Robert Gray (1739 - 1808)

52 Ancestor Challenge - Challenge 45

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

Robert Gray, one of my 4x great grandfathers, has always been rather a fascination for me. He was identified by my fourth cousin  (at least his son was many years ago) when he took a trip to Etton and environs in order to put the finishing touches on his book about our mutual families in Westminster and London Townships around London, Ontario. When I was at the Family HIstory Library in Salt Lake City I photographed many many records for Etton and Holme in the Wolds as well as Cherry Burton. Later I borrowed the Parish Registers for a number of parishes in this area at the Family History Library. Slowly I was able to put together the Gray and in earlier days the Grey family at Etton when they emigrated but going back through Holme on the Wolds then Cherry Burton and perhaps Kilnwick all in the East Riding of Yorkshire and very close together. The earliest record I have attached myself to is that of Robert Grey baptized 28 May 1686 at Kilnwick son of yet another Robert Grey. For a number of generations all of the males in my direct line are Robert but there are a number of other forenames as they have families of four or five in a number of generations.

The Gray men were husbandmen/yeoman farmers as far back as I could trace in the tax records. Robert Gray (junior) married at Cherry Burton 6 Jun 1771 to Jane Hilton baptized two children Ellen 1 Dec 1771 and Robert 4 Aug 1774 at Holme on the Wolds but he does not appear in the Land Records at Holme on the Wolds. He is likely the son of a Robert given he is referred to as Robert Gray junior in his marriage lines. There is a Robert Gray in the land records of Cherry Burton where I believe that the present Robert Gray was born/baptized 4 Oct 1739 son of Robert Grey/Gray and Ann Stephenson. Robert Grey and Ann Stephenson were married 2 Jul 1734 at Cherry Burton and thus far Robert, their son, is the only one that I have found baptized by them.

I do find a William Stephenson as a land owner/occupier there however. Noting that by 1820 William Stephenson is no longer listed. Perhaps a clue would be to find the baptism of Ann Stephenson and will check out Find My Past.

Ann Stephenson baptized 17 Feb 1712 at Bainton daughter of John (Bainton is 3.6 miles from Holme on the Wolds and 7 miles from Cherry Burton).

This is the only baptism that I find in the vicinity and not a lot of baptisms for Ann[e] Stephenson using the name variants for both the forename and surname.

 Baptism of the son of this Robert Gray at Holme on the Wolds

Family Lore and my cousin George DeKay established that the Robert Gray junior who emigrated to Canada circa 1832 was the son of Robert Gray and Elizabeth Cobb. They married 13 Jan 1806 at Lund near Beverley (Elizabeth's parish). That Robert Gray was known to have been baptized at Holme on the Wolds from family history written by George DeKay (Carling Beverley Gray Hildred West Mason and their descendants: Pioneer Families of London Township Middlesex County, Ontario, published privately by George P. DeKay (A pictorial, historical and genealogical record) 1976 at Hyde Park near London, Ontario, Canada. I have a copy of this book.

I verified all the dates and places listed by George in this book and the London Township books later published by The London Township History Book Committee in two volumes. Volume 1 A Rich Heritage 1796 - 1997 ISBN 096896060X and volume 2 Families past and present ISBN 0968960618.

Does Cherry Burton figure in the history of my Gray family? I did copy all the land records and Robert Gray is listed in those land records as a proprietor. He is known to have died in 1808 and been buried at Etton in 1808 where my 2x great grandfather Robert Gray junior was baptized in 1810. Does not finding any other Gray families in the immediate area mean this is my Robert Gray baptized at Cherry Burton. Those thoughts need to be answered as speaking with my cousin he was not, at that time, convinced that the Robert Gray baptized in 1739 at Cherry Burton was the Robert Gray buried at Etton in 1808.

A cropped map of an original image of the East Riding of Yorkshire:

Source: http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/Misc/Maps/ParishMaps.html

You can see Cherry Burton with Etton above it then South Dalton and immediately above that Holme on the Wolds and then Lund above that parish. Above Lund is Middleton on the Wolds and than Bainton.

Looking at the Gray family in this area and extracting their information.

The burial at Cherry Burton of Robert Gray 20th May 1808 names him as a Farmer aged 70 years from Etton parish giving him a birth year of 1738. In 1809 from this same parish of Etton the burial of Robert son of Robert and Elizabeth Gray 14 Mar 1809 2 years of age buried at Cherry Burton from Etton. This is an older brother to my Robert. Why would Robert Gray choose to bury his son at Cherry Burton and can we take from the burial of the older Robert Gray that they are the same family?

There is another Robert Gray baptized to Robert Gray a shopkeeper at Bainton 19 Nov 1731 so was this Robert Gray a shopkeeper at Bainton the farmer buried in 1808 from Etton. Robert Gray a trader and husbandman of Bainton buried a daughter Jane 11 Jul 1773 which I feel eliminates this other possible Robert Gray from my family line.

There is another Robert Gray buried at Cherry Burton  son of Stephen and Rosamond Gray 13 May 1774. Is he perhaps the Stephen Gray son of Robert Gray baptized 8 Apr 1712 at Cherry Burton? That Robert Gray baptized five children in total at Cherry Burton:

Robert baptized 28 May 1708
Stephen baptized 8 Apr 1712
William baptized 28 Jun 1714; buried 23 Sep 1715 at Cherry Burton
Ann baptized 10 Apr 1719
Mary baptized 17 Feb 1725

There was a Robert Gray buried at Cherry Burton son of Stephen and Rosamond 18 May 1775.
There was a Robert Gray buried 30 Nov 1780 at Great Driffield and his will states that he was a gent leaving his will which was probated in 1779 (eliminated as the Robert Gray baptizing children at Cherry Burton as he was a yeoman farmer although his will might be interesting to read and can be purchased online at Find My Past).
There was a Robert Gray whose will was probated 24 Aug 1809 of Bainton (450 pounds). Also helping to separate out the Robert Gray baptized at Bainton from the Robert Gray baptized at Cherry Burton.

Robert Gray married Elizabeth Cobb 13 Jan 1806 at Lund Near Beverley. This was my Robert Gray. Elizabeth Cobb was of the parish of Lund.

Looking at Stephen Gray and he was born 1750 and died 1798 at Cherry Burton. The burial register shows him to be of Bishop Burton and 48 years of age when he was buried 11 May 1798.
There was a Stephen Gray buried at Bainton, a bachelor, 18 Apr 1830. The marriage of Stephen Gray and Rosannah Gray both of the Parish of Garton was soleminized 22 Dec 1746.

The marriage of Stephen Gray and Rosamond Smith was soleminized 6 Apr 1774 at Beverley.

 This could be the descendants of Stephen Gray brother to Robert Gray baptized at Cherry Burton in 1712.  I have followed it through out of curiosity. The naming of his son Robert is interesting.

Looking at the land records for Cherry Burton (Rental costs and then monies for use of the Church on the image but I am recording just the monies for use of the Church below):

Roger Gray 1793 1 shilling
Robert Gray 1793 1 pound 7 shilling 1 halfpence

Roger Gray 1798 2 pence
Robert Gray 1798 1 pound 1 shilling

Roger Gray 1799  2 shillings
Robert Gray 1799 2 pounds 1 pence

Robert (probably Roger but written thus) Gray 1800 14 shillings 8 pence
Robert Gray 1 pound 4 shillings

Roger Gray 1801 1 shilling 6 pence
Robert Gray 1801 12 shillings 2 pence

Roger Gray 1804 4 shillings 2 pence
Robert Gray 4 shillings 7 pence 1 farthing

Roger Gray 1805 3 pence
Robert Gray 1805 3 pounds 4 pence

Roger Gray 1806 6 pence
Robert Gray 1806 6 shillings 1 pence

Roger Gray 1808 3 pence
Robert Gray 1808 2 shillings 4 pence

Roger Gray 1809 3 pence
Robert Gray 1809 4 shillings

Roger Gray 1810 3 pence
Robert Gray 1810 4 shillings

Roger Gray 1811 9 pence
Robert Gray 1811 1 shilling

Roger Gray 1815 6 pence
Robert Gray 1815 8 pence

Roger Gray 1816 3 pence
Robert Gray 1816 4 pence

Roger Gray 1817 3 pence
Robert Gray 1817 4 pence

Robert Gray 1818 6 pence

Robert Gray 1819 4 pence

Robert Gray 1820 4 pence

Robert Gray 1824 6 pence

Robert Gray 1826 4 pence

There are no Gray families at Holme on the Wolds in this time period paying rates and Robert is listed as a husbandman at the baptisms of his two children at Holme on the Wolds. Now what of Etton where Robert (my 3x great grandfather) baptized his children? I am not sure why I do not have the records for Etton? Did I check them in 2008? I would have thought so as I knew that Robert was from Etton. According to my records I did look at the land tax assessments for Etton 1787-1832. I think at some point I will borrow this film once again from the Family History Library.

