Ann Sproxton (1760 - 1838)

52 Ancestor Challenge - Challenge 4

Blake, King, Coleman, Pearce, Farmer, unknown, Lambden, Sarah (unknown), Knight, Ellis, Knight, Vincent,  Butt, Durnford, Arnold, Molton, Cotterel, Bartlett, Alderman, Ann (unknown), Sherwood, unknown, Habberfield, Collings, Rawlings, Tanner, Dove, Morgan, Lywood, Canham, 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

I have now reached the fourth week of the 52 Ancestor Challenge and still reporting in a timely fashion. My lecture now complete, my back very much on the mend, I can now settle back into my daily research pattern with one exception. Sitting is apparently the new smoking so I will get up every thirty minutes or so and do some exercise. Being a bit of an exercise fanatic anyway, that is not a problem! But coming up with so many exercise routines will be an interesting challenge in itself.

This week Ann Sproxton is my 4x great grandmother as are all the individuals in this 52 Ancestor Challenge. Ann was baptized 14 Sep 1760 at Great Driffield, East Riding of Yorkshire. The knowledge of Ann goes back to our first time at Salt Lake City Family History Library and indeed our only time there thus far. The marriage registration for John Cobb and Ann Sproxton is dated 24 Nov 1782 at Lund, East Riding of Yorkshire and the priest obligingly wrote that Ann was born at Great Driffield and John born at Kilnwick (East Riding of Yorkshire).  I attach an image of their marriage registration:

 

Interestingly enough the x is written in such a way that it looks like a w and transcriptions of this marriage registration have read John Cobb and Ann Sprowston. This is the only Sprowston that I have ever found and it wasn't util I saw this marriage registration and realized that it read Sproxton that I was able to move back in time with Ann. The witnesses are John Wilson and Benjamin Cobb. Benjamin is likely the brother of John Cobb. 

Going to the Great Driffield parish registers which I could readily do at the FHL in Salt Lake City I found the baptism of Ann Sproxton 14 Sep 1760 and the daughter of Richard Sproxton and Ann Harland. Richard and Ann had been married 24 Dec 1753 at Great Driffield. They baptized four children at Great Driffield:

Daniel baptized 12 Mar 1754 (and about whom I know nothing more at the moment)
Richard baptized 10 Oct 1756 (married Frances Dent 12 Apr 1790 at Tunstall, ERY and they have three children Richard 1791, Francis 1794, and Ann 1797)
Ann baptized 14 Sep 1760
 Dyna baptized 22 Jun 1765

Richard was buried 3 May 1770 at Great Driffield and Ann 17 May 1797 was buried at Great Driffield. I continued following both lines back in the registers at the Family History Library and I will show this information at the bottom of the post.

Ann Sproxton and John Cobb baptized three children at Lund:

Elizabeth 24 Aug 1783 (my ancestor)
Ann 18 Mar 1791
John 18 Jan 1793

I have not been able to learn anything to date about Ann and John but will take a few moments now to look them up in Find My Past as I have not examined this family in a few years.

However, Elizabeth married Robert Gray 13 Jan 1806 at Lund and more on the Gray family another day but they baptized 9 children at Etton. Three of these children emigrated to Canada and one of them, Robert junior, is my 2x great grandfather and my second emigrant ancestor to come to Canada from England. He married a daughter of the first emigrants (and she herself was also an emigrant). One of their daughters, Grace Gray, was my first Canadian born ancestor. This is a very thin line as her son was my second Canadian born ancestor and my mother was my third Canadian born ancestor.

Back to John Cobb and Ann Sproxton and especially Ann. Ann was buried 21 May 1838 at Lund near Beverley (she outlived her daughter Elizabeth by 7 years and also lived long enough to see my ancestor Robert and his brother William depart for Canada around 1832). Realizing that I feel even more compelled to see about the other two children Ann and John siblings of Elizabeth.

This partial map of the East Riding of Yorkshire lets you see the location of the various parishes mentioned above and can be seen on the Genuki webpages:

http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/Misc/Maps/ERYParishes.gif

I know from the Land Records that John Cobb farmed and paid rent of  5.5 pence to the Parish Church at Lund. His brother Benjamin had an ale house. John is in the land records into the 1830s at Lund although by 1837 the rent is paid for the late John Cobb perhaps by his wife as she is still alive at this time and this is of course Ann (Sproxton) Cobb.

In the burials for Lund, I found John son of John Cobb, labourer, buried 16 Jan 1803. Ann is  baptised as the daughter of John Cobb, Yeoman, 18 Mar 1791. There are a number of marriages for an Ann Cobb but difficult to determine if one of them is this Ann.

