Henry the Immigrant

The First Tapscotts of

Robert E. Tapscott

GlobeTech Inc G Albuquerque, New Mexico T A GlobeTech ® Book

Copyright©2006by GlobeTechInc Albuquerque,NewMexico AllRightsReserved

FirstPrinting,October2006

PublishedbyGlobeTech ®Inc. [email protected]

OtherGlobeTech ®Books TheGlennandMaryImleTapscottFamily TheNeverFailingBrook,2004

i

Fornow,withglad’nedeyes,weviewthebounds Ofthatfam’dcolony,fromwhencetheweed, Thesalutiferousplant,thatsendsthebreast Fromnoxiousvapoursofth’inclementmorn, Provocativetosolid,studioustho’t, Derivesitsbirthanduse;thelandthaterst Employ’dthelaboursofourvirginqueen AndstillissacredtoEliza’sfame. “ObservationsinSeveralVoyagesandTravelsinAmerica intheYear1736,” The London Magazine ,July1746

DedicatedtoJosephD.(“Danny”)Tapscott,Kilmarnock, Virginia,whocaptainedourvoyageofdiscovery.

InmemoryofVictoriaAngelaMariaPytellTapscott.

ForCorinaRachelTapscottandCodyAustinTapscott, GGGGGGGGGrandchildrenofHenry&AnnTapscott ofLancasterandNorthumberlandCounties,Virginia.

Illustrations ii

Illustrations

Exceptwherenotedotherwise,allphotographsandmapsarebytheauthor,andalldrawings arefromClipart.com.

FloweringtobaccointheNorthernNeckofVirginia(GeorgeWashington’s Birthplace,WestmorelandCounty).

Contents iii

Contents

Foreword...... vii FamilyTrees ...... xi AnnEdney’sFamilies...... xi EdneyTapscottFamily...... xii Capt.HenryTapscottFamily...... xiii JamesTapscottFamily ...... xiv BenjaminGeorge(III)Family...... xv EnochGeorgeSr.Family ...... xvi Beginnings ...... 1 Names ...... 1 TheEarliestTapscotts...... 2 TheWestCountry...... 5 Exmoor ...... 7 The17 th Century ...... 8 Emigration ...... 11 HenrytheImmigrant...... 15 TheNewWorld ...... 16 Virginia...... 19 TheNorthernNeck...... 19 BusinessandTobacco ...... 21 HazardsandIllness...... 25 RichandPoor ...... 28 SlavesandServants ...... 29 Servitude...... 31 AlexanderSwan...... 31 ChristChurch...... 36 Emancipation...... 39 AnnofWicomicoParish...... 43 JamesEdney ...... 43 TheOrphan ...... 47 WicomicoParish...... 49 Marriage...... 50 FamilyLife...... 53 Freeholder...... 53 Carpenter...... 57 Contents iv

Home...... 59 FarmerandPlanter...... 60 Scholar ...... 61 Citizen...... 62 DeathofaCarpenter...... 63 EdneyTapscott...... 67 TheEarlyDays ...... 67 Marriage...... 67 LifeofaPlanter ...... 69 ...... 72 ThePassingofEdney ...... 75 Edney’sChildren ...... 77 HenryofCaswell...... 77 Elizabeth...... 80 Ezekiel ...... 81 Darcus...... 84 Susanna...... 85 Catherine...... 85 JohnSr...... 85 Capt.HenryTapscott ...... 89 Beginnings ...... 89 Gentry ...... 90 Marriage...... 91 Edgehill...... 93 Father,Planter,Merchant,Citizen...... 96 DeathofCaptainHenry...... 100 DescendantsofCaptainHenry ...... 104 James ...... 104 John...... 108 Henry ...... 109 Ann ...... 110 William...... 111 Martin ...... 113 Chichester...... 116 Rawleigh...... 118 Alice ...... 121 Richard ...... 122 JosephHenry ...... 122 Sarah...... 123 Elizabeth...... 124 Polly...... 125 Samuel ...... 125 JohnShearman...... 125 Contents v

