Families of Biddlecombe,
and variations of that name
An exploration of families and migration
This is not just a story about one Biddlecombe family, but wider family and assumed family in the wider area, including adjacent parishes and counties. It is also not just the family tree list of names and dates, but the places are important as well. The overarching objective is to establish links between the families and follow how the families migrated and spread over time.
This will not be an easy task, and I accept right from the start that there may be no conclusion to it.
In fact, it is not just adjacent counties, the branches on Ancestry have led to Canada, New Zealand, Fiji, and Australia. I expect to go to USA as well.
Due to the number of centuries between the events being sought and today there are bound to be assumptions and errors.
However, I will try to find records which together will give a semblance of sense from all the pertinent information.
Happy to hear about any errors or corrections, together with contributions and additions.
Why the interest in the surname Biddlecomb?
My 2nd great-grandmother was Fanny Biddlecombe 1834–1912
BIRTH 1834 • Marchwood, Eling, Hampshire, England
DEATH NOV 1912 • Marchwood, Hampshire, England
Starting as early a date as I can find and working my way towards her. Too much confusion when going the traditional direction, too may families with the same names.
The whole has already expanded to such an extent that how it is written up has had to change. It still commences with a Last Will and Testament, and a family that is constructed around that will. Each of these is now an article, titled with the name of the person writing the will. Those articles are then grouped together as family groups and based on locations, the family home.
Book - Parts - Sections - Chapters.
- The Chapters are the articles about a person, his Last Will and Testament, and his/her family.
- The Sections are a location based collection of the chapters. This is also where the tabs on locations and records are held, relevant to the collection of people. This is also the place where families are pulled together.
- The Parts are similar to Sections but are an assembly at County or Counties level. Consisting either of Sections or Chapters.
- The Book binds it all together in a coherent mass, hopefully.
(Follow the link to parts of a book) The above only deals with the main block of content.
More research will inevitably lead to more understanding and more change. Numerous resources are utilised in undertaking this research.
Will transcriptions are shown thus: I give and bequeath unto Samuel Aplin of Ipswich
When I remember, record transcriptions are shown thus: Baptisms solemnized
Introduction
Bibblecomb / Biddlecombe / Biddelcome
This article started out as being about the will of Christopher Biddlecomb of Hightown, near Ringwood, Hampshire.
Since then additional wills have been found and partially transcribed.
So it moved to the Biddlecomb(e) families of Hampshire.
Then it strayed into Dorset, and on it grew.
There are several family groups, generally with similar names. I think the only way to avoid getting them all muddled together, as they appear to be on some Ancestry Trees, is to keep working the process of identification and location based separation. Adding people from here to my Family Tree on Ancestry and completing the loop by using Ancestry hints and searches to add to this story.
Perhaps eventually they will join together to form one large extended family.
I have also started a mini One Name Study, to aid the process. Statistics, a Surname List, and a List of Names, for starters. All held as part of my TNG website.
From Ancestry;
Biddlecombe Family History
Biddlecombe Name Meaning
See Biddiscombe .
Biddiscombe Name Meaning
From Bittescombe in Upton (Somerset). An alternative or additional source may be Biddlecombe (Byttelcomb 1330) in Chudleigh (Devon) but the distribution suits Bittescombe better. The Somerset place-name is from an Old English male personal name *Bit(t)el in the genitive case with -es + cumb ‘valley’; the Devon one is the cumb of Bit(t)ela.
As the research proceeds so the scope expands, first into Canada.
In the Ancestry Trees there are also Biddlecombe families in New Zealand and Australia. A lot of ground to cover.
Locations
Locations - Overall Collection, hierarchical, brought forward (b/f) from elsewhere.
The location of event has a significant importance when looking at the past through the lens of a Family Tree. A wide family with the same surname can have many individuals with the same name and approximately the same birth year, particularly with Christian names either generally popular or past down for generations through the family. Each with their own family, and, to confuse things further, frequently with the same names for parents through the generations. Sometimes it is only the location that can separate one John from another.
This section explores some of those locations to help keep the history correct, and to share my exploration and findings.
The collection of locations was growing too long to stay here and not overwhelm this introduction and navigation article, so it has been moved to Biddlecombe Families Location Collection It opens in a new window as a separate article
Records and Other
Records and Other, or Misc.
Were you expecting the records section to be a collation of all the records found and used in this article and the people and families being researched? If so, sorry to disappoint. Such records are left within the text and stories to which they pertain. I think it is easier to relate to both the story and the record if they are both together, read at the same time without flicking backward and forward, back and forth, to and fro, repeatedly. Who does that?
