Christopher Biddlecomb of Ringwood

Christopher Biddlecomb of Hightown, Hampshire, his will

The starting place for this article is his Last Will and Testament.

 The above image of the Will is from Ancestry and The National Archive has the original reference PROB-11-208-256.

My initial transcription of the above will.

In the name of God Amen:
This fifteenth day of July in the year of our Lord One thousand six hundred Forty and seven I Christopher Biddlecomb of Hightowns in the parish of Ringwood in the County of South a yeoman being sick in body, but of good and perfect memory thanks be given Almighty God do make and ordain this my last will and testament as followeth. First I Commit my Soul into the hands of Almighty god, and my body to be buried in the parish Church of Ringwood.
Item I give to the poor people of Ringwood twenty shillings.
Item I give to my Son John Biddlecomb twenty pounds lawful money of England, {....}.
I give to my said Son John Biddlecomb sixteen pounds being part of the debt of Edward Riffen unto me by bond, and which sixteen pounds my said  son John Biddlecomb hath {.........} {were......}.
Item I gift to my Grand children Elinor Dantor Iornd Dantor and Margartt Dantor and Richard Dantor and to xxxx and xxxx of them five pounds lawfull money of England.
Item I give to my Grandchild Thomas Biddlecombe five pounds of lawfull money of England.
Item I give to my Grandchildren Richard Biddlecombe and Elizabeth Biddlecombe and to {.....} and either of them five pounds lawfull money of England
Item I give to my Daughter Margarett Rook twenty shillings lawfull money of England.
All the other of my goods and chattels moveable and nonmoveable my debts and bequests paid.
I give and bequeath unto Richard Biddlecomb my Son whom I do make and ordain my full and sole Executor in and by this my last will and testament
I witness whereof I have hereunto set my hands and seal and published this my last will and testament the day and year above written in the {.....} of Christopher Biddlecomb his sign
Christophor Iun his sign
Nicholas Bounds

People in the Will of Christopher Biddlecombe of Hightown

 From the above it appears that Christopher Biddlecomb made provision for the following family, in addition to the poor people of Ringwood. 

 People mentioned in the Will of Christopher Biddlecomb of Ringwood

 Apart from the witnesses and the poor people of Ringwood. 

Christopher Biddlecomb or Christofer Bidelcom

Birth and baptism

A potential match for Christopher's baptism.

First name(s) Christofer
Last name Bidelcom
Gender Male
Birth year -
Birth place -
Baptism year 1571
Baptism date 19 Mar 1571
Place Ringwood
County Hampshire
Country England
Father's first name(s) John
Father's last name Bidelcom
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

Another potential match for Christopher's baptism.

First name(s) Christofer
Last name Bidelcom
Gender Male
Birth year -
Birth place -
Baptism year 1592
Baptism date 18 Feb 1592
Place Ringwood
County Hampshire
Country England
Father's first name(s) Morris
Father's last name Bidelcom
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

Marriage

See the tab Christopher Biddlecomb's Wife for thoughts about his marriage.

Death and Burial

Death would have been between writing the will and any codicil and the date of proving the will. If the rule of proving within is applied his death would have been close to the proving date. 

 Looking at the Hampshire Genealogy Society Burial Records;

Parish of Ringwood, 16 March 1647 Christopher Biddlecombe is one that jumps out on first impression, but that is before the Will was signed.

 The above was the result of a search for the parish of Ringwood with a first name starting with Chris and a surname starting with Bid, both to deal with the various spelling of the names encountered in records.

There are no appropriate records here.

Widening the field to the whole of Hampshire, surname starting with Bid, and the year 1648 ⁺/_- 1, gave the following result. Again, no matching record.

Perhaps a trip to the Hampshire Records Office in Winchester is required.

Christopher Biddlecomb's Parents

From the potential baptisms found so far, one to John Bidelcom baptism date 19 Mar 1571 and another to Morris Bidelcom with a baptism date of 18 Feb 1592. That calculates the between baptisms duration as being 20 years, 11 months including the end date.

Given a proving date of the Will of 26 May 1649, which I believe had to be completed within three months of death would result in a date of death of about say 26 March 1649.

The date the Will was written was 15 July 1647

Assuming that in both cases he was baptised at a very young age, at least before his first birthday, if his father was John he would have been 78 years of age at his death and 76 when he wrote the will.

If his father was Morris he would have been 57 years of age at his death and 55 when he wrote the will.

If we consider average generation gaps to be twenty years, Christopher could have married at twenty, and his first child married also at twenty, so he would be forty. Accordingly his first grand child could have been when he was 41 years of age. Christopher appears to have 4 grand children in one family from his Will. This would suggest that he was at least 45 years of age when he wrote the will.

Unfortunately, this exercise did not separate between John and Morris.

Trying something else.

From the HGS marriage records;

27 Jan 1592 Ringwood Christopher Bidelcom Elizabeth Rogers

Well a baptism date of Friday 18 Feb 1592, which is after a marriage date of Thursday, 27 January 1592 by 23 days, I think that conclusively rules out Christopher son of Morris as being married to Elizabeth Rogers. Whereas a baptism date of Monday,19 Mar 1571 would give an intervening period to the marriage date of 20 years 10 months. If he was married at full age, it would indicate that Christopher was born before 26 January 1571.

The probability is therefore that John Bidelcom is his father. There is no indication from this as to who his mother was.

Christopher Biddlecomb's Wife

A potential Wife for Christopher

First name(s) Christofer
Last name Bidelcom
Name note -
Marriage year 1591
Marriage date 27 Jan 1591
Marriage place Ringwood
Spouse's first name(s) Elizabeth
Spouse's last name Rogers
Spouse's age -
County Hampshire
Country England
Record set England Marriages 1538-1973
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory Parish Marriages
Collections from England, Great Britain

From other Ancestry trees it is suggested that Elizabeth Rogers may be a widow, with a maiden name of Elizabeth Humber, B:11 May 1575 Ringwood, Hampshire, England. Father Henry Humber and husband Robert Rogers who died 25 Sep 1591 Ringwood, Hampshire, England, however, that date of death is after the marriage at the beginning of 1591.

Another potential later life Wife for Christopher

First name(s) Christopher
Last name Bidelcom
Name note -
Marriage year 1622
Marriage date 24 Oct 1622
Marriage place Ringwood
Spouse's first name(s) Cisley
Spouse's last name Bidelcom
Spouse's age -
County Hampshire
Country England
Record set England Marriages 1538-1973
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory Parish Marriages
Collections from England, Great Britain

Christopher Biddlecomb's Children

Christopher Biddlecomb's Summary 

Christopher Biddlecomb was ill when he wrote his Will on 15 July 1647. He appears to have died a couple of years later in 1649 as the Will was Proved  26 May 1649

He is a yeoman of either High Town Farm or of the nearby hamlet of High Town, later known as Hightown. All near Ringwood in the County of Hampshire.

Christopher mentions in his will two sons, John and Richard Biddlecomb and a daughter Margaret whose married name was Rook.

He also mentions three sets of named grandchildren.

Baptism for Margaret Biddlecomb, daughter of Christofer Biddlecomb on 25 Mar 1606.