JamesTapscott...... 129 AModestLife...... 129 James’sDeath ...... 130 James’sChildren...... 131 AnnConway...... 132 George ...... 132 Henry ...... 134 Catherine...... 135 Elizabeth...... 135 TheGeorges...... 137 Predecessors...... 137 NicholasSr...... 137 NicholasJr...... 139 BenjaminSr...... 140 BenjaminJr.andAnn ...... 141 Benjamin(III) ...... 141 NicholasLawson ...... 143 Fortunatus...... 144 Judith ...... 144 Martin ...... 144 Catherine...... 145 Charlotte ...... 145 Sarah...... 145 Enoch...... 146 AnnEdney...... 146 EnochSr...... 146 Lucy...... 147 Enoch...... 147 TheWorldTurnedUpsideDown ...... 151 VirginiaandtheAmericanRevolution...... 151 CaptainHenryTapscottandtheCommitteeofSafety ...... 152 RawleighTapscott,DeputyCommissioner ...... 153 JohnandEzekielTapscottandtheVirginiaNavy...... 155 WilliamTapscottintheVirginiaMilitia ...... 156 Exodus...... 159 Appendices...... 161 AppendixA.CourthouseRecords ...... 163 LancasterCountyCourthouse ...... 164 NorthumberlandCountyCourthouse ...... 165 AppendixB.SuitofHenryTapscottagainstAlexanderSwan ...... 166 AppendixC.TransportofJamesEdney...... 167 AppendixD.JohnEmbryDeedtoHenryTapscott...... 168 Contents vi

AppendixE.EntryintoRecordofLandPurchasebyandfromJohnEmbry ...... 170 AppendixF.IndentureofRichardNigginstoHenryTapscott ...... 171 AppendixG.DeedofGiftofHenryandAnnTapscotttoRichardLee...... 172 AppendixH.ExecutorandAppraisersforHenry’sEstate...... 174 AppendixI.InventoryoftheEstateofHenrytheImmigrant...... 176 AppendixJ.DesignationofBenjaminGeorgeasAdministratorforHenry’sEstate...... 179 AppendixK.SuitofEdneyTapscottagainstAnnandBenjaminGeorge...... 181 AppendixL.WillofEdneyTapscott...... 182 AppendixM.WillofMaryShapleighWaughTapscott...... 184 AppendixN.WillofJohnStott ...... 185 AppendixO.SaleofEdgehillPlantation,JamesBalltoCapt.HenryTapscott...... 187 AppendixP.WillofCapt.HenryTapscott...... 189 AppendixQ.InventoryofEstateofCapt.HenryTapscott ...... 191 AppendixR.DivisionofSlavesofRichardTapscott...... 194 AppendixS.DivisionofFundsfromSaleofPollyTapscott’sSlaves...... 195 AppendixT.DivisionofEstateofMartinTapscott ...... 196 AppendixU.WillofMartinTapscott...... 203 AppendixV.WillofMartinShearman,HusbandofAliceTapscott ...... 204 AppendixW.JamesTapscott’sGiftofSlavestoHisChildren ...... 206 AppendixX.WillandProbateforJamesTapscott ...... 207 AppendixY.InventoryofEstateofJamesTapscott ...... 208 AppendixZ.DivisionofSlavesofJamesTapscott...... 211 AppendixAA.WillofBenjaminGeorgeJr...... 212 Endnotes...... 213 Index ...... 265 DescendantsofAnnEdney...... 286 References...... 302

