Hodder-Widdecombe, Devon, late 1700s early 1800s - connecting the relatives.

[NZfamily]

Looking for information on birth / siblings and parents of John Hodder, b abt 1896, possibly Ugborough.

This is what I have pieced together so far

John Hodder's marriage entry to Ann Widdecombe on 15 May 1818 in Ugborough has him listed as a Yeoman, and this title stays with him on all of his children's baptism entries. In the 1841 census, he is living in Buckland Monachorum parish, in the village of Crapstone, 'age 45'. His wife, Ann, is also listed as the same age; however, I believe, findmypast has her baptised in Sep 1791 in Ugborough; father John, mother, Jenny. I suspect this couple (Ann's parents) were married in May 1774 in Ugborough, with the wife's name being Joan Martin (Jenny being a possible variant of Joan).

The 1851 census has the Hodder family living in Modbury and has Ann's place of birth as Ugborough.  John Hodder's death is registered in Kingsbridge in Mar 1844 and he is not on this census form.

Here is the info I have found for John and Ann Hodder's children, sourced either from findmypast or the 1851 census entries:
Ann Hodder (1819– b Ugborough)
Jane Hodder (1821– b Ugborough)
Elizabeth Hodder (1823– b Buckland Monachorum parish)
John Hodder (1827–1901 b Buckland Monachorum parish)
Catherine Hodder (1834–1897 b Buckland Monachorum parish)

The puzzling part comes with the witnesses to John & Ann's Wedding in 1818 (see attached). They appear to be:
Eliza Hodder, Jenny Widdecombe (hard to read - could even be "Peggy"); Servington Hodder and John Widdecombe. One would surmise they are probably close relatives.

With such an unusual name as Servington Hodder, I would have thought he would be easy to track down.

I checked with the Public trees on ancestry.com and one tree has the following:
Servington HODDER bap 25 Jul 1761, Ugborough m Elizabeth PAIN (b abt 1770) on 25 Mar 1791 in Ugborough.
Children:
John HODDER
bap 11 Mar 1792, Ugborough

Eliza HODDER
bap 3 Dec 1793, Ugborough

Sarah HODDER
bap 22 Jul 1795, Ugborough d.1802 Ugborough

Mary HODDER
bap 18 Aug 1797, Ugborough

Catherine HODDER
bap 27 Sep 1801, Ugborough

Servington HODDER
bap 12 Feb 1804, Ugborough d Mar 1874 Totnes

Jane HODDER
bap 12 Feb 1806, Ugborough

William HODDER
bap 12 Oct 1808, Ugborough

Critically, I cannot find the baptism entry cited for John Hodder 1892 anywhere online, however all baptism dates are that specific that one suspects they must have come from somewhere reliable.

I am wondering if the John Hodder here baptised in 1792 might be one and the same person as the Yeoman who was married in 1818 in Ugborough, given the connection to the name Servington on his marriage certificate. I am unsure of where the ancestry user got the information from, as he does not cite his sources. Many of the names would fit with the family and you can see there are some instances of John & Ann's children being given the same names as the children or parent (in the case of Elizabeth) in this ancestry.com constructed family.

I gather a Yeoman is a hereditary title. This should also mean John who was married in 1818's father had the same title?

If this is the correct family, I could see that either the parents Servington & Elizabeth (shortened to Eliza) or the siblings Servington & Eliza being witnesses to the marriage.
I submit the graphic from the marriage entry of the witnesses signatures.

I am also told by a relative that this branch of the family had a connection to the wine making industry (as might be surmised from the info on the 1851 census "Farming 278 acres, employing 6 labs" living at Edmeston house - now a heritage listed building) and according to my relative, the family supplied wine to the English courts for centuries. I note that one of the meanings of Yeoman is "a man holding and cultivating a small landed estate; a freeholder."

All help appreciated to untangle this jigsaw puzzle

[terryleaman]

Most Devon registers are on Find My Past and some on Devon FHS Members' area of www.devonfhs.org.uk
FIND MY PAST has OVER 1,000 entries using just a search on Servington Hodder

[goldie61]

The puzzling part comes with the witnesses to John & Ann's Wedding in 1818 (see attached). They appear to be:

Critically, I cannot find the baptism entry cited for John Hodder 1892 anywhere online, however all baptism dates are that specific that one suspects they must have come from somewhere reliable.

I am wondering if the John Hodder here baptised in 1792 might be one and the same person as the Yeoman who was married in 1818 in Ugborough, given the connection to the name Servington on his marriage certificate.

I gather a Yeoman is a hereditary title. This should also mean John who was married in 1818's father had the same title?

If this is the correct family, I could see that either the parents Servington & Elizabeth (shortened to Eliza) or the siblings Servington & Eliza being witnesses to the marriage.
I submit the graphic from the marriage entry of the witnesses signatures.

No image attached to the post.
I think the '1892' here for John's birth should be '1792'?

Yeoman was not an official title, and not a hereditary one in my experience.
It all depended on what level of society a man perceived himself to be in.
Quite often you find generations worked their was up from labourer or husbandmen to gain more land and leases to then be able to call themselves 'yeoman'. Children of the next generation may or may not then have also been yeomen - possibly the eldest son if he carried on the leases of his father, but younger sons may have had to go their own way, find work elsewhere, and again be labourers or husbandmen.
If John was the eldest son, as your listing suggests, it's possible he inherited land or leases from his father, and that his father was also a yeoman. What does it say on the baptisms of his children at Ugborough?

[goldie61]

John's baptism is on findmypast under 'Hudder'.
You should always tick the 'name variants' box, especially if there are vowels that could be misheard.
11th March 1792, son of Servington and Elizabeth. No other information in the register.
There is a burial for the John born in 1792 in 1850 at Ugborough. 'Of Edmeston in Modbury'.