Looking back to my early blogs:

 http://kippeeb.blogspot.ca/2009/08/gray-cobb-hilton-sproxton-and-others.html

The Hearth Tax for East Yorkshire has a number of Gray entries:

Forename Surname Mem Ref. Wapentake / Hundred Constabulary / Ward

Geo: Gray m. 38 Harthill Bainton Beacon Great Driffield and Little Driffield (Great Driffield)

Jon: Grey m. 38 Harthill Bainton Beacon Great Driffield and Little Driffield (Great Driffield)

Rd: Grey m. 38d Harthill Bainton Beacon Great Driffield and Little Driffield (Little Driffield)

Rd: Grey m. 38d Harthill Bainton Beacon Great Driffield and Little Driffield (Little Driffield)

Rich: Grey m. 39 Harthill Bainton Beacon Middleton on the Wolds

Yorkshire, East Riding, Hearth Tax Return, 1672L (E179/205/504) and Kingston Upon Hull, Hearth Tax Return, 1673L (E179/205/505)

It is interesting to see all the entries from Great Driffield (my Harland family was there).

There is a baptism 28 May 1686 at Kilnwick for Robert Grey son of Robert Grey as there doesn't appear to be a Grey/Gray family at Cherry Burton in this time period. Is this the Robert Grey buried 8 Aug 1736 at Cherry Burton whose son Robert was baptized 28 May 1708 at Cherry Burton. He himself was buried 13 Nov 1780 at Cherry Burton (married to Ann Stephenson 2 Jul 1734 at Cherry Burton). Only one child baptized to this couple at Cherry Burton thus far found Robert Gray baptized 4 Oct 1739 at Cherry Burton and likely buried there 20 May 1808.

To add a little extra to that support there is a Jane Hilton buried 13 Sep 1824 from Etton to Cherry Burton. Robert Gray (junior, rechecking the original image I had missed this the first time through giving evidence that his father Robert was still living in 1771)) married Jane Hilton 6 Jun 1771 at Cherry Burton. But more on the Hilton family in next weeks 52 Ancestor Challenge.

Ancestry of Robert Gray

1. Elizabeth BLAKE
2. Helen Louise PINCOMBE (b 18 Oct 1916) - Westminster Township Middlesex County Ontario
3. John Routledge PINCOMBE (b 10 Sep 1872)- Lobo Township Middlesex County Ontario Canada
4. Grace GRAY (b 22 Mar 1839) - London Township Middlesex County Ontario Canada
5. Robert GRAY (b 3 Nov 1810) - Etton Yorkshire England
6. Robert GRAY (b 4 Aug 1774) - Holme on the Wolds Yorkshire England
7. Robert GRAY (b 4 Oct 1739) - Cherry Burton Yorkshire England
possibly
8. Robert GRAY (b 28 May 1708) - Cherry Burton Yorkshire England
9. Robert GRAY

Colonel By Day in Ottawa, Canada

Ed and I spent yesterday in the Park area around the Bytown Museum down by the Rideau Locks at the table for the Ontario Genealogical Society, Ottawa Branch. It is the one event that we try to do every year as our helping out bit with the branch. It didn't seem as busy as other years down in the booth area but a walk back up to the top of the locks did demonstrate that there were a lot of people there. Perhaps one doesn't remember well year after year. I certainly had a hoarse voice by the end of the day so must have done quite a bit of talking. A lot of people were interested in tracing their family trees and I always give the sage advice to look at FamilySearch first and pop in your grandparents/great grandparents names to see if there is anything there for them. Their records are very extensive from many many countries around the globe.

This holiday marks the beginning of the "dog days" of summer as we gradually move into the Fall. It was cool yesterday and I was wrapped up in a big shawl all of the day. The wind off the water was cool.

It is always interesting to meet people with seven, eight and nine generation Canadian ancestry like my husband. Their roots are now deep in this country and many of them have ancestry from all over northern Europe and the British Isles also like my husband. Their ancestor stories have long been forgotten which is rather a shame. Growing up with all the stories of my ancestral families coming to Canada was fun although my own ancestry is very short here with just my mother, her father and his mother actually being born in Canada - all the rest come from 12 different English counties and more further back in time (Devon, Somerset, Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire, London, Surrey, Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Leicestershire, East Riding of Yorkshire, Cumberland) with each of the groups coming as five separate waves and my first being my 3x great grandparents Routledge (both surname Routledge and 2nd cousins once removed with their nine children, son in law and two grandsons) in the summer of 1818 from Bewcastle, Cumberland, the next my 2x great grandfather Robert Gray coming from Etton, East Riding of Yorkshire around 1832 (and he married a Routledge daughter), then my 2x great grandparents John Pincombe from Bishops Nympton, Devon and his wife Elizabeth Rew from Selworthy, Somerset with their five children landing at the Port of New York in January 1851 and coming overland to southwestern Ontario by March 1851 (and their son William Robert Pincombe  married a daughter of Robert Gray and Mary Routledge - Grace Gray), then my grandmother Ellen Rosina Buller arrived in 1908 from Birmingham, Warwickshire and she married John Routledge Pincombe son of William Robert and Grace, finally my Blake grandparents - Samuel George Blake of Upper Clatford, Hampshire and Edith Bessie Taylor (aka Ada Bessie Cotteril Rawlings) of Kimpton, Hampshire with their son and my father who married the daughter of John Routledge Pincombe and Ellen Rosina Buller. All of their stories were passed down to me as a child.

Before the days of television we used to sit around the fireplace in the evenings before bedtime and my parents and grandparents would talk about their families. I think that that must have also been the case for the ancestors of many of those I met today but gradually over time the "older" stories didn't get passed on probably because there were exciting new stories to tell of the families that were closer in time. I try to remember to tell the stories to my own children but life is busy and one can see how that happens . . . . the stories disappear into the wells of time. Hence this blog of mine which is my living memory which I back up rather regularly. But I wonder if anyone would ever read my now over 1100 blogs!

Back to transcription.

Cobb family at Lund near Beverley and Kilnwick on the Wolds, East Riding of Yorkshire

Elizabeth Cobb is my 3x great grandmother and she married Robert Gray 13 Jan 1806 at Lund near Beverley but they lived at Etton. Elizabeth was described as of the parish of Lund and Robert of the parish of Etton in their marriage registration.

I blogged on my Cobb family two years ago:

http://kippeeb.blogspot.ca/2011/05/cobb-at-lund-and-kilnwick-east.html

and the research decision at that time was to transcribe the land records that I had collected at the Family History Centre in 2008 for Lund, Etton and Cherry Burton. Yesterday I did do one set each for Holme on the Wolds 1787, Cherry Burton 1800 and Lund 1813-1814.

I shall have a look at all the records that I photographed and make a list of them and mention the quality of the image and then decide which ones to transcribe. The original file is very legible; my lack of experience in photographing microfilm on a microfilm reader was the cause of my poor images.

Etton Parish Registers

Marriages, Baptisms, Burials - 1714 - good copy
Marriages, Baptisms, Burials - 1715 - good copy

Holme on the Wolds

Marriages, Baptisms, Burials - 1771 - good copy
Marriages, Baptisms, Burials - 1775 - good copy

Cherry Burton

Church Wardens Accounts - 1797 - good copy
Church Wardens Accounts - 1798 - good copy
Church Wardens Accounts - 1799 - good copy
Church Wardens Accounts - 1800 - good copy
Church Wardens Accounts - 1801 - fair copy
Church Wardens Accounts - 1804 - good copy
Church Wardens Accounts - 1805 - good copy
Church Wardens Accounts - 1806 - good copy
Church Wardens Accounts - 1807 - poor copy
Church Wardens Accounts - 1808-1809 - good copy
Church Wardens Accounts - 1810-1811 - good copy
Church Wardens Accounts - 1812 - good copy
Church Wardens Accounts - 1815 - fair copy
Church Wardens Accounts - 1816 - good copy
Church Wardens Accounts - 1817 - good copy
Church Wardens Accounts - 1818 - fair copy
Church Wardens Accounts - 1819 - fair copy
Church Wardens Accounts - 1820 - good copy
Church Wardens Accounts - 1821 - good copy
Church Wardens Accounts - 1823 - good copy
Church Wardens Accounts - 1824 - good copy
Church Wardens Accounts - 1827 - good copy
Church Wardens Accounts - 1829 - good copy
Church Wardens Accounts - 1830 - fair copy

Holme on the Wolds


Land Tax Assessment - 1788 - good copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1787 - good copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1790 - fair copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1791 - good copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1792 - good copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1793 - good copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1794 - fair copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1795 - poor copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1796 - fair copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1797 - fair copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1798 - good copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1799 - poor copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1800 - fair copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1801 - good copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1802 - poor copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1803 - good copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1804 - good copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1805 - good copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1806 - fair copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1807 - good copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1808 - good copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1809 - fair copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1810 - good copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1811 - good copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1812 - fair copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1813 - good copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1814 - poor copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1815 - good copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1816 - fair copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1817 - good copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1818 - good copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1819 - good copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1820 - fair copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1821 - good copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1822 - poor copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1823 - fair copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1824 - fair copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1825 - fair copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1826 - good copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1827 - good copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1828 - fair copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1829 - poor copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1830 - poor copy

