Thursday, October 8, 2015

Mary Charley/Charlie (1738 - 1797 or 1803)

52 Ancestor Challenge - Challenge 41

Blake, King, Coleman, Pearce, Farmer, Mary (unknown), Lambden, Sarah (unknown), Knight, Ellis, Knight, Vincent, Butt, O'Ford, Arnold, Molton, Cotterell, Bartlett, Alderman, Shepherd, Sherwood, Elizabeth (unknown), Happerfield, Collins, Rawlings, Tanner, Dove, Morgan, Lywood, Lanham, unknown, Peck, Pincombe, Charley, Rowcliffe, Pearse, Rew, Moggridge, Siderfin, Kent, Gray, Hilton, Cobb, Sproxton, Routledge, Tweddle, Routledge, Routledge, (unknown) Buller, unknown, Beard, Hemsley, Welch, Brockhouse, Cheatle, Woodcock, unknown Taylor, unknown, Harborne, Lewis, Roberts, Croxall, Lawley, unknown

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

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

Information on possible Mary Charley from Find My Past:

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

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

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

What happened to the four Marys listed above:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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