Passmore or Pasmore family of North Molton, Devon

[greasey]

Hi Jon.

The Will of Robert Passmore is just a transcription that I have.  It doesn't give the date when he made the will, just when it was proved.  The only burial I found for Robert Passmore in North Molton is the one in 1820 aged 38, which would match his age when he was baptized in 1782 to Philip and Margaret Passmore.  I don't have the original copy of the will.  A lot of them have been microfiched taken from the originals, as they may not have survived from the South West Heritage Centre in Devon.  I have checked Find My Past, and can find no other Robert Passmores from neighboring parishes in burials that could be him at the time up to 1827.  My ancestor Richard Passmore was a shoe and boot maker and would have been apprenticed to someone at a young age, but I haven't yet found a surviving apprenticeship record.  His father Richard is recorded taking on an apprentice as a woolcomber in the early 1800s according to FindMyPast.  I will have to follow this up.   

[jonwicken]

[Richard] had a sister Elizabeth, a brother William, sister Mary, Peggy is short for Margaret, so she could be named after his mother... 

...Richard's son William 1806-1866 is on the 1841 and 1851 census living with his aunt and uncle William and Joan Williams in Upcott North Molton a laborer on their farm. 

On the 1861 census he was a farmer in Upcott, and was a beneficiary in his uncle William Williams will.  William Passmores brother Richard was also a beneficiary too, as William Williams didn't have any children...

...1078/IRW/P/329
Will of Robert Passmore, Excise Officer of North Molton,  7th July 1827
Executor – William Passmore, woolcomber   Executor – brother William.
Legacies with conditions to brother Richard: £40 the sum to be left untouched unless Richard be in extreme distress, and then not to exceed £5 per year. The interest payable yearly. After Richard’s decease, Richard’s son Richard to have £15, his other three children to have £25. Nephew Richard, son of Richard to have £10 to be placed out at interest for his benefit to put him to a trade when he reaches 14 years, or 7 years if his father thinks proper; any surplus to be applied to clothes for him during his apprenticeship...

The children baptised for the Richard and Mary Passmores in North Molton are:

Mary bapt 25 Dec 1793
Richard bapt 3 May 1795
John bapt 14 May 1797
William bapt 7 Sep 1800
Elizabeth bapt 27 May 1804
William bapt 07 Sep 1806
Peggy bapt 02 May 1808
Mary bapt    06 Aug 1809
Richard bapt 12 Oct 1812
Richard bapt 11 Apr 1813

The will of Robert Passmore who died in 1820 and was proved in 1827 clearly states that his brother Richard had four children: 'After Richard’s decease, Richard’s son Richard to have £15, his other three children to have £25. '

It is known from the William Williams will that William baptised in 1806 and one of the Richards baptised in 1812 and 1813 were two of the children of Richard Passmore and Mary Williams.

But by 1820 (or earlier depending on when Robert Passmore's will was written) only two other children were alive.

So did one of either Elizabeth, Peggy or Mary die, or did one of them belong to the other Richard and Mary, along with the other Richard?

[jonwicken]

It is known from the William Williams will that William baptised in 1806 and one of the Richards baptised in 1812 and 1813 were two of the children of the children of Richard Passmore and Mary Williams.

But by 1820 (or earlier depending on when Robert Passmore's will was written) only two other children were alive.

So did one of either Elizabeth, Peggy or Mary die, or did one of them belong to the other Richard and Mary, along with the other Richard?

I have looked for burials of children named Elizabeth, Peggy (or Margaret variant) and Mary in North Molton between 1800 and 1820 and can't find any.

To me, it is looking like that not all three girls were the daughters of Richard Passmore and Mary Williams.

Would love to know, if you can put me right.

Thanks!

