Conybeare/Collibeare Lineage Study

Date: [unknown]
Surnames/tags: Devon Cunniber Conybeare

Contents 1 Overview 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Distribution of Birthplaces 1.3 Conybeare/Collibeare variations 1.4 Methodology 2 Links to Profiles/Trees 2.1 No Birth Record Profiles (unlinked branches) 2.2 Pre-1540/1550'S Fatherless Conybeare Profiles 3 Progress Updates 3.1 The Somerset Profiles: Collation and Creation (Aug 30 2024) 3.2 Work continues! (May 3 2024) 3.3 Hiatus and Updating page (Jan 18 2024) 3.4 Update (Oct 30 2023) 3.5 Final Update (for now: Sep 18 2023) 3.6 Update (25 Aug 2023) 3.7 Progress So Far (19 Aug 2023) 4 Pre-1500s Corner 4.1 1300s Records 4.2 1400s Records

Overview

Introduction

The goal of this Free-Space project is to collect research and create profiles of the Conybeare/Collibeare families, originating in the United Kingdom, from 1540 to the present day. The profiles focus on the counties of Devon and Somerset, where the Conybeare/Collibeare families originated and remained in their majority until the middle of the 19th century.

Distribution of Birthplaces

Birthplaces of Conybeare/Collibeares, as noted in 4,042 collected records.

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Conybeare/Collibeare variations

Word Cloud of the Occurence of Conybeare/Collibeare Variations

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Known Conybeare/Colliber variations, with the most prevalent birth names and their occurences in my records so far (17/01/2024):

Name	Surname Occurence
Conybear	298
Conybeare	271
Conibear	253
Conibeer	239
Coneybear	187
Coneybeare	170
Coneybeer	155
Colliber	124
Conybeer	115
Cunniber	98
Coniber	94
Conybere	94
Conibere	75
Cunnibeer	70
Connibear	56
Connibere	56
Coneber	53
Connybear	48
Conibeare	47
Cunnybear	46
Cunnibear	44
Connibeer	43
Connyber	43
Conyber	42
Collibear	40
Conniber	38
Cunnibeare	36
Connybeare	33
Conebear	32
Connybeer	32
Conebeer	30
Collibeare	26
Cuniber	26
Comyber	25
Collyber	22
Conibeere	22
Colebear	20
Cunibear	20
Collibere	17
Conneybear	16
Connibeare	16
Connibeere	16
Cuneber	13
Cunneber	13
Conibar	12
Canniber	11
Conabeer	11
Conebeare	11
Connebear	11
Conebare	10
Conibee	10
Connebere	10
Cunneighbear	10
Conbeer	9
Collibare	8
Coluber	8
Connebeare	8
Coliber	7
Colleber	7
Collibeer	7
Conneber	7
Cunnibor	7
Collaber	6
Colibear	5
Collabeare	5
Colyber	5
Conibier	5
Conibiere	5
Connber	5
Connebeere	5
Coleber	4
Colibere	4
Collibeere	4
Collybere	4
Cunebar	4
Cunneighber	4
Cunnibeere	4
Colebeare	3
Collebeare	3
Conebere	3
Coneybare	3
Coningbear	3
Connybere	3
Conybiere	3
Caniber	2
Canybear	2
Canybere	2
Colbere	2
Collybeer	2
Colybere	2
Connibor	2
Conybier	2
Couniber	2
Cunebere	2
Cunneybear	2
Cunybere	2
Cannybeer	1
Colabeare	1
Collabere	1
Collebear	1
Collybare	1
Collybeere	1
Comybear	1
Conbery	1
Conibur	1
Coningbeare	1
Connibur	1
Cunibeare	1
Cunnebar	1
Cunnebor	1

Additionally, I included Colshear in my initial survey of names, since I found it in the Barnstaple Parish Registry but it may be a red herring. That is 110 names in total.

Methodology

Firstly, after a basic survey of publicly available information (using FamilySearch and a trial version of Ancestry) and a quite a time expanding my own lineage back to Morchard Bishop (see John Cunneighbear, I realized that I would need to collect as many variations of the Conybeare/Collibear name as possible if I wanted to go further back to link my "Conybeare" lineage to the "famous" Conybeare lineage (see John Conybeare DD (1692-1755), William Daniel Conybeare FRS, Frederick Cornwallis Conybeare [1]) . To do so, I first read the entirety of an online copy of the transcribed Barnstaple Parish Registry (I had traced the Conybeare/Collibear name back to Devon and indeed to the hamlet to Collibere/Collabear, near Tavistock) to find names and alternative spellings of both the "N" and "L" names. When I was finished, I had about 212 records (baptisms, marriages, and burials). These also included the "Beare" or "Bear" name, since I had seen a will linking the Conybeare and Beare names together (I have since not researched the Beare/Bear connection further, since there seems to be thousands more of them in Devon and elsewhere).

When I realized that there were major gaps in both the Barnstaple Parish Registry itself and in the "lives" of the people I had found so far, I realized I would have to expand my search elsewhere. So, I ordered the (apparently only publicly available existing copy of) book on the Collibere/Collabear hamlet by Ivon Smallridge[2], in hopes of discovering more about the hamlet and it's owners (The book itself appears not to be copyrighted, so I'd be more than willing to share it with anyone interested in the hamlet). In it, he makes reference to: "1586 William Colllibere a senior alderman who during his office as a justice was bound over by the Earl of Bath and Mr H Acland to appear at the next session of Barum for behaviour"^[1] (This passage, I found out, comes originally from the "Lost Chronicle of Barnstaple", which I found transcribed in PDF form). There is also the case of William Collibere, presumably his father, who owns the manor in 1548. A few more connections were made, but that only increased my total records to around 220. I would need more to establish a more complete lineage.

To that effect, I used FindMyPast to search for the initial surnames I had found in the Barnstaple Parish Registry, while incorporating any new variations I found a long the way. Additionally, I added any wills and Protestation records (1641/42) from Devon to expand my collection of records. Each record was noted with the First Name, Surname, Birthname as noted by the record, and then I would add whatever the record reflected (i.e. Birthdate, Baptism/Christening date, Death Date, Burial Date, Born-places, Death-places, Burial-places, Father's Name, Mother's Name and any other miscellaneous information) to a spreadsheet I stored on Google Drive. After bringing each surname up to date until at least 1790, I began to attempt to connect their lineages together.

For the earlier periods, this is quite difficult of course, with only the father's name to go off and some knowledge on marriage ages and burial places. Knowing the geography of the area of North Devon was also intensely important, as the records I have pulled so far centrally focus on Devon and the 1550-1600 area focuses almost exclusively on the parishes of Barnstaple, Tawstock, Westleigh, Bideford and Fremington.

As the entirety of my record collection was stored on a digital spreadsheet, I decided to make the actual assignment of records a physical task. Thus, I created an index card for every birth record I had (until I stopped, around the 1720s) for a total of 376 profiles (on the spreadsheet, these are noted under the Index C # column. As I went along, I noted possible records they matched with and definite matches through the identification of common Christian names, marriage dates, fathers, and then towards the latter half of my work, mothers. Since my original goal was to establish a concrete relationship between my line of Conybeares and the "famous line" of Conybeares, I wanted to be thorough in my evaluation of the evidence and my connection of each family member to the next. The further addition of wills and inheritance lawsuits from the time period helped immensely in constructing reliable lineages that I could follow.

I have included "uncertain" markers for those people I know to have existed (i.e. Anthony Cunniber's birthplace/date) as well as for relationships I do not feel 100% confident about (i.e. John Cunneighbear's father) . After looking for so long at so many different variations and records, I feel that some of these records must have been lost, and have indeed noted the absence of such records in a seperate sheet on my spreadsheet (i.e. lack of Pinhoe parish records post 1690, no parish records between 1635-1662 in Parracombe). The actual family trees themselves are recorded in my notebook, as I found an actual image of them to be more helpful than just assigning them each a relationship somewhere on the spreadsheet.

Links to Profiles/Trees

No Birth Record Profiles (unlinked branches)

These are records that should have baptism records, but don't.

Conybeare variations

1. Roger Conybeare (abt.1578-abt.1610) Located in Bradworthy, Devon. On the border with Cornwall. Married Alice (Jeffery) Coneybeare (abt.1579-) on 26 Jan 1600. Father of Agnes Coneybeare (1602-), Mary (Coneybeare) Bishopp (1605-) and Phillope Coneybeare (1608-).