Lund

Land Tax Assessment - 1782 - good copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1787 - fair copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1789 - good copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1790 - good copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1791 - poor copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1792 - good copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1794 - good copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1795 - fair copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1796 - fair copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1797 - fair copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1798 - poor copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1799 - poor copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1800 - fair copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1802 - good copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1804 - poor copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1805 - poor copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1809 - good copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1812 - good copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1819 - fair copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1821 - fair copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1825 - good copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1826 - good copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1827 - fair copy
Land Tax Assessment - 1829 - poor copy

Lund Parish Registers

Poor Law Rate - 1738 - fair copy
Poor Law Rate - 1739 - fair copy
Poor Law Rate - 1741 - fair copy
Poor Law Rate - 1743 - fair copy
Poor Law Rate - 1837 - good copy

Kilnwick

Poor Law Rate - 1753 - good copy
Poor Law Rate - 1756 - good copy
Poor Law Rate - 1758 - good copy
Poor Law Rate - 1760 - good copy
Poor Law Rate - 1762 - good copy
Poor Law Rate - 1767 - good copy
Poor Law Rate - 1778 - good copy
Poor Law Rate - 1780 - good copy
Poor Law Rate - 1784 - good copy
Poor Law Rate - 1788 - good copy
Poor Law Rate - 1789 - good copy
Poor Law Rate - 1797 - good copy
Poor Law Rate - 1799 - good copy

Cherry Burton Parish Registers

Marriages, Baptisms and Burials - 1746 - fair copy

Collection for defense against the French  1798 - good copy
Collection for defense against the French  1808 - good copy
Collection for defense against the French  1809 - good copy
Collection for defense against the French  1811 - good copy
Collection for defense against the French  1798 - good copy

There is a poor copy of a will from 7 Jun 1811 testator ? Johnson

Owners and Occupiers - 1788 - good copy
Owners and Occupiers - 1789 - fair copy
Owners and Occupiers - 1790 - fair copy
Owners and Occupiers - 1791 - fair copy
Owners and Occupiers - 1792 - poor copy
Owners and Occupiers - 1793 - fair copy
Owners and Occupiers - 1794 - fair copy
Owners and Occupiers - 1796 - good copy
Owners and Occupiers - 1799 - good copy
Owners and Occupiers - 1804 - good copy
Owners and Occupiers - 1812 - poor copy

Lund

Marriages 1744 - 1746 - good copy

My next research day for the Cobb family I will pick some of these to transcribe.

Hilton Family of Cherry Burton. Poor Law Rates for Cherry Burton 1800, Holme on the Wolds 1787, and Lund 1813-1814

I last looked at the Hilton Family of Cherry Burton and Beverley in the East Riding of Yorkshire 11 May 2011 and other than a comment on the Roehampton University database on the Hearth Tax paid in the East Riding I have not particularly thought about them in the two years since. Life has been much too busy!

Jane Hilton married Robert Gray the younger 6 Jun 1771 at Cherry Burton and she was buried at Cherry Burton 13 Sep 1824 from her home in Etton. Jane was the mother of Robert Gray who was baptized at Holme on the Wolds and Robert Gray was my 3x great grandfather and the last of my Gray line to die in England.

In the earlier blog:

http://kippeeb.blogspot.ca/2011/05/hilton-at-cherry-burton-beverley-east.html

I mentioned that I had found a baptism for Jane Hilton 1 Aug 1739 in Beverley with parents Thomas Hilton and Mary Constable. Since Jane was 87 when she was buried 13 Sep 1824 and working my way back the baptism would have her 85 years and 1 month of age so in her 86th year. As well Thomas Hilton and Mary Constable were married in Beverley 20 Feb 1737.

The last research day I looked at the Constable family but the intention is to look further at the Hilton family.

Looking through my paid sites and google search does not add to my knowledge of the Hilton family.

I believe that I will transcribe some of the material I collected for Cherry Burton in 2008 from the Family History Library.

Poor Law Rate 1800 Cherry Burton

An Assessment laid upon the Township of Cherry Burton for the use of the Church at 8 pence per pounds for the year 1800

Freeman, Reverend Mr. G
Watts, Reverend Mr. J
Arden, Mr. Jno
Cocksworth, Jno
Dattry, Jno
Arden, Jethro
Levit, Robert
Emmerson, Mary
Willson, Thomas (senior)
Griffin, William
Watson, Stephen
Watson, Mary
Brigham, Thomas
Forristor, Jos
Witty, William
Sissons, William
Everingham, Benjamin
Johnson, William
Stickney, Matthew
Stephenson, Lew:
Willson, Thomas (junior)

Downes, Robert
Almack, Thomas (junior)
Constable, Robert
Grasby, Richard
Bilton, Jno
Gray, Roger
Stephenson, Ralph
Garland, Jos:
Gray, Robert
Ransom, Samuel
Sissons, Samuel
Richardson, Richard
Foster, Jos:
Brigham, William
Stephenson, Robert
Best, Francis
Baker, Jno
Shearsmith, Jno
Cook, William
Hesselwood, Jno

I have about twenty years worth and some of the people remain constant during this time period with a few disappearing and new ones arriving.

Poor Rate 1787 Holme on the Wolds

 Proprietors Names     Occupiers Names
William Leak                Himself
Mrs. Perrot                  John Swift
Mrs. Fern                     John Swift
William Ellat                   William Teal and John Weatherhill
Mrs. Clark                      Robert Willy
James Moat                    Himself
William Tranmire             Himself
John Harland                   William Longhorn
Duke of Devonshire         John Harland
John Buttle                      William Roantree
Robert Sherwood            Himself
Mrs. Clark                       William Stephenson
William Willson                Himself
William Heward               Himself
Nicolas Ellat                    Richard Tindal
Thomas Biggins                Himself

I collected about twenty years of Holme on the Wolds just to determine that my Robert Gray did leave Holme on the Wolds and move on to Etton.

Poor Rate 1813-1814 Lund

Thomas Richardson
John Walkington
Robert Appleton
William Chapman
William Bulmer
Robert Warde
Richard Wilson
William Wilkinson
Thomas Parker
William Smith
William Barker
Faith Metcalf
George Gray
William Witheringwick
George Walgate
John Reddy
George Witty
William Lowson
David Christie
John Broadley
William Taylor
Samuel Winter
John Waddington
Nicholas Lewison
Phil Hardbattle
Thomas Hornby
Richard Cross
William Etherington
Thomas Cross
Charles Walgate
William Hought
William Robson
Ann Orrat
Hugh Ridsdale
John Robson
Thomas Foster
John Robinson
Richard Stephenson
John Smith
Cathr Mease
Benjamin Cobb
M. Duke Foster
John Cobb
John Vary
John Whipp
George Biggins
T Grimston Esquire


At Lund I was interested in the Cobb family which remained at Lund into the 20th century as far as I can tell and I would have cousins who still live in this area.

I will continue extracting information from the images that I took at Salt Lake City with this research day. I do not think there is anything more I can do on the Hilton family until I order in the Registers from Salt Lake City or go there - whichever comes first!

Gray family at Cherry Burton and continuing with the Blake Free BMD project

Although I started my blog purely as a diary for myself, I love it that people comment on my blog postings. I heard today from a descendant of the Gray family at Cherry Burton. My Robert Gray Junior came to Canada between 1832 and 1835. I do not have his exact date of arrival but I know he was still farming in Etton in the summer of 1832 so he could have come in the Fall of 1832 or by the Spring of 1835 as he and Mary Routledge are married and their first child is born 9 Feb 1836. It is highly likely that Robert Gray has come to London Township in Middlesex County Ontario because of Thomas Carling who is descended from the Carling family who were brewers at Etton in this time period. Thomas was the only child of this family to emigrate and likewise only William Gray and Robert Gray Junior came to Canada initially although they were later joined by their youngest brother James. The other brothers and sisters remained in England (and primarily in the East Riding of Yorkshire). I suspect that he arrived in late 1832 but still no actual paperwork to prove that (I also have that opinion from my fourth cousin George DeKay who has researched his Gray line and published it).

I continue working on the Blake marriages in Free BMD. As I work away gradually evolving in my mind is the schematic for displaying this information once I have captured all of it. I now know that I will use the Registration Districts to display the information. That way I get around the problem of Registration Districts overlapping County lines. In my mapping though I shall  have to find a map with Registration Districts as they were in the decade that I am demonstrating. That should be fairly straightforward. I can then colour them in by density much like the Profiler for British Surnames has done. Although not quite as sophisticated as my programming skills are somewhat limited (and becoming more so as new generations of programming are introduced).

I also want to work on some of the Pincombe wills that I have not yet transcribed. This project once begun has proven to be quite valuable to me and they are also linked to by the Devon Genuki website giving them fantastic usability. It is this visual that is prompting me to complete the task of transcribing every Pincombe will that I possess. I hope over time that my work on Pincombe will encourage people to test for the yDNA Pincombe project at FT DNA

Pincombe y DNA Study

Thus far I do not have sufficient samples of yDNA results to really say much more than that my 5th cousin who has tested has a 22/25 match with a line that traces back to Barnstaple (my tracing which I shall put online) and that family lore says that the Pincombe family of North/South Molton were the ancestors of the Barnstaple/Bideford Pincombe family. My own line was at Bishops Nympton from the late 1500s to the mid 1800s when they emigrated to Canada although siblings of my 3x great grandfather Robert Pincombe remained in Devon and were still living in the Bishops Nympton area into the 1900s. My 2x great grandfather John Pincombe continued to correspond with his siblings until his death in the 1890s. This correspondence continued between his eldest son John Pincombe (lived at Lobo) and his cousins in Devon and Somerset. However, my grandfather died in 1925 when my mother was only eight years old and the lines of correspondence were lost to my family line. I did manage to pick up the traces somewhat and am in correspondence with a descendant of Robert's son George (my 2x great grandfather John was his older brother).

We have visitors this week and the time is flowing by very quickly. Plus I must get ready for my 30 minute talk on the Guild of One Name Studies to take place 8 Oct 2011 at Library and Archives Canada at Before BIFHSGO. Being Thanksgiving weekend I do not anticipate large numbers in attendance, however I shall give a good overview of the Guild and the value to you of membership in the Guild and the opportunity to showcase your one name study if you have undertaken one. They tend to grow whilst you are busy collecting and particularly with rare names you have a sizeable one name study and become somewhat the expert on that surname. But more on that at the talk :)

Cobb at Lund and Kilnwick, East Yorkshire Riding

Elizabeth Cobb married Robert Gray 13 Jan 1806 at Lund (near Beverley), East Yorkshire Riding. Elizabeth was baptized 24 Aug 1783 at Lund near Beverley the daughter of John Cobb and Ann Sproxton who were themselves married  24 Nov 1782 at Lund near Beverley.


The Cobb/Sproxton family information was one of my great finds at the Family Search Library in Salt Lake City. Although the information does appear on the IGI the surname Sproxton was listed as Sprowston and solving this error lead me other records which were very helpful in sorting out my Cobb line.


Today, I want to transcribe the records that I collected in 2008 (yikes it has been that long) for this family.


I collected a list of the Churchwardens and did not find any Cobb families listed at Lund before the 1780s. in 1786 Benjamin Cobb was a Churchwarden (and in 1787). The Cobb family are not listed on the Tax Assessment before this time. John Cobb farms continuously in this area from the 1780s until his death in 1837 at which time Benjamin Cobb takes over his land.


Prior to living at Lund the Cobb family were at Kilnwick, identified by the priest at the marriage of John Cobb and Ann Sproxton as his parish.


Robert Gray was described as of the parish of Etton in 1806 when he married Elizabeth Cobb who was described as of the parish of Lund (indeed she was baptized there).


Parish Registers for Lund near Beverley


Baptism of Elizabeth daughter of John Cobb yeoman 24 Aug  1783

Baptism of Benjamin son of Benjamin Cobb shopkeeper 22 Feb 1788

Baptism Ann daughter of John Cobb yeoman 13 Mar 1791

Baptism John son of John Cobb yeoman 18 Jan 1793

Baptism Jonathan Marshall son of Benjamin and Jane Cobb labourer 20 Sep 1815

Baptism Benjamin son of Benjamin and Jane Cobb publican 18 Aug 1817

Baptism Jane daughter of Benjamin and Jane Cobb publican 11 Oct 1821

Baptism Thomas son of Benjamin and Jane Cobb inkeeper 5 Nov 1823

Baptism Mary Ann daughter of Benjamin and Jane Cobb publican 21 Nov 1825

Baptism John son of Benjamin and Jane Cobb publican 16 Sep 1827

Baptism Sarah daughter of Benjamin and Jane Cobb publican 7 Feb 1830

Baptism Ann Emma daughter of Benjamin and Ellen Cobb tailor 18 Apr 1846

Baptism Charles Arthur son of Benjamin and Ellen Cobb tailor 3 June 1849

Baptism Jane Elizabeth daughter of Thomas and Frances Cobb wheelwright 18 Jun 1854


Marriage of Benjamin Cobb of this parish batchelor and Ann Harrison of this parish spinster married in this church by banns on the twelfth day of February in the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty one by me William Mosey Vicar. This marriage was solemnized between us Benjamin Cobb (signed) and Ann Harrison (signed) in the presence of William Bonwer and Thomas Holdsworth.


Marriage of John Cobb of this parish (born at Kilnwick) and Ann Sproxton of this parish born at Great Driffield married in this church by banns the twenty fourth day of November in the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty two by me William Mosey Minister. This marriage was solemnized between us John Cobb (signed) and Ann Sproxton (signed) In the presence of John Wilson and Benjamin Cobb.


Marriage of Benjamin Cobb of this parish batchelor and Jane Marshall of this parish spinster were married in this church by banns this tenth day of November in the year one thousand eight hundred a fourteen by me F Lundy Vicar. This marriage was solemnized between us Benjamin Cobb and Jane Marshall. In the presence of Thomas Parkin and Thomas Holdsworth.


Marriage solemnized in the Parish Church of Lund 24 Dec 1847 between Thomas Cobb and Frances Ullyott both of full age, batchelor and spinster, wheelwright and  none, Benjamin Cobb father publican and Mark Morton father labourer witnesses William Kirby and Elizabeth Vary.


Burial of Jane Cobb 6 Apr 1878 aged 60 years

Burial Benjamin Cobb 14 Oct 1878 14 months

Burial Benjamin Cobb 10 May 1822 68 years

Burial Robert Cobb 29 Apr 1826 91 years

Burial John Cobb 5 May 1837 87 years

Burial Ann Cobb (wife of John Cobb) 21 May 1838 77 years

Burial Jonathan Marshall Cobb at Driffield 8 Aug 1850 35 years

Burial Jane Cobb 24 May 1852 64 years


Benjamin Cobb and John Cobb above were brothers and children of John Cobb and Sarah Beilby who were married 14 Nov 1745 at Lund near Beverley (IGI). Their family


From the IGI

Elizabeth baptized 22 Feb 1746 at Kilnwick

John baptized 29 Jul 1750 at Kilnwick; buried 5 May 1837 at Lund near Beverley

Benjamin baptized 16 Feb 1757 at Kilnwick; buried 10 May 1822 at Lund near Beverley


These were the only children that I found baptized to John and Sarah Cobb at Kilnwick. Why they baptized children at Kilnwick and married at Lund is a mystery as I have still not located the area in which they farmed since John is referred to as a yeoman.


I should have carried on looking back into the registers at Lund to find this marriage but will do that another time.


Kilnwick Parish Registers

Baptism Elizabeth the daughter of John Cobb 22 Feb 1746

Baptism John the son of John Cobb 29 Jul 1750

Baptism Benjamin Cobb the son of John Cobb 16 Feb 1757


Lund Parish Registers

Marriage John Cobb and Sarah Beilby both of this parish were married 14 Nov 1745


Great Driffield

Baptism Sarah Beilby daughter of John Beilby 6 Nov 1720


Benjamin Cobb had many many descendants whereas I think that Elizabeth Cobb was the only descendant of John Cobb his brother. I have not yet found any information on her younger brother John or her sister Ann.


Transcribe the land records the next time for Lund, Etton and Cherry Burton.

Hilton at Cherry Burton, Beverley, East Yorkshire Riding

Jane Hilton married Robert Gray the younger 6 Jun 1771 at Cherry Burton. Jane was buried at Cherry Burton 13 Sep 1824 being brought there from Etton. That, along with examining all other Gray entries in the area, helps to form the basis of my proof that Jane was the mother of Robert Gray baptized at Holme on the Woods.

Hilton is not that common a name in this area and one of the witnesses at the wedding of Robert Gray and Jane Hilton was Robert Constable Junior. In the IGI there are two possibilities for Robert Constable in a similar time frame to Jane's baptism. One is baptized at Cherry Burton and the other at Beverley. The Constable family is prominent in Cherry Burton with Joseph Constable serving as Churchwarden and two Robert Constables listed as Principal Inhabitants at the beginning of the Transcription of the Cherry Burton Parish Registers by the Yorkshire Parish Register Society in 1903. Searching this particular book on Ancestry does not yield any Hilton names. A visual search of the parish register did not reveal any Hilton names either. The Hilton family did live at Beverley and it is 3.5 miles WNW to Cherry Burton from there.

I located a baptism for a Jane Hilton 1 Aug 1739 at Saint Mary and Saint Nicholas Parish Church in Beverley and the parents were Thomas Hilton and Mary Constable. I have not found any more information on Thomas Hilton or Mary Constable and that will be my research today looking at the Hilton family. The age of Jane Gray was said to be 87 years of age and with a baptism 1 Aug 1739 and a burial 13 Sep 1824 this is a span of 85 years and 1 month. The marriage of Thomas Hilton and Mary Constable at Saint Mary and Saint Nicholas was 20 Feb 1737 so there is the possibility that Jane was a year old or more when she was baptized 1 Aug 1739. There are 56 entries in the Cherry Burton Parish Registers for a "Mary Constable" and I shall read through them all to see if there is anything useful there.


