Of The Family of Comberbach
The family of
Comberbach is traditionally derived from three brothers, who are
said to have come over to England with William the Conqueror. Their
christian names were Robert, Roger, and
John, and if the frequent
occurrence of these names at the present day
afford any ground for belief in the story, we may not be disinclined to
accept it in lieu of more certain information. The Comberbachs seem to
have assumed their name from the township of Comberbach, in the parish
of Great Budworth, in Cheshire, where they were settled as early as the
reign of Richard the First. The first notice of any of them that I
have been able to find is given by Dr Ormerod, in his history of
Cheshire, under that township, and is as follows:-
Roger,
constable of Cheshire and baron of Halton, about the reign
of Richard the First [1183-1199], granted Deo et Beatae Mariae, et
fratribus servientibus beatis pauperibus Sancti Hospitalis de Jerusalem,
totam medietatem de Comberbach ; illam scilicèt quam
Willielmus de Comberbach de me tenuit : unà cùm salina in
Northwich quae pertinet ad Astonam juxta Budworth-in
puram et perpetuam elemosynam-Et si Ricardus Fitton, vel heredes
suos recuperaverit, ego et heredes mei predictam donationem praedictis
hospitalariis warrantizabimus; et Willielmo Comberbach et
hereditibus suis tenendum de praedicto hospitalariis in feodo et
hareditate : reddendo eiis annuatim sexdenarios pro omnibus quae ad
domum et ad fratres ejusdem domus pertinent. Hiis testibus, etc.-Johane
de Comberbach, Henrico fratre suo, etc.- John, son of
Henry de Comberbach, gave to Adam, son of William de
Litley, in Aston juxta Budworth, all his lands in
Comberbach,- unà cùm reversione dotis Elenae matris praedicti
Johannis et piscariâ suâ in lacu de Budworth, etc. Entailing
these lands, first on the said Adam, and the heirs of his body ;
and in default of such, then on Robert, brother of the said
Adam. Dated at Comberbach, 1 August, 1335 (9 Edward III).
Latin Translation
Roger,
constable of Cheshire and baron of Halton, about the reign
of Richard the First [1183-1199], granted
to God and the Blessed Mary, and to the brothers serving with the
blessed paupers of the
Holy Hospital of Jerusalem, all
the moiety of Comberbeche; that is to say, which
William de Comberbeche held of me [etc], together withsalt-works
in Northwich which belonged to
Aston near Budworth,
in pure and perpetual alms.
And if Richard Fittun, or his heirs, should recover [i.e. recover
seisin of] the aforesaid fee upon me or upon my heirs, I and my heirs
will warrant the aforesaid gift to the
aforesaid hospital, and to William Comberbeche and his heirs, to
hold of the aforesaid Hospitallers in fee and heredity,
yielding annually to them six pence for all the things which appertain
to the house and to the brothers of the same house. These
being witnesses, John de Combirbech, Henry his brother, etc.
John
the son of Henry [the son of Hugh] de Comberbeche
have granted to Adam the son of William de Litley
[Little Leigh], in Aston near Budworth, all his lands
in Comberbach,- together with the reversion of the dower of
Ellen, mother of the aforesaid John, and its fishery in the lake
of Budworth etc. Entailing
these lands, first on the said Adam, and the heirs of his body ;
and in default of such, then on Robert, brother of the said
Adam. Dated at Comberbach, 1 August, 1335 (9 Edward III).
They seem to have been principally located in Cheshire until quite
modern times, and I shall presently show that the name was by no means
uncommon in that county till nearly the present day [1866]. Like most of
our old English surnames, it has undergone various changes of spelling,
thus it is written, Comberbach, the most ancient form,
Cumberbach, Cumberbatch, and Comberbatch,
and I do not doubt but that Comberbirch,
Cumperpatch*, Comberback, Comberbage
†, Cumberbeg, and even
Cumberlege, together with many more, are only varieties which
have crept in at different times, and through
individual differences in pronunciation.
