Will the real Humphrey Colles please stand up.

Just who was Humphrey Colles of Castelet, who married Elinore Carter; the gentleman who is my 9x great-grandfather? Primary evidence of his life is very scant (although I live in hope that some will turn up) so my best conjecture as to who he is is based on tiny, disparate clues from across the record books. As much for my own benefit as anyone else's, I will set out my current thesis as to his identity. Any other evidence confirming or denying this conjecture would be gratefully received!

 Things I am very certain of:
 1: Humphrey Colles is named in the 1627 will of John Carter of Nether Swell, Gloucestershire, as his son in law.

 2: A child Eleanore Colles, was baptised in Sevenhampton in 1616; the daughter of Humphrey Colles and Elinore.

 3 Between 1628 and 1637, three children were baptised in Guiting Power, the children of Humphrey Colles and Elinore.

 4. The Colles property at Guiting Power, was known as the Manor of Cateslade or the Manor of Chattreland or the Manor of Castelet. These names seem to be interchangeable but all to refer to the same place.

 5. This Humphrey Colles was memorialised in the following text: Epicedia - Funeral verses upon the much lamented death of that most loyal subject and religious gentleman Mr Hmphrey Colles of Cateslade; departed this life Nov 15 and was solemnly interred Nov 18 Anno salutis 1661 Ætatis suæ.77 This would make his birth date about 1584 and his death in 1661.

 6. This Humphrey Colles was named in several legal transactions with the associated families of Carter, Lawrence, Broadway, Goddard and Fettiplace. The Carters, Lawrences and Broadways were connected via his marriage with Elinore Carter and the Goddards and Fettiplaces were connected through his son John Colles who married Culpepper Goddard.

 My conjecture is that Humphrey Colles of Cateslade is the third son of John Colles of Barton in Somerset and Ann Thynne or possibly his second wife Winifred Leigh. This is based on the following:

 1. In the will of George Colles 1632, son of John Colles of Barton, he makes his brother Humphrey Colles executor and also mentions Humphrey's wife Eleanor and son George.

 2. The first son of John Colles, also John, was born in about 1582 according to his memorial inscription in the church at Pitminster, Somerset. This means that Humphrey could have been born in about 1584 as the third son.

 3. Chancery records from the reign of James 1 (1603-1625) link the families of Thynne, Colles of Barton and the Chamberlayne family. Eleanore Colles (see point 2 above) married Edmund Chamberlayne of Maughersbury.

 4. His father and both his brothers are also linked to funeral verses and sermons. In this case, they were written by William Schlater who was the rector of Pitminster in Somerset and who had been sponsered by John Colles senior. Assuming the family shared a common religious observance, it would not be surprising that they were all commemorated in some way. As far as I know the Epicedia for Humphrey Colles has not been attributed to William Schlater.

 In the absence of anything more concrete, this is what I am running with, but who's to say what other pieces of the puzzle are still yet to be discovered. I may yet find that I have put all the pieces of sky in the wrong way around!

Reading wills and inventories | Tracing Ancestors In The UK

Reading wills and inventories | Tracing Ancestors In The UK I found this useful blog post today while I was checking up on some terminology used in one particular will. A good general overview!

Old Wills and the Search for Humphrey Colles.

Old wills are a wonderful source of family information and can sometimes be very useful in determining family relationships across different branches and generations. In an email today from my Mum, she said "My eyes are worn out from looking at old Wills". Mine feel a bit that way too - all that squiggly writing, little punctuation, archaic language and sometimes fuzzy imaging can be a challenge to decipher, but well worth the effort. We have been on the track of one of my most determinedly elusive ancestors, one Humphrey Colles, who married Elinore Carter. It is only through wills that we really know about this relationship. Relevant parish records of baptisms, marriages and deaths for this couple are few and far between and yet we know that Humphrey and Eleanor had at least 6 children, possibly more, and that Humphrey was in control of large amounts of money and property as an Executor, Overseer and Beneficiary in a number of wills. At this stage, I am pretty sure that Humphrey was born in about 1584 and died in 1661 at the age of 77, but some really solid evidence would be oh so very welcome!

Carter Correspondence.

This week I have been engaged in a very interesting email correspondence with William, who is researching the Carter family and connections in Gloucestershire. Rather than repeat it all here, here is a link to the relevent part of his blog. Giles Carter I enjoyed reading William's speculative essay and I hope you do too.