Lincolnshire (Blackards recorded 1562-1646, 1813)

Lincolnshire is divided into 3 districts Holland, Kesteven, and Lindsey. The northern-most was Lindsey on the Humber River across from Yorkshire. Lindsey was recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles.

"The Lords Willoughby were also known as Earls of Lindsey." Margaret (for Britfinders).

Lindsey includes an area in northern Lincolnshire around the town of Great Grimsby.

There were an Edward Blackard, Thomas Blackard and a William Blackard in Lindsey who had children in the 1590s. It is possible that all the other Blackards recorded later in Lincolnshire descend from these three men. The birth of an Elizabeth Blackard earlier in the oldest surviving parish records os Stallingborough in1562 is currently the earliest Blackard recorded in Lincolnshire. However; she could be about the same age as the 3 aforementioned male Blackards. So perhaps these four Blackards are all children of some Blackard born around 1540.

Earliest dates for parish registers in the parishes of Laceby, Old Clee, Great Grimsby, Bradley, North Thoresby, Healing and Stallingborough are as follows Margaret (for Britfinders)-

Old Clee 1562 (first Blackard in 1596 )
Great Grimsby 1538 (first Blackard in 1593 )
Bradley 1664 [1564?](first Blackard in 1630)
North Thoresby 1546 (first Blackard in 1639)
Healing 1571 (first Blackard in 1627)
Stallingborough 1549 (first Blackard in 1562 )***
Laceby 1538 (first Blackard in 1599)

By 878 the Danes had conquered northern and eastern England. In the 11th century King Canute (r. 1014-35) ruled over a vast kingdom that included present-day Denmark, England, Norway, southern Sweden, and parts of Finland. Christianity, first introduced in 826, became widespread during Canute's reign. After his death, Canute's empire disintegrated.
http://isa.dknet.dk/~janj/denmark.html#History

Anglo-Saxon Chronicles

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles were created on the orders of King Alfred the Great, about A.D. 890, but includes their knowledge of history since 50 B.C. Recording of the chronicles was continued by others until the middle of the 12th Century. There are many descriptions of the Danish invasions in the area where Blackards were later recorded in Lindsey/Lincolnshire in East-Anglia. Click here to read excerpts from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles refering to Lindsey, Lincolnshire & Danes.

Domesday Book of 1085

"The Domesday book was commissioned in December 1085 by William the Conqueror, who invaded England in 1066. The first draft was completed in August 1086 and contained records for 13,418 settlements in the English counties south of the rivers Ribble and Tees (the border with Scotland at the time). " http://domesdaybook.co.uk/

The name Aldric the Blackheart was recorded in northern England.

Danelaw was comprised of Five Burghs: Lincoln, Stamford, Nottingham, Dervy and Leicester. The sons of Alfred the Great recovered the invaded lands of the Five Burghs but this was not to last. It was re-taken by Canute, son of Svein in 1013. Again in 1066 the Normans ( William the Conqueror) re-took the lands. William the Conqueror, in fear that the lands would once again fall to foreign invaders, initiated the first census in 1086. It was called the Doomsday survey and the result was published in the Doomsday Books which survive to this day. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~danlcc/index_03.html

The Willoughby Family of Lindsey, Lincolnshire

"The Lords Willoughby were also known as Earls of Lindsey." Margaret (for Britfinders).

Lindsey includes an area in northern Lincolnshire where the town of Great Grimsby is located.

In the 12th and 13th centuries there were two separate families of Willoughby holding lands in Lincolnshire. One, from whom the Lords Willoughby descended, took its name from Willoughby in the Marsh, in Lindsey, and the other from Silk Willoughby, in Kesteven. Both families were tenants of the Gant fee. As to the latter, Robert de Willoughby gave land in Silk Willoughby to the Templars before 1185. http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=utzing&id=I096507

"Richard Bertie, Esq., who married Catherine Willoughby, Baroness Willoughby, daughter and heir of William Willoughby, X Lord Willoughby, widow of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, K.G. He died in the 64th year of his age, on the 9th April 1582, having survived his Duchess two years, she deceasing on the 19th of September, 1580, leaving issue by him an only son, Peregrine Bertie, XI Lord Willoughby."http://www.baronage.co.uk/bphtm-02/moa-13.html

Click here to read more notes on Willoughby in East Anglia including Linsey, Lincolnshire.

