Book 4.

The Hitchcock Family- From Leicestershire, England and Swansea, South Wales

1. The Leicestershire Hitchcocks, England

The name Hitchcock is English, mainly from the east or southern midlands region. The first syllable, Hitch is a pet form of Hick (or Hicke) which resulted from the inability of the English to cope with the Norman-French velar 1 R during the early period after the Norman-French conquest in 1066. It is thus related to Hicks which is perhaps a slightly more common surname derived from the same source. The ending 'cock', from the Middle English diminutive suffix –cok, meant a young man. So the first Hitchcock was probably a young man called Richard, perhaps distinguished from his father or some senior inhabitant of the same name by the ending. Note that while this is by far the most likely origin, it is just possible that it comes from the Frisian, Icco or Hikke meaning ‘strife’or ‘battle’ The Frisians were a Germanic tribe inhabiting the European North Sea coast with territory that included but was more extensive than the medieval and modern Dutch province of Friesland. Along with the better known related tribes of Saxons, Angles and Jutes, they moved into Britain after the Roman departure in the early fifth century. The Frisian language is the nearest to Old English and their DNA (unable to be differentiated between the above tribes) is strongly represented in men of the British North Midlands and East Anglia.

1.1 Hitchcocks in the city of Leicester. I am indebted to Bettye Kirkwood 2 who supplied the information in this section and on the next section about the Devonalds. She obtained it from a professional researcher in the UK who she paid to examine amongst other items the rolls of the Freemen of the City of Leicester (see Appendix 2, Maps). I have not been able as yet to check the details although I do have independent records on Thomas Pinkard Hitchock’s and Ann Devonald’s parents that match those given by her so I do not doubt their accuracy. From these records, the ancestry was established for seven generations prior to Thomas Pinkard Hitchhcock who was, in 1856, the first in that line to emigrate to Australia.

The earliest record is that of William Hitchcock who appears not to have been born in Leicester city although he may have come from somewhere else within the County of Leicestershire. His birth date is given somewhat indefinitely as between 1560 and 1575 and his death more precisely as 1632. That is, he died at between 57 and 72 years of age. In 1595, he is recorded as marrying Margaret Bentley and in that year, he was made a Freeman of Leicester, the first Hitchcock so recorded. His occupation is listed as a labourer, then a gardener (possibly a market gardener unless he was employed by one of the wealthy households), and it may be that he received the admission to Freeman via an apprenticeship route (see box page 106). If this is so, it is more likely that he was relatively young on completing the apprenticeship and for that to happen, an age of 20 to 25 is more probable than 35, making his birth date more reasonably 1570 or thereabouts.

1 Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate; that is the back part of the roof of the mouth. 2 Bettye Kirkwood is a great granddaughter of Thomas and Ann Hitchcock, first in that line in Australia.

103 Bentley: This surname is of Anglo- William and Margaret had at least seven Saxon origin, derived from one of children but whether all survived childhood numerous places, for example, Bentley in is unknown. Certainly the one recorded as Essex, Suffolk, Hampshire, Shropshire, the second child did and he was also called Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Yorkshire. William (so perhaps the first son) but The name was recorded respectively as nicknamed Willus. He was born in "Benedledge, Benetlea" and "Benedlage" Leicester in 1604, seven years after the in the Domesday Book of 1086 for marriage of his parents so, given the high Derbyshire, Essex and Yorkshire, and it birth rates in those days, it is possible that derives from the Olde English pre 7th more children had preceded him but had Century "beonet" meaning bent-grass, perhaps not survived. He married twice, reeds, rushes, plus "leah", a clearing; first to Isobel Boyer in 1633, then later to hence, "a clearing overgrown with bent- Joane Cooke in 1650. Dates of the deaths grass". Surnames based on location were of either Willus or his wives are unknown either acquired by a local landowner or However, Isobel Boyer died probably in by the lord of the manor, and also by 1649 (during the Civil War) and Joane former inhabitants who had moved Cooke is the mother of his son, Thomas, elsewhere and were identified by the born 1656 so she is our ancestor. Willus name of their birthplace. The surname is was also a gardener and became a Freeman first recorded in the latter half of the 12th of Leicester in 1636. The city of Leicester Century and other early recordings underwent turbulent periods in the lifetime include John Benteley, who appears in of Willus and his wives with the plague in the 1388 Fine Court Rolls of Surrey and Leicester in 1604, 1606, 1610, 1625, 1636 Edward Bentley of Warwickshire, and 1638 and the siege of the city in the recorded in the Oxford University civil war (King and Parliament) in 1642. Register dated 1580. The first recorded Leicester was a stronghold of the spelling of the name is William de Parliamentary party so, although we have Benetlega 1176, in the "Pipe Rolls of no knowledge of which side the Hitchcocks Derbyshire" during the reign of King supported, perhaps our democratic roots go Henry II, 1154 - 1189. back a long way.

Thomas was born in 1656 and is recorded as being the fourth of six sons. No daughters are listed. This means that his father, Willus, was 52 at his birth, rather old (but not impossible) as he was to have two more sons in 1658 and 1660. This would mean that his mother, Joane Cooke was some years younger, perhaps fifteen to twenty, than her husband. On reaching adulthood, Thomas is also designated as a gardener and was made a Freeman of the City in 1688. His wife is believed to have been called Sarah but her maiden surname is unknown. Neither is the date of their wedding but it is likely to have been around 1680, given the information about their son Henry.

104 His eleventh child (of eleven children) was Rawson: With recorded spellings of named Henry Hitchcock, born in 1700 when Rawson, Rawsen and Rowson, this is his father was 44. Henry’s mother was Jane an early medieval English surname. It but there is some doubt about her maiden illustrates how far spelling and surname, the highest probability being pronunciation have moved since then. Heafford but Brightmore cannot be ruled Developed from Norse-Viking pre 10th out. As in what had by then become the century 'Radulfr', (also the source of family occupation, Henry was also a the French 'Raoul' and the Norman gardener and a Freeman of the City but the 'Radulf'), these were 'amalgamated' in latter has no cited date. He died in 1774. the British Isles after the 1066 Norman invasion to form personal names 'Rafe His twelfth child (of twelve children) was or Ralph' which then created James, born in 1755 who married Elizabeth patronymics and later surnames. The Rawson in 1776 when James (and Domesday Book of 1086 has entries presumably Elizabeth) was no more than 21. Rauf, Rauphe, and Radulf, whilst the While starting his career as a gardener, he abbey of Bury St Edmunds, lists then broke with the family tradition and is Raulfus Clericus, (Raulf, the clerk) in listed as having occupations progressively as 1095. Early recordings of the surname a framework knitter, (wool products being a include Richard Rawson, Johannes significant factor in the Leicester economy at Raweson, and William Raufson, in the the time) and finally as a School Master. So Yorkshire Poll tax rolls of 1379. indeed, he must have had a reasonable Edmonde Rawson was recorded at St education as would be expected even in Michaels Cornhill, London, 1570, and those days for a family of one of the city’s Reginald Rowson of Lymm in Cheshire Freemen. Indeed, he became a Freeman in the Chester Wills Register, 1611. himself in 1776. No date of his death has The oldest coat of arms was granted in been established. Yorkshire in 1588 with the blazon of a castle with four towers in silver. The We are now at the generation that is within crest is a black ravens head carrying in the historical memory of the Hitchcock line its beak a red annulet. The first in Australia. James and Elizabeth had ten recorded spelling of the family name is children and, following the pattern of his Thomas Roulfisson, dated 1327 in the father and grandfather, our ancestor, George Subsidy Rolls of the county of was the youngest of these. George was born Cambridge, during the reign of King in 1797 and married Letitia Pinkard at an Edward III, 1327 - 1377. unknown date but possibly around 1820 given the birth year of his children. I have a note saying that Letitia may have been from another county, possibly Bedfordshire or Buckinghamshire some 50 miles to the south. Also, my note indicates that the family seemed to have moved from Leicester after the second of their two children was baptized in 1826. There are no further records of the family in that city. George is listed as a hosier and was the last to become a Freeman of the City of Leicester, this being awarded in 1823.

105 George and Letitia had two sons (known, Pinkard: This name is of French there may have been others after they locational origin, probably from a moved), Thomas Pinkard Hitchcock, born in village called Pont-Chardon in the 1824 being the eldest while the second was Argentan district of Normandy. It is William Rawson Hitchcock. Thomas was recorded in Domesday as "de Ponte- apparently a rebellious and adventurous Cardon" and there is a village in Devon child and the family story is that he did not that the family gave the suffix to, as in get on well with his father, running away to Heanton Punchardon. Pinchard and sea at age 13. This cannot be totally verified Punchard are contractions of the but it does fit his later life. In turn, he was a original. There have been a number of seaman, gold miner, coal miner and painter, variations on the name. John Hulse and the last three being in Australia. However, Jane Punchard were married at St. relatively early in his life, he finished up in Georges, Hanover Square, in London in Swansea, Wales probably because of his 1785. The first recorded spelling of the maritime occupation where he married Ann family name is shown to be that of Devonald in 1848. More on their early Robert de Punchard, dated 1270-1278 in marriage will be discussed after dealing the "Book of the Nevilles" during the with Ann’s history. At the urging of her reign of King Edward I, 1272 – 1307. brother, John Devonald who was already in Australia, the couple emigrated in 1856.

Fr eemen of the City of Leicester : Around 1107, Robert, Count of Meulan (predecessor of the first Earl of Leicester) granted the Merchants of Leicester a Charter, re-affirming their rights as follows: "KNOW YE THAT I HAVE GRANTED TO MY MERCHANTS OF LEICESTER THE GILD OF THEIR MERCHANTS WITH ALL THE CUSTOMS WHICH THEY HELD IN THE TIME OF KING WILLIAM (The Conqueror) AND OF KING WILLIAM HIS SON AND NOW IN THE TIME OF KING HENRY" This is evidence that the Gild of Merchants existed in 1066 and implies that it is even older, although there is no written evidence. The Freemen of the City of Leicester are an ancient body, the Domesday Book in 1086 recording that there were 65 burgesses (townsmen with privileges) in the borough, these being the predecessors of today's Freemen. Prior to the Norman Conquest the burgesses were responsible for civic administration, maintenance of law and order and for the punishment of crime. This last was discharged by the Portmanmoot, a body of 24 jurats (aldermen) elected from the burgesses. In 1068, this authority was withdrawn but was regained in a charter granted by Robert Beaumont, the first Earl of Leicester, in 1120.

Qualifications to become a Freeman are: 1. To be a direct male descendant, of an Hereditary Freeman, or 2. By completing an apprenticeship to a Leicester Freeman. These rules still apply. Admission can be made at age 18 granted via their father (if he was a Freeman prior to the applicant's birth) or if not, via their grandfather, great grandfather and so on. Alternatively, enrolment may follow rule 2. Prospective Hereditary Freemen residing in other countries may apply. The Freeman's Roll is kept in the Town Clerk's Office.

One detail of Thomas Pinkard Hitchcock’s adventurous life before he emigrated is known. As reported in the Cambrian (the South Wales newspaper) on the 28/11/1851, when the barque ‘ Pearl’ returned to Swansea from Cuba, the captain, Collins and a seaman,

106 Thomas Hitchcock were charged with smuggling cigars into the country, the captain having 15½ lbs while Hitchcock had 12 lbs. The captain was fined 40 shillings. Thomas was more harshly judged and had a heavier fine (it was either 100 shillings or less likely, 100 pounds, the latter seeming very severe even for those days where it represented a lot of money) or six months imprisonment. Although some commentators said that he would not have been guilty if it had not been for the bad example set by the captain, he was committed. Whether he somehow paid the heavy fine or served the sentence is unknown but it may have prompted his decision to emigrate a few years later.

