Will of Nathaniel Blake, Carpenters Second Mate on board the Ship of Vessell called the Osterley in the service of the honourable the East India Company - The National Archives PROB 11/900, probated 3 Jul 1764

Mary Blake married John Booker 13 Sep 1750 at St Mary Magdalene Old Fish Street, London, England. Nathaniel mentions in his will that his mother was married to John Booker and that they lived in Croydon, Surrey and John Booker was a carpenter.

Nathanel Blake was baptized 23 May 1733 at Croydon St John, Surrey, England and born 6 May 1733 at Croydon son of Thomas and Mary Blake. Thomas Blake married Mary Lane 2 May 1732 at Saint John the Baptist Croydon, Surrey.

A Thomas Blake was baptized 13 Mar 1714 at Bletchingley St Mary, Surrey and born 6 Mar 1714 son of John and Elizabeth Blake. There are a number of possible marriages for a John Blake to Elizabeth.

A website discussing the voyages of the Osterley, originally a merchant ship which was commissioned by the Navy in 1761.

http://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/eicah/osterley-park-middlesex/osterley-case-study-winds-of-trade/

Osterley I[3]

Owner: Francis Child III

Launched 1758

Principal Managing Owner: Charles Raymond

Voyages:

1)      1757/8 China

2)      1760/1 Benkulen, Madras and Bengal

3)      1765/6 Bombay and China

4)      1768/9 Madras and China

Like his father Samuel, Francis Child III invested in an EIC ship, the Osterley, in 1757/8 whose managing owner was Charles Raymond. [4] This ship, Osterley I, sailed four voyages around to Sumatra, around the Indian coast, St Helena and China between1758-1770.

Its Captain received permission to seize pirates and attack the French in 1757 and the ship seems to have taken on board a French prisoner of war whose death was reported a few years later. In 1761 under Captain Frederick Vincent the ship was commissioned by the Navy to assist a beleaguered Fort in Indonesia.[5] He seems to have stayed on to govern the Company Fort at Benkulen on the Sumatran coast for a while before returning to Gravesend in the following February where the Court Minutes record payment of £2000, £9000, and £3000 to the owners of the Osterley between April and December 1760 for freight and demurrage. After its first voyage before returning to Gravesend in February 1760 it was  ‘…met by many boats, such as the Providence which were loaded with the Hon Company’s goods, tea, Chinaware, Iron and some Chinawares.’[6]After this voyage in that December it was ordered that the Committee of Treasury be desired to ship 5 chests of foreign silver for China to the ship Osterley (and other similar ships) for Bencoolan (Benkulen).[7] At Benkulen the Osterley, like other Company ships, was engaged in buying large quantities of pepper.[8]
Fort St George on the Coromandel Coast. Belonging to the East India Company of England

Figure 9: Fort St George on the Coromandel Coast. Belonging to the East India Company of England. 1754, Ryne, Jan Van, Sayer, 255 x 398 mm. Robert, National Maritime Museum, PAD1845.

Osterley I’s final voyage from Madras to China provides a good example of the East India Company’s dealings in Asia. Harbour logs from the Captain Francis Fortescue’s journal for Osterley I indicate that like most East Indiamen, it sailed along with other companion ships (Pigott, Thames, Ankerwick, Lincoln, Triton, Nottingham, Havannah, Hector, Ashburnham) as well as country vessels. Osterley I sailed for Madras on 31 January 1769. (See Figure 10: Fort St. George on the Coromandel Coast) In June while on its journey from the Goan port of Cabo de Rama (Cape Rama) in northwest India to Cape Comorin in the southernmost tip of India, the ship picked up an important consignment of elephant bone (ivory). On 12 July 1769 while docked close to Madras, the ship received redwood and cotton on behalf of the East India Company. These goods were usually brought to the main ship on smaller country ships, which did the rounds from ports and factories. The ship then sailed towards Bengal and stowed additional loads of five hundred bales of cotton and thirty tons of redwood. It was only in October that the ship reached Whampoa, through the Malacca Straits.

