Kerfies, Cleggies and all that.

A family history for family and friends.

Conibear

The name, it is suggested, comes from middle English and means rabbit wood or grove. There are certainly plenty of rabbits on Morte Point!

The Conibear name, with its various spellings, is very concentrated around the Bristol Channel, North Devon, Somerset and the south coast of Wales. My research suggests that the South Wales occurrences originate from North Devon.

On this site the spelling is standardised to Conibear, but in the historical documents Coneybear, Coneber, Conibeer and Conibeare are all used. The relative that found himself around the River Tyne naturally became a Caniber!

Distribution of Conibear name in 1881

Our Conibear Ancestors.

Our Conibears seem to be a branch that moved from Georegham to the south of Woolacombe to Morthoe just to the north. They went from cordwainers and agricultural workers to bakers and shopkeepers before becoming hoteliers.

It was George Conibear, a shoemaker, that moved to Mortehoe to marry Elizabeth ("Betty") Lang. My reconstruction of the family groups descended from these two is ongoing, but you will see that, as well as staying in Mortehoe, some of them spread to Ilfracombe, Combe Martin, South Wales and even Northumberland.

You can see a chart of some of his descendants at the bottom of this page.

The Decendants of George Conibear the Shoemaker (1770-1853)

George was the second son of George Conibear of Georgeham. He was born in 1770 in Georgian Britain. Lots of Georges!

For context, this was the same year, James Cook was logging the east coast of Australia, the American Revolution was brewing, and James Hargreaves patented the spinning jenny.

George moved to Mortehoe and married Elizabeth ("Betty") Lang where they brought up their family.

George and Elizabeth had five children I know about. He lived a long life making shoes, dying in 1853 at the age of 83. Here's a summary of his children and their families:

George Conibear (1792-1846)

George's first son, George, was also a shoemaker. With his wife, Mary Bennett, they had four children.

  • Mary Conibear married John Vicary but died within a year of marriage. Maybe due to complications of childbirth or pregnancy? She is buried in Saint Mary's churchyard in Mortehoe with her parents.
  • Samuel Conibear was a blacksmith and married Elizabeth Hearn from Littleham. They also kept the Chichester Arms for a time around 1871. Samuel and his family seem to have been very succesful in business and marriage. Two daughters, Mary Conibear and Anne Conibear married into the Gammon family: farmers from Shaftsborough just to the east of Mortehoe. The family also had Barricane House and Farm in the centre of Mortehoe that was developed into a borading house for the growing tourist industry. Youngest daughter, Eva Sarah Conibear, was also in this business after marrying Reginald Turner who had the Torketh Hotel in Northam. Middle daughter, Elizabeth Conibear, married her first cousin, William George Conibear Sanders, who was an auctioneer from Ilfracombe. The Sanders family established the very successful "Sanders and Son Ltd" auctioneers based in Barnstaple but covering all of North Devon. I think the company still exist, but they are not involved in livestock auctions which was their bread and butter in the early 20th century.
  • Harriot Conibear married William Irwin Sanders, an auctioneer in Combe Martin. Their first son, William George Conibear Sanders, was the auctioneer I mentioned above. His brothers were all in the auctioneering business apart from the second son, Alfred John Sanders who was an apprentice baker then joined the Royal Navy as a cook. The daughter who survived childhood, Ada Mary Bennett Sanders married Albert Edmund Dark, a jeweller and optician.

 Elizabeth Conibear (1794-1877)

Elizabeth Conibear married William Bennett, a mariner. They had just three children that I've found:

John Conibear (1797-1857)

This is our line. John Conibear and Jane Richards are the 5x Great Grandparents of the current generation being born in the 2020s. They lived in Mortehoe and had six children we know of:

Mary Conibear (1803-1823)

Mary Conibear died aged 20. We can't find out why because it's before civil registration was introduced.

James Conibear (1806-unknown)

We can't find any information on James Conibear. The assumption is, he died young.

George and his first three generations of descendants.

