Excerpts from my book:

A SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE NEWCOMBE FAMILY OF BRAUNTON,

THEIR KINDRED AND THEIR ORIGINS. By Peter R. Newcombe.

Origin of the Newcombe's in Devonshire:

The Newcombe family have been long resident in the county of Devonshire and as such are recorded as a 'County Family'. The earliest occurrence of the name in Devon is given in the Crown Pleas of the Devon Eyre of 1238, published by the Devon and Cornwall Record Society. This book mentions under the district of Hemyock Hundred; William Niwecumbe, an approver, was hanged before William de Raleghe and his fellow gaol delivery justices. The jurors testify that Rannulf de Cerne, the then sheriff, took goods worth one mark from his chattels, so to (do) judgment on him. This was probably the gaol delivery ordered for 27 March 1232, at which the four justices already appointed were instructed to act on William de Raleigh’s advice. The reference to Rannulf de Cerne suggests that William had been arrested at least a year before his execution as Rannulf’s administrative period ended in April 1231. It is interesting to note that Hemyock Hundred borders that of Hayridge Hundred wherein lies the parish of Kentisbeare and near the eastern boundary of the parish is situated Newcombe Common and below it in the valley Newcombe Bottom, perhaps this is from where William Niwecumbe took his surname. Also at this time is recorded from some notes of the Devon Assize Roll dated 1238; Richard le Neucomen, which would mean Richard the ‘new comer’. Further research into the early rolls may well reveal more instances of the family name, but from researched and printed sources which are generally available to the public, the location of the family can be charted from the early 14th century.

There are several unrelated Newcombe families throughout England, but generally speaking there are two main families bearing the name of Newcombe and its variations such as Newcome, Newcomen etc. The most well documented is the Lincolnshire Newcomen's whose ancestry stem from Hugo le Neucomen (the new comer) and who lived in the reign of King Richard I the Lion Heart (1189-1199) at Saltfleetby on the flat fenland coast of Lincolnshire; they were ethnically probably Normans. They were a great dynastic family and had several fortunate marriages into the gentry and nobility of the area. The representative of this family in Ireland, Robert Newcomen was created a baronet in 1625 and they were eventually raised to the peerage of Ireland as Viscounts. A brother of this Sir Robert called Elias moved to Devon as Rector of Stoke Fleming church, his brass memorial dated July 1614 is fixed to the wall of the chancel and is inscribed with the family coat of arms and various quarterings. His descendants remained in the area for several generations, the most notable being Thomas Newcomen of nearby Dartmouth, the inventor of the steam engine.

The other main Newcombe family are those whose roots lie in Devon, they are Saxons and from which most bearers of the name in that county are descended. Their origin is obscure and the meaning of the name is not as clear cut as might be imagined. The name is normally given as a derivative of 'the new comer', a newly settled stranger in the locality. This is based on the direct translation of the name itself and reinforced by early medieval spellings with the 'le' prefix meaning 'the'. In all probability this is the most likely meaning of the name, but it should not be overlooked that the name could derive from a place. There are a great many surnames in the Westcountry and in particular Devon that end in 'combe', which means 'valley', such as Widdicombe, the Withy (willow tree) valley, Tincombe, the Teign (river) valley, Brimblecombe, the bramble valley and many more similar examples can be found; So perhaps Newcombe is named from a valley also. The argument being that Newcombe, Newcome, Newman etc. often mean a newcomer, so does New, but New also means 'a dweller by a yew tree'; The early Saxon version of the name being 'At the yew', which changed to 'Atte yew' then to 'Atten yew' , 'Nyew' and then to 'New'. Newcombe therefore could have originally meant 'At the yew (tree) combe (valley), which in time was shortened to 'Atten yewcombe', then to 'Nyewcombe' and finally to it's more modern variants. Mr. C. Spiegelhalter BSc, mentions in his 'Notes on the names in the Subsidy Rolls for Devon, 1332'; Nycomb - Possibly for Nyu comb which is itself for Newcome, the newcomer. In nine cases out of ten in medieval records this surname has been associated with 'combe' and the present spelling is Newcombe. In Spiegelhalter's research paper '1332 Lay Subsidy Roll, notes on the names in the Barum (Barnstaple) rec(ord)s of the 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th centuries'; It is mentioned that Newcombe (1428-64), Newecombe, Newecomb, Newcomb, Nywecomb, Neucomb, is a nickname, 'new comer' and no connection with 'combe'. Also in 'Barnstaple Surnames' he gives Newcomen., Newcombe. R(ichar)d Nywecomb, 1427 and R(ichar)d Nywecomene, 1332 as deriving from new comer.

In the 'Episcopal Registers, Diocese of Exeter, for John de Grandison 1327-1369'. Under the year 1327, folio 103, at Bovey Tracy; Sir John de Neucome, priest, was installed at Chudleigh, 20th January; Patrons, Brother Thomas de Cadecote, Master of the Brethren of the Hospital of St. John Baptist, Bridgwater; Here we should note the 'de' prefix to Neucome which means 'of Neucome'. The Hospital of St. John Baptist, Bridgwater, Somerset was located in the diocese of Bath. This meant that Chudleigh’s ecclesiastical revenues were largely assigned to that foundation. Like other mediaeval ‘hospitals’, the Bridgwater house dispensed charitable hospitality to infirmed persons and pilgrims; but it much resembled a monastery and it followed the Augustinian Rule. King Henry VIII’s quarrel with the Pope (being a personal dispute which had wider religious and political consequences) resulted on the 5 February 1539 as part of the dissolution of the monasteries, the Bridgwater Hospital being surrendered to government commissioners.

Also in the research paper 'Devonshire Surnames', it gives Newcombe - Nickname, Newcomer. W(illia)m Niewecumbe 1238; J. Nucumbe 1510. Not a place-name, but if John de (of) Newcome is not an error for le (the) Newcomen he may have come from Newleycombe Lake also known as Newleycombe Brook, Walkhampton. This is a valley joining the Meavy valley above Sheepstor, which is one of the earliest  mentioned places for tin mining which began in about 1150 and is located on the western slopes of Dartmoor at the head of Burrator reservoir. Newley in Newly combe comes from the Anglo-Saxon neowel, 'profound, deep, a deep gulph'; an essentially accurate description of the combe. In 1443, the name is spelt 'Newelcombe'; Lake, means a brook, a tributary stream. If Newcombe were to derive from a place, then Newleycombe is ideally suited, as it lies close by the concentration of the families bearing the name in the 14th century.

East view of Newleycombe Lake on Dartmoor.

There is also mentioned in Monasticon Dioecesis Exoniensis the abstract of Otterton Cartulary of Otterton Priory. No. 33, dated about 1259. Agreement between the abbot and convent of St. Michael's and William Blondel concerning Hedlonde. The former grants to Blondel, 'Prestelonde' and 'Pilemore', with the wood bordering the two brooks of 'Grandecumbe' and 'Nieucumbe' for the yearly payment of 5s 6d. Blondel is to be entitled to pasnage (pasturage) for six hogs 'in majore bosco' (in the large wood), etc. (Walter Blondel). The location of  Pilemoor at Washfield is Pylemor in 1249, Priestland Copse at Bampton is Le Pristes Lond in 1549, Hatherland at Washfield is Hederlond(e) in 1286, Grantland in Poughill is Granteland in 1242, there is no Nieucumbe, but there is a Newland in Poughill written as Niwelond in an earlier document. Grantland and Newland are located next to each other in their own valleys separated by two hills between which is a wooded valley, a stream runs in both valleys that eventually joins Holly Water. All are in West Budleigh 100 just north of Crediton.

Today the surname Newcombe is widespread throughout Devon and other counties, if a map of Devon was marked today which showed the location of the Newcombe's then most parishes would be represented. Mark the same map from occurrences of the surname in the 1851 census and again their distribution is widely scattered through the county, it was not a rare surname. With the help of published government records such as the Devon Hearth Tax of 1674, Devon Taxes of 1660, Protestation Returns of 1641, Devon Taxes of 1581, Devon Muster Roll of 1569, Devon Subsidies of 1543-5, Devon Subsidy Rolls of 1524-7 and the Devonshire Lay Subsidy of 1332, the same map can be marked to show the name distribution at various dates through the centuries and it will be noticed that it's pattern location contracts with time and centres on the north to east slopes of Dartmoor between the parishes of Okehampton and Chagford; This area can be regarded the ancestral homeland of the Saxon Newcombe's.

The Newcombe's of Chagford in Devonshire:

It is not certain when the Newcombe's adopted their surname for although there is the odd instance of the name recorded in the early 13th century, it does not appear to be regularly used or perhaps it is more correct to say recorded, until the mid 14th century when the Chagford Newcombe's appear in written records. In the 1st year of the reign of King Richard II (9 May 1378) John Nywcomene paid 2s (shillings) rent as a tenant in the Manor of Chagford, later he is recorded as John Newecomene atte Yeo paying 6d (pence), atte Yeo meant that he lived at the freeholding of Yeo (meaning, ‘water’), a property on the South Teign River, which lies amongst a tangle of medieval lanes to the southwest of Chagford. To loosely quote W.G. Hoskins, ‘Yeo consists of a fascinating group of farmhouses and ancillary buildings. They probably represent successive periods of rebuilding on one farm. The present farmhouse occupied by the Perryman family since 1545 is mainly of eighteenth century date. But in the yard is a large granite building now used for a barn which has a fireplace on the upper floor, so revealing that it was a dwelling house when it was built in the fifteenth century. And farther up the yard stands an even older and decidedly primitive building, now used as a cowhouse, where another and much cruder fireplace indicates its original use as a dwelling. This, all on one ground floor, may well date from the fourteenth century and could have been the home of Walter atte Yeo who is named in a tax assessment of 1332. Even this was probably not the first house on the site; I think it highly likely that Yeo was one of the Domesday farmsteads in the manor of Chagford. Somewhere in this little complex of ancient buildings there must lie the remains of the eleventh century farmstead and possibly of one or two predecessors’.