Whatever may have been the origin of the Comberbachs, and
although they have never risen to any eminence, or been entered in those
valuable records the Heralds Visitations, they have long laid claim to
rank among our armigerous families, though they have not succeeded in
proving their right to arms. Alas for their claims to such distinctions,
one Roger Comberbach, of Nantwich, was among those
who disclaimed arms at Sir William Dugdale's Visitation of Cheshire, in
1663. And that this circumstance has not been overlooked by modern
heralds, I notice as a significant fact that when the representative of
the Nantwich branch assumed the name of Swetenham on
inheriting the ancient possessions of that family at Somerford Booths,
he did not assume their arms, nor were any entered in the books of
record at the College of Arms, as pertaining to him, as representative
of the family of Comberbach. I am, however, of opinion
that their claim to arms is not without foundation; but it is curious
that in each instance in which they are used some slight discrepancy in
the mode of blazoning occurs. Thus, Burke in his General Armory,
under Swetenham, describes them, Barry of six ermine and
sable, on a canton azure a fleur-de-lis or. On the monument of
Helen, widow of Roger Comberbach, in St. Michael's
Church, Chester, they are blazoned, Ermine, three bars azure, on a
canton of the last a fleur-de-lis argent [impaling azure 3 bars,
argent]. On a board*, upon which are
depicted the arms of different mayors of Chester, in St. John's Church
in that city, I found, Barry of six ermine and azure, on a canton gules
a fleur-de-lis or, for James Comberbach, mayor in 1727.
And on the monument of Henry Bennet, in St. Peter's
Church, Chester, Bennet, impaling, Barry of six ermine and
azure, on a canton argent a fleur-de-lis gules, being the arms of
Elizabeth, his wife, daughter of John Comberbach,
of Nantwich. All these persons were nearly connected.
John Comberbach, of Haughton, 1779, bore on his seal, an
impression of which is in my possession, Azure, two bars ermine, on a
canton argent a fleur-de-lis. The crest is, A cubit arm erect, vested
and cuffed, holding a fleur-de-lis. Here I should remark that one of my
reasons for considering the names Comberbach and
Cumberlege identical is the similarity of the arms. John
Cumberlege, was a subscriber to Plot's Natural history of
Staffordshire, and his arms figure on the folding title to that work,
viz. Barry of six ermine and sable, on a canton or a fleur-de-lis
gules. The Rev. S. F. Cumberlege, who claims to be of the same
family, now bears this coat, and for his crest, a fleur-de-lis between
two feathers, with a motto, Vouloir ce que Dieu veut.
The
traditional account of the origin of the canton and crest, for I have no
better evidence to offer, is, that they were given as an augmentation to
one of the family who took a standard from the French at some great
battle of the Middle Ages. If the canton be azure, and the fleur-de-lis
or, there may be some foundation of truth in the story. Be this as it
may, let us not though we do well to be cautious in listening to the
voice of the charmer, tradition -
altogether reject it when it argues
on the side of possibility.
The
pedigrees of the Comberbachs of Nantwich,
Haughton, and Barbadoes, as far as I have been able to trace
them, will be found at subsequent pages. Here are only put down such
detached notes and references as I have collected concerning various
branches of the family of which it is impossible to give any continuous
pedigree. From 1335 all trace of the name is lost for nearly 200
years.
On
the 24th April, 1521, Sir Richard Comberbach, “our ladies
priest and overseer of the works,” was one of those who desired a
contribution towards the building of the tower of the parish church of
Lymm. (Topographer and Genealogist, vol. i., p. 385.)
During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries a numerous family of
this name existed in Congleton and the neighbourhood. From it the
Nantwich branch may have sprung. The obscurity however of their
position in social life renders it difficult, if not impossible, to form
a connected pedigree, one must therefore be content with placing on
record such scattered notes as a few wills and parish registers afford.
Congleton is situate in the parish of Astbury, in the
registers of which place occur numerous entries relative to persons of
the name; they commence as early as 1593. They will be found at page 49
[Appendix], being too long for insertion here. The first notice I find
of a Comberbach of Congleton, is in Harleian MS.
2115, ff. 120c, and 133b, where occur, “Ed. Comberbach,”
and “Ranus Comberbach de Congleton. 35 henry VIII.”
[1544]. One Thomas Comberbach was mayor of Congleton
in 1576; see Yates’ History of that place, page 67. John
Comberbatche, of Odd Rode, near Congleton,
yeoman, in his will bearing date 10th Jany, 1626, directs
his body to be buried in the church yard of Astbury. He mentions therein
his sons Raffe, John, and Richard,
and daughters Ellen Twemblowe, Margaret Cartwright,
and Anne Loundes*.
Administration of the effects of Richard Cumberbach of
Congleton, was granted in 1633 ; two persons named Ralph
Comberbach assisted in making the inventory of his goods.
Ralph Cumberbach of Congleton, in his will made 9th Septr
1652, directs his body to be buried in the churchyard of Astbury;
mentions his wife Isabell, sons Ralph and
William, daughter Jone, and grandchild
Margery Comberbach, daughter of said son Ralph.
In
later times a family probably connected with that of Congleton,
resided in the neighbouring parish of Sandbach, but no person of
the name is now living there. A Joseph Comberbach was
churchwarden of Sandbach in 1731 and 1732. Joseph
Comberbach, of Sandbach, innholder; died 9th March, 1743,
aged 56; and Mary his wife, died 23rd March, 1754, aged
70, and was buried on the 26th of the same month. (See monumental
inscription, page 47 [Appendix].) They had issue:-
RICHARD, baptized 26th Nov. 1710.
JOSEPH, bapt. 30th June, 1713 ; was town-clerk of
Macclesfield. His will dated 28th March, 1762, proved at Chester, 1st
October, 1764, He died 21st June, 1761, and was buried at Sandbach.
MARY,
married Randle Furnival, of Congleton, and had issue
Mary and Ellen.
ANN,
baptized 9th Oct., 1715 ; married __ Brooke, of
Congleton.
SARAH,
baptized 28th April, 1717.
DANIEL, of
whom presently.
SAMUEL, baptized 30th April, 1721. In his will dated 4th
July, 1792, and proved 4th March, 1793, he mentions his sister-in-law,
Mary Comberbach, “widow of my late brother, Daniel
Comberbach,” and his nephew, Daniel Comberbach. He
was buried at Sandbach, 22nd February, 1792. Samuel
Comberbach and Elizabeth Hitchinson,
both of Sandbach, were married 17th April, 1751.
Elizabeth, wife of Samuel Comberbach, was buried
22nd March following Samuel Comberbach had a son
Joseph, who is mentioned in the will of his uncle and
god-father, Joseph Comberbach. He is, I presume, the
Joseph who married 12th February, 1771, Mary Stanway.
She was buried 22nd April, 1772. He was buried 25th Dec., 1771.
ELLEN, baptized 20th January, 1722; living
1762.
WILLIAM, baptized 13th November. 1726.
MARTHA, baptized 3rd March, 1727, buried 13th February,
1729.
Daniel, son of Joseph
Comberbach, was baptized 28th Dec. 1718. As far as I am able
to reconcile the various entries which occur in the parish registers of
Sandbach, I am inclined to think that he married four times ;
first, 11th May, 1755, to Ann Johnson, of Sandbach
; she was buried 3rd April, 1759. They had issue:-
Mary,
baptized 21st March, 1756, buried 14th August, 1778.
Ann,
baptized 15th February, 1758, and buried 15th November following.
Unless there were two
persons of the same name living in Sandbach at the same time,
which is scarcely probable, he must have married again, soon after his
first wife's death, a second, and had issue by her:-
JOSEPH, baptized 10th September, 1760, buried 23rd Aug. 1761.
ELIZABETH, baptized 11th June, 1762.
DANIEL, baptized 18th May, 1764. Living 1792.
This
wife of Daniel Comberbach was burried (sic) Dec. 1764. On
the 14th March, 1765, he married his third wife, Katherine
Mortlock, of Sandbach, who was buried 7th August, 1785.
And 14th March, 1786, he married Mary Handcock, of
Barthomley, who survived him. He was buried 15th June, 1787.
The
Comberbachs of Congleton are not yet quite
extinct. A William Comberbach still keeps the White Bear
Inn, in that town.
Several persons of this name were living at Kenyon, in the county
of Lancaster, during the seventeenth century. A few extracts
relative to them from the Registers of
Winwick, will be found at page 51 [Appendix]. Randle
Cumberbach, of Kenyon, in his will dated 28th September,
1630, directs his body to be buried in his parish church of Winwick
; mentions the lease of his house from Edward Holland, of
Denton, Esq. ; his wife Anne, son John,
daughter Katheren, wife of Peter Crofte.
Ellen Comberbatche was a witness to the will.
John Comberbirch (sic), of Kenion, made his will 20th
January, 1687, mentions his sons John and Robert,
his daughter Mary Johnes, and son-in-law Richard
Andrews.
Robert Cumberbatch, of Kenyon, yeoman, in his
will of August 8th, 1710, mentions among other persons his sister,
Alice Norris, and nephew, Robert Cumberbatch.
The will was proved 12th May, 1721.
Persons named Comberbach resided at Alvanley and
Helsby, in the parish of Frodsham, county of Chester, but I
only find four entries in the parish register (see page 51 [Appendix].
John Cumberbach, of Alvanley, by his will, bearing
date 26th October, 1631, directs his body to be buried in the parish
church of Frodsham, and mentions his wife, Joane Comberbache,
sons John, Edward, Raffe, and
Robert, daughters Anne and Alice,
and his kinsman Rychard Weston, whom he appoints one of
his executors.
Administration of the effects of Robert Cumberbach, of
Alvanley, in the county of Chester, was granted to Jeremiah
Leech, to the use of Ellen Leech, alias
Cumberbach, his wife’s daughter, in 1672.
Probate of the nuncupative will of John Cumberbach, of Helsby, in the
parish of Frodsham, blacksmith, was granted 16th February, 1664 ;
mention is therein made of testator’s sons Richard and
Ralph, daughter Mary Miller, alias
Cumberbatch, and grandchild Elizabeth Miller ;
“and likewise hee expressed that hee had a sonn in Portingale *;
and if ever hee returned he did give and bequeath him the bedd whereon
hee lay to rest his bones upon. These words hee uttered in the presence
of Thomas Oulton and Edward Comberbach, and
suddenly departed this life.”
In
the beginning of the eighteenth century I find the will of a Roger
Comberbach, of Cuddington, and of a John Comberbach†,
of Walton-le-Dale, but have no further information concerning
them. The will of Roger Comberbach, of Cuddington,
in the county of Chester, yeoman, is dated 2nd April, 1709, and was
proved 30th May in the same year; he mentions, together with other
persons, cozen John Sheen’s four children, of Over,
cozen John Sumner’s five children, daughter
Katherine Comberbach, brother-in-law Robert Anson’s
four children, neice (sic) Ann Burrowes, of Little Lee,
son-in-law John Hold (?) of Aughton, cozen
John Sheen’s children, of Peckforton; and appoints
John Sheen and John Sumner executors. Among
bequests to several persons the following item occurs:- “I give and
bequeath unto my landlord and landlady Gill, of
Haddington, and to their son, Thomas Gill, two
shillings and sixpence apiece to buy them gloves.” The inventory of
goods amounts to £156 7s. John Comberbach, of
Walton-le-Dale, in the county of Lancaster, husbandman, in
his will, dated 28th January, 1723, and proved 21st October, 1724,
directs his body to be buried in his parish church of Walton, and
names his wife Cicily Comberbach, brother Robert
Comberbach, and nephew John Comberbach.
The
next person I have to mention is Richard Cumberbache*, of
Lee, in the parish of Wybunbury. In his will, bearing date
22nd April, 1624, he directs his body to be buried in the parish
churchyard of Wybunbury; and mentions Francis Aston,
daughter of Thomas Aston, his son-in-law, Margaret
Cumberbache, alias Lownes, his base daughter, and
his wife Elizabeth Cumberbache†. He may
possibly have been related to the Comberbachs of
Nantwich. Mary, daughter of John Comberbach,
was baptized at Wybunbury, December 8th, 1684. Was this a
John Comberbach of Nantwich ?
An
ecclesiastic the Reverend Richard Comberbach, was
perpetual curate of Little Peover, near Knutsford, in
Cheshire, during the early part of the eighteenth century, and was at
one time a non juror. He endowed a school there which remains to this
day, and left a charity to the poor of bread. His monumental
inscription, &c., will be found at page 18. In his will, made 18th
June, 1720, and proved 4th June, 1722, he directs his body to be put
into a poplar coffin, coloured black, and to
be laid in his late wife’s grave, in the evening, by candle light, near
the font in the chapel of Lower Peover. He then appoints
Richard Mee, his sole executor. He bequeaths four hundred pounds
to five trustees, for an endowment for Lower Peover school. The
trustees are to take “direction of my worthy friend, Sir Francis
Leicester, Bart., in what relates that trust, when he is in the
country.” Gives £52 to provide bread for the poor, who shall attend
divine service and sermon every Sunday. Gives all his household goods
to his wife. Mentions several persons to whom he gives legacies, and
among them his “kinsman, Samuel Twisse.” Gives his wife
£1200, and states, that £100 of this was given her by her late brother,
Francis Hobson, late of Butley Hall, Gent.
deceased. Mentions his wife’s neice, Mary, wife of
Edward Oakes, and his wife’s nephew, Ralph Leach’s
son Ralph. Gives £52 for bread to be given to the poor
of Nether Alderley, every Sunday. Mentions “brother and
sister Lee, and their children.” “Kinsman William
Watts.” Directs his will to be preserved among the records of
Lower Peover Chapel.
In a
codicil, testator mentions his brother Ralph Leach’s wish
to have his grandson’s legacy paid, which the testator does, and revokes
the former bequest.
Value
of inventory of goods amounts to £1274 9s. 5½d. The will is sealed with
a seal, upon which is, Ermine on a chief a bezant between two billets.
Crest, a fusil between two wings erect addorsed. These are the arms of
Watts.
Notwithstanding a slight discrepancy in the dates (see monumental
inscription), I consider Richard Comberbach, of Peover
Inferior, to be identical with Richard Comberbach who
graduated B.A. at Caius College, Cambridge, in 1668. In the admission
book at that College, now in the custody of Dr. Guest the
Master, I find him entered as Richard Comberbatch, son of
Ralph Comberbatch, of Lyme, i. e, Lymm, in
Cheshire ingenuus; born at Lachford, and educated under Mr.
Richardson, of Lyme; entered as a sizar under Mr.
Ellys; aged 21, anno. 1665.
In
the lists of non-jurors in Kettlewell and Bowles I find
the following entries, which I believe refer to this person, although
they are both manifestly erroneous :-
“Mr.
Richard Cumberland, curate of Tabby,” (i.e. Tabley.)
Life of Kettlewell, 1718. App. Vi.
“Mr.
Cumblach, Vicar of Lym.”
Bowles’
Life of Ken. II., 185.
I
have examined the transcripts of the parish registers of Lymm, but
without eliciting much information, vide page 52 [Appendix].
Some
Cumberbachs were resident at Crich, in the county
of Derby, in 1707 and 1708. Administration of the effects of
William Cumberbach, of Crich, was granted to his son
Richard, 18th April, 1707. Administration of the effects of
Richard Cumberbach, of Frichley, in the parish of
Crich, was granted to his sister Joan Cumberbach,
23rd April, 1708.
The
other side of the Atlantic may not be without a Comberbach.
One Thomas Comberbach emigrated to New England from
Norwich, in 17th century. (See New England Genealogical and
Historical Register, vol. vi., p. 171, and vol. xiv., p. 325.)
It
was under the name of Comberbach that Samuel Taylor
Coleridge, the poet, enlisted in the 15th dragoons, when in
great pecuniary distress after quitting Jesus College, Cambridge, in
1794, without a degree.
A
fatal accident, of which a man named James Comberbach was
the innocent cause, is reported in the Standard newspaper of September
20th, 1864.
I
have now only to mention one more family claiming to be descended out of
Cheshire, and I regret that I have but little information concerning it.
It is, I believe, represented by Mr. R. Comberbach, of
Antwerp, who, on the 21st February, 1862, wrote me:-
“I regret that my time has been so fully
employed as to prevent me from thinking of genealogy, in bringing up a
family of twelve children, of which I have unfortunately lost six, five
of them grown up men and women. My age, now seventy-seven nearly, will
excuse my not complying with your request of giving you my pedigree; in
fact, I have been quite separated from my father’s relatives, he having
left Cheshire at the age of twenty; he often spoke of visiting the tombs
of his ancestors in Chester Cathedral, but death prevented him.”
This
gentleman's younger brother, the Rev. Father Comberbach,
of St. Mary's Priory, Princethorpe, near Rugby, in a
letter dated 12th February, 1862, says:-
“Being the youngest of a very large
family (nineteen in number) my early life found little interest in
enquiries from those who were near the close of theirs as to genealogy,
My father was from Cheshire, a younger son, he entered the army at an
early age, enlisting in a moment of anger. He was at the seige
(sic) of Gibraltar, and I have always
understood that to the accurate journal of that celebrated seige
(sic) which he kept, Colonel Drinkwater
was largely indebted for his work."
I
have here, as briefly as possible, narrated all the scattered facts I
have collected concerning individuals of the surname of Comberbach,
of whose families it would be difficult, if not impossible, to form
connected genealogies. I shall, therefore, pass on to those whose
descent can be more certainly ascertained.