2. John Conyber (abt.1637-) Located in Westleigh, Devon. Married Marie (Wattes) Conyber (abt.1640-) on 27 Jul 1660. Father of Mary Connibeer (1662-) and Mani Conybeer (1663-).

3. Anthony Cunniber (abt.1630-1691) Located in Loxhore, Devon. Married Frances (Unknown) Cunniber (abt.1630-1677) around 1650. Father of Anthonius Cunniber (1662-1713), Marcus Piliny Cunniber (1659-1723) and three others. Connected profile.

4. John Conibeare (abt.1650-abt.1703) Located in Newton Tracey, Devon. Married Margery (Unknown) Coniber (abt.1650-1699) around 1671/2. Father of Catherine Coniber (1672-) and William Coniber (1674-). Possible match: John Connibere (1645-) (see unmerged matches for more details)

5. Emmanuell Conyber (abt.1580-abt.1653) Located in Swimbridge, Devon. Married Syffyne (unknown) on 14 Feb 1601. Father of Wylliam Cuniber (1603-1633). Possible fathers for Emmanuell: Walter Connyber (abt.1535-1602) Robert Conibeer (abt.1548-abt.1615) Richard Connyber (abt.1540-1581) Without a birth record for Emmanuell, it's hard to know whether he was born in Meshaw, where he married, or Swimbridge, where he died.

6. Philip Coniber (abt.1648-) Located in Parracombe, Devon. Married Agnes (unknown) about 1669. Father of Johan Coniber (1670-). Uncertain father of Conan Cunniber (abt.1668-aft.1700). The Parracombe parish register has the following gaps:[3] 1635-1662 - no records 1662 + 1667 - undecipherable 1663 - 1667 - none 1669 - missing 1670-78 - missing 1680-81 - missing 1684-86 - missing

7. John Cunnibeer (abt.1660-1715) Unknown birthplace. Married and located in High Bray, Devon. Married Agnis Scott in 1682. After Agnis passed, he married Mary Southwood in 1690. Father of Nicholas Caniber (1690-1742), John Cunnibeere (1699-), and at least 8 other children. EDIT: Connected profile.

8. William Conibeare (abt.1660-) Unknown birthplace. Married and located in Bishop's Nympton, Devon. Married Willmote Unknown (abt.1662-) around 1683. Father of Thomas Conybeare (1687-), William Conybeer (1692-), and at least three other children.

9. Joseph Conibear (abt.1689-1742) Unknown birthplace. Married and located in Bideford, Devon. Married Emm Hage (abt.1692-) in 1714. Father of Mary (Coneber) White (abt.1715-), Katherine Coneber (1717-1718), William Conybear (1719-) and John Cunniber (1723-).

10. George Conybere (abt.1710-) Unknown birthplace (likely Sandford, Devon). Married and located in Sandford, Devon. Married Mary (Unknown LNAB) in the late 1730s/early 1740. Father of Elizabeth Conibee (1740-), Ann Conybere (1746-), George Conybere (1748-), and Edward Conybere (1750-1826). Connected profile.

11. Edward Conibear (abt.1725-1776) Unknown birthplace (likely Marwood, Devon). Married and located in Marwood, Devon. Married Christian Hopkins on 27 Apr 1748. Father of Mary (Conybeare) Germon (1751-), Margaret Conybere (1754-), Grace Conybeare (1760-1764) and one other child.

12. George Connybeare Jr (abt.1734-) Unknown birthplace. Married in Ashburton, Devon and resided in Widecombe in the Moor, Devon. Married Elizabeth Windeal on 26 Jan 1762. Father of Anne Coneybeare (1767-), George Conneybeer (1769-), John Coneybear (1771-), Samuel Coneybear (1779-) and two others.

13. William Coniber (abt.1710-). Unknown birthplace. Likely married in Liverpool. Resided in Pemberton Alley, Liverpool, Lancashire, England. Father of Catherine Coniber (1748-), Amy Coniber (1751-), and one other child.

14. Samuel Coneybeare (abt.1755-). Unknown birthplace, married in Bedminster, Somerset. Resided in Bristol, Gloucester. Father of Edward Conybeare (1785-), Sarah Conybeare (1785-), Mary Conybeare (1788-) and William Lloyd Conybeare (1792-).

15. John Conibere (abt.1545-). Unknown birthplace, likely West Quantoxhead, Somerset. No marriage known. Father of Ellianour (Conibere) Jenkins (1574-), probable father of Michael Conibere (1574-1640), John (Conibere) Conyber (1576-), and others. Connected profile.

16. John Cunnibeare (abt.1660-). Unknown birthplace, likely Somerset. Married in Milverton, Somerset. Father of William Cunnibeare (1683-1760).

17. Robert Conibeer (abt.1655-abt.1692). Unknown birthplace, likely West Quantoxhead, Somerset. Father of William Conibeer (1683-), Abigail Conibeer (1684-), Richard Connibere (1686-1689) and others.

18. George Conibere (abt.1630-). Unknown birthplace, likely Somerset. Father of John Conibere (1655-) and Robert Conibeere (1657-).

19. Thomas Cunnybere (abt.1666-). Unknown birthplace, likely Somerset. Married in Skilgate, Somerset (1), St James, Taunton, Somerset (2). Married to Ann Bowden (1677-1711), Joan Bowden (1685 - ). Father of Anne Cunningbere (1701-), Thomas Cunnybere (1704-), Phillip Cunnybere (1709-), Joan Cunybere (1712-1717) and Samuel Cunnibeer (1715-1788).

Collibeare variations

1. William Collyber (1584-) Marriage unknown. Born in Westminster. No children listed, no marriage listed.

2. Oliver Collabeare (abt.1650-1694) Likely born in Barnstaple. Married to Alce Pearce (abt.1650-1676) in 1672. After Alce's death, married Joan (Wellington) Colleber (abt.1655-) in 1677. Father of Richard Collibeare (1683-), Olliver Collibeare (1686-), John Collibear (1689-) and two others.

Pre-1540/1550'S Fatherless Conybeare Profiles

These folks are probably related, but since they were clearly born before or around 1540, there are no parish records of their births or baptisms. However, some marriage and burial records exist for them, and each of them clearly had children. Whether they were brothers or siblings is possible, but for now, I'm keeping them unreleated since I don't have a father's or mother's name for them. If you want to take a crack at discovering their relationships, please do!

Conybeare variations:

1. John Connyber (abt.1510-1545) Married Ellnor (Gleede) Connyber (abt.1510-) on 26 Jan 1541. Father of Thomas Connyber (1540-1601) and Henrie Conybere (1544-1546)

2. Walter Connyber (abt.1535-1602) Married Margery (Knyght) Connyber (abt.1536-1596) on 27 Jan 1557. Father of Gregorye Connyber (1572-1647), Richarde Coniber (1585-), et al.

3. Robert Conibeer (abt.1548-abt.1615) Married Christian (Deyman) Conibeer (abt.1550-) on 6 May 1572. Father of William Coniber (1572-1634) and Margery Coniber (1577-).

4. William Conybere (abt.1510-abt.1563) Marriage unknown. Father of Elizabeth Connyber (1544-).

5. Richard Connyber (abt.1540-1581) Marriage unknown. Father of John Connyber (1573-) and Roger Coniber (1576-1639).

6/7. John Connyber (bef.1554-) / John Connyber (abt.1532-aft.1567) Possibly the same person? One marriage each: Jone Rawe (abt.1554-), Elizabeth (Westcott) Conybere (abt.1536-1573) 3 children each.

Collibeare variations:

1. William Colybere (abt.1530-) Marriage unknown. Father of possibly 10+ children.

Progress Updates

The Somerset Profiles: Collation and Creation (Aug 30 2024)

It has taken some months and many hours, but I have collated and compiled the Conybeare records originating in Somerset up to ~1800, and begun adding them to WikiTree.

1,310 / 4,463 total combined Conybeare/Collibeare records = 29.35% of records added to WikiTree

1,847 / 4,417 total Conybeare/Collibeare records = 41.82% of records indexed

1,310 / 1,847 total indexed Conybeare/Collibeare records = 70.93% of records added to WikiTree

In short, I've added 420 records since May 3, and indexed 555 records. I've also added 210 records to WikiTree.

Work continues! (May 3 2024)

I've continued to work on this project. Here are my stats so far, from the spreadsheet I've been using:

1,128 / 3,194 = 35.31% of Conybeare records indexed.

947 / 1,127 = 84.02% of indexed Conybeare records added to Wikitree.

164 / 353 = 46.45% of Collibeare records indexed.

