Conibeere, Henry

Also known as: Henry Corybeare

Singer

Collection date: Sept 1908

Area: Somerset - Taunton District

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Henry Conibeer(e) at Combe Florey (1836-1921): age 71, 1 song ‘Broomfield Wager’ FT1848 on 8 Sept 1908: Henry’s surname was spelled several ways and was initially read as ‘Corybeare’. Sharp’s writing could also be read as ‘Conybeare’ but in all censuses, with only one exception (1891 census ‘Connibeare’), Henry’s name ended in –beer(e), indicating its pronunciation like the well known beverage.

Note: Henry’s song was previously collected by Henry Hammond in Apr/May 1905 (see HAM/2/3 song 60, when the surname was spelled Conybeare). Sharp may have followed this lead. Hammond sent the song to Lucy Broadwood (HAM/5/37/3).

Henry was in fact baptised at Combe Florey on 25/12/1836 as Henry Conibeere, son of Joseph & Martha. In 1851 he was 15 and learning the thatching trade in the village. He was 31, single, working as an agricultural labourer at Bishop’s Lydeard in the 1871 census. His name had dropped its final ‘e’. He never married and can be found as a ‘lodger’ in remaining censuses back in Combe Florey. In 1901 (RG13/2279 f52 p3) Henry Conibeer was 63, agricultural labourer staying with a blacksmith George Greedy and his family. In 1911 Henry was 73, a ‘jobbing gardener’. He probably died January qr 1921 (5c 366).