 Ahnentafel Chart for Ann Sproxton (abbreviated):
1 Ann Sproxton (1760-1838)

2 Richard Sproxton (1721-1770)
3 Ann Harland (1731-1797)

4 Richard Sproxton (1691-1768)
5 Dorothy English (1692-1772)
6 Timothy Harland (1674-1776)
7 Ann Wilkinson (-1761)

8 Richard Sproxton (1663-1774)
9 Margaret Garrit/Garratt (-1720)
10
11
12  John Harland
13
14
15

16 John Sproxton (c1630-1714)
17 Ann Simpson (-1708)
18
.....

33 John Sproxton (-1663)
34 Isobel (-1650)


Ann is my 4x great grandmother:

1. Elizabeth BLAKE
2. Helen Louise PINCOMBE (b 18 Oct 1916) - Westminster Township Middlesex County Ontario Canada
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. Elizabeth COBB (b 24 Aug 1783) - Lund near Beverley Yorkshire England
7. Ann SPROXTON (b 14 Sep 1760) - Great Driffield Yorkshire England
8. Richard SPROXTON (b 10 Oct 1721) - Hutton Cranswick Yorkshire England
9. Richard SPROXTON (b 2 Oct 1691) - Hutton Cranswick Yorkshire England
10. Richard SPROXTON (b 2 Aug 1663) - Hutton Cranswick Yorkshire England
11. John SPROXTON
12. John SPROXTON (d 21 Jul 1663) - Hutton Cranswick Yorkshire England


Prior to 1663 I do not have any information on this Sproxton family. In the records at Kew C 135/104/7 there is mention of a Post Mortem for William Sproxton or de Sproxton Yorkshire and 23 Edw III is 25 Jan 1349 to 24 Jan 1350. Three hundred years earlier there was a Sproxton in Yorkshire so all rather interesting but is this the same family? There was also a Sproxton Leicestershire which occurs in the records and could this family have taken their name from that place. A mystery and perhaps next time at Salt Lake City will have a look.

Also in the reign of Edward I, Robert de Sproxton Post Mortem C 133/88/3.

According to the National Archives there are 4 records 1000-1099, 9 records 1200-1299 and 11 records 1300-1399. With the earliest records being in the Domesday Book. Sprostune being in North Yorkshire in the Domesday Book.

Sproxton family of Great Driffield, Lund, East Riding of Yorkshire

This post has been sitting in my draft folder for about a year so decided to post it in case the burials are of interest to anyone from the Parish Registers of Great Driffield.

My interest in Great Driffield stems from Ann Sproxton who married John Cobb 24 Nov 1782 at Lund (near Beverley) East Yorkshire Riding and she was the daughter of Richard Sproxton and Ann Harland who were themselves married 24 Dec 1753 at Great Driffield. Ann Sproxton was identified on her wedding registration as being born at Great Driffield. This priest is to be highly commended for efficiently providing the information which unequivocably relates Ann back to her family at Great Driffield. Ann Sproxton was baptized 14 Sep 1760 at Great Driffield.


I have accumulated a number of scans of the Parish Registers of Great Driffield and will transcribe them to see if there is anything helpful to me in them. Richard Sproxton and Ann Harland baptized only four children at Great Driffield where they married


Daniel baptized 12 Mar 1754

Richard baptized 10 Oct 1756

Ann (as above)

Dyna baptized 22 Jun 1765


Richard was baptized 10 Oct 1721 the son of Richard Sproxton and Dorothy English at Hutton Cranswick and I have a number of scans for this parish as well to transcribe. Richard was buried 3 May 1770 at Great Driffield (Ann was only ten years old). Ann Harland was baptized 1 Aug 1731 at Great Driffield the daughter of Timothy Harland and Ann Wilkinson who were themselves married 24 Jun 1723 at Great Driffield. The Sproxton family continues back at Hutton Cranswick to Richard Sproxton married to Margaret Garrit (parents of Richard baptized 10 Oct 1721) 30 Sep 1688 (first marriage for Richard). This Richard was the son of John Sproxton and Ann Simpson who married 5 Jan 1659 at Hutton Cranswick. This John was the son of John Sproxton and Isobel who may have married at Hutton Cranswick (both are buried there) but no marriage found to date. Where this Sproxton family lived prior to the 1600s is unknown at this time.


