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Henry HAMBLING
1823 - 1892 (69 years)
Has 77 ancestors and 22 descendants in this family tree.
Set As Default Person 
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Name Henry HAMBLING Relationship 
with Teresa Ann GOATHAM Born 1823 Blackawton, Devon, England 
Baptised 17 Dec 1823 St. Michael’s Church, Blackawton, Devon, England Gender Male Occupation From 1847 to 1891 Blackawton, Devon, England Gunmaker - All censues from 1851 to 1891 show Henry as a gunmaker, as does Whites Directory of 1890, so although he appears to have retired from being an innkeeper in 1879 he clearly carried on as a gunsmith as well as remaining registrar.
In 1847 one of Henry's guns was a prize in a pigeon-shooting match as described in the "District News" section of the Exeter and Plymouth Gazette (18 Dec 1847), p.8:
"BLACKAWTON.-On Tuesday, a pigeon shooting-match took place at the Hember Post Inn, commonly called the Sportsman's Hall, in this parish, for a new gun, by Mr. H. Hambling, which was won by Mr. Wm. Ferris, of Capton; Mr. P. Foal, jun., of this town, being within one of the winner. A very strong wind from N.W. was in favour of the birds, many of them going before the wind at a swift rate, and bidding defiance to the dismayed sportsmen. After the shooting was over, a large party dined at the inn, and harmony was maintained till a late hour."
Residence 1851 Myrtle Cottage, Blackawton, Devon, England Occupation From 1851 to 1861 Blackawton, Devon, England Census Ennumerator Occupation From 1855 to 1861 Commercial Inn, Blackawton, Devon, England Innkeeper - By 1855 Henry had become innkeeper at the Commercial Inn (now the Normandy Arms) at the same time as being a gunmaker.
In that year a notice appeared in the Western Times (27 Oct 1855, p.8):
Pigeon Shooting
The Blackawton annual pigeon match
will take place at Hambling's Commercial Inn, in
Blackawton, on Monday, the 5th day of November next.
He was still there at the time of the 1861 census.
Occupation From 1857 to 1890 Blackawton Reg Sub-Dist, Devon, England [1] Registrar of BMDs - He was recorded as being deputy registrar in 1857, taking over from his father some years later, probably on his father's death in 1864.
In Morris and Co.'s Commercial Directory and Gazetteer. 1870.
In Whites Directory 1890 (under Blackawton): "Hambling Henry, gunsmith & regr. of births & deaths for Blackawton Dist." (also mentioned in Kingsbridge entry as Blackawton cames under Kingsbridge, and all registrars for the area are listed).
A short obituary of his father which appeared in the Western Times refers to "the rev. incumbent is most actively canvassing in direct opposition to the views of most of the parishioners, to elect some other person to fill the office of Clerk and Registrar instead of Mr. Henry Hambling who has been deputy to his late father for many years."
It appears* that Henry did not become the new Parish Clerk - since appointment to that office was by the incumbent alone he could get his way there, but not over the next registrar.
I wonder what the priest's objection was? Maybe it was because Henry was an Innkeeper, although he does not seem to have objected to a dinner being held at the Dartmouth Inn (i.e. Henry's establishment) after the following year's vestry meeting. Maybe he simply didn't think Henry suited to the role. If Henry had been assisting his father for some years he would have had the opportunity to assess him.
(* - no mention of Henry having been Parish Clerk when he died; I haven't seen the marriage registers etc. to see if I can find who the next Parish Clerk was to confirm the incumbent wasn't persuaded to change his mind and appoint Henry.
Occupation From 1863 to 1879 Dartmouth Inn, Blackawton, Devon, England [1] Innkeeper - Henry was an innkeeper at the same time as being a gunmaker.
At the Dartmouth Inn (now a private cottage) in 1870 (Morris and Co.'s Commercial Directory and Gazetteer. 1870), 1871(census).