So our Hitchcock line in the UK finishes at this point to be continued in Australia. But before that, the amazing (and at times probably mythical) story of Ann Devonald’s family in the UK will be detailed.

2. Devonald in Wales

One site suggests that the name is Devonian [from Old English Defenas , a Celtic tribal name, with the Old English ethnic suffix -isc ]. Another claims that it is either of locational or topographical origin and probably derives from the Anglo-Saxon pre 9 th Century " Dene-halh ", meaning the place of the Danes, or possibly " the place (halh) on the River Dane ", as in Davenport (Cheshire), or Davenham (Cheshire). However, as the surname " Devonald " does not appear anywhere in the Cheshire Records, it would seem that the present spelling is a dialectal variant. The original site of a "Dane-halh " has not been establshed but Danehill in Sussex is a possibility. The name-link recordings (all in the London area) include: Davenhill (see below), George Devenhall (1740); Mary Devenall (1770); and Erasmus Devonald (also recorded as Davonold) at St. Mary Le Bone Church on September 2 nd 1825. The first recorded spelling as a family name is shown to be that of Matthew Davenhill, which was dated June 19th 1729, marriage to Abigal Cowley, at All Hallows Church, London Wall, London.

The usual version of the name’s origin as above is disputed. One family historian comments that a search of the National Trust surnames website indicates overwhelmingly that the highest 1881 concentration of the Devonald name was in SW Wales, where it is still relatively common today The same site suggests that it is of Celtic (ie Brythonic) origin, as noted above but the historian believes that that is probably wrong as it does not fit with more familiar Welsh patronymics. Some Devonald family historians have suggested links back to the Norman incursions into Pembrokeshire and others have surmised that the name is simply a corruption of "de Vynnel" or similar. If, as is most probable, there is a strong Welsh connection, the Erasmus Devonald mentioned above may have been a migrant to London, Erasmus being a popular name in Wales in that period. By the 18 th century, most Devonalds were Welsh speaking and some were minor gentry. At least one was transported from Wales (our relative?) and there are Devonalds thriving in Australia. An alternative suggestion related to Southern Wales is that Devonald could represent a more recent arrival within the last few hundred years ago from across the Bristol Channel from Devon itself but that seems to be more guesswork than fact.

An early recorded spelling of the name that is directly proven from modern records to be in our line is from Devon and was spelt as Davenhil, perhaps because it was pronounced that way in 19 th century Devon. Given some West Country dialects, this may still be the pronunciation today. Now from Bettye Kirkwood’s documentation and the comments

107 above, the Devonald name is distinctly Anglo-Welsh, implying that David Devonald was only living temporarily in Devon (Ilfracombe) when he married Susanna White as will be discussed later. This does not necessarily indicate that the family had previous Devonian links as trade across the Bristol Channel had existed for more than two thousand years but they cannot be ruled out completely. However, Bettye Kirkwood has traced David Devonald’s ancestry back twelve generations in Wales mostly on the direct male line to the 15 th century where it started with a local Welsh baron, Gruffudd ap Nicholas who lived from about 1425 to 1456. Note that ‘ ap ’ in Welsh-Brythonic 3 (ie P Gaelic) is similar to ‘mac ’ in Irish-Scots (Q Gaelic) and means ‘ son of ’. A daughter is similarly characterized by ‘ verch ’ before the father’s name.

Rheged is described in poetic sources as one of the kingdoms of the Hen Ogledd ("Old North"), the Brythonic-speaking region of what is now northern England and southern Scotland during the early Middle Ages. Its borders are not described in the poems, but some modern scholars have suggested that it included what is now Cumbria in north west England, possibly extending into both Lancashire and Scotland. From historical sources, Rheged is intimately associated with the king Urien Rheged who appears in early Welsh poems and royal genealogies with victories over the Anglo-Saxon chieftains of Bernicia in the second half of the sixth century. He is thus placed squarely in the North of Britain, more specifically in Westmorland when referred to as " Ruler of Llwyfenydd " (the Lyvennet Valley). Later legend associates him with the city of Carlisle, twenty-five miles away. It is generally accepted that Rheged was a kingdom covering a large part of modern Cumbria. Urien's kingdom stretched eastward at one time as he was also " Ruler of Catraeth " (Catterick in North Yorkshire). The traditional royal genealogy of Urien and his successors traces their ancestry back to Coel Hen (alias King Cole), who may have ruled much of the North in the early 5th century. It is generally assumed that all of those listed below ruled in Rheged, but only three of their number can be verified from external sources: • Meirchion Gul, also known as Cynfarch fab Meirchion; father of Cynfarch Gul. • Cynfarch Oer, who gave his name to the family tribe; father of Urien. • Urien Rheged , (c. 550 – 590), about whom survive eight songs of Taliesin .

2.1 Ancient Devonald Antecedents: Gruffudd 4 ap Nicholas is indeed an historical character of the 15 th century with his descent supposedly being thirteen generations from another historical character, Urien Rheged, the 5th century king of Rheged which included Cumbria. He is said to be ‘paternally descended from Coel Godebog, King of Brittaine’ who seems to be the basis of the perhaps mythical ‘Old King Cole’ . What the truth is in this is obscure and at least some historians are of the opinion that Gruffudd’s history ‘was conjured up by some sycophant ’ and therefore has substantial elements of mythology although his lineage apparently does exhibit some consistency 5. Note that thirteen generations is likely to be only somewhere between 250 and 500 years which does not compute to the supposed change of almost 1000 years which would be at least thirty generations. Also, in that time interval, any

3 Brythonic is the pre-Roman Gaelic language of Britain which included Wales but differed from that of Ireland and Scotland (Gordelic). Brythonic is the language from which that of Brittany (France) developed. 4 In Welsh pronunciation, ‘ll” (double L) is a swallowed (throated) “Ch” while “dd” is “th”. 5 Edward Laws, “ The History of Little England beyond Wales ”, 1888, reprinted by Cedric Chivers Ltd, Bristol 1995

108 individual has over 1 billion forebears in the earliest generation, more than the total population at the time, and so these must obviously have had later interbreeding. Hence, it is likely that much of Welsh population of the 15 th century would be able to include Urien Rheged somewhere in their ancestry. Tracing ancestry over such a period can be achieved only for the continuous male line (and then only if the family name remains constant and changes are authentically recorded) and intervening generations may be partly mythological. However, for anyone interested, details of this mythology are available but will not be included here.

Gruffudd ap Nicolas (1425-1456), was a leading Now of more historical accuracy, figure in the local administration of the Gruffudd ap Nicholas was a principality of South Wales in the middle of the wealthy man recorded in the 15th century. Nothing is known of his early years Cumbrian Register having an but it is said that he was the posthumous son of estate of at least seven hundred Nicolas ap Phylip ap Syr Elidir Ddu (one of the pounds a year (a lot of money in knights of the Sepulchre ) by his wife Jennet, those days), seven strong castles daughter of Gruffydd ap Llewelyn Foethus. The and seven houses. This appears to first authentic record of him is as the holder of have been inherited from his the office of king's approver for the lordship and mother’s side. She was Sioned (a new town of Dynevor in 1425. He was sheriff of different spelling of Jennet Carmarthenshire in 1436. With Edmund depending on the source), daughter Beaufort, parts of the lands of Phillip Clement of Griffith, constable of were demised to him in 1437. He was a power to Maenordeilo (1353 – 1358) who be feared in West Wales in 1438, according to himself was the son of Llewelyn the evidence of Margaret Malefant in a petition to Foethus, known as the ‘rich’ or the Parliament. On the verge of the Wars of the ‘luxurious’. This Llewelyn from Roses, he was on good terms with Henry VI so Carmarthenshire traced his after the Yorkist victory at St. Albans, 1455, he ancestry to Elystan Glodrudd, a lost some of his offices. He was reported, 7 June prince who ruled between the 1456 to be greatly at war in Wales. However, he rivers Wye and Severn but how and his sons, Thomas and Owen, were granted accurately is unknown. After pardons on 26 th October 1456, his name then Sioned’s first husband, Griffith, disappearing from the records. Had he been alive Lord of Kilycwm, Cardiganshire on 1 st March 1459, it is hard to imagine that his died, she married Gruffudd’s father name would have been left out of the commission and bore him several children. entrusted to his sons with Jasper and Owen Tudor . It is, therefore, impossible to accept the After King Henry V (of Agincourt reports that he was mortally wounded either at fame) died, his brother Humphrey, the battle of Wakefield, 1460 or at Mortimer's Duke of Gloucester became regent Cross , 1461. until the dead king’s son, Henry VI came of age. His ineffectual rule instigated the Wars of the Roses. Humphrey aroused the hostility of Queen Margaret (of Anjou), the very dominant wife of the king and was arrested for treason, along with many of his supporters, one of whom was Gruffudd ap Nicholas. While Humphrey died a week later in prison, rumoured to be by the same means as King Edward II (ie the hot poker in a very private place), Gruffudd was soon free, perhaps having bought his reprise. He then built up his estates, not always by reputable means with several clashes with the law. Some reports say that he died at the battle of Mortimers Cross fighting for the Yorkists (see box above) when they defeated the Lancastrians but recent research indicates otherwise.

109 Note that the following is derived from A palatine (palatinate) was an area ruled Bettye Kirkwood’s comprehensive article by an hereditary nobleman possessing which is available to those who are special authority and autonomy from the interested. One of Gruffudd’s children rest of the kingdom. The nobleman swore was Ellen who married a Thomas Read allegiance to the king yet had the power to (English) with their son, Lewis Read rule the county largely independently of marrying Anne Meredith. In turn, their the king. County palatine jurisdictions daughter, Alson Read married James were created in England in Norman times Devonald starting what we know of as but were earlier in Europe. In general, it the Devonald line. Next, their son was in a district on the periphery of the Richard married Agnes Lewis who also kingdom when this was exposed to non- appears to have been descended from loyal armed groups who could retreat Gruffudd via another of his sons Thomas beyond the borders and then re-enter. In (ie via a different line), whose England in Norman times, this was illegitimate daughter Dyddgu (an Northern England, Wales, and Ireland. As unpronounceable Welsh female name) the authority granted was hereditary, some married a Thomas John Lloyd. Their “counties palatine ” legally survived well daughter Ellen Lewis was the mother of past the end of the feudal period. Counties the above Agnes. Agnes Lewis lived palatine were established in the 11th from 1515 to 1565. After Richard’s death century to defend the Scottish and Welsh sometime before 1577, she married frontiers of England. In order to allow Thomas ap Rhys but prior to even her them to do so appropriately, their counts first marriage, she had fathered a son by were granted royal palatine (" from the the Reverend William Davies. Whether palace ") powers within their territories. this was an illegitimate relationship or an This gave them nearly sovereign early marriage is unknown but the jurisdictions with their own administrations Reverend was still alive in 1580 after and courts, largely independent of the king, Richard’s death. It is possible that this though they owed allegiance to him. Of was due to a law passed in Westminster significance were the Palatine of Durham, in 1540 that forbade priests to marry and, ruled by the Bishops of Durham and the under pain of execution of both parties in Palatinate of Chester, controlled by the the liaison, separated them. It is Earls of Chester. speculated that her rich and powerful family then found her an appropriate male, a distant relative Richard Devonald with whom she either married after the annulment or simply co-habited.