Once near Canton, much of the cotton and redwood as well as the ship’s cargo of lead was unloaded and the ship ‘…received on board 90 chests of china of the hon’ble comps [Honorable Company’s], and 62 Private trade.’ It is remarkable that the number of chests containing porcelain was nearly two-thirds of those bought on behalf of the Company. This also suggests that Fortescue was acting on behalf of several private clients one of whom may have been Samuel Child’s son Robert Child (since Francis III had died in 1763) under whom many restorations and refurbishments occurred at Osterley Park. Between November and December Osterley I stacked up hundreds of chests of different varieties of tea such as bohea, souchong, congo and nanheen. Osterley’s journey back in January 1770 was its last as in its next incarnation, the ship changed owners.

Notes

[3] This information is summarized from British Library, LMAR 400 series A through E.

[4] According to a Letter of Marque traced by Georgina Green, the owners of Osterley I in 1757/58 were Sir Richard Lyttleton, Francis Child, Jonathan Ewer and Charles Raymond. For further information on Charles Raymond, see the Valentine Mansion Case Study.

[5] National Archives  DD/N/223c/26 & 27  6 Sept. 1762 & 12 Oct. 1762.

[6] BL IOR L/Mar/B400A-E

[7] Court Minutes of the EIC 1760-61 B 76.

[8] BL IOR L/MAR/B/400B-C, Journal 23 Nov 1760-2. The Journal entry for 30 May 1762 records 595 bags of pepper; on 31 May and 1 June, 719 bags of pepper and 612 bags of pepper from the ship Deligence on account of the EIC.

Transcriber: Elizabeth Kipp
Recorded: 15 May 2017
Source:  The National Archives, PROB 11/900
Name of testator: Nathaniel Blake, Carpenters Second Mate
Place:  on board the Ship or Vessell called the Osterley in the service of the honourable the East India Company
Type of Record: Will
Dated: 16 Dec 1760, probated 3 Jul 1764

[In margin]: Nathl Blake

1    In the Name of God Amen
2    I Nathaniel Blake Carpenters Second Mate on board the Ship or
3    Vessell called the Osterley in the Service of the honourable the East
4    India Company whereof Captain Vincent is Commander now Outward
5    Board to Bencoolen and China and not knowing how it may
6    please God to deal with me But Considering the uncertainty of
7    this present Transitory life do make and declare these presents to
8    contain my last Will and Testament in manner and Form
9    following (that is to say) First and principally I commend my
10    Soul into the hands of Almighty God hoping to be saved through
11    the Merit death Passion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ my
12    only Saviour and my body to the Sea and as for my Estate
13    Real and personal I dispose thereof in manner following (that is
11    to say) all such Wages Sum and Sums of Money Lands Tenements
15    Goods Chattles and Estate whatsoever wherewith at the time of my
16    decease I shall be possessed or invested or which shall then belong or
17    of right appertain unto me I do give devise and bequeath unto
18    my dear Mother Mary the Wife of John Booker of Croydon in
19    the County of Surry Carpenter whom I do hereby Nominate and
20    appoint Sole Executrix of this my last Will and Testament and I
21    do revoke all former Wills and deeds of Gift be me at any time
22    heretofore made and do ordain these presents to stand and be for
23    and as my last Will and Testament for ever Witness my hand and
24    Seal this Nineteenth day of December in the year of our Lord
25    One thousand seven hundred and sixty Nathaniel Blake Signed
26    sealed published and declared by the said Testator Nathaniel
27    Blake as and for his last Will and Testament in the presence
28    of us who at his request and in his presence have hereunto
29    Subscribed our Names as Witnesses thereto Elizth Lewen Elizth
30    Haydon Jas Lewen
31    This Will was proved at London before the Worshipfull
32    William Compton doctor of Laws Surrogate of the Right
33    Worshipfull George Hay doctor of Laws Master
34    Keeper or Commissary of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury
35    Lawfully Constituted on the third day of July in the Year of Our
36    Lord one thousand seven hundred and sixty four by the Oath of
37    Mary Booker (Wife of John Booker) the Mother and Sole
38    Executrix named in the said Will to whom Administration was
39    granted of all and Singualr the Goods Chattels and Credits of
40    the deceased she having been first Sworn duly to Administer

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.

