Scherek Arbol » John Lobb (< 1330-> 1350)

Persoonlijke gegevens John Lobb 

• Hij is geboren voor 1330 in Appledore, Devon, UK.
• Geïmmigreerd in het jaar 1350 vanuit Lobber Point, Cornwall.
• Hij is overleden na 1350 in Lobber Point, Port Isaac, Cornwall.
• Een kind van Putative Lobbe Lobb

Gezin van John Lobb

Kind(eren):

1. John Lobb  1515-1580 

Notities over John Lobb

The Lobb connection to Cornwall can be proved by one individual, John Lobb, who sailed from Appledore (which is close to Lobb and Braunton), to Port Isaac in 1350 to escape the Bubonic Plague.

tHE LOBB FAMILY AND THEIR SAXON ORIGINS AND HISTORY
The name of Lobb first occurred in the Domesday Book. They were part of a fairly early Saxon settlement in North Devon, probably well settled for a few hundred years before the Normans came. They were at one time considered to be Lords of the Manor there in North Devon just outside Braunton in the hamlet of Lobb/Lob/Lobbe/Loba spelled in various ways throughout the centuries, so it is therefore a place name, the main occupier taking his name from it. There is a Coat of Arms - most old English families had one and the original meaning of the name denotes small lump or hill, and North Lobb is at the foot of a small hill where the farm is.

The hamlet of Loba was divided in two as North Lobb and Lobb, and still is. In AD 857, Brantona (Braunton), was contained within the manor of Fillelia (Filleigh), a royal holding which King Ethelbald of Wessex owned. This area was part of the hundred of Shirwell - regions of the country being split into hundreds (sub-division of a county). Manors so called, were collections of land and properties which off-times changed hands or were split and boundaries were amended. Wessex was once part of the west country of England, much as Devon and Cornwall are, but further to the southeast. The Queen’s youngest son, Prince Edward is styled the Earl of Wessex, and there is probably some significance to that, as he is very into history, and the family as a whole are keenly interested in their early lines of descent.

Braunton was originally a Celtic settlement, and became the largest village in England.
During the 6th Century St Brannoc arrived from South Wales in 500-550, his purpose being to convert the Celts (Britons) to Christianity, and there he founded a church and the settlement grew around it. First named Brannockstood, it later changed to Brauntona, and now remains the same without the ‘a’. From this time there appeared to be just one place of worship, initially in the village square, some evidence of which remains, or did, in the form of a cross, replaced by a tree, probably an oak until a church was built further away, where it seems Celts and Saxons worshipped together. The tree remained until recent years when it disappeared possibly due to town planners who wished to enlarge the area.

The Saxons arrived in 680, and contrary to old perceptions, largely derived from the earlier history books, they settled quite peaceably with the Celts, without the conflicts and bloodshed associated with previous accounts regarding Saxon ‘invasions’. This happened more often than not wherever the Saxons settled. This blending must have frequently led to marriage and therefore many Anglo-Saxons would have a mix of both races in their lineage. So the Celts were not necessarily a separate group driven west although many were and sometimes maybe out of choice - choosing to remain so, as many Cornish do today, having descended from them.

Lobb Field at Braunton, or the Great Field, still retains one of the few evidences of Saxon agriculture and ploughing, although it diminishes a little more year by year as more of that land is encroached upon. It is a hedge-less, open-field system of the early Saxon
strip-farming method still operating, and only one of three now left in England. At the present time there are two caravan/camping sites attached to it, as the address given for them is Lobb Fields.

Upon the arrival of the Normans to our shores in 1066, it no doubt took some considerable time for William the Conqueror to establish all of his aims. One of his first actions was to build mighty castles in every prominent place, just so no one would be in
any doubt as to who was boss. By 1086 at least, it is recorded in Domesday - published in that year, but begun in 1085 - changes were being made to the holding of land. Most counties were covered in this publication but not all. For some counties there are additional books or supplements to the main one which contain more detail. The one for largely the west country is named the Exon Domesday. This suggests the task was completed in some haste which may account for why some counties have less detail than others, and some have no record at all, including London.

