This website has focused on the descendants of Richard Stone 1579 of Clayhanger, Devon, who can be found in Chipstable, Asbrittle, Wiveliscombe and other nearby parishes in Somerset and Devon.
When working with Robert Hayward, then of Wellington, and Nan (Mrs. George) Mead in 1995 and later, we discovered that we needed to separate our many Stones into at least two big lines after Richard Stone 1579 of my line was discovered to be the father of Emanuel Stone from his first marriage. Emanuel’s descendants include Captain Stone 1784 who emigrated to Illinois in 1818. This is the line from which I descend.
Richard 1579 (my 9th GGF) married a second time, almost forty years after his first marriage. The descendants of his marriage with Elinor/Eleanor Slocombe also remained in the parishes named above and were close companions of their cousins from Richard’s first marriage, primarily around Chipstable, Ashbrittle and Wiveliscombe. This second marriage also produced a Captain Stone 1756, a cousin of my ancestor Captain 1784. This older Captain’s son Robert emigrated to Tasmania and is responsible for thousands of descendants there and in Australia and New Zealand. (Captain Stone 1784 of the first descent line was most likely named after his older cousin Captain Stone 1756 of the second descent line). I know of no other Captain Stones in Great Britain, and I have been told by an eminent historian and university vice chancellor that he has never seen a given (baptismal) name Captain in any English family of whatever surname!
There are many more Stones in the parishes named and in other neighboring parishes that I have been unable to attach accurately and confidently to my existing tree. Since the parish records in Ashbrittle and Chipstable are absent in the 16c and sparse in the 17c, many of these unattached Stones may indeed belong in the same large family that includes Richard Stone 1579. There were many Stones in Clayhanger, Devon from the late 15c or earlier. I recall that 13 of the 30 or so Clayhanger wills that are housed at the UK Archives were Stones, by far the largest one-name contingent from that parish.
When Richard 1579 of Clayhanger was discovered to be the father of Emanuel Stone 1608, and later as the father of a second family who then lived in Ashbrittle and Chipstable, the discovery separated this entire family from one that had been developed by Bob Hayward and that can be found online in various sites that contain uploaded family trees. Some of the data in those trees is now known to be in error, as the family of Richard Stone 1579 has been developed and documented. The direct lines from Richard 1579 to the Stones of Illinois and the Stones of Australia and New Zealand I am confident are correct. I cannot be certain, however, of the descendants of all the brothers and sisters down through the generations. There are hundreds of Stones in my PAF file that I cannot firmly tie to the Richard Stone 1579 line, but many of them may belong there.
Bob Hayward traced another Stone line back to William Stone of Yarcombe, Devon in 1566, and I am including in this post a chart of the descendants of William 1566, including an index. This data is Bob’s work and I have not done any research to corroborate or change it. Stone researchers who do not belong to the Richard Stone 1579 family may belong to the William Stone 1566 family. Perhaps the two families are connected, but at this time I do not know. Bob Hayward has many of the descendants of William 1566 living in Langford Budville, Wiveliscombe, Chipstable and other parishes around Wiveliscombe, i.e. almost the same parishes in which the Richard Stone descendants lived.
I would be most pleased if someone could find a connection between these two lines, or prove that there is not one. I will be happy to answer questions – if I know the answer!
Twelve generations of the descendants of William Stone of Yarcombe are shown here. Click below.