HEBBORN FAMILY HISTORY & NEWS - December 2003

THE BAFFLING CASE OF PETER HEBORN - Part II

It was back in March 2003 that I wrote about the will made by in 1742 by Peter Heborn of Shipton-under-Wychwood. Old wills often contain references to relatives, and are a valuable source of information for the family historian, but not this one. Peter did mention his “brother’s son” and his “brother’s daughter” but did not name them. Very frustrating, particularly as he names quite a lot of unrelated related local people.

In the quest to find out more about Peter, I contacted Joan Howard-Drake of the Shipton-under-Wychwood Local History Society. The response was very rewarding. Joan was able to tell me that Peter was buried at Shipton on 2nd Oct 1744 as “Peter Heybourne”.  She also interpreted a number of names that had proved very difficult to read, and provided a lot of background information on a number of the people named in the will.

Would the Gamekeeper’s Licence held at Oxon Record Office hold more clues to Peter’s identity? Sue Hedges kindly offered to get a copy of it on her next visit to ORO. It proved a little more difficult to locate than expected, as the catalogue numbering was different to that which was shown in the Quarter Sessions Index.  The licence was a handwritten document dated 20 April 1712 and signed by Rowland Lacy of Churchill, Oxon, Lord of the Hundred of Chadlington. It authorised Peter Heborn of Shipton under Wychwood to be his gamekeeper within the said Hundred.  The only new information was that Peter was employed by Rowland Lacy rather than the General Read(e) who figures in Peter’s will. Joan Howard-Drake was able to put us right on this point. It seems that General Read(e) had acquired the estate from the Lacy’s.  Presumably, the gamekeeper came with the estate!

A small bonus came with the Gamekeeper’s Licence. In the same storage box, Sue found a small piece of paper catalogued as “Certificate of Com.” :-

“We Jno Eykyn Vicar and Minister of ye Parrish and Parrish Church of Burford in ye County of Oxon and John Mabberly Church warden of ye same Parrish and Parrish Church do hereby certify that William Eborne of Fifield in the County of Oxon aforesaid on the Lords Day commonly called Sunday the Eighth day of this Instant Month of June immediately after divine Service and Sermon did in ye Parrish Church aforesaid Receive the Sacrament of ye Lords Supper according to the usage of the Church of England In Witness Whereof we have hereunto subscribed our hands aforesaid
the Eighth day of June 1712
By me J. Eykyn Vicar and Minister of the Parrish and Parrish Church
By me Jno Mabberly Church Warden of the said Parrish and Parrish Church

This is followed by the sworn statements of Bartholomew Priest and Rob Cambray that they did see the said William Eborne receive the Sacrament of the Lords Supper.

It sounds as if William Eborne had been in trouble with the law for not attending church. Perhaps he had been a Dissenter or a Catholic. This is only the first of a number of unanswered, possibly unanswerable questions. Who was William Eborne of Fifield? Where did he come from? Was he married and did he have children? Some of the answers to these questions may already be held in our files, but proving links can be very difficult.

Thanks to the help of fellow enthusiasts, we know just a little more about Peter Heborn, and have discovered the mysterious William Eborne. Until recently we had not considered West Oxfordshire Heborn/Eborne territory. Could there have been Dissenter or Catholic Heborns/Eborns in the area, who managed to escape the Parish Registers?

The Case is still not closed.

Joan & John (Ancestor Detectives)