North view of the 15^th century Newcombe Hall house, showing the massive granite stone building blocks.

The Yeo property passed to his son and heir Thomas Nycomene atte Yeo who bought lands and tenements at nearby Frencysber (Frenchbeer), which was acquired by the Perryman family by 1434 and Yeo passed to his son John and grandson John Nucombe junior who witnessed an indenture on the 28th October 1504 at Chagford and in 1510, 1532 and 1533  was named as one of the Jurates in the Stannary Court of Chaggeford, when tin output reached a peak in 1515 of rather more than 470 thousandweight (252 tons) and he no doubt sat for Chagford as one of the 96 representatives of the four stannaries in the ancient assembly of the stannary parliament at Crockern Tor. In 1305 Chagford was made one of the three original stannary towns to which tinners had to bring their metal for assay and stamping (coinage), though it had been acting in this capacity for a considerable time before this. Yeo is an old granite stone building with some very interesting out-buildings, of which one had been used for smelting tin and was known as a 'Blowing House'. By 1545 Yeo was occupied by the Perryman family of nearby Frenchbeer.

John Newcombe was later residing at Ayreston (Easton) in the manor of South Teign in 1525, which he bought from John Seynthill of Exeter on the 21 April 1539 (30 Henry VIII). He also owned Great Worthy now called Great Tree, a farm in the parish of Drewsteignton and not far from Easton. He was mentioned in the Inquisitions Post Mortem 28 Henry VIII (1537) No. 72. His son and heir John Newcombe of Great Worthy was born about 1500 and was mentioned in an indenture dated 1555 as John Newcombe of Eston (Easton), he married a daughter of Coode of Gidleigh Castle and according to Thomas Westcote in his 'View of Devonshire', this couple were the ancestors of the Newcombe's of Chagford and Drewsteignton through their son William of Drewsteignton, who wed a daughter of a Burrington and the Crediton Newcombe's descend through their son John Newcombe who wed a daughter of the Down family.

The above document from the National Archives at Kew ref. C1/548/41 dated 1518-1529, is rather extraordinary. It details a legal dispute between John Newcomb of Taynton Drewe (Drewsteignton) and several other villagers concerning the possession and use of  land at Fenton (Venton) in the said parish. What makes this a remarkable document is that John Newcomb states that Fenton is his by right of succession from his mother Johan, heir to Thomas Underdon (Underdown), who was heir to his mother Johan, who was heir to William Adam of Fenton. This covers 5 generations and William Adam could have been born circa 1395. What else lies undiscovered in the voluminous archives of England?

The Newcombe's who remained in the Chagford area married into other local gentry families, thus maintaining their social status; William Newcombe of Drewsteignton wed Margaret the daughter of John Prouz of Chagford Esq. on the 21 September 1601, the Prouz's ancestors built Gidleigh Castle and descended from Peter Prouz of Eastervale who wed Mary daughter and heir of William Redvers Earl of Devon and she was the widow of Robert de Courtenay Baron of Okehampton, Viscount of Devon, Sheriff of Devon and Governor of Exeter Castle who died on the 26th July 1242. This was clearly a very prestigious marriage and an advancement in their social standing. Other marriages did not have so illustrious ancestries but were nevertheless with armigerous families, although inevitably the younger and poorer members of the family wed into the lesser squirearchy of similar standing.

The Newcombe's of Exeter in Devonshire:

The Exeter branch of the family were founded by William Newcomb a son of William of Drewsteignton and his wife, the daughter of a Burrington. He was a draper apprentice to Alexander (Sandy) Napper, a wool merchant and who descended from the noble Napier's of Scotland. He wed Sandy's daughter Anne and in 1578 became a Freeman of the city of Exeter and joined the Guild of Merchant Adventurers in 1599, he became Mayor of Exeter in 1612-13. He was entered in the Heralds Visitation of Devon in 1620, which he signed. The Coat of Arms which the family used were: Argent, a fess embattled between two escallops in pale, sable; with the Crest given as: On a mural crown a raven with wings expanded proper, also given as: On a mural coronet or, a Cornish chough (or sometimes written as a falcon or eagle) rising proper. They are also recorded as having used the Crest: A demi-horse argent, gorged with a chaplet vert.  His third son William Newcombe wed Jane Cann of Okehampton in 1620 and when he died in 1626 he was buried in Okehampton church, which is recorded in a diary of Richard Symons a Captain in the Royalist Army of the Civil War. Who wrote that 'a flat stone in the south aisle of this church, this coats:- a fess embattled upward between 2 escallops (Newcombe) impaling a saltire engrained between 4 mullets (Napper), William Newcombe of Okehampton obit. 8 April 1626.'  William and Jane's granddaughter, Mary, wed Mr. Henry Parminter of Barnstaple on the 4 January 1693 in Exeter, after their death, their descendants erected a marble wall memorial to their memory in Marwood church. The Arms of Mary Newcombe are shown as: Argent, a fess embattled between two escallops in pale sable; with a Crest as: On a mural crown or, a Cornish chough wings raised and inverted proper (i.e. sable, beaked and legged gules). 

