An Upham connection

Just a few miles north of Budleigh is an area of Woodbury Common known as Uphams Plantation. 

When Matthew and James Upham recently moved their antiques business from London to Budleigh Salterton, taking over the town’s old post office building on the High Street and renaming it Upham House, local historians wondered whether there was a connection. 

Matthew and James are indeed well aware that they have returned to the land of their ancestors. With a keen interest in family history they also know that one particular ancestor, around a dozen years after Roger Conant, left our area of East Devon to cross the Atlantic, founding the community of Malden in Massachusetts. 

Known as Deacon John Upham, he was born some seven years after Roger Conant in the hamlet of Bicton, in the same parish. With his wife Elizabeth, their three children and two other members of the family, he sailed for America in March 1635, settling first in Weymouth before moving to Malden. 

Between 1620 and 1640, in a time known as the Great Migration, some 20,000 people left England to settle in New England. Many towns and cities have recently celebrated or will soon celebrate their 400th anniversaries, including Plymouth (2020), Weymouth (2022) Chelsea (2024), Quincy 400 (2025), Salem (2026), Beverly (2026), Boston (2030), Barnstable (2030) and Malden (2040). 

Both Roger Conant and John Upham founded dynasties which number thousands of American citizens. The late 19th century, in 1887 and 1892 saw the publication of two massive volumes, of 639 and 573 pages respectively, recording the history and genealogy of the Conant and Upham families. 

Sir Walter Raleigh is more prominent in Budleigh’s story than the Conant and Upham families, but back in 2013, George and Agnes Martin from Chicago made a special visit to Budleigh Salterton’s Fairlynch Museum. They were keen to discover any trace of Robert Martin (c.1587-c.1660), who married Joane Upham (c.1591-c.1668) in Ottery St Mary on 16 November 1618 before leaving for New England.

Agnes and George Martin are shown here with Fairlynch Museum volunteer Sheila Jelley, above an illustration of the grave of Deacon John Upham, reproduced from the online research journal Anne’s Family History.

If you are interested in the history of early America, and Roger Conant as a peacemaker in troubled times you can join the Devon Peacemaker Festival Facebook group at 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/700424602802079