"sanguine vita" Down through the ages our surname has had numerous variations in spelling. My grandfather told me one story that his grandfather decided there were more than one Cobb so the name should have an "s" added to make it plural. We will follow Mike Cobb's format:

• The early British born generations are spelled COBBES.
  
• The early American born generations are spelled COBBS.
  
• The modern international spelling is COBB unless otherwise noted, as several branches of the family, including ours, still spell the name COBBS.

We want to recognize the efforts of Mike Cobbs and all the File Managers of the Cobb and Cobbs site, without whose effort very little would be known about our family and its history. Mike connected with Alexander Robert Cobb, the grandson of Robert Stanley Cobb, who provided his grandfather's genealogical work on the Cobb history in Britain. We have borrowed much from these works to make our files here for you to use. We strongly recommend that you visit Cobb and Cobbs to see the whole story. The first Cobb from County Kent, England, to be recorded in the College of Heralds was the man known to genealogists as John Cobb of Kent (c1324). His American descendants are all from the line of Ambrose Cobb, who arrived in Virginia, in 1635. Researchers have been trying for generations to identify John’s father. Although the most likely answer has been known for almost a decade, a challenge has been presented within the last two years. On the one hand is the claim that John’s father was one Walter Cobbe. On the other hand we have a claim that John’s father was a man named Henry Cobb. Read more about The Hoax. We have the work done by Robert Stanley Cobbs, MC, FRIBA, who in the 1950's began to research the Cobbs in Kent, England. He published this work for his family, not intending it to be a source document for others but, it is a great reference for those descended from Ambrose Cobbs here in the United States. You can begin your search with the Cobbs of Kent or start with the Ambrose "the Emigrant". Chapter III

 

The Chilham Cobbes

Page 19

 

Martin Cobbe who owned an estate of Lympne died in 1551, and his son Thomas, who was born in the year of his father's death, married Mary Payne, daughter and heiress of William Payne of the Manor of Northbrookes, at Oldwood Lees, sometimes called Old Wives Lees or Old Lees, ⁽¹⁾ about a mile east of Chilham, which is six miles west of Canterbury.

 

Thomas became the owner of the Estate which remained in his family from about 1575 until 1712 when it was sold to Thomas Belke. The position of the Manor House is shown on an engraving made in 1722 by E. Kirkall Sculp, and is published under the title Chilham Castle. It was no doubt a half-way house for his cousins at Reculver travelling to Cobbes Court at Newchurch. The existing building, now called North Court, stands on the site of the old manor and there are parts of the original Northbrooks Manor incorporated in it.

 

During the time that Thomas was at Chilham, theRevd. Ezechias Fogg, a nephew of Alice Cobbe by her marriage to Lord John Cobham, was appointed rector.

 

Thomas also inherited the lands at Bislington from his father; they had been owned by his uncle, Richard, who died in 1557. Thomas died in 1627, aged 75 ⁽²⁾ and both he and his wife are buried at Chilham and their memorial stones show the Cobb arms. Their daughter Jane's second marriage was to John Pettit, one of Queen Elizabeth's personal servants who, with Jane, is buried at St. Peter and St. Paul, Boughton. Her first marriage was to John Osborne, who owned Nutts Manor. One might well believe that there might have been a good bed for intrigue at Elizabeth's Court with Cobham, Fogg and Pettit.

 

One may wonder if John Pettit received his appointment in Elizabeth's household with the help of Alice, wife of Lord John Cobham, or perhaps through the Foggs.

 

Thomas' son, William, who married Mary the daughter of Arthur Barnham, died one year before his father in 1626 when his eldest son was 22 years of age.

 

The new housing estate recently built at Chilham, on Old Wives Lees, has been named "the Cobb Estate" after this branch of the family.

 

⁽¹⁾ Hasted's History of Kent Vol. 5 page 157.
⁽²⁾ Will No. 4 in Appendix.