivation of the curious name. At Shepherd's Bush, in 1657, one Miles Syndercomb hired a house for the purpose of assassinating Oliver Cromwell as he passed along the high road to the town. The plot failed, and Syndercomb was hanged, drawn and quartered in consequence.' (Besant) [if he had waited a year, he could have saved himself the trouble!]
Littleham: A gap in the burial register, 1650-1657.
@1658
26 January, Okeford (Oakford): Hugh Brownscombe baptised, son of John. [poss
John & Ann (Lea - m. 1655 St. Peter's, Exeter)? IGI notes `of Knowstone,
Devon, relative of Thomas Harding'. Poss other children: Joyce (1661), John
(1664), Mary (1666). This is the first entry for Oakford in the current
database. Bentley's history of the parish says Brunscombe is not among
the top 24 most common names between 1568-1840, but is among the hundred or so
others that have more than ten entries in that period. He claims 31
occurrences. He doesn't mention Brownscombe, so it's not clear if this first
baptism is part of the 31. The top three names in the Oakford registers,
according to Bentley, are Mogford, Radford & Carpenter]
2 October, St. Winifred's, Branscombe: William and Robert Lee, father & son, buried together in the same grave.
READER ASKE NOT
WHO LYES HERE
UNLESSE THOU MEANST TO DROP A TEAR
FATHER AND SON HEERE JOYNTLY HAVE
ONE LIFE ONE DEATH ONE TOMB ONE GRAVE
IMPARTIALL HAND THAT DURST TO SLAY
THE ROOTE AND BRANCH BOTH IN ONE DAY
OUR COMFORT IN THERE DEATH IS THIS
THAT BOTH ARE GONNE TO JOY AND BLISS
THE WINE THAT IN THESE EARTHEN
VESSELS LAY
THE HAND OF DEATH HATH LATELY DRAWN AWAY
AND AS A PRESENT SERVD IT UP ON HIGH
WHILST HEERE THE VESSELLS WITH THE LEES DOE LYE
9 December, Sandford: Mark Brownscombe, servant to John Colebrone, buried. [cf: 1612,1619,1620 - wills of Mark Brownscombe of Upton Hellions]
Death of Sir Oliver Cromwell. His body is laid out at Somerset House in the Strand. His unpopularity prompted the crowd to throw muck and rubbish at the outside of the building.
@1659
23 January, Holy Trinity (Christ Church), Cork, Ireland: George, son of Clement
& Mary Branscom, is baptised. (IGI) [cf: 1662, sister Eliz baptised]
10 February, St. Sidwell's, Exeter: John Branscombe marries Elizabeth Gribble. (IGI)
4 June, Exeter: Lease agreement between Joshua Branscombe, locksmith, and William Pyne, merchant, regarding a wall to be built in a garden owned by Joshua, off Arch Lane, thereby sub-dividing it.
`The west moiety of the garden late in the tenure of Robert Summers of Exeter, apothecary, and now in the tenure of the said Joshua Branscombe, together with a way from the premises through the dwelling house, courtlage and lane adjoining, and belonging to said Joshua Branscombe, and so through the entrance now used into the said garden, which said west moiety of said garden is to be divided from the east moiety by a clobb wall of seven feet high besides the coping, and footed with stone, to be made at the equal costs of said William Pyne and Joshua Braunscombe, within the next twelve months.' [lease surrendered 1672. The 1587 map of Exeter by R. Hogenberg and the 1618 map in Braun & Hoghenbegh's "Civitates Orbis Terrarum" shows a garden in this location]
4 August, Littleham: Sarah, fourth child of Thomas Branscomb of Littleham & Susanna (Elson - m. 1646 Littleham), baptised. [poss m. 1683 Thomas Wish? Poss siblings: William (1647, poss m. 1676 Mary Crutchet?), Art (1649), Thomas (1652, poss m. 1702 Joan Adams? Poss d. 1715), James (1656)?]
24 August, Feniton: Petter Branscombe, son of Peter, baptised. (IGI) [Peter senior poss bp. 1630 Feniton, son of Peter, grandson of weaver Osmund & Joan. A Peter's will administered in 1671. Peter senior married Dorothy Palmer, 1649 Feniton. Poss siblings: Joan (1654), Susanna (1656), Martha (1664), Nathaniel (1665), Mary (1666), Hanna (1668). There is no record, so far of a marriage for this Peter, although a Peter, son of Peter, is baptised in Feniton, 1704]
5 December, Woodbury, Devon: John Branscombe, son of John , christened. (IGI) [poss second child of John & Grace (Clapp - m. 1656 Woodbury)? Poss siblings: Grace (1657), William (1661), Philip (1664), Samuel (1665), Samuel (1670). John poss moves to Broad Clyst after marriage to Anne Martinfield, in 1683? Poss children: An (1686), William (1688), Samuel (1691), Sarah (1693), Philip (1694? Poss will administered, 1698?]
Joshua Braunscombe senior, locksmyth, & Joshua junior, Exeter. (EPNI) [are these the same people as Joseph senior & junior, locksmiths?]
French found trading station on the Senegal coast.
`... an armed party from the Dutch flute Elburgh recorded the first, brief description of Aboriginal culture on the west coast [of Australia]. Near Cape Leeuwin, they sighted three Nyungar Aborigines, wearing animal-skin cloaks. At the sight of the sailors, the tribesmen dispersed into the bush, leaving behind their spears, and several small axes used to notch the trees as they climbed in search of possums.'
`After Cromwell's death, Henry Muddiman started the Parliamentary Intelligencer in 1659, and had the sense to rename it the Kingdom's Intelligencer when the king was restored, in 1660.'
Crediton: Gil Brounscombe marries My Fulford.
@1660
6 February: Thomas Branscombe of Littleham drowns. [Poss bp 1622, seventh
child of Ellis & Joan (Wheaton - m. 1603 Littleham)? Poss m. 1646
Littleham, Susanna Elson? Poss children: William (1647, poss m. 1676 Mary
Crutchet?), Art[hur?] (1649), Thomas (1652, poss m. 1702 Joan Adams - poss d.
1715), James (1656), Sarah (1659, poss m. 1683 Thomas Wish)? According
to Hugh Peskett, a memorandum in the Littleham burial register notes that
Arthur Herring and Thomas Stiles were also drowned in the same incident,
`coming from Torbay']
26 March: Anna Bartlett of Hole House buried at St. Winifred's.
`Here lieth a blossom of the
world's great tree
which was as fair as buds of roses be.
She died an infant. Heaven was made for such.
Live like an infant, though shalt have as much.'
April 9, Exeter: Thomas Forward, locksmith, apprentice of Joshua Branscombe, enters the freedom of the city of Exeter.