Foreword vii

Foreword

Henry the Immigrant is neither a genealogy—though it contains much of interest to genealogists—nor a family history, as the term is normally used. Rather, it is the story of a family,aquiteremarkablefamilythatlivedinaquiteremarkabletime.Likeallaccounts,verity sufferswhentheperspectiveisthatofoneperson,particularlywhenthatpersonhasafamilial bond.Nevertheless,imperfectasitmaybe,thisisthestoryofHenryandAnnTapscott,their offspring,andthesocietyinwhichtheylived,witheveryattempttoreplacewishfulthinking withfact,anddubiousanecdotewithrecord.ThestorydetailsthelivesofHenry,Ann,andtheir children,withshort(andofttimesnotsoshort)biographiesoftheirgrandchildren,andcontinues withAnn’ssecondmarriagetoBenjaminGeorgeandtheiroffspring.Thestoryischieflysetin 18 th centuryVirginia,butnumerousexcursionsintothemoredistantpastandtowardthepresent aremadetoputthingsintoperspectiveandtoprovideglimpsesofsourcesandoutcomes.In particular,briefoverviewsofsomeofthedescendantsofthemanygrandchildrenareprovided. Oneofthoselines,thatofHenryofCaswell,isthesubjectofabookinprogress. This book arose during research on the Tapscotts of Clark County, Illinois, where my immediatefamilyoriginated.Daddiedyoung,andMom,childofaGermanimmigrant,wasthe primary,butlessthanreliable,sourceforourlimitedTapscottlore.SheclaimedtheAmerican Tapscotts were poor (mostly untrue), but were “good and kindly masters” of their slaves (questionable).Theslavepartwasintriguing.Myforebearswereslaveholders? TheworkofothersshowedthattheprogenitorsoftheprincipalTapscottlineinAmerica, HenryandAnn,hadlivedinColonialVirginia,butlittlewasknownoftheirlives,andevenless oftheirbeginnings.Devon,Wales,Scotland,andevenIrelandwereproposedforHenry’ssource. Fromancillaryresearch,IbecameincreasinglyconvincedthattheTapscottsoriginatedinand around Exmoor near the Somerset/Devon border. Villages in this area had 16 th century Tapscotts,acharacteristicsharedwithnootherregioninBritain. IntheAutumnof2002,togetafeelforourorigins,mywife,MaryFrances,andImadea twoweektriptotheExmoorregion—alarge,rural,andisolatedareaofmoor,forest,andfarm. WestayedatafarmhouseinnontheoutskirtsofSelworthy,aSomersethamletofperhapsthirty soulsandtenorsohouses,mostofthemmedieval,thoughextensivelyremodeledinthe1800s. AmilewalktothewestwasAllerford,ametropolisoffiftyhouses,orsoitwasclaimed,though outlyingfarmhousesmusthavebeenincluded,andanothermileledtoPorlock,largeenoughto havetwopubsandseveralrestaurants,butnobankorATM.Threemilesintheotherdirection wasMinehead,asizeabletownof10,000,doublingintouristseason.Overagorsecoveredsteep hilltothenorthoftheinn,anhour’sclimballowedaviewofBristolChannel.Tothesouthwas theheartofExmoor,whichliesinbothDevonandSomerset,thoughmainlyinthelatter. SelworthylookedexactlyliketheruralEnglishhamletoneimaginesasachildwhenreading Beatrix Potter or A. A. Milne—yellow, thatchedroof cottages, resembling Hobbit dwellings, surrounded by flower gardens and surmounted by large round chimneys. On the lawns were