BIFHSGO - British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa - Dr. Jonathan Vance

We were treated to a rather excellent set of lectures this morning at the BIFHSGO meeting.

Dr. Vance from my alma mater (Western University formerly University of Western Ontario) gave two interesting talks on soldiers of the First World War. Principally looking at the Attestation Papers but also the full record as needed, he is examining the makeup of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) which I rather found very interesting as I have done some tracing particularly of French Canadians in the time period just prior to the First World War. What surprised me was the number of Canadians (particularly French Canadians) who could be found in New England and the midwestern States of Michigan and Wisconsin. I didn't get a chance to ask my question during the question period but did later.

Dr. Vance had talked about the American cohort in the CEF possibly being as high as 20% but I wondered if in his analysis of this particular cohort he would separate out the Canadian born and those born of Canadian parents who were in these border states as my thought is that they would represent a large contingent of this American cohort. I am looking forward to his eventually publishing his paper(s) on this particular subject.

Kudos to BIFHSO for a very good speaker especially just prior to Remembrance Day here in Canada. This Remembrance day will be especially poignant given the recent murders of two of our soldiers - one out shopping (Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent) and the other standing guard at our National War Memorial (Corporal Nathan Cirillo). Undoubtedly the most sacred ground in Canada, our National War Memorial is the place where we especially remember our war dead particularly in this year from the First World War where nearly 68,000 Canadians lost their lives and another over 200,000 injured. For a young country of just 7.2 million at the 1911 Census, this loss of young men was enormous and its impact on Canada following the war was great.

We walked to the War Memorial after the meeting as we have not yet been downtown since the murder of Corporal Cirillo. There were a number of people gathered there and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is becoming covered by flowers once again. God bless our soldiers and keep them safe. 

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.

Knight family at Spetisbury, Winterborne Stickland, Turnworth Dorset and Dorset Parish Registers

The last research day on the Knight families was 25 Jul 2011:

http://kippeeb.blogspot.ca/2011/07/knight-families-at-spetisbury.html

although there have been several posts on the Knight family due to emails received from descendants of this family in Dorset.

I planned to look at the Dorset parish registers that have come up on Ancestry in particular Spetisbury, Winterborne Stickland and Turnworth. Today I did Spetisbury from 1780 to 1812 and will return to work on Spetisbury from 1700 to 1779 on the next research day.