No, this is a depository of those records found whilst researching, that do not have an immediate match or correlation with a person or place, but may prove to be useful in the future. Some have been carried over into future or continuation articles and some remain here, below.
Parish Records
Parish records are an important part of putting meat on the bones of the Wills which form the starting place.
Knowing what to expect and where to find such records helps with the collection of further information about these families.
Hampshire
County map of Parishes - Hampshire
Extract from Great Britain, Atlas and Index of Parish Registers, from Ancestry
Dorset
County map of Parishes - Dorset
Extract from Great Britain, Atlas and Index of Parish Registers, from Ancestry
Hampreston
The Parish Records Sources and dates for the Parish of Hampreston, Dorset
Where is Hampreston?
In Dorset but near the boarder with Hampshire. According to the map parish records commenced in 1617.
Current Church of England parish map - ArcGIS
Lists available at Dorset Online Parish Clerk, Dorset OPC, for Hampreston
The Bishop's Transcripts date from 1731
Baptisms
1707-1736, 1737-1780, 1781-1812, 1813-1860, 1861-1880, 1881-1906
Marriages
1707-1736, 1737-1780, 1781-1812, 1813-1830, 1831-1844, 1845-1860, 1861-1880, 1880-1921
Burials
1707-1736, 1737-1780, 1781-1812, 1813-1860, 1861-1880, 1881-1918
Indexed images available at Ancestry
The images start straight away with records without having any images of the front of the book or front pages.
Baptisms
Baptisms follow on from the first section of marriages, starting with what is presumed to be 1619, followed by the first clear year marker of 1620. This section continues until 1653. The book continues with Burials.
Marriages
The book starts with marriages in 1626. The first entries are somewhat obscured, and some of the page edges are also missing, possibly due to the centre of the book crease. They continue on to 1662 before continuing with Christenings.
Burials
This section has a heading which refers to Burials and Hampreston. The records start with 1617.
The above image is a good example of why it is so useful to look at the original as well as the indexed transcription.
At the very top of the page starts the records with 'Register of Burials at Hampreston'
The first record after 'Anno Domini 1617' not only records the name of the person buried and the date, which would be found in the index, but also the absence of a Christian name can be evidenced, not just a field not completed in the database. I think I can make out the words 'midnight' and 'excommunicated' which is additional information, perhaps of some significant interest.
In the last record of this clip, it can be seen that the person buried was a widdow (widow).
This section of burials ends in the year 1651. The end of that section is the end of that, the first book of Registers retained, and probably created.
The next book is organised by year, starting in 1678. Where are the 27 missing years?
The structure of the Register book
It is not unusual for a new book to have page numbers written at the top of each page and the book being sectioned as Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials. In this instance the order is Marriages, Baptisms, and Burials, which makes some sense, you get married, have children, and die. Some other register books have all three categories on each page, organised by year.
Christchurch
The Parish Records Sources and dates for the Parish of Christchurch, Hampshire
Ringwood
The Parish Records Sources and dates for the Parish of Ringwood, Hampshire
Ellingham
The Parish Records Sources and dates for the Parish of Ellingham, Hampshire
Stourton Caundle
The Parish Records Sources and dates for the Parish of Stourton Caundle, Dorset
Records
Records
Unallocated records have been moved to the next part of this article, Biddlecombe of Hampshire and Dorset
Except
Baptism for William Biddlecomb to father Hugh Biddlecomb
First name(s) William
Last name Biddlecomb
Gender Male
Birth year -
Birth place -
Baptism year 1605
Baptism date 08 Sep 1605
Place Ringwood
County Hampshire
Country England
Father's first name(s) Hugh
Father's last name Biddlecomb
Mother's first name(s) -
Mother's last name -
Record set England Births & Baptisms 1538-1975
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory Parish Baptisms
Collections from England, Great Britain
Probably the associated burial of William Biddlecomb, son of Hugo
First name(s) William
Last name Biddlecomb
Birth year -
Death year 1605
Burial day 25
Burial month Sep
Burial year 1605
Place Ringwood
County Hampshire
Country England
Record set Hampshire Burials
Notes William son of Hugo
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory Parish Burials
Collections from England, Great Britain
If this is the same Christopher as in the will at the top of the page, with a Probate Date 26 May 1649, suggesting a year of death of 1649.
Baptism for Margaret Biddlecomb, daughter of Christofer Biddlecomb on 25 Mar 1606.
