Devonshire Chard Traces |
James Chard's ancestry can be traced back to England's “West Country”, where his relatives lived as farmers in the Blackdown Hills of Devonshire, close to the border with Somersetshire. Dominating the meeting point of three counties — Devon, Somerset, and Dorset — and covering an area of 370 square kilometres (143 square miles), the Blackdown Hills showcases undulating farmland that lies peacefully, yet somewhat strangely, in the midst of the industrial centres of Chard, Wellington, Tiverton, and Honiton. |
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| The Blackdown Hills A British government area as one of natural beauty (AONB) [1]. Map courtesy of Blackdown Hills National Landscape. |
From the time of William the Conqueror and his oft referenced Domesday Book, all parishes in the Blackdown Hills had been located in Devon. James Chard was born in Devon, and both of his parents were also born there. His wife, Mary Atkins, was born in Devon, along with her parents. In 1896, county boundaries were redrawn, leading to the reassignment of many parish administrations [2]. |
Early settlement developed around the towns of Chard and Honiton. Both locations have a history that dates back to the early Middle Ages. Chard (or its more ancient name “Cerdre”), is documented even earlier, with indications that a settlement existed at the site prior to the establishment of a market town by the Bishop of Wells in 1235. Honiton is referenced in the Domesday Book and appears to have assumed its present form around the 1200's. Is it merely a coincidence that the surname Chard of James Chard matches the name of the township? Genealogists, particularly onomatologists, argue otherwise. It seems that the surname Chard mainly stems from a habitational name, indicating “individuals coming from” a location known as Chard (evolved from Cherdre to Cherde then Charde) [3] in Devon, England. |
The Earliest Family Records 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) [4], it can be revealed with certainty that James Chard's 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. |
THE CHARDE'S OF HONITON |
| Philipp / Phillype Charde (c1565 – ?) Philipp / Phillype is the earliest Chard/e ancestor whose existence can be legitimised using the online tools available. It can be assumed with a modicum of certainty that he was born in Honiton-on-Otter, the notarised baptismal location of his daughter Carteryne in 1584 and his son John in 1586. Nothing is known of his other family details or the location of his death. |
| John Charde (1586 – 1628) John was baptised in Honiton on October 3rd 1586 [4], his father, Philipp, being a young 21 year old at the time. John married Elizabeth CARSWYLL (c1586 – 1675) on the 4th July 1601, the event being registered in Sidmouth, Devon [5]. |
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| John Charde's marriage to Elizabeth Carswyll in 1601. Image courtesy of Devon Heritage Services and Parochial Church Council. |
The couple stayed by the Devon coast and raised six known children: Stephyn (1603 – 1682), Beatonne (born 1606), Marye (1610 – 1621), Agnes (1611 – 1695), Jenet (born 1614), and Jzare (1614 – 1619). Father John lived to be forty-two years old, with his burial recorded in Bridport, Dorset. His wife Elizabeth lived to the age of 88, and her burial was recorded in Lyme Regis, Dorset [6]. Their eldest son, Stephyn, is the one who continued our ancestral line. |
| Stephyn Charde (1603 – 1682) There are no digital recording of Stephyn's birth or baptism but it's likely that this occurred in Sidmouth, Devon. At the age of 23 Stephyn married a 26-year-old German girl named Agnis VETTER (anglicized to Agnes VATER; 1600 - 1679) in Exeter, Devon. |
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| Stephyn Charde's marriage to Agnes Vater on the 20th November 1626 in Saint Mary Major, Exeter, Devon. Image courtesy of Devon Heritage Services and Parochial Church Council. |
Soon after their marriage, the couple moved to Honiton, Devon's centre for lace-making, where they brought up eight children: John (1627 – 1628), Agnis (born 1628), Johane (born 1631), Mary (1633 – 1633), Stephyn (1634 – 1694), Thomas (1637 – 1683), John (1640 – 1712), and Robert (born 1643). Stephyn lived to the age of 79, dying in Honiton on the 8th of August 1682, the parish record of the burial stating that he was a lace-maker. His wife Agnes had died, also aged 79, three years previously. Their son, John, is the one who continued our ancestral line. |
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| Stephen Charde's burial on the 8th August 1682 in Honiton, Devon. Image courtesy of Devon Heritage Services and Parochial Church Council. |
| John Charde (1640 – 1712) John, baptised in Honiton on the 5th of April 1640, was the second youngest of eight children born to Stephen and Agnes Charde. Although John was raised in a family of Honiton lace makers, he showed no interest in spinning or weaving. Rather, he chose to focus on producing fine linen thread, and it was the fertile soil of the Blackdown Hills that provided perfect conditions for cultivating flax. After marrying Elizabeth PHILLIP (1650 - 1693) in 1665, John and his wife settled on a Hemyock tithing in Culm Davy, where they had five children: Thomas (1667 - 1718), Dina (born 1670), John (1672 - 1677), John (1690 - 1692), and John (1693 - 1718). John passed away in 1712 at the age of 72, interred with his wife in Hemyock's parish graveyard. Their son Thomas was the one who carried on our family lineage. |
