| The seventeenth century contains the most difficult years for family
historians. Many records were very badly kept and they have been badly
preserved. In Bishop's Nympton records for the following periods are missing:
Marriages from 1618 - 1621, and 1628 - 1631. Burials 1617 - 1622` and Baptisms,
parts of each year from 1600 to 1640. Then during the Commonwealth period there
were no Baptisms between 1638 and 1662 or Church Marriages between 1632 until
1662. There were just two Contracts of Marriage recorded, in accordance with
the Commonwealth Law and officiated by the Mayor of South Molton. So to
establish the Family Tree with absolute certainty was like completing a jigsaw
puzzle with many missing pieces.. The only records we have for Bishops Nympton , apart from the incomplete parish records during the 17th century, are the Lay Subsidies (Taxes) in which in 1620-1622 and 1624 John Loosemore paid £5 and £6 and the Protestant Declaration in 1642 and the Hearth Tax in 1664. The Protestant Declaration shows Henry, John and Peter Loosemore in Bishops Nympton, Christopher and John in Molland, Hugh and William in North Molton and Gregory and Roger in Twitchen villages close to Bishops Nympton. The Hearth Tax shows Henry -1 hearth and a further Henry - 1 hearth . In Chapter two we left the Bishop Nympton family still in their home base of Kerscott but beginning to experience money troubles. Henry (1552-1621) had died leaving insufficient assets to cover his legacies. Except for his marriage to Katherine and the dispute that later followed we know very little about John(1584- 1630). We know that he was Churchwarden for Bishops Nympton for the year 1613 at least. The records show just two baptisms of children of John and Katherine, namely Ellen 30/10/1613 and Katherine 4/9/1625. It is very unusual for there to have been such a gap between the birth of children. It very likely that there were further children born, but no record remains of their birth or the death of any of them though names of Hugh and William appear later in the Protestation Return of 1642 for North Molton who could have been the sons, of missing children. John died on 8th December 1630 and on 13th January 1631 Katherine was freed by Litigation in Chancery PRO C2/Chas1/L2/2 ,from an obligation to provide for the base child of whom Peter, brother in law, was the reputed father and her husband John previously had continued to pay. So Katherine with her daughters Ellen and Katherine and possibly more children between the ages 5 and 17 must have been eager to remarry in order to provide for her family . So Katherine was married to a Bartholomew Courtney on 18th August 1632. No record had been found when the tenancy of Kerscot was lost to the family. It is reasonable to suggest it may have been at the death of John. Certainly Kerscot was occupied by John and Ann Tapp who are mentioned 'of Kerscott' in the parish records at the baptism of their daughter, Elizabeth THE FAMILY HENRY AND ELIZABETH The birth of a son Henry is not recorded but following the possibilities enumerated in the previous chapter, it is possible, even likely, that Henry was born soon after the marriage of John and Katherine and baptised in Coombe Martin the home of Katherine's parents. Records for this parish do not exist for this period. John may not have been the natural father. The first entry is for a Henry Loosemore and Elizabeth at the baptism of their first child Jane on 20/9/ 1627. We have no record of Henry's marriage nor the surname of his wife Elizabeth, in spite of a thorough search in neighbouring parishes. Again deficiency in Parish Records may be a reason. The reduced circumstances of the family can be gathered for in the Hearth Tax return of 1664, Henry was taxed at 2s on one hearth. It must have been a humble dwelling. This record also shows a second Henry taxed for 2s on a dwelling with one hearth. This is the only mention of the second Henry - he may have been a son of the first Henry but there is no record of any marriage or offspring. He is not included in the Protestation Return of 1642 - though perhaps that was because he was then too young. If he was the son of Henry then he could have been born in 1631 as there is a break in the births of offspring to Henry and Elizabeth between 1629 and 1633. We have a record that an Henry Loosemore was an immigrant to Maryland America in 1667.. This could be our Henry, but