Spetisbury:
Baptisms
Henry son of William and Sarah Knight baptized 26 May 1812
Samuel son of Ellis and Eleanor Knight 8 Nov 1811
William son of William and Eliz Knight 7 Oct 1810
George son of Henry and Anne Knight 1 Oct 1810
Mary Anne daughter of Ellis and Elianor Knight 26 Nov 1809
George son of William and Sarah Knight 20 Aug 1809
 Jane daughter of Henry and Ann Knight 30 Oct 1806
George son of Ellis and Eleanor Knight 28 Jun 1806
David son of William and Elizabeth Knight 16 Aug 1805
Hannah daughter of William and Sarah Knight 22 Mar 1807
Elizabeth daughter of Henry and Ann Knight 25 Feb 1807
Ellis son of Ellis and Eleanor Knight 27 Jul 1806
Miriam daughter of William and Elizabeth Knight baptized 5 May 1805
Eliza daughter of Henry and Ann Knight 21 Oct 1804
Charles son of William and Sarah Knight 12 Jan 1804
Mary Ann daughter of Henry and Ann Knight 26 Dec 1802
James son of William and Sarah Knight 11 May 1802
Henrietta daughter of Henry and Ann Knight
John son of John and Ann Knight 30 Nov 1800
William son of William and Sarah Knight 22 Sep 1799
Benjamin son of Henry and Ann Knight 22 Mar 1799
Henry son of John and Elizabeth Knight 25 Nov 1798
Joseph son of Thomas and Ann Knight 29 Apr 1798
Martha daughter of John and Ann Knight 8 Oct 1797
Jemima daughter of William and Anne Knight 2 Nov 1796
Maria daughter of John and Anne Knight 1 Jan 1796
Anne daughter of Thomas and Anne Knight 6 Dec 1795
George son of Sarah Knight 4 Oct 1795
Henry son of John and Eliz Knight 17 Sep 1795
James son of William and Anne Knight 6 Jul 1794
Harriet daughter of John and Eliz: Knight 3 Mar 1794
Mary daughter of Thomas and Ann Knight 30 Jan 1794
Mary Ann daughter of John and Elizabeth Knight 7 Oct 1793
Mary Anne daughter of Jo and Eliz Knight 9 Aug 1792
Charlotte daughter of John and Elizabeth Knight 3 Jun 1792
Elizabeth Ann daughter of William and Ann Knight 16 Oct 1791
Jane daughter of John and Elizabeth Knight 21 Apr 1791
Henry son of John and Elizth Knight 1 Dec 1789
Sophia daughter of John and Anne Knight 25 Sep 1789
David son of John and Elizth Knight 16 Dec 1787
Eleanor daughter of John and Ann Knight 12 Dec 1786
Jane daughter of John and Elizabeth Knight 1 Jan 1786
Joseph son of John and Ann Knight 24 Aug 1785
Sarah daughter of John and Elizabeth Knight 2 May 1784


Burials
William son of William and Eliz Knight 8 Oct 1810
Martha Knight 1 Jan 1806
Miriam Knight 19 Oct 1803
James son of William Knight 14 Sep 1801
Charles son of William Knight 14 Sep 1801
Elizabeth Knight 10 Jun 1801
Henry son of Elizabeth Knight 23 Feb 1801
John Knight 15 Feb 1799
Ann wife of William Knight 28 May 1798
Harriet daughter of John and Elizth Knight 15 Jan 1797
Henry son of John and Elizth Knight 5 Jan 1797
Thomas Knight Parish Clerk 28 Nov 1794
Henry son of John and Elizth Knight 21 Apr 1791
Ann widow of Henry Knight 21 Jun 1788
Henry Knight 2 Jun 1788
Jane daughter of John and Elizabeth Knight 31 Jan 1787
Mary Knight widow 16 Aug 1786
David son of John and Elizabeth Knight 19 Jan 1786
Joseph son of Jo and Elizth Knight 4 Sep 1785
David son of Henry and Ann Knight 25 Dec 1777
Henry son of Henry and Ann Knight 23 Sep 1773


Marriages
No. 94 Ellis Knight of this Parish and Eleanor Knight of this Parish were Married in this Church by Banns this 29 Day of May in the Year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Four by me Th: Toppings Clerk. This Marriage was solemnized between us, The Mark X of Ellis Knight, Eleanor Knight in the Presence of William Knight and Mary Elford (my 3x great grandparents - Ellis and Eleanor Knight)

No. 93 William Knight of this parish Widower and Elizabeth Mitchel were married in this Church by Banns this eighth day of April in the year One Thousand eight Hundred and four by me Ed Binfield Curate. This marriage was solemnized between us, William Knight, The X Mark of Elizth Mitchel. In the presence of John Banting and Henry Knight.

William Knight of this parish widower and Sarah Loader of the same place were married in this Church by Banns this third day of November in the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety eight by me Thomas Rackett Rector. This marriage was solemnized between us Willian Knight and Sarah Loader In the Presence of Tho[ma]s Loader and Henry Knight.