The Norman church of St Brannock was built in in 1310 and St Brannoc’s remains are still within it which is quite unique, and believed to be buried beneath the high altar. The ancient parish has much history attached to it, some evidence and artefacts are to be found in the museum founded in the 1970s. The church itself has much of interest and includes some well preserved, carved, chestnut, pew bench ends from 1500-1600. These are among the finest in England. It has a most interesting roof, an exceptionally wide nave, and unusual chancel screen. Very little of the original Saxon church remains now but one piece of incorporated carving, but is well worth visiting.

Lobb and its occupiers within the manor of Braunton/Filleigh are covered in the main edition of the Domesday Book with interesting detail. Until that time this manor was held by the Saxon King Edward the Confessor, very likely from when his reign began. The monarch frequently held parcels of land in which he was specifically interested, but it was a nominal ownership, insofar as the occupiers’ income from such was theirs to keep. Upon Edward’s death in 1066 and William’s coronation on Christmas Day, all that changed, and for good.

William’s favoured practice was to remove those whose holdings were not thought to be run particularly efficiently and have them run by someone he considered better suited, which would not have gone down well with the bolshie Saxons. The King derived an income from these peoples’ incomes whether original owners or not, in the form of a tax which continues to this day. Also the named holding was from that point owned by him or given to one of his minions. This did not happen in every case, but in a great many it was the norm. In some instances it probably depended if your face ‘fitted’. That latter practice petered out some centuries later so that once again the Englishman’s home was his castle, although no official declaration was made, but income-tax remained.
On taking charge of the Braunton manor, William installed Baldwin the Sheriff as a kind of overseer as it seems most landowners were allowed to continue as hitherto with some adjustments. The first recorded name for the Lobb holding was Philip. Part of Philip’s wealth lay in the saltings he held which were the most lucrative source of his income. The Salterns in general at Braunton made the manor especially wealthy, which is why the King wanted them in his name, so he took Philip‘s away from him. Philip was so upset about this which he rightly considered unjust and created such a fuss that in some small measure he achieved his aim. William had a reputation well earned, for being ruthless, but never the less, Philip’s pleas were listened to, so it goes to show he must have had sufficient clout to challenge his men, as part of his precious saltings were returned to him, but not all.

The farm there from those times almost to this day has always been known as Lobbphilip Farm, spelt just as shown. A number of documents held in the archives of the Balliol College at Oxford has four references to leasehold transferences to the aforementioned farm. These are, 1792, 1813, 1813 (dup.) and 1820 to the persons of Thomas Harris, Richard Dyer, Richard Dyer (dup.) and again Richard Dyer respectively - the latter probably being a renewal. These documents can be viewed online. Obviously, the original site is still there but there would have been rebuilds to those very early buildings through the centuries.

There are some additional later dates for documents they hold regarding Lobbphilip Farm. In any case though, they say that some are missing. These dates run from 1792 to 1896 and the small estate is referred to as Lobb Philip Farm in three separate words, no doubt only because the clerk would not have realised how Lobbphilip had been listed from the earliest records. The breakdown of the dates run as follows. ‘Ca. 10 items 1792-1881 and 2 files 1889-1896‘. Another property named Torun, Bydgoszcz, Pomerania, Poland Farm at Stoodleigh is included with these papers, and it is difficult to separate one from the other. If the reference is to Braunton, you know it is Lobbphilip - if Stoodleigh, then it is Torun, Bydgoszcz, Pomerania, Poland. You may think that should be simple, but it isn’t particularly. They are not really easy to access but you can enlarge and read them. You just need to persevere with patience, not that you get a lot from them really. One document has the signature of Michael Dyer, suggesting that the Lobbphilip estate was still in the Dyer family then, (refer Richard Dyer above). Many of the papers refer to clean-up and repair jobs commissioned, and costs. These properties appear to have been affiliated to the college at that time. I don’t know if they still are.

Further references to the name of Lobb/Lob/Lobbe during those early centuries appear from time to time in historical documents. There is mention of a place name of Lobbe in Oxfordshire in 1208, but is thought not to be of any importance as there is no follow up to it, or indeed any prior connection. Again, later in history, the name was considered to be a nickname for ‘spider’.

In 1130, Godric Lobb was included in the Early London Personal Names.

The priest in charge of St Anne’s Chapel, Braunton in 1136 was thought to be Goderie Lobb.