Richard Constable buried 15 Jun 1681
Richard son of John Constable baptized 10 May 1683
John Constable married Mary Wilson 31 Jul 1684
Thomas the son of John Constable baptized 23 Dec 1689

John the son of John Constable baptized 2 Sep 1692
John son of John Constable buried 4 Sep 1692
Mary wife of John Constable buried 11 Feb 1692

Robert the son of Robert Constable baptized 31 Oct 1692

Mary daughter of Robert Constable junior baptized 2 Feb 1697
Mary Constable widow buried 14 Apr 1700
Robert Constable alebrewer buried 23 Apr 1700
Thomas son of John Constable baptized 30 Jan 1707
Mary daughter of Richard Constable baptized 7 Dec 1709
Joseph son of Richard Constable baptized 18 Jun 1714
Richard son of Richard Constable baptized 28 Aug 1715
 Richard son of Richard Constable baptized 30 Sep 1715
Richard Constable buried 12 Apr 1719
John Constable husbandman buried 10 Feb 1723

Robert Constable and Helen Constable both of this parish married 2 Jan 1734 by Banns

Two possibilities for Mary Constable. It would appear that Jane was their only daughter so it is not inconceivable that Mary Constable was older when she married Thomas Hilton. Robert being a witness and he could be her cousin as much as her father or brother. It was an interesting look at the entries for the Constable family and they are a very large family at Cherry Burton. Why marry at Beverley? I suspect it may have been a run away marriage. Jane Hilton was said to be "of the parish" so perhaps her mother at least returned to live at Cherry Burton. I shall continue to hunt out the Hilton family.

Gray/Grey family at Etton, Holme on the Wolds, Cherry Burton, East Yorkshire Riding

Grace Gray, my great grandmother married William Robert Pincombe at St John the Divine, Arva, Ontario 23 May 1865 and this was one of my great finds when I wrote, along with the other members of the Pincombe family in the London Ontario area, the Pincombe Profile which forms a part of the Westminster Delaware History book titled: Delaware and Westminster Township History Book, Volume II, Together in History. The Westminster Township Historical Society: The Aylmer Express Limited, Aylmer, Ontario. pp 522-525, 2006. 


I had searched online for their marriage, traveled back to London to check the London Room and Toronto Archives but had not found their marriage recorded. The Church at Arva burned down and took the records with it unfortunately. However, my half-second cousin had the Pincombe family Bible and in the course of discussion with them I acquired scans of all the pages in the Bible and about 400 images from various photo albums. My grandfather's baptism had also been lost in the fire at Arva and his birth was not registered (at least not yet found) so the clarification on his birth date was also good. 


Grace Gray was the daughter of Robert Gray (Junior) and Elizabeth Mary Ann Routledge. She was born in London Township 22 Nov 1839 and baptized 19 Feb 1843 at St Paul's Anglican Church in London, Ontario (now St Paul's Cathedral). She died 31 Jul 1886 in London Township and was buried at Trinity Anglican Church in Lambeth. Her life was to be somewhat sad as their first child died as an infant of one month while they were living on Concession 5 Lot 4 of Lobo Township. The infant was buried at Poplar Hill Cemetery. Their next child, my grandfather, was the only child who lived to adulthood. The third child Elizabeth Mary Ann died at 13 one year after her mother from influenza. The fourth child Robert Henry died at the age of six months of a brain fever. 


Robert Gray (junior) was baptized 3 Nov 1810 at Etton Yorkshire the son of Robert Gray (senior) and Elizabeth Cobb. This information successfully passed down through the family so I had an excellent starting point. The other great source that I have used extensively for these families was written by George DeKay in 1976:


Carling, Beverley, Gray, Hildred, West, Mason and their descendants: Pioneer Families of London Township, Middlesex County, Ontario. London, ON: George P. DeKay, 1976


Since George and I share Gray ancestry I have had a number of conversations with him but unfortunately due to Grace's early death and the family (to a large extent) moving west details of even her actual existence had been lost to that family. The picture I remember seeing of her as a child has also disappeared. Although the picture of her daughter reminds me of the picture of her mother. My mother did resemble her grandmother and aunt. My mother had a few stories about her grandmother from her father but my grandfather Pincombe died when she was only eight so again the stories are far back in the past.


Robert Gray and Elizabeth Cobb married 13 January 1806 at Lund (near Beverley), East Yorkshire Riding. Robert was baptized 4 Aug 1774 at Holme on the Wolds and he was buried 29 Jun 1864 at Cherry Burton (Robert supplied his birth place on the 1851 and 1861 census). Robert is identified as the son of Robert Gray husbandman. My cousin did not feel that there was sufficient information to determine which Gray family Robert belonged to in this area. 


I decided to pull all the Gray records from the Etton Parish Records as I found it interesting that Robert died at Etton but was buried at Cherry Burton (as was his wife). Etton is 1.1 miles NNW from Cherry Burton and Holme on the Wolds is 2.2 miles NNW from Cherry Burton. To reach Etton from Cherry Burton you take the Etton Road from Etton you take Main Street and then Main Street turns north traveling through South Dalton to Holme on the Wolds.

The Parish Registers at Etton indicate that Robert Gray was taken to Cherry Burton for burial (as was his wife and their first infant who died very young).  


The Poor Law Register lists only two Gray surnames at Cherry Burton - Roger Gray and Robert Gray. In 1797 Robert Gray (baptized at Holme on the Wolds) is listed on the Cherry Burton Poor Law Assessment (L6 10s 0d and L1 7s 1/2 d ). In 1798 same place (L6 10s and L1 1s). In 1799 same place (L8 2s 6d and L2 1/2 d). In 1800 same place (L8 2s 6d and L1 4s). In 1801 same place (L89 2s 6d and 12s 2d). in 1804 same place (36s 15d and 4s 71/4 d). In 1805 same place (36s 15d and 3s 1/3d). In 1806 same place (36s 15d and 6s 1/2d). In 1807 same place (28s and 2s 4d). In 1808 and 1809 same place (L4 and 4d). In 1810 same place (L4 and 1s).  In 1811 same place (L4 and 4d). In 1815 same place (L4 and 8d). In 1816 same place (L4 and 4d). In 1817 same place (L4 and 4d). In 1818 same place (L4 and 6d). In 1819 same place (L4 and 4d). In 1820 same place (L4 and 4d). In 1822 same place (L4 and 6d). In 1823 same place (L4 and 4d). In 1824 same place (L4 and 4d). Robert Gray is not listed in the Poor Law Register of 1827, 1829 or 1830. 

Although Robert Gray was baptized at Holme on the Wolds his father Robert does not appear on the Land Records there.  They Gray family does not appear on the Land Records at Lund either. '


The Parish Registers for Cherry Burton are quite interesting for the Gray/Grey family living there.


The first mention that I found thus far is


Robert Grey buried 8 Aug 1736 at Cherry Burton (possibly this is the Robert Grey baptized at Kilnwick 28 May 1686).


This Robert Grey is shown as baptizing five children at Cherry Burton


Robert Grey baptized 28 May 1708 at Cherry Burton and is liked the Robert Grey buried at Cherry Burton 13 Nov 1780 (74 years old). He is also likely the Robert Grey who married Ann Stephenson 2 Jul 1734 at Cherry Burton.


Stephen Gray baptized 8 Apr 1712 at Cherry Burton


William Gray baptized 28 Jun 1714 and buried 23 Sep 1715 at Cherry Burton


Ann Gray baptized 10 Apr 1719 at Cherry Burton


Mary Gray baptized 17 Feb 1725 at Cherry Burton


In the next generation of Gray at Cherry Burton there is


Robert Gray baptized 4 Oct 1739 and the son of Robert and Ann Gray. This is likely the Robert Gray buried at Cherry Burton 20 May 1808 farmer at Etton (70 years of age) and the father of Robert Gray baptized at Holme on the Wolds. He is likely the Robert Gray (the younger)  who married Jane Hilton 6 Jun 1771 with witnesses Robert Constable Junior and Francis Baker (likely the Parish Clerk as his signature often appears). The mother of Jane Hilton was likely Mary Constable (married to Thomas Hilton). Robert Gray the younger would work for this family as his father was still living (not buried until 1780). 


We also have the first son of Robert Gray and Elizabeth Cobb buried at Cherry Burton and noted in the register as coming from the parish of Etton. John Gray, fourth child of this couple, was buried at Cherry Burton 5 Apr 1817 (5 years of age).


Jane Gray (wife of Robert Gray living at Etton) was buried 13 Sep 1824 (87 years of age) at Cherry Burton thus giving more evidence for Robert Gray (baptized at Holme on the Wolds) being the son of Robert Gray and Jane Hilton.


