In 1625* Ashburton was visited with an outbreak of plague, and the registers record the deaths of no less than seven members of this family in four months.
February 16th A servant of John Fabyan
March 14th The Master John Fabyan
April 9th Samuel son of Nicholas Fabyan
April 13th Margaret Fabyan
April 16th Mary Fabyan
April 21st Grace Fabyan
May 5th Philip Fabyan.'
Edward Windeatt, Early Nonconformity in Ashburton, Transactions of the Devonshire Association vol. 28,1896, p234ff
*Old calendar - we would say 1626. In the parish registers John appears as Johes, Margaret as Margaretta, Mary as Maria and Grace as Gracia. The surname appears as Fabia/Fabian
In a legal action concerning the market in 1630 between, amongst others, Thos. Prideaux and Thos. Ford*, Nicholas ffabyan of Ashburton, tanner, made a statement about the 'pillory, cage or prison house' and the stocks.
*Quoted by J S Amery in his Presidential Address to the Devonshire Association.
Report and Transactions of the Devonshire Association, vol 56, Plymouth 1925, p72
1637 Lease
for lives from Sir George Sondes of Theowley, Kent, to Lady Helen
Parkhurst, Robert Parkhurst and George Fabyan of Ashburton, yeoman. A
messuage in Ashburton, consideration £80
OCLC Number:
423395615
Whereabouts of the above documents are unknown. Reference accessed through https://www.google.com - 23-02-2015
Johan Fabyan married Thomas Palke in Ashburton in February 1651
Parish records
Article on Nonconformity, Western Daily Mercury, 8 January 1912, p8 col7
Geo: ffabyan was a signatory to a petition in 1712, supporting the Widdow Spreat:
or
Sirs, May it please yr Honrs
We humbly take leave to trouble you in behalf of ye Widdow Spreat, in opposition to those that seeke so earnestly to displace her from Yor Honrs Service and all we have to say in adition to what you have already been informed is that whereas it is given out that the person that endeavours her discharge has been a great Sufferer in promoting the interest of the party he is of. We doe assure yr Honrs that we believe it to be truth and Mrs Spreat dos averr it to be so, that her late husband brought himself & family to ruin by his being so zealous and indefatigable in advancing ye interest of the very same party, And we further prsume to add that we do not appear for the Widdow for any personal ill Will we bear to him that opposed her, But out of pure Charity to a poor Woman & three helpless Children who will be destitute of all meanes of Support if your Honours should dismiss her your Service, Wheras her p sent apponent wants it not, having a good livelihood from his present calling & business. We beg y honrs pardon & presume to subscribe ourselves.
To the Honble Sr Thomas Frankland & John Evelyn Esqr, Her Maties Com for executing ye the Office of postmr Generall at their office. London. H. Tapley-Soper.'
Document added to the MSS department of Exeter City Library, transcribed in Devon and Cornwall Notes and Queries vol 11, January 1920-October 1921, Exeter 1921, p30
Amongst an
exhibition of antiquities at the Ashburton Institute in 1884 was a wedding dress worn by Marjory Bennett of Rew when she married Peter Fabyan in 1719
Totnes Weekly Times 13 December 1884, p4 col3
In 1838 a
memoir appeared on the late Rev John Honywill, of Melkham in Wiltshire.
He had been born at Bowdley Farm in Ashburton in 1757, the son of a
farmer 'strictly attached to the parish church'. One of his father's
servants attended the Dissenting chapel, and although initially mocking
the servant, John then went to hear the preacher. The preacher, possibly (the writer says) the Rev Mr Walters, or the Rev Mr Fabyan who assisted him, left John 'smitten
with the arrow of conviction'
The Evangelical Magazine and Missionary Chronicle, vol 16, London, May 1838
Peter Fabyan and Nicholas Fabyan were amongst the Ashburton subscribers to Moor's Indian Charity School.
In 1754 Eleazar Wheelock set up a school in Lebanon, Connecticut, for native Americans. Named after its chief benefactor, Joshua Moor, the aim of the school was to teach native Americans about Christianity; they could then convert their own communities. An enormously successful fund raising mission was sent to Great Britain in 1765.
http://nativeamericannetroots.net/diary/840 - Accessed 22-06-2015
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2536600525.html - Accessed 22-06-2015
A Continuation of the Narrative of the Indian Charity School, in Lebanon, in Connecticut, in New England, Oliver, London, 1769, p91
Parish records
Ashburton sergemakers and clothiers in the 1700s who had insurance with the Sun Fire Office include Peter Fabyan.
Names and occupations from documents connected to the Palk family of Haldon, in the Devon Heritage Centre. Ref Z10:
1779
Nicholas Fabyan, fellmonger
William Fabyan, clothier
1788
William
Fabyan (of Plymouth, an officer in the Salt Office), heretofore of
Ashburton, perukemaker, only son and heir of George Fabyan, woolcoomber,
dec'd.
The lease of a property in East Street in 1787 (see the Virtual Museum, 1780s submenu) describes the premises as 'ruinous and in great decay..' A condition of the lease is that William Fabyan must 'rebuild and repair' the premises, 'lately burnt down'.
Amongst an exhibition of antiquities at the Ashburton Institute in 1884 was a map of Byland and Rew Down (later Druid) before its enclosure in 1789 by Mr Fabyan.
Totnes Weekly Times 13 December 1884, p4 col3
A transcript of trades and professions from the Universal British Directory of Trade, Commerce and Manufacture, Vol 2, late 1700s, has Wm Fabyan, serge-maker (Portreeve)
Exeter, June 21st, 1797
At
a meeting of the Western Calvinistic Association, held this day,
Resolved, that a Society be formed for the purpose of promoting the
knowledge of the gospel of Christ in the counties of Devon and
Cornwall...That the Rev. James Stoat, of Ashburton, be appointed
Secretary, and Mr William Fabyan, of Ashburton, Treasurer.'
The Evangelical Magazine for 1797, London, p340
Thomas Jones Howell, Howell's State Trials, vol 27, London 1820, p1017
Amongst
an
exhibition of antiquities at the Ashburton Institute in 1884 was a
wedding dress worn by Mary Fabyan of Ashburton when she married Mr T Windeatt of Totnes in 1803.
Totnes Weekly Times 13 December 1884, p4 col3