Robert Underdowne (1606)

Baptism

Robert Underdowne was baptized in Ottery St Mary on the 16th March 1606 to his parents George and Marie Underdowne. He was their third known child and first son; his older siblings were sisters Alice and Johan.

This demonstrates the first known use of the name ‘Robert’ in this Underdown line. Although not quite as prominent as the use of the name ‘Thomas’, the name ‘Robert’ is probably the second most popular name for Underdown males in this book.

His father was a labourer and, if he worked on a farm, it is likely that Robert spent his infancy on a farm in the Ottery St Mary area.

Death of Father

Robert’s father George died in January 1609 when he was almost 3 years old. How his mother raised Robert and his siblings after his death is not yet known.

Marriage

Robert married on the 18th June 1635 in Ottery St Mary to Izote Coombe. Her origins are currently unknown.

Children

Robert and Izote had three known children baptized in Ottery St Mary – Mary on 19th June 1636, Lydia on the 19th October 1638, and Elizabeth on 3rd October 1641. Another child, Izsat (named after her mother), does not have a baptism recorded.

Civil War

In 1645, with the country split in half and fighting each other during the Civil War, Ottery St Mary became a busy garrison town under the command of Sir Thomas Fairfax. Oliver Cromwell visited and stayed in Ottery St Mary when he came to survey the progress of his army in the south west of England. He allowed his troops to remain in the town after their campaigns, in order that they should have some rest and recuperation. During his stay, Fairfax and Cromwell set up their campaign headquarters in Ottery's Chanters House where they plotted the next stage of their campaign and their next movements. However, an outbreak of an epidemic was instrumental in finally moving troops out of the area.

How Robert, Izote and family were affected by the politics of the time is not yet known, but they were to be directly affected by the aftermath of having the soldiers in town.

Epidemic

In the book The History of the Bubonic Plague in the British Isles (by JFD Shrewsbury), it states that Ottery St Mary was hit by an epidemic during the years 1645-1646. It was initially thought that this was an outbreak of the plague, but an examination done of the parish registers appears to discount this. It states that the annual burials during the eleven years 1620-30 average 57 and then for the 6 years 1640-5 they number respectively 81, 99, 84, 97, 104 and 199. The years 1646 and 1647 were missing and the burial record did not begin again until 14 May 1648, from which date until the end of the year 37 burials were registered. It is evident therefore that for several years prior to 1645 the town experienced an excessive mortality the cause of which was unknown, so they examined the burials registered in 1645 in more detail. This revealed that the month of autumn contributed to more than 55% of the annual total. The seasonal incidence seems to exclude bubonic plague as the cause.

It is highly likely that Robert’s family was affected by this epidemic, as daughter Mary was buried in Ottery St Mary on 1st November 1644, right at the beginning of when deaths in the town were on the increase. Her death record states that she was the daughter of Robert Underdowne. She would have been 8 years old at the time of her death. Daughter Elizabeth was buried only 4 days later, on the 5th November, aged 3 years, recorded in the register as daughter of Robert Underdowne. A further burial for the family occurred 5 days later on 10th November 1644, when daughter Izsat (named after her mother) was also buried. She was recorded as the daughter of Robert Underdowne. As we have no birth entry for Izsat, we don’t know how old she was when she died. The deaths of 3 daughters in as many weeks must have been devastating on the family.

Death

Despite the early deaths of his family, it appears that Robert may have lived to a ripe old age. There is a burial of a Robert Underdowne in Ottery St Mary on 23/05/1686 that is likely to be him.

The burial record records his occupation as weaver. He is the first Underdowne we have recorded as a weaver – an occupation that was extremely prominent in East Devon during the 17th century.

Children

Name	Birth	Death
Children of Robert and Izote Underdowne
Mary	baptised 19/6/1636 baptised Ottery St Mary, Devon	buried 01/11/1644 buried Ottery St Mary, Devon
Lydia	baptised 19/10/1638 baptised Ottery St Mary, Devon
Izsat	c1640	buried 10/11/1644 buried Ottery St Mary, Devon
Elizabeth	baptised 3/10/1641 baptised Ottery St Mary, Devon	buried 5/11/1644 buried Ottery St Mary, Devon