so far we have been unable to follow his story in Maryland. So in Henry's dwelling, with only the one hearth, between 1627 and 1638 there were five or possibly six children with Henry and Elizabeth. Jane ba 1627, Agnes ba 1629, Henry ba 1631?, Edmund 1633, Thomas 1635 and Hugh 1638. In the family tree we have included a John Loosemore who married a Sibilla (-----) whose first child was born in 1672 in Bishops Nympton. He could well have been the youngest son of Henry and Elizabeth. The only other glimpses we have of Henry's family were the occasions of the marriages of Jane and Thomas in 1653 and 1656. Both had banns displayed in the church but the wedding contracts were made, according to the commonwealth law, in South Molton. Henry was not present when either contracts were signed perhaps he resented the marriages not being allowed in church. In October of 1662, the same year as the restoration of the Monarchy and Church Sacraments, Edmund, Henry's eldest son, married Elizabeth Parking to be followed by his son Hugh to Mary Eame (alias Zeal) in 1670. Henry died in 1680, four years before his son Hugh who died in 1684. It was necessary for affidavits to be signed declaring that their bodies had been buried in a wollen shroud; the result of a law insisting upon this. It was to encourage the production of wool to assist sheep farming which was depressed at that time. Both Henry and Hugh left wills which were destroyed in 1944 and regretfully we have no copies. We have no record of Elizabeth's death. It may have occurred before Henry's during a time of missing registers. HEARTH TAX- DISMANTLE OF FIRE HEARTHS that whereas Thomas Chapple had formerly in his house in Bishops Nympton wherein HENRY LUSEMER dwelt ONE CHIMNEY or FIRE HEARTH is now totally demolished My hand this 11th day of July 1687 The mark of John ( ) The significance of this was that a tax was imposed upon the number of hearths dwelling. Henry and Elizabeth were survived by five married children and also Agnes whose marriage has not been located.. The eldest Jane married William Govier and their offspring come outside the story of the Loosemore name. Edmund (1) married Elizabeth Parking on 19th October 1662, Thomas married Thomazin Eame(alias Zeal) on 8th April 1656, Hugh had married Mary, sister of Thomazin, on 2nd June 1670 and John was married to someone whose Christian name only is known (Sibilla) and the date of whose marriage is not known.So the Loosemore family proliferated. In this story we shall continue with the families of Edmund(1) THE FAMILY OF EDMUND (1) AND ELIZABETH So far the name of the eldest male child has followed the name of his grandfather. There has been a John, then Henry, then John, then a Henry, but now we have the first Edmund and the name John seems to have been the youngest of Henry's sons Little is known of Edmund and his wife Elizabeth. Only one child's baptism is recorded in the Parish Registers, Edmund (2) born on the 5th July 1664 but we have placed a Henry born about 1665, Elizabeth 1668 and George born about 1670 as their offspring; Henry, later travelled south to Silverton, and married Margaret Saunders there 18th September 1691. This Henry was to play a prominent part in family in the future. George married Judeth Saunders in Bishops Nympton and his family moved to North Molton and Washfield., outside the limits of this story. Were Margaret and Judeth Saunders sisters? Did Henry and Margaret elope together to travel and marry in Silverton or did Margaret find leave to go to Silverton and Henry travel to Silverton to marry her? This is conjecture, the move of one member of the Bishop Nympton family to Silverton a journey of approximately 30 miles was unusual in the 17th century/ Records relate just one mention of Edmund. All we know of the life and character of Edmund (1) or maybe his son Edmund (2) is a note written in the Parish Registers. John Tapp, Parish Clerk, 1675 - 1719 records, The well that was digged by Elizabeth Rowden's door was digged by three of us, that is to sat John Tapp, Clerk, Elizabeth Rowden and Edmind Loosemor. There is no date on which this well was dug. It is a sad reality that a man who lived for 71 years is remembered only because he once helped dig a well. Edmund(1) and his wife Elizabeth both died in May 1704 and were buried in Bishops Nympton.. They left, to our knowledge, three families, Edmund (2) and Elizabeth still in Bishops