There is recorded a Godric Richard Lobbe in 1236 in Berkshire, which seems unusual at that time, having a secondary christian name, but may have been used to identify or link him to his father, as multiple same names were occurring more and more frequently.

Another documented in Norfolk in 1273, was Adam Lobbe. You may be thinking, how did they get to be so far flung? They can’t be from the same group. Why not? Well, people got around more often and easily than you think. If they were wealthy they could afford to be educated and many were. Parents who had money, saw to it that their children were educated in public schools which existed from very early times for that same purpose. There is much evidence for education among the Lobbs in the 16th and 17th centuries, and many of them were certainly wealthy. Some were self taught we know, but if your family had money you didn’t need to go down that road.

The English were obsessed with land far more than liquid assets, as the Scots were obsessed with money. That fact is contained within ‘The Lord’s Prayer’. I often wondered what the phrase ‘forgive us our trespasses’ actually meant - now I know.
It was how they chose to interpret that line and what it meant to them.

Philip de Lob/Lobbe is recorded in The Book of Fees for Devonshire in 1242 as appearing in Court, it is thought in Plymouth, and he was a land owner. You note the additional prefix ‘de’, French or Latin for ‘of’, after the Normans came - Philip of Lobb. Gradually, as time wore on the prefix was dropped and the place name became a surname.

Some records maintain that the Lobb surname is still largely restricted to Devon. (Probably an American source gives that and it gets repeated). It is simply not true of course, and most people associate the name with Cornwall, because it seems to have been there forever. It never had a Cornish origin, but once the first Lobb arrived in Cornwall in the 14th Century it became known again in Devon eventually, when it spread from Cornwall, as it did everywhere else including countries further afield.

There are various mentions of this valuable holding in Devon between 1261 and 1332, but after 1350 there appear to be none for many years, certainly none referring to Lobb. Could it be because the person or family who successfully ran it had departed suddenly and without much ceremony, causing it perhaps to become derelict? Around that time the Black Death struck (Bubonic Plague). The death toll from it was devastating - about sixty per cent of the population.

Our family legend has it that John Lobb sailed from Appledore in 1350, down the coast, landing at Port Isaac, in Cornwall, in order to escape the Black Death, which was particularly rampant in North Devon presumably. He must have believed he would have a better chance of survival elsewhere obviously, to even attempt it. It is thought he landed at a piece of land there, called Lobber Point ever since, which seems fairly self
explanatory. This ‘legend’ has been carried down from generation to generation in Dorothy (Lobb) Oliver’s family and there are other Port Isaac locals who are aware of Lobber Point and it’s presumed history. Whether John sailed alone or brought any family with him is unknown, but it is from that date that the Lobb clan began in Cornwall. There appears to be no evidence that any named Lobb’s remained in the Braunton area or have been connected to it since.

John must have had many regrets leaving an area rich in so many ways to which his family had been connected and built their living with so much success, for hundreds of years. One assumes he was unable to bring much with him and had more or less to begin again. But then it probably wasn’t so bad once he realised he had arrived in enchanted Cornwall, and who would chose not to attempt to save one’s life, rather than lose it.

He must have had an entrepreneurial or enterprising spirit and not afraid to take risks, as many would not even have thought of setting out on such a venture. All his experience had been with the land rather than the sea at that time, one supposes, or had it? He would not have been familiar with the coast, unless he had taken advantage of some earlier opportunity, and on account of that decided to go for it. Undoubtedly a brave man, he probably took the view that he had nothing to lose (but his life!) Probably therefore, he sailed alone and maybe the remainder of his family had died and he was fairly young.

Once the country’s recovery was underway, someone who survived must have taken over the holding at Lobb and rebuilt it in which ever way was necessary, because recover it did, at least to 1896 and I believe it is functioning today. It had been occupied by a another family of note as they are listed as gentry along with the other manor holders.

The district in which Braunton is situated is an area of outstanding, natural beauty and rich in wildlife, Braunton Burrows being designated a Nature Reserve. Then you have the wide expanse of Croyde and Saunton Sands’ golden beaches, favourites with surfers now. The ancient parish of Georgeham is sandwiched between them and the hamlet of Lobb. Gwyn Long 2011

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