From there, the Devonald male line continued generation by generation through James married to Nest Thomas, their male descendents of our line in order being Thomas married to Mary Philipps, John to Mary Picton, James to Mary Lloyd, probably another James whose spouse is unknown before a final John who was married to Anne Garnons. This woman is reputed to be a descendent of the de Gernon family who arrived in England from Normandy shortly after William the Conqueror and inherited the earldom and control of the Palatinate of Chester. 6

6 An interesting aside is that the founder of one of England’s old families, William de Percy, (Als Gernons, the origin of the name Algernon), arrived in 1067 with Hugh d'Avranches, first Earl of Chester, the new ruler of its palatinate. Hugh’s nephew, Ranulf le Meschin from Château Guernon in Normandy inherited the palatinate, his son adopting the name de Gernon. Als Gernons is usually translated as ‘with the whiskers’ but could it have had a double meaning signifying a Percy relationship with the Château Guernon?

110

Mortehoe village: Gareth and Brian Milton

Mortehoe Church: (left) and a Gammon Headstone (above) This John and Anne Devonald had a son, John who married Margaret Lloyd of Llantood, Wales, their son in turn being David Devonald, born in about 1783 in Wales, (Moylgrove, Pembrokeshire). Pembrokeshire is the county on the south west tip of Wales that forms the northern entrance to the Bristol Channel. Born in about 1783 and at age 31 in 1814, he married Susanna White in Ilfracombe 7. From about this time, records start to become more reliable, later census records showing that she was born in 1785 or 1786 and baptized on the 20/2/1787 at St. Mary Magdalene Church, Mortehoe, Devon, hence being about 29 at marriage. Her father was John White, a husbandman (ie a worker on the land either employed or a small landholder) while his wife was Betty (Elizabeth) Gamon (or Gammon) of Ilfracombe. They too had been married at St. Mary Magdalene Church, Mortehoe, on 1/4/1784. John was able to sign his name while Betty simply made her mark. Mortehoe is a very attractive village in the hills above the coast about 3 or 4 miles south west of the larger town of Ilfracombe. Ilfracombe itself is very close to the southern entry to the Bristol Channel while Mortehoe is just around the western corner on the Irish sea.

2.2 Devonalds on the UK Records: David Devonald and Susanna White were married at the Holy Trinity Church, Ilfracombe, Devon on the 6 th of November, 1814 probably indicating that one or both were in residence there at the time. Witnesses at the wedding were James Devonald and Thomas

7 Much of the following is again due to the massive research effort of Bettye Kirkwood who, for the Devonalds, was aided by Susan Beckley, West Glamorgan County Archivist and Marilyn Jones, Cambrian Indexing Project.

111 White, probably brothers of the groom and bride respectively. David Devonald was originally a saddler by trade probably both in Wales and Devon. Certainly, the newly married Devonald couple settled in Ilfracombe for some years before moving to Wales, evidenced by several of their children being born there. These were John Devonald (born or perhaps baptized 6/8/1815), George White Devonald (16/11/1817) and Elizabeth Devonald (probably in 1819 but the baptism has not been located) all in Ilfracombe, while Ann Devonald (12/11/1824) and Jane Devonald (16/11/1829) were both born in Swansea, Wales. Ann’s birth is recorded under the name Devondd with mother Susan but all other information indicates that she was from the same line. Susan seems to have been the mother’s favourite self designation although on official records, she reverted to Susanna, sometimes spelt Susannah.

The family must have moved back across the Bristol Channel to Swansea, Wales sometime around 1820 to 1824 where Ann and her sister Jane were born. In 1840, David is shown in the Swansea Trade Directory where he is classified under ‘ Grocers and Tea Dealers – Bakers ’ with address at 68 Matthews Terrace. This is the address shown on Ann’s marriage certificate eight years later. On the 26 th of February, 1858, his death notice appeared in the Cambrian newspaper as: ‘On the 16 th Inst., after a lingering illness, aged 75 years, at his son’s residence, High Street, Mr. David Devonald, Saddler, Swansea’ . So it appears that he retained his original trade throughout his life. The grocery may well have been that of his wife or second son, George as appears in later records. Their address, more precisely, was 91 High Street.

In the 1841 census, Susanna, George and Elizabeth appear at this High Street address with George as Head of the household. In the next census ten years later, George as Head, Susanna and Jane appear at both the above addresses. David is absent from the records of both census although he was still alive at the time. In 1861, the census still has George (44 years old) as Head, occupation a baker and grocer and his mother, Susanna 76, a widow, formerly a baker and grocer. So it appears that that business was theirs rather than David’s. George, it seems, never married but he inherited the Devonald house at 68 Matthews Street. He had one brush with the law which is described in the local newspaper (the Cambrian) as follows: George Devonald, Grocer, High Street, who behaved most indecorously before the bench, and who narrowly escaped committal, was ordered to pay costs for allowing a cask to obstruct the public thoroughfare. Is this another example of the well known volatility of certain Hitchcocks of a more recent vintage?

Susanna Devonald died at Barnstable, Devon aged 95 in September, 1879. This moderately large town is about 10 miles south of Mortehoe so it appears that she returned to Devon in her declining years, perhaps to be cared for by relatives. As she was still in Wales at age 76, she is likely to have been in her 80s or more when she left Wales. It is possible, although unlikely that she was either visiting Devon when she died or had wanted to return to her birthplace to die. The record is certainly of her, both because of the name and the fact that a calculation of her birth year checks against the earlier known date.

3. Thomas Pinkard and Ann Hitchcock in Wales:

We have no records of Ann Devonald’s life in the period from when she was born until she met and married our roving sailor ancestor, Thomas Pinkard Hitchcock at the age of 23. It is likely that she met him during one of his stays in Britain after he returned from one of his seafaring expeditions. Swansea was, at that time, a major southern shipping port

112 exporting coal and importing consumables from overseas. They were married on the 7 th of May, 1848 at St. Mary’s Parish Church, Swansea, the ceremony being performed by the Rev. T. Lewis. The witnesses were John Smith Walters and Elizabeth Ann Walters.

While still in Wales, Thomas and Ann had several children. The first was Thomas George Hitchcock, our great grandfather who was born on 28/2/1849 followed by William on 25/1/1851. William died aged 7 months and was buried at St Mary’s on 11/9/1851. Their next and last child in Wales was Letitia Pinkard Hitchcock born on 7/4/1854 but more were to follow after arrival in Australia. These later children were John Devonald Hitchcock, 1856, David Devonald Hitchcock, 1859, Susan born and died in 1861 and William Henry, 1863. On Ann’s Australian death St Mary’s church, Swansea certificate, it is noted that she had 2 male and 1 female children who were deceased. The female is Susan above but in Australia no other deaths are recorded. It is possible that the other male was either not recorded in Wales or was born and died on the voyage out. Alternatively, it may refer to the birth of the aborted child that caused her death, as will be discussed later, if this happened early in the pregnancy.

4. John Devonald – Convict to prosperous Australian:

Now Ann’s eldest brother, John, was responsible for Thomas and Ann’s migration to Australia so his history, which is quite fascinating, needs to be told although he is not our direct line. As a young man, he seems to have been somewhat of a rogue, perhaps a trait inherited from the ancient Gruffudd ap Nicholas line, (if indeed such characteristics have a genetic link) and was transported to Australia in 1837 (see General Return of Convicts in NSW – no. 7136 ). He arrived on the ‘ Susan 2 ’ on the 7 th February, 1836 aged 20. His records ( Standing No. of Convict 36/337 ) state that he “ reads and writes, is of the protestant religion, single with no children ”. His native place is given as Devon (which indeed was where he was born although not living there before his transportation) and that his trade had been sailor/mason for two and a half years. His offence was stated as highway robbery although there is more to that story than is immediately apparent. He had been tried and convicted at the Carmarthon Assizes on the 5 th of March, 1835 where the sentence was ‘ life ’. He had had a prior conviction of 6 months, presumably in Wales.

From the Cambrian newspaper reports, it seems that John was basically a stonemason, a profession at which he worked from about age 16 or 17 but he also had some sailing experience, whether local or international is not known. It may have been through this that Thomas Hitchcock met Ann Devonald who he later married. John’s first brush with the law was in April, 1833 when he was 17 for stealing a till containing a sovereign, a half sovereign and some other monies from the shop of a Swansea grocer, Mr. Richard Cawker. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 6 months hard labour in the House of Correction (a nice euphemism) in Swansea. The last 6 weeks were to be alternately in solitary confinement, the word ‘ alternatively ’ rendering this somewhat ambiguous.

113 About a year later, he was involved in a much more serious offence. According to the newspaper (Cambrian) reports of March, 1835, he and three others were charged with the murder of David Jonathon. Between 10 and 11 pm, the deceased on his way home from a fair at Llandilo called in at a public house about a mile from the town and was accompanied by four men who had arrived while he was there. Next morning, his body was found in a nearby field stripped of his coat, shoes and stockings. There were no marks on his body and it appears that he had died of suffocation but the situation in which he was found precluded death by accident. The four men, John Devonald of Swansea, James Richards (alias Jem the Schemer), William Insole of Merthyr and William Lewis (alias Will Bach) of Neath were apprehended, identified as those who had left the public house with the deceased and charged with willful murder. At the trial, it was revealed that David Jonathon had been a palsy sufferer who could only speak a few words indistinctly and was an ex-soldier on a pension who had gone to the fair to buy shoes. The men had been toasting each other at the pub, John Devonald had been singing and all had been seen walking together drunk and lying in the ditch. The medical evidence was that the suffocation could have been caused by someone lying on his chest, perhaps blocking his nose. The suspects, who had separated after the death had possession of the missing clothes, one with the stockings, one with the coat and John Devonald, with the shoes. Devonald claimed these as his own but, like Cinderella’s sisters, they did not fit. As the murder could not be proven, a not guilty verdict was returned but the next day Richards, Devonald and Insole were found guilty of the alternative charge of highway robbery. Lewis, also called Hughes who had no belongings from the deceased was discharged.

Two months later, Devonald and Insole, who had been sentenced to death for the robbery attempted to escape the jail by extracting stones from the wall of their cell but were apprehended. Fortunately, their death sentence was commuted to Transportation to Australia where they arrived on the 7/2/1836. The records of the surgeon of the Susan 2 describe him as convict 36/337, 5’ 8¾” tall with a dark, sallow complexion, dark brown hair and hazel eyes. He had a scar on his left temple and another on his left cheek, a mermaid (tattoo) inside his lower left arm with five dots back of it and SJD on the back of his left wrist. Also, there were blue rings (tattoos?) on the fore, little and middle fingers of his left hand. Overall, from this description, it appears as if he was a wild teenager and one would not have held out too much hope for his future.

In Australia, John Devonald was granted a Ticket of Exemption (Ticket of Leave) 44/869 (which I presume was in 1844) and on the 9 th of June 1847 permission to marry Sarah Hill at the Presbyterian church, Newcastle. Sarah had arrived ‘ free ’ and was 24 at the time. Finally, a pardon 48/2146 (in 1848) is noted. John would then have been 32.

The poor prognostications for his future do not seem to have happened. By the time he died in 1856 aged only 41, he seems to have been a well thought of and respected citizen in Newcastle. At that time, he owned a hotel in Maitland Road on the corner of Darby and Burwood Streets (family lore says three hotels but that may be an exaggeration), two farms and 500 pounds in goods. How he had succeeded so well is not known but at that time in the colony, fortunes appear to have often been made quickly. As convicts with Tickets of Leave could run businesses, it is possible that from 1844, he became involved in the alcohol trade. With Newcastle being a coal mining and shipping town, customers would not have been in short supply. There may have been other unknown aspects, such as perhaps his wife’s family, that gave him influence.

