Carter Family at Andover

I have been curious about the Carter Family at Andover and a couple of years ago I bought the will of Gyles Carter (written 10 Sep 1675 and probated 29 July 1681). He was married to Mary Pinchin 30 May 1654 at Andover Hampshire and they had a total of eight children (one baptism is missing from the IGI - Thomas (third eldest son))six sons and one daughter. Gyles carefully annotates each piece of land (even to the half acre) that he is devising to his sons. The land as he described it runs/abuts land that the Blake family was also living on and indeed he mentions Robert Blake once as being one of the abutted land adjoiners.

My interest stems from two items - a marriage between Thomas Blake and Ann Carter on the IGI at Penton Mewsey 8 September 1728 but all of the entries are patron submitted. The marriage of Thomas Blake does not appear at Andover that I have discovered thus far. I have the fiche for Penton Mewsey and indeed the marriage of Thomas Blake and Ann Carter is listed: Thomas Blake and Ann Carter both of this parish were married their Banns being first published according to the Order of the Church of England 1728. The question is - is this my Thomas Blake? It could be because Penton Mewsey is only 3 miles northwest of Andover and Foxcott is 2 miles to the northwest of Andover where it is believed that Thomas grew up. The two villages were only 1 mile apart and the manor of Foxcott abutts the manor of Penton Mewsey.

Interestingly Anne the wife of Thomas Blake was buried 20 September 1734 at Penton Mewsey. Their second son Thomas was buryed 22 September 1734 at Penton Mewsey but the two sons of Thomas and Ann Blake were baptized at Andover - Joseph (my 4x great grandfather) 21 Oct 1730 and Thomas - 19 Sept 1734. It would seem possible that the Thomas and Ann baptizing children at Andover are the Thomas and Ann married at Penton Mewsey. Once I have transcribed the registers up to 1740 for Andover I will be surer that there wasn't a marriage of a Thomas Blake and Ann unknown there. Finding more information on Thomas living at Foxcott would be handy. I do know that a Thomas Blake was buried at Andover 13 Jan 1767. Deciding that this is the correct Ann is a challenge and I shall wait before I commit to this particular marriage. Ann Carter is a descendant of Gyles Carter.

The priest may have seen Thomas as a member of his parish. The second Carter marriage was Thomas King and Mary Carter who married 10 Jan 1728 at Upper Clatford and they were my 5x great grandparents - their daughter Joanna King married the son of Thomas Blake - Joseph Blake. These are my two Carter interests.

Tomorrow I shall continue to check out the parish registers looking for the baptism of Thomas the two day old baby that was buried at Penton Mewsey. I do have the baptism of Thomas (son of Joseph and Ann) at Andover 19 Sep 1734 and a marriage for a Thomas Blake and Hester Stephens 9 Feb 1752 at Andover. My suspicion is that the Ann marrying Thomas Blake and the mother of Joseph and Thomas is not the Ann Carter who married a Thomas Blake at Penton Mewsey and was buried there 20 Sep 1734.