First name(s) Margaret
Last name Biddlecomb
Gender Female
Birth year -
Birth place -
Baptism year 1606
Baptism date 25 Mar 1606
Place Ringwood
County Hampshire
Country England
Father's first name(s) Christofer
Father's last name Biddlecomb
Mother's first name(s) -
Mother's last name -
Record set England Births & Baptisms 1538-1975
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory Parish Baptisms
Collections from England, Great Britain
Burial of wife of Christopher on 3 May 1664. If this is the mother of Margarett, it is 58 years after Margarett's baptism in 1606.
First name(s) -
Last name Biddlecomb
Birth year -
Death year 1664
Burial day 03
Burial month May
Burial year 1664
Place Ringwood
County Hampshire
Country England
Record set Hampshire Burials
Notes wife of Christopher
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory Parish Burials
Collections from England, Great Britain
There is a record of the burial of wife of James on 8 Apr 1666. The above will was 1702, 34 years after the burial of the wife of James. Which in turn would make the nephews mentioned in the will as least 34 years old. If James was born about 1630, he would have been 36 when his wife died.
First name(s) -
Last name Biddlecomb
Birth year -
Death year 1666
Burial day 08
Burial month Apr
Burial year 1666
Place Ringwood
County Hampshire
Country England
Record set Hampshire Burials
Notes wife of James
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory Parish Burials
Collections from England, Great Britain
First name(s) Elizabeth
Last name Biddlecomb
Gender Female
Birth year -
Birth place -
Baptism year 1675
Baptism date 16 Jun 1675
Place Ringwood
County Hampshire
Country England
Father's first name(s) John
Father's last name Biddlecomb
Mother's first name(s) -
Mother's last name -
Record set England Births & Baptisms 1538-1975
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory Parish Baptisms
Collections from England, Great Britain
First name(s) Elizabeth
Last name Biddlecomb
Gender Female
Birth year -
Birth place -
Baptism year 1675
Baptism date 25 Nov 1675
Place Ringwood
County Hampshire
Country England
Father's first name(s) James
Father's last name Biddlecomb
Mother's first name(s) -
Mother's last name -
Record set England Births & Baptisms 1538-1975
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory Parish Baptisms
Collections from England, Great Britain
First name(s) Mary
Last name Biddlecomb
Gender Female
Birth year -
Birth place -
Baptism year 1675
Baptism date 08 Dec 1675
Place Ringwood
County Hampshire
Country England
Father's first name(s) James
Father's last name Biddlecomb
Mother's first name(s) -
Mother's last name -
Record set England Births & Baptisms 1538-1975
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory Parish Baptisms
Collections from England, Great Britain
Extract from © 2010 Hampshire Genealogical Society - Marriage Index 1538 - 1659
Date Parish Groom Forename Groom Surname Bride Forename Bride Surname
09 Oct 1578 Ringwood Tho Biddelcom Marget Diett
08 Oct 1584 Ringwood Xpofer Biddelcom Avis Warne
05 Feb 1596 Ringwood Thomas Biddelcom Agnis Harris
01 Oct 1621 Ringwood Thomas Biddell Dorothi Walter
12 Jan 1623/4 Heckfield John Biddle Alice Freeborne
25 Sep 1626 Kings Somborne Edward Biddlecombe Ann Kente
16 Aug 1632 Ringwood Thomas Biddelcombe Alice Bensteede
01 May 1636 Ringwood John Biddelcombe Elizabeth Welsteede
00 Jul 1638 Broughton Huffe Biddle Susanna Ecton
24 Jun 1638 Ringwood William Biddelcombe Dorothy Foreman
02 Jun 1640 Hawkley Henry Biddle Joane Stretter
20 Aug 1640 Ringwood Christo Biddelcombe Elizabeth Biddelcombe
20 Aug 1640 Ringwood John Biddelcombe Elizabeth Biddelcombe
21 Jun 1641 Yateley Henry Biddle Elizabeth (w) May
24 Aug 1643 Yateley Richard Biddle Alice (blank)
22 Jan 1651 Yateley Richard Biddle Elizabeth Turner
09 Oct 1652 Ringwood William Biddlecombe Elizabeth Pepper
08 Apr 1652 Ringwood George Biddlecombe An Sanders
23 Oct 1654 Eling John Biddlecombe Susannah Thomas
19 Apr 1656 Elvetham Thomas Biddle Mary Wieth
28 Jan 1657/8 Ringwood Christopher Biddlecombe Mary Dunninge
00 000 1658 Stratfield Saye Edward Biddell Ann Caw
Date Parish Groom Forename Groom Surname Bride Forename Bride Surname
24 Jan 1561 Ringwood Hugh Bidelcon Joan Hobes
23 Sep 1574 Ringwood Thomas Bidelcom Joan Inwood
27 Jan 1592 Ringwood Christopher Bidelcom Elizabeth Rogers
07 Oct 1592 Ringwood Morris Bidelcom Agnis Wysman
14 Sep 1614 Ringwood John Bidelcombe An Harrison
24 Oct 1622 Ringwood Christo Bidelcom Cisley Bidelcom
26 Apr 1659 Beaulieu John Bidelcom Elizabeth Puckareg
Other
Other or Miscellaneous
Other or Miscellaneous, may on the other had be much more aligned to what you may have been expecting.