114 On the possible inaccuracies of family lore, there is a story originating from William Hitchcock, the grandson of John Devonald’s sister Ann, but reputedly recounted to him by his own father, Jack Hitchcock. This was that John Devonald had been the Welsh (or possibly Swansea area) bare knuckle boxing champion who broke a man’s neck during a fight and was transported for seven years for that offence but the newspaper evidence at the time proves that this was certainly untrue. Some of the anecdotes following may also only have a partial truth about them although the details of his death are well established from several reports in the Maitland Mercury.

4.1. John Devonald’s legacy: A further probably apocryphal story is that the Devonald family in Wales owned a pub called Ye Olde Apple Tree Inn . However, local Swansea records show no Devonald as the owner of this inn and indicate that it was some distance, perhaps twenty minutes walk from where their shop in High Street was located. Many other pubs existed in between so it is unlikely that they even visited it in a regular basis. But perhaps Thomas Hitchcock did as the story comes from the songs that he reputedly composed.

The family story that seems to have some substance is that John and Sarah Devonald had no children. As a consequence, John invited his sister, Ann and her husband Thomas Hitchcock to emigrate saying that their first son born in Australia would be given two of his land holdings, 36 and 32 acres respectively on the Hunter River (near where Lysaghts and Stewarts and Lloyds later existed) when he died. Our direct ancestor, the eldest son, Thomas George Hitchcock was born in Wales and so, even if this is true, would not have been eligible. The first son born in Newcastle in 1856 was called John Devonald Hitchcock after their uncle giving some credence to this story. He was followed by David Devonald Hitchcock in 1859, then a daughter Susan in 1861 before finally William Henry Hitchcock in 1862.

It may be simply that Thomas and Ann called their son after John Devonald because he paid for their passage as all evidence points to them arriving as free, unassisted settlers. Why he did this for Ann and her husband and not his other sisters, Elizabeth, four years older than Ann and Jane, four years younger is not known. Jane may have died young or they may have been more settled in Wales. It may be that he knew Thomas Hitchcock through his maritime experience or it may simply have been that they were the only ones interested in emigration. Whatever the reason, it appears that Thomas and Ann had some incentives from John Devonald for them to come to Australia.

Now John died quite young in an accident in Newcastle. The Maitland Mercury reports are quite detailed and will not be given here in full. In December, 1856 on the Newcastle Coal and Copper Company’s tramway near the Burwood paddock, a Mrs. Parkinson with a horse drawn cart load of goods attempted to cross in front of a fast moving train consisting of eight two ton wagons. It seems that the lady was in some John Devonald’s critical danger of a collision and Mr. Devonald (called Mr. cane Devenil in the paper) dashed forward to stop the horse. This was unsuccessful and the wagons hit the horse and which had to be destroyed soon afterwards. Unfortunately, the cart (or perhaps a wagon) passed over Mr. Devenil’s leg and arm which were dreadfully mangled. Amputation was suggested and Mr. Devenil agreed but it was not deemed advisable on the day. He then executed his

115 will which was signed with a X although he could read and write so his writing arm may have been damaged in the accident. His will left his sister, Ann an annual sum for the rest of her life and two farms at what was called The Folly to Ann and Thomas Hitchcock’s child, John Devonald Hitchcock. Ann did not benefit for long as she died soon afterwards (see later). John Devonald died on Christmas day 1856 aged 42 and was said to be buried at the Newcastle Cathedral but his grave, dedicated in 1863 was in the old C. of E. burial ground in King Street. So, like Gatsby, John Devonald finished up alright in the end, as a hero. I have what is reputed to be his cane but, as expected for that date, no photos of him. His widow, Sarah who inherited the hotel, is said to have married the lawyer, James Laughton who handled his estate.

5. Thomas and Ann Hitchcock and descendents in Australia

Thomas and Ann emigrated from the UK to Australia in 1856, possibly arriving on the ship ‘ Argyle ’8 but that has not been verified. They seem to have been unassisted passengers as those assisted (ie by the State) were all documented at the time. They must have immediately settled in the Newcastle area, obviously because John Devonald, who may well have paid for their passage, lived there. All the following children were registered in that district.

As noted above, three children were born in Swansea, Wales, the first being our Great Grandfather, Thomas George Hitchcock on 28/2/1849. The other two were William on 25/1/1851 who died aged 7 months and Letitia Pinkard (the name on her birth record is Pencard but is obviously Letitia Pinkard incorrectly spelt) on 7/4/1854, our Grandmother, Letitia Lilian Hitchcock Hitchcock (Parfitt) being named after her. Letitia Pinkard Hitchcock married Joseph Hewitt in Dubbo in 1871. It is interesting to note that she is designated as Letitia Pinckhard (again an incorrect spelling) in the NSW register but the information from Bettye Kirkwood is that the family knew that her husband was Joseph Hewitt so there is no doubt that this is correct. It appears that she and her husband moved to Western Australia.

Additional children born in Newcastle to Thomas and Ann were John Devonald in 1856 (who later married Eva Knight Craik), David Devonald in 1859 (married Ann Downey), Susan in 1861 but who died a few months later and William Henry 9 in 1863 (married Rosa Knight). John, who inherited the farms from John Devonald is said to have sold the land for a small sum to a politician who on-sold to BHP for 1,200 pounds 10 . This should be able to be confirmed. Note that when David Devonald Hitchcock was born, Thomas was listed as a Gold Digger and his and Ann’s address was Honeysuckle Point.

Ann herself died in 1865 from complications related to an abortion and dysentery, the latter being noted on her death certificate as having occurred for one month. Whether the abortion was carried out because of health reasons (the dysentery may have been due to a

8 From “ The Hitchcocks of Leicestershire ”, by Bettye Kirkwood 9 Bettye Kirkwood, born 1931, is the granddaughter of William Henry Hitchcock and Rosa Knight. 10 From “ The Hitchcocks of Leicestershire ”shire’ , by Bettye Kirkwood. This gives a more detailed history of the various Hitchcock branches.

116 still birth that was aborted) or a desire not to have more children which caused the complications is unknown but as Thomas fathered a number of additional children in his second marriage, it does not appear to have been because of financial pressures. It must be remembered that abortion was strictly illegal in those days. So most likely, a birth complication was the cause.

Information on Thomas comes via Bettye Kirkwood from her uncle, William Henry Hitchcock who was Thomas and Ann’s youngest child. As such, it is likely to be substantially true but with possible inaccuracies, such as the story of John Devonald’s conviction in Wales. The ship ‘ Argyle ’ that they are reported to have arrived on is from this source, mainly based on the songs Thomas wrote and sang about such as ‘the day we weighed anchor and sailed away aboard the starving Argyle’ . It was reputedly a bad ship with rotten pork as food and an outbreak of scurvy. Coming from an experienced seaman, this indicates a dreadful voyage. The ‘ Argyle’ is known to have carried passengers to Australia but whether the Hitchcocks were on it is unproven. Thomas apparently called his arrival in Australia as the time ‘ when he swallowed the anchor ’ so I assume he went to sea no more.

Thomas Pinkard Hitchcock, Left: aged about 50, Right aged about 70

117

From Left: Thomas George and Elisabeth Mary Hitchcock, John Devonald Hitchcock, William Henry and Rosa Hitchcock

He seems to have had a variety of careers being originally employed as a painter, presumably of houses. At one stage, he fell off a roof and broke his leg which healed badly and thereafter he walked with a limp and used a cane. It is possible that the cane given to me was his, not John Devonald’s as claimed by his niece, Hilda May Hitchcock (Burns), our Auntie May. His obituary, possibly authored by his son, Thomas George Hitchcock with whom he lived in Alma Road, New Lambton at the time of his death, says that as well as his passages on several coastal traders, he had worked as a gold miner in the Temora, Araluen, Snowy River and Hanging Rock diggings before finally settling down as a coal miner where he worked in ‘ some of the oldest established collieries in the district ’. On at least one of his children’s birth certificates, he is listed simply as a labourer.

From the birth recordings of the children, the family lived in various locations in Newcastle these being Cook’s Hill, Honeysuckle Point and Pit Row (which may have been within Cook’s Hill or near Parry Street).

In 1866, Thomas at age 44 was re-married to a widow, Bridget Keough who was probably about 10 years younger as she had had three children between 1859 and 1863 from her first marriage to Bernard Keough. As no trace of this first marriage is recorded, they may have recently emigrated from Ireland or the UK. Thomas and Bridget had eight children, six females and two males between 1867 and 1875 but it appears that the six females died at birth or as babies as did the first male. There seems to have been one set of twins Alfred and Margaret, born in 1870 but Margaret died in 1871 with Alfred surviving as the only one of the marriage. All these children were registered in Lambton. Thomas died in 1908 in the bath at his son’s house from a stroke as noted above (information from Letitia Parfitt), the district being designated as New Lambton while Bridget survived him for another ten years, passing away in Wallsend. It is reported (by Bettye Kirkwood) that Ann’s children did not like Bridget and Jack (ie John Devonald Hitchcock) went away to Western Australia, perhaps accompanied by Letitia and her husband. Another family story is that in 1895, Alfred married a woman, Florence Cappussitto (this is confirmed on the

118 NSW register), whose father was an itinerant Italian hawker who gave police information about the whereabouts of the bushranger, Thunderbolt who had held him up. This may be true or mythical and is hard to verify.

5.1. Thomas George and Elizabeth Mary Hitchcock. Now following only our line, the eldest son of Thomas Pinkard and Ann Hitchcock, Thomas George Hitchcock married Elisabeth Mary Pellow at Lambton, Newcastle on the 18 th of August, 1874. She was born in Bridestowe, a town just north of Dartmoor, Devon, England on 3/3/1850. Her parents were John Pellow, a carpenter and Elizabeth Pellow, nee Arscott, details of both of these families to be examined later. She had three brothers, John, born 1852 in Bridestowe, William James, born Sydney 1857 and Thomas, born 1862. The Pellow family arrived in Australia on the ‘ Lady Elgin ’, on 4/8/1854. The family lore (from Merle Parfitt) was that from age 14 Elisabeth Mary ‘ looked afte r’ old

Elisabeth Mary and Thomas Pinkard Hitchcock and his son John. This Thomas George Hitchcock must have been from about 1864 or 1865 being from about the time of Ann’s illness and death and probably in the period before his remarriage, so it would have been only for a short time. If true, it indicates that the Pellow and Hitchcock families lived close together and knew each other well.

Thomas George and Elisabeth Mary Hitchcock had nine children. These were John William (1876), Thomas George (1877), Annie Esther (1879, Auntie Nana to us), Letitia Lilian (1880, ie Grandma Parfitt), Herbert Henry. (born 1882, died young in 1883), Louise C. (born 1884, died in the same year), Arthur Devonald (1885), Hilda May (1887, Auntie May) and Lily Ada (1889, Auntie Lil). Of these, John married Sarah Gray, who we knew as Auntie Sarah when we were children but we did not meet him as he had died some time before in 1933. Their children were Elsie and Esme, both well known to us in our teenage years. Tom married Annie Shakespeare but I do not remember meeting them at least in an identifiable way, surprising as Tom did not die until 1956. In fact, we once or twice called in briefly on Hitchcock relatives in Boolaroo (36 Second Street) which was probably them but I remember only meeting an older female, probably Tom’s wife.