Great Driffield Parish Registers (list is not continuous as some scans were not the entire page and entries are omitted that were incomplete)


Burial 6 Dec 1737 Thomas Larel buried

Burial 14 Jan 1737 Ann Spakeman buried

Burial 14 Jan 1737 Thomas the son of John Tovey

Burial 20 Jan 1737 Jane wife of John Tovey

Burial 1 Feb 1737 James son of William Eeles

Burial 19 Feb 1737 Mary Piper widow

Burial 20 Feb 1737 Farmer John Hanson

Burial 26 Feb 1737 Thomas the son of John Louch

Burial 22 Mar 1737 Elizabeth daughter of John Mascal

Burial 1 Apr 1738 wife of William Eeles

Burial 20 May 1738 Elizabeth wife of Farmer William Hocklay

Burial 24 Jun 1738 Samuel son of John Tovey

Burial 4 Aug 1738 Joseph Pilsey

Burial 17 Sep 1738 Francis _usher

Burial 18 Nov 1738 Sarah daughter of William Tadgrove

Burial 25 Dec 1738 John Lamden

Burial 16 Jan 1738 William Eeles

Burial 12 Feb 1738 Margaret Welman

Burial 30 Apr 1739 James Ricson


Burial 19 Sep 1739 William Aubery

Burial 16 Dec 1739 John Marshall


Burial 10 Sep 1742 John Hawkes

Burial 5 Oct 1742 William Clarke

Burial 19 Oct 1742 Stephen Blandy


I will continue with this transcription the next research day.

Hearth Tax - Roehampton University project

The Hearth Tax project at the Roehampton University has now added East Yorkshire information. This is an incredible resource for looking at East Yorkshire Riding in 1672. The Hearth Tax is a listing of householders in England of the 1660s and 1670s and provides an insight into the status of individuals (i.e. their property).

http://www.hearthtax.org.uk/

All of my East Yorkshire Riding people can be found in the hundred / wapentake of Harthill Bainton Beacon and specifically the Constabularies / Wards of Great Driffield and Little Driffield, Etton, Hutton Cranswick, Holme on the Wolds, Cherry Burton, Lund near Beverley, Kilnwick, Skerne, Watton, and Barmby on the Moor.

The lists also reveal to me that some of my surnames were indeed somewhat unique with only a couple of members listed for each particular surname. In particular Sproxton, Beilby, English, and Garratt belong to this group. My other surnames of Grey/Gray, Cobb, Harland, Wilkinson, Hilton, Constable, and Stephenson are also listed although in greater numbers.

I have found a Robert English at Barmby on the Moor who may be my ancient ancestor. Dorothy English married Richard Sproxton 15 Nov 1716 at Hutton Cranswick. Her parentage is unknown to me.

Sproxton - Watton and Skerne

I returned to the Family History Library yesterday to continue imaging the pertinent details for the Sproxton family at Hutton Cranswick up to 1800 and also to collect images of the Skerne and Watton Parish Registers. I took 394 images in total and will now start to look at these two parishes with respect to my family lines. This has proven to be an interesting search back in time as I have verified my line back to John Sproxton (the elder) married to Isobel and they had three known children: John Sproxton (the younger or junior) married to Ann Simpson 5 Jan 1659 at Hutton Cranswick and who was buried 8 Apr 1714 at Hutton Cranswick, Margarett married to Marmaduke Huwbanke12 May 1668 at Hutton Cranswick, and Francis who was buried 2 Sep 1657 at Hutton Cranswick (impossible to determine his age at that time).

Margaret Garrit (wife of Richard Sproxton (the elder)) was from Rotsea - from Genuki: "ROTSEA, in the parish of Hutton Cranswick, and wapentake of Harthill; 2¾ miles E. of Hutton Cranswick, 6 miles SE. of Driffield. Pop. 23."

I reviewed the entries for Sproxton in the parish registers for Hutton Cranswick and can firmly say that Richard Sproxton junior married Dorothy English and that Elizabeth and Dorothy baptized in 1717 and 1719 respectively are their first two children.

I copied the parish registers for Skerne and Watton to look further at on my computer where I can zoom in and the reading is a little easier. The early registers are in latin. I am hoping to find some of my lines - Garrit, English, Sproxton, Simpson - perhaps there. Time will tell.

We went for an 11 K bike ride this morning and then I was off shopping for the items needed for the engagement party for your youngest daughter. It will be very pleasant I am sure and then the preparations for the wedding in mid-December. A very busy time ahead for all of us. My eldest is off to Wisconsin to begin her assistant professorship there and we will miss her of course. But it is exciting to see her heading off into her academic career that she has worked so hard to achieve. The defense of her thesis being the final step (and its submission to the Faculty all accomplished) and now she can head into her interesting research and teaching portfolio.

