John Gribble (bef. 1762 - 1829)

Born before 7 Mar 1762 in Camborne, Cornwall, England

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Smith) Gribble — married 17 Apr 1785 (to 29 Aug 1829) in Camborne, Cornwall, England

Descendants

Died 1829 after age 66 in Camborne, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom

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Biography

John Gribble and Mary Smith.

John was the third child to Arthur and Jane [Prideax] Gribble. Born in 1762,^[1]

He married Mary Smith at the age of 23 years.

The exact date of John’s marriage to Mary was recorded in a transcription of the 1785 Marriage Records. It simply states:

John Gribble and Mary Smith 30 Apr. 1785. ^[2], ^[3]

Again the baptismal date of their eldest son John on 28 August of the same year ^[4] further reflects the slow Cornish reaction to conception out of wedlock, where the wedding event often lagged behind the act, often until the last moment or even after that and clearly without undue embarrassment. ^[5]

Perhaps these more recent Gribbles did not seriously apply the God fearing values expressed by the legalistic wording within their wills, or were disinclined to respond to the earnest pleas of their rector. Certainly the higher moralistic message of the Methodists was yet to reach the family. Despite a slowness to wed, few children were raised by single mothers, as Cornish passion seemed to unfailingly bond couples.^[6]

John’s burial record ^[7] states his place of abode at that sad time to be at Little Tehidy [also spelt Tehiddy], a small hamlet just outside Camborne in the parish of Illogan. ^[8]

He died there aged 67 and according to the wording of his will he predeceased Mary. ^[9]

He was buried from St. Martins in Camborne ^[10], further confirming that the Gribbles probably had a sense of history from word of mouth and continued to use the church as their place of worship, despite the rapid growth of Methodist Churches in the countryside.

Typically we only know his date of baptism - 7 March 1762 ^[11].

At the age of 23 he married Mary Smith as John Gribell on 30 April 1785 ^[12].

The burial of a Mary Gribble, aged 68 years of Brea on 25 May 1830 ^[13]suggests she may have outlived him by just one year.

These calculations suggest the couple were the same age.They had eight children of whom Grace, the youngest died at six months. ^[14]

As a name Grace seemed destined to not survive in the family because a similar fate awaited her name sake in the next generation - a daughter born to William, John’s second eldest.

John and Mary produced a new generation of miners and miner’s wives that in turn watched their own children become miners; and then migrate to the far corners of the known world in search of a better future.^[15]

The couple became the grandparents to over 50 children. Three of their children made marriages that are of significance to the Australian part of the history of the Camborne Gribbles.^[16]

Their eldest son John married Drusilla [Drucilla] Vine with issue of ten grandchildren for John and Mary ^[17]. One grandson, Edward Vine Gribble, came to Ballarat. ^[18].

He became a mining investor and a pillar of Ballarat society with a strong link to the Methodist church. ^[19]; ^[20]

Family links remained strong as the 1841 English Census shows.

1. The widow Drusilla, 55, is now living at Bolennowe Croft [as spelt] with William Gribble, 20, copper miner who was born in the county; Caroline Gribble, 20, mine girl, in county; young Edward Vine Gribble,15, copper miner, in county; Elizabeth Gribble,14, mine girl, in county and Maryann Gribble,11, mine girl, in county. They were living in close proximity to Drusilla’s brother and sister in law, William and Elizabeth [below] and their children. It would not surprise that there was a close relationship between Charles and Henry Gribble’s arrival with Edward Vine’s arrival in Ballarat.

2.The second eldest, son William, who is the direct ancestor of the Australian branch, married Elizabeth Dunn of Illogan. This union produced eleven children.^[21] 3. Ann Gribble, their seventh child, married Charles Dunn, a cousin of Elizabeth Dunn. This marriage created eight grandchildren for John and Mary. One child, Charles came to Blackwood. ^[22]

We know that John and Mary and William and Ann Gribble all produced children who extended the pedigree of the Gribbles of Camborne into Australia, New Zealand and America. ^[23]

Like several of his predecessors, John left an informative will, which is by far the most detailed record of his life. Typically a transcriber wrote it for him just before his death, because it was dated: Camborne, 16 August 1829. It was proved some four months later on 9 December 1929.^[24]

John named Mary as the sole executrix and the beneficiary of his personal effects nominated to be worth less than £100. Perhaps this valuation is not a true estimate of his worth as two houses were part of the estate. It must only include his personal effects because documents reveal that just two years before his death he was paying an annual rent of £100 on land in the Bassett Estate. ^[25]

The seemingly low value applied to the estate might otherwise be accounted for by the fact that the Ecclesiastical Court still could not process property, thus excluding the value of his land and improvements. By bequeathing various properties to his children on the occasion of Mary’s death, like his ancestors, he overcame the inability of women to pass on anything but goods and chattels to their descendants.^[26]

John’s Property

A search of the Bassett Estate records ^[27] , discloses that by 1822 John owned several houses. His will then implies that others were also leasing an unknown number of houses which probably lay outside the Basset Estate.

The survey conducted on 26 March 1822 informs that John Gribbell owned a cottage “ lately built” at Carn Entral, with a permit to carry turf and manure through an adjacent property owned by Grace Whennow, in which lived Thomas Sincock, eight grandchildren of John Gribble and a daughter of John Gribble. [This would be Ann Gribble who was born in 1801 and significantly places her close to the Dunn family into which she married when she wed Charles Dunn in 1824] The survey implies that Thomas Sincock was by now widowed [Mary deceased] with six children.^[28]

Another survey on 13 July 1827, just two years before his death, states the same John Gribble was paying £100 to rent four plots on which were built 3 houses. During 1822 John was leasing this land that lay on the west of the road from Pengiggan Moor to Entral Hill. The tenure was assigned for the remainder of the term of lease. When the tenure ceased the houses would presumably return with the land to the Bassett Estate. Was one of these houses being occupied by Catherine Thomas, [John’s stepsister] and her family in 1841?^[29]. Also refer to his father, Arthur Gribble, Wikitree Profile.

John determined in his will that if the houses were ‘not sold at Mary’s death, then the house now occupied by Frs. [Francis] Bennett was to be given to his three sons John, William and Arthur. And the part now in the possession of Frs. Harris was bequeathed to his son in law John Sampson.

The high rent from the houses leased out was to be enjoyed by John Sampson upon his mother-in-law, Mary’s, death. Sampson had married John’s daughter Elizabeth whose premature death had left him to raise their six young children.

If daughter Ann [later married to Charles Dunn] became a widow, she was to live in the house with John Sampson thus suggesting that this particular house contained a number of rooms.

So, reading between the lines, his widowed son in law Thomas Sincock and his six children occupied one house perhaps given to Sincock earlier, his also widowed son in law John Sampson and his six children a second whilst the third would pass to his three sons upon Mary’s death. This line of deduction does not exclude the possibility of John owning more houses.^[30]

Mary probably died in 1830 - dated by the registration of the burial of a Mary Gribble.

Sources

1. ↑ St Martins Church of England registers
2. ↑ International Genealogical Index
3. ↑ St Martins Church of England registers
4. ↑ International Genealogical Index
5. ↑ Gribble Ian
6. ↑ Gribble Ian
7. ↑ St Martins Church of England registers
8. ↑ Walker Marion. "Tehidy Land Records"
9. ↑ Probate Records; Will dated Camborne, 16 August 1829
10. ↑ St Martins Church of England registers
11. ↑ Church of the Latter Day Saints,
12. ↑ Church of the Latter Day Saints,
13. ↑ St Martins Church of England registers
14. ↑ St Martins Church of England Burial Register
15. ↑ Gribble Ian: "Flash in the Pan
16. ↑ Gribble Ian: "Flash in the Pan
17. ↑ International Genealogical Index
18. ↑ Dell L.and Menhennet.J. “Cornish Pioneers”
19. ↑ Faull Jim. “The Cornish In Australia”.
20. ↑ Pearce Sophia. "Descendants of Edward Vine Gribble [1823 - 1881] and Susan Eddy [1834 -1916]".
21. ↑ Family Bible Australia
22. ↑ Thomas B. and Bennie B.. "The Descendants of Charles and Susan Dunn”.
23. ↑ Gribble - Flash in the Pan"
24. ↑ Gribble Ian
25. ↑ Gribble Ian
26. ↑ Gribble Ian
27. ↑ Bassett Estate records
28. ↑ Bassett Estate records
29. ↑ Bassett Estate records
30. ↑ Gribble Ian

1. “International Genealogical Index”; Church of the Latter Day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.

3. Bassett Estate records, Cornwall Historical Society

4. Probate Records; Will dated Camborne, 16 August 1829. It was proved some four months later on 9 December 1929. [Sources Cornwall Historical Society]

5. St Martins Church of England registers

6 Gribble Ian: "Flash in the Pan" A History of the Camborne Gribbles; Self Published; 1 Jan 2008; ISBN: 978- 0 - 9803307 -1-7

7. Walker Marion. "Tehidy Land Records [Assorted]Cornwall Historical Society "

8. Dell L.and Menhennet.J. “Cornish Pioneers”. Source: Swan Hill City Library.

9. Faull Jim. “The Cornish In Australia”: Australian Ethnic Heritage Series. Melbourne: AE Press, 1983.

10. Pearce Sophia. "Descendants of Edward Vine Gribble[1823 - 1881] and Susan Eddy [1834 -1916]". Compiled About 1982. Melbourne.

11. Family Bible Australia

12. Thomas B. and Bennie B.. "The Descendants of Charles and Susan Dunn”. Compiled June 1996.

. BAPTISM CORNWALL OPC

Month 07-Mar Year 1762

Parish Or Reg District Camborne

Forename John Surname GRIBBLE

Sex son

Father Forename Arthur

Transcriber Notes src: Tapley-Soper

Transcriber Sally Cann