Annie Hitchcock married Will Lock and they had a son also called Bill, possibly another one George (who I believe died young) and a daughter, Ida. She married Cyrus Davies and they had a daughter Enid who married Col Maxwell, who in one UK tour in 1948 captained the Kangaroo Rugby League team. May married James Boyd Burns and had one daughter, Vida who married Jack Campion who in turn had one son, Boyd. Lil married Perce McNaughton and had a daughter, Phyllis. Many of these we knew when we were children in the 1940s and 1950s although Perce McNaughton died, I believe in about 1940. The Burns-Campion family had a house at Marks Point, Lake Macquarie that we visited a number of times in our teenage years, as well as a small motorboat that we pottered around Lake Macquarie in with Boyd at the helm.

119 Family history, (from Bill Hitchcock) says that Elisabeth Mary Pellow had an illegitimate son who was raised with the Hitchcock family but with the Pellow name, moving to Mandalong after marriage. But I can find no related records of this.

Hitchcock family: clockwise from top left: Letitia Lilian, Annie Esther, Arthur Devonald, Hilda May, Thomas George and Elisabeth Mary (parents), Lily Ada

Letitia’s parents, Thomas George and Elisabeth Mary Hitchcock and their family were residents of New Lambton. They owned a house in Queens Road, new Lambton and it may have had some extra land attached or a common area that they had access to as I recall our grandmother, Letitia, referring to milking their cow when she was a child. When they moved there is uncertain as old Thomas Pinkard Hitchcock seemed to have lived mainly in the Newcastle city area, moving to the Cessnock coalfields after his second marriage. Thomas George was also a miner, so presumably he worked in the Lambton or Wallsend coal mines. He is said to have gone to the Western Australian gold fields in 1888 as it appears did many of his family but was not particularly successful and soon returned to Newcastle. He appears to have had some education as he could read and write, although I am informed that there is one original photo on which he spelt his own name as Hichcock, possibly just a simple error. Thomas was a member of the New Lambton Council, and is said to have been the first representative of the miners. William Lock, his daughter Annie Esther’s husband, was also on the council but perhaps not at the same time. Thomas George Hitchcock died in New Lambton in 1912, aged 63. Thomas (and his brothers) were described by his nephew, William Henry Hitchcock as being a little above average height and having blue eyes, although it must be said that perceptions of years before are not necessarily accurate. When Thomas died, William would have been about 25. Elisabeth Mary had pre-deceased him by some years, dying relatively young on the 10 th of October, 1908

120

Hitchcock family: (back, 2 nd from right), Thomas George Hitchcock (centre, from left) Lily Ada McNaughton Letitia Lilian Parfitt, Hilda May Burns, Annie Esther Lock, Elisabeth Mary Hitchcock. Others not identified.

5.2. Letitia Lilian Hitchcock: Letitia (usually called Letty) married William Parfitt in 1901 and they had children, Bill, Les and Merle but these, are included in our direct line in the Parfitt document. My memory is that the four females, Nan, Letty, May and Lil were often at loggerheads with each other for long periods when they were irreconcilable but the length of time may be mainly the perspective of a child. Certainly, they had volatile natures but who was at fault is difficult to know. Letty, our grandmother, we all knew could be extremely difficult at times. She lived with us from 1949 until her death through influenza or perhaps pneumonia in 1965 and created many scenes. Whether or not the problems with her sisters were of her making or mutual, I cannot say. She was a dominant personality and in that respect overshadowed both her husband and her daughter. I suspect also that she tried to control her sons, more successfully perhaps with Les than Bill. While I do not know of any significant details, I can remember Bill telling Merle one day that she used to spy on him in his bedroom to see ‘ what he was doing ’, in essence invading his privacy and even after many years it still seemed to rankle with him. Also, it is noted that the deeds to the Islington house, purchased around 1914, were in her name rather than William Parfitt’s. Our mother, Merle, always commented that Letitia was good with saving money and it is likely that their ability to purchase cars and a holiday house in those early times was due either to this aptitude or perhaps to an inheritance from her family. I remember that, as did our mother in the next generation, she received the fortnightly wage packet from her husband unopened and distributed pocket money to him.

It is not necessary to repeat more of her married life here as it has been dealt with in the Parfitt document. After she came to live with us in 1950, she was often at odds with us children when she tried to boss us around. I distinctly remember my first problem with her

121 not too long after she was living with us. She cornered me in my bedroom and said that she would give me a beating but I slipped passed her leaving her grasping at air. In our later teenage years, we either became involved in verbal altercations with her or ignored her if we could when they occurred. I eventually learnt that, if I told her with a smile to keep quiet or something similar, it went over her head and she only smiled back and said nothing. Merle, a dutiful daughter, put up with her tantrums with difficulty and found it most annoying that, for all those years, she had no life of her own and could never go out without Letitia being dressed and ready to follow.

6. Pellows

The name of our family is most probably of Pellow: This, with variant spelling ancient Cornish derivation as it is Pellew, has two possible origins. Firstly, distributed widely across Cornwall and it is a Cornish derivation of the medieval may be older than the Pealdelu of Norman English given name " Pell ", a form of origin (see box). It sounds very much like Peter, plus the suffix ‘ow’. The name many Cornish names of towns (eg Polruan, may also be a variant of ‘Pedley ’, an Penryn), places and people and so may well English adaptation from the Norman derive from the P-Brythonic language of nickname for a stealthy person, itself the Cornish Britons that persisted well into from old French ‘pel de lou’ , meaning the 18 th Century and still has some "wolf-skin ". This first appears in the late devotees today. There is some belief th 12 Century (circa 1195-1197) with amongst some of the Pellow descendents in recorded spelling being Anketil Pel de Australia that it is Spanish, modified from lu, (Pealdelu) in the ‘Pipe Rolls of Pilau and was due to shipwrecked sailors Lincolnshire’. Marke, son of John from the remnants of the Spanish Armada Pellow was christened at Lezant of 1588. It is interesting that the same myth Cornwall in 1560 while in 1561, Arnoll, abounds for the Irish as many of these also son of Jone Pelloe was christened at have black hair. However, in both cases, it North Tamerton, Cornwall while is untrue. The early ancestors of the Irish, Christiane, daughter of Peter Pelowe Welsh and Cornish as well as the pre- was christened at Morwenstow in Anglo Saxon British did indeed migrate Cornwall in 1587. A notable name- from the area between France and Spain, bearer was Thomas Pellow, circa 1715 - progressively moving up the French coast 1738 who was captured as a 9 year old to Britain as the ice receded, but that was off Finisterre in an English merchant some 6,000 to 8,000 years ago. The name, ship in 1716 and was converted to as in our family Pellow (sometimes Islam. He was kept in captivity in the Pellew), is recorded in Cornwall a number Sultan's service till 1738 when he of years prior to the Armada. As it is escaped and returned to Cornwall, particularly strong on the south (Channel) publish ing his experiences in 1739. coast around Falmouth to Penzance, there is a possibility that it is associated with Brittany in France, some believing that it came from there. However, the reverse is just as likely to be true as the Bretons migrated to there from Cornwall in about the 4 th to 5 th century CE or perhaps earlier. So our male line ancestors of this family were almost certainly Cornish originally although they appear in our branch from later known records to be from Devon. The Cornish Pellows who are on the records are probably distantly connected at some more ancient stage and indeed may have had a strong seagoing bent but our more immediate ancestors were farmers.

122 Our great grandmother, Elisabeth Mary Pellow (note that she spelt her first name with an ‘s’ although her birth record uses ‘z’) was born in Bridestowe, Devon, on 3/3/1850. Bridestowe is a moderate sized town just north of Dartmoor in the river valleys that separate Dartmoor from Exmoor. It is quite close to the large town of Okehampton. Her parents were John Pellow and Elizabeth Arscott who has often been referred to with the middle name, Merry, presumably a corruption of Mary after her mother, although no-one is sure where it came from as it is not on her birth record. They arrived in Australia on the ‘Lady Elgin’ in August, 1854 with two young children, Elisabeth Mary born in 1850 and John, born in 1852. The immigration records show John’s brother Thomas, from South Devon, his wife Jane and family also arriving on the same ship and it is noted that another brother William Pellow and three Pellow sisters were already resident in Sydney. Two other children, William James (1857) and Thomas (1862) were born to John and Elizabeth in Australia in Pitt Street, Sydney so the family must have lived there for some years before moving to Newcastle. Elisabeth Mary Pellow of course is the woman who married Thomas George Hitchcock as described in section 5.1.

John Pellow was born in Sourton, a small village a few miles up the hill above Bridestowe on the Dartmoor escarpment in 1818. His wife, Elizabeth Merry Arscott, born in 1825 was from Colebrook, Devon where they were married in September, 1848. Details of the Arscott family will be dealt with in a later section. Following his father’s profession, John was a carpenter both in Devon and in NSW. He and Elizabeth, as already noted, were accompanied to Australia by his brother, Thomas, wife Jane (nee Snell) and two children, the first being called Elizabeth and the second, Jane. Thomas was also a carpenter. Jane was from East Cornwall, their youngest child being born at a town called Callington which is just across the border from Devon into Cornwall. It is half way between Plymouth and Bridestowe, about 15 km from each and it is recorded that they were residing in Plymouth, not Bridestowe as were John and Elizabeth just before emigrating.

We know little about John other than that he died in Newcastle in 1875, recorded as aged 55 but actually 57. The place of death was the Asylum for Imbeciles , the cause of death being “ general decay of nature ” but this may have been a term for early dementia. Strangely, his brother, Thomas, stated as late of Muswellbrook (see SMH notice), died in Gladesville Hospital four years later also from dementia. This seems to be quite a coincidence and it raises the question of whether there was an environmental effect (eg exposure to mercury or other heavy metals) in their youth.

Now John’s wife, Elizabeth Pellow (Arscott) must have been well educated as she ran a private girl’s school, called Pellows School, giving basic education in both Lambton and New Lambton for a number of years, (from her obituary, Newcastle Morning Herald ). After John died, she remarried James Green, a butcher with a business in Boolaroo but who lived in New Lambton. James was killed in 1882 (see Newcastle Morning Herald ) by being thrown from his horse in Hamilton. Following this, Elizabeth ran a small shop in Victoria Street, New Lambton eventually dying from heart failure in January, 1900 in New Lambton aged 74.

6.1. Pellows of an earlier era in Devon The earliest records of our Pellow family are from Sourton where some others of the family may have lived in about the same period. How or when they arrived there is not known. Apart from my research starting in 1977, there have been several family members, English and Australian, who have examined this family independently. While all agree

123 about the grandparents of our immigrants John and Thomas Pellow and their families, there are some questions about the earlier lineage. One line has been, perhaps reluctantly, accepted and may well be correct but I have identified a possible alternative that should be considered. As such, in the family trees of Appendix 1, I have presented both alternatives.

The generally accepted version originates with a Sourton couple and indeed many of the later Pellows in the region seem to be descended from either these or near relatives. The couple are Peter and Marjory Pellow who had two identified children and there may well have been others. From the Bridestowe records (which include Sourton), the known ones are Peter, (1702), and John (1714) 11 . Several others (Jonathon, 1706, James and Thomas) have been suggested but I have not been able to confirm that they were the offspring of Peter and Marjory. There may have been daughters as well. Jonathon can only be tentatively identified by the headstone on his grave at Sourton (see below) but without specified parents, he may have been descended from, say the brother or cousin of Peter. However, as his daughter was called Margery, it seems possible that his mother was Marjory (whose name was also spelt Margery at times) making the original Peter the possible first known of our Pellow line but only on the assumption that Jonathon was his son. Now if Peter (1702) was their first child, the parents, Peter and Marjory would have to have been born about 1680 at the latest or a few years earlier if there were other children.

