William Blake (abt. 1562 - bef. 1642)

Born about 1562 in Over Stowey, Somerset, England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died before 13 Jun 1642 before about age 80 in Pitminster, Somerset, England

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Biography

William Blake was born about 1562 at Over Stowey, Somerset, England.^[1] He married Anne (...) who was bureid on 14 August 1644 at Pitminster, Somerset, England.^[1] William was buried on 13 June 1642 at Pitminster, Somerset, England.^[1][2]

Disputed Ancestry

Many published genealogies for members of this Blake family were affected by fraudulent work by 19th-century genealogist Horatio Gates Somerby. According to Paul C. Reed in "Two Somerby Frauds, Or 'Placing the Flesh on the Wrong Bones'" (The American Genealogist, 1999), Somerby linked three apparently unrelated Blake families to create a pedigree for William Blake of Dorchester, Massachusetts.^[3] The fabrications included (but were not limited to) falsifying William Blake's origin; making Humphrey Blake of Over Stowey, Somerset, into a brother of Nicholas Blake of Andover who died in 1547; fabricating parents for Humphrey and Nicholas; and fabricating a will for Eleanor (Blake) Clark of Over Stowey.^[3] Thus, no lineage for this Blake family is currently credible prior to Humphrey Blake. Unfortunately, much of the pre-1500 lineage for the Blake family on WikiTree appears to have been contaminated with the Somerby information.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Stott, Clifford L. "Humphrey Blake (1494?-1558) and His Descendants in New England and South Carolina: Blake, Richards, Selleck, Torrey, and Wolcott", NEHGR Volume 163 (2009), pages 85-97, 199-211, 278-295, and Volume 164 (2010), pages 63-72. https://www.americanancestors.org/databases/new-england-historical-and-genealogical-register/image?pageName=202&volumeId=11728
2. ↑ Somerset : Pitminster : St Mary and Andrew : : "Parish Register" database, FreeREG (https://www.freereg.org.uk/search_records/5bd99e06f493fd034fa7018d : viewed 21 Dec 2022) burial William Blake 13 Jun 1642
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Reed, Paul. Two Somerby Frauds, or Placing the Flesh on the Wrong Bones, The American Genealogist (TAG), Volume 74 (1999), New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS), Boston, Massachusetts, pages 15-30. https://www.americanancestors.org/databases/american-genealogist-the/image?volumeId=13222&pageName=15&previousPage=DatabaseSearch&databaseId=283

• Stott, Clifford L., Humphrey Blake (1494?–1558) and His Descendants in New England and South Carolina: Blake, Richards, Selleck, Torrey, and Wolcott, The New England Historical & Genealogical Register (NEHGS, Boston, Mass., 2009) Vol. 163, WN 650, Page 92; WN 651, Page 202.
• "Pedigree Resource File," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:2:9ZHL-9L7 : accessed 2018-02-07), entry for William Blam Blake, submitted by RayCutler.
• William Blake profile on FamilySearch: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/L4SY-7NY