John Gibbs, of Fenton

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: 1453, Totnes, Devon; Provost of the borough of Totnes
• Occupation: 1467, Totnes, Devon; Member of Parliment for Totnes

Family/Spouse: Agnes Mey, (Heiress of Boterford). Agnes (daughter of William Mey) died in 1488. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: ? Gilbert. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Escheator to the Crown fro Devon and Cornwall

William married Elizabeth Yarde before Oct 1487. Elizabeth (daughter of Gilbert Yarde, of Bradley and Joan Wadham) was born in At 1475. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Tenant of Pytte in Clyst St. George
• Residence: Pytte, Clyst St George, Devon

Notes:

Taxed 1524, 1543 and 1546.

There are 13 men at the beginning of this Gibbs Family Tree: John Gibbe, Henry Gibbe, Richard Gybbe, Thomas Gybbe, John Gybbe, Rev. William Gybbe, Geroge Gybbe, Walter Gybbe, Andrew Gybbe, George Gibb, Richard Gibbe, Robert Gibbe and Thomas Gibbs who are set down as the first three generations. The connection between these 13 men is conjectural. In the 1903 edition of the 'Gibbs Pedigree' there were only two conjecturally arranged generations but they embraced the same men, except that Richard and John Gibbe were not brought in, though the latter was mentioned under John the buyer of Pytte. The new arrangement follows Appendix XIII of Lord Hunsdon's 'Gibbs of Fenton'. His Chapter III must be read to appreciate the full force of the arguments for relationship between these persons and between them and the Gibbs family of Fenton, but the following short - though incomplete - statement may be useful.

It is not very likely that among these 13 men living in the contiguous parishes of Clyst St. George and Woodbury there would be any of an unrelated family of the same surname, and there is actual evidence of relationship in some cases. Thus, John Gibbe renting Pytte and John Gybbe succeeding him (first as a renter, afterwards as owner) declares them to be relations and with little doubt father and son, while George Gibb, who is known to be father of John of Pytte must also have owned Pytte and have succeeded John as his son as shown in the Chart, or perhaps as his nephew. Again, there is evidence pointing to relationship between Henry of Woodbury, William, the rector and George of Claypitt, and between the last named and John of Pytte.

The name, not having been found in the parishes concerned at a period earlier than that of the first generation suggests that the family had recently come from outside to settle there. This is consistent with the tradition that the family was an offshoot from that of Fenton in Dartington (near Totnes and under 30 miles from Clyst St. George), a tradition till recently mainly only supported by an unofficial Ordinary of Arms of about 1689 in the College of Arms which quoted the Dartington family's arms as belonging to both families, and to the actual use of those arms by members of the Clyst family from at least 1691 onwards. Now, however, that Lord Hunsdon has produced other evidence for the connection, and especially evidence that William, the rector, was some relation of that family (and if he, then all the Clyst family), little doubt remains of the truth of the tradition. The pedigree of Gibbs of Fenton, embodying Lord Hunsdon's surmise that John Gybbe of Pytte was a son of William Gibbs of Fenton who died before October, 1487, is therefore inserted before Chart 1.
In the Lay Subsidy Roll of 15 Henry VIII, quoted on p. 80 of 'Gibbs of Fenton', he appears as 'John Gybbe at Pytte asessed for his goods at 100s tax 2s.6d.' Pytte, the cradle of our Clyst St. George family, is the house, 300 yards north of the church, which remained in the family till 1790, was restored to it in 1839. John probably died before 1543, the year of the next subsidy ('Gibbs of Fenton', p.54).

The tax dates referred to are those of the Lay Subsidies ordered by Henry VIII respectively (see 'Gibbs of Fenton', pp. 54-5). Later Clyst St. George assessments to subsidies were in 3 Edward VI, 13, 23 (1580-1), and 31, Elizabeth; and 21 James I; all, together with the earlier ones, extracted on pp. 76-88 of 'Gibbs of Fenton'. In a case such as No. 4 it cannot be quite certain that the Henry Gibbs taxed in 1524 was the same Henry as he who died and made his will in 1549. In such cases the tax date is inserted in the Chart with a ?.

Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: Fenton (now Venton), Dartington, Devon

Thomas married Anne Courtenay in 1509. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Taxed there 1524, 1543 and 1546, bought Claypitt there 1560; buried at Clyst St. George 1562.

