Passmore or Pasmore family of North Molton, Devon

[jonwicken]

There are several online trees on ancestry trees who have Elizabeth Passmore who married John Houle in Swimbridge in 1829 as the daughter of Richard Passmore born 1768 and Mary Tapp|Passmore.

This is incorrect as this Elizabeth Passmore|Houle was alive in 1851 when Richard Passmore born in 1768 died and so would have been mentioned as a beneficiary (or 'disowned' with 1 shilling) in his will if she was his daughter.

Elizabeth Passmore|Houle can be seen on the 1851 and 1861 censuses in Swinbridge as being born in c1804/5 in North Molton. I haven't seen the original marriage to confirm she was single and not a widow.

As well as the Elizabeth Passmore baptised on 27 May 1804 in North Molton to Richard and Mary Passmore, there is also the baptism of an Elizabeth Passmore on 03 Feb 1803 daughter of William and Mary Passmore.

More needs to be looked at before equating this Mary Passmore|Houle as a daughter of Richard Passmore born 1775 and Mary Williams|Passmore.   

[jonwicken]

There is also in online trees Mary Passmore baptised 6 Aug 1809 daughter of Richard and Mary as being the one who married John Irwin in Swimbridge on 2 April 1836.

The census data with age and birthplace certainly make this seem probable, but there was also a Mary Passmore baptised on 15 Dec 1811 daughter of Robert and Rebecca who would need to be ruled out before confirming this identification.

However, she is not the daughter of Richard Passmore born in 1768 and Mary Tapp|Williams as like Elizabeth above, she is not mentioned in his 1851 will. 

[greasey]

Its all quite confusing all these Passmores marrying.  I always thought my Mary Passmore born 1809 son of my ancestor Richard Passmore and his wife Mary Williams, married a John Frayne as they are recorded on the 1841 and 1851 census for North Molton.  He was also a woolcomber, and could be related to the Sarah Frayne my ancestor Richard Passmore born 1812-13 married in 1837.  I haven't done much research into the Frayne family, but do have a line that goes back before 1700.  I will need to check in my ancestry tree.
I agree with you that the Mary Passmore buried in 1813 is Mary Williams, as she was baptized in North Molton in 1770.  All of her older Williams siblings were baptized in Bishops Nympton, which isn't very far from North Molton.  I don't have the will of her father Thomas Williams, but do know that he died around 1810 and she was named as a beneficiary.  I cannot remember if the will is available for download on the The National Archives or Devon Record Office.  With Mary dying in 1813 the money she may have been left would have been used to raise his children or become a chandler from a woolcomber if we believe the 1813 parish record entry for Richard Passmore.  His brother William is also on the same page baptizing one of his children and was a woolcomber.
I have searched for marriages for Richard and William Passmore after 1813 but they did not remarry.  It is likely that it is Mary Stoneman, William Passmores wife buried in 1815.  With the absence of marriage certificates to know which female Passmores marry who, I would be inclined to say that my Mary Passmore married in North Molton in 1829 to John Frayne.

[jonwicken]

Its all quite confusing all these Passmores marrying.  I always thought my Mary Passmore born 1809 son of my ancestor Richard Passmore and his wife Mary Williams, married a John Frayne as they are recorded on the 1841 and 1851 census for North Molton.  He was also a woolcomber, and could be related to the Sarah Frayne my ancestor Richard Passmore born 1812-13 married in 1837.  I haven't done much research into the Frayne family, but do have a line that goes back before 1700.  I will need to check in my ancestry tree.

Do you mean Mary Pasmore who married William Frayne on 16 Apr 1829 at North Molton? I have had a look at them in the 1851 census where her age is 51 and in the 1861 census where she is 63. So she was born c1797-1800. She can't be the Mary Passmore born in 1809.

Online trees have her as the daughter of William Passmore and Mary Stoneman baptised in 1799. I have looked at the baptisms for North Molton and there is a Mary Pasmore baptised on 28 Apr 1799 daughter of William Passmore and Mary Stoneman, but there is also a baptism on 15 Jan 1798 daughter of Edmund and Grace. I would need to do some more digging to work out who I think it is. 