Foreword viii squirrelsandpheasants,andtheencirclinggrassyfieldspasturedsheepandhorses.Ahundred yardsorsofromourinnwasa14 th centurytithebarn,andafewhundredyardsfurtherwasthe Church of All Saints, dating from the 15 th century. At this parish church, Tapscotts were baptized,wed,andburied,startingatleastasearlyas1572(theparishrecordsonlygoto1571). ItisinSelworthythatwefindsomeoftheearliestTapscottsrecorded. IwishIcouldsaythatwefoundnumerousstonesandmonumentswithTapscottnames,but wedidnot,exceptatMinehead,whereTapscottmarkersintheSt.MichaelsParishchurchyard datefromthelate1700s.ThefactisthattheTapscottsoriginatedmorethan4½centuriesago andmostcemeterymarkers(assumingthattheycouldhavebeenafforded)donotlastthatlong, oratleastbecometotallyunreadable.AttheSomersetStudiesLibrary,inTaunton,withthehelp oflibrarianDavidBromwich,andfromothersources,wedid,however,findwrittenrecords(or transcriptions)ofTapscottswhoflourishedaroundExmoorinthe1500s,1600s,and1700s.The namethenstartsfading,particularlyafter1850orso,untiltodayonlythreeTapscotthouseholds arefoundinallofSomersetandonlyfiftyeight,inallofEngland(basedonphonelistings). Thezenithofourjourneywastheexperienceofattendingservicesinchurcheswheresome of the earliest Tapscotts worshipped, seeing stillused baptismal fonts in which they were baptized,andwalkingvillagestreetstheyhadtrod. Startingwiththeresultsofthistrip,Ihadoriginallyplannedtowriteabookspecificallyon theTapscottsofEngland’sWestCountry.Discoveriesfromanotherexpedition,however,caused arevisionofthoseplans.In2004,MaryFrancesandItraveledtotheNorthernNeckofVirginia, whereHenrytheImmigrantlandedandfoundedourTapscottline.LikemuchofSomersetand Devon, the Northern Neck is rural with widely separated settlements. Although the churches which Henry attended—Christ Church in Lancaster County and Wicomico Church in Northumberland County—have been rebuilt (Christ Church only a few years after Henry’s death),chalicesandpatensusedinthoseAnglicanchurchesduringHenry’stimearestillextant. IwasmovedtakingcommunionfromachaliceundoubtedlyusedbythefirstHenryatWicomico Church.MaryFrancesandIstayedattheInnatLevelfields, an antebellum plantation house between the towns of Kilmarnock and Lancaster in Lancaster County, discovering only after beingthereseveraldaysthatHenry’s266acrefarmhadadjoinedLevelfieldsPlantationandthat JamesTapscott,Henry’sgrandson,hadactuallyownedpartoftheproperty. Thanks to the research of others—in particular, Joseph D. (“Danny”) Tapscott of Kilmarnock,Virginia—muchofHenry’slifewasknown,butmuchalsoremainedinquestion,in particularhisearliestyearsasanindenturedservant,theoriginsofhiswifeAnn,hisproperty (thoughDannywasmakingdiscoveriesinthisareawhenhediedin2003).Thetwoweektripto Virginia’sNorthernNeck,followedbyanotherin2005,however,provedenormouslyfruitfulin revealingHenryandAnn’slives.Infact,thetripsweresosuccessfulthatIputonindefinitehold abookontheTapscottsofEngland’sWestCountrytowriteexpresslyaboutHenry,Ann,and theirneardescendants,incorporatingsomeoftheBritishmaterialasbackground. Thebookhastwopurposes—todocumentthelivesofthefirstthreegenerationsofTapscotts inAmericaandthecorrespondinggenerationsofGeorges(startingwithBenjamin,Ann’ssecond husband)andtoprovideastartingpointforotherswishingtoresearchfamilylinesstemming fromAnn’sgrandchildren.IwishIcouldsaythatthepresentworkiswithouterror.Itcertainlyis not.Nohistorycanbeerrorfree.ButIdidmybest.Imustmakethestatementrequiredofall