English Civil War (started in Nottingham/Lincolnshire 1642)

Lincolnshire was to know no peace. In 1369 the Black Death (bubonic plague) ravaged the lands. Later the Hundred Years War against France and the subsequent loss of trade with Scandinavia devastated Lincolnshire's prosperity. It could not have been an easy life even for the landed gentry of the area. Things got worse. The War of the Roses which sacked Stamford and Grantham, the dissolution of the religious houses in 1536 (Louth, Horncastle, Boston, Stamford and Lincolnshire) and the Civil War, all found Lincolnshire in the middle of the conflict and unrest. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~danlcc/index_03.html

"FRANCIS (WILLOUGHBY), LORD WILLOUGHBY OF PARHAM, brother and heir, was born 1613-14;Being opposed to the King's policies, he was appointed by Parliament Lord Lieutenant of Lidsey, within Lincolnshire, 5 March, and of the whole of that co., 26 March 1642, and sided with the Parliament on the outbreak of the Civil War. As Colonel of a Regiment of Horse, till 30 April 1644, he joined the Earl of Essex's army shortly after Edge Hill (23 October 1642) and held the chief command in Lincolnshire during 1643, being thanked by the House of Lords for his great service. "http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=utzing&id=I080631

May 13, 1643 "Skirmish at Grantham, Lincolnshire. In his first independent action as a cavalry commander, Oliver Cromwell routs a Royalist force twice the size of his own."

July 20 1643 "Lord Willoughby captures Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, for Parliament but is threatened by Charles Cavendish's Royalists. Oliver Cromwell and Sir John Meldrum move to support Willoughby"

July 30 1643 "Gainsborough recaptured by the Royalists."

It is estimated that 1643 may have been the year that John Blackard was transported to Charles City, Virginia.

(Great) Grimsby - Cleethorpes

"Great Grimsby is a market town, a borough both corporate and parliamentary, a sea-port and parish, in the wapentake of Bradley-Haverstoc and parts of Lindsey - 168 miles N from London, 35 NE from Lincoln, and 16 SE from Hull. This place, anciently spelled Grimsbye, is advantageously situate near the mouth of the Humber, and is suppossed to have been the spot where the Danes disembarked, on their first invasion of Britain, towards the close of the eighth century. It is one of the most ancient boroughs in the kingdom - was formerly rich and populous, and possessed a considerable share of foreign commerce and internal traffic." "Lincolnshire Directory," Pigot & Co., 1841 http://www.rootsweb.com/~englin/G/grimsby.htm

Folklore has it that the town is named after Grim, a local fisherman who rescued an infant from a boat he found drifting. He adopted the boy, named him Habloc and raised him. The lad turned out to be the son of the King of Denmark. The boy was returned to his royal family, Grim was rewarded with gold and many fine gifts. Grim returned to Lincolnshire and built the town which he named after himself. The ancient seal of Grimsby contains the names Gryme and Habloc. It is from Habloc that the medieval Havelock the Dane derives. In the 1086 Domesday Book, the name appears as Grimesbi. [A. D. Mills, "A Dictionary of English Place-Names," Oxford University Press, 1991] http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LIN/GreatGrimsby/#History

(Great) Grimsby

Saint James Church was built in 1114 AD, however, Saint Mary's was the first church of Grimsby. Saint James Church became the people's church in 1586 when a local man named John Whitgift (Archbishop of Canterbury) united the parishes of Saint Mary's and Saint James.
http://www.nelincs.gov.uk/ic/tourism-leisure/heritage/grsaint_james_church.htm

Edward Blackard
ch: John Blackard b. 1593
     Luke Blackard b. 1594

(John or Luke?) Blackard
ch: Elizabeth b. 1636
      Isabel b. 1637

Old Clee

Old Clee is now part of Grimsby but still an old village round Holy Trinity Church.
http://www.churchmousewebsite.co.uk/old_clee.htm

The beautiful and popular parish church of the Holy Trinity and St Mary, with its Saxon tower dating from before 1000 AD, is the oldest building in Grimsby. For many centuries the church served the farming village of Clee and the other fishing hamlets.
http://www.nelincs.gov.uk/IC/noframes/tourism-leisure/church/holy_trinity.htm

It appears that a Thomas Blackard had 6 children here in 1596-1606. One of those children, William Blackard, married there in 1632 and had 2 children also christened at the same church.