Nympton, Henry who had moved South to Silverton His third son George had married Judeth Saunders in 1692 and had died when 28 years of age leaving his wife with two young children, George and Thomas. THE FAMILY OF EDMUND ( 2) AND ELIZABETH Edmund (2) the eldest of Edmund 1's children was born 1n 1664, two years after the marriage of Edmund 1 and Elizabeth. We have no record of his marriage which must have been when he was barely 21, to another Elizabeth whose surname is not known. We have in the parish records the burials of a son to ' Edward' and Elizabeth in January 1685/6 with the affidavit signed by his mother that he was buried in a woollen garment. The names of Edward and Edmund were often transposed for it was likely that only the Parish Clerk could read or write and the original registers sometimes contain attempts by the Clerk to practise his letters. In 1692 and 1694 two sons were born: the first named Edmund, who we will call Edmund 3, and the second Hugh. The 18th Century At the turn of the century 17/18th this family comprised the grandfather Edmund (1) aged 67 and his wife Elizabeth, the father Edmund (2) aged 36 and his wife also Elizabeth and their sons Edmund(3) aged 9 and Hugh aged 6. They were still living in Bishops Nympton. We know little about their life or their status, they were probably farm labourers, whose recorded lives are only registered in the Parish records at their birth, marriage and death. Henry and Margaret who had married in Silverton had two children, Grace born 15th March 1695, only lived 3 days and was buried on 18th March 1695. and Henry born 28th 'December 1698 In May 1704 both old Edmund(1) and Elizabeth his wife died. Was it just a coincidence or was it an accident or common complaint? The records are silent except just to record their burial. We know that Edmund(1) was 71 and probably his wife Elizabeth was about his age. Their son Edmund(2) and Elizabeth continued to live in Bishops Nympton as their children Edmund (3) and Hugh grew to maturity. Edmund (3) married at the age of 25 to Amy Hodge on 2nd April 1716 - sometimes given the name of Naomi in some records. Hugh married Agnes Hobbs and they had two children, Elizabeth was born in 1718 and John was born in 1721.We can find no marriage of Elizabeth nor of her death either the registers are defective or she moved away and we have not discovered more of her. . John married Joan Tanner on the 8th April 1751 but she died in March 1752 , perhaps a problem of child-bearing and then John died in July 1752. There were no offspring from the marriage. So this line ended. The continuity of family rested upon Edmund (3) who had married Amy(Naomi) Hodge. In 1754/5 we find them still in Bishop's Nympton probably with their eldest daughter Mary now 37 years old. THE FAMILY OF EDMUND (3) AND AMY In the first seven years of marriage they had four children , Mary (ba 1717), John (ba1718), Edmund (4) (ba1720) and Elizabeth (ba1723) So once again there were three Edmund Loosemores in Bishop's Nympton THE ELDER DAUGHTER MARY (ba 20 Jun 1717) Perhaps following tradition, Mary remained at home and looked after her parents. She never married and when her parents Edmund (3) and Amy died in 1754 and 1755, it seemed she left Bishops Nympton and joined her cousins who were living in Silverton She lived, a spinster, until 1796 when she died still at Silverton aged 80. THE ELDER SON JOHN (ba 1717) John remained in Bishop Nympton and married a lady called Mary but the register does not record that marriage. They had two children John (ba 1748) and Mary (ba 1750) but at the ages of 9 and 7 years respectively their father John died (bu 1757).. Undoubtedly they were extremely poor for she received payments from the Parish Relief, under the heading, 'in distress or sickness'. A record of payments made to Mary starting with the date of her husband John's death, of 3 shillings a month (15 pence in new money) from the parish. These payments were made until her two children were of an age when they could support her. In 1589/60 she was given an extra 2 shillings to buy a pair of shoes. Nothing further is known about Mary - there is no burial mentioned in Bishop's Nympton. Her son John (ba1748) married Mary Wilmot in Bishop's Nympton and they had one child who they named after their g.grandfather Edmund (ba 1775). We lost trace of this Edmund until by chance we discovered him married to Ann Hobbs, in