Bill,
It is some time since I wrestled the descendancy of a few Blennerhassetts/Blaverhassetts, however I note a recurring discrepancy in the notes on this Posting Board, and that is the "marriage" between John "Blaverhassett" b:1423 and
Jayne Tyndall b: 1480+/-.
It had seemed to me to be a rather impetuous assumption that the various dates were correct, what with daughter Eleanor being born when the old boy was in his 80's!
My own extensive (timewise at any rate) research indicates the cause of the confusion to be the actual marrriage of John Blenner/Blaver of 1423 to a well 'dowried' woman named Margaret
Jayne (or
Jayne??) Heigham, d/o of Thomas Heigham & and Isabel Fraunceys. Jayne was born bet 1424-1427, and was clearly a much better 'match' for John B. than Jane Tydall [OF HEIGHAM GREEN - hence the confusion]! b:1480-1483 at Hockford(sic), Thetford, Norfolk,
England. John was no doubt also delighted to receive the eventual Title to her father's
Manor of "Heigham"!
Happily, this matched pair of John and
Jayne Heigham had two sons (actually three, but only two are of interest here), named in ordered sequence Thomas b:1446-1450; and Robert b: abt 1451.
Younger son Robert begat another "2nd son" and called him John
Blennerhassett in 1481, AND it was he who was man enough to handle that little old problem of
Jayne Tyndall by marrying her sometime between 1493-1502.
And there you have the reconstructed lineage of Eleanor (aka Ellinor;
Ellin)
Blennerhassett (b: abt 1507) who would marry Myles
Hobart! [Hobart would eventually father the line leading to an 'inventive' fellow living in
England during WWII named
Hobart who would deam up various D-Day Invasion "contraptions" known as "Hobart's Funnies" - things like "The Flail" for clearing mines; possibly the "Hedgehog" for clearing hedgerows; the floatation equipped tank, another tank that 'unrolled' it's own canvas roadway in front of itself - and others].
Back to the elder son of
Jayne Heigham and the 1423 version of John Blennerhassett/Blaverhassett -Thomas Blaverhassett - he would marry twice - firstly to a lady named Jane Sutton and sired John (1493); possibly a Richard abt 1500; and lastly, a Samuel (date not established) whom we shall see again!; and secondly to Mary or Margaret
Braham, where Thomas would continue his 'begetting' with renewed vigour! Ergo, along came Ann; Agnes; Elizabeth; Thomas Jr; Margaret; and Kathryn! Having perhaps been 'henpecked' by "five sisters", our Thomas
Junior decided to 'bail out', and joined the Priesthood!
The latest John (1493)in the earlier marriage above, one John Blaverhassett of 1493-1510 married twice (just like Daddy), firstly to Elizabeth Cornwallis (the Cornwallis was a "title' - the actual surname of all of the Cornwallis clan was "
Mann"), and the happy couple quickly had a daughter Elizabeth, {named for her mother no doubt) and this Elizabeth "the younger" would indeed marry well - to Sir Lyonell
Throckmorton, and thereafter prodigiously breed a good many descendants.
Next, John Blaverhassett (1493 version) followed in Dad's footsteps and proceeded to attract a second wife also - this lady was Mary A. Echingham, d/o Sir Edward E Echingham & Mary
Everard. Mary and John became a "couple", as in 'a couple of rabbits', for that is their breeding record!
Twelve children - my goodness they we just like my Scottish forebears!
Their first was a daughter (b:
Bet 1555-1561)whom they named Frances (Blanner
Hasset) Blaverhassett [I won't repeat the rest of the kids names unless someone is interested - I'm not). Good Frances married a young fellow named Sir William Man (aka Mann; Manne; Mayne), [which is my last name by the way - and Frances is a many times Gr-Grandmother of mine]
WIlliam
Mann and Frances lived in Canterbury where he was
Alderman of the Westgate Ward (and
Keeper of the West
Gate). The family worshipped in St Mary Bredin Church, and there are several records of their attendance in that very old established church. Amoung the "visitors"(??) was none other than our good old younger "brother" Samuel
Blennerhassett of Lowdham in Suffolk (of which his inheritance of Lowdham
Manor does seem perfectly useful as our "form of documentation" for the long ago marriage of "old John" Bleverhassett/
Blennerhassett to
Jayne Heigham - yes??) Sam did pretty well for a 'fourth Son')!
Just to remain annoyingly difficult to spell and often changing with each generation, next to Samuel in the pew seems to be an unnamed "Bleuverhassett"! Even with all those letters you would think they could get it right in 200 years!!! Frances, who proves to be rather "quick minded" in a lawsuit some years later, has carried on the 'family tradition' of 'spelling by confusion', and is listed in the Church
Records as "Blener Hassett", and clearly was not the winner of any spelling bees either!
Of little interest to just about everyone reading this discourse is that this couple, Frances Bl. and William
Mann would become the grandparents of one William
Mann who marries Affra
Parker, and is believed by many to be the "first of the name
Mann" in
Massachusetts Colony some years later. I for one no longer accept that premise, and indeed I believe that I am very close to actually documenting that William
Mann as staying in
England!
Back to Bl-Hassett for a last moment, - I have located the apparent
Blennerhassett who removed to Ireland and grew the family there, however I seem to have misplaced the record at the moment (and I really don't want to have to look for it)!
I do hope that my 'diatribe-soliloquay' will be of benefit to you and others seeking Blennerhassetts and Blaverhassetts wherever they may pop up. I do not claim to be totally error free (or especially smug either), and I invite any corrections or details that any of you may wish to provide - but I can't answer many enquiries at this time!
Regards and "Good Rooting"
Ron
MannEdmonton, Canada