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Talbot family history

A version of the Talbot family crest. The rampant lion is a common feature of Talbot crests. However I haven't any evidence to show that we have claim to this heraldry (note - to have claim to a coat of arms a family must have this granted by the Royal heralds).

Origins of the name - Talbot. It is apparently a name of Norman origin probably from a Germanic personal name. I have also seen the name described as meaning 'a mastiff'. Others speculate that it comes from an old word for bandit - talebot - which referred to robbers who blacked their faces. In 1891 the name is most common in Yorkshire and Lancashire with some Talbots in southern counties of Somerset, Hampshire and Berkshire. The name Talbot appears in the famous speech from King Henry V in Shakespeare's play given prior to the Battle of Agincourt when he lists those who should be proud to be present there on St Crispin's day.

Talbot family history 1900 to 1935. See the Horler history for 1935 to date. My grandmother was baptised as Hebe Florence Talbot and a more loving, generous and kindly soul you could not meet. She was intelligent and liked to read on a regular basis, being particularly fond of crime novels. She was born and raised in the Somerset village of Croscombe which is near Shepton Mallet. She had two immediate siblings who survived beyond infancy, her brothers James and Berty, but a number of other half-brothers and sisters on both her father's and mother's side. Thanks to this website I have found out that one of my nan's elder half-brothers, Arthur William Talbot, left these shores in 1907 and went to live in the USA. He was an engineer in a car plant and lived in Granite City, Illinois. My nan, Hebe, was an orphan who was adopted by her eldest half-sister Maggie and her husband Samuel Bert Vincent. As she was adopted at a young age her half-sister became a mother to her and her nephews and nieces became, in affect, another set of brothers and sisters. One of these, Ken Vincent, is still in Croscombe and is over 80 years old. Hebe's mother Emily (nee Newport - see family tree for family background) died in 1919. My great grandfather William Carver Talbot married a third time and died in the 1920s or 30s. William was 50 when he married Emily, who was 24, as his second wife following the death of his first wife Mary. William was a quarryman in the Mendip stone quarries and played the accordian on a regular basis in the Rose and Crown pub in Croscombe. He also kept a family bible. He was half-blinded at some point due to an accident in the quarry and received a pension as a result.

1830 - 1900. William was son of Frederick and Anne Talbot and he took Anne's maiden name of Carver as his second name. The Carvers were a large family in Croscombe at this time (in terms of numbers not wealth) and through the Carver line is a link to the Chancellors and a James who was parish clerk of Croscombe from 1779 to 1800. William Talbot was born in Croscombe where Frederick and Anne were married and buried. Frederick, who was an agricultural labourer, was baptised in West Pennard as was his father James. It is curious that Hebe's mother's family, the Newport's, also orginated from West Pennard but there is no evidence of a link between Talbots and Newports until the marriage at a later date in Croscombe. James Talbot and Jane evidentally took their family from West Pennard to Croscombe sometime before 1850 as they are registered as living Croscombe in 1851. There is a record of a James Talbot appearing at Somerset assizes in August 1832 however it is unknown whether this is the same. Our James, and his wife Jane, would appear to have lived their final years in poverty as James is recorded as being a pauper in the 1861 census. He died in 1864 and his wife in 1865.

1790 - 1830. James was son of Edward and Elizabeth Talbot who were married in West Pennard in 1793 and Edward descends from the Talbots of Butleigh who were yeomen farmers who are recorded as far back as the 16th century in that parish. They were a well off farming family holding important positions in the villages such as bailiff and churchwarden and held both freehold and leasehold property. But beyond that there is no further evidence or any clue as to whether the Talbot family link to the Talbots who came over with William the Conqueror. But this is possible as in the 16th century they were just below the rank of gentry. Indeed Thomas Talbot of Butleigh in 1587 married a daughter of the Rushe family of Baltonsborough. John Rushe who died about 1550 was described on a church inscription as an 'esquire' and whose family 'were loyal subjects and friends to the Protestant cause'.

Some other interesting family lines through the Talbots are the Marshman family of Croscombe. Through their line there appears to be a link to a family called Hicks who held alot of land in Dinder in the 17th century and who eventually married into the Somerville family who still hold land there now. There is also a link through this family to a gentry family called the Mortimers of Avebury in the 16th and 17th century who held the manor of Stockley. There is also a probable link to the Walton family of Shapwick in Devon who became lords of the manor and were granted family arms after the dissolution of Glastonbury Abbey. One of many new families who rose in that period out of the rubble of the Catholic church. Through my nan's mother's line there is a link to two rectors called Connock of North Barrow and Sparkford in Somerset, one of whom was granted a degree from Oxford in 1681. Finally there is a connection to the Hood family of Butleigh via a cadet line.


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