Stories or information not directly relating to the person or place being researched but perhaps adds something to the whole. Maybe a slice of history to and context or timeline.
The rationale for the "A" Series of Other, there may or may not be another Series of Others, is pertaining to the Martin Biddlecombe, grand son of Richard Biddlecombe, and son of John Biddlecombe, all of Merrytown or Merry Town, and all assumed to be the same person. There is a record within a Government Report for Catholic Property ownership in 1715 and 1718, which refers to a Martin Biddlecombe of Merrytown being such a landowner. Perhaps if he is Roman Catholic, then other members of the family might also be. What was the status of Roman Catholics it the years leading up to 1715. The limitations for Catholics started with the reformation and the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
Other A1
Dissolution of the Monasteries, and Anne Boleyn
The Reformation in Tudor England was a time of unprecedented change. One of the major outcomes of the Reformation was the destruction of the monasteries which began in 1536.
The Reformation came about when Henry VIII wished to divorce his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, who had failed to give him a male heir. When the Pope refused to grant the divorce, Henry set up the Church of England. The Act of Supremacy in 1534 confirmed the break from Rome, declaring Henry to be the Supreme Head of the Church of England.
The monasteries were a reminder of the power of the Catholic Church. It was also true that the monasteries were the wealthiest institutions in the country, and Henry’s lifestyle, along with his wars, had led to a lack of money. Monasteries owned over a quarter of all the cultivated land in England. By destroying the monastic system Henry could acquire all its wealth and property whilst removing its Papist influence.
From a recent TV programme about Ann Boleyn there is a slightly different view on this.
Anne Boleyn, William Tyndale and Henry VIII
Anne is thought to have been in position of a book, which could have led to her being called a heretic.
The 2nd October 1528 saw the publication of English reformer and Bible translator William Tyndale’s “The Obedience of the Christian Man” (full title: “The Obedience of a Christen man, and how Christen rulers ought to govern, wherein also (if thou mark diligently) thou shalt find eyes to perceive the crafty convivence of all jugglers”) in Antwerp. What has this book got to do with Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII? Well, it is thought to be the text that helped Henry VIII to realise that Kings were accountable only to God, and not to the Pope.
Tyndale's Bible laid the foundations for many of the English Bibles which followed his. His work made up a significant portion of the Great Bible of 1539, which was the first authorized version of the English Bible.[30] The Tyndale Bible also played a key role in spreading Reformation ideas to England which had been reluctant to embrace the movement. By including many of Martin Luther's commentaries in his works, Tyndale also allowed the people of England direct access to the words and ideas of Luther, whose works had been banned in England.
Perhaps the Tyndale Bible's greatest impact is that it heavily influenced and contributed to the creation of the King James Version, which is one of the most popular and widely used Bibles in the world today.
After a time of hiding the book, she is alleged to have shared it with her husband, Henry VIII. She and the book planted seeds of thought about Supremacy and about the land and wealth grab from the catholic monasteries, initially for redistribution to the poor, to improve the overall condition of England. However, Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell, who may have seen a political side and a benefit to filling the Royal Coffers.
From 1527, Henry VIII had sought to have his marriage to Queen Catherine of Aragon annulled, so that he could lawfully marry Anne Boleyn. At the centre of the campaign to secure the annulment was the emerging doctrine of royal supremacy over the church. By the autumn of 1531, Cromwell had taken control of the supervision of the king's legal and parliamentary affairs, working closely with Thomas Audley, and had joined the inner circle of the council. By the following spring, he had begun to exert influence over elections to the House of Commons.