The Exeter Newcombe's prospered and several held the office of Alderman and Mayor in the city. But their highest honour came when Robert Lydston Newcombe reached the rank of High Sheriff of Devon in 1779, his tomb casket lies in the southwest corner of St. David's churchyard and bears the family Arms, his achievements marked the zenith of  family prestige. His only son John Newcombe of Starcross wed Harriet Pleydell of Whatcombe in Dorset and their funeral hatchment is displayed in Kenton church. This shows their arms as: Argent, a fess embattled between two escallops sable, impaling, Argent, a bend gules gutty argent, between two choughs proper, a chief chequy or and sable (Pleydell). Crest: On a mural coronet or, an eagle wings elevated and inverted sable. Mantling: Sable, or and argent. Motto: Resurgam (rise again).

The Newcombe funeral hatchment inside Kenton church.

This family was the representative of the Devonshire Newcombe’s by virtue of their wealth, social standing, family connections, honours and ancient Devonian landed gentry ancestry. They had finally arrived at the threshold of true greatness, which would take them beyond the parochial class of the Devon squirearchy and on to perhaps the nobility. But misfortune struck in the form of the lottery of life and John Newcombe and his wife Harriet Pleydell were dealt only two daughters, Harriet and Elizabeth. These two being co-heiresses took their portions of the Newcombe inheritance to there husbands, in the case of Harriet she wed in 1806 Montagu Edmund Parker of Whiteway, whose daughter Harriet Sophia wed her second cousin Edmund Parker 2nd Earl of Morley. Elizabeth wed John Stevenson, second son of Robert Stevenson of Binfield Place, Berkshire. These Exeter Newcombe's had nearly made it to the high society and one can only muse at what might have been.

The tomb of Robert Lydston Newcombe, High Sheriff of Devon in 1779, in the southwest corner of St. David's churchyard, Exeter.

A relative of Robert Lydston Newcombe was the Rev. James Newcombe; John and Henry Woodman are his descendants and are in possession of some Newcombe heirlooms, which they have very kindly allowed me to show on my website.

A miniature of the Rev. James Newcombe.

John and Henry Woodman believe the naval portrait of Francis Newcombe was painted when he was in his 40's. He was a notable captain in the Royal Navy and saw action in the Napoleonic wars. Also shown is the Newcombe crest and motto 'POSSE ET NOLLE VERE NOBILE’ from a silver salver hallmarked 1830, to which John Woodman mentions that according to his family tradition roughly translates as ‘To be able to do harm and not to do it is truly noble’.

Capt. Francis Newcombe, R.N. 1772 – 8 December 1841; wearing the star of a Companion of the Bath. 

Newcombe Crest and motto.

The Newcombe's of Crediton in Devonshire:

The Crediton Newcombe's are recorded in the 'View of Devonshire' by Thomas Westcote as descending from Henry Newcombe who wed a daughter and heiress of a third brother of the Coplestone's (a large and illustrious Devonshire family) and they had a son Richard who was the father of John Newcombe who wed a Coode (a Cornish family and sometime resident at Gidleigh Castle near Chagford in Devon). This Henry and Richard are mistakenly given as ancestors, but perhaps they are relatives of some kind along with the Coplestone, although it is interesting to note that a branch of the Coplestone’s were Lords of the Manor of Chagford in the 16th century and for some time before that. The Crediton branch of this family commence with John who wed a daughter of Down, they had a son called John Newcombe of Trobridge Down south of Crediton who wed a daughter of Crocker, their son John wed Mary the daughter of Nicholas Pointington of Pennycot Esq. on the 4 May 1608 at Shobrook and had a son John who was a Captain in the Parliamentary Army during the Civil War and recorded as being at South Molton (during the said war); in his will written 16 March 1639 (proved 27 August 1647?), he mentioned that he wished to be laid beside his parents in the chancel of Crediton church and have a fair stone inscribed with his actions and his Coat of Arms; if this stone ever existed it is not now apparent. The heirs of this family lived at Westwood, a farm just to the west of Crediton. John’s armour was left to Crediton church and kept in the Governors’ room of the Chapter House, of which some pieces yet remain. Westcote clearly associates the Crediton Newcombe's with those at Chagford, but it should also be mentioned that in White's Directory of Devonshire, which was printed in 1850, there was a Newcombe charity which paid £4 4s yearly to the poor parishioners of Inwardleigh; these funds were a bequest from John Newcombe, clothier of Crediton who mentions in his will dated 3 March 1608 that he was born in Inwardleigh. So, Westcote may be correct that a Newcombe in Crediton had ancestors in Chagford but it is also apparent from reliable documentary evidence that these Crediton Newcombe's had an association with Inwardleigh.