Claypitt, which no longer exists, was situated near to and South of the church at Clyst St. George. For George's purchase of it from Lord Wentworth through William, the rector, see entry for Rev. William Gybbe. The agreement shows that it was '1 messuage, 1 garden, 20 acres of land, 1 acre of meadow and 2 acres of marshland'.

Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: Clyst St George, Devon
• Birth: 1520, Devon

Notes:

There are 13 men at the beginning of this Gibbs Family Tree: John Gibbe, Henry Gibbe, Richard Gybbe, Thomas Gybbe, John Gybbe, Rev. William Gybbe, Geroge Gybbe, Walter Gybbe, Andrew Gybbe, George Gibb, Richard Gibbe, Robert Gibbe and Thomas Gibbs who are set down as the first three generations. The connection between these 13 men is conjectural. In the 1903 edition of the 'Gibbs Pedigree' there were only two conjecturally arranged generations but they embraced the same men, except that Richard and John Gibbe were not brought in, though the latter was mentioned under John the buyer of Pytte. The new arrangement follows Appendix XIII of Lord Hunsdon's 'Gibbs of Fenton'. His Chapter III must be read to appreciate the full force of the arguments for relationship between these persons and between them and the Gibbs family of Fenton, but the following short - though incomplete - statement may be useful.

It is not very likely that among these 13 men living in the contiguous parishes of Clyst St. George and Woodbury there would be any of an unrelated family of the same surname, and there is actual evidence of relationship in some cases. Thus, John Gibbe renting Pytte and John Gybbe succeeding him (first as a renter, afterwards as owner) declares them to be relations and with little doubt father and son, while George Gibb, who is known to be father of John of Pytte must also have owned Pytte and have succeeded John as his son as shown in the Chart, or perhaps as his nephew. Again, there is evidence pointing to relationship between Henry of Woodbury, William, the rector and George of Claypitt, and between the last named and John of Pytte.

The name, not having been found in the parishes concerned at a period earlier than that of the first generation suggests that the family had recently come from outside to settle there. This is consistent with the tradition that the family was an offshoot from that of Fenton in Dartington (near Totnes and under 30 miles from Clyst St. George), a tradition till recently mainly only supported by an unofficial Ordinary of Arms of about 1689 in the College of Arms which quoted the Dartington family's arms as belonging to both families, and to the actual use of those arms by members of the Clyst family from at least 1691 onwards. Now, however, that Lord Hunsdon has produced other evidence for the connection, and especially evidence that William, the rector, was some relation of that family (and if he, then all the Clyst family), little doubt remains of the truth of the tradition. The pedigree of Gibbs of Fenton, embodying Lord Hunsdon's surmise that John Gybbe of Pytte was a son of William Gibbs of Fenton who died before October, 1487, is therefore inserted before Chart 1.
In the Lay Subsidy Roll of 15 Henry VIII, quoted on p. 80 of 'Gibbs of Fenton', he appears as 'John Gybbe at Pytte asessed for his goods at 100s tax 2s.6d.' Pytte, the cradle of our Clyst St. George family, is the house, 300 yards north of the church, which remained in the family till 1790, was restored to it in 1839. John probably died before 1543, the year of the next subsidy ('Gibbs of Fenton', p.54).

Taxed 1524, 1543 and 1546; bought Peytt in Clyst St. George 1560, buried at Clyst St. George 24 May 1573.

His birth in 1510 is established in 'Gibbs of Fenton', pp. 54-5.

His purchase of Pytte is recorded as follows in Rev. Dr. G. Oliver's 'Ecclesiastical Antiquities in Devon' (pub. 1839-42), Vol. I, p. 151: 'On 1 May (2 Elizabeth) 1560 John Gybb or Gybbs of St. George's Clyst purchased of Thomas Lord Wentworth for £110 the Fee Simple of all that messuage .... called Peytt of which the said John Gybb was the tenant and occupier'. The agreement for this purchase (abstracted in 'Gibbs of Fenton', pp. 140-1) shows that the property bought was '1 messuage, 1 guarden, 40 acres of land and 2 acres of meadow'. See also entry for Rev. William Gybbe who acted for John in the agreement.

Family/Spouse: Anne Joanes. Anne was born in 1510 in England; died in Jun 1584 in Clyst St George, Devon; was buried on 5 Jun 1584 in Clyst St George, Devon. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]