1660 POLL TAX
one shilling paid on estates worth less than £5 per annum
WHITESTONE PARISH
John & Thomasin Branscombe
[a John Branscombe is assessed in the 1524, 1544 & 1581 subsidies for Whitestone, about four miles west of Exeter. In 1606, John Branscombe of Whitestone makes his will. This John & Thomasine (Parry - m. 1609 Whitestone) appear in the records for Whitestone & Aishbury for the next fifty years. They may have the following children: Thomas (1612), Agnes (1616?), Susanna (1619), William (1620-1620?), Alice (1621). A John makes his will in 1622. Thomasine makes her will in 1641. She is assessed separately for property in Aishbury, in the 1642 Assessment]
CHERITON BISHOP PARISH
Mary Brownscombe
EXETER ST.THOMAS PARISH, WONFORD HUNDRED
Agnes Brownscombe, widow, £12.10s
Thomas Brownscombe of the same family, is listed as a poll tax payer
[cf: 1617 Agnes Mortimore m. Wm Brownscum, St. Thomas]
EXETER ST.OLAVE PARISH
Joseph Branscombe and his wife, 5s.6d
[Joseph is registered in the St. Mary Arches parish, in the 1641 Protestation returns. Apprentice of William Hoppin(g), clock maker, and mentioned in William's will of 1643. In 1646, Joseph Brownscombe, locksmith, becomes a Freeman of Exeter. In 1652, Joshua, son of Joseph, is baptised in St. Olave's, followed in 1656 by a son John. Also in 1660, another son, Thomas, is baptised to Joseph, this time in St. Mary Arches. The two parishes are very close and if Joshua lived in or near Arches Lane, (cf: 1659 land transaction in this area) he could have been within just a few hundred yards of either. The following year, William is baptised, and in 1662 another (or the same?) William. In 1673, Joseph, a locksmith, son of Joseph, succeeds his father as a Freeman of Exeter. In 1683, Mary, daughter of Joseph, is baptised in St. Thomas. Also cf: Branscombe, Drupe, Blackborough, Colaton Raleigh, lands & marriage settlements ... (EPNI) 96M/47/15]
EXETER ST.DAVID PARISH
Edward Branscombe 12d
Another? Edward Branscombe and his wife 12d
Devon & Cornwall Records Vol.#2
7 October, St. Mary Arches, Exeter: Thomas, son of Joseph Braunscom,
baptised.
(EPNI) [Joseph is registered in the St. Mary Arches parish, in the 1641
Protestation returns. Apprentice of William Hoppin(g), clock maker, and
mentioned in William's will of 1643. In 1646, Joseph Brownscombe, locksmith,
becomes a Freeman of Exeter. In 1652, Joshua, son of Joseph, is baptised in St.
Olave's, followed in 1656 by a son John. In the 1660 Poll Tax, Joseph and his
wife are registered at St. Olave's. In 1661, William, son of Joseph, is
baptised in St. Mary Arches, and in 1662 another (or the same?) William. In
1673, Joseph, a locksmith, son of Joseph, succeeds his father as a Freeman of
Exeter. In 1683, Mary, daughter of Joseph, is baptised in St. Thomas. Also cf:
Branscombe, Drupe, Blackborough, Colaton Raleigh, lands & marriage
settlements ... (EPNI) 96M/47/15]
Between 1660 and 1716 the names of those sentenced to be hanged for capital offences but thought deserving of clemency were submitted by the Assize Courts to the King's Ministers in London. Most were then extended a pardon on condition of their accepting transportation to an American colony for a set period, usually of seven years.'
??, Heavitree: Marye Branscomb, daughter of Richard, baptised. (IGI) [Richard poss b. 1623, son of John? Other poss children of Richard: Elizabeth (1653), John (1657), James (1663), Katheren (1667), Richard (1670), Richard (1671), Mary (1672)]
Period of Commonwealth ends (since 1649). 29 May: Charles II ascends the throne on his birthday, after 17 years in exile. (to 1685).
End of the Civil Wars. Approximate start of the Restoration. End of the Puritan era.
Exeter, St. Thomas: Pat Brounscombe & Edw Lanne married.
Crediton: Mir Brounscombe marries Edw Geynes. [cf: 1665 marriage of Fra Brounscombe & Eliz Geynes]
@1661
6 January: Marriage allegation between Emanual Bicknoll of Alphington, and
Elizabeth Branscomb. Bound by Daniel Smaleridge of Exeter.
9 February, St. Mary Arches, Exeter: William, son of Joseph Braunscom, baptised. (IGI) [Joseph is registered in the St. Mary Arches parish, in the 1641 Protestation returns. Apprentice of William Hoppin(g), clock maker, and mentioned in William's will of 1643. In 1646, Joseph Brownscombe, locksmith, becomes a Freeman of Exeter. In 1652, Joshua, son of Joseph, is baptised in St. Olave's, followed in 1656 by a son John. In the 1660 Poll Tax, Joseph and his wife are registered at St. Olave's. Also in 1660, another son, Thomas, is baptised to Joseph, this time in St. Mary Arches. In 1662 another (or the same?) William is baptised in St. Mary Arches. In 1673, Joseph, a locksmith, son of Joseph, succeeds his father as a Freeman of Exeter. In 1683, Mary, daughter of Joseph, is baptised in St. Thomas. Also cf: Branscombe, Drupe, Blackborough, Colaton Raleigh, lands & marriage settlements ... (EPNI) 96M/47/15]
10 May, Okeford (Oakford): Joyce Brownscombe baptised, daughter of John. [poss John & Ann (Lea - m. 1655, St. Peter's, Exeter)? Poss other children: Hugh (1658), John (1664), Mary (1666)]
21 July, Sowton, Devon: John, son of Bartholomew Brancome, christened.(IGI) [poss first(?) child of Bartholomew & Martha - m. not yet found, who may baptise their next child in Woodbury? If so, they move on again to Withycombe Raleigh, by 1666. Poss other children: William (1662 - Woodbury), Bartholomew (1666), Martha (1669), Jonathan (1673), all bp. Withycombe Raleigh. A Bartholomew is buried there in 1697, poss either the husband of Martha, or the son bp. 1666?]
22 December, Woodbury: William, son of John Brauncombe, baptised. (IGI) [poss third child of John & Grace (Clapp - m. 1656 Woodbury)? Poss siblings: Grace (1657), John (1659), Philip (1664), Samuel (1665), Samuel (1670)]
`... the officers and men of sheriff Coplestone Bampfield's regiment, under Lord Lieutenant Monck, presented a loyal address in favour of monarchy and episcopacy, in May 1661; their signatures amount to a roll-call of the gentry [in Exeter] in descending order of social as well as of military rank. JPs and tax commissioners served as senior and junior officers while the most minor gentry, constables and grand jurors like William Babb, George Glanville, Thomas Suxbitch, James Paddon and George Weymouth were included as ensigns and sergeants. In the euphoria of the Restoration, the militia was taken up as the symbol of county solidarity; in the fifties it had suffered as the embodiment of centralist intrusion and sectarian divisiveness.'
Daniel Branscombe of Tiverton makes his will.
[cf: 1670 Tiverton, Daniel m. Barbara Foster. Also cf: 1678 Tiverton, John,
son of Daniell, baptised Tiverton]
Ferdinando Gorges, first governor of Maine, dies. His will names an early colonist, Robert Waymouth, as an executor, but he has already died.
Crediton: Marg Brounscombe marries Leo Scut.
@1662
9 February, St. Mary Arches, Exeter: William, son of Joseph Braunscom,
baptised. (EPNI) [Joseph is registered in the St. Mary Arches parish, in the
1641 Protestation returns. Apprentice of William Hoppin(g), clock maker, and
mentioned in William's will of 1643. In 1646, Joseph Brownscombe, locksmith,
becomes a Freeman of Exeter. In 1652, Joshua, son of Joseph, is baptised in St.
Olave's, followed in 1656 by a son John. In the 1660 Poll Tax, Joseph and his
wife are registered at St. Olave's. Also in 1660, another son, Thomas, is
baptised to Joseph, this time in St. Mary Arches. In 1661, another (or the
same?) William is baptised in St. Mary Arches. In 1673, Joseph, a locksmith,
son of Joseph, succeeds his father as a Freeman of Exeter. In 1683, Mary,
daughter of Joseph, is baptised in St. Thomas. Also cf: Branscombe, Drupe,
Blackborough, Colaton Raleigh, lands & marriage settlements ... (EPNI)
96M/47/15]
15 March, Woodbury: William, son of Barth Braunscombe, baptised. (IGI) [poss second child of Bartholomew & Martha - m. not yet found? If so, they may have been in Sowton in 1661, and may move to Withycombe Raleigh by 1666? Poss other children: John (1661 - Sowton), Bartholomew (1666), Martha (1669), Jonathan (1673), all bp. Withycombe Raleigh. William may marry Joan ? before 1689, when a child, Charity, is baptised to them, in Withycombe? William poss d. 1716, Withycombe?]