Elizabeth Gray (formerly Cobb) and wife of Robert Gray was buried at Cherry Burton 29 May 1842 (47 years of age with no mention of Etton but this Elizabeth is known to be the wife of Robert Gray).


Robert Gray (baptized at Holme on the Wolds) was buried at Cherry Burton but it was noted that he lived at Etton 29 Jun 1864 (89 years of age). 


It is the Land Records of Cherry Burton where I find Robert Gray in 1758 as owner of a piece of land which he also occupies and along with James Stephenson junior occupiers of Richard Bell's land and Robert Gray by himself on Mrs. Barker's land. In 1789 Robert Gray still owns a piece of land at Cherry Burton and is occupying Richard Bell's and Mrs. Barker's land. In 1790 he is still an owner as well as occupying his own land, Robert Barker's and David Burton's land. In 1791 he is still an owner as well as occupying his own land and Reverend Mr. Barker's land. In 1792 he is still an owner as well as occupying his own land he also occupies Reverend Mr. Barker's land. In 1793, 1794, 1795, 1796 and 1797 the same as 1792. In 1799 he is still an owner as well as occupying his own land and Hannah Frankland's land. In 1800 same as 1799. In 1805 same as 1800. In 1810 same as 1800. 


In 1787, 1789, 1793, 1794, 1797 and 1804 there are no Gray/Grey families at Etton. In 1807 Robert Gray is a tenant of the Reverend John Fox and paying L1 16s 10d. In 1810 and 1811 the same (different payment). In 1814 Robert Gray is still there as a tenant of two different people but my copy is blurry. In 1816 he is still an occupier of the Rev Gilby but also one of the assessors. In 1820 he is still an occupier of the Rev Gilby. In 1827 he is still an occupier of the Rev John Gilby. In 1828 the same. In 1830 the same. I am wondering if at some point (perhaps the mid 1820s to late) Robert Gray junior (my 2x great grandfather became the occupier and his father perhaps retired. I do know that one of the reasons that Robert Gray emigrated was the lack of available land to farm at that time in Etton and the stories of available land in southwestern Ontario. The last record that I photographed was 1832 and Robert is known to have been in Ontario by 1835 when he married Mary Routledge. 


His father Robert remained on the census at Etton until his death in 1864. By the census he would appear to be living in the Village at least from 1841 on. 


The story of the Gray family is only slowly unfolding. I need to look at more records but the relationship from son to father appears to be quite correct 


Robert junior baptized 3 Nov 1810 at Etton
Robert the younger baptized 4 Aug 1774 at Holme on the Wolds
Robert the elder baptized 4 Oct 1739 at Cherry Burton
Robert baptized 28 May 1708 at Cherry Burton (father was Robert)


Likely searching through new available records for Yorkshire would be a good next step to determine if the Robert Grey baptized 28 May 1686 at Kilnwick was the father of Robert Grey baptized 28 May 1708 at Cherry Burton. The line from there down appears to check out with parish registers, poor law records and land tax assessment. 

Tweddle family of Lanercost Cumberland UK

A Tweddle researcher contacted me on Ancestry about Thomas Tweddle baptized 5 Jul 1693 at Lanercost Parish Church. This Thomas is my 5x great grandather and I can trace back to him quite readily. My mother's maternal grandmother was Grace Gray (my first Canadian born ancestor) and she was the daughter of Robert Gray (baptized 3 Nov 1810 at Etton East Yorkshire) and Elizabeth Mary Ann Routledge baptized 14 February 1804 at Bewcastle Parish Church (she was born at Parkhead Bewcastle). Elizabeth Mary Ann Routledge's parents were Thomas Routledge baptized 25 Jul 1763 at Bewcastle and Elizabeth Routledge baptized 27 Aug 1763 at Bewcastle. Thomas was born at Broderigg and Elizabeth at Raw. The parents of Thomas were Henry Routledge (born at Oakshaw, baptized 30 July 1720 at Bewcastle) and Margaret Tweddle (baptized 6 Mar 1728 at Lanercost). The parents of Elizabeth were George Routledge (born at Todhills and baptized 17 Apr 1729 at Bewcastle) and Grace Routledge (no baptism date known yet). Thus my Tweddle line enters into my Routledge lines. My Routledge lines continue back with Henry Routledge's parents being William Routledge and Grizzel Routledge and George Routledge's parents being George Routledge (and possibly Margaret Routledge still proving that) and Grace Routledge 's parents being Thomas Routledge (of Hill Bewcastle) and Mary Routledge (of Kirkbeckstown). My 2x great grandmother Elizabeth Mary Ann Routledge has 2 Routledge parents, 3 Routledge grandparents and 6 Routledge great grandparents. Family Lore says there are three sets of cousins but I am still working on those relationships.

Back to Margaret Tweddle (wife of Henry Routledge) and they were married 3 Oct 1759 at Lanercost but the marriage lines does not indicate anything further other than the date and that they were bachelor and spinster of Bewcastle and Lanercost respectively. The only Margaret baptized in a reasonable time frame is Margaret Tweddle daughter of Thomas Tweddle and Margaret Robson who married 18 May 1721 at Lanercost (Thomas Tweddle was baptized 5 Jul 1693 at Lanercost and Margaret Robson was baptized 28 Mar 1705 at Lanercost). Thomas Tweddle held leases at Ringing Hills (Rinon Hills) and I have a copy of one from 1733 when Margaret would have been five years old. Thomas Tweddle is living at Ringing Hills when he died 27 Feb 1777.

Thomas Tweddle and Margaret Robson had seven children all baptized at Lanercost:

John Tweddle baptized 4 January 1722 and married to Jane Smith
Isabel Tweddle baptized 30 May 1723
Jeffrey Tweddle baptized 22 Sep 1725
Margaret Tweddle
Mary Tweddle baptized 28 Aug 1729 and buried 5 Feb 1730 at Lanercost
Thomas Tweddle baptized 7 Jan 1731 and married to Ann Armstrong 13 Jun 1765 at Lanercost (my correspondent is descendant of this family)
 Elizabeth Tweddle baptized 26 Apr 1734
Margaret Tweddle (wife of Thomas) was buried 28 Feb 1735 at Lanercost.

Interestingly Margaret Robson (by checking the land records and the parish records) is likely the daughter of Jeffrey Robson (born at Ash c 1657) and Jane Bushby and they married 25 Sep 1684 at Farlam. I must pull out the records for this family as another researcher has clearly shown the different Robson families by land and parish records. One notes that the second eldest son is named Jeffrey. However the eldest son is named John but the likely father for Thomas Tweddle is another Thomas. He does name the third son Thomas. The names of the daughters though do not particularly fit into a pattern until you look at the names of Thomas Tweddle's children (likely b c mid 1660s) and they are John 1691, Thomas 1693, Margaret 1697, John 1705 and Isabel 1707. The John, Thomas, Margaret and Isabel are repeated in the naming of the children of Thomas Tweddle and Margaret Robson.

I shall continue to correspond with this individual sending him all the information that has been given to me. I hinted that having a one name study (since he is going to a lot of trouble pulling out information) would be wonderful. I believe he lives closeby to this area in England :)

Great Driffield

I spent the morning looking at the Great Driffield parish registers at the Family History Centre. Most of my names there are from my Gray line (my great grandmother Grace Gray's ancestors). The Gray family was from the East Riding of Yorkshire and from the parishes of Lund, Hutton Cranswick, Great Driffield, Cherry Burton, Holme on the Wolds, Etton and Kilnwick on the Wolds. This group of parishes all lie together about 15 miles from the North Sea in a parallel fashion. I have also looked at the parishes of Skerne and Watton which are part of this group and have not yet looked at Lockington and South Dalton mostly because I do not have even one entry thus far from those two parishes.

The Great Driffield parish registers go back to 1556 and will be very interesting if I find my Harland and Wilkinson (and possibly other lines) lines in this parish back that far. I photographed from the beginning of the registers to 1612 (baptisms, marriages and burials). I will have a look at them to see the names that are found in these early registers - I did note that there are several Gray families and I need to locate my Gray family prior to 1708 at Cherry Burton. My husband photographed the early Hutton Cranswick registers complete from 1657 (when they begin) up to 1747. I had not checked for my Gray family there and must do so now given the information that I learned on the East Yorkshire Listserv.

In all I took 174 images and my husband took 403. I will have a busy time going through all of those images. We are both waiting for one more film from Salt Lake City - Warrin for my husband (in Germany) and St Mary Bourne (Hampshire UK) for me. We do not expect them to arrive for another couple of weeks. I will see how much I go through tomorrow on my images and then decide whether I will go to the FHS Friday or next Monday. I found all the baptisms, marriages and burials I was looking for including Timothy and Ann Harland, Richard and Ann Sproxton burials. I also photographed a few Harland burials and a few Wilkinson burials that looked interesting.

A cursory glance such as I was using today did not reveal if my Harland and Wilkinson families were of the parish. Indeed the marriage between Timothy Harland and Ann Wilkinson was almost illegible. I am going to try to lighten that image to see if I am able to read the text. Unfortunately it is still quite illegible. I am thinking that the IGI entry must be from the Bishops Transcripts.