[jonwicken]

I agree with you that the Mary Passmore buried in 1813 is Mary Williams, as she was baptized in North Molton in 1770.  All of her older Williams siblings were baptized in Bishops Nympton, which isn't very far from North Molton.  I don't have the will of her father Thomas Williams, but do know that he died around 1810 and she was named as a beneficiary.  I cannot remember if the will is available for download on the The National Archives or Devon Record Office.  With Mary dying in 1813 the money she may have been left would have been used to raise his children or become a chandler from a woolcomber if we believe the 1813 parish record entry for Richard Passmore.  His brother William is also on the same page baptizing one of his children and was a woolcomber.

I looked at the Devon Wills Index for Thomas Williams:

Williams    Thomas    North Molton    DEV       1810    W    le    BARN    BECK    T.    

Williams    Thomas    Northmolton [North Molton]    DEV    yeoman    1810    W    ab    BARN    DDR1    IR 26/338

His original will therefore does not survive, just the list entry in the index made before they were lost in the WWII bombing and also an abstract at the National Archives:

Abstract of Will of Thomas Williams, Yeoman of North Molton, Devon. Proved in the Court...
Reference:    IR 26/338/275
Description:    Abstract of Will of Thomas Williams, Yeoman of North Molton, Devon. Proved in the Court of Barnstaple in Devon.
Date:    February 11 1810

I have had a look at it and can be downloaded for free at the National Archives if you register:

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D7175777

It just lists his children including Mary Passmore but no grandchildren, so it doesn't help there.

[jonwicken]

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.

Richard Passmore married Mary Tapp on 1 April 1793 at North Molton.

He was of North Molton and she was of 'Twitching'. However this place doesn't seem to exist and is presumably Twitchen. Historically Twitchen formed part of South Molton Hundred.

The witnesses of the marriage are John Tapp and Elizabeth Tapp, who both signed with a cross.

We know that Mary Tapp|Passmore was alive in December 1815, as she agreed to the marriage  licence of her underage son Richard Passmore junior.

We however know she was dead by 14 September 1832 when Richard was granted a marriage licence to marry widow Christian Symonds (Devon Heritage Centre DEX/7/b/1/1832/379).

I have looked at the burials in Braunton, where the family moved to (probably in the 1810s) and have found this one:

Mary Passmore - buried 10 Apr 1832 - aged 65 - born c1766/7

This was 5 months before her husband Richard Passmore senior remarried, so this seems like it could be her burial.

I then looked in the baptisms for Twitchen and found a baptism on 26 May 1767 for a Mary Tapp, daughter of John and Elizabeth Tapp.

As this all seems to tie everything together, it seems Mary Tapp|Passmore was baptised in Twitchen in 1767 and was buried in Braunton in 1832.

I had a look on the English Newspaper Archive and found this is indeed correct as on Thursday 19 April 1832 in the Exeter Flying Post is the following:

"...April 4, at [H----] cottage, Braunton, aged 65, Mary, the wife Of Mr. Richard Passmore, of that place."

Her death on 4th April 1832 is also recorded in the Thursday 12 April 1832 edition of the North Devon Journal:

"At Hill's Cottage, Braunton, on Wednesday the 4th inst., aged 65, Mary, the wife of Mr. Richard Passmore, of that place."

Her death was also in the Saturday 14 April 1832 edition of Exeter and Plymouth Gazette with similar wording.

It removes Mary Tapp|Passmore from being one of the Mary Passmore burials of 1813 and 1815 and so again reaffirms the believe these are of Mary Williams|Passmore and Mary Stoneman|Passmore.

If Mary Tapp|Stoneman was born in 1767, it seems unlikely she was the mother of a child born in 1812, so that 1812 Richard baptism is still a bit of a mystery.

Either it is a re-baptism of the Richard Passmore born in 1795 for some reason, or there was another couple named Richard and Mary temporarily in North Molton, or the parents' names have been incorrectly recorded. 

[jonwicken]

Have you done an ancestry DNA test by any chance? I have done mine and have done both of my parents.