 No. 16 William Knight of this parish Bachelor and Anne Ballet of the same place spinster married in this church by Banns this twenty third day of October in the year One thousand seven hundred and eighty six by me Thomas Rackett Rector This Marriage was solemnized between us William Knight, Ann Ballet. In the Presence of Thomas Knight, George Ballet

Banns
Henry Knight and Ann Holloway (married 13 Apr 1799 at Silton, Dorset)
John Knight and Elizabeth Barnes (Kingston)
John Knight and Anne Vincent (Shapwick) (married 3 Jun 1783 at Shapwick, Dorset)

On the previous research day I did build families with the material but will wait until I have made all the extractions from all the parishes before redoing. It will be interesting if I can solve any mysteries with this information. I am confident going back to Henry Knight and Mary Oliver as Eleanor's parents but is William also a descendant of Henry Knight (father of Ellis)?

Will of John Buller Esquire of Keverall - The National Archives 11/463/333, probated 31 Mar 1701

The testator John Buller was the eldest son of Johannis-1 Buller (will probated 13 Apr 1716 and was the last one blogged) and he died of smallpox in 1701 and his son was John Francis Buller (hence son to the present testator).

It is surprising that he wrote his will in 1697 as he was in good health and relatively young. One senses a domineering father and his will already published attests to this fact. Basically he has given  his father carte blanc to raise his child and to give to his father the right to appoint guardians even whilst his wife Mary still lives. Perhaps Mary  has been somewhat independent though as the father states in his will that the Executors should watch to make sure that Mary and her children are managing and not to intervene unless they see a need.

Transcriber: Elizabeth Kipp
Recorded: 3 Feb 2013
Source: The National Archives, PROB 11/463/333
Testator: John Buller Esquire
Place: Keverall, Cornwall, England
Date of document: 20 Feb 1697, probated 31 Mar 1701
Read: Electronic copy images
Document quality: 18th century English, legible copy

[Margin]: T[esta]m[ent]
[Margin]: John Buller
[Margin]: Arm:

1    In the name of God Amen
2    I John Buller the younger late of Keverall in the County of
3    Cornwall Esq[uie]r being in perfect health of body and understanding of mind
4    but with all considering the certainty of death and uncertainty of humane
5    life and hereby revokeing all former Wills by me at any time heretofore
6    made doe make and ordaine this my last Will and Testament in manner
7    and form following In the first place I comitt my soule to Almighty God
8    my Creator and Redeemer And my body to the earth which I desire to
9    have buryed in the parish church of Morvall where I was borne and where
10    my Mother and her Ancestors lie interred Item I give unto the poore of
11    the parish of Morvall Ten pounds And to the poore of the parish of St
12    Martins by Looe Ten pounds Item I give to such of my servants as shall
13    be and remaine in my service at the time of my death ten pounds apeice All
14    the rest and residue of my goods chattells and personall estate I give and
15    bequeath unto my Father John Buller of Morvall Esq[uie]r Whom I doe
16    hereby make appoint and declare Executor of this my last Will and
17    Testament hopeing and trusting that he will take care to have my debts
18    paid and satisfyed I doe likewise give devise bequeath and com[m]itt the
19    custody guardianship tuition and education of my three children unto my
20    said Father till they shall severally and respectively attaine to the age of one
21    and twenty yeares my will and meaneing alwayes being that though my
22    Father should happen to dye during the minority of my Children yet the
    [Page 2]
23    Custody and Guardianship of them shall goe be remaine and belong unto
24    the Executors or Administrators of my Father till they shall severally and
25    respectively accomplish the age of one and twenty yeares In witness whereof
26    I have hereunto sett my hand and seale the twentyeth day of February
27    in the yeare of our Lord One thousand six hundred ninety and seaven
28    1697 John Buller Signed sealed published and declared in the presence
29    of us who hereunto subscribed our names in the sight and presence of the
30    Testator W: Code Shad: Vincent Thom: Tonkin