Interestingly, the next entry after Servington Hodder's baptism in 1804, is a baptism of another John Hodder, parents Joseph and Priscilla.
Perhaps this was a brother of Servington's.
This John would not have been old enough to be 45 in 1841 as you have in your post for your John, so it doesn't look like him, but quite possibly related. Perhaps this is the burial in 1844 you found at Kingsbridge.

Servington Hodder born 1761 died 1833 (the 1833 burial gives his age).
There is a will listed for him on findmypast.
Unfortunately, many wills were destroyed in the bombing of Exeter cathedral in WWII.
The one for Servington, and the one for John who died 1850, are luckily under IRW. The Inland Revenue Wills Series, I believe were made for estate duty purposes.
You have to contact the Devon Heritage Centre in Exeter to get copies. It may be well worth it to see if John, his wife and children are mentioned  as Servington's son and grandchildren.
https://swheritage.org.uk/devon-archives/visit/devon-heritage-centre/

devon-cat.swheritage.org.uk/records/1078/IRW/H/1049.
Date. 1833. Access status Open.

[goldie61]

There are some interesting entries for Servington Hodder on findmypast under the Parish Chest records for Ugborough. Overseers' Accounts and Rates.
The couple I looked at seem to be payments on various holdings he has presumably in Ugborough. They give names of places - probably the fields he farms.
The earliest record in this set is 1729 where he is given the title 'Mr, which means he either classes himself as a yeoman, or even the  next level up -  a 'gentleman'. An 1741 listing also gives him as 'Mr'.

Added:
Another entry for 'Servington Hoder' in the 1741 lisiting gives him as 'Gent' - a gentleman.
(In 1745 he is transcribed as 'Hodde', but it is actually 'Hodder' - the transcriber seems to have been unaware of the 18th century writing conventions.)
The place the rates are for is 'part of Waterman' which also crops up in the other listings.
Of interest in the 1745 listing is another Servington, who is an 'esquire' - certainly a gentleman, and also possibly, the vicar. He is pays rates for 'the rectory', and also for 'Waterman'. His name is Servington Savoy. The next name on the list is John Savoy, who pays rates on many places.
He is also a 'Gent'.
Perhaps the original Servington Hodder was named after the local land owners at the time.

All very interesting stuff!

[goldie61]

So you are very lucky.

familysearch.org has films of these wills from Devon Heritage Centre.
They are free to view, and you can do so from home, as long as you are signed in on familysearch. You just have to register if you haven't already - free and easy.

When signed in, go to 'search' along the top, then 'catalog'. Enter 'Devon' as a place name.
Go down the list to 'Probate records'. The last one is 'Wills for the Diocese of Exeter 1812 - 1857.
Click on that and you get a list of lots of films.
Pick the one with 'Hodder' in. film 4099366.
The wills are listed alphabetically.
John Hodder's in 1850 starts on image 3054/3267 - you can change the number of the image you want in the box.
Servington Hodder's in 1833 starts at image 3067/3267.
There are several pages for both.
Both entitle themselves as gentlemen.
Servington Hodder's daughter Eliza is married to Mr William Widdecombe.

I'll leave you to find all the interesting things in these two wills.
There seem to be a few other Hodder wills, which also might be worth looking at. They may well be related to your family.

Have fun!

[NZfamily]

Thankyou Goldie61, Here is the info you requested at reply #2

No image attached to the post.

I reattach the image. The original is somewhere on familysearch.org

I think the '1892' here for John's birth should be '1792'?

you are correct, my mistake.

If John was the eldest son, as your listing suggests, it's possible he inherited land or leases from his father, and that his father was also a yeoman. What does it say on the baptisms of his children at Ugborough?

Yes, on John mother's Ann Hodder's Letters of Administration, Probate granted, Exeter 19 Jun 1861, which is on ancestry.com ( under England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995 ), she leaves the Edmeston farm to her son John.

Here are all the childrens' baptism details
Ann Hodder
Baptism
7 Apr 1819 • Ugborough
father's profession: Yeoman

Jane Hodder
Baptism
3 Apr 1821 • Ugborough
father's profession: Yeoman

all other three children
Elizabeth (7 OCT 1823)
John (17 MAY 1827)
Catherine (no date of bap given "1 Jan 1834")
were baptised in Buckland Monachorum, and apart from John, their father is listed as Yeoman (for the two girls). This info is on the transcripts on findmypast. The originals are not available for the Buckland Monachorum baptisms on FindMyPast.

[NZfamily]

Most Devon registers are on Find My Past and some on Devon FHS Members' area of www.devonfhs.org.uk
FIND MY PAST has OVER 1,000 entries using just a search on Servington Hodder

Thankyou terryleaman for the hint re www.devonfhs.org.uk, that could be very helpful

[NZfamily]

John's baptism is on findmypast under 'Hudder'.
You should always tick the 'name variants' box, especially if there are vowels that could be misheard.
11th March 1792, son of Servington and Elizabeth. No other information in the register.
There is a burial for the John born in 1792 in 1850 at Ugborough. 'Of Edmeston in Modbury'.

Thankyou very much once again Goldie61 for this information, which would seem to link everything together - the key being the burial information for John Hodder (date of birth) and the connection to Edmeston Farm, where I know the family were living at the 1851 census. It's going to take me a while to go though all the info in your posts.
Thanks once again for the attention to detail

I found a death notice for Servington Hodder of Rawcombe House near Ugborough, from 7 Sep 1833 from the "Western Times". I assume he was possibly a well known figure in the area, as you suggested