Glastonbury Ties?

Glastonbury Ties?

Tying shoestrings together in Glastonbury

County Somerset

Have you looked at a map of England for Butleigh?

I find it is a healthy exercise to try to paint a picture of a time line and locations of HAM families from our book, "A Short History of the HAM Surname in Virginia & NC." It's an exercise that might be of interest to folks who want to know more about origins or immigrants.

I started splitting out the entries for Somerset, and found the HAM name spilled over into County Devon in the area of Taunton. There is a corridor in this area that our book paints for us. Basically, it paints a swath of land going north from Tiverton to Taunton to Bridgewater, extending east from Honiton, Crewkerne, to Glastonbury. I was taking note of the towns, dates, and HAM names in our book.

Then I noticed something.

While looking up towns and making notes, I looked up the town of Butleigh in vol #1 our book for the dates. There are HAM ties to the GIBBS surname in Butleigh.

In vol #2, we have Richard HAM in 1736 marrying Diana GIBBS in Middlesex County, VA.
In vol #3, we have the will of Richard HAM, who mentions his wife Dina.

What bugs me is that these entries are all inferences to the direct line of the folks from Franklin County, NC. The names that point directly to the line are not specifically mentioned. However, if you add in the facts for the GIBBS surname in Butleigh, County Somerset, then it gets interesting.

That's because Tony tested out his DNA (kit #N54540), which provides a match for Group #1 in County Somerset, England.
And, the Y-Search on our HAM DNA Group tested out for ties to the area of Crewkerne. (Tony's ancestral land is just south of Weston-Super-Mare and north of Wedmore). Putting together the DNA, the maps, and the information from our book shows that our HAM DNA Group #1 has ties to the area in Somerset surrounding Glastonbury. And, again, not too far from Crewkerne.

You might notice (on this map) the towns of Wedmore and Curry Rivel from the 1861 Census of England.

And finally, not to forget, Ham Hill is also not far from Crewkerne. Glastonbury puts our Viking line within spitting distance from Ham Hill and Montacute, which contains an old Norman motte and bailey, and was owned by Robert, Count of Mortain.

I think that the GIBBS name points to possible ties for HAM DNA Group #1 to the general area of Crewkerne. This would support the DNA evidence thus far.

It will be good when we get additional DNA participants in the HAM DNA Project from England.
Due to the proximity to our HAM DNA Group #2 (Y-Search points to Worcestershire), I should expect to have the need to sort out the "I" and "R1b" haplotypes between the current residents named "HAM" in the area of Somerset today.

Below is a portion of the map that contains the areas covered in our book, with a number of the towns found in our book, dating from 1200 to 1800:





















References:

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My notes from "A Short History of the HAM Surname in Virginia & NC":
(Notice the GIBBES name in Butleigh, County Somerset in 1594.)

vol #1, pgs 51-52:

1589 John HAMME buys 6 acres located in Baltonsborough (Wooton in Budleigh), Somerset.
1594 William HAM and John HAM are mentioned in the will of Julyan GIBBES of Butleigh, County Somerset, England.

Also tied in with the HAM lines of Middlesex County, Virginia in 1736 when Richard HAM marries Diana GIBBS.
vol #2, pgs 46-48:

1711 Richard GIBBS marries at Christ Church, Middlesex County, Virginia.
1712 Eliza GIBBS is born at Christ Church, Middlesex County, Virginia.
1714 Diana GIBBS is baptized at Christ Church, Middlesex County, Virginia.

1736 Richard HAM marries Diana GIBBS at Christ Church, Middlesex County, Virginia.

Current research suggests this Richard HAM migrated to Franklin County, North Carolina.
vol #3, pg 53, 54:

1794 Richard HAM files will in Franklin County, NC.
Mentions wife Dina HAM, oldest son Elisha HAM and daughters Agnes & Sarah HAM.

The HAM DNA Project suggests Franklin County, NC descendants are related to ancestors near Crewkerne, England.

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For reference to Tony's ancestral land (kit #N54540), it should be here:

http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/SOM/parishes.html
or
http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/SOM/SouthBrent/index.html

Here's the description for the South Brent/East Brent in Somerset:
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"SOUTH BRENT, a parish in the hundred of Brent-cum-Wrington, in the county of Somerset, 6 miles to the S.W. of Axbridge. Weston-super-Mare is its post town. It lies near the coast of the Bristol Channel, on the Bristol and Exeter railway, and contains the hamlet of Week, or Wick. Brent Knoll [see East Brent] rises to the N. of the village. The manor was formerly held by the Abbot of Glastonbury...."

From The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) Transcribed by Colin Hinson © 2003

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Maps are available from map sites, such as Mapquest, Yellow Pages, or Google Earth.

Inferences are both from the HAM DNA Project and from our book, "A Short History of the HAM Surname in Virginia & NC."

Wikipedia's link on the Abbot of Glastonbury

A Brief history of Glastonbury Abbey

More on Glastonbury Abbey You might want to view the History or Photo Gallery.

History of the Norman Conquest by Freeman (1876) - 30 MB PDF file
It would appear (page 389) that AEthelnoth of Glastonbury was William the Conqueror's companion on his first voyage to Normandy circa 1078. This account says that Thurston was appointed Abbot in 1082 (see also the footnote in Latin at the bottom of page 390. Here, Oderic would have been a viking). Thurston's dastardly deeds are described on page 391.

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