The Newcombe's of the Chagford area are a major grouping of the family and there is quite a bit of written documentation available through which the surname can be traced; they are centred on a tin working area and amongst other things they dealt with tin. This occupation in tin has resulted in certain information not being readily available or being non-existent. A study of the various tax rolls, musters, and other revenue books do not always include those people who were tinners or lived under the ancient customs of the so called 'tinner's parliament'. Through the aforementioned books we can glean a reasonably clear distribution of the surname in Devon except perhaps for the stannary (tin assaying) towns where tinners were exempt from taxation and were governed by their own laws. In 1201 King John granted to the Tinners of Devon and Cornwall a charter giving them free status, which was confirmed and defined by King Edward I in 1305. The Tinners were freemen and exempt from tallages, tolls, stallages and aids, the only tax they had to pay was the Lay Subsidy which was a tax on a tenth or fifteenth of the value of the taxpayers possessions; In their next charter of 1327 they were exempted from this tax also. It is interesting to note that in the Devon Lay Subsidy of 1332, Chagford only has two men assessed for tax, neither of which can be regarded as coming from the greater landed gentry of the parish and nor were they Newcombe's although we know they were in the area in 1378. However one of those named was Walter atte Yo assessed at 8d (pence). Could it be that this Walter was an ancestor? If he was resident 'at the Yo' (Yeo) in 1332 it could have been only one or possibly two generations before John Newcombe is recorded as having lived there. The word 'yeo' means 'water' in old English, but in the case of  the 'Yeo' river, at Crediton, this was actually written as 'on eowan' in the 11th century and 'Iouwe' in 1238, 'Iou' in 1244 and 'Yew' in 1630, all of which refer to 'yew (tree) stream'. So it is not inconceivable that the Chagford 'Yeo' derived from 'yew', indeed the present day ancient buildings at Yeo are located astride a small stream in the bottom of a valley that feeds into the nearby South Teign River. Walter atte Y(e)o or 'at the yew (tree stream in the combe)' could have also been transformed to Walter atte Yew combe, to atten ewcombe and eventually Newcombe, this is pure conjecture and it must be mentioned that in the neighbouring parishes there is Stephen atte Comb' in Throwleigh, Walter atte Combe in Great Fairwood, Richard atte Comb' in Moretonhampstead and several others many with prefixes to the 'combe', all of which could have tacked on a prefix which resulted in Newcombe so as to distinguish themselves from other unrelated families. In the 1332 Lay Subsidy the closest we can get to Newcombe is Peter Nycomb assessed at 8d in East Portlemouth which is not close to our ancestral area and Richard Nywecomena assessed at 10d at Teigngrace which is about 12 miles from Chagford and further down stream on the River Teign just below the confluence with the River Bovey. Despite all the aforementioned speculation to etymologise Newcombe as deriving from a place, I believe the most likely choice still lies with the more common etymology of a 'newcomer'; sic, Richard Nywecomena, John Nywecomene, John Newecomene atte Yeo and Thomas Nycomene atte Yeo.

There are several places in Devon that have the name Newcombe, which was probably caused by it’s connection with an owner of the same name:

Newcombe Meadow west of Crediton parish church and also Newcombe House in the same vicinity.

Little Newcombes, a farm at Shobrooke east of Crediton.

Newcombe Farm at High Bickington, was named after the Newcombe’s who farmed there.

Newcombe Common, Newcombe Errish and Newcombe Bottom are on the parish borders of Kentisbeare and Sheldon.

Newcombe (Nieucumbe) Brook in Poughill.

Newleycombe Brook, Walkhampton.

Newcombe Farm at Luxborough in Somerset was farmed by James Newcombe in 1641.

The Newcombe's of Northlew, Inwardleigh and Okehampton in Devonshire:

The Newcombe’s of Braunton were a farming family and licensed victuallers, and descend from George Newcombe who moved to Braunton from Northlew in the mid 18th century as a retainer to the Woolcombe family of Ashbury, near Northlew; The Woolcombe’s were an ancient Devonshire family and held many estates in the county including at Inwardleigh. The Newcombe's were a large family living in the area of Northlew, Inwardleigh and Okehampton and who can be roughly traced to the early 15th century. It is quite likely that they share a common ancestor with the Newcombe's of Chagford which is only 8 miles away. This juncture of the two clans must have been before the middle of the 15th century but nothing definite can be found through lack of written evidence. The assumption is based on the following occurrences:

1. The Okehampton Newcombe's are only 8 miles from those at Chagford and the surname is liberally scattered about the other parishes between and surrounding Okehampton and Chagford from at least the early 16th century, as evidenced in the extant tax rolls.