153 / 164 = 93.29% of indexed Collibeare records added to Wikitree.

I'd like to complete a full tally of the profiles added at some point in the future.

4,042 records in total (incomplete).

Hiatus and Updating page (Jan 18 2024)

Pausing work on this again. I'm updating this free space profile just to make it more accessible.

Update (Oct 30 2023)

I've returned to this project, at least for a little while.

Final Update (for now: Sep 18 2023)

I have added a ton more profiles (too many to count) since my last update. But now, unfortunately, I'm going to have to pause this work indefinitely. Hopefully I'll return back to it at some point, but I have grown too busy to keep this updated. If you're interested in taking over / helping out with the project, please contact me via private message or email or even by leaving a comment on this page. I'll update the surnames list and link each Wikitree home page for that surname if it's been added. I only had time to add many of the Conybeares from around 1540 to 1700 or so, with all of them coming from Devon (no Somerset additions as of yet, my spreadsheet doesn't include a lot of those records yet).

If you're on this page, thank you for your interest. Hope to catch you another time!

Final statistics, from spreadsheet transfer to WikiTree:

487 / 2,085 = 23.35% of Conybeare records indexed.

410 / 487 = 84.18% of indexed Conybeare records added to Wikitree.

145 / 289 = 50.17% of Collibeare records indexed.

0 / 145 = 0% of indexed Collibeare records added to Wikitree.

2810 records in total (incomplete).

Update (25 Aug 2023)

I have added 65 profiles since my last update! Almost all of them are the earliest parish records of the Conybeare variants, with the large majority from Tawstock, Devon (see: 17 Connyber profiles,[4] 9 Coniber profiles,[5], and other variants) as well as one from Westleigh, Devon.

I'm also updating this page to include the profiles of the fathers who were born before parish records, but had at least one child survive to baptism in the Devon Parish registry period (post 1540s). Hopefully I'll be able to trace those dads back further, but if anyone with pre-1500 certification wants to help out, that would be great as well!

Progress So Far (19 Aug 2023)

In my progress so far, I have added about 40+ profiles. These include 7 Cunnibears (Morchard Bishop) [6], 7 Conyberes (Heanton Punchardon) [7], 16 Cunnibers (Loxhore) [8], and 5 Coneybears (Arlington, Exeter, Plymouth, Morchard Bishop).

Pre-1500s Corner

A space for the collection and collation of pre-1500s genealogical info. Not enough for a tree, but enough to get a sense of the Conybeare/Collibeare name and its status in the Middle Ages.

1300s Records

Beggearn Huish deed. 27 Jun 1316. (available at South West Heritage Trust)
1. Richard de Conniber and his wife Lucy.
2. Alexander Luttrell son and heir of Andrew Luttrell lord of Quantoxhead.

Grant for their lives of rent of Dame Lucy de Ralegh from lands of Beggearn Huish.
Witnesses Henry de Merwode, Richard le Wolf, William de Beaumond, Thomas de Doune, Henry de la Forde.
Seal with bird device.

1400s Records

Dunster Deed. 10 Sep 1434. (available at South West Heritage Trust)
1. John Conybere alias Bouchere of Dunster.
2. Philip Somerey and wife Christian.
Quitclaim to land in le Castellebale of Dunster between land of William Malet of Carhampton east and John's tenement west.
Witnesses Richard Wynston, Thomas Brewere, William Baylly, William Erle, Robert Poule.
Seal with I monogram.

Tawstock Charter. 6th October 1452. (available at South West Heritage Trust)
(1) Margery, late the wife of John Furse. (2) Henry Wyke of Colebeare.
All lands of (1) at Colebeare (£ Collabeare in Tawstock parish).
Fragmentary seal of (1).
31 Henry VI

Court Roll: Manor of Bovey Tracey, 10th October 1457 - 31st July 1458 (available at South West Heritage Trust)
[1457] Tithingman presents that John More, William atte Combe & William Colbear brewed ale & broke the assize.
[1458] William Verkesworth sued William Colebear in two pleas of trespass. William Colebear encroached on a parcel of land of the tenement of William Verkesworth, tenant of the lord, without licence.
[1457] One ox was found stray at the house of William Colbear at the feast of the Translation of St. Thomas the Martyr & William gave it up without warrant or authority, therefore he is in mercy.