In 1858 the Dartmouth Inn, aka the Dartmouth Arms, was bought by local farmer and mason, Samuel John Heath, though he doesn't seem to have become innkeeper as at about this time Richard Ellis and his wife Ann were recorded as innkeepers . The year after purchasing the inn Heath mortgaged it for £120 to Squire John Netherton of Bowden House in the neighbouring parish of Stoke Fleming. Thus it was that in 1863 when Henry Hambling bought the inn, it was being sold jointly by Mr Heath and Squire Netherton.
Presumably Henry moved from the Commerical Inn on buying the Dartmouth Inn, and remained there until he leased it in 1879 to Paignton brewer, Andrew Dreweatt Hatch. In the lease it is described:
"... all that messuage or dwellinghouse with the yard and appurtenances thereto adjoining and belonging, called or commonly known by the name of the Dartmouth Inn situate at Blackawton aforesaid, together with the stables piggeries part of the garden and small field thereto adjoining or held therewith and all the fixtures and fittings now in upon and belonging to the said premises ..."
In 1880 Henry raised £200 by mortgaging the inn to Sarah Ann Morey of Rattery. The mortgage deed includes mention of "... two cottages or dwelling houses adjoining the said inn and now in the occupation of William Watson and Jane Rendle ..." - these are at the east end of the Dartmouth Inn, and are known as Seaview and Rosevere.
In 1882 Henry paid off the loan from Sarah Morey, and remortgaged the inn to Colonel Alexander Ridgeway for £325. This arrangement did not go smoothly and ended up in the High Court!
In the February of 1892, the year of his death, Henry sold the inn to the Torbay Brewery and Cyder Company.
A drunk to deal with at the Dartmouth Inn Residence 1891 The Village, Blackawton, Devon, England - 1891 census does not show a property name. Henry was living by himself.
Occupation Blackawton, Devon, England Gravestone 'sculptor' - A family gravestone in Stoke Fleming shows is was made by Hy Hambling, Blackawton - Henry is the only person to fit. Most gravestones do not show the maker like this, but I have seen a couple of other stones with a name similarly shown by a Newland of Blackawton. I would guess Henry learnt from him and / or took over from him.
An example of a stone inscribed by Newland is that of 3 children of William and Grace Pitts (who died 1810 - 1820). A schoolmaster Joseph Newland, born in Cornworthy, and who married a local girl Jane Aker and had children baptised in Blackawton (1815 - 1825), is the only Newland I am aware of in the parish. Henry's first wife was a schoolmistress so the link may have come through her, though Henry was about the same age as Joseph's children. Joseph Newland and his family appear to have left Blackawton between Feb 1825, when daughter Ann was baptised in Blackawton, and 1827, when son John was baptised in Holbeton, 16 miles west. (They had moved again by 1830, to Yealmpton, by the time of the 1841 census were living nearly 12 miles away in Modbury, and by 1851 they had moved slightly further to Kingston). Maybe the Hamblings took on inscribing on gravestones when they left the village. Henry was clearly just an infant when they left, but most graves just show Hambling; maybe it was William Bartlett Hambling who took on the business first, and Henry took over from him (as he did in other ways).
- to be investigated further.
Died 8 Oct 1892 - A brief report of his funeral appeared in the Kingsbridge Gazette:
Blackawton
Another well known inhabitant of this village has passed away, viz., Mr Henry Hambling. The funeral took place on Wednesday last nad was largely attended. The service was impressively read by the Rev. G. H. Clements the vicar of the parish. The hymn "When our heads are bowed with woe" was sung during the service. A muffled peal was afterwards rung. Mr Hambling was Registrar of the Blackawton district for many years.
(thanks to Cookworthy Museum in Kingsbridge for access to the 'Kingsbridge Gazette' on microfilm in the Heritage Resource Centre, and for an index to some of the years)
Buried 12 Oct 1892 St. Michael’s Church, Blackawton, Devon, England - Gravestone (with wife) "Also the above Henry Hambling who died 8th October 1892 aged 69 years" - from a transcription I made, probably c. 1979. Now (2014) I can't make out that much.
