Saturday, September 26, 2015

Elizabeth Lanham (1754 - 1829)

52 Ancestor Challenge - Challenge 39

Blake, King, Coleman, Pearce, Farmer, Mary (unknown), Lambden, Sarah (unknown), Knight, Ellis, Knight, Vincent, Butt, O'Ford, Arnold, Molton, Cotterell, Bartlett, Alderman, Shepherd, Sherwood, Elizabeth (unknown), Happerfield, Collins, Rawlings, Tanner, Dove, Morgan, Lywood, Lanham, unknown, Peck, Pincombe, Charley, Rowcliffe, Pearse, Rew, Moggridge, Siderfin, Kent, Gray, Hilton, Cobb, Sproxton, Routledge, Tweddle, Routledge, Routledge, (unknown) Buller, unknown, Beard, Hemsley, Welch, Brockhouse, Cheatle, Woodcock, unknown Taylor, unknown, Harborne, Lewis, Roberts, Croxall, Lawley, unknown

Perhaps one of my greatest discoveries of this past year was the correct spelling of the surname of the wife of George Lywood. Listed as Canham for all the years that I have been researching; finding it to be Lanham has been a breakthrough. I discussed my breakthrough earlier in the year as it was a random search that disclosed it to me:

 http://kippeeb.blogspot.ca/2015/05/52-ancestor-challenge-benefits.html

Doing the search for the surname Canham and ending up looking for Lanham was a completely random happening which yielded great results. Then entering the corrected surname into my tree at Find My Past was an avalanche of new results permitting hopefully the linkage back to the father of Elizabeth Lanham as Joseph Lanham/Lannum. The marriage of George Lywood and Elizabeth Lanham 18 Jul 1780 at West Harnham fits so clearly into the records for this family. Their children were baptized:

Jane Lywood (no baptism found), married James Tyneham 9 Aug 1797 at West Harnham
John baptized 22 Jan 1784 at West Harnham
George baptized 7 May 1786 at West Harnham (my ancestor)

Elizabeth Lanham could be baptized 12 Aug 1754 at Melksham daughter of Joseph Lannum and Elizabeth Willmore/Wilmar. They themselves were married 22 Sep 1752 at Melksham. Elizabeth was a widow at the time of her marriage.

This Joseph could be the son of Joseph Lanham (clothier) and Hannah Grimshire and they were married 30 Jun 1695 at Amesbury. I have not yet found a baptism for either Joseph or for Hannah who was buried 30 Sep 1739 at Melksham. A Joseph (possible son of Joseph and Hannah) married Agatha Stevens 3 May 1728 at Bradford on Avon. There was a Joseph Lannum baptized 17 Sep 1729 at Melksham son of Joseph and Agatha Lannum. Do these all link together? I had a match on AncestryDNA with another Lywood descendant and I wrote to mention my latest find. He checked it out and came back with "In agreement." But now I would like to look at it in more depth.

Now for a little geography just to make sure that all of these places are in a reasonable distance from each other. The search engine at Find My Past revealed these possibilities to me and I now need to give them a longer look.

Melksham where an Elizabeth Lanham was baptized is 30 miles from West Harnham but Bradford on Avon is closeby Melksham. Amesbury is close to West Harnham. Is it practical to think of Elizabeth as being baptized at Melksham in 1754 and married to George Lywood in 1780 at West Harnham? The marriage of Joseph Lanham and Hannah Grimshire (grandparents of Elizabeth) at Amesbury lends credence to this possibility. Hannah (married at Amesbury) is buried at Melksham where they are living at that time.

Can I find a baptism for Hannah Grimshire? There is a baptism for a Hannah Grimshire 12 Oct 1678 at Amesbury daughter of Thomas and Hannah Grimshire. That would have her only seventeen years old when she married Joseph Lanham at Amesbury and 61 if this is her burial 30 Sep 1739 at Melksham. There is a Thomas Grimsheere married to Hannah Jarvis 25 Nov 1677 at Amesbury. Hannah appears to be the only baptism for this set of parents. Interesting that the spelling of the Lanham name is that at Amesbury but at Melksham one finds Lannum and Lanham.

Another interesting commonality is in the naming of the children of Joseph Lannun (baptized 17 Sep 1729 at Melksham son of Joseph and Agatha Lannum and married to Elizabeth Willmore/Wilar 22 Sep 1752 at Melksham) all baptized at Melksham:

Elizabeth Lannum no baptism found but  buried 20 Jan 1753 at Melksham
Elizabeth Lannum baptized 12 Aug 1754
Agatha Lannum no baptism found but buried 7 Jul 1756 at Melksham

No other children found for this couple. Elizabeth would have been sixteen years of age when her father was buried 6 Apr 1770 at Melksham.