Now I need to get back to my transcriptions and work on my lecture to update it although that will not be a rush. Closer to the beginning of September to produce my handouts from my already prepared slides and then do the updates right at the end before the lecture so that it is timely. I am looking forward to giving it as it is my last and I shan't have to do that again!

Getting ready for the FHS Library

Today I continued transcribing the William Hinxman will from 1579 and it is becoming less spotty but will be a little while completing. The Inventory should also be interesting and I found an inventory from the late 1500s that I shall use as an aid for the terminology in this inventory. Household effects are fairly standard so should be a good aid. It is quite an interesting will as William names many of his relatives as well as his own family. The Hinxman family at Andover is, I think, a rather small one in the 1500s and finding son Joseph there was quite rewarding as well as a son William. It does mean that the Hinxman families that I have found at Andover are related which is always helpful.

I also want to get ready to go to the Family History Library tomorrow morning to continue looking at the Hutton Cranswick Parish Registers. I will now start at the beginning and take images of the pertinent entries for the Sproxton/Simpson/Garrit/Wiles families. It would appear that John Sproxton Junior married Ann Simpson 5 Jan 1659 and that it was another John Sproxton who married Anne Huser in August 1659. It will be interesting to see if I can determine if this was John Sproxton Senior in a new marriage. I want to work my way through the register up to the late 1700s to ensure that I find all the BMBs for these families. In 1753 my Richard Sproxton married Ann Harland at Great Driffield and my Sproxton family is found there after that time.

If I complete all of that then I will look at the other Parish Registers on this microfilm (a bonus for me) which include: Skerne, Watton, Beswick which are all lying beside my parishes of Hutton Cranswick and Kilnwick on the Wolds. The other two parishes Burton Agnes and Bridlington Quay are somewhat away but I do have a couple of entries for Bridlington so will also look at them later.

Another full day spent working away on items plus a 14 km bike ride. I did a little more on the will and a little more on the Sproxton family.

Pincombe and family, Visit to FHC

A two part post today as I am beginning the day by looking once again at my Pincombe family in Bishops Nympton and the families that married into the Pincombe family (I am sure that members of the other families see this exactly opposite :) ).

The Blackemoore family at Bishops Nympton and mine appears to have been there from the beginning of the Parish Registers was initially a puzzle for me. I had found the marriage of Johan Blackemore and John Pincombe and believed them to be the parents of William Pincombe who married Mary Vicary 17 Jun 1685 at Bishops Nympton and they were the parents of two children in as much as I am able to determine. John was baptized 12 Jul 1692 at Bishops Nympton and his sister Joan was buried 26 Mar 1726 but I do not have a baptism for her. Their mother was buried 5 Apr 1726 and all at Bishops Nympton.

Once I established that the chart that I had inherited from the earlier Pincombe researchers was incorrect - the marriage between Grace Manning and John Pincombe was a John Pincombe from a different line - then I was able to move backwards. I determined that the parents of my John Pincombe married to Mary Charley (Charlie) were indeed John Pincombe and Grace Manning since the John Pincombe that was a son of John Pincombe and Catherine Bryer was clearly someone else in the register.

I could then go back to the family of John Pincombe and Johane Blackemore and follow their children's lines which brought me to John Pincombe and Catherine Bryer through a different son. Then I had Johane Blackemore and which one was she. That proved to be quite straightforward that she was the daughter of Anthonie Blackemore (Anthonie was buried just three months before the wedding and the bride's mother is identified as Johane) and his father was Thomas Blackemore who appears on the Devon Visitation of 1620. This visitation lists the ARMS: Or, on a fess between three moors' heads side-faced, couped sable, three crescents argent and CREST: A moor's head erased sable, gorged or.

All these crests are very interesting and I think over time I will accumulate them just for "meat on the bones" of our ancestors. In this case I can trace directly back to the holder of this coat of arms (Thomas Blackemoore). Now that I have worked that through I will add it all to my Pincombe one name study Legacy tree which is slowly growing and will eventually be on my website.

I could photograph all the charts and put them up and may do that one day but for the moment I think they are confusing since I have found some of them inaccurate. They were put together by the earlier researchers using information gleaned first hand from informants. Although interesting, I feel more comfortable with the BMB, will and land information being used to reconstruct family lines. It is easy to mix lines!

My post will continue later with my observations from the Family History Centre as we will be off to there in another hour or so.

