Peter VENABLES, Of Kinderton

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  General Notes:

First, by the way of introduction, we will quote below two articles entire: one, from Vol. IV, Publications of the Huguenot Society of America, pp. 64-65; the other from the William and Mary College Quarterly, Vol. XV, pp. 21-24:

I. VENABLES, a baronial name from Venables, near Evreux, Normandy. The family does not appear under this name in Normandy, its proper name being le Venour, or Venator. Arnulph, Gislebert, Gaufridus, Hugh, Richard Venator, Normandy, 1180-95 (M. R. S.). Richard Venator, 1198 (ibid). Gislebert Venator, or De Venables, held the barony of Kinderton, Cheshire, 1086, from whom descended the Venables, Barons of Kinderton, and many other families.

GROSVENOR, so named from the office of Veneur, or Venator (huntsman), of the Dukes of Normandy, borne by this family. Walter de Veneur was eminently distinguished, 960, at the battle of the Fords, between Lothaire, King of France, and the Normans, where he was rescued by Duke Richard I., and remounted by him on his best horse (Palgrave, Hist. Normandy, ii., 738). The name occurs about the same time in the Charters of the Gallia Christiana. The ancient seat of the Le Venours appears to have been Venables, near Evreux, and they bore, or, or argent, a bend azure (La Roque, Hist. Harcourt, ii., 1181), which was also borne by several of their English descendants, especially by the family under consideration. Three brothers of this family came to England with Hugh Lupus: I. Gislebert Venator, or De Venables, ancestor of the Barons of Kinderton, of whom Gislebert Venables of Cheshire is mentioned in Normandy, 1180, as "Gislebert Venator" (M. R. S.). The French line of Le Venour, descended from him, bore argent, a bend azure, fretty or, for difference (Anseleme, viii., 256). From another brother probably derived the Butlers of Chester, Barons of Warrington, who also bore, or, a bend azure, differenced by the wheat sheaves of Chester. Radulph, or Ranulph.

II. Venables is a district about thirty miles beyond Rouen, on the road to Paris, between St. Pierre and Vernon (within a few miles of those places), and stands in the centre of the neck of a peninsular tract of land formed by a bend of the Seine, in the neighborhood of Beaumont, Gournay, and Bermieres. The high road runs straight through this tract to the centre of the arc of the Seine, which it intersects at a point where that river bends past the Petit Andeli, near the famous Chateau Gaillard, erected by Richard, Coeur de Lion, for the defence of that part of Normandy. A map of this district, showing the position of Venables very clearly (near the forest of Andeli), and as one of the chief places, was published in Histoire du Chateau Gaillard, in 1829.

Gislebertus de Venables, the ancestor of the Venables of England and of Virginia, accompanied William the Conqueror to England. His name (derived, by the way, from "Venabulum" a hunting spear or more properly boor spear, reflects his origin, "Hereditary Huntsmen" or Veneurs of the Norman Dukes) is found on the Roll of Battle Abbey. His family in Normandy does not appear under this name, the proper name being Le Venour (Veneur) or Venator, the latter evidently the Latin form of the name. As if there should be no doubt of this, Gislebertus de Venables, on the division of the spoils, received part of his share under the name of Venator, and many other English references to him are under this name.

Gilbert Venables, using the English form, received extensive estates, and was one of the English Barons attached to the Earldom of Cheshire, under Hugh Lupus, with the title Baron of Kinderton. (The ancient Castle of Kinderton stood near the banks of the Dane, two fields' breadth from the old Roman works of Condate-a part of the moat is all that is left of it. The Castle has been taken down as well as the later "Hall" which succeeded it. A brick mansion called "Kinderton Lodge" lies in another part of the Manor.) He is referred to as the younger brother of Stephen, Earl of Blois, the father of Stephen, King of England, which would make him a descendant of Charlemagne; and he is also referred to as cousin-german to the Conqueror.

The title and much of the estates, remained in the Venables family for nearly 700 years, or until the death of the last Baron, Sir Peter, when, by virtue of a will, the Venables title and arms were assumed by George Vernon, making the hyphenated Venables-Vernon, or Lord Vernon of the present day.

With Sir Peter, the main line, coming through the direct heirs, became extinct. But there were numerous branches, through younger sons, scattered through England; and their pedigrees, limited as English pedigrees are, may be found in several of the County histories of England-excepting Devonshire. There were no Venables in Devonshire. In none of these county histories have I found any clue to the emigrant to Virginia, Abraham Venables.

In the old families, baptismal names were religiously adhered to, and it is almost a certainty that any line of descendants may be placed upon the main stem by attention to the baptismal names. But in the case of Abraham Venables, the Virginia emigrant, I have not found in any published English pedigree-and I think I have seen them all- any Abraham which would furnish the clue to the Virginia ancestor. However, be this as it may.

According to the Richmond Standard, Abraham Venables, the emigrant, came to Virginia about the year 1680. He had two sons, Joseph and Abraham, Joseph going to Maryland, and Abraham to Virginia. Another Virginia genealogist states there were two brothers, Abraham and Joseph, the latter going to Maryland, the former to Virginia. Evidence seems to point to the fact that there was a Joseph Venables in Maryland, and that he was contemporary with the Abraham of Virginia. I am inclined to doubt any relationship, however, as the baptismal name, Joseph, is not found in the Virginia descendants, a fact significant.