Foreword ix authors(unfortunately,completelytruehere)thatallerrorsareminealone,andarenotthefault ofothers,whoseadviceIoftenignored.Numerousunknownsanduncertaintiescouldhavebeen clearedupwithadditionaltimespentonresearch;however,likemanyofthosewhoreadthis book, I also have other family lines and histories to pursue. Historical research can become “Sisyphusian”—neverendingand,eventually,withoutmeaning.Recognizingthis,Idecidedto end this after one year of intense research. Year’s end has arrived (and passed). I hope that others,withfresherviewpointsandclearerheads,willtakeupthetask. Iowemuchtothosewhodidtheearlyandreallydifficultjob of unraveling Tapscotts— Patricia Baber, Bettina Burns, John Fox, June Leathers, James Kidd, Monica Sanowar, Noni Sawyer, Dennis Short, Lin Van Buren, and, of course, Danny Tapscott, among others. The successoftheresearchtripstoVirginiaisduetomanypeople.W.PrestonHaynie,thelongtime editorof The Bulletin of the Northumberland County Historical Society ,ledMaryFrancesandI through the wills, deeds, court records, and maps housed in the Society’s library and in the adjoining courthouse; allowed us to review Danny Tapscott’s research materials; and has continuedtoprovideinformation,suggestions,andmotivation.ItwasprimarilyduetoPreston andhisrequestforanarticleforthe Bulletin ,thatIdecidedtopublishthepresentbookassoonas possible.ImustalsothankVirginiaBurgess,attheNorthumberlandHistoricalSociety,forher invaluablehelpwithpaperwork.ThestaffoftheMaryBallWashingtonMuseumLibrarywent outoftheirwaytolocatewrittenmaterialsandrecords.ItwasthroughthislibrarythatIwas introducedtoCharlotteHenry,anexpertonAlexanderSwanandFleetsBayNeck.Charlotte’s effortsattheLancasterCountyCourthousesavedmemanyhoursofwork,andsheprovidedthe foundation for the story of Swan, Henry’s master during his early years in the Colonies. Charlottealsointroducedmetootherresourcepeople.AnnDorsey,anauthorityonlandand mappinginandaroundChristChurchParish,helpedimmenselyintyingthevariouscharacters toreallocales,atleastasmuchastheycanbetiedinaregionthatemploysmetesandbounds, defininglandbylongdeadtrees,renamedcreeks,andnolongerextantrocks.RobertTeagle, EducationDirector,providedvaluablerecordsduringmybriefresearchattheFoundationfor HistoricChristChurchResearchLibrary.ThestaffsattheLibraryofVirginiainRichmond,the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond, and the Lancaster and Northumberland County courthousessuppliedmostoftherecordscitedherein.Withoutthetremendoussupportofthe CountyClerksOffices,thisbookwouldneverhavebeenwritten.TheVeryRev.ScottDillard (himself,anhistorian)andhisstafffurnishedinformationaboutWicomicoChurchandallowed ustophotographtheancientpatenandchalicestillinuse.TheRev.ScottA.Westdidthesame for St. Mary’s White Chapel (sometimes, “Whitechapel”) Episcopal Church, where he is the rector. Frank Kizer, White Chapel’s historian, spent several hours relating the history of the churchandgaveadetailedandengrossingtour.FrankSchwartzinterruptedhisbusyscheduleto showEdgehillPlantationHouseonhisLancasterCountyfarmandhascontinuedtohelpwith questions. I spent one delightful afternoon sitting on the front porch of the 1832 house at Windsor Farm, where, after showing me the cemetery with its beautiful stones marking the gravesofsomeTapscottdescendants,MyrnaAcorsandhersonKendallservedlemonadeand discussedpeopleassociatedwiththefarmandwiththeLancasterRollerMill.And,ofcourse,I mustacknowledgethemassiveworkofmywife,Mary Frances, who spent many “vacation” hoursinmustylibraries,museums,andcourthouses,takingnotesandreadingdocuments.Asthe

Foreword x bookwasbeingfinalized,RobertHaydon,authorofThomas Haydon, England to Virginia, 1657 , and Nakia Lorice Long, a descendent of Ezekiel Tapscott, contributed exceedingly valuable information.Finally,IwouldliketothankCarolynJett,authorof Lancaster County Virginia, Where the River Meets the Bay ,whoreadmuchofthemanuscriptbeforepublicationandsaved mefrominnumerableblunders.Carolynmadenumeroussuggestions,includingtheadditionof genealogicalcharts,whichaddedgreatlytothisbook. Transcriptions of major documents, or portions thereof, are placed in appendices, text, or endnotes. Most, butby no means all, courtroom records cited were examined as originals or photocopies,onemajorexceptionbeingreferencescitingRuthandSamSparacioofTheAntient Press. To the extent practicable, all direct quotations maintain the spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar of the original (see Appendices, p.161). Attempts, probably to a fault,havebeenmadetoprovidedatasources,reflectingmydistasteforundocumented“facts” andfigures.Federalcensusreferencesaregivendirectlyinthetext,ratherthanintheendnotes, as this is usually sufficient to find the source and page numbers in early censuses are often meaningless.Tofacilitateendnoteuse,“op.cit.”hasbeenavoidedandabbreviationsarefew. Portions abstracted from this book have been published in the Bulletin of the Northumberland County Historical Society , Vol. 42, 2005, pp. 317. Since that publication, however,amoremeticuloustranscriptionofacourtdocumentshowsthatHenryTapscottarrived intheNewWorldinJanuary1699/1700ratherthanJanuary1696/1697asacceptedinthepast. Thisisdiscussedinthepresentbook.

