Giscombe Pen
Initial Theory Verifying from Which European Country
the Giscombes Came
By: Lorel G. Morrison
July 2008
As mentioned in the book The Prism, in 1972 as I noticed that my maternal grandfather had died, seemingly leaving very little information on his past life, I started wondering what was his history.
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His death signified a physical absence, leaving no clue of strong family connection.
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The first question that came to mind, asked, “Why should I care about such a loss and why pursue that knowledge?” I certainly did not have great answers then, but today after an interesting stretch of time, 36 years and hundreds of research hours, I know that fact after fact got me grounded to the Giscombes. I have a sense of worth and connection, as I became a bearer of an ultimate gift to reveal the Giscombes. At times this quest seems an elusive goal.
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Other questions back in 1972 were: Who were Darius G. Giscombe, my grandfather’s parents and his grandparents? Where did the name ‘Giscombe’ come from and why are there varied complexions (skin color) in the family?
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Today, I must reveal that we are much closer in answering almost all those questions. But do understand that as we seek, other questions have evolved. One example is, what village, town or county in England did our European forefathers come from?
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Did you notice I said England? I did not see the excitement in your eyes, probably because many of you have heard that same statement before. Probably, too many of us, have been hoping for an answer so long, that we have lost hope in truly wanting to know.
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Our late uncle, John Aaron Giscombe, stated that he was told that the European side of the family emigrated from England. A researcher, Colin Parry, I used in some of the leg work for the book, The Prism, stated in December 1994, I quote, “I do not think the surname Giscombe/Giscomb is other than of English origin. The place-name element Combe (Comb or Coombe) is found in very many English place-names and in old English as Cumb, meaning a ‘valley.’ Almost every county has one or more names containing this element. For example, there is Swanscombe in Kent, Ilfracombe in Devon, and Castle Combe in Wiltshire and so on. The element also stands alone as Coombe in Hampshire and Combe in Gloucestershire, and it is from these places that the surnames containing the Combe element will have been derived.”
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Christina Giscombe (in London), on the other hand, in a letter in October 2005, states that: “In Devon and Cornwall ‘Gist’ was a nickname that meant ‘stranger’ from the French ‘Giest’ and there are a few ‘Gists’.”
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Hence the formula to the meaning of Giscombe looks like, ‘Gist equals Stranger and Combe equals Valley- therefore we are most likely, ‘Strangers from the Valley’.
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It is truly a long time researching around one topic, only to revert to what was stated by Uncle John. However it is worth the time to seek, as now I am convinced that up to a certain time in history, our Giscombe roots lie some where in England.
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My deduction is based on the following facts:
a. We now have documents of birth, death, marriage, baptism, wills, deed to land that point us accurately to James Giscombe, born circa 1668. His name shows up on many wills and the 1715 census of Barbados. Wills include names like Oliver Lamberte -1687, Edwards -1693, Phipps-1700 and Swinho-1702. Census documents made it clear that he was ‘white’ as in race, as opposed to other persons’ descriptions that state ‘free’, ‘mullato’ and ‘slave’.
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b. James’ name appears in a land deed of 1685, with a Judith Swinho, selling James as her grandson, two acres of land, for a grand total of thirteen (13) English pounds.
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c. The family in Barbados communicated and drew up legal documents in the English language and named their kids with English names.
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d. James Giscombe’s associates were prominent English folks. Men like Capt. James Swinho (who I strongly presume to be his grandfather), seemed to be an experienced military person. He seemed to have appeared in Barbados after fighting in the battles at Tadcaster, Adwalton Moor and Marston Moor. As per research by Christina Giscombe in London in 2007, a James Swinhoe took over the military operations on the death of a Mr. Calverings and was drawn into Carlisle garrison. We strongly assume that this is the same James Swinhoe that shows up in the Barbados records of 1685 and in a land deed drawn up by Judith Swinho, who professed to be his widow.
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e. We do know that other friends of James Giscombe came directly from England. Men like Thomas Cuddugging and Oliver Lambarte shows up as passengers from England and also on the list of part of Colonel Simon Lambart’s troops to Barbados (1679/80 census – Barbados). Clearly they were military men.
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f. I must point out that James Giscombe was just 14 years of age in 1679 based on information he gave in the 1715 Barbados census (later we will report his true date of birth). Therefore, the question is, “did he travel at such a young age to Barbados or was he born there?” I more believe that he traveled to Barbados, because the name ‘Giscombe’ did not seem to appear in the 1679/80 -census.
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g. Twenty years ago in the late 1980s, the closest name in spelling to ‘Giscombe’ found in the English records was ‘Discombe’. As time passes, we find that more information is coming to light. In a 2007 trip to England, my daughter Kareen and I along with information from Christina Giscombe, came across the actual Giscombe name. These names are in the records for Devon, a county in southwest England and Gloucester, west central England. In those records there is an entire family, with Grace Giscombe as the mother, born 1828, William as the father, born 1833, Hannah, born 1862 and William R. Giscombe, born 1866. We also found a Samuel Giscombe, born 1811 and married to a Palince, living in Gloucestershire. Other names we saw were James Goscomb b. 1791 and William Goscomb in Matson b. 1798, Jas Goscomb in Matson b. 1781, Eliz Goscombe in Matson, Gloucester b. 1799, Richard Goscombe b. 1799 Gloucester. We also found records of a Mark Gascombe, married to Anna Wiseman on October 20th, 1639 in Cambridgeshire, England.
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Having been told that the name ‘Giscombe’ derives from a place-name with the suffix ‘Combe’ meaning valley and knowing that there are many places in England, especially in Devon, Gloucester and London with the word ‘Combe’, I must draw the conclusion at this point in the research that the name Giscombe is truly English, at least back to the year 1500. Before that date it is possible it could well be of Norman (French) origins, even being part of William the Conqueror’s Norman conquest of Great Britain.
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As we move back into history, revealing more facts about the Giscombes we will be pulled into the many twists and turns of the facts surrounding this family. Based on the book The Prism we have now shown that the Giscombes settled in Jamaica. Report #1 shows that they migrated from Barbados. See report #2, Path into the Past – Part 2; it will show their connection to England.
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Presented at the Annual Family Reunion Meeting: July 2008; Montego Bay, Jamaica WI