Lately, an esteemed correspondent sent me some notes gleaned from the Pennsylvania Archives, from which it appears that a "William Venables, upon his first arrival, procured a warrant from Thos. Holme in 1682, for 300 acres of land to be laid out in Bucks, near the Falls," etc. This William had two daughters, Joyce and Frances, but apparently no sons; and so Thomas Venables, who was a Justice of the Peace in Philadelphia County in 1745 and in 1749, and a Sarah Venables who was married to William Jenkins in 1767, seem to be unaccounted for.

As if to add to the tangle, a "Ralph Vennables" left England in 1635, for the Bermudas. Must we look to this Ralph as the progenitor of the Virginia families?
The immediate English ancestor of the Venables in the United States, that is of those who trace their origin back to Colonial times and who omit the final "s" from the name, was for several generations supposed to be General Robert Venables, better known as Admiral Venables, who was conspicuous in the time of Cromwell, and is mentioned in Hume's History of England. He, however, died in 1687, without male issue. See: his will on record. On account of his interest in American affairs, we give here a, sketch of him.
Although a Cavalier in blood and association, like many others of the same connection, he sided with the popular cause. He served in Ireland under Cromwell and was subsequently sent by him with Admiral Penn, the father of the founder of Pennsylvania, in joint command of a fleet against the Spanish West Indies. The two Admirals quarreled on the way and being of equal rank, they settled the difference by dividing the fleet, each taking half and proceeding according to his own judgment. Penn made a descent upon Cuba and, meeting with failure and losing most of his ships and men, returned to England. Venables, however, proceeded against Jamaica, which he conquered and took possession of in the name of the English Commonwealth. It is interesting to note that it has remained in English possession. On his return to England, instead of being received with the honors of a conqueror, he was thrown into the Tower, on account of the jealous remarks of Penn, who had arrived in England first. While in prison, where he was detained some years, Venables wrote his Autobiography, A History of the Expedition against the Spanish West Indies,-in which he vindicated his own course, and The Pleasing Art of Angling, in which we find an interesting and complimentary letter to the author from Isaac Walton. (We have read all of these books which may now [1918] be found in the New York Public Library.) Upon his release from prison, General Venables devoted himself to his private affairs,-a state of things doubtless enforced, as he found himself out of favor with the Cromwellian as well as with the Royalist party.
See: The Pleasing Art of Angling by General Robert Venables, published, London, 1683, by B. W. for B. Tooke, at "The Ship" in St. Paul's Church Yard and Thomas Sanbridge at "The Three Flower de Luces" in Little Britain.
See also: the Publications of the Chetham Society, Vol. IV, "Some Account of General Robert Venables of Antrobus and Winsham, Cheshire." An engraving from the portrait of General Venables of Winsham Hall, is used as the frontispiece.

From what English parish registers and county histories we had had time to search (our work here covered about a hundred volumes-all the published records of Cheshire, Staffordshire, Hertfordshire, Cornwall, Devonshire and Middlessex), we have gleaned six Abraham Venables:

I. Will of Abraham Venables of Leighford, County Stafford, yeoman, dated 1672, names
children: Richard, Ellen, Elizabeth, all minors.
II. Will of Abraham Vennables of the parish of Enfield, Middlessex, yeoman, Oct. 15, 1709,
mentions son, Abraham, not yet twenty-one, and nephew, Abraham Venables, "son of my brother, Thomas Venables of the parish of Datchworth, Herts."
III. Parish registers of Datchworth, Herts, and Brigg's, Herts Genealogist, Vol. III, p. 231, gives the following:

A. "Thomas Venables, Esq., Lord of the Manor of Blakesware, alias Blages, and eight
messuages, and land in Ware, Blakesware, Widford and Thundridge."

B. Vol. I, page 312, of the same: "Thomas Venables, Knt, and Anne Brooke: Simon Clare,
Esq., Agnes, his wife-Manor of Blakesware, alias Blages, and eight, etc.," as above.

C. Marriages in Datchworth, Herts.
1. John Venables and Annie Cuthbert of Datchworth mar. Dec. 2, 1707.
2. Thomas Venables and Mary Draper of Datchworth, mar. Apr. 30, 1711.
3. Abraham Venables and Mary Heath of Datchworth, mar. Sept. 4, 1713.

In Gnosall parish, Staffordshire, we find:
John Venables and his wife Elizabeth "of this place" had issue:

A. William Venables, bapt. Apr. 26, 1674.
B. Abraham Venables, bapt. July 3, 1678.
C. Richard Venables, bapt. Dec. 26, 1679.
D. Thomas Venables, bapt. Sept. 4, 1682.
E. Michael Venables, bapt. Nov. 7, 1683.

This William and Abraham are dismissed, being, as they were, in 1682, eight and four years of age.

One more record we have from Gnosall parish:
A. Abraham Venables son of Thomas Venables, bapt. Feb. 1, 1617.

A remarkable coincidence seems to connect our Virginia branch, somehow, with these Venables of Gnosall parish, Staffordshire, because we find, in this same parish the following records:

I. Thomas, son of Hugh and Elizabeth ap Lewis, bapt. Nov. 21, 1642. We know that Captain Hugh Lewis, father-in-law, of our Abraham Venables I, was in Barbadoes in 1679.

II. Stonars we find galore and we know in the Virginia land office, there is record of Richard Venables, who purchased land in Virginia from Alexander Stonar, 1635.
Perhaps some one else will take the search up here and carry it to a successful conclusion.

Peter married Mary WILBRAHAM.

Peter next married Francis CHOLMONDELEY. (Francis CHOLMONDELEY was born before 1630.)