Early Woollacotts and all other variant spellings
Thanks to the Herculean effort of Charles HB Cole and my subsequent work, I have a well document line back to my three-greats-grandfather, Robert Woollacott b. High Bickington, Devon, England in 1789. His parents were most likely John and Mary (Down) Woollacott. However, John was possibly b. 1735 and married at age 34 in 1769 and had Robert when he was 54. And since John and Mary were quite common, I might not have the right John. I have snippets of information going further back, but more is needed before I can be reasonably certain.
The Wolcott Society has a very robust website which has given me many threads. Most intriguing is Yelland ("Ye olde Land") Farm, which is still owned today by Woollacotts. On the Wolcottfamily.com website, there is a discussion about John and Thomas, twin sons of John Wollocott of Yeoland being baptized in 1601 in High Bickington. Their website states that the High Bickington Woollacotts nearly always used an “a” to separate the syllables “wol” (and variations thereon) and “cot” (and variations thereon).Throughout the website, there are many records of High Bickington Woollacotts, but as of yet I have been unable to connect a well define line to Robert Woollacott born 1789. One of my earlier works, laid out the possible threads. Here is the link /uploads/1/9/2/5/19256439/early_woollacotts_and_variations_thereon.pdf
The Wolcotts have a theory that we Woollacotts descend from a Thomas Wolcott of Chagford b. circa 1420. I took a DNA test to help prove their theory, but my results were inconclusive. The Wolcott website has several coats-of-arms associated with the name. Under the Coat -of-arm shown above is the following:
"John Wollacott of High Bickington, Devon, registered this coat-of-arms and a family pedigree during the 1620 Herald's Visitation of Devonshire. On this manuscript there is a marginal note referring to another manuscript of the Tudor period or earlier (prior to 1547), which gave these arms for John Wolcott of Exeter. Another marginal note states that John Wolcot of Chudleigh and his son, John, did commonly bear the arms of Skerret (or a chief indented sable). This John Wolcott of Chudley died at Exeter in 1549, and was the father of John Wolcott who lived at Exeter most of his life. The 1620 Visitation states that John Wolcott of Chagford, father of John Wolcott of Chudleigh, "for his good service in the warres had an addition given to his armies, on a chief or a lis entre two annulets". In order to receive an augmentation, the recipient must already have been an acknowledged bearer of a coat-of-arms. The fleur-de-lis on the augmentation of honor probably indicates that it was received for service in the Hundred Years War with France."
"Cott" in the Saxon language is a small hut or cottage. The Saxons invaded North Devon in the 9th century and many names in the area do end in "cott" (e g Ellacott, Westcott, Norcott, Alcott). I have read two explanations of the "Woolla", that it was an evolution of the name Wulfkin (as in Wulfkin's cott) or that it was an evolution of Wiela, a vine much like wysteria (as in Wiela cott). "Combe" in the Saxon language is a stand of trees in a field. Think of the hair comb. There is a Woollacombe in North Devon and my great grandmother was Nora Newcombe. So for a while I thought that I had Saxon blood in my veins. But a subsequent DNA test revealed that I had Celtic blood (not Irish but the Celts associated with the original inhabitants of southwest England). Charles HB Cole was not surprised by this finding.
"We were here long before the Saxons arrived, Alfred and most likely never intermingled."
So while we hope to have distant king or two in our ancestry, perhaps even William the Conqueror, it appears that the Woollacotts (and variations thereon) of the middle ages were much like their descendants, hardworking farmers who generally lived a fairly long life, stuck to their own and had many offspring.
The Wolcott Society has a very robust website which has given me many threads. Most intriguing is Yelland ("Ye olde Land") Farm, which is still owned today by Woollacotts. On the Wolcottfamily.com website, there is a discussion about John and Thomas, twin sons of John Wollocott of Yeoland being baptized in 1601 in High Bickington. Their website states that the High Bickington Woollacotts nearly always used an “a” to separate the syllables “wol” (and variations thereon) and “cot” (and variations thereon).Throughout the website, there are many records of High Bickington Woollacotts, but as of yet I have been unable to connect a well define line to Robert Woollacott born 1789. One of my earlier works, laid out the possible threads. Here is the link /uploads/1/9/2/5/19256439/early_woollacotts_and_variations_thereon.pdf
The Wolcotts have a theory that we Woollacotts descend from a Thomas Wolcott of Chagford b. circa 1420. I took a DNA test to help prove their theory, but my results were inconclusive. The Wolcott website has several coats-of-arms associated with the name. Under the Coat -of-arm shown above is the following:
"John Wollacott of High Bickington, Devon, registered this coat-of-arms and a family pedigree during the 1620 Herald's Visitation of Devonshire. On this manuscript there is a marginal note referring to another manuscript of the Tudor period or earlier (prior to 1547), which gave these arms for John Wolcott of Exeter. Another marginal note states that John Wolcot of Chudleigh and his son, John, did commonly bear the arms of Skerret (or a chief indented sable). This John Wolcott of Chudley died at Exeter in 1549, and was the father of John Wolcott who lived at Exeter most of his life. The 1620 Visitation states that John Wolcott of Chagford, father of John Wolcott of Chudleigh, "for his good service in the warres had an addition given to his armies, on a chief or a lis entre two annulets". In order to receive an augmentation, the recipient must already have been an acknowledged bearer of a coat-of-arms. The fleur-de-lis on the augmentation of honor probably indicates that it was received for service in the Hundred Years War with France."
"Cott" in the Saxon language is a small hut or cottage. The Saxons invaded North Devon in the 9th century and many names in the area do end in "cott" (e g Ellacott, Westcott, Norcott, Alcott). I have read two explanations of the "Woolla", that it was an evolution of the name Wulfkin (as in Wulfkin's cott) or that it was an evolution of Wiela, a vine much like wysteria (as in Wiela cott). "Combe" in the Saxon language is a stand of trees in a field. Think of the hair comb. There is a Woollacombe in North Devon and my great grandmother was Nora Newcombe. So for a while I thought that I had Saxon blood in my veins. But a subsequent DNA test revealed that I had Celtic blood (not Irish but the Celts associated with the original inhabitants of southwest England). Charles HB Cole was not surprised by this finding.
"We were here long before the Saxons arrived, Alfred and most likely never intermingled."
So while we hope to have distant king or two in our ancestry, perhaps even William the Conqueror, it appears that the Woollacotts (and variations thereon) of the middle ages were much like their descendants, hardworking farmers who generally lived a fairly long life, stuck to their own and had many offspring.
