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Woolfardisworthy is a north Devon parish lying between Bradworthy and Hartland. Thomas Yeo died there in 1658; he left a will written in 1653 and was survived by his widow Mary, who lived until 1662.
Thomas was probably a grandson of Nicholas Yeo of East Bridge, Stratton [note 1]. Mary’s birth surname is not known, but there is evidence that it might have been Yeo [note 2].
Thomas’s will was proved in London in 1658 and Mary’s will was exhibited at Barnstaple in 1663. It is fortunate that transcripts of these wills have survived, as the parish registers for Woolfardisworthy from that time are missing [note 3].
Thomas and Mary lived at West Town, a former fortified manor house that was part of the estate of Hartland Abbey. They had eight children:
– Hewe Yeo (baptised Woolfardisworthy 1608)
– Margaret Yeo (1614–1662, married William Hamlyn)
– William Yeo (baptised c1619, moved to London, where his will was proved in 1637)
– Thomas Yeo (c1620–1671, married Isott Nicholl)
– James Yeo (c1621–1657, moved to Exeter)
– Philip Yeo (1622–1666, moved to London, married Jane Perrot, five children)
– John Yeo (1623–1707, married Mary Neale and Joan Backway [note 4], nine children)
– Arthur Yeo (baptised c1625, moved to London, where his will was proved in 1648).
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Notes
1. It has also been suggested, though without supporting evidence, that his father was Thomas Yeo of Exminster (buried 1659), whose mother Elizabeth was a Hamlyn by birth and whose grandfather was Nicholas Yeo of Exeter (c1550–1615).
2. Mary’s will, proved in 1663, bore the Yeo coat-of-arms, although Thomas’s will did not. Sheila Yeo explored the possibility that Mary’s birth surname was Hamlyn – she failed to find evidence for this, although the Hamlyn family was prominent in the area and her daughter Margaret became a Hamlyn by marriage.
3. They were lost in a fire at Clovelly Court, and it has been suggested that their destruction was deliberate. Some records exist as bishop’s transcripts, including baptism records for Hewe Yeo and Margaret Yeo. If Thomas and Mary married at Woolfardisworthy there is no surviving record of the ceremony.
4. Née Rowland, widow of Bernard Backway.