Left: Jonathon Pellow Sourton headstone Now the next identifiable Pellow who may be of this line is the Jonathon Pellow mentioned above, born around 1706, possibly a son of Peter and Marjery Pellow 12 . On the headstone, his age at death is confusing so the birth date is somewhat indeterminate (see later). Jonathon married Margaret Muddesford on the 5 th of March, 1735 at Sourton, North Dartmoor, Devon. Note that a town Maddaford, which may be the same name modified over the last few hundred years, is shown on the map below and is only about 10 miles NNE of Sourton. The Sourton church is typical of the small villages in that area, tiny but very attractive and dating from perhaps the 12 th or 13 th century. Jan and I visited it in early 1978 when Gareth was a baby and I have returned several times since. We found it from the marriage records of the nearby church at

11 I have used birth dates in brackets as identifiers as the same names are repeated over generations. 12 There was a Pellow family living in Werrington, about 20 kilometres west of Sourton in the late 1600’s. A John Pellow married Mattha (Martha?) Panter in 1685 and an Abraham Pellow married Mary Featherstone in 1698 but there is no established connection as yet with a Peter Pellow born about that time, or Jonathon Pellow a little later.

124 Bridestowe which noted the Sourton birth location of John Pellow, our Great Great Grandfather.

On that first visit to Sourton, the very pleasant church warden, a Mr. Rook, showed us its treasures which included silver plate dating from the time of Queen Elizabeth I and the Spanish Armada. These must have been very valuable but the church was left open in the 1970s. However, unfortunately it has since had to be kept locked. The warden also gave us the address of a local Pellow family, a farmer who still lived in the area. We visited him and his wife and had a friendly cup of tea with them but they seemed somewhat bemused at having a visit from perhaps very distant Margaret (nee Maddaford) Pellow relatives from Australia. Sourton headstone Jonathon and Margaret lie in the church graveyard and their headstones read, “Here Lyeth the Body of Jonathon Pellow, Yoman, who departed this life July the 11 in the Year of our Lord. 1774 in the 68 year of his life and Here Lyeth the Body of Margaret wife of Jonathon who was buried on 19 th March , 1781, aged 67 . Now it can be seen from the photograph above that Jonathon’s age has been over-written and could be read as any of 68, 62, 58 or 52. His birth date is therefore 1706, 1712, 1718 or 1722. The original may be 68 (ie 1706) although the clearest is 52 (ie 1722). As his marriage was, from the records, in 1735, the last is clearly impossible and the second last doubtful but the first two are both possible. Margaret was born in 1714 so I will tentatively assume that the correct birth is 1706. Why the overwriting was carried out is unclear. Could there be confusion with a brother, that is, John (1714)?

Yeomen, of course were the backbone of the Anglo-Saxon world as free, small landholders who provided service of arms when required and remained so even after the brutal Norman Conquest brought much land under the control of the great nobles. Enclosure (ie fencing off by more powerful landholders) also reduced their numbers and this was continued from about the 15 th to the 18 th century 13 .

13 " Stop to consider how the so-called owners of the land got hold of it. They simply seized it by force, afterwards hiring lawyers to provide them with title-deeds. In the case of the enclosure of the common lands, which was going on from about 1600 to 1850, the land-grabbers did not even have the excuse of being foreign conquerors; they were quite frankly taking the heritage of their own countrymen, upon no sort of pretext except that they had the power to do so. ” George Orwell.

125

Sourton, Bridestowe and nearby villages : Local area map .

126

Another Pellow grave is nearby with a headstone that says “Elizabeth Pellow, wife of John Pellow residing at Beat-Down, died January 17 th , 1846 aged 59 years and John Pellow, died July 9 th , 1849 aged 65 years.” These are a generation or so removed from Jonathon and Margaret so I will discuss them later.

Jonathon and Margaret leased Beat-Down on the outskirts of Sourton in 1764 and it was still being farmed by Mr. Bert Pellow in 1977. It may be that he was the St Thomas a Becket Church, Sourton farmer we visited in 1978 Pellow gravestones are near the right front facing although there still are the church. The church dates from 1356. numerous Pellows in the district. Beat-Down (or Beatdown,) can be seen on the map about a mile to the north of Sourton. The farmer we visited, according to my records was a Mr. H. E. Pellow of East Down, Sourton but that is presumably Beat Down and his name could well have been Herbert.

Beat-Down is ten or fifteen minutes walk from Sourton church directly across the valley where the land rises moderately steeply from the River Lew. To get there, one descends along a minor road next to the pub (the Highwayman ) opposite the church to the river crossing it at Forda, which is another name that appears in Pellow records. From there, a climb of similar magnitude is required to reach Beat-Down which is on or across the road. Bridestowe, lying in the valley, is left about 2 kilometres along this road

Now Jonathon and Margaret had seven children registered at Sourton and there were three more registered at Bridestowe. It is possible that these last were from a different Pellow family with parents of the same given names but as they also fit the birth sequence and I cannot find another family, it seems most likely that they are of our direct line. For some reason, the mother was confined in the larger town, possibly with relatives. Those from Sourton are John, 1736, Mary, 1745, Susanna, 1747, Margaret 1749 (buried 1750), Mary, 1751 and Edmund, 1754, (buried in the same year). Those from Bridestowe are Jonathon 1738, Margery, 1741 and Grace, 1743.

If this line is correct, we are descended from the first son, John (born 1736) and in a later generation, from another John born in 1784 (as seen from second headstone at Sourton) but there are some doubts. A tentative confirmation is the association with Beat Down and there are other possibilities which I will discuss later. At present, continuing with the first scenario, John (1736) would have married Mary Down on 5/2/1782 at the mature age of about 46, Mary, it seems being only 26 or 27 as she was born about 1755. This is a rather

127 large age difference and as well, John Phare This name is English, originally a would have been, by the standards of the th personal name from before the 7 century day, old at the time, most men and women and derives from the Old German word marrying in their twenties, early thirties at "Faeger" meaning fair. It was equally the latest. The names of their children fit popular in its different spellings in the family pattern although many of the England, Norway, Denmark and Sweden local families also repeatedly use similar and was also taken up by the Norman given names. From the marriage date, the invaders of England in 1066. The variant children of Mary, whether fathered by this spellings include Faire, Fayre, Faers, or another John Pellow (see later), can be Fayer, Fyers, Phair, Phare and Phayre. identified as being John, 1784, Margaret, The early recordings include Robert 1789, Thomas, 1796, Peter, 1798 and Faier, in the Suffolk Court Rolls of 1191, Grace, 1801. That is, if John (1736) was Henry le Vayre in the Duchy of Cornwall the father, Grace would have been born Accounts for 1297, Dorothy Fayre (1573, when he was 65, not impossible but Stepney), Elizabeth Faire (1616, London) questionable. It is noted that a John and Abraham Fair (1799, London). The Pellow, aged 87 died at a place called East first recorded spelling of the family name Tor on 7/10/1823 which gives the correct is shown to be that of Edeua Faira, dated birth year of 1736 for the John that we are 1086, in the Domesday Book of considering and he may have been very Middlesex, 1066 - 1087. virile as he was long lived. However, it is highly likely that he was the John Pellow who married Agnes Crossman as I will discuss later. So my original suspicion was, and still is in regard to this line, that somehow there is a missing generation. After I had done my own research, a note from a very distant English relation 14 suggests that no missing generation can be found. But it does mean that his wife was about 20 years younger than him, not impossible but something providing significant doubt.

So other possibilities should be considered and these are as follows. First, there is another Pellow grave at Sourton, this being that of William (died 22/4/1849 aged 63, hence born 1786) and his wife, Alice Pellow (died 17/1/1852 aged 65, born 1787). However, as we shall see later, these are contemporary with the John Pellow who married Elizabeth Phare in 1810 who are definitely our ancestors. So how William and Alice fit in is unclear but he could be part of John and Mary’s family being born between some of the known children, probably John (1784) and Margaret (1789), it being not uncommon for records or even births not to be recorded for unknown reasons. Or he could be, say, a cousin or other reasonably close relative. However, William and Alice, from the close grave proximity, are clearly of the Sourton-Pellow family grouping.

So while all this is plausible, the difficulty is that John Pellow, (1736), is marginally too old and William, (1786) is too young to develop a reasonable lineage for John (1784). The other possibility that could fill this gap is another generation between John (1736) and John (1784) or that the true generations are different and more evenly distributed.

So the question is, was there another John Pellow born somewhat later than John (1936) who could be our ancestor? We are confident that John Pellow who married Elizabeth Phare in 1810 was of our line from the names and birth records. There is supporting evidence that he was a carpenter as stated on the children’s birth records as were his sons

14 To Mrs. Gay Searant, a relative in Newcastle on both the Pellow and the Roach family lines

128 who eventually immigrated to Australia. He was born in 1784, son of John and Mary Pellow. As discussed above, John Pellow married Mary Down in 1781 and it would therefore be expected that the most probable range of birth dates for him would be 1745 to 1755. In searching the Bridestowe, Sourton records, there is only one candidate who fits this range, it being a John Pellow, born in 1748. He was the third son of William and Elizabeth Pellow (maiden name unknown) who seem, from the birth dates of their children, to have been married about 1735. Their marriage record is not shown and it may well have been in another parish as often happened if the bride came from there. However, that would mean that this William was born sometime before 1715 to make him at least 20 at marriage. William and Elizabeth had children Roger (1736), William (1744), John (1748), Thomas (1752) and Henry (1755), no daughters being shown although these may have been baptized in the mother’s parish if indeed it was different. Now this John (1748) would have been 34 at marriage assuming it was he who wedded Mary Down, aged 27 which seems to be much more reasonable than the earlier John (1736). There are two records of the death of an adult William Pellow, 1766 and 1796 but unfortunately, no age is given so it has not been possible to trace whether either, or neither, could have been the father of John (1748). But the first is more likely.

Now making the tentative assumption that our alternative line goes back through John (1748) to William (1715), it is recorded that a William Pellow married Mary Dowe (possibly a mis-transcription of Dawe there being a number of Dawe names on the records at that time and no other Dowes, or alternatively even Down is possible) in 1715. If the last, it is interesting that she had the same maiden name as her granddaughter in-law. This William would, in all probability have been born around 1690, plus or minus a few years and therefore would have been a contemporary of the original Peter Pellow (~1680) mentioned above. If so, the Jonathon (with Margaret Maddaford) Pellow grave at Sourton could be William’s descendent as Jonathon cannot be positively identified as Peter’s (1680) son. It could mean that William (1690) and Peter (1680) were brothers or cousins born in the latter part of the 1600s or indeed, Jonathon could be the son of yet another brother, name unknown. Hence, although distantly related, this suggests that our line does not progress through Jonathon (1706) and Margaret. It seems to be a reasonable scenario but verification is needed. How the Beat-Down fits in needs to be examined.

There is one further possibility which is for an extra generation from the presumed Jonathon (1706) and Margaret Pellow line prior to the John Pellow who married Mary Down in 1782. This is the John Pellow who married Agnes Crossman on 21/4/1760 at East Tor which is only about one or two kilometers east of Sourton. Note that a John Pellow died aged 87 at East Tor on 7/10/1823, hence born in 1736 making his birth date 1736. In this case, if this was he, he would have been 24 at marriage, closely matching the age of Agnes Pellow who died at Bridestowe on 24/2/1824 aged 87, hence born 1737. This sheds doubt on the John (1736), Mary Down marriage assumption. James, their first son, was born in 1760 followed by Anne in 1763. For their son to marry Mary Down in 1782, he would have had to be born close to 1760. The records confirm that Mary’s husband was John Pellow and so the only problem with this lineage is that there seems to be no record of such a child. Note that Agnes is a name appearing in our later, known, Pellow line so she may well have been a relation. But this possibility has, at least temporarily, to be discarded and, until further evidence is available, only two viable options remain. These are single generation descents from Jonathon Pellow (1706) to John Pellow (1736), a much older father, and Mary Down to John (1784) or, a more evenly spaced generation via a younger John Pellow (1748) descended from William (1715) and

129 Elizabeth Pellow. In either case, they are likely to be sons of one family residing originally residing in Sourton in the 1680s.

Now whatever the exact generation following Peter and Marjory Pellow or William and Mary Pellow, it is definitely established that John Pellow, the son of John Pellow and Mary Down, married Elizabeth Phare on the 6 th of February, 1810. Certainly, he was John (1784) and would have been about 26 years of age at the time. He died at Beat Down on the 13 th of July, 1849, aged 65. Elizabeth died a few years earlier on the 22 nd of January, 1846 at Sourton (Okehampton district registrations) aged 59 and hence was born in 1786 or 1787. The only relevant births that I can find for her in Devon are Elizabeth Phare, daughter of William Phare and Honor Cockram born 1786 at Bratton Clovelly, Devon and Elizabeth Fare daughter of William and Joanna Fare, born (or baptized) on the 26 th of October, 1788 at Staverton, Devon. These would make her either 24 or 22 respectively at marriage in 1810 both birth dates matching fairly well although marginally better for the former but there is no proof of either. For the latter, the surname Fare is of different spelling which is not of great significance in those less literate times. Perhaps of more significance is that Bratton Clovelly is only 5 km west of Bridestowe while Staverton is some 35 km away near the larger town of Totnes on the south Devon coast. So the first is more probable. However, interestingly, there was a Pellow family residing at Berry Pomeray near Totnes in the period 1720 to 1750 so that may possibly have provided a family contact there. However, Bratton Clovelly seems to be the most worthwhile place to look for future research.

6.2: Pellows in Australia John and Elizabeth Pellow had six or seven children these on the English records being William (1810), Anne (1816), John (1818), Elizabeth (1826), Susanna (1829) and Agnes (1831). All were born (or baptized) at Sourton. Further information from Jemima Armistead 15 lists a further two baptised there who are William (1820) and Thomas (1822) as well as Mary Pellow (1812), Maria Pellow (1814) and Eliza Pellow (1824) baptized at Bridestowe. If this is correct, it probably indicates that the first William died as a child. Why some were christened at Bridestowe instead of Sourton is not clear but the two towns are not far apart. As mentioned above, the Australian records show that John emigrated to Australia with his brother Thomas and both their families on the same ship. The family records show Thomas dying on 7/10/1879 aged 57 so he would have been born in 1822 which is correct and neatly fills the large gap between John and Elizabeth. Strangely, his death does not appear on the NSW records. However, an SMH death notice states that his funeral on the above date will move from the residence of his son-in-law at Surrey Hills, also noting that he was late of Muswellbrook. Many of the above siblings seem to have emigrated to Australia, John and Thomas, as noted above arriving together with families in 1854. The shipping records state that John and Thomas had a brother, William and three sisters who were all already in the colonies. William was most likely the younger William noted above, born in 1820. These same records of John and Thomas and their wives indicate that they were C of E and could read and write. Both males also stated that their parents were deceased which is consistent with the Sourton family above. Also both were carpenters following in their father’s trade. A deed of administration was granted to William’s wife in Hamilton in 1901, noting that he was a miner who, from probate records, died in South Africa on the 25 th November, 1896, perhaps going there to search

15 Jemima Armistead’s husband is a descendent of William James Pellow, son of Elisabeth Arscott and John Pellow. William James Pellow married Alice Ann Harvey.

130 for gold. However, out ancestor, John Pellow died in Newcastle, NSW in 1875 leaving amongst other children, a daughter Elisabeth Mary Pellow, our great grandmother.

7. Arscott.

Now John Pellow’s wife was Elizabeth Arscott from Colebrooke, Devon. In Devon there are two similarly named towns, Colebrooke some 15 miles east of Sourton and Bridestowe in the lowlands below Dartmoor near the town of Bow (see later) while confusingly, Colebrook is about the same distance further east near the medium sized English town of Cullompton. The former, Colebrooke, is her place of origin. Arscott: It is clearly Anglo-Saxon in origin but the derivation is unknown. It is moderately common in Devon, there being a dozen places where it is recorded in 1543-5. However, in 1332, the name appears only at Ashwater and Holsworthy, towns near the border of Cornwall. There are towns named Ashcott (Somerset), Ascott (Warwickshire) but the “cott” or “cot” is distinctly West Country. The name spread to other parts of Devon in the following century although a high concentration remained in its west. Dunsland House , Tudor in origin, stood on this site for hundreds of years. Heraldic Visitations were tours of It passed through seven families, before inspection undertaken by Kings of it was bought by the National Trust in Arms in England, Wales and Ireland in 1954. Thirteen years later, in 1967, it order to regulate and register the coats was destroyed by fire. All that remains of arms of nobility and gentry and is the old stable and coach house. The boroughs, and to record pedigrees. They cause of the fire was never discovered. took place from 1530 to 1688, and their records provide important source material for genealogists. In Devon, The Arscotts are described as an old “ County four visits took place during that period. Family ” in the Visitations of Devon in 1564 and 1620 of which I have copies but there is no known direct linkage to our family although it is quite likely that there was from some early period and some notes are therefore appropriate. From the Visitations, in 1564 there were four Arscott centres close together, these being Tetcott, Ashwater, and Holdesworthy (now called Holsworthy) in mid-north Devon near the border with Cornwall, and Dunsland which is the name of a property (see box) which is 10 miles further east. Ashford, another Arscott centre is well to the north towards the Bristol Channel. There was also a family at Plymouth, this being John Arscott of Arscott and the Inner Temple 16 in London and his wife, Phillipa, nee Battin from whom Dunsland House came into the family. Their son was Humphrie Arscott of Dunsland and his wife Ellen Hatch made Dunsland their home for two generations (ie John with wife Mary Monke, Arthur, wife

16 The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple , commonly known as Inner Temple , is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns.

131 Ebott Yeo and then Grace, husband being William Bickford). With Grace, the Arscott ownership of Dunsland passed to another name so these are definitely not our direct line.

Now all the above families are related as is evident from the very complex and often confusing documentation, this being certified by the families at the times of the Visitations. They are mostly consistent but there are some minor variations and omissions as is always possible as family knowledge diverges. It seems most likely that the original family that can be traced in Devon was that of Robert Arscott, born about 1407 and married to Joane Tilley but where he came from, we do not know. Their son is listed as Richard Arscott of Ashwater so it is possible that the family derives from that most northerly centre with some later descendents moving to the Holdesworthy, Tetcott and Ashford regions. It is probable that our family descends somehow from one of these although it may have stemmed from an even earlier branch, perhaps less likely as the name was not widely spread in Devon before the 1620s. There is a reference to a will, dated 1637 of a Kath Tucker of Okehampton which is much closer to the Colebrooke region of our known Arscott ancestors, leaving items to her sister-in-law , Anne Arscott. This must mean either that Anne married an Arscott. Then either she was originally a Tucker with her brother marrying Kath or that her Arscott husband had a sister Kath who married a Tucker. Whichever one of these, it indicates that the Arscott’s by this period had spread further east from their original locations in the west of Devon. The will refers to the good old family of Arscott that dates to the 13 th Century .

Left: St Andrews Church, Colebrooke, Devon

Above: View from Colebrooke Village over surrounding countryside

Because many of the second and later sons of a family were not so well recorded, our line could have come from any Arscott branch between about 1420 and 1620 and the direct connection may not be traceable even with a massive effort. However, the Visitations take us close to the time from which a direct line has been traced. To this, I owe a debt of gratitude to Mrs. Golda Packer 17 , also an Arscott descendent who in 1982 passed on to me the results of her extensive research aided by an English family historian.

17 Mrs. Packer in 1983 lived South Australia and her family had been there for several generations.

132

Pictures Right and Below

English heritage Listing (Grade II): Colebrooke: Arscott headstone approximately 0.1 mile south of the chancel of the Church of St Andrew. Headstone. Circa 1828, in memory of William and Mary Arscott . Slate. Upright slab with shaped head standing approximately 1.4m high. It is inscribed in Roman serif capitals and records the death of William Arscott in 1828 and his wife Mary in 1825. There are inscribed stars in the top shoulders, a scrolled decoration below the inscription and below that a heart containing a short poetic epithet in cursive script (enlarged below). Listing NGR: SS7701200019 Source: English Heritage Note: The date 1825, should be 1828 The first of these is William Arscott of Bow, a town about 5 kilometres west of Colebooke. William was born in 1689 (or perhaps 1684), died 1765 and was married to Priscilla Oliver at Stoke Damerell, Plymouth in 1713. Priscilla was not baptized there so whether the marriage at Plymouth was because his or her family lived nearby is not known. But it is known from the Visitations that the Arscotts had a Plymouth connection through John Arscott of the Inner Temple who lived there only about 50 years before his birth. William was noted as the fourth of at least five children of Robert Arscott, his siblings being Richard, 1683, Henry 1685, Elizabeth, 1688 and Robert, 1692. William’s birth place is unknown but it may also well have been Plymouth. It is possible that as a third son, William moved to a smaller country town perhaps because his inheritance was limited but perhaps because of a preference for a country life. Mrs. Packer comments that her family spoke of a family property called Priorton and indeed, she notes from the Ordnance Survey map that there is one of that name near Colebrooke (Sandford Parish) with Arscotts and Hills (see later) still living in the area. Whether this belonged to William or to one or other of his sons, grandsons or great grandsons is not known.

William and Priscilla Arscott both died in 1765. They had ten children, Ursula (1713), William (1714), Elizabeth (1715), Priscilla (1717), Richard (1719), Deborah (1721, John (1722), Jane (1726) and Charles (1730). There was also Robert, birth date unknown. Some

133 of these died young. About the 1740s, the family seemed to be living in Clannaborough, Devon. This is a small town about 2 miles north-west of Colebrooke. Richard lived until 1799, marrying Elizabeth Buzzell, in 1744. On the “kangiland” website 17 , he is shown as being born in South Tawton, some 8 miles south west of Colebrooke. Elizabeth died in 1781. (In the “kangiland” website, she is shown as Elizabeth Bazzell, dying in 1747 but given later birth dates for their children, this must be in error. There appears to be some confusion with her daughter). Their known children were Elizabeth, (1746, died 1747), William, (1749) and Robert (1751). William married Mary Mathews in 1771, Mary it seems being a few years older than him having been born in 1746. Mary died in 1828 18 , William following three months later in the same year. The English Heritage listed headstone (see above) is theirs although it notes Mary’s death as 1825, probably an incorrect transcription as old headstones are difficult to read. It is shown lying close to the church wall.