Walcot St. Mary, Bath. Edmund was described as a sojourner. We know that there were at least five children Mary Anne (ba1805) and Edmund (ba1807) John (ba1809) George (1812) and Eliza (1814) at Walcot St. Swithuns, Bath. There the trail is lost though Eliza is recorded as having died a spinster in Walworth London in 1902,. Did they emigrate or move to another part of the country? That is future task for future researchers. Let us now put together the family of Henry who had married Margaret Saunders on 18th September 1692. They had two children Grace in March 1695 and Henry ba 28th December 1698 but Grace lived just a few days. Henry remained in Silverton and later he first married and Elizabeth. They had two children Henry ba 21 September 1726 and Jane ba 25 April 1730. It seems that Henry had a position in Silverton church possibly Sexton or Warden for between the years 1754 and 1762 he witness 41 marriages. During this period Elizabeth his wife had died,(records are defective) and Henry married again to Rebecca. It seems likely that during this period Mary Loosemore a spinster joined them from Bishops Nympton after the death of Edmund and Amy , her parents in 1754/5. As mentioned above. In 1763 Henry died and Rebecca is recorded as having witnessed two marriages, one in 1757 and one in 1760. It maybe that her husband Henry was declining in health. Thus the family connection with Silverton ended, except that we shall learn that Edmund 4 left Bishop Nympton in search of work as a farm hand in the more fertile country between the rivers Exe and the Culm. So the move to the Silverton of this Loosemore family was complete.
Henry Loosemore was the first to tread this path to marry Margaret Saunders in 1691 and later Edmund was to follow .Presumably he was a farm workers employed in different villages in this region, as is indicated by the baptisms of his children . THE SECOND SON EDMUND We now return to the second son of Edmund(4) who was baptised in 1720 He left the family home of Bishop Nympton to journey south no doubt in search of work.. He married Sarah probably in Nether Exe of whom we know nothing except that she had a child Elizabeth who was born on 27thJuly 1747 in Nether Exe. Sarah died and was buried on 3rd September of the same year. So John now a widower with his daughter Elizabeth continued to seek work probably as a labourer in the farms near to his uncle Henry who had left Bishops Nympton 50 years before to marry Margaret Saunders as mentioned above. His travels, no doubt to find employment as a farm labourer, can be gleaned from a second marriage to Elizabeth Phelp in Morchard Bishop and the baptism of their children. The children, were John ba1758(Nether Exe), Edmund (5) ba1762(Rewe), Thomas ba 1764(Nether Exe), Amy ba 1768(Silverton), Mary ba 1771(Rewe) Joanna ba 1774(Rewe) and William ba 1777(Silverton). Thomas died in 1772 but Amy and Mary married: Amy when 22 and Mary when she was 21. We have failed to trace Joanna and William This Loosemore family line was carried forward by the two eldest sons John and Edmund(5). John settled in Brampton Speke, where he married Elizabeth Chambers in 1780 Edmund (5) settled in the next village of Upton Pyne where he married Margaret Cawley in 1790. Edmund(4) died and was buried in Nether Exe So at the turn of the century 18/19 This Loosemore family consisted of two sons with their growing families John aged 42 in Brampford Speke and Edmund (5) aged 38 in Upton Pyne We continue into the 19th and 20th century with the two families recorded separately` THE FAMILY OF JOHN AND ELIZABETH (Brampford Speke) John and Elizabeth had seven children but only four survived infancy or childhood. The eldest Edmund (6) was ba. 1781 and died a bachelor at the age of 43 Thomas was ba 1783 , then John ba 1785 died aged 12, Bette ba 1787 died age 3, Willam ba 1789 died aged 1year, Samuel ba 1791 and Betty ba 1794 So at the turn of the century there were left John and Elizabeth, sons Edmund (19) Thomas (17) and Samuel (9) and daughter Betty (6) THE FAMILY OF EDMUND (5) AND MARGARET (Upton Pyne) Edmund(5) and Margaret had seven children. Mary ba 1791, Sarah ba1794, Grace,ba 1797, William ba 1801, Betty ba 1804, Martha ba 1807, and Edmund (Edward) 1809 So at the turn of the century there were Edmund and Margaret and three daughters Mary Sarah and Grace. We follow these two families separately in this a story of a Loosemore Family. |