My Dad's ethnicity estimate (although of course take the percentage with a pinch of salt) is 62% England and the only location marker he has for England is Devon and Cornwall, with a sub community of Devon.

The only Devon ancestors I have found for him are these Passmores in North Molton. I am surprised he doesn't have Yorkshire as a community, but DNA is what it is! I wonder if this DNA community does come from his 4 x great grandfather Philip Pasmore (1747-1802). 

DNA can help add weight to theories. I was able to crack with much more certainty a Cornish line thanks to DNA matches.

[greasey]

I have done a DNA test on Ancestry a few years ago.  I have had very few matches from Devon.  The DNA test Ancestry does is the autosomal test, that does all of your lines, rather than just your Y Chromosome or male line.  Most of my distant cousin matches have been from my maternal lines through my mother, that goes back to Suffolk, Durham County, Northumberland, South West Scotland such as Glasgow, and Northern Ireland.  For some reason Devon doesn't seem to be coming up in my DNA test in the places my ancestors came from.  My lineage back to the Passmores to North Molton is correct, and I did contact someone whom was a 5th cousin descended from an Aaron Bendle, brother of my 4x great grandmother Mary Bendle 1813-1879 of South Molton.  She is the mother of my 3x great grandmother Eliza Wotton 1844-1910, whom married my direct Passmore ancestor John Passmore 1838-1903 from North Molton.  The distant cousin said that Aaron Bendle emigrated to Australia to Victoria in 1854.  If my lineage as not correct, I would not be related to this distant cousin.  The limitations of the Ancestry test, is that you can only go back 200 or more years, and have good matches to 6th or 5th cousins, though most of my matches are 4th cousins, mainly from USA, Canada and Australia.  Because we are 8th cousins once removed, we are too distant for the test to prove our relationship from our common ancestor Philip Passmore 1672-1743.  In the near future I think DNA testing would probably be able to go further back, but for now it doesn't.  It can work for people on 23andme, if you have taken a Y Chromosome test, for your male or paternal line, but you mentioned it is through one of your maternal ancestors that goes back to Philip Passmore 1747-1802, so it wouldn't work.  If there was any male Passmore descendants alive today descended from Philip Passmore 1672-1734, it would prove that the male line is correct.  However, I haven't found any Passmores yet that have done a DNA test on either Ancestry or 23andme. 

[greasey]

Back to our Passmores.  My ancestor Richard Passmore 1700-1776 born and died in North Molton, was the first child of our common ancestor Philip Passmore 1672-1743.  On Richard's burial from 1776 he is recorded as being Parish Clerk, so it did run in the family further back.  I am descended from his brother Philip 1702-1759.  The fact that Philip Passmore named his first child Richard, could this be evidence that Philip Passmore 1672-1743 was the son of Richard Passmore 1652-1690?  This is the only one that I could find that could be his father in North Molton, though there could be other Richard's out there in other parishes.  We know Philip married Joan Abbot, but which Joan?  I have a baptism for one baptized in 1675 in North Molton daughter of Robert Abbot and Jane.  There are other candidates too, such as another Joan baptized in 1670 in the parish to Robert and Jane (could be a sister), and variants in the spelling of her name such as Jone or Joane.  This will need to be looked into too.  We know if the Richard Passmore that married Margery Leicherdon in 1672 is the father of Philip and his 3 brothers, is Richard the one born in 1652 in North Molton?  The surname Leicherdon or Leycherdon as it is spelt earlier is quite an unusual surname, from North Molton.  I have gone back to a Philip Leycherdon before 1600 and one that is recorded as in the 1569 muster roll for the North Devon Militia for North Molton.  There are 2 Passmores in it Myghell or Michael and his supposed brother Matthew.  I cannot prove that our line goes back to either of them, if the descent is correct from Henry Passmore that married Jacette or Facette as she is recorded in the baptism register for their children Richard Passmore 1616-1690, Richard Passmores reputed father.  I got this information on the Muster Roll from a book I have called North Molton a North Devon Parish by Norman Annett, from a deceased distant cousin in 2008.  I will have to scan some images from it.