The children of William and Mary Arscott were Richard (1771), Thomas (1773), William (1779) who became a shoemaker, Deborah (1782), Sarah (1784), Hananiah (1786) and Priscilla (1789). In the Colebrooke churchyard, there is also a headstone with the name Hananiah Arscott which is the biblical spelling (from which it is derived) but the birth record shows Hannaniah. A further alternative spelling is Annaniah as on Mrs Searant’s family records, (see later footnote). All these designate the same person and the appropriate spelling can be selected as desired. In turn, our ancestor, Hananiah Arscott married Mary Reed in 1815. Their known children were Eleanor, (1816), Winnifred (1818), Mary (1820), William James (1822) and Elizabeth Mary (1825), her second name, as noted before, being sometimes recorded as Merry but neither of these names are shown on her baptismal or marriage records. Their Headstone of Hananiah and Mary Arscott , St. Andrews Church, Colebrooke children were the last of the Arscotts in our direct ancestral line as our Great Great Grandmother, Elizabeth (with a second unregistered name Merry, probably a corruption of Mary) Arscott who married John Pellow was their daughter (see Pellow above).

18 From the Ascott (Arscott) website. www.tribalpages.com , ft99 in the site ID box for " The Ascott Clan " (This site is run by Barbara Ascott, a branch of the Arscotts that have dropped the “r”. The site uses the password kangiland.

134 Hananiah Arscott, as his father before Towards the end of the 18th century, most him, was a miller, his mill being a mile of the parish of Colebrooke was in the or two south of Colebrooke on the river hands of five landowners. Each of the five at a place called Ford but it no longer estates at that time contained a working exists. The family probably lived at the corn mill. By 1820, only two mills were mill, at least in their younger years. It working - Colebrooke Mill known as the is not known how long milling had Manor Mill, was part of the Manor estate been a family occupation but it may owned by the Coryton family and Ford have been from the time of the first Mills, part of the Paschoe estate owned by traceable William Arscott in about the Calmady Hamlyns. In the land tax 1700 although probably in those earlier returns for 1785, William Arscott senior times at a different location (see box). was listed as the occupier and miller at the According to the census of that time, Manor Mills, a William Melhuish being the the mill would appear to have had a same at Ford Mills. For reasons unknown, number of cottages, at least six, around by 1814 the roles were reversed with the it. Hananiah ran the mill until his death Melhuishes at Manor Mills (where they aged about 50 in 1836 after which his stayed until 1890) and the Arscotts at Ford widow, Mary and their son William Mills. By the 1820s Hananiah was the carried on the business. This miller although his parents still lived there. arrangement ceased in the late 1840s William Arscott of Ford Mills was buried with William's marriage to the local October 16th 1828 aged 79 years. A rather innkeeper’s daughter Elizabeth poignant note was added to the registers by Southcott and his sister Mary's the vicar at the time of Williams death (wife marriage to George Harris. William Mary had died at Ford Mills 1/7/1828 aged moved away to become an innkeeper 82). "This poor man was Parish Clerk for while Mary and George Harris became over 25 years and bore a reputable the millers. Hananiah’s wife, Mary character and was well liked in his duty on died aged 78 in 1860 while the Sunday the 12th when he gave the Holy text daughter, Mary Harris (shown on the with great devotion. On the evening of the headstone above), passed away in 1867 same day being nearly blind he walked into aged 46 leaving three orphaned the water near his home and was children, William 13, Mary Ann 11 drowned" 19 and Elizabeth 8. George Harris had

died seven years earlier aged 48.

The Calmady Hamlyns residence, Paschoe House, an old mansion suffering badly from damp and decay, was situated just a little way up the valley from Ford Mills. Under a private act of parliament of 1847, an order was made to revoke the terms of an old will made by a Calmady Hamlyn in 1809 and the old house was demolished to build a new one. One of the conditions was that the mill at Ford would have to be demolished as it was decided that the position of the mill leat and weir had contributed to the dampness in the old house. This duly took place. Although the new house was completed in 1853, Ford Mills survived until the late 1860s. Opinion is divided as to whether the mill burnt down or was pulled down. One thing is certain, the Arscott/Harris family were the last millers at Ford 19 .

19 Information on the mills and the Arscott, Harris families association with them is from Colebrooke and Coleford historian, Neville Enderson.

135 The Calmady Hamlyn family sold their Paschoe estates in 1950 19. Ford was sold as a small holding of about 30 acres with two cottages suitable for conversion into one dwelling. Unfortunately, not long after the buyer took possession, it was gutted by fire, hence a “newish” building is there now. This large house is at the side of the road at Ford Mills and was erected on the site of these last two cottages. Paschoe House has recently had a complete facelift which cost about a million pounds.

After William James Arscott’s marriage to the daughter of the innkeeper of New Inn, Elizabeth Southcott 25/3/1850 at Colebrooke, (note that John Pellow and Mary Harris, William's sister were the witnesses) he seems to have spent a short time at the mill (being the William Arscott shown in the Devon directory) before moving to Burrington, North Devon to become landlord of the Portsmouth Arms Inn where their first child Bessie was born. They then went to London for a short time where Ellen was born before coming back to Devon for the birth of Winifred at Colebrooke. They then spent a short time at Moretonhampstead (on the eastern edge of Darmoor) where Elizabeth and Anna were born. This move may have had a family connection as the Southcotts were connected with the Peters family who took over the New Inn and who came from Moretonhampstead. By 1861 William and his family were back at Colebrooke on a small tenement where he was once again listed as a miller. Perhaps William had been hoping to carry on at Ford Mills but after the death of his mother and his sister Mary, plus the decision by the squire to remove the mill, he decided to seek new pastures. By 1881 he and Elizabeth were in South Wales with a son Lewis William who had been born in Somerset in 1867. He is shown as a miller as he remained in 1891, still in the Cardiff area of South Wales. So no direct male descendent of Hananiah and Mary Arscott emigrated to the USA (see comment page 137 regarding William James Pellow’s invitation in Australia to go to the USA) but milling remained a family occupation.

Left: The road from Colebrooke to the mill site at the foot of the hill, right side Right: The site of the old mill at Ford to the right side of the road.

In the 1851 census John Pellow and Elizabeth (nee Arscott), and William Kennard and Winifred (nee Arscott, Elizabeth’s sister), both now married, were living side by side at Bridestowe, William Kennard being born at Sourton. A large part of Bridestowe was also owned by the Calmady Hamlyn family of Leawood House, Bridestowe. This family also owned the large estate at Paschoe which included Ford Mills. It is possible that John Pellow and William Kennard had been involved in the preparation works for the rebuilding of the old mansion house at Paschoe and so got to know the Arscott girls just a little way down the valley.

136 While other Arscotts of the immediate family remained in England, Elizabeth Arscott, her husband John Pellow and their family did emigrate. John Pellow and his two brother’s, Thomas and William as noted under Section 6.2 came to Australia although the latter then seems to have moved to South Africa without his family where he died. It may be that there were other male Arscotts, possibly Hananiah’s brothers, Richard (born 1771) and Thomas (1773) who moved to the Boston, USA 20 where they set up an engineering business but, if so, they were not Elizabeth’s brothers (see page 136). They could perhaps be her uncles’ descendents or from more distant relatives such as Hananiah’s uncles or their descendents. The family records of Gay Searant’s family say that William James Pellow, (John Pellow and Elizabeth Arscott’s son) from whom her husband is descended was invited to join an Arscott family there but he declined and chose to remain in Australia, becoming an engineer first at the Minmi colliery and later at John Brown’s colliery at Catherine Hill Bay, both near Newcastle, NSW.

Others of the extended Arscott family, related but even more remote from our direct line, did emigrate to Australia from Devon. Mrs Packer’s ancestors, were descended from Robert Arscott who was the brother of William (Hananiah’s father), son of Richard and Elizabeth (nee Buzzell). Robert married Mary Hill. Their daughter Sarah (1777) also seems to have married into the Hill family (to John Hill in 1798). According to Mrs Packer, on being widowed, she emigrated with her children to the Hope Valley in South Australia, this still being the area where Mrs Packer lived in 1982.

Note that a Robert Arscott, a Parish Clerk, Thomas Arscott, a shoemaker, and William Arscott, a miller are recorded in the Colebrooke records of 1857. Exactly where they fit into the family is uncertain but it is most likely that they are the grandchildren of Robert Arscott and Mary Hill who gave similar first names to all their children. If this is so, they are not of our direct line but are a distantly related branch.

The descendents of Elizabeth Pellow (nee Arscott) have already been described under Pellow and Hitchcock in this section (Book 4) and under Parfitt in Book 3 so no further notes are required here.

8. Final Summary:

The Hitchcock, Pellow, Devonald and Arscott lines are traceable well into the past and only become obscure a few hundred years ago. While back to the 17 th century, the validity of the genealogy is reasonably certain, earlier information could contain many errors. Families, particularly those not belonging to the poorer end of society, were proud of their family heritage, and stories, rumours and, particularly for the wealthy, letters and records lend some credence to even earlier times. The Arscotts fall into this category and while the Colebrooke branch can be followed from church records, no links with the earlier, well noted branches, still of reasonable probability, have been found, the nearest being to a Plymouth family. Prior to about the 13 th century, much information came only from family memories unless the persons considered were of major historical significance and, while links are still probable as we all had very many branches at that time, (more in fact than the whole population of Britain), selecting the right branch will lead us to well known

20 Notes from Gay Searant. She married the grandson of William James Pellow and Alice Ann (nee Harvey), William James being the son of John Pellow and Elizabeth Arscott. Their eleventh child was Florence who married Lindsay Searant, the father of Gay Searant’s husband. Our family name of Maggs from Gloucestershire (see Roach document) also occurs in the Searant line.

137 families but without great significance apart from general historical interest. The ancient history of the Devonalds and Gernons falls into this category. While I would not regard this as myth, I certainly would not vouch for its accuracy.

So for our direct line, this book on the Hitchcocks, Devonalds, Pellows and Arscotts is now complete although, as with the other families, further information may be added at a later date.

Postscript:

As noted in Book 1 on the Miltons, I recently had DNA tests carried out by Oxford Ancestors. As well as tracing the Y-chromosome for the direct male line, they can trace mother to mother to mother etc from the mitochondrial DNA. Again, it is important to stress that either of these tests do not account for all the great many genetic contributions from the many antecedents other than those of the continuous direct male or continuous direct female line. For example, for me the mitochondrial tests tell me nothing of the origins in the distant past of William Parfitt, William Butler, Margaret Butler, Thomas Hitchcock and so on but they do show us the female origins of Merle Parfitt and of all her children. They are also the mitochondrial DNA of her mother, Letitia Hitchcock, then Mary Elisabeth Pellow, Elizabeth Arscott and Mary Reed. As we do not know Mary Reed’s mother, that is as far back as we can assess. However, my mitochondrial results are applicable to all those in that direct female line beyond her. The results show that these ancestors in the direct female line descend from the Atlantic Modal Haplotype called by Bryan Sykes (“ The Seven Daughters of Eve” ), the Helena clan which is believed to have originated in south west France (ie south of the coastal Dordogne area) about 20,000 years ago. These people emigrated to the British Isles (including Ireland) about 8,000 years ago and are now commonly designated in Ireland, Scotland and Wales as Celts, but more precisely in England and Wales as Brythonic. The term, Celt, while commonly used to describe the Irish and Scottish peoples, is misleading as there is almost the same proportion in the DNA of England and there is no evidence of the long held belief of a Celtic invasion from Central Europe about 700 to 500 BCE. This group makes up the biggest proportion of the genetic material (about 45%) in the British Isles and may be more related to the non-Indo-European Basque people than to those of Austria and Switzerland. Ireland in particular shows a strong Basque influence. The term Celt applies more to the culture and to the languages that spread across Europe in the distant past than to the genetic makeup of the people.

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