Siblings6 brothers and 5 sisters Patriarch & Matriarch 
John HAMBLING, b. Est 1654, d. Nov 1732, Berry Pomeroy, Devon, England (Age ~ 78 years) (3 x Great Grandfather) 
Johane BASTARD, b. Est 1628, d. Yes, date unknown (4 x Great Grandmother)Notes - Wye: 10,000 Years of a Kentish Community and Its Landscape
Person ID I230 All Last Modified 5 Jan 2023
Father Clerk William Bartlett HAMBLING, b. 1787, Blackawton, Devon, England , d. 24 Feb 1864, Blackawton, Devon, England (Age 77 years) Mother Elizabeth BAKER, b. Abt 1794, Blackawton, Devon, England , d. 1 Nov 1880, Blackawton, Devon, England (Age ~ 86 years) Married 14 Jan 1812 St. Michael’s Church, Blackawton, Devon, England - both signed, James Hambling witnessed
Family ID F22 Family Group Page | Family Chart
Family 1 Elizabeth Naramore STEWARD, b. Abt 1810, Brixham, Devon, England , d. 16 Aug 1875, Blackawton, Devon, England (Age ~ 65 years) Married 5 Jan 1851 St. Andrew’s Church, Plymouth, Devon, England - GRO ref: Hambling, Henry to Steward, Elizabeth Naramore q1 1851 Plymouth RD 9 440
Details from PR entry:
"Henry Hambling, age 27, Bachelor, Gunsmith, resident: Princess Street, father: William Bartlett Hambling, Gunsmith to
Elizabeth Naramore Steward, age 30[sic], Spinster, [no occupation shown], resident: Princess Street, father: Isaac Steward, Mariner
after Banns No 1653 by John Hatchard - Vicar
Henry Hambling, Elizabeth Naramore Steward [both signed]
witnesses: Richard Naramore Steward, Selina Hambling [both signed; Selina was one of Henry's sisters]"
Elizabeth was not entirely honest about her age - she was, in fact, 40!
Banns of marriage 5 Jan 1851 St. Michael’s Church, Blackawton, Devon, England 3rd reading - HAMBLING, Henry, Bachelor Otp; STEWART, Elizabeth Narramore, Spinster Plymouth St Andrew, 5-Jan 1851
From SouthHams website
Children + 1. Henry Baker HAMBLING, b. 17 Dec 1851, Blackawton, Devon, England , d. 23 Feb 1903, 123, Alexandra Road, Ford, Devonport, Devon, England (Age 51 years)▻ Laura Ann CUNDY m. Jun Q 1880Last Modified 13 Mar 2022 Family ID F155 Family Group Page | Family Chart
Family 2 Emmeline LAWRY, b. Abt 1831, St. Cleer, Cornwall, England , d. 19 May 1889, Blackawton, Devon, England (Age ~ 58 years) Married 8 Apr 1876 Totnes, Devon, England - In the Western Times - Tuesday 18 April 1876, under "marriages", p.5 (same on 17 Apr, p.2, col 3):
Hambling-Lawry. - April 8, at Totnes, Mr. H. Hambling, to Emmeline, second daughter of Mr. Charles Lawry.
GRO ref: 1876 q2 Kingsbridge RD 5b 369
Where was the marriage? - although the Western Times said 'Totnes', Totnes is not (and was not) in Kingsbridge Registration District.
Last Modified 21 Jul 2014 Family ID F692 Family Group Page | Family Chart
- All censues from 1851 to 1891 show Henry as a gunmaker, as does Whites Directory of 1890, so although he appears to have retired from being an innkeeper in 1879 he clearly carried on as a gunsmith as well as remaining registrar.
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Wills (transcripts) 
The will of William Bartlett Hambling
(a 4 x great grandfather of mine)
Sources - [S77] Blackawton and Strete History Group - booklet no. 2, David Stranack, editor, (N.p.: Blackawton and Strete History Group, Autumn 2002.), p.20-21. (Reliability: 3).
In an account of the history of the Dartmouth Arms, gives some general information about Henry Hambling and his father William.