Ann Vincent (1755 - probably by 1841)

52 Ancestor Challenge - Challenge 14

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

Ann Vincent/Vinsent and I list both spellings of her surname. Ann was baptized at Dewlish and the second child in her family with the forename Ann (the first was spelled Anne but she died as a child in 1752). Ann's parents were James Vinsent/Vincent and Ann Moulam/Moulain/Mowlam. They were married 28 Nov 1733 at Dewlish, Dorset. Ann had seven siblings: Sarah 1735, Anne 1737-1752, Mary 1739, Francis 1740, James 1743, John 1745, and Benjamin 1749. All baptized at Dewlish. Their mother Ann Moulam/Moulain/Mowlam was also baptized at Dewlish 16 Dec 1712 and she was buried there circa 1768. Her parents were William Moulan/Moulain/Mowlam and Elizabeth. I have not yet found their marriage although they baptized 8 children at Dewlish but many died as infants including twins baptized in 1719. For a long time I did not have the parents of Ann because I was looking in the wrong place namely Shapwick where one finds the marriage of James Vinsent and Ann Moulam's daughter Ann to John Knight.

My Knight family is actually quite interesting and I will be tracing those two 4x great grandparents to a common ancestor - another case of pedigree collapse in my lines going back. That is to come as I do have two Knight lines.

I do not know anything about the Vinsent/Vincent or the Moulam.Moulain/Mowlam families but suspect they may be French Huguenot. I may pursue that notion at a later date. It is possible that James was the son of an Edward who was himself perhaps the son of Johannis Vincent/Vinsent. The registers do not clarify these entries that others have added to their family trees on My Heritage but I will keep that in the back of my mind. James was buried 20 Jun 1769 at Dewlish with Ann having preceded him in 1768 and also buried at Dewlish.

John Knight (Ann Vinsent's husband) was a bricklayer and also had a property on which he paid tax according to the records held at Find My Past. I have not traced down all of the lines in the family of John Knight and Ann Vinsent  namely Joseph 1785-1785, Eleanor 1786-1870 (my ancestor), Sophia 1789, Martha 1796 and John 1800. John certainly left descendants as he can be found on the census. Eleanor Knight married a distant cousin Ellis Knight and they had 13 children (something my grandfather remembered (a baker's dozen he called their children) and lived first at Spetisbury and later Turnworth. Samuel, their 11th child was my 2x great grandfather and he married Louisa Butt. Their daughter Mary Jane Knight married Edward Blake and they were my great-grandparents.

We visited Turnworth and saw the memorial stone for Samuel and Louisa and also visited the church which was somewhat of an awesome event for me. The skelton key which I held in my hand (opened the Church) was ancient and surely rested in the hands of Samuel at some point in the past. Thomas, Samuel's brother, had been parish clerk for thirty years. I can tell by the records that on occasion Samuel helped him with his tasks. To have touched an object that your ancestor touched is truly an unforgettable experience. Samuel died 12 years after his wife and as I touched the memorial stone I thought of this tall thin white haired man as my father remembered him and likely he too would come and touch the gravestone of his wife (the stone was likely put up for her as the carving was not the same).

Going and visiting the places where your ancestors lived, seeing the house that they lived in and walking the paths that they walked is perhaps one of the most meaningful experiences that I have had doing my genealogical research.

Ancestry for Ann Vincent/Vinsent:

1. Elizabeth BLAKE
2. Ernest Edward George BLAKE (b 20 Aug 1904) - Eastleigh Hampshire England
3. Samuel George Blake (b 10 Feb 1875) - Upper Clatford Hampshire England
4. Maria Jane KNIGHT (b 27 Jan 1849) - Turnworth Dorset England
5. Samuel KNIGHT (b 25 May 1828) - Turnworth Dorset England
6. Eleanor KNIGHT (b 12 Dec 1786) - Spetisbury Dorset England
7. Ann VINCENT (b 26 Oct 1755) - Dewlish Dorset England
8. James VINCENT

1. Ann VINCENT (b 26 Oct 1755) - Dewlish Dorset England
2. Ann MOULAM/MOULAIN/MOWLAM (17 Dec 1712) - Dewlish Dorset England
3. William MOULAM/MOULAIN/MOWLAM

The intent on working through these stories is to see if I can find anything more and definitely I have learned that the name has several possibilities and I have collected a lot of sibling's names. The addition of a parent Edward to James Vincent is interesting and perhaps a Johannis as the father of Edward.

I begin the second quarter of the year with this posting. I have managed to keep up thus far and perhaps I will do the two Knight lines with my next two postings.

Research for the Vincent Family

The Vincent family of Shapwick is still somewhat of a mystery:  I believe that Ann Vincent (married to John Knight and the mother of Eleanor Knight married to Ellis Knight) was born/baptized at Dewlish 26 Oct 1755. If this is correct then her parents were James Vincent and Ann Moulam who married at Dewlish 28 Nov 1733 and Ann must have been one of their last children. Their first daughter named Ann died in 1752.

John Knight and Ann Vincent married 9 Jun 1783 at Shapwick but a check of the parish registers at Shapwick does not reveal a Vincent family although the priest notes that Ann Vincent was of the parish and reports John Knight to be of Spetisbury parish which is correct.

Possible reasons for Ann being in Shapwick (both signed the marriage registration) she was perhaps employed or living with relatives. Her parents were elderly by 1783 as they married in 1733 so both could have been in their early 70s or older if still living in 1783. Finding their burials would be handy and  I did check the parish registers for Shapwick burials but did not find anything between 1750 and 1790. Ann would have been 28 years of age when she married the 26 year old John Knight. Although Dewlish is not close to Spetisbury it is only 3 miles from Milton Abbas, 4 miles from winterbourne Whitchurch, 5 miles from Winterbourne Clenstone where a number of my other relatives lived and in particular only 6 miles from Winterborne Stickland where William Knight and Sarah Ellis were married just eight years earlier. It is their son Ellis who married Eleanor the daughter of John Knight and Ann Vincent.

Another interesting item found whilst searching the Dewlish parish registers was the Wellspring family. Ellis Ellis married Sarah Wellspring 7 Mar 1737 at Winterborne Stickland and I have not yet discovered the parents of Sarah Wellspring.

My next research day I will continue to hunt out references to the Vincent family. I shall perhaps check My Heritage and Genes Reunited for matches and email these if found.