The 18th Century Chards
James Chard's ancestry can be traced to the English county of Devonshire with his immediate family established as farmers in the Blackdown Hills area on the Somersetshire border. |
| THE BLACKDOWN HILLS
Covering an area of 370 square kilometres (143 sq miles) the Blackdown Hills are situated at the confluence of three counties; Devon, Somerset and Dorset. This sparsely populated area of undulating farmland, used primarily for dairying, was designated an area [1] of natural beauty by the British government in 1991.
When the county boundaries changed in 1896, three parishes - Churchstanton, Clayhidon, and Hemyock - were partitioned. After much debate Hemyock and Clayhidon parishes remained under Devon control, whilst Churchstanton became a Somerset parish, its governance shifting to Chard.
|
| The parish of Hemyock is in the more elevated section of the Blackdown Hills. In a typical rural settlement, its central township (Hemyock) is surrounded by a number of hamlets, Culm Davy, Millhayes, Simonsburrow, Ashculme, Tedburrow, Madford and Mountshayne to name a few. The parish covers about 2350 hectares, and from the 1500's to the early 1800's much of its wealth came from the production of wool [3]. Mountshayne is also notable for the fact that in 1886, four local farmers started England's first mechanically operated butter factory.
|
The Earliest Family Traces
Records of any substance are scarce prior to the eighteenth century, particularly within scattered populations of farmers in isolated hinterland. From transcriptions of parish archives and records entered into the official England Select Births and Christenings (1538-1975) [5], it can be revealed with certainty that our Chard ancestors were part of the Hemyock parish community (from about 1660) for several generations, having moved from the Honiton district towards the end of Tudor Queen Elizabeth's reign. Philipp Charde (c1565–?) Philipp is the earliest Chard/e ancestor whose existence can be legitimised using the online tools available. He most likely sired more than one child other than John, the son that can be confirmed. It can be assumed with a modicum of certainty that he was born in Honiton and died there. John Charde (1586–1610) John was baptised in Honiton on October 3rd 1586, his father, Philipp, being a young 21 year old at the time. John married Elizabeth Carswyll on the 4th July 1601, the event being registered in Sidmouth, Devon. Their marriage lasted just nine years, John dying at the age of 24. Son Steven was their only child. Steven Charde (1603–1682) Steven was born in 1603 in Honiton and was only seven years old when his father died. He and his mother may have moved away from Honiton following the family tragedy but Steven returned with his bride Agnes (Agnis) Vater following their marriage on 20 November 1626. The couple had eight children, 5 boys and 3 girls, in 15 years, all born in Honiton. Steven died on 8th August 1682 in Honiton, aged 79 years. John Charde (1640 - 1697) Named after his grandfather, John was baptised in Honiton on April 5th 1640 and the second youngest among his siblings. John married Elizabeth Phillip and the couple raised two sons, Thomas and John, and a daughter, Dina, all being born in Hemyock. Thomas Chard (1667 - 1737) Baptised Chard (without the last letter "e"), Thomas' ceremony was performed at Saint Mary's Church of England in Hemyock on February 27th 1667. His younger siblings were also baptised "Chard". Having grown up in Hemyock, 23 year old Thomas married 27 year old local woman Elizabeth Bunckcom and they had six children, all born in Hemyock. Thomas died in 1737 at the age of 70. William Chard (1693 - ?) William was Thomas and Elizabeth's eldest son. He was baptised at Saint Mary's Church of England in Hemyock on November 1st 1693. William married Mary around 1713 and sired three sons and six daughters, all born in Hemyock between 1714 and 1732. William Chard's death date is uncertain but the location would most likely be Hemyock. Thomas Chard (1717 - 1775) Named after his grandfather, Thomas was William's second son and like his forebears was baptised at Saint Mary's Church of England in Hemyock on July 21st 1717. Devon Parish Records [6] dated September 15th 1740 describe Thomas Chard as “a gent , by order of [town] mayor and council”, suggesting that he was a landowner and man of independent means (perhaps inherited from his now deceased father). The following years saw him marry Sarah and sire two sons and two daughters between 1742 and 1750. Further to his standing in the community, an electoral roll for parliamentary candidature in the Honiton borough (of which Hemyock was a constituent) contained the name of 46 year old "husbandman" Thomas Chard. He definitely would have needed to be a land owner to participate in this poll. Thomas died [7] in Hemyock in 1775 at the age of 58. |
|
| THE FAMILY SEAT
In medieval England it was not uncommon for a family name to become extracted from, and intrinsic to that family's district, township or village.The Somerset township called Chard may well be an example in the case of the family Chard's ancestral roots. Known in pre-Norman times as Cerden, it was listed in William the Conqueror's Doomsday Book of 1086 as Cerdre. Over the ensuing centuries the spelling evolved into Cherdre (or Cherde) [9] and pronounced phonetically as “Cha-de” rather than “Car-de”. |
References
|