Thomas Blackard
ch: Susanna Blackard b.1596
      Jo Blackard b. 1598
      Richard Blackard (1600-1601)
      William Blackard (b.1602) m. Margaret 1630
         ch: Thomas Blackard (1630-1630)
               Richard Blackard (b.1632)
      Richard Blackard (b.1604)
      Thomas Blackard b.1606

North Thoresby

This map shows North Thoresby due south of Grimsby. North Thoresby is eight miles from Grimsby.

There are two or three John Blackards recorded in Grimsby, Cleethorpes and North Thoresby. Either could have been the John Blachard/Blackard who was transported to Virginia by Sparrowe & Tye and is named on the 1650 headrights land grant. Theoretically, discounting the 7-year waiting period for headrights grant, John Blackard should have arrived in Virginia in 1643.

However, it appears that the wife of the John Blackard recorded in North Thoresby remarried in 1653 after her child by John Blackard was born in 1746. This could mean that her husband, John Blackard, was the one recorded as being transported to Virginia. This places the date of transporation at 1745-1746

I found one church in North Thoresby called St Helen's.
http://wparkinson.com/Churches/Index%20to%20All%20Churches.txt

There appears to have been one Blackard family here that had at least 2 children between 1639 and 1646. Then the wife appears to have remarried in 1653 although there is no death record of John Blackard. This makes him a candidate for the John Blackard transported to Charles City Co., Virginia before 1650.

John Blackard m. Ruth
   ch: Helen b.1639
        Jane Blackard b. 1646
Ruth Blackard m. Charles Thorold 1653

Stallingborough - Healing - Bradley - Laceby

This map shows Stallingborough, Healing, Laceby and Bradley to the west of Grimsby.

Healing is a medium sized, but sleepy, village that can be reached by car from Grimsby town centre in 10 minutes. The Doomsday Book detailed the Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul.

Bradley: A small village just to the west of Grimsby. The church was dedicated to St George and dates to the 13th century.

Laceby is just slightly beyond Bradley.

Stallingborough

I found one church in the Stallingborough area dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul. Possibly this church also serves Healing.

Elizabeth is the first Blackard recorded in Lincolnshire, currently. A John Blackard was born in Somerset about 1560, however, only 4 Blackards were recorded there.

Healing

I found one church in the Healing area dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul. Possibly this church also serves Stallingborough.

Possibly the Richard Blackard in Bradley, Healing and born in Laceby are the same person.

Richard Blackard m. Ellen Thomlinson 1627
ch: Elizabeth Blackard (1627-1627)

Bradley

I found a St George's Church in Bradley.

Possibly the Richard Blackard in Bradley, Healing and born in Laceby are the same person.

Richard Blackard
ch: Hester Blackard (1630-1630)

Laceby

I found a St Margaret's Church in Laceby.

Possibly the Richard Blackard in Bradley, Healing and born in Laceby are the same person.

William Blackard
ch: Richard Blackard 1599

Barton Upon Humber

Barton-upon-Humber appears to be on the route leaving Lincolnshire going north across the Humber towards York. This is consistent with the appearance that the Blackard family had moved out of Lincolnshire into Yorkshire and elsewhere.

"Barton-upon-Humber is a small market town situated at the northernmost extremity of Lincolnshire, on the south bank of the river Humber, 42 km (26 miles) from the mouth of the estuary. On the north bank of the river, 8 km (5 miles) downstream from Barton, lies the prosperous port and town of Kingston-upon-Hull, better known today simply as Hull, which is the nearest substantial urban centre. With the opening of the Humber Bridge in 1981, Barton is now situated alongside a major north–south road, whereas previously it lay in an area of sparsely populated countryside that was not well served by roads. Although Barton was but a short distance to the east of a major Roman road (Ermine Street) which ran the 56 km (35 miles) north from Lincoln, to a ferry at Winteringham, and thence on to York"

St. Peters, Barton Upon Humber

Elsewhere in Lincolnshire

Coates

Possibly the Richard Blackard recorded here was the son of William Blackard b. 1599 in Laceby.

Richard Blackard
ch: William Blackard b.1628

Baston

Stoke-South

Bardney (Blackett?)

Skidbrook