[jonwicken]

The Will of Robert Passmore is just a transcription that I have.  It doesn't give the date when he made the will, just when it was proved.  The only burial I found for Robert Passmore in North Molton is the one in 1820 aged 38, which would match his age when he was baptized in 1782 to Philip and Margaret Passmore.  I don't have the original copy of the will.  A lot of them have been microfiched taken from the originals, as they may not have survived from the South West Heritage Centre in Devon.  I have checked Find My Past, and can find no other Robert Passmores from neighboring parishes in burials that could be him at the time up to 1827.  My ancestor Richard Passmore was a shoe and boot maker and would have been apprenticed to someone at a young age, but I haven't yet found a surviving apprenticeship record.  His father Richard is recorded taking on an apprentice as a woolcomber in the early 1800s according to FindMyPast.  I will have to follow this up.

It would be worth seeing if more could be found on that will with the original date it was written rather than proved. I will have a dig around too!

[jonwicken]

The Will of Robert Passmore is just a transcription that I have.  It doesn't give the date when he made the will, just when it was proved.  The only burial I found for Robert Passmore in North Molton is the one in 1820 aged 38, which would match his age when he was baptized in 1782 to Philip and Margaret Passmore.  I don't have the original copy of the will.  A lot of them have been microfiched taken from the originals, as they may not have survived from the South West Heritage Centre in Devon.  I have checked Find My Past, and can find no other Robert Passmores from neighboring parishes in burials that could be him at the time up to 1827.  My ancestor Richard Passmore was a shoe and boot maker and would have been apprenticed to someone at a young age, but I haven't yet found a surviving apprenticeship record.  His father Richard is recorded taking on an apprentice as a woolcomber in the early 1800s according to FindMyPast.  I will have to follow this up.

It would be worth seeing if more could be found on that will with the original date it was written rather than proved. I will have a dig around too!

I can only find the entry for the copy of the will that survives:

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/e9de09f1-8db6-45a2-890c-b92bcc072567

Reference:   1078/IRW/P/329
Description:   
Robert Passmore of North Molton, Devon
Date:   1827
Held by:   Devon Archives and Local Studies Service (South West Heritage Trust)


It might be worth ordering a copy. I have just ordered from them those four 1779 settlement records relating to my Philip Pasmore of North Molton, Merton and Penryn (1747-1802) which is £8.50.

All for now.

[jonwicken]

Looking at the marriages in North Molton, I see that there are indeed two marriages of a Richard Pasmore to a Mary Tapp at North Molton on 1 Apr 1793 and another Richard Pasmore who married Mary Williams at North Molton on 16 May 1803.

There is no marital status on the 1803 marriage for Richard, but he is not the same as the one who married in 1793. These are two different Richards and two different Marys.

I assume that the one who married in 1793 was the Richard baptised in 1768, son of Philip & Diana and that the one who married in 1803 was the Richard baptised in 1775, the son of Philip & Margaret.

I have had a look at burials for Mary Passmores in North Molton to try and separate them.

I have found the following burials for adult Mary Passmores from 1799 in North Molton:

Mary Passmore - buried 28 Feb 1799 - aged 30 - born c1768/9

Mary Passmore - buried 10 Jun 1810 - aged 72 - born c1737/8

Mary Passmore - buried 04 Apr 1813 - aged 42 - born c1770/1

Mary Passmore - buried 20 Apr 1815 - aged 37 - born c1777/8

Mary Passmore - 26 Jan 1836 - aged 86 - born c1749/50

At a first look, it seems the Mary who died in 1799 aged 30 could be the wife of John Passmore as they had children in North Molton from 1788 to 1797.

Based on the ages, the Mary who died in 1813 looks like she would be Mary Tapp wife of Richard Passmore born 1768.

It would then seem probable that the Mary who died in 1815 would be Mary Williams who married Richard Passmore born in 1775. Women were usually younger than their husbands, so this seems to the correct way round.

Mary buried in 1813 was buried on 4 April 1813 and it is perhaps notable that Richard Passmore baptised in 1813 was baptised on 11 April 1813. Could she be his mother and died after child birth?

I have seen that Richard Passmore born in 1768 moved to Braunton in Devon (confirmed by his birthplace as North Molton in the 1851 Braunton census) where he died in 1851. His gravestone survives and can be found on ancestry posted by users grams122 and ShirleyTeale33.