28 April, Holy Trinity (Christ Church), Cork, Ireland: Eliz, daughter of Clemment & Mary Branscom, is baptised. (IGI) [cf: 1658/9, 23 January - brother George]
17 July: Warrant from Treasurer at Southampton to Customs Commissioners for discharge of a seizure, at Minehead, of some cattle and sheep belonging to John Branscombe of Ireland. A petition from John Branscombe is attached.
The will of Robert Brownscombe of Crediton is proved in the Consistory Court of the Bishop of Exeter.
Mary Branscombe of Feniton makes her will. [cf: 1666 Feniton, Mary baptised, daughter of Peter Branscombe & Dorothy (Palmer - m. 1649 Feniton)]
From 1662-83, England holds Tangier, thus commanding the entrance to the Mediterranean.
John Branscombe, Keeper of the Treasury of Ireland. [cf: 1647,1665, 1672]
Royal Society incorporated.
Dawlish: poss marriage of Elizabeth Branscombe?
@1663
??, Heavitree: James, son of Richard Branscomb, christened. (IGI) [Richard
poss b. 1623, son of John? Other poss children of Richard Elizabeth (1653),
John (1657), Mary (1660), Katheren (1667), Richard (1670), Richard (1671), Mary
(1672)]
21 December, St. Mary Arches, Exeter: ? Branscom, baptised.
The will of Elizabeth Brawnscombe of Tiverton is administered in the Archdeaconry of Exeter.
Thomas Newcomen, inventor of the first effective steam pump (called an atmospheric engine), is born in Dartmouth.
Littleham-cum-Exmouth: The Churchwardens' Accounts of the parish church of St. Margaret & St. Andrew for this year contain the following entry for a collection made by Thomas Weekes, warden:
Collected for hexham brige in the county of Northumberland the sum of ... 2s 6d.
Crediton: Eliz Brounscombe marries Rbt Lock & Wm Brounscombe marries Agn Jesson.
@1664
30 May, Okeford (Oakford): John Brownscombe baptised, son of John & Ann. [John
senior poss m. 1655, St. Peter's, Exeter, Lea? IGI notes `of Knowstone, Devon,
relative of Thomas Harding'. Poss other children: Hugh (1658), Joyce (1661),
Mary (1666)]
Approximate year of birth of John Branscomb, who dies in Bampton in 1727. [cf: 30 May, John Brownscombe bp. Bampton is 2½ miles from Oakford]
14 August, Woodbury: Philip, son of John Brannscombe baptised. (IGI) [possible fourth child of John & Grace (Clapp - m. 1656)? Poss siblings: Grace (1657), John (1659), William (1661), Samuel (1665), Samuel (1670). Philip probably becomes Overseer of Apprentices in Woodbury 1697 & 1702? Poss father of John (1700), Philip (1705), Hannah (1706)? cf: 1604 Philip of Crediton, poss grandfather?]