There are no wills for Lannum but there are wills for Lanham at Melksham and other places:

Ref No    Title    Date    Name    Occupation    Community       

P1/12Reg/296B  Will  1770  Lanham, Joseph  Melksham
   
P1/1843/18  Will, wrapper  1843  Lanham, William Randell  Tailor and draper  Salisbury
   
P1/L/257  Administration bond, inventory  1708  Lanham, William  Whiteparish
   
P1/L/487  Will  1770  Lanham, Joseph  Innholder  Melksham
   
P2/1806/57  Will, wrapper  1806  Lanham, William  Cooper  Upavon
   
P2/1819/64  Administration bond  1819  Lanham, Hannah  Widow  Bishopstone, South
   
P2/1820/22  Administration bond, wrapper  1820  Lanham, Edward  Bachelor  Bishopstone, South
   
P2/2Reg/99A  Will  1550  Lanham, John  Martin 

P2/L/102  Administration bond, inventory, will  1605  Lanham, Robert  Martin 
   
P2/L/111  Administration bond, inventory, will  1607  Lanham, Robert  Husbandman  Bishopstone, South
   
P2/L/176  Account, administration bond, inventory  1629, 1630  Lanham, William  Martin  

P2/L/211  Inventory, will  1636  Lanham, Gabriel  Bishopstone, South 
   
P2/L/266  Inventory, will  1661  Lanham, Thomas  Yeoman  Bishopstone, South
   
P2/L/345  Inventory  [1676]  Lanham, William  Lace maker  Martin
   
P2/L/384  Commission, inventory, will  1685  Lanham, John, senior  Broad weaver  Wilton
   
P2/L/458  Inventory, will  1703  Lanham, John alias George  Broad weaver  Wilton
   
P2/L/504  Inventory, will  1712  Lanham, John  Cheesemonger  Wilton 
   
P2/L/518  Administration bond  1713  Lanham, Joseph  Amesbury
   
P2/L/601  Will  1734  Lanham, Thomas  Yeoman  Bishopstone, South
   
P2/L/800  Administration bond  1793  Lanham, Henry  Bachelor  Market Lavington
   
P25/1774/4  Administration bond  1774  Lanham, Henry  Westbury
   
P25/1815/2  Oath, will  1815  Lanham, William  Tiler and plasterer  Westbury
   
P4/1718/18  Two inventories, will  1718  Lanham, Philip  Cooper  Salisbury
   
P5/15Reg/320B  Will  1715  Lanham, Mary  Spinster  Heytesbury
   
P5/1690/28  Inventory, will  1690  Lanham, Mary  Widow  Heytesbury
   
P5/1712/34  Administration bond  1712  Lanham, William  Heytesbury
   
P5/1715/23  Will  1715  Lanham, Mary  Spinster  Heytesbury
   
P5/1749/33  Will, wrapper  1749  Lanham, Richard  Heytesbury
   
P5/1756/20  Will  1756  Lanham, Alice  Widow  Heytesbury

I need to learn more about the Lanham family and why their surname was Lannum at Melksham in the parish records. I did find the Lannum spelling on Family Search. In Find My Past it appears to be Lanham for the same individual. The marriage bond for Joseph Lanham and Elizabeth Wilmar (widow) at Melksham of 1752 lists John Rutty as bondsman. Why are there two wills listed for Joseph Lanham in 1770 at Melksham? Are there two who died in the same year?

Joseph Lanham married at Rowde Hannah Banks of Lacock 23 Aug 1738. Joseph was of Melksham but I am suspicious that his wife Agatha was deceased as no more children after the burial of Agatha.

I also found the Marriage Licence Bonds transcription for Joseph Lannum 3 May 1728 at Amesford with marriage at Bradford. He was a cloth worker living at Amesbury and Agatha Stephens was of Melksham. So it would appear that the Joseph Lannum/Lanham at Amesbury is also the Joseph Lannum/Lanham at Melksham where he was a clothier. Another interesting record for a baptism of Joseph Lanham 6 Oct 1754 at Market Lavington son of Joseph (no other details).

Do I have enough evidence to show that the Joseph Lanham at Amesbury was also the Joseph Lanham at Melksham? It would appear that the marriage bond does give sufficient information. I need to purchase the wills (both are available) although Elizabeth his likely daughter was not married until 1780 so will not likely show any relationship to the Lywood family into which I postulate she married. However did George and Elizabeth meet one is left to ponder but losing her father at 16 years of age probably changed her life especially as that father had gone bankrupt as a clothier in Melksham. If I could learn more about her mother perhaps I could learn more about the daughter and where she was located after her father's death.

I did not yet purchase the wills but will do so eventually.

Ancestry of Elizabeth Lanham:

1. Elizabeth BLAKE
2. Ernest Edward George BLAKE (b 20 Aug 1904) - Eastleigh Hampshire England
3. Edith Bessie TAYLOR (b 1 Apr 1875) - Kimpton Hampshire England
4. Elizabeth RAWLINGS (b 19 Oct 1853) - Enford Wiltshire England
5. Elizabeth LYWOOD (b 25 Dec 1826) - Milston Wiltshire England
6. George LYWOOD (b 7 May 1786) - West Harnham Wiltshire England
7. Elizabeth Lanham (b 12 Aug 1754) - Melksham Wiltshire England
8. Joseph Lannum (b 17 Sep 1729) - Melksham Wiltshire England
9. Joseph Lannum
10. Joseph Lanham

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