This gravestone also names his son Richard born in 1795 and died in 1848, confirming that he survived. It is very unlikely therefore that he would have had another son named Richard in 1813, so what is going on?

Could the name of the child baptised on 11 April 1813 been recorded as Richard in error? Does a will for Richard Passmore born in 1768 survive to show who his children were?

Always more digging to be done!

Jon     

[greasey]

Hi Jon.
You could be right about the burials of the 2 Mary Passmores in 1813 and 1815.  The one in 1813 could be my ancestor if she had the other Richard in 1813 and died shortly after childbirth as it ties in with the baptism.  The will of Robert Passmore from 1827 names Richard as a beneficiary and leaves him money unless in extreme distress.  If we assume the Mary Passmore buried in 1815 is his wife, which is a good 6 years out if it is Mary Williams.  She was born in 1770 in North Molton, but her siblings were from Bishops Nympton.  Perhaps Richard struggled to raise his children, as he doesn't appear to marry again.  A genealogist told me that the Mary Passmore buried in 1815 could well be Richard's brother William's wife Mary Stoneman as she was born in North Molton in 1776.  He too never remarried.  I have a marriage bond for William that was for 80 pounds.  Half it goes to William for marrying Mary and if Mary dies before he does the remaining 40 pounds to their children.  It is from 1797, along with assignment of lease from his father Philip just before he married her.  I don't think I can solve this problem as the burials don't say if they were wife of Richard just their ages.  I did use a genealogist a number of years ago to try to find anything on Richard Passmore, and there was nothing in the other documents in the parish such as poor relief, vestry minutes, quarter sessions, though there are 2 Richard Passmores on the 1840 Tithe Map Apportionment.  The only other record I have is a death certificate from 1841, where he died before the 1841 census was taken, and was a retired schoolmaster, cause of death was consumption age 65, which matches his birth year 1775 in North Molton.  The genealogist couldn't even find a record of him being a schoolmaster, unless he taught in another parish.  Its quite puzzling why we cannot find anything on him apart from an 1804 apprenticeship record:

Transcript of Richard's record
First name(s) Richard
Last name Passmore
Role Master
Indenture or registration year 1804
Indenture year 1804
Registration year 1804
Place North Molton
County Devon
Apprentice's first name(s) Michael
Apprentice's last name Locke
Master's first name(s) Richard
Master's last name Passmore
Master's occupation Woolcomber
Master's place North Molton
Master's county Devon
The National Archives reference (IR 1 series) 71 f 126
Society of Genealogists number 408435
Record type Records
Record set Britain, Country Apprentices 1710-1808
Category Education & work
Subcategory Apprentices
Collections from Great Britain, England

Plus his marriage in 1803 to Mary Williams and his name appearing in the 1780 lease for lives record of his father Philip Passmore 1735-1804, along with his surviving brothers, Philip, William, Robert and John from his first marriage.  He is a man of mystery.  If the death certificate is not him, then I don't know whom it could be.  His sibling Philip Passmore 1772-1818 was a schoolmaster too, so my relatives did educate the poor of the parish which is nice.  I also cannot find a single Passmore ancestor on my side of the family tree in documents where they could not sign their names.  This holds true for today being good at English.

[jonwicken]

Hi Jon.
You could be right about the burials of the 2 Mary Passmores in 1813 and 1815.  The one in 1813 could be my ancestor if she had the other Richard in 1813 and died shortly after childbirth as it ties in with the baptism.  The will of Robert Passmore from 1827 names Richard as a beneficiary and leaves him money unless in extreme distress.  If we assume the Mary Passmore buried in 1815 is his wife, which is a good 6 years out if it is Mary Williams.  She was born in 1770 in North Molton, but her siblings were from Bishops Nympton.  Perhaps Richard struggled to raise his children, as he doesn't appear to marry again.  A genealogist told me that the Mary Passmore buried in 1815 could well be Richard's brother William's wife Mary Stoneman as she was born in North Molton in 1776. 

