As indicated previously, due to the nature of record keeping during the middle ages, it would be within the realm of reason to deduce familial relationships and compile a fairly accurate pedigree from the tenth century. However, English scholars insist that such efforts are largely futile, and that an uninterrupted chain of generations stretching back so distant is quite impossible.
Some of the earlier ancestors identified by William Upton, and listed below, are suspected only, and there are some generations missing. "The following are the chief sources of information consulted in the preparation of this (Upton) pedigree: The extracts from public records, etc., previously printed in these pages; letters, deeds, and other family papers supplied by members of the several families and others; the editions of the 'Visitations of Devon in 1620' and 'Cornwall in 1620', published by the Harleian Society; Colby's 'Visitation of Devon in 1564'; Weaver's 'Visitation of Somerset'; Phillipps' 'Visitation of Somerset in 1623'; Westcote's 'View of Devon'; Tuckett's 'Devonshire Pedigrees'; Maclean's 'Trigg Minor'; Dwyer's 'Diocese of Killaloe'; Le Neve's 'Catalogue of Knights'; Noble's 'Spanish Armada'; Lower's 'Patronymica Brittanica'; Gilbert's 'Historical Survey of Cornwall'; Polwhele's 'History of Devon'; 'Complete Parochial History of Cornwall'; Jewer's 'Heraldic Church Notes'; Lysons's 'Magna Brittanica'; Weaver's 'Somerset Incumbents'; 'Notes and Queries,' passim; 'Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica', passim; 'Peerages' of G. E. C., Nicholas, and Burke; Burke's 'Landed Gentry'; and the MS. collections of the Compiler. For the first six generations of the pedigree I have been forced to take my information at second hand, and of this part of the pedigree I can only say I have spared no pains to winnow the wheat from the chaff and preserve only what seems worthy of credence. But from about the year 1450 some rays of light from the deeds, wills and other records begin to fall upon our subject, and our sources of knowledge of the period from early in the sixteenth to the middle of the eighteenth century are quite satisfactory. Beyond the latter date I have not undertaken to print extracts from the public records, but family papers fairly supply their place so far as concerns the branches given in the pedigree; so that this part of the pedigree, while I dare not hope for absolute freedom from error, may be considered substantially correct, though of course not complete.
"The manor of Upson, Cornwall, which gave a surname to this family, originally extended into several parishes, the manor-house being in Lewannick (near Launceston, Cornwall). It descended in the elder line of the family to William Upton of Trelaske, who in 1477 granted it to his uncles William and John Upton, both of whom are styled 'of Upton.' Here it seems to have ceased to be the portion of the elder son, for the coheiresses of the 'uncle' William's son Thomas do not seem to have carried it in marriage to the Lowers. According to J. B. Yonge, John Upton of Puslinch, son of the 'uncle' John, held it about the end of the fifteenth century. In 1564 Jeffrey Upton of Wells and William Upton of Puslinch, grandsons respectively of the two 'uncles' mentioned above, joined in a fine concerning it which no doubt fixed its future descent, but the terms of that fine I have been unable to ascertain, nor do I find the manor mentioned in the subsequent portion of any pedigree of the family. But from the terrier of the parish we know that one John Upton held closes of land still called Upton in 1613. 'A descendant' of the Uptons, we are told, sold it to one Wadge, whose descendant sold it, before 1812, to Colonel Rodd, who seems to have taken down the old mansion-house and erected on its site a farmhouse for the tenant. The property now [1893] seems to be held by Rodd of Trebartha Hall, Launceston.&quo t;
Thomas (or John) UPPETON de Uppeton [died in 1140].
William Upton provides the note: "Most writers, following the author ity of the 'Visitation of Devon in 1620', call the first of the family John Upton. Original investigation on such a point not being within my power, I am content to follow Sir John Maclean and the Puslinch pedigree in calling him Thomas. Readers familiar with the ancient chirography will readily comprehend how a careless eye might read 'Johannes' for 'Thomas' or vice versa."
Andrew UPPETON de Uppeton [died in 1170].
Hamelyn UPTON signed a deed in 2 Henry III (1218).
He married [in 11 Henry III (1227)] ?, the daughter [and heir] of [Sir] Andrew Trelaske, son and heir of Sir Roger Trelaske of Trelaske, Cornwall.
William Upton adds the note: "While it is not at all improbable that Hamelyn Upton married a Trelaske, the old pedigree-makers were in error in supposing that marriage (if such a marriage occurred) brought to the Uptons the manor of Trelaske. That property was acquired through the Mulys marriage three generations later."
He died in 12 Edward I (1284).
John [or Edward] UPTON of Upton, was the son and heir upon his father's death in 12 Edward I (1284).
William Upton notes: "I do not doubt that the name of the fourth representative of the family was John. I fancy there is no other foundation for 'Edward' than the fact that some one read that his son was found 's. and h. of Edw. U.,' where the record said 's. and h. 4 Edw. III.'"
He married ?, the heir of St. Winnow.
He was also the heir of St. Winnow [and Trelaske].
Their son was:
He died in 4 Edward III (1329).
Richard UPTON was born at Cornwall, England, the son of John (or Edward) Upton and ?, heir of St. Winnow.
He married Agnes, the daughter and heir of Walter Carnother of Carnother, Cornwall. The surname of Richard's wife is given variously as Carnother, Carwather, Carnather, Cornuther and Carnegie.
Their child was:
He was heir upon his father's death in 4 Edward III (1329).
John UPTON was born at Cornwall, England, the son of Richard Upton and Agnes Carnother.
He married Margaret, daughter of James and sister and coheir of John Mulys (who died 19 Richard II, 1396), successive Lords of Trelaske. She was still living in 5 Henry IV (1404). "The manor of Trelaske remained, as shewn in the pedigree, the principal seat of the elder line of this Upton family for about a century and a half. It then passed to the Lowers through the marriage of Nicholas Lower with the coheiress of Upton. They held the barton and at least a moiety of the manor until about the end of the seventeenth century. In 1720 the whole manor was held by an Addis, from whom it passed in 1741 to the family of Archer now of Trelaske, who still hold it [1893]. The present representative of this family is descended from the Uptons through the marriage of his ancestor with Dorothy Eyre Yonge, daughter of Rev. John Yonge of Puslinch, descendant and representative of Dr. James Yonge, who married the coheiress of Upton of Puslinch. 'Trelaske House,' said Gilbert in 1820, 'displays an association of ancient and modern architecture.... The buildings are seated on the northern side of a park which gently slopes to a sheet of water overhung with a variety of stately foliage.
There is ... an air of dignity diffused over every part of this domain from the appearance of its extensive woods, rising and falling in beautiful succession over hill and dale. The trees are principally oak, which have grown to an immense size, are very aged, and still very flourishing; their wide-spreading branches and luxurious leafage are beautifully contrasted by the slender firs which rise in stately clumps over the principal eminences.'"
He died 28 Henry VI (1450).
Thomas UPTON was born at Cornwall, England, the son of John Upton and Margaret Mulys.
He married Johanna, daughter and heir of [Sir] John Trelawny [Kt.], by his wife Agnes, daughter of Robert Tregodick. Johanna died in 1464.
Their children were:
"The reader whose attention has never been called to a curious custom of our ancestors, which is now, happily, extinct, may feel incredulous at finding assigned to Thomas Upton two sons both bearing the name John, and both, apparently, living at the same time. Yet nothing can be more certain than that it was not an infrequent thing in England, even as late as the seventeenth century, for parents to give a child a christian name already borne by a living brother or sister of the infant. In my own slender reading I have met at least a dozen instances of this custom, and I could mention one instance where three brothers, all living at the same time and all legitimate, each bore the name William. It will be observed that in the pedigree from the 'Visitation of Devon in 1620' these two Johns are placed in the next generation; but that that arrangement is erroneous is amply proven by the deed of William Uppeton of Trelaske noted at page 79, as well as by abundant other evidence."
"In 1453 he leased land to Thomas Mohun. In 1455 he received a release of lands from John Trelawny. On 24 January 1461 John Palmer released to him, to John his son and Elizabeth his wife, lands in Maysters Park and Hervena in parish of Alternum, Cornwall. In 1469 he gave his lands in Upton Hays to Joanna Trelawny and William Mennynick."
He died in 1470.
William UPTON married Isabel, daughter and heir of William Rosmadres.
Their children were:
He may have later married Joane, daughter and heir of Richard Palmer of Combe or of Langsson (? Launceston). "I consider myself safe in following Maclean in making Isabel Rosmadres mother of William Upton's children. I find no other authority for the usual statement that William Upton married Joane Palmer than the pedigree in the 'Visitation of Devon in 1620,' i.e. a statement made a century and a half after the event by a country gentleman, not his descendant, and residing in another shire. On the other hand, when Sir John Maclean, a careful and experienced genealogist, made the statement that William Upton married Isabel Rosmadres and placed the Palmer marriage in the next generation, he had access to important family papers and other records. The 'Parochial History' tries to avoid the difficulty by making one man of this William Upton and his son Thomas."
John UPTON was born about 1480 at Trelaske, Cornwall, England, the son of William Upton and Isabel Rosmadres.
He married Elizabeth Leversedge about 1510 at Vallis, Frome, Somerset, England.
Their children were:
Jeffrey UPTON was born about 1511, probably at Trelaske, Cornwall, England, the son of John Upton and Elizabeth Leversedge.
The Upton genealogy reports "Jeffrey Upton of Trelaske, Cornwall (1556), afterwards of Wormister near Wells, Somerset. His name often Latinized as Galfridus Uppetonus. Joined his kinsman William Upton of Puslinch in a fine passed in 1556 upon Trelaske, Uppeton, Trewyn, Lawannecke, Trewyn-down, Vowell-more, and Northill."
He married Mary Hone about 1550 at Ottery St. Mary, Devon, England.
Their children, all born at Worminster, were:
His will was dated 14 January 1582/3 and proved on 4 May 1583 at Worminster by his son George. The Upton genealogy reports that his will stated "To churches and almshouses in Wells; to wife Mary all my lands in Ottery St. Mary, Devon, and Gillingham, Dorset, for life, and 20 Pounds per annum, and 40 Pounds at once, the use of 200 sheep, the lease of my house and land where I dwell at Wormister for life or widowhood, and sundry plate and household stuff; to Richard Uppton my brother my best gown and doublet, etc., and my second best sealing ring; to my four daughters Thomasine Heys, Elizabeth Strowde, Mary Pike, and Suzann Uppton each 20 Pounds; to my son-in-law Isaac Uppton my house in the Close at Wells and my lease of the woods of East Horrington; to George my son my grounds and wood called Chellwood; to several servants, among them to Alice Strowde 53s. 4d. at marriage; Dr. Bisse to preach my funeral sermon; residue to son George, and appoint him executor."
Elizabeth UPTON was born at Worminster, Somerset, England, the daughter of Jeffrey Upton and Mary Hone.
She married William Strode at Worminster, Near Wells, and by him had sons Jeffrey, William and George and daughters Mary and Thomasine.
Following the death of William (his will was dated 20 August 1592 and was proved 1 September 1592), she married Edward Bisse of Wells or Spargrove, Somerset, and had three sons Edward, Upton and Philip
She was buried on 7 January 1629/30 at Milton Clevedon, Somerset, England.