  • Legend:
  • Subject
  • Daughter
  • Son
  • Spouse
  • Duplicate
George Conibear
(Abt 1770-1853)
George Conibear
(1792-1846)
Mary Bennett
(Abt 1793-1875)
Mary Conibear
(Abt 1822-1842)
Samuel Conibear
(Abt 1825-1896)
Sarah
(Abt 1834-)
Elizabeth Hearn
(1822-1884)
Anne Conibear
(DEC Q 1853-1922)
Amos Gammon
(1850-DEC Q 1916)
Alice H. Conibear
(JUN Q 1858-1924)
Mary Conibear
(Abt 1851-1896)
Philip Gammon
(Abt 1848-1929)
William G. Sanders
(1859-MAR Q 1897)
Eva S. Conibear
(1861-MAR Q 1907)
Reginald Turner
(Abt 1871-)
Harriot Conibear
(Abt 1831-1912)
William I. Sanders
(1839-MAR Q 1899)
Frederick H. Sanders
(SEP Q 1871-1925)
Lilian F. Minns
(1884-JUN Q 1960)
William G. Sanders
(1859-MAR Q 1897)
Thomas W. Sanders
(Abt 1864-1922)
Elizabeth Smith
(Abt 1864-JUN Q 1939)
Ada M. Sanders
(Abt 1867-1935)
Albert E. Dark
(Abt 1870-)
Amanda H. Sanders
(Abt 1869-DEC Q 1871)
William Bennett
(Abt 1785-PROB 1850)
Eliza Bennett
(1815-1815)
George Bennett
(1816-DEC Q 1855)
Mary A. Thorne
(Abt 1817-)
George Bennett
(SEP Q 1852-)
Margreatta Lloyd
(JUN Q 1854-DEC Q 1928)
Mary Bennett
(Abt 1838-PROB JUN Q 1875)
John Winter
(Abt 1836-MAR Q 1911)
William Bennett
(Abt 1840-1871)
Selina Bennett
(1847-SEP Q 1917)
James Chorley
(Abt 1836-Bef 1891)
Margaret Bennett
(Abt 1849-)
Thomas Griffiths
(Abt 1843-)
?
William Bennett
(Abt 1837-)
Thomas Butler
(DEC Q 1862-DEC Q 1936)
John Butler
(Abt 1842-)
Mary Butler
(Abt 1853-MAR Q 1923)
Philip Gammon
(Abt 1848-1929)
Ann Butler
(Abt 1857-PROB SEP Q 1955)
Eliza Butler
(Abt 1859-1929)
John Conibear
(1797-1857)
Jane Richards
(1799-1883)
Eliza A. Conibear
(Abt 1828-JUN Q 1911)
William Harding
(Abt 1825-MAR Q 1880)
Annie L. Harding
(DEC Q 1857-1896)
Thomas W. Davies
(Abt 1858-)
Mary J. Harding
(JUN Q 1856-DEC Q 1913)
William Courtney
(1847-MAR Q 1917)
William J. Harding
(SEP Q 1848-1854)
John German
(Abt 1824-)
Joshua Conibear
(Abt 1829-1902)
Eliza F. Conibear
(DEC Q 1877-1943)
Eva Conibear
(JUN Q 1861-DEC Q 1862)
Henry P. Conibear
(JUN Q 1871-1871)
Alice A. Conibear
(SEP Q 1866-1868)
Joshua J. Conibear
(SEP Q 1875-1938)
Ada
(Abt 1872-DEC Q 1935)
Frederick Conibear
(Abt 1860-JUN Q 1949)
Mary A. Rees
(Abt 1863-)
Bessie Conibear
(1863-1945)
George F. Reed
(JUN Q 1861-1928)
Albert H. Conibear
(1868-MAR Q 1943)
Florence C. Dockett
(SEP Q 1870-1904)
Emily J. Conibear
(Abt 1873-1953)
Ann Snow
(SEP Q 1837-1905)
James C. Conibear
(1864-JUN Q 1864)
Annie Lewis
(1866-1942)
William H. Conibear
(Abt 1868-1904)
Jane D. Dayment
(1869-SEP Q 1934)
Bessie Conibear
(1869-JUN Q 1949)
Sarah J. Hedges
(1870-1955)
James Conibear
(Abt 1834-)
Joseph M. Conibear
(DEC Q 1865-)
James N. Conibear
(JUN Q 1863-)
Mary A. Conibear
(JUN Q 1868-DEC Q 1900)
George Conibear
(1837-1918)
Ann Dyer
(1842-1914)
Samuel J. Yeo
(1863-1954)
Rose E. Ellis
(1875-1970)
Lydia Conibear
(1839-1883)
Mary Conibear
(1803-1823)