2. The Okehampton Newcombe's stem from the landed gentry class as were their 'cousins' in Chagford and held high civic office in the town, being Portreeves, Mayors and one was Vicar in the early 15th century.

3. John was a popular family Christian name with the early Newcombe' s in both families. Which can lead to confusion when trying to decide which John, of what generation, we are trying to research. Perhaps the early John's of Okehampton are the same persons as their counterparts recorded in documents for Chagford?

4. A John Newcombe of Crediton descended from the Chagford branch according to Westcott, although in his will dated 1608 he states that he was born in Inwardleigh and consequently he bequeathed money to the poor parishioners.

5. William Newcombe of Exeter and a descendant of the Chagford Newcombe's, was buried in Okehampton church where his grave was marked with his Coat of Arms.

If a family member of the Newcombe's of Okehampton were found to bear the same Coat of Arms as the Newcombe's of Exeter, Crediton or Chagford then their claim to be of the same stock would be apparent. Unfortunately no documents have come to light which can corroborate this theory, but perhaps there is something somewhere waiting to be discovered, although the destruction of nearly all the Devonshire wills by the German bombing of Exeter in May 1942 during the Second World War does create a major obstacle. This is surely the greatest disaster in the world of English archives in recent times and destroyed probably a hundred thousand wills and perhaps half that number of inventories. The loss of the wills was an irreparable disaster for genealogists, for only a small fraction had ever been copied; and the destruction of the inventories was a major blow to the writing of the social history of Devonshire families as a whole. As gentry, and civic dignitaries the Newcombe's would have to seal various documents, sometimes using the civic seal, or borrowing a friends seal to be used as the common seal for all those witnessing a document, or using their own personal seal where they are perhaps the only signatory. A study of the many civic papers lodged by the Borough of Okehampton in the Devon Record Office in Exeter, has revealed a number of references to Newcombe's giving signatures and seals. None of the seals resemble those of the Arms associated with the Chagford Newcombe's but on one document ref. 3248 A/11/681 dated 19 January 1680 concerning the sale of some timber at Westacott in Inwardleigh parish, the major signatory is John Newcombe and against his signature is a seal; This depicts a shield circa 7mm across, surmounted by an helm and mantling, there is no crest on the helm but the shield is showing: On a chief dancette, an arrow in pale, point uppermost between two birds, as they appear legless (or at least have no talons) they could be martlets, wings closed facing dexter. There are no hatchings from which the tinctures may be discerned. As John Newcombe is the only signatory in close proximity to the sealed document, then it can be assumed that the aforementioned Arms are his own. They are not recorded in Papworth's Ordinary of British Armorials as belonging to any family whatsoever. Nor are they found in any heraldic books under the surname of Newcombe, so one must assume that he used them without heraldic authority, which is not an unknown practice. So as would be expected from a gentry family, they were armigerous and we are indeed fortunate to find the evidence considering its’ unofficial use.

Devon Record Office; Document ref. Okehampton 3248 A/11/681 dated 19 January 1680. John Newcombe's signature and seal.

Devon Record Office; Document ref. Okehampton 3248 A/11/681 dated 19 January 1680. Enlarged view of sealed arms.

There is also another document ref. 3248 A/11/682 dated 2 February 33 Charles II (1680), wherein is mentioned that the mayor and burgesses of the town and borough of Okehampton receive £40 from John Newcombe, mercer of Okehampton and of Westcott in the parish of Ingworthy (Inwardleigh). Against the signature of John Newcombe is a seal being in the shape of an oval ring 16mm top to bottom and 13mm left to right, in which is depicted a hawk or falcon rising proper, wings expanded and inverted, legs belled; This is somewhat reminiscent of the Chagford Newcombe’s crest but without the coronet.

Devon Record Office; Document ref. Okehampton 3248 A/11/682 dated 2 February 33 Charles II (1680). John Newcombe's seal.

It should also be mentioned that there is a large number of Newcombe’s anciently settled in east Devon and one of whom named as John Newcombe of Littleham had his will proved on the 17 August 1691 and recorded by Miss Moger. He sealed this will with the arms: On a field of ? two bars (azure?); Another example of personally assumed arms that by chance has survived in a document.

The ancestry of Ray Newcombe of Braunton.

From initial research into the ancestry of my father, Ray Newcombe in Heanton Punchardon and Braunton, I was first able to draw up a pedigree descending from his grandparents Henry Newcombe and Susan Drake. This information was supplied by the many relatives still alive and with first hand knowledge. A distant cousin Commander John Gammon of Braunton, whose mother was a Newcombe, was a fountain of local knowledge. I discovered further ancestors and cousins through the local parish registers and created a comprehensive family tree, often verified by another cousin’s independent research. I traced all the Braunton Newcombe’s back to George Newcombe, who married Jane Hunt; but from where this George Newcombe came from, I could not discover in the Braunton or neighbouring parish archives.

