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My Cobb(e) connection starts with my maternal 2 x Great Grandmother, Elizabeth Cobb, who married Allen Rice (a Saw Handle maker) in 1856 at St. Martin's-in-the-Field, London. From Elizabeth, I've traced my COBB ancestry back to my 6 x Great Grandparents, William Cobb and Mary Hewett, whose children, William, Joseph and Hewett (my 5 x Great Grandfather) were baptised at Northington, Hampshire in 1719, 1721 and 1724 respectively.
Northington's neighbouring Manor of Swarraton was owned in 1568 by one Thomas Cobb, son of John Cobb of Swarraton and grandson of William Cobb of Steventon, Hampshire. The Coat of Arms of Thomas Cobbe of Swarraton was confirmed by Cooke, Clarenceux in 1575 (Heralds Visitation, Hants.) as "Gules a fess or in chief two swans argent".
Thomas's eldest son Michael succeeded him in the possession of the estate. It was Michael who had the Grange built at Swarraton c1594. On Michael's death in 1598, he was succeeded by his eldest son Thomas. On this Thomas's death in April 1638, the Manor passed to his son and heir Michael, and in November of the same year, Michael and his brother, Richard, sold their inheritance to Lord Henry Paulet. The Parish Registers of Northington bear witness to the presence of Cobbs over a period of 200 years (there are 27 entries relating to branches of this family). (With acknowledgement to "A Brief History of the Parishes of Swarraton and Northington" by W.Eyre.)
"However, Michael and Richard retained a landholding at Barton's Farm, near Winchester. Michael Cobbe looked after the estates of the 4th Earl of Southampton, while important connections were established between the Cobbes and Paulets, following the marriage of the younger brother Richard to Honor Norton (1616-1703), whose sister Elizabeth Norton married Lord Henry's son Francis Paulet. The Norton sisters, co-heiresses on the death of their brother, promulgated an intimacy between the two families that seems to have been unaffected by their taking opposite sides in the Civil War. The Paulets were staunchly Royalist - defending Basing House against Cromwellian troops until it had been razed to the ground, with the loss of £200,000 of family property - while Richard Cobbe became Knight of the Shire for Hampshire and represented the county in the Commonwealth Parliament, along with Richard Cromwell, son of the Protector."
Although descendants of the Swarraton Cobb(e)s "continued to live in Hampshire until that side of the family died out in the first half of the 19th century, Charles Cobbe (1686-1765) established the family in Ireland and thus began a new phase in its history. It is from him that the 19th and 20th century members of the family descended, and the landholdings that he acquired and house that he built provided the centre of activity and security for eight generations of his posterity." (With acknowledgement to "The Cobbe Family of Hampshire and Ireland" by Alec Cobbe from "Clerics & Connoisseurs" by English Heritage & Azimuth Editions)
Although it seems probable that my 6 x Great Grandfather William is linked to this family, I've yet to confirm it. The connection between my Cobb family and its Hampshire roots was, however, re-affirmed towards the end of the 18th century. In 1792 (10th October) Hewett Cobb, the younger, wrote in a letter to his cousin William, "My father (Hewett the elder) is going to settle with our cousin Charles at Alresford (about 3 miles from Northington) with the entire approbation of my sister and self."- (Norfolk Record Office ref. WKC 7/141)
My 5 x Great Grandfather, Hewett Cobb, was born in 1724 and baptised at Northington (the name Hewett (his mother's maiden name) was used for boys in the Cobb family for the next 120 years - the last known to me being the son (born c.1845) of Joseph Cobb and Emma Britten, of Kings Road, Chelsea. The first Hewett married Mary Pain of Richmond, Surrey in 1752 at the Reverend Keith's Mayfair Chapel in London, famous (or should I say infamous) for the performance of the marriage ceremony without obtaining a licence, or publication of banns or consent of parents. Such marriages were called clandestine marriages but, although irregular, were at that time perfectly valid and binding.
Hewett and Mary Cobb of Richmond, Surrey, had 3 children surviving to adulthood, George, Jane and Hewett. Jane Cobb married Matthew Burchell, whose uncle William Burchell (1725-1800), became owner of the nationally and internationally renowned Fulham Nursery gardens in Fulham, Middlesex during the 2nd half of the 18th century. Fulham seems to have become home for this branch of the Cobb family - George Cobb's children were baptised at All Saints church and Hewett Cobb, the younger, is buried there.
Another branch of the family, headed by William Cobb (1719-1798) - brother of Hewett the elder, settled at Brentford End, a hamlet in the parish of Isleworth, Middlesex. The area was dominated by nurseries and market gardens and it seems likely this was how the family made their livelihood.