Tomorrow I will continue reviewing the images of Great Driffield as I want to go back and takes images of 1612 to 1720 of the baptisms, marriages and burials.

Interesting quandry - Gray

The Gray family has suddenly thrust itself forward after sitting dormant in my mind for quite a while. Meeting another researcher studying the line gives me a lot of ideas on my own line. They appear to be farmers (not well to do just small farmers I expect). They rent Glebe land I think as the Owner is a priest. They move about somewhat from Cherry Burton to Etton over a period of 140 years which is maybe not a lot of moving. Where they are before Cherry Burton is a mystery that reading all of the parish records can only solve. I need to look at Skerne and Watton for the name Gray as well. I know my ancestry for my Gray line back from my great grandmother who was a daughter of the emigrant Robert Gray Junior and my first Canadian born ancestor in 1839. Robert's parentage was known in my family as my mother knew that Grace's parents were Robert Gray Junior and Mary Routledge and that Robert's parents were Robert Gray and Elizabeth. She also knew that the Gray family was from Cherry Burton. This family lore proved to be true when I investigated the land records/parish registers for Cherry Burton and Etton. The Holme on the Wold registers are quite small (Robert and Jane only appear to have had two children). It is curious why they were baptized at Holme on the Wolds and not Cherry Burton. Robert was the only baptism in 1774 on the Bishops Transcripts (father listed as Robert Gray Husbandman). There were five baptisms in 1771 when Ellen (older sister to Robert) was baptized. I will continue to investigate as I did not find Robert Gray at Holme on the Wolds in the tax lists. My cousin wrote up the family in the 1970s and has the baptism for Robert Gray (our mutual ancestor) as Holme on the Wolds. Robert indicated on the census that his birthplace was Holme.

My youngest daughter started her clinical year at the hospital. She has wanted to be a physician since she was a young child and I have listened to her talk about it all these years. My personal preference for my daughter was that she do a Ph.D. like her older sister (she did do her MSc). However, I have only hinted at that, encouraged the idea of research and supported her every tendency to follow an academic/research career. But in the long run her main interest has always been healing. I am happy for her that she is doing that. Canada has a desperate need for physicians which will still be with us for another ten years or so simply because it takes a long time to graduate doctors (4 years of medical school, minimum of three years of residency for Family Medicine and longer for other specialties). It is a full time career really having worked in medicine in the 1960s and again in the 1990s-up to mid 2006. The difference in medicine between the 1960s and the 1990s is amazing. I worked in the lab in the 1960s and the miracles of the 70s, 80s, 90s and on into the present have created an enormous difference in the ability of medicine to solve problems and give people a longer lifespan where it would have been much shorter. They haven't cured everything but the inroads they have made into debilitating diseases is tremendous.

Occasionally people ask me (I always think it a bit rude to be honest) when we are going to have grandchildren but honestly there are enough children in the world and if my daughters decide never to have children they have my 100% support. Both of them are in full time careers that require a full time commitment and having children is not a particularly easy option. In the case of my youngest I can not even begin to say how proud I am of her taking on health care even if I would rather she was doing academia/research. Physicians are so desperately needed. They also have my 100% support if they decide to have children but that would be for them with me helping if they need help. The idea that one must have children is somewhat foreign to me. My husband and I enjoy our children now adults but no driving need here for grandchildren. We both have absolutely oodles of cousins/siblings all having children/grandchildren. I already have 4 neices, 3 nephews, 5 great nephews on my side and they are just starting into their child bearing years most of them. Five great nephews from my oldest neice and nephew alone already!

Although we are home all the time and could help out 100% we keep very busy bringing together our genealogies to pass on to our siblings and their descendants; our cousins and their descendants. I have proven back to all of my 3x great grandparents (with the problem discussed below) and I am in the process of proving the 4x great grandparents ( I am now down to missing the full names of 5 and the surnames of 2 of my 4x great grandparents in 7 of my great grandparents lines and for the eighth one (my maternal grandmother) I am missing three but need to find paper proof for the link between my great grandmother Ellen Taylor and the likely parents Thomas Taylor and Ellen Roberts - once that is resolved and if I am correct then I need to find 3 4x great grandparents)). Solving my maternal grandmother is a slowly evolving situation. I have my mtDNA Full Genetic Scan done and still no perfect matches. That may be my clue back along with paper data. I am working on family lore at the moment and where it was easy to locate the information I have accumulated it but do not want to make great expenditure on lines that are not mine.

Just back from an 11.6 km bicycle ride. It is starting to rain now so we were lucky that we went early. Now to bake the cakes and cupcakes for tomorrow. I will wait until tomorrow to ice them so that they have dried out a little but will still be tasty.

Cakes all baked and cooling. The day has passed quickly.

Tomorrow I will ice the cakes and that might just occupy quite a bit of my day.

Gray-Cobb-Hilton-Sproxton and others

I did receive an email from one of the Gray family descendants searching his line and belonging to the East Yorkshire Mailing List. I do not see a link between our lines in the 1700s and 1800s but perhaps earlier. He is still working his way back as am I. I hadn't really done anything with all the images that I brought back from Salt Lake City for East Yorkshire. Mostly because I am still working on my images from the 2nd and 3rd day and Yorkshire was the 5th and 6th day of research there.

I did determine that the Robert Gray at Cherry Burton in the late 1700s was the father of Robert Gray baptized at Holme on the Wolds (although I am not sure why he was baptized there). The burial registers for Etton and Cherry Burton revealed that Robert Gray who was baptized at Cherry Burton 4 Oct 1739 was the same Robert Gray who farmed at Cherry Burton into the early 1800s and who died at Etton and was buried at Cherry Burton 20 May 1808. There is only one Gray family at Etton in the Parish Registers. Robert Gray baptized at Holme on the Wolds 4 Aug 1774 was the Robert Gray who farmed at Etton from 1807 on from the Land Tax Records. He is still there well into the 1830s and I will give a more accurate picture of that once I review the Etton Land Tax Records which I filmed (every year although some of the images are somewhat blurry). My 2x great grandfather Robert Gray (aka Robert Gray Junior) also farmed at Etton before he emigrated to Canada in 1832. His prime reason for emigration was the lack of land for farming in his area and the abundance of it in London Township where he emigrated. His knowledge of this would have come from the Carling family who were brewers at Etton and whose son Thomas had emigrated to London Township in 1819 (he was a Talbot settler). Thomas married Margaret Routledge and in 1835 Robert Gray married Mary Routledge (her youngest sister). With Robert came his younger brother William and much later in the 1850s James their youngest brother emigrated to Canada - Richard and John remained in England as did their sisters Ann (never married) and Eliza who married Richard Hart Guy.

Having established the connection back to Cherry Burton I also was able to find the marriage of the parents of Robert Gray (Robert Gray and Jane Hilton who married 6 Jun 1771 at Cherry Burton). This would appear to be the Jane Hilton who was baptized 1 Aug 1739 at St Mary and St Nicholas, Beverley as one of the witnesses to the wedding was Robert Constable junior. The parents of Jane from the baptism were Thomas Hilton and Mary Constable. Robert could be Mary's brother. There only appears to be one child (Jane) in their family and Mary could be the Mary Constable baptized at Cherry Burton 14 Feb 1700 with father Robert. This Robert Gray's parents were Robert Gray and Ann Stephenson who married 2 Jul 1734 and I need to determine their other children hopefully from my images although I remember having difficulty with these years in the register. Robert Gray was baptized 28 May 1708 at Cherry Burton and was the son of another Robert Gray and it is at this point that I have difficulty. I am not sure who his father was in terms of where he was baptized. He does not appear to have been baptized at Cherry Burton. There is a Robert Gray baptized at Kilnwick in 1686 (28 May) who could be the Robert Gray buried 8 Aug 1736 at Cherry Burton. But this will require another long look at the registers.

I will now extract the Gray family from Hutton Cranswick given the information which I received from another researcher on his Gray family which is at Hutton Cranswick. I shall give a glance at the images that I took of the parish register when I did my initial run through.

An email from the Siderfin researchers that I was speaking of earlier on Genes Reunited came in today. I responded that we had chatted. I must admit that I do not mind turning over the Siderfin one name study to him if he wishes to take it on. He is advertising for people to send him their information and he will put together a family tree which is an excellent idea and I will wait to see what emerges. I have quite a bit of information that I have pulled out of the census which I had thought about putting up on a webpage (up to 1890) along with the images of the book on the Siderfin family by Sanders. I have already put up a Legacy file of the information in James Hooper Sanders book. There are errors and I have put in a note showing the correction to my line. I am not sure that I agree with the researchers thoughts on James not knowing his own great grandfather. I think that his family being inlaws with the Clark family does make sense but will wait and see what evolves in that regard. I do not have the advantage of all the records at Taunton with respect to the family.