I spent the entire three hours on the Hutton Cranswick microfilm. I was able to find the marriage of John Sproxton and Anne Huser in 1659. I am not sure where this Sproxton line is going actually. I did some searching on the Internet last night (I only just learned about my Sproxton line last fall when we went to Salt Lake City and I could see the correct spelling - incorrectly spelled on the IGI) and there was a village called Sproxton in North Riding of Yorkshire which is in the Domesday Book as the King's Land. The Sproxton family seem to be quite old and they lived at Wakefield WRY in the 1500s. The next record to search is the Protestation Returns for Hutton Cranswick to see if the Sproxton family is there in 1641-42. The PRs only go back to the late 1650s. There are three Sproxton males baptizing children in the second quarter of the 1700s - Richard (my ancestor), Isaac and John. I need to keep reading the film to find all the Sproxton entries.

As well on the tape are the PRs for the villages of Skerne, Watton, Beswick, Christ Church - Bridlington Quay, and Burton-Agnes. All of these also interest me so I can see that I shall be quite busy with this tape until it has to go back 19 September 2009. I was unable to find baptisms for Grace Wiles, Margaret Garrit or Anne Husey who are my 6x, 7x and 8x great grandmothers respectively. I was feeling a bit impatient for Driffield PRs to come but I think that the wait will be quite advantageous to let me completely finish this microfilm first. The Bradfield PRs I will look at again before I send it back but there isn't anything in it that can help me to discover if this is my Nathanael Lambden.

Bradfield BRK and Hutton Cranswick ERY

We spent the morning at the Family History Centre reviewing the microfilms that we ordered in. I ordered in Bradfield BRK, Hutton Cranswick ERY and Driffield ERY. Unfortunately only 2 of my 3 films arrived: Bradfield and Hutton Cranswick. The Driffield leads into the Hutton Cranswick but not a problem since I have all the Sproxton information already that leads me back into Hutton Cranswick.

I started with Bradfield Parish Registers and I am looking for more information on Nathanael Lambden. Unfortunately this Parish Register didn't help me very much except to verify the records on the IGI. I can still not say that this Nathanael Lambden is my Nathanael Lambden who is at Andover at least from 1751 on when Nathaniel, eldest child, was baptized. I was hoping that Nathanael may have married Sarah at Bradfield as they did not marry at Andover. I have not yet found a burial registration for Nathanael although Sarah was buried at Andover 8 Nov 1797. I need to check and see if that was as a wife or as a widow or no mention of either. I have forgotten now! Definitely the wife of John Lambden (mother of the Nathanael Lambden baptized at Bradfield) is not Joan Caruthue. I am still working on her name but it comes closer to: _aruttens. I suspect the first letter is a B but that doesn't match any of the names closeby either. The Lambden family is not a common name at Bradfield although I want to review all the images that I made today to have a good look.

I have completed that survey of the 40 scans at varying years and I would say that the Lambden family did not live at Bradfield for an extended time period. I know by the Poor Rate that John Lamden held leases there (he paid his poor tax) in 1726. That is the only record that I have found thus far on the microfilm. Interestingly Mary Lambden (likely sister of Nathanael) was married in 1756 at Bradfield but she did not sign the register although Nathanael signed the register when his daughter Elizabeth married in 1789 (but Elizabeth did not sign, she made her mark). Perhaps this family only educated males!

I can not do very much more with this microfilm. I needed to at least look at it. Probably I should try to discover the other parishes where the Lambden family lived (known to be at Reading) in the area. That might be helpful. Also I will look at the St Mary Borne Parish Registers as the Lambden family were there in Hampshire as well.

Continuing to review the remainder of the images that I captured and this time of the Hutton Cranswick Parish Register. I found Richard Sproxton's baptism in 1721 and verified it and also that of his father Richard Sproxton 2 Oct 1691 also at Hutton Cranswick and Richard married Grace Wiles 19 Jan 1720. This Richard's parents were: Richard Sproxton and Margaret Garrit who married 30 Sep 1688 at Hutton Cranswick. I did manage to find this Richard's baptism 2 Aug 1663 at Hutton Cranswick with father John Sproxton. I need to review the register as it is a little blurry in my picture and there is more information in the line that just the name John Sproxton. I will see if there is a marriage for John Sproxton in this register. I would like to find Grace Wiles' baptism (Wiles is a fairly common name at Hutton Cranswick) and also a baptism for Margaret Garrit. That will be one of my assignments for tomorrow. If the Driffield Parish Register has arrived that would be very handy as I have quite a few items to look up in it.

I have two wills/documents to transcribe for a fellow Hinxman researcher. I will begin them in a couple of days. I like to read them over a bit before I start just to get my eyes used to the writing of this individual. Solving the Hinxman family may help to give me more proof for my Blake line. It is a slow process to really augment the "meat on the bones" of our ancestors.