Descendants of Henry Knight of Spetisbury, Dorset, England

Whilst glancing at my blog today I noticed that the Knight family in Dorset is attracting some attention. I did eventually put together some of the OPC records for Spetisbury and the Knight family there and it does appear that My Ellis Knight and Eleanor Knight were cousins as my grandfather had mentioned. They were not, however, first cousins. I have extracted from legacy the narrative descendant description for Henry Knight at Spetisbury as follows (the information on Ellis Knight and Eleanor Knight is duplicated because they share the same great great grandparents Henry Knight and Mary Oliver). Having posted this I now realize that the records prior to 1813 are now up on Ancestry and decided to spend a bit of time looking at that although do not really have any spare time but I will make changes in the following:

Descendants of Henry Knight

Henry Knight [16859].

Henry married Mary Oliver [16860] [MRIN: 5858] on 25 Dec 1727 in Spetisbury, Dorset, England.  He was Parish Clerk at Spetisbury (interestingly enough one of his great grandsons was Parish Clerk at Turnworth for 30 years). They had 15 children with the following reaching adulthood: Henry, Thomas, William and David.

David Knight [16857] was christened on 2 May 1736 in Spetisbury, Dorset, England.

David married Martha Butler [16858] [MRIN: 5857] on 17 Feb 1756 in Spetisbury, Dorset, England.  They had several children and I will add the details later: John.

John Knight [526] was born in 1757 in Spetisbury, Dorset, England, was christened on 2 Oct 1757 in Spetisbury, Dorset, England, and was buried on 17 Nov 1826 in Spetisbury, Dorset, England.

Noted events in his life were:

•  He appears on the Spetisbury Militia List 1787 DRO MIC/R/500 in 1787 in Spetisbury, Dorset, England. John Knight listed as a bricklayer with one child.

John married Ann Vincent [527] [MRIN: 158], daughter of James Vincent [16861] and Ann Moulam [16862], on 9 Jun 1783 in Shapwick, Dorset, England. Ann was born in Oct 1755 in Dewlish, Dorset, England and was christened on 26 Oct 1755 in Dewlish, Dorset, England. They had five children: Joseph, Eleanor, Sophia, Martha and John.

Marriage Notes:  Parish Records Collection - marriage - Find My Past

Day: 9
Month: Jun
Year: 1783
Groom Forenames: John
Groom Surname: KNIGHT
Groom notes:
Grooms parish: of Spetisbury
Bride Forenames: Ann
Bride Surname: VINCENT
Bride notes:
Brides parish: By licence:
Place: Shapwick
Dedication:
County: Dorset
Country: England
Witnesses: Henry WHITE, Malby CALCOTT

Joseph Knight [16863] was born in Aug 1785 in Spetisbury, Dorset, England and was christened on 24 Aug 1785 in Spetisbury, Dorset, England.

Eleanor Knight [17]1 was born in Dec 1786 in Spetisbury, Dorset, England,1 was christened on 12 Dec 1786 in Spetisbury, Dorset, England, died on 25 Sep 1870 in Turnworth, Dorset, England aged 83, and was buried on 28 Sep 1870 in Turnworth, Dorset, England.

Noted events in her life were:

•  1851 Census: Census 1851, Jun 1851, Turnworth, Dorset, England.4 Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK, Dorset County, Blandford RD, Turnworth Village, Class: HO107; Piece: 1853; Folio: 5; Page: 3; Household schedule 11, Samuel Knight family, GSU roll: 221000.

