The RICHARDS family of Pitminster, co. Somerset, England, Dorchester, Suffolk, MA and Weymouth, Norfolk, MA; The Blake family of Over Stowey, Somerset, England | Send comments and corrections to anneb0704@yahoo.co.uk |
HUMPHREY BLAKE
(1494 - c. 1558) of Over Stowey
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JOHN BLAKE (c.
1522 - 1576) of Over Stowey m. Joan Unknown (d. 1595)
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JAMES RICHARDS (d.
1608) of Pitminster m.
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ALICE BLAKE (c.
1548 - 1585)
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THOMAS RICHARDS (bp.
1596 - 1650/1) of Pitminster, Dorchester and Weymouth m. Welthean Loring
(d. 1679)
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ALICE RICHARDS (bp. 1629
-1671) m. Maj. William Bradford
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HUMPHREY BLAKE (d. 1558) of Over Stowey
Parents: Humphrey's immediate ancestry is unknown. However, based on the arms of his descendant Adm. Robert Blake and the 1623 visitation of Wiltshire, Stott [Ref] concludes that Humphrey is the descendant (perhaps the great-great-grandson) of Henry Blake who married Margaret, the daughter and heiress of Walter Bellet. Henry is the son of William Blake who married Elizabeth, the daughter of Thomas Power. William is the son of Henry Blake who married a daughter and heiress of Unknown Durant. William is the son of Robert Blacque or Blake of Wiltshire.
The Blakes were an English gentry family in Somerset during the 16th and 17th centuries. The descendants of Humphrey Blake, gentleman of Overstowey and Spaxton, were involved in the cloth trade from at least the middle of the 16th century. [Ref]
Humphrey Blake was born, say, 1494. died on 19 Nov 1558 in Over Stowey. [Ref] He was buried there on 28 Dec 1558. [Ref] He married Anne or Agnes Unknown, but he may also have had an earlier wife. [Ref]
Humphrey leased the manor of Plainfield in the parish of Over Stowey from Reginald Williams. [Ref] He bought the adjoining manor of Tuxwell in Spaxton parish from George Sydenham im 1556. [Ref] He was seized of 40 acres of land in the parish of Bishops Lydiard. [Ref]
Humphrey Blake, gentleman, signed his will on 19 Nov 1558; it was proved on 11 May 1559. [Ref] He asked to be buried in the church at Over Stowey. [Ref]
Children of Humphrey Blake:
JOHN BLAKE (c. 1522 - 1576) of Over Stowey
Parents: Humphrey Blake [Ref]
John Blake was born about 1522. [Ref] He was buried on 10 Dec 1576 in Over Stowey. [Ref] He married Joan Unknown. [Ref] She was buried on 27 Jun 1595 in Over Stowey. [Ref]
John was his father's eldest son. [Ref]
John's father left him lands in Bishops Lydiard, co. Somerset. [Ref] He acquired property in Plainsfield, Aisholt and Spaxton. [Ref] He was involved in the cloth trade. [Ref]
John signed his will on 26 Nov 1576; it was proved on 25 Jan 1575/7. [Ref] He asked to be buried in the church at Over Stowey. [Ref]
Children of John Blake and Joan Unknown:
JAMES RICHARDS (d. 1608) of Pitminster
James Richards was buried on 19 Jan 1607/8 in Pitminster. [Ref] He married Alice Blake on 2 Oct 1569 in Over Stowey. [Ref]
Parents: John Blake [Ref]
Alice Blake was born about 1548, probably in Over Stowey. [Ref] She was buried on 17 Aug 1585 in Pitminster. [Ref] She married James Richards on 2 Oct 1569 in Over Stowey. [Ref]
Children of James Richards and Alice Blake:
THOMAS RICHARDS (b. abt 1571) of Pitminster
Parents: James Richards and Alice Blake [Ref]
Thomas Richards was born about 1571, probably in Pitminster. [Ref]
Children of Thomas Richards:
THOMAS RICHARDS (bp. 1596 - 1650/1) of Pitminster, Dorchester and Weymouth
Parents: Thomas Richards [Ref]
Thomas was baptised on 16 Apr 1596 at Pitminster. [Ref] He died between 17 Dec 1650 and 28 Jan 1650/1, probably at Hull, Plymouth, MA. He married Welthean Loring. She died between 3 Jul 1679, when she signed her will, and 4 Nov 1679, when it was proved. [Ref]
Mr. Thomas Richards was a merchant in Dorchester. [Ref] He was a selectman there on 8 Oct 1633. [Ref]
He moved to Weymouth in 1639/40. [Ref]
Welthean Loring was under suspician of witchcraft in 1653/4, but the case does not appear to have been prosecuted. [Ref]
In her will, dated 3 Jul 1679, the widow Welthean Richards names Thomas, Alice, Hannah, Mercy, William Jr., John, Samuel, Melatiah, Mary and Sarah Bradford "children of William Bradford of Plimoth Colony & my daughter Al (ce) deceased." [Ref ]
Thomas Richards of Weymouth wrote his will on 17 (10) 1650, while sick and at his "brother" Thomas Loring's house in Hull. He mentions his sons John (who was away), James, Samuel, Joseph and Benjamin; his daughters Mary, Ann, Alice and Hannah; his wife; his brother Thomas Loring; Thomas Prosser. Both Joseph and James are referred to as under 21. His wife is allowed "sufficient maintenance" of £35 a year. The will was proved on 28 (11) 1650. Inventory was taken on 25 (11) 1650: it amounted to a then sizable £1,300.17.11. Thomas had requested that his estate not be settled until his son John returned. His heirs James, Joseph, Benjamin and Hannah, petitioned the court the day the will was proved to allow their mother, "Mrs. Welthian Richards" to have the power to improve the estate until John returned. [Ref 7;232]
Children of Thomas Richards and Welthan Loring:
ALICE RICHARDS (bp. 1629 - 1671)
Parents: Thomas Richards [Ref] and Welthean Loring [Ref ]
Alice Richards was baptised on 1 Nov 1626 in Pitminster. [Ref] She died on 12 Dec 1671, age 44, in Plymouth. [Ref][Ref] She married Maj. William Bradford.
References
Crowell, F. E., New Englanders in Nova Scotia, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1938.
Edes, Harry H., "Documents Relating to the Colonial History of Connecticut - with Notes," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 23, 1869, 21-33.
Fessenden, G. M., "A Genealogy of the Bradford Family," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 4, 1850.
Messinger, George W., "The Hinckley Family," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 13, 1859, 208-212.
Paige, Lucius, R., "List of Freemen, " New England Historical and Genealogical Register 3, 1849, 89-96, 187-194, 239-246, 345-352.
Pulsifer, David, trans., "Records of Boston," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 10, 1856, 71.
Stott, Clifford, "Humphrey Blake (1494? - 1558) and his Descendants in New England and South Carolina: Blake, Richards, Selleck, Torrey and Wolcott," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 163, 2009, 85-97, 199-211, 278-295; 164, 2010, 63-74.
Trask, William, "Abstracts from the Earliest Wills on Record in the County of Suffolk, Mass.," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 7, 1853, 232.
Wakefield, Robert S., FASG, William Bradford of the Mayflower and His Descendants for Four Generations 3rd ed., General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1991.
Weber, David Jay, "Major William Bradford's Second Wife: Was she the Widow of Francis Griswold?" New England Historical and Genealogical Register 155, 2001.
Wilcox, Wayne, H. M., "Capt. Thomas Hawkins, Shipwright of London and Dorchester, Massachusetts and Three Generations of his Descendants," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 152, 2997, 193-216.