From my many years of research, I can with certainty attest to the accuracy of the family ancestry to George Newcombe who arrived in Braunton sometime before August 1794. The evidence is clear that he was of the working class, being employed as a farm worker or perhaps overseer, also a builder of one of the bridges over the River Caen in Braunton.

At his wedding to Mary Hunt he signed the register with a capital G, so he was probably illiterate; but somehow managing to expand his horizons and obtain the licence for an inn called Braunton Abbots in Braunton.

Braunton Abbots pub is the pink and adjoining white building on the left; and also had the stables opposite in the lower fork of the road. This use to be the main road between Ilfracombe and Braunton.

Tuckers House in Silver Street, Braunton; owned by the Woolcombe family of Ashbury and home to the aged George Newcombe. This use to be the main road between Braunton and Ilfracombe. It was originally a thatched roof dwelling but like so many old cottages they have been slated or tiled over.

Although George was working class he strived for the betterment of his family; and they did indeed become respectable members of the village community. George died in Braunton in 1829 and was aged 82 (or so the informant thought!); therefore he was born circa 1747. My search for his place of birth and parentage took many years before I discovered a suitable candidate from the many parish registers viewed. I found a George Newcombe christened the 26 December 1750 at Inwardleigh, a village to the north of Okehampton and in which the entry mentions that his father was George Newcombe of Northlew. This christening date at Inwardleigh could be that belonging to George Newcombe of Braunton and I have not discovered any other better candidate from the many parish registers that I viewed.

His children appear to have improved on their social position and their eldest son George was the Marsh Inspector and lived in the purpose built Toll House on Braunton marsh in the early 19th century, and their second son owned a confectionary shop in Joy Street, Barnstaple.

A watercolour of the Toll House on Braunton Marsh, circa 1910. Home to George and Rachael Newcombe.

The above award was in the possession of the late Commander John Gammon RN of Saunton Road, Braunton; a cousin of mine as his mother was a Newcombe. John Gammon was very knowledgeable concerning Braunton, and left his sizeable collection of documents to the Braunton Museum; which he had also helped to found.

I then made a study of the Newcombe’s of Inwardleigh, Northlew, Okehampton, Sampford Courtney etc. in order to piece together the extended family. It became apparent that George was a popular name for the Newcombe’s of this area and rather complicated the identification of individuals.

In summation I can assert that I am 100% content with the ancestry of my father Ray Newcombe back to his 3^rd great grandfather George Newcombe (junior) of Braunton.

Accounting for the identification of this George Newcombe (junior) and his parentage, is I believe beyond reasonable doubt for the following reasons:

1. His baptism date is suitable in relation to his approximate age given at his burial in Braunton, and an exhaustive search of many other Devonshire parishes has found no other suitable candidate.
2. His father was called George (senior), so there is a continuation of this family name in the Newcombe descendants in Braunton for many generations.
3. His fathers’ occupation was that of a tenant farmer of a small farm called Hore Hill in Northlew and this would match the social position and occupation of his son George (junior) in Braunton.
4. As an adult, there is no suitable George Newcombe (junior) found in the archives of Northlew or Inwardleigh etc., which indicates that he moved away i.e. to Braunton.
5. His father George Newcombe (senior) signed an indenture for Hore Hill farm, which passed to his elder son William, who farmed at Whore Hill farm from circa 1802 to 1811. George (junior) had nothing to inherit in Northlew and so would have looked for alternative employment.
6. In the Northlew land tax assessment for 1781, John Woolcombe Esq. was proprietor of  Lower Gorhuish which was partly occupied by a Sarah Newcombe and she was assessed at £2 0s 4d. Also George Luxton Esq. was the proprietor of Hore Hill which was occupied by John Newcombe and assessed at 9s 2d.; The Newcombe’s were therefore well acquainted with the Woolcombe family of nearby Ashbury parish.
7. The ancient Woolcombe family of Ashbury owned land in Braunton, so George Newcombe (junior), being known to them, could have been employed as their trusted agent in Braunton.
8. The Land Estimate for Braunton in 1813 mentions (that the elderly) George Newcombe (junior) was living at "Tucker's House" in Silver Street, Braunton from 1812  until 1822, which belonged to Woolcombe Esq. who had probably been George Newcombe's sponsor from Northlew.

I am satisfied that the first difficulty in the Newcombe ancestry has been determined in favour of George Newcombe coming from Northlew, based on the circumstantial evidence found.  