THE CHARD'S OF HEMYOCK |
The parish of Hemyock is situated on the Culm River, approximately 8 miles north-west of Honiton and 5 miles south of Wellington, Somerset. The central township of Hemyock is the largest village in the Blackdown Hills. |
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| Devon Parish Registrations. Sketch of Devon parish boundaries and their registration dates. Hemyock parish (shaded pink) was registered in 1635. Map courtesy of Genuki (Devon). |
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| Hemyock Parish. Compiled [7] around 1850 this detailed land survey outlines the Hemyock parish (shown within the red lines) and the Culm River valley. The yellow/red line denotes the county border between Devon and Somerset. Map courtesy of Colchester, Essex: History Data Service. |
| Thomas Chard (1667 – 1718) Thomas was John and Elizabeth Charde's eldest son - baptised in Hemyock on the 27th of February 1667 [4]. The record is notable for the fact that the family name is now spelt Chard (without the last letter “e”). Thomas was 23 when he married a fellow farmer's daughter Elizabeth BUNCKOM (1658 – 1717) at Saint Mary's Church, Hemyock. |
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| Thomas Chard's marriage to Elizabeth Bunckom on the 21st April 1690 in Hemyock, Devon. Image courtesy of Devon Heritage Services and Parochial Church Council. |
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| Saint Mary's Church, Hemyock. The village square, church, and burial grounds of Hemyock. The cemetery serves as the final resting place for three generations of the Chard family. Postcard taken around 1920 courtesy of Hemyock History [8]. |
The couple had seven children: Elizabeth (1692 – 1700), William (1693 – 1765), Oliver (1697 – 1701), Edward (1699 – ?), Elizabeth (1703 – ?), Oliver (1702 – ?) and Cornelius (1704 – 1766), all born in Hemyock. Thomas and his wife died within a year of each other, Elizabeth in Hemyock in 1717, Thomas in Awliscombe (Honiton). It's their eldest son William who carried on our family lineage. |
| William Chard (1693 – 1765) William was baptised on November 1st 1693 [4] in Saint Mary's Church, Hemyock. He was Thomas and Elizabeth's eldest son. On the 28th of November 1715, at the age of 22 he married nineteen year old Joan APLEN in Saint Mary's Church, Hemyock. |
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| William Chard's marriage to Joan Aplen on the 28th November 1715 in Hemyock, Devon. Image courtesy of Devon Heritage Services and Parochial Church Council. |
The couple had five children: William (1714 – 1759), Thomas (1717 – 1774), Philis (baptised 1720), Mary (baptised 1720), and Thomasen (baptised 1723), all born in Hemyock. William and Joan, who had each inherited small plots of land from their Chard and Aplen forebears respectively, farmed flax on their own land for fifty years. William died at the age of 74, and Joan survived him by five years. Their son Thomas and his descendants inherited the estate, and it is through his lineage that our family heritage continues. |
| Thomas (1717 - 1774) Thomas, who was named in honour of his grandfather, was the second child of William and Joan. In keeping with family tradition, he was baptised at Saint Mary's Church in Hemyock on July 21st, 1717. Thomas wed Sarah BOWERMAN (1719 - 1750) from the neighbouring parish of Clayhidon on November 24th, 1742. Earlier in that year, his sister had married Sarah's brother Henry, whilst his brother William had married Elizabeth, Sarah's cousin. Thomas and Sarah had three children: Anne (born 1743), William (1745 – 1808), Thomas (1747 – 1832), all baptised at Saint Mary's Church in Hemyock. Unfortunately, Sarah died as a result of Thomas' birth. Now responsible for three young children, Thomas quickly remarried. His 19-year-old bride was Dinah, yet another Bowerman (whose relationship to Sarah or Elizabeth cannot be established), the ceremony taking place in Combe Raleigh (Honiton) [5]. Thomas and Dinah had five children: Mary (1751 - 1753), Edward (1754 - 1755), Edward (1758 - 1848), John (1760 - ?) and Robert (1766 - 1853), all born in Hemyock. In the 1750s, Thomas Chard was mentioned in a regional county almanac of freemen [9], where he was described as “a gent, by order of [town] mayor and council”, implying that he was a landowner and a man of independent means. Besides his standing in the community, an electoral roll for parliamentary candidates in the Honiton borough, which included Hemyock, listed the name of 46-year-old “husbandman” Thomas Chard. It is evident that he must have been a landowner to appear on this list. Thomas died in Hemyock in 1774 at the age of 57, whilst Dinah survived him by twenty years. The family estate remained in the hands of son Robert as recorded in the census [10] of 1841. It is through Thomas and Dinah's son Edward and his descendants that our family heritage continues. |
References
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