14th

John Blake b. 1522

/ Kirstin Miller

John Blake 14th great grandfather on RootsMagic tree

John Blake was born in 1522 in Over Stowey, Somerset, England about 100 miles west of London. His parents were Humphrey and Ann Blake. For most of his life, John’s King was Henry the 8th, VIII, “To six wives he was wedded. One died, one survived, two divorced, two beheaded”.

Map of Somerset in 1646, at Wikipedia 

In 1545 John Blake married Joan, last name unknown, at St Peter and St Paul Churchyard in Over Stowey. They had 6 children, each mentioned in John’s will. John was a clothier, like his dad.

John wrote his will on November 25, 1576. He gave tenements [rental properties] and lands to his sons. He gave money to his daughters and his god children. He gave money to the poor of Over Stowey, Nether Stowey and Spraxton, small villages around Somerset. “Item I gyve and bequeath unto the poore of overstowey tenne Shillinges. Item I gyve and bequeath to the poore of Netherstowey tenne Shillinges. Item I gyve and bequeath to the poore of Spraxton tenne Shillinges” John died in Over Stowey and was buried on December 10, 1576 at St Peter and St Paul Churchyard in Over Stowey, Sedgemoor District, Somerset, England.

John Blake’s granddaughter Elizabeth Saunders migrated to America in 1630. Their descendants lived in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire until John’s 6th great granddaughter Leydia Connable Gaines and family moved west, all the way to Iowa, where Mary Ella Gaines married James Miller in 1878. Their son William had a son Faber Miller b. 1905, my grandpa, my dad’s dad.

Sources

John Pakeman b. 1470

/ Kirstin Miller

John Pakeman 14th great grandpa on RootsMagic tree


Closeup snapshot, Wrabness is below the “L” in Suffolke

John Pakeman was born in Wrabness, Essex, England in 1470. Wrabness is about 60 miles northeast of London, a tiny village on the River Stour in southeastern England, UK. The oldest building in Wrabness is All Saints Church, built around 1100. The All Saints bell tower collapsed in the 1600s and the bell was moved to a “bell cage”, maybe with plans to fix, but this was never done, the bell in the cage is still there.

John was a landlord, he owned Butlers, a tenement [rental property]. He married, his wife’s name is unknown. John had 2 sons Cristofer and William and probably more children, they’re unknown.

John wrote his will August 18, 1524 and died in shortly after. “In the name of God Amen I John pakemen being in good mynd & memory make my will in this manr… to be buried in the church yard of Wrabness … I bequeath to Thomas Colyn my servaunt a calf … I bequethe to Cristofer my son my howse and my lands called butlers w[i]t{h] all the land[e]s & teneme[n]t(e)s thereto betongyng my dett(e)s paide and my body honestly brought home the residue of all my good(e)s.”

John Pakeman is probably buried at the All Saints cemetery, His gravestone from 1524 is long gone. His 2nd great granddaughter Susan Pakeman married Humphrey Wyeth [Wise] and they sailed to America in 1636. John’s 9th, Susan’s 6th great granddaughter Delia Angell went from Indiana to Iowa around 1856.

Sources