Finding small places

[slightlyfoxed]

help! Has anyone any idea how i can find out where ancient ancestors where actually living.
E.G. St Columb is a town and a large parish not far from the coast-and in 1550 - 1620 was a long time ago.
How can I discover - preferably on line- where these families actually lived . Small farms abound,  there are villages with manor house- these were gentry- landed folk,  but I cant find where they actually lived.
 this is an example-  Collaton in Newton Ferrers Devon. It is now a farm but once was a 'manor'. It is a definite place and was once the home of a family of Pomeroys. Their descendants married into St Columb gentry  families BUT where did they live!??

[Finley 1]

some of my lot are from the same area...   But not sure how to define the actual place.

xin

[osprey]

if they were gentry, and you've got so far back, you must have looked at wills?
Leases?

The Cornwall Record Office has an index to its catalogue online
http://crocat.cornwall.gov.uk/dserve/dserve.exe?dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=Search.tcl
 

Are you looking at St Columb Major or Minor? And what surname?

[slightlyfoxed]

St Columb Major and Pomeroy is the name.
One possible Will we have discovered was of a William Pomeroy who died in 1622 in nearby St Ervan unhappily that Will was lost in the bombing of Exeter in WWII!
We have another from the tree but it tells us nothing that identifies where they were living. I suspect its a case of - they and the family knew where they lived why would anyone else need to!!
There are now all sorts of records on-line, so I guess I'll just have to bite the bullet and spend money getting them and having them transcribed!
my purse says ouch!
 Annie

[osprey]

well, the CRO has a will for Matthew Pomeroy gentleman of St Columb Major from 1634 which includes an inventory, ref AP/P/672.

You can get a copy from Truro. It doesn't cost very much as you're not paying for research, just for photocopying.

http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=14713

You can post parts of a will for help with deciphering on this board

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/board,425.0.html

[slightlyfoxed]

Id forgotten about him all together.!
 Thanks for that Ive asked CRO about it.