  Elena Knight   Age:67    Estimated birth year:abt 1784   Relation:Mother    Gender:Female   Where born:Spetisbury, Dorset, England     Civil parish:Turnworth    County/Island:Dorset    Country:England        Registration district:Blandford    Sub-registration district:Milton Abbas    ED, institution, or vessel:1      Household schedule number:11  Household Members:Name AgeElena Knight  67 Luisa Knight  22 Maria Knight  1 Samuel Knight  23
•  1861 Census: Census 1861, Jun 1861, Turnworth, Dorset, England.5 Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK, Dorset county, Blandford RD, Turnworth village, Class: RG9; Piece: 1332; Folio: 4; Page: 1; Household schedule 5, Samuel Knight family, GSU roll: 542797.

  Ellen Knight   Age:76    Estimated birth year:abt 1785   Relation:Boarder    Gender:Female   Where born:Spettisbury, Dorset, England     Civil parish:Turnworth    County/Island:Dorset    Country:England        Registration district:Blandford    Sub-registration district:Milton Abbas    Household Members:Name AgeElizabeth Knight  9 Ellen Knight  76 Henry Knight  3 Louisa Knight  34 Maria Knight  11 Mary Ann Knight  7 Samuel Knight  34

Eleanor married Ellis Knight [16]6 [MRIN: 11], son of William Knight [518] and Sarah Ellis [519], on 29 May 1804 in Spetisbury, Dorset, England. Ellis was born on 17 Jan 1783 in Winterborne Stickland, Dorset, England, was christened on 17 Jan 1783 in Winterborne Stickland, Dorset, England, died on 24 Jan 1851 in Turnworth, Dorset, England aged 68, and was buried on 26 Jan 1851 in Turnworth, Dorset, England. They had 13 children: Ellis, George, Mary Ann, Samuel, Maria, Henry, Elizabeth, Edward, John, Thomas, Samuel, Martha and George.

Noted events in his life were:

•  1841 Census: Census 1841, 1841, Winterborne Stickland, Dorset, England.10 Census Returns of England and Wales, 1841. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK, Dorset County, Blandford RD, Turnworth Village, Class: HO107; Piece 290; Book: 7; Civil Parish: Turnworth; County: Dorset; Enumeration District: 5; Folio: ; Page: 15; Line: 15; Ellis Knight household, GSU roll: 241341.
  Elles Kinght[Ellis Knight]     Age:60    Estimated birth year:abt 1781   Gender:Male    Where born:Dorset, England     Civil parish:Turnworth    Hundred:Cranborne    County/Island:Dorset    Country:England        Registration district:Blandford    Sub-registration district:Milton Abbas     Household Members:Name AgeEdward Kinght  20 Eleanor Kinght  35 Elles Kinght  60 George Kinght  11 John Kinght  15 Martha Kinght  12 Samuel Kinght  14 Thomas Kinght  15   Name, age, occupation, born in Dorset
William Knight, 60, Ag Lab, yes
Elias Knight, 60, Ag Lab, yes
Ellen Knight, 20, -, yes  (age should be 55)
Martha Knight, 1, -, yes (age should be 11)


•  Family Lore: Discussion with Grandfather Samuel Blake, Grandpa mentioned one day when we were talking that one of his great grandparents (and he actually meant great great grandfather) had had 13 children (a baker's dozen and the conversation had resulted from a discussion of what a baker's dozen is!). Ellis and Eleanor did indeed have 13 children.

Sophia Knight [16866] was born in Sep 1789 in Spetisbury, Dorset, England and was christened on 25 Sep 1789 in Spetisbury, Dorset, England.

Martha Knight [16865] was born in Oct 1796 in Spetisbury, Dorset, England and was christened on 8 Oct 1796 in Spetisbury, Dorset, England.

John Knight [16864] was born in Nov 1800 in Spetisbury, Dorset, England and was christened on 30 Nov 1800 in Spetisbury, Dorset, England.

William Knight [16886] was christened on 6 Jan 1733/34 in Spetisbury, Dorset, England. The original registers do not appear to help me with this William and I will have a longer look in January

William married and had one son William (this information doesn't have a reference and must check to see where I obtained it).

William Knight [518] was born in Winterborne Stickland, Dorset, England, was christened in Winterborne Stickland, