This page contains details of Dobbs from Whiston and Castle Ashby and other places that might be connected to this line.

WHISTON AND CASTLE ASHBY

Henry Dobbe of Whiston made a will on 20^th March 1498. His bequests were;

• ten shillings to the repair of Whiston church and six sheep for its profits
• two strikes of barley to the repair of Billing bridge
• one sheep to each of his godchildren
• ten shillings so that a trentall of masses could be said for his soul
• to Thomas Dobbe his son his brass pot
• to John his son his cart
• to his sons John and Richard the rest of his brass and pewter
• the residue of his goods to his sons Thomas, John and Richard

His sons were made executors of the will. Witnesses were Willm Melton “my gostely father” (presumably the parish priest) and “John Dobbe my brother of Boseyate”. This link to Bozeat is important and is returned to later.

Jone Dobb of Whiston died about 1516 and her will refers to her daughter Elizabeth. She also refers to Richard, Margery, Edmund, Jone, Alice, John the younger, Amy and Frances Dobb. These are assumed to be her children but the will does not say they were. Her executors were Thomas and John Dobb who she refers to as ‘bretherd’ or ‘brotherd’ – brothers in law perhaps.

John Dobb of Whiston died in 1523 and we know from his will that he had a wife Agnes, a son Richard under 18 who was put in the care of John’s brother Thomas and his cousin Edmund and (here the will is a bit ambiguous) his cousin Thomas. He also had daughters Margery and Isabel aged under 18. Witnesses to the will were Thomas Dobb the younger along with Antony and Frances Catesby.

Edmund Dobb of Whiston died in 1531. He named a wife Elizabeth, two sons Reynold and Henry and two brothers Frances and John. It seems likely that Edmund was the son of Jone who died in 1516.

Thomas Dobb of Whiston was an inquest juror in 1511. Presumably the same man died in 1534 leaving a wife Katherine and lands in Whiston and Denton. He had daughters Alice and Jane (or Jone) who had both married. He refers to his sons Thomas and Frances. Frances was to occupy his farm with his widow. Francis Dobb was an inquest juror at Castle Ashby in 1534. He also mentions several grandchildren although not by name – each was left four pence and to everyone who went to his burial he gave a half penny loaf. Thomas Dobbe, presumably the son, is listed as a taxpayer at Whiston in 1542/3.

Edmund of Whiston who died in 1531 had a son Reynold and a Reynold Dobbe is listed as a taxpayer at Castle Ashby in 1542/3 where he died in 1557. This Reynold is assumed to be Edmund’s son. He had a house in Whiston which he left to his son John. He had a son William and daughters Elizabeth and Agnes aged under 16. He names a brother Henry and refers to children of his brother ‘Gumbrell’ who was presumably his brother-in-law. He names Jone his wife as his sole executrix. William Gumbrell was a witness. (Hugh Gumbrill of Yardley Hastings left a will 1621-8)

William Dobbe of Castle Ashby, the presumed son of Reynold, made a will in 1574 that was proved in early 1575. He must have died young since he mentions his mother to whom he left two sheep and his father-in-law William James to whom he left a heffar and two yards of cloth. He had a brother John, a sister Agnes Dobbe (presumably unmarried) and a sister ‘Emberton’. Elizabeth Dobb married Thomas Emberton at Castle Ashby in 1573. A John Dobbe married Helena White at Easton Maudit 23 January 1573/4.

Bridgett Dobs was christened at Grendon 12 January 1583/4.

The early Whiston parish register has not survived and we have church records only from 1700 making it difficult to piece together the family relationships. The quarter sessions of Northampton show a John Dobbs of Whiston serving as a juror in 1630. The next we have is a will of a John Dobbs of Whiston, yeoman, made in 1658. This was a spoken deathbed will made five days before he died in which he left £5 to each of his nine unnamed children and the rest to his wife Ann. A John Dobbs was a witness – his son perhaps. Ann Dobbs of Whiston died in 1665 leaving twelve pence to each of her children; Elizabeth, John, Mary, Thomas, Anne and Joyce. Everything else went to her ‘loving daughter Mabell’ who was made the sole executrix. An inventory of her goods showed that she died possessing,

• Her purse and apparel £12-0-0
• 2 cows £4-10-0
• Wheat, barley and peas in the barn £10-0-0
• One (lather), one stone trough and wood in the yard 5/-
• Furs in the cow house 5/-
• For ‘compas’ in the yard 3/- (compost?)
• For wheat in the field £2-0-0
• For seven pairs of sheets with other linen, two bedsteads with the bedding, one cupboard with pewter and brass in other things in the outer chamber £8-6-8
• In the parlour one wheel 10/-
• In the kitchen one table 8/6
• Total £38-8-2d

There are no Dobbs in the parish registers for Whiston after 1700 indicating that they had died out or moved away.

Whiston offshoots?

The Burton Latimer registers show seven christenings for the children of a Francys Dobbes between 1541 and 1551. It is possible that this Francys was one of the two identified above, perhaps the son of Thomas who died in 1534. Frances Dobbys is listed as a taxpayer at Burton in 1542/3.

Henry Dobbe married Joan Turner at Grendon 1560 and it is possible that he was the son of Edmund as we know his son Henry was under 18 in 1531. Henrie Dobbe was buried at Grendon in 1561.

Richard Dobbs is listed as a taxpayer in Rushden in 1542 and this Richard could be the son of John of Whiston who died in 1523. He is presumed to be the same Richard Dobbs, husbandman, who died at Rushden in 1576. We know from his will that his wife was Emma and his children were as follows.

• Richard who was the main beneficiary of his father’s will and he probably married Alice Wats in 1576 and died in 1603. Richard attended a manorial court in Rushden in December 1576 and was a member of a court jury in 1591 and a survey of that year shows him holding one messuage. A survey of 1610 shows Alice Dobbs was holding one messuage and 46 acres. She died 1623. Richard’s will refers to a daughter Marie who had married Michael Salloman and a Mary Salloman was buried at Rushden in 1607.
• John - the eldest and under 31 in 1575, married Jone Margetts in 1582 and was alive in 1603, John’s children are referred to in the will of Thomas Margetts (Jone’s father) in 1586.
• Blase - this unusual boy’s name was used in families connected to the wool trade and his father Richard is listed in the 1549 Relief of Sheep returns for Rushden which fits rather well. There is an odd note in his father’s will about his legacy to Blase, “I geve and bequethe to Blase Dobbes my sonne iij ^li vj ^s viij ^d to be paid him at thaige of xxiiij yeares yf he come againe, yf not the saide some of iij ^li vj ^s viij ^d shall retourne to Agnes my youngest daughter”. It looks as if Blase had left Rushden and was not expected to come back.
• Ellen who lived at Sawtry
• A daughter who married Richard Brannson and had three children. This could be the Elizabeth Dobbs who married ‘Richard Barman’ in 1567 at Rushden as the surnames are similar.
• Margaret (who possibly married John Piper in 1576)
• Agnes (his youngest daughter aged under 21 in 1575)

Richard Maye of Rushden who died in 1555 named Richard Dobbs his son-in-law as the supervisor of his will. Richard Maye left 10 shillings to each of his daughter’s children and so it looks like Richard married Emma Maye and had more than one child by 1555. Richard was also named as the supervisor of the will of William Lowethe of Rushden in 1555.

After 1603 there are no more Dobbs in the Rushden registers of the early period indicating that the name had died out or that they had moved away.

Bozeat and Harrold

A deed of 1343 mentions land in Easton Maudit or Bozeat ‘next to the messuage of Henry Dod’. Dod of course is a different name but given the similarity this could have been a scribal error perhaps (NRO Transcript 63).  A deed of 1441 refers to a piece of land in Bozeat as being ‘on Dobbcroft’. Croft probably meant a piece of land given over to cultivation and this could be evidence of linkage to a personal name (NRO Transcript 75).