The Richard Passmore who was born in 1768 in North Molton and died in Braunton in 1851 and he has a will proved at Canterbury. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discoveryui-content/view/480039:5111?_phsrc=RlS411&_phstart=successSource&gsfn=richard&gsln=passmore&ml_rpos=1&queryId=fd7843dbab3640122e57580d0f0f9e09

There is a gravestone in Braunton that names him, his son and his daughter in law but not his wife. His gravestone states he was the "Master of the Endowed School of this Parish".

I can see from the 1851 Braunton census that Richard aged 82 is with his grandson Robert Passmore aged 23 who was born in Braunton in c1828. I assume therefore that Richard had left North Molton for Braunton by then.

Braunton burials don't seem to be available and searchable online, but if the burials there brought up a burial for his wife Mary Tapp in Braunton, then the 1815 burial would fit with the wife of William and the 1813 burial for that of Mary Williams.

Eliminating what happened to the Mary who was the wife of William might help. 

But if you know that your Mary Williams was definitely born in 1770, then the age on the 1813 burial fits and it is just days away from the 1813 baptism of Richard.

[jonwicken]

Braunton burials don't seem to be available and searchable online, but if the burials there brought up a burial for his wife Mary Tapp in Braunton, then the 1815 burial would fit with the wife of William and the 1813 burial for that of Mary Williams.

Eliminating what happened to the Mary who was the wife of William might help. 

But if you know that your Mary Williams was definitely born in 1770, then the age on the 1813 burial fits and it is just days away from the 1813 baptism of Richard.

I have been looking at Richard Passmore (1768-1851) and his life in Braunton. This is to see if I can find anything else out about his wife Mary Tapp and when she died.

His son Richard Passmore born in 1795 in North Molton married Elizabeth Cutliffe in December 1795. They married by licence and he was under 21. The marriage bond record records the following:

DIOCESE OF EXETER
Marriage Bonds and Allegations for the year 1815

Marriage of Richard Passmore of Barnstaple in Devon, bachelor, minor and Elizabeth Cutcliffe of Braunton in Devon, spinster, 22nd December 1815

Repository: Devon Heritage Centre

Reference number: DEX/7/b/1/1815/482

Description: Richard Passmore had the consent of his parents to the marriage

Date: 22nd December 1815

If the transcription of the record is correct, this is important as it says "parents" which would mean Mary Tapp|Passmore wife of Richard Passmore born in 1768 was alive in December 1815.
(She must have died by 1832 when her husband remarried Christian Symonds.)

Her being alive in December 1815 would therefore seem to confirm what we were discussing previously.

Therefore the April 1813 burial is that of your Mary Williams|Passmore wife of Richard Passmore born 1775 (as it fits with her 1770 birth year you stated and the baptism of Richard Passmore a few days later). She presumably died as a result of child birth.

The April 1815 burial is that of Mary Stoneman|Passmore, wife of William Passmore as this also fits with the date of birth you stated.

There is still the confusion as to who the Richard Passmore son of Richard and Mary baptised in 1812 was. Presumably this was either a child of Richard Passmore born 1768 and Mary Tapp whose name is recorded incorrectly or their son Richard Passmore baptised in 1795 being baptised a second time for some reason.   

The will of Richard Passmore of Braunton names his grandsons John Pasmore and Robert Passmore, other apparent grandchildren with the surname Waring and others are mentioned too, including his brother Phillip Passmore.

Searching for a Waring and Passmore marriage, I found this:
   
Devon: Marriage Bonds and Allegations for the year 1818

Marriage of James Waring of Braunton in Devon, bachelor and Mary Passmore of Braunton, spinster, 16th May 1818

Repository: Devon Heritage Centre

Reference number: DEX/7/b/1/1818/142

Description: Witness Richard Passmore Junior

Date: 16th May 1818

This is therefore the Mary Passmore baptised in North Molton in 1793 to Richard Passmore and Mary Tapp|Passmore. The 1818 date and her location in Braunton implies her parents moved to Braunton from North Molton in the 1810s.

The Mary Passmore baptised in 1793 therefore survived to adulthood, so the 1809 Mary Passmore baptised in 1809 in North Molton must indeed be the daughter of Richard Passmore and Mary Williams|Passmore.