27 December, Feniton: Martha Branscombe, daughter of Petter, baptised. (IGI) [Peter poss bp. 1630 Feniton, son of Peter, grandson of weaver Osmund & Joan. Peter's will may be administered in 1671? He married Dorothy Palmer, 1649 Feniton. Poss other children: Joan (1654), Susanna (1656), Peter (1659), Nathaniel (1665), Mary (1666), Hanna (1668)]
Somerset Hearth Tax 1664/5
Hull Episcopi parish: Edward Branscombe
[Bishops Hull - This is probably Edward, son of Thomas, who married Amy Hadden in 1641, and who is recorded, possibly with his (younger?) brother Thomas, in the 1642 Protestation Returns. Thomas junior may have emigrated to Sussex County, Delaware. cf: 1687]
@1665
John Branscombe buys land in Isle of Wight County, Virginia. (EPNI) [cf:
1668]
11 March, St. Mary Arches, Exeter: Sarah Branscome, daughter of Joshua, baptised. (IGI)
19 March, Woodbury: Samuell Braunscombe, son of John, baptised. (IGI) [poss fifth child of John & Grace (Clapp - m. 1656 Woodbury)? Poss siblings: Grace (1657), John (1659), William (1661), Philip (1664), Samuel (1670)]
30 April, Crediton: Lease and Release by Robert Hall of Exeter, to Thomas Westlake & Thomas Wright of Exeter, and Walter Tuckfield of Shobrooke, gentlemen, of two tenements in Colebrooke, Sandford and Crediton called Lower Wotton and Little Bradleigh, parcels of lands called Little Fullforde now or late in the tenure of John Rowe and Robert Branscombe. (EPNI)
17 December, Feniton: Nathaniell Branscombe, son of Petter, baptised. (IGI) [Peter poss bp. 1630 Feniton, son of Peter, grandson of weaver Osmund & Joan. Peter's will may be administered in 1671? He married Dorothy Palmer, 1649 Feniton. Poss other children: Joan (1654), Susanna (1656), Peter (1659), Martha (1664), Mary (1666), Hanna (1668)]
`[Henry] Muddiman contrived to start the Oxford Gazette in 1665. This became the London Gazette in early 1667, published bi-weekly ever since as the official organ of the government, announcing bankruptcies, naturalisations and official measures - everything but general news.'
Crediton: Jn Brounscombe marries Rich Webber & Fra Brounscombe marries Eliz Geynes. [ cf: 1660 marriage of Mir Brounscombe & Edw Geynes, Crediton]
@1666
9 February, Feniton: Mary, daughter of Petter Branscombe, baptised. (IGI) [Peter
poss bp. 1630 Feniton, son of Peter, grandson of weaver Osmund & Joan.
Peter's will may be administered in 1671? He married Dorothy Palmer,
1649 Feniton. Poss other children: Joan (1654), Susanna (1656), Peter (1659),
Martha (1664), Nathaniel (1665), Hanna (1668)]
2 March, St. Mary Arches, Exeter: Sarah, daughter of Joshua Branscombe, baptised. (Born, St. Olave's) (EPNI)
8 March, Thames Ditton, Surrey: Ealesaberth, daughter of Josioas Brancom, is christened. (IGI) [cf: 1679 poss sister Mare & 1682 poss brother John baptised, Thames Ditton]
25 October, Okeford (Oakford - nr. Bampton?): Mary Brownscombe baptised, daughter of John & Ann. [poss John & Ann (Lea - m. 1655 Exeter)? Poss other children: Hugh (1658), Joyce (1661), John (1664)]
28 November: Marriage allegations between Phillipp Braunscombe of Nymett Episcopi and Margery Mildon. Bound by Phillip Ley of Stockley Pomeroy.
Bishop's Nympton: poss marriage of Phillipp Braunscombe to Margery Milden?
20 December, Withycombe Raleigh: Bartholomu, son of Bartholomu & Martha Branscom, christened. (IGI) [or 1665? Poss third child of Bartholomew & Martha - m. not yet found? If so, they may have been in Sowton in 1661, and may move to Withycombe Raleigh by 1666? Poss other children: John (1661 - Sowton), William (1662 - Woodbury), Martha (1669), Jonathan (1673), all bp. Withycombe Raleigh. This is the first Withycombe reference, this century]
The Great Fire of London starts in Pudding Lane. An estimated 80% of the city is destroyed in four days, including 13000 houses, 87 parish churches, 44 Livery companies, Guildhall and St. Paul's. As much as two-thirds of the population may have perished.
An Act of Parliament of this year stipulated that all persons being buried in England should be shrouded in wool and no other material. This was to help the wool industry. A register had to be kept for each parish and the relatives of those not "buried in woolen" were subject to a fine. There was a reward for those who brought the attention of the authorities to an illegal burial. Wealthier families who didn't want their members buried in wool informed on each other, thereby reducing the cost of the fine by the value of the reward.
@1667
15 March, Littleham: Jane, daughter of Symon Hooper, buried. [poss bp. 1645
Littleham, the second child of Simon Hooper and Wilmot (Branscombe - m. 1648
Littleham)? Poss sibling: William (1639)?]
22 December, Heavitree: Katheren, daughter of Richard Branscomb, baptised. (IGI) [Richard poss b. 1623, son of John? Other poss children of Richard: Elizabeth (1653), John (1657), Mary (1660), James (1663), Richard (1670), Richard (1671), Mary (1672)]
The first of the Branscombe/Dollen marriage settlements (to 1810).
@1668
9 August, St. Mary Arches, Exeter: Samuell, son of Joshua Branscome, baptised.
(IGI & EPNI) [cf: 1670]
17 December, Feniton: Hanna, daughter of Peter Branscombe, christened. (IGI) [Peter poss bp. 1630 Feniton, son of Peter, grandson of weaver Osmund & Joan. Peter's will may be administered in 1671? He married Dorothy Palmer, 1649 Feniton. Poss other children: Joan (1654), Susanna (1656), Peter (1659), Martha (1664), Nathaniel (1665), Mary (1666)]
The will of Catherine Brownscombe, widow of Crediton, is proved in the Consistory Court of the Bishop of Exeter.
Crediton: poss marriage of Mary Branscombe?
Crediton: David Brownscombe, testamentary cause.
John Branscombe's land in Isle of Wight County, Virginia sold, due to his disappearance. (?) The Court Order Books for July contain the following:
William Boddie & Anna his wife to Henry Joyce a parcel of land on Cypress Swamp formerly let by Wm. Boddie to John Branscombe, now ack. to Henry Joyce.
@1669
8 February, Withycombe Raleigh: Martha, daughter of Bartholomu & Martha
Branscom, baptised. (IGI) [poss fourth child of Bartholomew & Martha -
m. not yet found? If so, they may have been in Sowton in 1661, and may move to
Withycombe Raleigh by 1666? Poss other children: John (1661 - Sowton), William
(1662 - Woodbury), Bartholomew (1666), Jonathan (1673), all bp. Withycombe
Raleigh]
February: John Pearse, felt maker of Sowton, reprieved for Barbados.
22 June: Andrew Branscombe, husbandman of Cullompton, reprieved by the Devon Assize Court, probably from a sentence of hanging, to be transported to Barbados, usually for a period of seven years, under bondage as a "plantation servant".
@1670
8 May, Woodbury: Samuel Brannscombe son of John, baptised. (IGI) [poss sixth
and last child of John & Grace (Clapp - m. 1656 Woodbury)? Poss siblings:
Grace (1657), John (1659), William (1661), Philip (1664), Samuel (1665)]
11 May, St. Mary Arches, Exeter: Samuel Branscomb, buried. (EPNI) [cf: 1669]
23 May, St. James, Huish-by-Hatherleigh: Joane, daughter of John Branchcombe & Mellicent, christened. (IGI)
21 August, Heavitree: Richard Branscomb, son of Richard, baptised. (IGI) [Richard poss b. 1623, son of John? Other poss children of Richard: Elizabeth (1653), John (1657), Mary (1660), James (1663), Katheren (1667), Richard (1671), Mary (1672)]
13 December, Tiverton: Daniell Branscombe marries Barbara Foster. (IGI) [cf: 1670, Daniel of Tiverton makes his will. Also cf: 1678 John, son of Daniell, baptised Tiverton]