We know from the will of Henry of Whiston made in 1497 that he had a brother John at Bozeat and we next find Christopher Dob of Bozeat who was a trial juror in 1545/6 and who died in 1548. He left a wife Katherine and gave £10 to an Edith Dob although the money was to be held by John Dob until she married. John Dob was his executor and he was most likely his brother or son. Christopher cannot as yet be linked to any others. The main provisions of his will were:

• To Katherine my wife (bequest obscured)
• £10 To Edyth Dob not yet married but John Dob to keep the £10 until she is married and if she dies before she is married then the £10 to be divided between John Dob and Jone Estewyke his sister
• To John Travell, Richard Es(abell) & ? 4 bullocks with 8 sheep
• To Jone Estwyke 40 quarters of barley, 4 steers and 40 shepe
• To each of my servants one sheep
• To my godchildren a bushel of barley
• To Robert Burge and Thomassyn his sister one sheep
• To Christopher Elmar half a quarter of barley
• To Harye Basse and Raynold his brother half a quarter of barley
• To Richard Fene one sheep
• Residue of his goods unbequeathed to John Dob his full executor
• Witness Hugh Lydyngton vicar, Thomas Estwyke, Christaver Taylayer, Richard Fen, Hare Basse. Proved April 1548.

Patent Rolls show several references to John Dobbe/s. There is a reference in 1551 to lands in Boszate in the tenure of John Dobbe late of St Johns of Jerusalem and the Commandery of Dingley, Northamptonshire. This medieval Order of the Knights Hospitaller was created to care for sick pilgrims visiting the Holy Land but later took on a military aspect defending it. Henry VIII took all their property in England in 1540 but it had a brief revival under Queen Mary in 1550 although this did not last beyond her short reign. John Dobbe was probably a ‘serving brother’ of the order, not a knight, and he may have known Sir Thomas Tresham of Rushton who was appointed ‘grand prior’ of the Order in England. The Order had a preceptory at Dingley which in turn owned lands scattered throughout Northamptonshire including lands at Easton Maudit.

A Thomas Dobb of Braybrook died in 1544 leaving his goods to his wife Agnes. No others are referred to in his will and he cannot be connected to anyone else.  An old map shows a Dob Hall near Braybrook and Dingley is very close to Braybrooke. So possibly this Thomas was also connected to the Order, which also held lands at Braybrook, and possibly to John Dobbe. There is a Dob Hall farm at total red herring.

In 1554 Francis Lord Russell, knight, granted his manor called Claybrookes in Harrold containing closes and lands called Broke Close, Watch Parke, Calfes close, Prystes close, Whight Pyttell, Little Stantons, Mowmber closes, Bullockes crofte, Mylstokyng and Great Tantons, a wood called Temple Grove and other lands in Harrold to John Dobbe and his son Francis Dobbe and their heirs. John Dobbs, gentleman, granted some of these land to Henry Giles in 1555.

On 10^th March 1556 a license was granted to John Mershe esquire and Alice his wife to grant their manor in Boziate and the following lands in Boziate to John Dobbes yeoman and his heirs:

• a messuage in the tenure of Elizabeth Everton
• a cottage in the tenure of Alice Everton
• close and lands formerly belonging to the rectory in the tenure of John Hardwicke
• a messuage and lands in the tenure of John Temple
• the wood called Abbottes Stonewye (18 acres)
• the rectory and church and all lands & tithes belonging thereto and the advowson of the vicarage and lands and profits formerly belonging to the monastery of St James juxta Northampton

On 5^th May 1556 John Dobbes yeoman had licence to grant five messuages in Borzat, Eston Mawditt and Grendon in tenures of John Bett and Agnes his wife, John Fayre, John Robertz, Simon Basse, John Clarke and Simon Ball and all lands belonging to the same formerly belonging to the monastry of St James next to Northampton as parcel of the manor of Borzatt or of the rectory there.

16th May 1556 John Dobbes yeoman to grant four messuages in Bozyate in tenure of Lawrence Frenche, John Kepe, John Roberts and Simon Huggyns to others.

20^th May 1556 John Dobbs of Bosyate yeoman to grant the rectory of Bosyatt with all houses, lands and tithes belonging thereto, the wood and ground called Abbottes Stonye (18 acres) in Bosyate and the advowson of the vicarage to Bawdwin Payne merchant of Calais.

8^th February 1557, messuages in Bozeat formerly belonging to the monastery of St James granted to John Dobbs and his heirs.

24^th June 1558, licence to John Dobbes and John Mershe to grant a close called Grete Santons in Harrold to Ralph Farrowe citizen and grocer of London.

It is clear that John Dobbs who had a son Francis held land in Bozeat, Harrold and around there in the mid 1550s. He was probably the John referred to in Christopher’s will of 1548. The manor in Harrold called Claybrookes, however, was by 1587 in the hands of Henry Laurence of Bedford (VCH Bedfordshire, Vol3, 63-68). It seems John had either sold it or died by then.

On 23 April 1578 there was a grant to Nicholas Bacon esquire of the wardship and marriage of Anne Dowbes daughter and heir to John Dowbes with an annuity of £10 from 20^th September in the 19^th year of Elizabeth (1576/7) when John died. (No place is given in this record so it may not be Northamptonshire and thus may not be the same John of Bozeat and Harrold). No will of this John has been found in county or PCC records but there is a PCC will of John Dowbes of Garboldisham, Norfolk dated 28 Jan 1577. The date is a bit of a coincidence.

At Yardley Hastings we see Thomas Dobb buried there in 1582 and his wife Agnes buried before him in 1577. Anthony Dobe of Yardley Hastings who died in 1588 left a will naming his daughters Frances, Margery, Agnes and Mary all aged under 16 to whom he each left a lamb and 20 shillings, a son Thomas under 18 and a wife Isabel to whom he left the residue of his goods. The register shows that Frances was christened in 1574, Margery in 1577 and Agnes in 1579. Katherine Dobbs married Thomas Lacye at Yardley in 1586 and Elizabeth Dobbs married Thomas Clarke there in 1588. There are no other entries at Yardley until John Dobbs had a daughter Elizabeth christened there in 1645.

The Montagu Musters book has a Thomas Dobbs at Great Billing in 1591 and a Humphrey Dobbe was named in a lease regarding lands at Great Billing in 1590 (NRS and Patent Rolls). This Thomas could be the same who married Elyzabethe Pinchbecke at Ecton, 20 August 1576.

A list of the inhabitants of Northants in about 1590 (a very incomplete list) shows Thomas Dobbs at Bozeat and presumably the same Thomas shows up there in 1600 in a list of men liable to do military service and holding land there in 1600 (Nat. Archives). Thomas is seen again in a document of 15 February 1603 concerning a messuage at Bozeat (NRO E(S) 757). Thomas Dobbs junior, freeholder, is listed in the Musters at Bozeat in 1605 and he had one calliver – like a musket but used without a stand.

Thomas senior and junior are listed in 1613 along with a Robert Dobbs. Thomas is listed in the musters each year from 1614 to 1618 but is not listed in 1619 although an inventory of Bozeat in 1633 refers to lands of Thomas Dobbs. A list of able bodied men in the county shows Phillip Dobbs, tailor, at Bozeat in 1638 and he held land in Easton Maudit in 1645 (Nat. Archives). Thomas, Phillip, Christopher, Sibyl and Sibilla Dobbs are mentioned in relation to the personal estate of Richard Dobbs in Bozeat in 1641 (Nat. Archives).

In 1643, Christopher Dobbs of Bozeat lent £1-14-0 to parliament as Civil War money (FH Baker 703 at NRO). A Bozeat court roll of 2^nd October 1650 names Christopher Dobbs as owing two shillings (for nonappearance at court I think). It also names a Thomas Dobbs who held 30 acres from the Lord of the Manor but who had died since the court last met. It refers to a Phillip Dobbs I think as his brother and heir in terms of who should continue renting the land. The same roll names a Richard Dobbs holding land of the Lord of the Manor (NRO, QCR 184). Court rolls for 1677 and 1680 do not name any Dobbs although in 1664 a John Dobbs made an inventory of the goods of John Partridge of Bozeat, lately deceased.

Bozeat’s early parish registers were lost in a fire in 1729 and reconstructing family relationships before then is very difficult.

Bedfordshire

A lease of July 1411 refers to William Dobbes possessing a messuage in Ion which is a hamlet in Gravenhurst (BRO L6/4). Agnes Dobbys of Souldrop ‘widow of William by the Ree’ is mentioned in a document of 1483 (BRO AD1780). John Dobbe held land in Souldrop in 1505 (Beds Hist Rec Soc, Vol 37). The records of Carlton, Bedfordshire, show that in 1609 a manor there was the property of Philip Dobbs. He was a recusant (someone who did not conform to the established church) who for nine years did not attend any church, chapel or usual place of common prayer (VCH Bedfs, 49-54). Certainly a Catholic, he was heavily fined and in default of payment, two-thirds of his manor was granted to Francis Duncombe. National Archives have a Philip Dobbs of Turvey in January 1608/9. Phillip died in 1611 and the Turvey parish register shows Philip Dobbs, gent, buried “in the night time” and this would have allowed his friends and family to perform a Catholic service. There are no other Dobbs in the Turvey register and just one at Carlton; William son of John baptised 1607. Philip was not a particularly common name so perhaps the Carlton and Bozeat Philips are connected. There may also be a Catholic connection here between John Dobbe of the Order of St John who we know had lands at Harrold and Philip of Carlton. A William Dobbs purchased a manor in Eaton Socon in 1649 (VCH Bedfs, Vol 3).

Buckinghamshire/Lavendon

Edward Atwell junior, of Northampton, butcher left through his will of 1485 three sheep and four bushels of malt to a George Dobb of Olney (NRS, Early Northampton Wills). There are also two early Bucks wills; William Dobbs of Gayhurst 1558 and James Dobbes of Lathbury in 1561 (neither seen yet).

A John Dobbs had three children christened at Lavendon; Henry 1584, William 1587 and Peter in 1590. This could be the John who married at Easton Maudit in 1574. There are burials of William in 1595 and Henry in 1610 but whether these are John’s children is uncertain. There is a will and an Administration of the estate of Henry of Lavendon dated 1611 (Lincoln will, Misc wills F/92, not seen yet).

The Bucks will of Nicholas Gaynes, pasture keeper, of Snelston (a manor in Lavendon parish) dated 1612 refers to his daughter Elizabeth Dobbs (original will not seen yet).

Peter Dobbs, likely son of John, married Katherine and he contributed 4d to the army in Ireland in 1642. They had Henry christened in 1603, Elizabeth in 1604 and Emme in 1611. Other children known from Peter’s will (he died in 1646) are Mary who married Fen, a daughter who married Burdin and a daughter who married Richard Spiggins. Katherine died in 1641 and it seems Peter left no male heir.

A summary of Peter’s will is as follows. To my eldest daughter Mary Fen 12d. To my grandchild Luce Dobbs daughter of my son Henry Dobbs deceased £9 to be paid when she is 21.  If she dies before 21 then the said £9 to be equally divided among my three daughters. I give to my two grandchildren Frauncis and Suzanna Burdin 50/- each one half to be paid within a year of my death and the other half in the following year. To my daughter Elizabeth Gervaise £3 one half within a year of my death and the other half the year following. To my said grandchild Luce Dobbs my brass pot and a basin and a platter. All the rest I bequeath to my son in law Richard Spiggins who I make sole executor. Made 22 Dec 1645. Proved 25 Jan 1647/8.

In 1656 Lucy Dobbs daughter of the late Henry Dobbs of Lavendon signed an obligation with a William Griffith of Ernham, Lincs, to pay Richard Spiggins £20. This obligation is in the Bozeat parish records.

Lavendon registers also show Thomas Dobbs marrying Elizabeth Wheeler in 1613 and they had Thomas 1613, Joyce 1621 and John in 1623. Thomas senior appears to have died in 1661. Thomas junior looks to have married Mary who died in 1643 after producing a son John in 1640. Thomas remarried to Marian Fowler in 1643 and had a daughter Joyce in 1644. Marian Dobbs, a widow, died in 1675.

The Olney registers are mostly silent about Dobbs save for a John Dobbs who married Elizabeth Boswell there in 1672 but it seems that he died in 1675 and she in 1681. This could have been the John christened 1640 in Lavendon.

A listing of most men below the age of 60 in Buckinghamshire in 1798 does not identify any Dobbs (the Posse Comitatus, Bucks Rec. Soc.)

CONCLUSION

There is therefore no immediate or obvious connection between the folk in and around Whiston and the John Dobbs who turns up in Bozeat in 1790. It seems certain, however, that the Dobbs families in Whiston and Bozeat were started by two brothers and there were Dobbs in Bozeat from at least the late fifteenth century until the mid to late 1600s. After that the trail goes cold but the name reappears at Mears Ashby.