RobertE.Tapscott Albuquerque,NewMexico October2006

InnatLevelfields,betweenKilmarnockandLancasterinVirginiadatingfromthe1850s. Family Trees xi

Family Trees

Ann Edney’s Families

HenryTapscott 16851727 EdneyTapscott 17131782

HenryTapscott(Capt) 17161781

m17101711 JamesTapscott 1722 1769

UnknownTapscott Daughter?

UnknownTapscott JamesEdney Daughter? d1698 AnnEdney b16911697 d1772orafter BenjaminGeorgeIII Crowder? dc1791 m1727 b1727orafter

BenjaminGeorgeSr. EnochGeorgeSr. b1864orafter b1727orafter d1750 BenjaminGeorgeJr. c17061760 Elizabeth d1759

Family Trees xii

Edney Tapscott Family

HenryTapscott ThomasPurcell bef1755 d1733 dc1817 JudithPurcell ElizabethTapscott ElizabethWoodward d17821787

EzekielTapscott bbef1763 d17961799

mbef8Apr1735 DarcusTapscott

SusannaTapscott

CatherineTapscott d1778orbefore HenryTapscott 16851727 EdneyTapscott JohnTapscottSr. 17131782 d1807 AnnEdney b16911697 m1762 d1772orafter JudithWaugh MaryShapleigh aft21Oct1744 d1791

MarahWaugh

ElizabethWaugh WilliamWaugh d1760 NancyAnneWaugh

Family Trees xiii

Capt. Henry Tapscott Family JamesTapscott JohnStottJr. d1762 bc1747,d1807 1808 MargaretStott JohnTapscott d17561757 b1743 1758,d1761 1777 Ann HenryTapscott mbef8Apr1735 b1743 1758,d1810 1817 AnnTapscott HenryTapscott b1743 1758,d1818 16851727 HenryTapscott(Capt) WilliamTapscott 17161781 b1743 1758,daft1818 AnnEdney MartinTapscott b16911697 b1758 1764,d1805 d1772orafter ChichesterTapscott b1758 1765,d1827 RawleighTapscott b17581765,d18101818 m1758 AliceTapscott b1758 1777,d1808 1811

MartinShearmanSr. RichardTapscott d1777 b1758 1777,d1793 1798 MaryShearman JosephHenryTapscott b1749orbefore b1758 1777,d1801 1805 d1804orafter AnnChinn d1793 SarahTapscott b1758 1777,d1818oraft ElizabethTapscott b1770 1775,d1845 1850 PollyTapscott b1758 1777,d1814 1818 SamuelTapscott b1777orbef,d1777 1808 JohnShearmanTapscott b1778,d1831 1832 Family Trees xiv

James Tapscott Family

HenryTapscott 16851727 JamesTapscott AnnConwayTapscott 17221769 AnnEdney b16911697 d1772orafter GeorgeTapscott b1748 dc1789 HenryTapscott b17561765 d1832babout1752

CatherineTapscott 17551799

?Conway ElizabethTapscott

UnknownSpouse

Family Trees xv

Benjamin George (III) Family

BenjaminGeorgeJr. c17061760 BenjaminGeorgeIII m1727 NicholasLawsonGeorge dc1791 d1796 b1727orafter AnnEdney b16911697 FortunatusGeorge d1772orafter bbef1765 d1803oraft JudithGeorge daft1799

MartinGeorge bc1770 daft1860

CatherineGeorge mbefore10Jan1758 d1796orbefore

CharlotteGeorge dby1810

SarahGeorge daft1793

EnochGeorge b17661784 NicholasLawson d18201823 b17151722 d1750 AnnEdneyGeorge CatherineLawson b17661784 d1793 Sarah

Family Trees xvi

Enoch George Sr. Family

UnknownSpouse LucyGeorge bc1764 BenjaminGeorgeJr. 17061760 EnochGeorgeJr. bc1767c1768 d1828 m1727 EnochGeorgeSr. aft1726 AnnEdney b16911697 d1772orafter m1770

