Lucky

​This week’s #52Ancestors theme is Lucky and again I was really stumped with this one.  I don’t feel I have gained much of my family tree through luck but through sheer hard work most of the time.  But there was a lucky find I had a couple of months ago which is yet to come to fruition.
Back in January I told the story of James Traies my Great x5 Grandfather who apparently had five wives.  I mentioned that he was born in Exeter in Devon and the family line traced back ends up in the 1600s in Crediton in Devon.  I descend from John Traies baptised in Crediton in 1696 who married Sarah Pidlar in 1724 in Crediton, Devon.  This John was the son of John Trease and Lidia Kerswill who married in 1681 in Crediton and that was where my research petered out.  I pulled my notes out back in the winter and decided to revisit a website created by a contact I met on Rootschat, a genealogy forum online some 15 years ago or so.  He has a very comprehensive website at http://www.trease.org.uk/ where he explains why he believes that my particular line of Traies were part of the Trease line.   

​It is the belief that this John was the son of Samuell Trease who married Rebeccah Prise in Crediton and it is believed that Samuell Trease and his brother, Richard left the Launceston area of Cornwall and settled in Crediton.  So far, conclusive evidence that these TRAIES families are related to persons on the main TREASE family tree is lacking.  However the circumstantial evidence from continuity of Christian names and similarity of the surnames plus the disappearance of some 'Treases' with those Christian names from North Petherwin (then in Devon, now in Cornwall) and the appearance of similarly named 'Trease/later Traies' in Crediton, Devon together with associations with the Wivell family from Launceston are thought to indicate that such a link is likely.  To date, however, it remains unproven.
Genealogists know well that names can be changed and misspelt along the way.  Where a vicar was writing down the details of a couple marrying and they could not write and had never seen their name written before it was easy for Traies to become Trays or even Trease. 
Samuel was thought to be the youngest son of Michael Trease who lived in North Petherwin which was part of Devon but is now in Cornwall. It is thought Samuel went to Crediton, Devon with his brother Richard, married Rebecca Prise in 1654 and had children (ie John) who settled in that area and that he himself may have died in 1690.  

Parish map of North Petherwin showing Pattacott, top left from Genuki

​I started to read what the website said about Michael Trease and look for some of the documents mentioned;
“Michael's parents and his date of birth are unknown. It is surmised that he may have been the son of William Trease of North Petherwin whose will was proved in 1597 and the brother of Dorothy Trease who married Degory Doubt in North Petherwin late in 1611. If he was William's son, he would probably have been a minor when his father died and others, possibly relatives from either his mother's or father's side, would have looked after him, Dorothy, and Pattacott farm.”
At this point, I stopped, why did Pattacott Farm ring a bell with me?  I don’t have family from that area and so I went to look on a map and couldn’t quite believe it as I realised that two of my other half’s oldest friends moved to Cornwall a couple of years ago and they bought a property on Pattacott Farm.  Of course I messaged my friend to tell her to which she replied “You are JOKING!!!!!????? and apparently the current owner is a descendant of the Trease family who farmed there.  At some point this year we are going to make our first visit down there to see them and I can’t wait to not only stand on the ground my ancestors maybe once farmed but see what I can find out about them and maybe even meet a very very distant cousin.  It would feel even luckier to find that elusive final bit of proof that slot into place and prove the theories.