
Fay Sampson’s Family History
This site is a work-in-progress. There is a massive amount to cover. I have included both male and female lines, and some go back 30 generations. Keep coming back for more.
I have numbered the generations working backwards from my own as (1)
JOHN DODGE and GRACE ZEALE alias EAME(10)
It is not completely certain that John Dodge and Grace Zeale are the grandparents of Nicholas Loosemore, baptised in Rose Ash in 1686. The father’s name was given as Nicholas Loosemore junior. There is no other evidence of a second adult Nicholas Loosemore at that time, though a 14-year gap in the parish registers could disguise a birth. On balance, it seems likely that the baby’s father was the son-in-law of John and Grace.
JOHN DODGE was the son of Richard Dodge and Anne Yelmacott of Rose Ash. He was born in 1614, in the reign of the first Stuart king, James I.
Baptism. Rose Ash.[1]
1613/4 John s. Richard Dodge 28 Jany.
He was the fourth known child and the first son of this marriage, though his father may have had other sons from a previous marriage.
GRACE ZEALE alias EAME was nearly four years younger. Her parents were Henrie Zeale, junior, a yeoman of Bishops Nympton, and Grace Snell.
Baptism. Rose Ash.
1617 Zeale, Grace d. Henrie 24 Nov.
She appears to have been the eldest child. The year before her birth, her father had rented part of Rose Ash Barton, the farm in the centre of the village, putting his fiancée as the second name on the two-life lease. This is probably where Grace junior grew up. [2]
The Barton was divided into two dwellings. In 1684, and probably earlier, Grace’s daughter Joane, and her husband Nicholas Loosemore, were living in ye Easter part of ye Barton.
John and Grace were married in Rose Ash in 1639.
Marriage. Rose Ash.
1639 John Dodge m Grace Zeale als Eame 14 May
Several children were born in the years leading up to the Civil War, which broke out in 1642, and during the conflict.
Baptisms. Rose Ash.
1640 Grace d of John Dodge 24 July
In 1641 all adult men were required to sign the Protestation Oath, confirming their loyalty to the Protestant religion. Four of the Dodge family are listed in the return for Rose Ash: James, two Johns and William.
1642 Joane d of John Dodge 28 July
The split between King and Parliament became final when Charles I raised the royal standard over his troops at Nottingham in August 1642.
1644/5 John s of John Dodge 24 ffeb
There is a break in the Rose Ash registers from 1646 to the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660. Other children may have been born during that time.
Immediately after the Restoration comes another baptism.
1661 Mary d of John Dodge 16 Aprill
This may be a late child of this marriage or the child of a younger John. She was buried on 15 Nov 1664.
Both Grace and John survived into the 1690s, to see the ousting of the Catholic-leaning James II and the rule of the Protestant Queen Mary II and her husband William III.
Burials. Rose Ash.
1691 Grace wife of John Dodge 10 Nov
1694 John Dodge 23 June
Grace was nearly 77 when she died, and John lived to 80.
[1] Register entries are from the DCRS transcripts in the Westcountry Studies Library.
[2] National Archives: Access to Archives: 47/3/2/3, in Devon Record Office.
NEXT GENERATION: 9. LOOSEMORE-DODGE
PREVIOUS GENERATIONS: 11. DODGE-YELMACOTT