MaryCopedge daft1777

Beginnings 1

Beginnings

Names

TheTapscottnameanditsvariationsfirstappearinthemiddle1500sinSouthwestEngland, the “West Country,” containing the counties of Somerset, Devon, Dorset, Wiltshire, and Cornwall, and the City and County of Bristol.1 The name emerged shortly after 1538, when ThomasCromwell,theVicarGeneralunderHenryVIII, decreed that Anglican clergy should record in a book all christenings, marriages, and burials for the preceding week after each Sundayserviceinthepresenceofthechurchwardens. 2Beforethattime,theveryfewrecords madewerewrittenonloosesheets,whichwerealmostalwayslost. Tracingthederivationofanameisoftenunprofitable; conclusions are seldom more than guesswork.But,theguessworkcanbeentertaining,andresults,illuminating.Thesecondsyllable of“Tapscott”almostcertainlycomesfromOldEnglish(OE)“cott”(relatedtoOldNorse“kot”) meaningasmallhut.Fromthisorigincomethewords“cottage”and“cot.”EarlyEnglishplace names with the suffix “cott” were attached to humble settlements, often individual small farmsteads,andwerefrequentlycompoundedwithapersonalname,probablythatofanearly tenant. 3“Tapp”isacountyname,originallyfoundalmostsolelyinDevonandSomerset. 4The standard singular OE possessive ending was Wales usually “s” or “es” (no Gloucestershire apostrophe). 5 Eventually the location of Tapp’s cottage or farmstead Bristol (“Tapps cott”) would Wiltshire become known as Exmoor “Tappscott,” and names Somerset such as “William of Tappscott”wouldbecome “William Tappscott,” an Devon Dorset earlyvariant. Dartmoor Today,noplacename Cornwall in the Somerset/Devon area remotely resembles the name “Tappscott,” other than Tippacott (near Lynton at the far westsideofExmoor)and England’sWestCountry. Tascott, both in Devon. Beginnings 2

Thelatterneighborhood,whichisoccasionallylistedwithNorthPetherwinneartheCornwall border, is apparently named after a local family rather than the converse. Any “Tappscott” settlementhasdisappearedinthemistsoftime.“Tapps,” amanor of Baldwin deBrionne in Devon,islistedintheDomesdayBook,compiledin1086,andacottage,farmstead,orsmall settlementassociatedwiththismanorcouldhavebecomeaplacenamesourcefor“Tapscott,” thoughthereisnoevidenceofthis. Many West Country names have derivations similar to that described here—”Nethercot” (lower cottage/farm, from OE “nether”), “Westcott” (west), “Estcott” (or “Estcot,” east), “Prescott”(,fromOE“prēost”),“Woolcott”(or“Wolcott,”stream,fromMiddleEnglish “wolle”),and“Chilcott”(fromtheOEname“Ceola”).Acommonnamesource,however,does notnecessarilymeanacommonbloodline.Unconnectedpersonsmayhavebeenassociatedwith asettlement,farm,orcottageknownas“Tappscott,”andmorethanonelocationmayhavehad this designation. Nevertheless, the Tapscott name arose in a limited area, for relatively few individuals,whomayhavebeenrelated.

The Earliest Tapscotts

ItissometimesclaimedthattheTapscottsandtheirnameareWelsh,anditistruethatifone travelsbyboatacrosstheBayofBristolfromMineheadorfromthecoastnearStogumber,both in Somerset, one strikes the Welsh town of Barry, nowadays the home of many Tapscotts. ThoughaCelticrelationshipwouldaddromancetotheline,theTapscottsarenotWelsh(nor Irish, nor despite the name, Scotch). They have no defining history in Wales, or Ireland, or Scotland. They wore no Welsh ysgrepan , no Irish tunic, no Scottish tartan. The Tapscotts

Wales Bristol Barry Bristol Channel Selworthy Porlock Minehead Stoke Pero Exmoor Stogumber North Molton Sedgemoor Taunton

Tiverton