Miscellaneous Gibbon
- References:
- Gibbon family research
by Christine Gibbins.
- "Gibbon of Pembrokeshire (and Glamorgan)",
Vera Lowe,
Dyfed Family History Journal,
vol.4, issue 8, p.319,
1995 (NOT 1985),
Dyfed Family History Society, Wales.
- "The Surname Gibbons",
Brenda Ralph Lewis, Family History Monthly, Aug 1998.
- References:
- Godfrey and Wagner,
The College of Arms.
Queen Victoria Street, London Survey Committee, 1963.
Gibbon of
Rolvenden,
Kent (there since at least 14th century).
This family
were granted the
Gibbon arms in 1629.
Of this family is:
-
John Gibbon,
expert in heraldry and genealogy,
born 3 Nov 1629, London.
He apparently became interested in heraldry when he saw decorative body paint and symbols
of an Indian war dance, in the English colony of Virginia in 1659.
In 1668 he became
Blue Mantle Pursuivant-at-Arms
at the
College of Arms.
Held position until his death.
He
approved grant of Gibbon arms to
Gibbon of Dorset
1681.
Author of
Introductio ad Latinam Blazoniam, London, 1682.
See letter
from him to Isabella Twysden, 1693.
In the letter
he sends his regards to
"my Cozen Whetnall and his family".
This is probably
Whetenhall
of East Peckham,
NE of Tonbridge, SW Kent.
Author of Heraldo-Memoriale, pub posthumously 1720.
He died 2 Aug 1718, age 88 yrs.
- References:
- Gibbon genealogical notes,
by Samuel Egerton Brydges
(anonymously),
Gentleman's Magazine, vol. 58 (Aug 1788), pp.698-700.
- Edward Gibbon 1737 - 1794,
by D.M. Low, 1937. Contains genealogy in Appendix I.
-
Autobiography of Edward Gibbon, ed. M.M. Reese, 1971.
- Family tree of Gibbon the historian
by Christine Gibbins.
- Family tree of Gibbon the historian,
in [LDS Ancestral File],
submitted by
Connie B. Dabel, 6168 W 3935 S, West Valley City,
Utah 84120.
Gibbon the historian is not proven related to Gibbon of Rolvenden
It is not proven that Gibbon of Westcliffe, Kent (the family of Gibbon the historian)
is connected to Gibbon of Rolvenden, Kent.
- Though he was the great historian of the ancient world,
Edward Gibbon
knew nothing of his own family history
until his last years.
In his Memoirs, he
said his great-grandfather Matthew Gibbon was the brother of
Gibbon the Blue Mantle
(and hence he was connected to Gibbon of Rolvenden, Kent).
[Brydges, 1788]
proved this is not true,
and Gibbon accepted this,
but died before managing to revise his Memoirs.
See
[Low, 1937].
As a result, the error continues to be propagated,
e.g. in
[Lewis, 1998].
-
Biography
of Gibbon the historian
in [Enc.Britannica, 1911]
says:
"among his remoter ancestors he reckons the lord high treasurer
Fiennes, Lord Say and Sele,
whom Shakespeare has immortalized in his
Henry VI".
But this is the same error.
[Reese, 1971] says:
"Gibbon was not descended from Lord Say and Sele. He wrongly supposed that John Gibbon, Bluemantle, was the brother of his great-grandfather, Matthew, who came of a different branch of the Rolvenden family. He learned of his error in 1792 ... He died before he could revise the passage in the way he had intended."
- This family was also granted the Gibbon arms.
-
There was said to be a story in our branch,
Gibbon of Aberdeen,
of a connection to Edward Gibbon the historian.
It was said there was in the family an 18th century letter with a reference along the lines of:
"Isn't it splendid about Edward" (in relation to his book).
However this letter cannot be found
and this story sounds almost certainly false.
Thomas Gibbon,
of
Westcliffe, near Dover, E Kent,
said to be a descendant of Gibbon of Rolvenden, Kent,
bur Westcliffe, 15 Jan
1596
[using
[NJ] date format,
note that at the time this was regarded as the
end of 1595],
had issue:
Philip Gibbon,
mar 1585 to Elizabeth Philpot [born 1567],
he was bur 24 Aug 1629, Westcliffe,
she was bur 16 Sep 1647, age 80 yrs,
had issue:
Thomas Gibbon,
born 1590,
mar 2ndly to Alice Selhurst,
purchased the Manor of Kingston, E Kent, 1647,
sold Westcliffe in 1660,
he was bur 19 Nov 1671, Westcliffe, age 81 yrs,
had issue by 2nd wife:
- Edward Gibbon,
bapt 19 Nov 1637, Westcliffe,
had issue:
- Jane Gibbon, mar John Brydges and had issue,
ancestors of:
-
Sir Samuel Egerton Brydges, 1st Baronet,
born 1762,
genealogist,
author of [Brydges, 1788],
died 1837, age 75 yrs.
-
Matthew Gibbon,
bapt Westcliffe, 23 Feb 1642
[using [NJ] date format,
note that at the time this was regarded as the end of 1641],
went to London,
became prosperous
London linen draper,
lived Putney,
Common Councilman of London,
mar 17 Oct 1667 to Hester Abrahall,
he died before Oct 1698,
had issue:
- Capt. Edward Gibbon, born 1675,
NOT 1666,
mar Catherine Acton,
linen draper,
made fortune as army contractor,
lost it all in the
"South Sea Bubble"
financial crash 1720,
he was one of the 20 directors of the South Sea Company
when the Bubble burst in 1720,
"his fortune was overwhelmed in the shipwreck of the year twenty,
and the labours of thirty years were blasted in a single day"
[DNB],
inventories of the directors' houses have been published,
according to the inventory he was worth over £112,000 in 1720,
he was
living at Crosby Square, Bishopsgate St, London,
see [DNB] and
[Lowe, 1995]
and
[Lewis, 1998],
he recovered after and died wealthy,
died Dec 1736, age 61 yrs,
had issue:
- Edward Gibbon, MP,
born Oct 1707,
"a country gentleman",
mar 1stly to Judith Porten,
he died 12 Nov 1770, age 63 yrs,
had issue by 1st wife:
- Edward Gibbon, the historian,
born 27 Apr 1737, Lime Grove, Putney,
London,
[using [NJ] format,
8 May in [G] format, NOT March].
- References:
- Notes about the grant of arms 1681, made out in our Gibbon family.
See
p.1 and
p.2 and
p.3.
And other notes.
Gibbon of Dorset are not proven related to Gibbon of Rolvenden
Gibbon of Dorset are not proven relations of Gibbon of Rolvenden,
but they received a grant of the Gibbon arms in 1681.
The grant was approved by
John Gibbon of the College of Arms.
There is no proof they are related.
However:
- John Gibbon of the College of Arms
uses the same arms.
- The grant of arms
to John Gibbon
is approved by "my cozen John Gibbon".
Nicholas Gibbon,
clergyman,
of Heckford, Dorset
[unidentified],
had issue:
- John Gibbon,
born est c.1605.
He was secretary
to Richard Weston, 1st Earl of Portland
in the 1628-1633 period.
His master is described as
"Lord Weston (afterwards Earl of Portland)".
He was granted the Gibbon arms
by the
College of Arms, entered 27 June 1681.
See notes
which say "Probably for his post under Charles II".
-
Dr. Nicholas Gibbon,
Church of England clergyman and writer,
born Poole, Dorset, 1605.