Tomorrow I need to work on the cake for the engagement party. I decided that I would make the Wedding cake, this will be a trial run and I will see how I like doing that. I will use fondant icing for the engagement cake. Otherwise I will have a cake made for their wedding. I could bake the cake and cupcakes and just have everything iced. Other than that everything is ordered or purchased. Just the punch to make on Friday and cook the meatballs in sauce. My ability to do a great deal of preparation and then actually appear at a party is limited! I can do one or the other. Usually I choose to do the former and pass on the celebration but this is my daughter's party and I can not disappoint her.

Hinxman Wills - 18 August 2009

I continued working on the Hinxman Will and have something in every line now! I started on the Inventory as well. I think perhaps it is a combination of the very poor writing and the lightness of some of the strokes that makes this particular will difficult.

I created a new Group on GenealogyWise - my Rawlin[g]s family. Over a period of 250 years the spelling changed in my line from Rawlins to Rawlings. Some lines retained the Rawlins spelling particularly in Australia. I have an interesting picture of the house of one of these Rawlins' ancestor in Wiltshire. This Rawlins family is found at Enford from 1743 on with the baptism of William 17 Nov 1743 the son of William and Mary Rawlins. They baptized six more children (5 at Enford and 1 at Netheravon). The baptism at Netheravon reads William and Mary Rawlins from Enford and it is for my ancestor (4x great grandfather Jeremiah Rawlins). I have managed to trace down 5 of these siblings and the sixth sibling (the eldest) was traced down by their descendant in Australia. She may provide the clue to where William and Mary lived. They appear to have married at Wylye 30 Sep 1741 but this is still up for debate. I spent several hours looking at the parish registers of Wylye and the parishes around Wylye long enough to determine that neither William nor Mary were of Wylye. If this is their marriage then it is William Rawlins and Mary Foord. There are Ford families at Enford but I didn't find a baptism that fits for Mary yet. I need to purchase the Enford fiche prior to the 1740s to determine that. I did have a brief look at Salt Lake City but this particular register is not overly easy to read and requires more study than I could give it at the time. I was especially interested at that time in determining if the marriage between Thomas Rawlins and Mary Dove 9 Dec 1807 at Woodford Wiltshire was my ancestor's marriage. I know that his wife was Mary and examining the registers showed that Thomas and Mary were considered to be of the parish and there were Dove families there and posible parents for Mary but her baptism was missing. William Dove and Jane Morgan had married at Saint Thomas, Salisbury, Wiltshire 1 Jan 1783 but the baptisms of their children in the Woodford register begin in 1793 with the baptism of Robert 14 Apr 1793 (he died as an infant). No further children were born to this couple at Woodford. The Dove family is found at Woodford back into the early 1700s at least.

Off to the dentist today. Our smog warning has lifted and it is very warm here today 40 degrees celsius. The dentist appointment leaves me with a tooth to cap which is fine. I would rather cap them when they are full of filling. I expect to have six caps in total and I have four already. It could be I might have one more. By flossing and cleaning in the morning and then using the new dental picks and cleaning in the evening I have managed to eliminate a lot of plaque buildup which pays its premiums when I go for a cleaning! We have a dental plan which is most helpful although I will have to pay 50% of the cap (or whatever the portion left from what the plan will pay).

We went shopping in the afternoon. I wanted to have a look at dresses for the wedding but got quickly distracted buying a new outfit for the engagement party - not too expensive actually as everything was on sale. I got a pair of slacks 25% off and a top for just $7.99 regularly $39.99. I had liked the look of them earlier but didn't want to spend $40 for something I wouldn't wear very often.

Watched the movie "Knowing" in the evening after cooking our dinner. We decided to do Kraft Dinner with deviled eggs and left over salads from our dinner yesterday. Excellent meal actually. I never liked Kraft Dinner since I was a child but have acquired a taste for it the last year or so. I think because it is an easy meal that we can just prepare in ten minutes and accompany it with a salad and hot dogs. The movie was very very interesting - scary I suppose but it had a deeper meaning which I am finding these days with a lot of the movies. The use of Biblical imagery really suited the presentation and was totally not offensive. The idea of God seeding other worlds is quite fascinating and gives some hope that our civilization could survive far into the eons. The promise of Abraham and his seed forever would thus be fulfilled. I can not think that God intended otherwise although when one looks around at the results of human habitation on the planet one wonders about the survival of the earth. Although I firmly believe that nature will eventually win and teach us how to live with the earth - something our First peoples already knew how to do before we arrived. I think being a late comer and with so few emigrant ancestors I tend to look at this differently. Having just the three Canadian born ancestors does affect one's thinking (my mother, her father and his mother) as most of my forebearers descendants are still living in England. I represent just a few transplanted lines - Routledge (and Routledge) in 1818, Gray in 1832, Pincombe (and Rew) in 1850, Buller in 1908 and Blake (and Rawlings) in 1913. The bracketed name of course represents the spouse of the ancestor who emigrated. Two came as singles - my 2x great grandfather Robert Gray from Etton and my grandmother Ellen Rosina Buller from Birmingham.

This morning I intend to continue looking at the Hinxman Will and prepare a list of items for purchase from the Hampshire Registration Office. I have several more wills that I want to acquire - Richard Blake (1522), Robert Blake (1522), Jone Blake (1528), Thomas Blake (1541) and Robert Blake (1542). These five wills (I have transcripts of two of them) may be an eye opener with regard to the name of the husband of Jone Blake who wrote her will in 1527 and was probated in 1528. She was my 13x great grandmother and the mother of Nicholas my 12x great grandfather. It still amazes me being back that far with my Blake line although published genealogies claim a connection back to the Wiltshire Blake family at Pinhills and Calne. Time will tell on that connection as I am not accepting it just because it is published. I want to see the proof for the relationship.

Sproxton - Hutton Cranswick

I expect that the Sproxton family will occupy me for a little while in my blog. I updated my legacy file with all the Sproxton entries in the IGI so that I can check them against the Hutton Cranswick film on Tuesday next. I printed off a map of the East Riding of Yorkshire which includes my pertinent parishes - Cherry Burton, Etton, Holme on the Wolds, Lund, Kilnwick on the Wolds, Hutton Cranswick, and Great Driffield. Interesting they all touch on corners or share borders. The Gray, Cobb, Hilton, Sproxton, Stephenson, Aly, Beilby, Harland, Todd, Wiles, Wilkinson, Garrit, Huser, and Cooper lines all live in one or other of these parishes. They form an interesting tree stretching back from Robert Gray Junior with parents Robert Gray Senior and Elizabeth Cobb (my emigrant ancestor who arrived in London Township by 1832). Looking at the other parishes on the Hutton Cranswick microfilm (Beswick, Watton, Skerne, Burton Agnes and Bridlington Quay) may be quite helpful to me with respect to marriages that I can not locate in the other parishes or baptisms - less so Burton Agnes and Bridlington Quay since they do not touch on the other parishes but I will give them a glance anyway :).

I am also starting to read through the three wills from the 1500s that I am going to transcribe. I am looking forward to reading them as they are on the Hinxman family. Although they are from an earlier time period than Eleanor Blake Hinxman they will none the less bring some light to bear on this family in Andover in the 16th century.

We were off for an 11 km bicycle ride early this morning just to start our day off. It was cool for an early August morning actually but our weather this summer has been very wet and cooler than usual. However, I will not complain - the gardens and lawns are beautiful this year.

I also did my short research note for the BIFHSGO journal which was due last week but we were away and then I forgot when I got back home. Thank goodness for email reminders. Today my first publication in an English genealogical journal was published (Cumbria Journal) and it is the Protestation Returns for Lanercost. I actually have transcribed every parish in the Eskdale Ward and will eventually get them proofread and can publish them if they want or simply give them to the Cumbria Record Office.

This evening we had everyone over for a barbeque and to plan the engagement party for our youngest and her husband to be. We have that all done and just need to put in our order. The dogs had a great time and enjoyed their steak.

My sister pointed out a possible error in the Carling tree. I had put this together about five years ago when I first started genealogy and had the material from another researcher. The tombstone says that Hannah Carling Beverley's parents were John and Ann not Thomas and Elizabeth as I had understood. I do find a patron entry for parents of Hannah Carling Beverley of John Carling and Ann Hodgson from Rowley (three parishes below Cherry Burton). I really have no idea on that. Thomas and Elizabeth married at Etton just 10 months before Hannah was born but her baptism isn't recorded at Etton so somewhat suspicious. I will put that one on the back burner for when we return to Salt Lake City. I have a lower interest these days in the Carling line as it is a collateral line to my own and I was researching it to see if I could learn more about the Gray family through it but actually I uncovered all the details directly at Salt Lake City and didn't need the assistance of a collateral line.

Tomorrow I shall work on the will transcriptions and finish preparing to go into the LDS on Tuesday. I want to have a list of all the Sproxton and collateral entries that I have not yet verified. I was very pleased to get back another two generations at Hutton Cranswick and would like to find the information for Grace Wiles, Margaret Garrit and Anne Huser and their parents/grandparents if possible. This microfilm has certainly provided a number of interesting pieces of information.