Moving on to the ancestry of George Newcombe (senior), he is identified along with his brother John in an indenture of 99 years or three lives for Hore Hill farm at Northlew dated 3 April 33 George II 1760. It is between George Newcombe of Northlew, yeoman and Christiana Maria Stevens of Cross, Little Torrington. George is aged 33 years therefore he was born circa 1727 and his brother John is aged 21 therefore born circa 1739 and crucially William Newcombe (brother to George junior) the son of George is aged 7, therefore William was born circa 1753. There is a general discrepancy of four years for their birth dates when compared to a similar earlier indenture document dated 1756; which indicates the need for caution when assessing how old someone really was. These indentures are significant in linking George Newcombe (senior) (whose christening has not yet been found) with his brother John whose birth can be estimated at between 1735/39 and consequently his christening has been found in the baptism register for Inwardleigh dated 15 September 1735, as the son of George and Mary Newcombe; without this documentary evidence for John, the inferred parentage of his brother George Newcombe (senior) would not be known. So by the lucky survival of this indenture document we can assume that George’s parents were George Newcombe and Mary of Inwardleigh. This gives an answer to the second query in the Newcombe ancestry.

George Newcombe wed Mary Jermin (alias German) on the 2 November 1714 at Inwardleigh and they had many children christened in the parish church from 1723 onwards. However before 1723 this couple are not mentioned in the Inwardleigh registers for the baptism of children; so between 1715 to 1723, when George would have been born his place of baptism is not known, but they may have lived elsewhere at that time and for instance in the small neighbouring parish of Ashbury the surviving baptisms register does not begin until 1813, as the earlier registers were alas lost in a fire in 1833. George Newcombe (the husband of Mary) is named in the Terrier of the Rectory of Inwardleigh in 1747. He is also mentioned in the will of his father George Newcombe in 1721, in which he is to receive the estate called Westlakes and part of Barton and a capital lease. So we can see that at this time the Newcombe’s were yeomen farmers.

The aforementioned George was the son of another George Newcombe and Elizabeth Northleigh, who wed 23^rd August 1687 at Inwardleigh. Elizabeth Northleigh was a daughter of the gentry family of Northleigh of Northleigh Manor in Inwardleigh; so George (who was a wealthy and prominent man) married well or depending on your point of view perhaps Elizabeth did not marry so well. George was a Churchwarden of Inwardleigh in 1691. His will was proved on the 29th May 1721 and from the inventory we can see that he owned a substantial amount of property:

Estates called Lower Living in the town, £150.

Graddons tenement in Inwardleigh, £50.

Part of the Barton of Inwardleigh Down, £140 (which was inherited by his son George).

Smardon in Inwardleigh, £25.

Pudson in Inwardleigh, £20.

Millhouse in Inwardleigh, £20.

Sum £701 16s 0d

The House of Commons Research Paper 99/20, dated 23 February 1999, reported on the purchasing power of the pound from 1750 to 1998. This report found that prices had risen broadly by 118 times. George Newcombe's £701 would thus be worth about £82,800.62 today using the retail price index which compares the cost of purchases of the typical household in that year with the cost today; sometimes referred to as the "Cost-of-Living Index". But this does not reflect the true increase for property values; it doesn't take much imagination to realize that the Millhouse in Inwardleigh costing £20 would be conservatively worth over £100000 today; which is a 5000 fold increase! If the other estates in George Newcombe's will also contained buildings, then his willed property of £405 could be valued at over £2,000,000 today.

When he was buried on the 30th March 1721 he was named as George Newcombe the son of Will. Newcome and Wilmot. But this identification with the aforementioned George is not so certain as there are other candidates and the lack of wills and extant parish registers makes the identification of the Newcombe family difficult to reconstruct. I therefore cannot have so much confidence in the identified ancestry of the last mentioned George; it is apparent however that many Newcombe’s were significant personages in the Inwardleigh and Okehampton area and whilst individual family groups can be further reconstructed, exactly how they all relate to one another is not known for sure.

A certain John Newcombe of Inwardleigh, gent(leman), died in 1711 and the inventory of his estate was viewed on the 22 August 1711 by George Newcombe; this could be could be the aforementioned George. This John used the coat of arms: On a chief dancette emaunchee an arrow palewise point uppermost between two birds (which appear to have no talons, so they could be martlets) wings closed; crest: a hawk rising wings expanded and inverted, jessed and belled. The tinctures are unknown.

Armorial bearings of John Newcombe of Okehampton, Northlew and Inwardleigh (not tinctured);

Arms: Gules, on a chief dancette of two pieces (emaunchee) azure, an arrow in pale, point uppermost argent, between two (plump) martlets wings closed facing dexter or.

Crest: A hawk (I have chosen a Goshawk) rising, wings expanded and inverted proper, belled or.

Drawn (with assumed tinctures) by Peter R. Newcombe ©.

Motto: Advena dubium Neucomes (Newcomers doubt and not companions) i.e. doubt the word of a stranger before that of your friends. This is a motto having a punning reference to the surname Newcombe in Latin; and also when translated into English. This motto has been devised by Peter R. Newcombe and has no historical significance.

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