People search
(married name will be ignored if broad check is ticked;
a broad check includes a search for nicknames, married names and other alternative names)Where were they from?
Search for places, see all people in the tree with events in that place, and (where added) see places marked on a map with photos, links and other information about the location.
Joseph CLEAVE
Est 1679 - 1712 (~ 33 years)
Has 15 ancestors and 14 descendants in this family tree.
Set As Default Person 
-
Name Joseph CLEAVE Relationship 
with Teresa Ann GOATHAM Born Est 1679 - Joseph was married as a Hamet, and his first four children were recorded as Hammetts when baptised. His fifth, though, was recorded as a Cleave, and other records (e.g. concerning Lydford tithes) record Joseph as Hammett alias Cleave. He was clearly part of the Widecombe family who used both surnames from at least 1586 to 1728, and not a Hammett or a Cleave who by chance moved to a parish where the name was already found.
However, there seems to be no baptism record in the PRs or BTs. Estimate of date based on date of his marriage and that of his parents. A birth / baptism in 1679 would also be missing from the records, which have a gap of 2½ years for baptisms between 13 May 679 and 13 Nov 1681, for which neither PRs nor BTs survive.
My reason for suggesting he was a son of Thomas and Mary:
1. Joseph was not a common name amongst the Hammetts / Cleaves, but a Richard Cleave alias Hamet gave the name to a son in 1728. He was Thomas's son and used the name Joseph after giving his first son his own name, and his second his father's name. It is likely he would have used a brother's name for his next son (although another possibility is his father-in-law and I have not yet checked this).
2. In 1742 a Joseph Cleave was churchwarden for his 'Tenemt. of land in Sherbourn [Sherberton]'. That Joseph can only have been this Joseph's son. In addition his daughter Rebecca lived after marriage in the Sherberton area. Hence it seems likely this is where this Joseph lived. When a widow Mary Cleave was buried in 1727 she was also described as of Sherborne; this burial fits as the widow of Thomas and it seems unlikely to be a coincidence that Joseph was living where Thomas and Mary, or at least Mary, lived.
3. Since writing arguments 1 and 2, I have now gone through more of the overseers accounts and found more conclusive evidence. For the year 1709 one of the overseers was named as 'Joseph Cleave for his fathers Est in Sherborton'. 'His fathers Est' can only refer to the tenement of Thomas Cleave.
Gender Male Also known as Joseph HAMMETT Died Cause: Smallpox - Probably died of smallpox, as there was an epidemic of it this year in Widecombe, noted in the register "This year the small pock Raind very
much 1711."
Checking a few years either side of 1711/12 there were typically 2 - 4 burials in Jan to Mar, with 0 - 4 in the following April. However, in Jan 1711/12 to Apr 1712 there were 40 burials, the last on 13 April, there bot being another burial then until May. The first in Jan was on the 3, so a couple in late Dec (20 and 26) could have been part of the epidemic too. In fact all 4 burials in Dec 1711 were of Frenchs, not all one household as one is shown as 'of Foxworthy', another 'of Challacombe' but maybe it was spreading through family members visiting each other.
The rates of death after contracting smallpox are said to have been about 30%, higher amongst babies (Wikipedia article) so Joseph's son Robert was probably a victim of the epidemic too. Of course mortality rates were generally high amongst infants, so he could have died of another cause, though it is noticeable that Widecombe was generally quite a healthy place to live, with few infants dying compared with other, particularly urban, places.
Buried 13 Feb 1711/12 St. Pancras’ Church, Widecombe in the Moor, Devon, England 
- From PR entry (image on FMP, viewed 13 Jul 2021)
"31 Joseph Cleave buried the 13 of February"
Siblings2 sisters Half-siblings1 half brother (family of Thomas HAMMETT and Mary ELFORD) Patriarch & Matriarch 
Andrew HAMETE, bur. 30 Apr 1618, St. Pancras’ Church, Widecombe in the Moor, Devon, England (2 x Great Grandfather) 
Agnes, b. Est 1585, d. Aft 1641 (Age ~ 57 years) (Great Grandmother)Person ID I33082 All Last Modified 19 Jul 2021
Father Thomas HAMMETT, bap. 19 Dec 1650, St. Pancras’ Church, Widecombe in the Moor, Devon, England , bur. 15 Feb 1722/23, St. Pancras’ Church, Widecombe in the Moor, Devon, England (Age ~ 72 years)
Other Partners: Mary ELFORD m. 17 Sep 1694Mother Mary TOR, b. 8 Jun 1654, Widecombe in the Moor, Devon, England Married 23 Jun 1677 St. Pancras’ Church, Widecombe in the Moor, Devon, England - From PR entry (image on FMP, viewed 13 Jul 2021)
"Thomas Hammett son of Andrew Hammett and M[rest of name hidden in centre fold of register] Tor daughter ^ of Antony Tor weare married the xx3th of June"
Thomas's family is not clear. It seems to me highly probable that Joseph was his son, despite the lack of a baptism record (see Joseph's birth notes for my thinking).
Thomasin is almost certainly his daughter or that of his brother Andrew.
Mary is unambiguously his.
But then there is Richard. a 14 year gap would be unusal but not impossible, and Mary Tor would have been towards the end of her child bearing years but at 46 it would not have been exceptional.
But could she have died and Thomas remarried? If his name had been mis-recorded as Emet rather than Hammett then there is a marriage in 1694 which could well be his. (there were Emets in the parish, and their name was not normally confused with that of the Hammett family, but there was obviously the potential to do so). However, I have not found a burial that could be that of his wife Mary née Tor. Since the 1694 marraige was also to a Mary the burial of a Mary who was probably his wife in 1627 could have been that of either.
(Richard bap 1699/1700 was clearly a Hammett alias Cleave, and not an Emet - the true Emet family do not seem to have used the alias - so his baptism can't be considered to be a mis-recording of an Emet as a Hammett)
There is a gap in the burial register between 20 Aug 1693 and 8 Apr 1697. I think it probable that Mary née Tor died in 1693 or 4. It was common then for remarriages to take place within a few months of a death.
Family ID F2200 Family Group Page | Family Chart
Married? Not married or evidence to suggest they didn't marry Children 1. Elizabeth ALLY, [Father?], b. 31 Dec 1701, Widecombe in the Moor, Devon, England , d. Yes, date unknownLast Modified 15 Jul 2021 Family ID F2244 Family Group Page | Family Chart
Family 2 Thomazin ALFORD, b. Est 1675, bur. 29 Sep 1758, St. Pancras’ Church, Widecombe in the Moor, Devon, England (Age ~ 83 years) Married 3 Nov 1700 Holy Trinity Church, Gidleigh, Devon, England - From PR entry (image on FMP, viewed 10 Jul 2021)
"Joseph Hammet of Widdicomb and Thomazin Alford of soarton, were marryed _ Novem. 3d"
No records of baptisms in Widecomb between Feb 1702/03 and Nov 1704 survive; it seems likely that Joseph and Thomazin would have had a child at this time, given the smaller gaps between their other children than between Joseph and Samuel.
The Thomazin who was buried in 1726 may well have been their daughter.
Children6 children Last Modified 19 Jul 2021 Family ID F1529 Family Group Page | Family Chart
- Joseph was married as a Hamet, and his first four children were recorded as Hammetts when baptised. His fifth, though, was recorded as a Cleave, and other records (e.g. concerning Lydford tithes) record Joseph as Hammett alias Cleave. He was clearly part of the Widecombe family who used both surnames from at least 1586 to 1728, and not a Hammett or a Cleave who by chance moved to a parish where the name was already found.
-
Event Map Click to hide 
Married - 3 Nov 1700 - Holy Trinity Church, Gidleigh, Devon, England 
Child - Elizabeth ALLY, [Father?] - 31 Dec 1701 - Widecombe in the Moor, Devon, England 
Child - Benjamin HAMMETT - 22 Sep 1706 - St. Pancras’ Church, Widecombe in the Moor, Devon, England Child - Rebecca CLEAVE - 25 Mar 1709 - St. Pancras’ Church, Widecombe in the Moor, Devon, England Child - Robert CLEAVE - 30 Jul 1711 - St. Pancras’ Church, Widecombe in the Moor, Devon, England Buried - 13 Feb 1711/12 - St. Pancras’ Church, Widecombe in the Moor, Devon, England = Link to Google Earth (if installed; see link below to install) Pin Legend 
