The detective work
Research Notes
Genealogy is patient work, and the Stone line has yielded its answers slowly. These are the puzzles that shaped the tree — several of them unsolved for decades, then cracked by a contributor's timely find.
The Bishop Stone Conundrum — solved
For decades, the will of Robert Stone, innkeeper of the Bampton Inn in Wiveliscombe, muddied the record: he named a brother John and a nephew Bishop Stone. That wording led us for years to the wrong Robert. Research by Bishop's great-great-granddaughter Rosalind Nash Prewett, with work by Robert Hayward and Nan Mead, confirmed that the innkeeper was Robert Stone 1790 (son of Robert Stone 1744, clothier) — not Robert Stone 1786. Bishop's father was John Stone 1775, son of John Stone 1739 and Elizabeth Sellick. The lesson: 19th-century terms like 'nephew' cannot be read with modern precision.
Richard Stone's two wives identified
When the archive began in 2013, the identities of Richard Stone's two wives were unknown. Contributors later established that his first wife was Emma Sedgeborrow (married Burlescombe, 1599; buried Clayhanger, 1633) and his second was Eleanor Slocombe (married Crowcombe, 1639; died 1674). Both discoveries closed gaps that had resisted research for many years.
The father of Richard Stone
The evidence now points to John Stone alias Hele of Clayhanger, who in his 1588 will assigned his estate to his 'natural son Richard.' This is a revision from the earlier candidate, John Stone alias Venne of Chipstable, and makes John Stone alias Hele the presumed 10th great grandfather of the line.
The two Captain Stones
There were two cousins christened 'Captain' Stone — neither ever named 'William Captain' or 'Captain William,' a persistent error on some trees. The elder was the only child of Robert Stone 1713 and Elizabeth Hill (second-marriage line). The younger (1784) was the compiler's third great grandfather (first-marriage line); his well-documented wife was Ann Webber, widow of his brother William.
Two Richard Stones born in 1640
Emanuel's son Richard was christened in Chipstable in March 1640; Richard and Eleanor's son Richard was christened in Clayhanger that October. The elder (Chipstable) Richard lived to 94, buried 1734; the younger died in Ashbrittle in 1678. Confusingly, the younger was the uncle of the older.
The Stones of Yarcombe & Langford Budville
A separate 'Yarcombe line' — descendants of William Stone (~1532) and Joan Clawse of Yarcombe, Devon — has not yet been connected to the Chipstable Stones, though the close proximity of the families in Somerset makes a link seem likely. The many Stones of Langford Budville remain to be tied in as well.
Research log
The original dated posts, preserved in order.
- Nov 2015 The Bishop Stone Conundrum has been solved!
- Sep 2013 The Bishop Stone Conundrum (statement of the puzzle)
- 2017 Richard Stone's Second Wife Has Been Identified
- 2017 Eleanor Slocombe — Richard Stone's 2nd wife
- 2017 Richard Stone's first wife identified!
- 2017 The Stones of Yarcombe and Langford Budville, etc.
- 2017 Captain Stone of Wiveliscombe, Somerset
- 2017 Joane (Johan) Hill aka Hillinge
- 2017 Sedgeborrow Family Estimated
- 2017 Hypothetical Sedgeburrow and Tudball Descendancies
- 2017 Corrections & upgrades to Richard Stone's descendant chart
- 2017 Cheffins Auction Documents Update
- 2017 Stone Family Tree discrepancies on Ancestry.com