The third session of what is now known as the Reformation Parliament had been scheduled for October 1531, but was postponed until 15 January 1532 because of Henry's indecision as to the best way to proceed towards his annulment. Cromwell favoured the assertion of royal supremacy over the recalcitrant Church, and he manipulated support in the House of Commons for the measure by resurrecting anti-clerical grievances expressed earlier, in the session of 1529. Once he achieved his goal of managing affairs in Parliament, he never relinquished it. On 18 March 1532, the Commons delivered a supplication to the king, denouncing clerical abuses and the power of the ecclesiastical courts, and describing Henry as "the only head, sovereign lord, protector and defender" of the Church. On 14 May 1532, Parliament was prorogued. Two days later, Sir Thomas More resigned as Lord Chancellor, realising that the battle to save the marriage was lost. More's resignation from the Council represented a triumph for Cromwell and the pro-Reformation faction at court.
The king's gratitude to Cromwell was expressed in a grant of the lordship of the manor of Romney in the Welsh Marches (recently confiscated from the family of the executed Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham) and appointment to three relatively minor offices: Master of the Jewels on 14 April 1532, Clerk of the Hanaper on 16 July, and Chancellor of the Exchequer on 12 April 1533. None of these offices afforded much income, but the appointments were an indication of royal favour, and gave Cromwell a position in three major institutions of government: the royal household, the Chancery, and the Exchequer.
Anne Boleyn
Henry and Anne married on 25 January 1533, after a secret marriage on 14 November 1532 that may have taken place in Calais.
Anne Boleyn (c. 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and of her execution by beheading for treason and other charges made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that marked the start of the English Reformation.
The final session of the Reformation Parliament began on 4 February 1536. By 18 March, an Act for the Suppression of the Lesser Monasteries, those with a gross income of less than £200 per annum, had passed both houses. This caused a clash with Anne Boleyn, formerly one of Cromwell's strongest allies, who wanted the proceeds of the dissolution used for educational and charitable purposes, not paid into the King's coffers.
Anne instructed her chaplains to preach against the Vicegerent, and in a blistering sermon on Passion Sunday, 2 April 1536, her almoner, John Skip, denounced Cromwell and his fellow Privy Councillors before the entire court. Skip's diatribe was intended to persuade courtiers and Privy Councillors to change the advice they had been giving the King and to reject the temptation of personal gain. Skip was called before the council and accused of malice, slander, presumption, lack of charity, sedition, treason, disobedience to the gospel, attacking "the great posts, pillars and columns sustaining and holding up the commonwealth" and inviting anarchy.
Anne, who had many enemies at court, had never been popular with the people and had so far failed to produce a male heir. The King was growing impatient, having become enamoured of the young Jane Seymour and being encouraged by Anne's enemies, particularly Sir Nicholas Carew and the Seymours. In circumstances that have divided historians, Anne was accused of adultery with Mark Smeaton, a musician of the royal household; Sir Henry Norris, the King's groom of the stool and one of his closest friends; Sir Francis Weston; Sir William Brereton; and her brother, George Boleyn, 2nd Viscount Rochford. The Imperial Ambassador, Eustace Chapuys, wrote to Charles V that:
he himself [Cromwell] has been authorised and commissioned by the king to prosecute and bring to an end the mistress's trial, to do which he had taken considerable trouble... He set himself to devise and conspire the said affair.
Regardless of the role Cromwell played in Anne Boleyn's fall, and his confessed animosity to her, Chapuys's letter states that Cromwell claimed that he was acting with the King's authority. Most historians, however, are convinced that her fall and execution were engineered by Cromwell.
The Queen and her brother stood trial on Monday 15 May, while the four others accused with them were condemned on the Friday beforehand. The men were executed on 17 May 1536 and, on the same day, Cranmer declared Henry's marriage to Anne invalid, a ruling that illegitimised their daughter, Princess Elizabeth. Two days later, Anne herself was executed. On 30 May, the King married Jane Seymour. On 8 June, a new Parliament passed the second Act of Succession, securing the rights of Queen Jane's heirs to the throne.
Other A2
Catholicism banned
Penal Laws, laws passed against Roman Catholics in Britain and Ireland after the Reformation that penalized the practice of the Roman Catholic religion and imposed civil disabilities on Catholics. Various acts passed in the 16th and 17th centuries prescribed fines and imprisonment for participation in Catholic worship and severe penalties, including death, for Catholic priests who practiced their ministry in Britain or Ireland. Other laws barred Catholics from voting, holding public office, owning land, bringing religious items from Rome into Britain, publishing or selling Catholic primers, or teaching.
Sporadically enforced in the 17th century and largely ignored in the 18th, the Penal Laws were almost completely nullified by the Roman Catholic Relief Act (1791), the Catholic Emancipation Act (1829), the Roman Catholic Charities Act (1832), and the Roman Catholic Relief Act (1926).
Other A3
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