Today we come to the tiny market town of Hatherleigh, which is not much more than the crossroads to Okehampton, Holsworthy, Black Torrington & Petrockstow (say that 3 times fast). It is the smallest town in Devon and lies about 20 miles to the south of the Falcon Babbs of Fremington. It is in this community that we discover the 6th DNA Proven lineage of Babbs. You could be forgiven for thinking the two were related, but they aren’t…at least genetically speaking. There could be stronger ties from before surnames came into play, but as to those we can only guess.

As I mentioned in my post The Somerset Dragons (of Somerset, England) & The Falcon Babbs (of Devon, England), every DNA Proven lineage gets its own mascot and crest. The Crest used to represent this great house of Babbs is NOT historic, but a modern interpretation of what a crest for this family might look like. The market in Hatherleigh sells sheep, cattle and poultry and the city is closely aligned with its identity as the Shepherds. I have drawn upon this identity for the crest, which features two golden fleeced sheep in a pasture, which are protected by a lion hidden in the wheat. This represents the gentle power that it takes to tend to a flock.

This 6th DNA Proven lineage is also known as Devon Pedigree 02, which dates to Edward Babb born 1675. So, without further delay meet the Good Shepherds:

dna-06_-good-shepherds-of-hatherleigh-devon (also known as Devon Pedigree 02)

So, you may ask yourself what the first 3 DNA Proven lineages of Babbs are. I’ll get into that on another day, but in short they are the lines we find in America that were where we started this quest. They are those of Phillip Babb of the Isles of Shoals, Maine; The Maryland Babbs and the combined lines of the Eastern Virginia & North Carolina Babbs. I plan on revisiting those once I’ve dispensed of the next 29 trees in other parts of Devon.

Enjoy!

Partial Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatherleigh