As promised here is a review of the first Babb families of Cornwall, England.
We see 4 early encampments pop up in the late 1500s and early 1600s in different parts of Cornwall. Each of these trees is likely the parent tree for those that came later, though at this time we cannot say this with certainty.
The very first recorded Baptism in Cornwall occurs on 25 Nov 1576 in the hamlet of St. Ewe where Thomas Babbe was Christened. His parents names were not captured in the record. Thomas appears to have moved to Mawnan and is shown in that tree instead of in his own. There is no other Babb record in the town for the next 200 years, so it doesn’t figure prominently into this story.
St. Minver enters the following year with the baptism of Anthony Babbe, son of Anthony Babbe. St. Minver lies on the North Coast of Cornwall along the Camel River. Thankfully, someone had the foresight not to name the town Camelmouth. LOL
Launcells comes into focus in 1620 with the baptism of Reb daughter of Dig Babb. Launcells is in the extreme northeast portion of Cornwall and is roughly 5 miles from Black Torrington & Petrockstow in Devon and is likely an offshoot of one of the trees from that area where there is a significant Babb encampment. The party here is short lived and after the birth of a son in 1630, no further records appear in this location.
Gerrans enters the picture in 1583 with the baptism of John Babb son of John Babb.
Mawnan doesn’t come in to play until 1635, so it is definitely a child to one of the other trees. My thought is that they are an offshoot of Gerrans as it is about 2 miles away just across the bay. No link has been established just yet, but Mawnan goes on to have a significant encampment of Babb(e) families.
Observations
The trailing “e” seems to have been dropped just before 1600 and only appears in the earliest records. There are also early examples of the “Bab” variant.
The information provided is my best estimate at this time of the family units based on Baptism, Marriage and Burial records kept by the Church of England. Additionally, I have used all available Census Records (1841-1911). We also need to go through Vital Records and court cases through time to round out what we know.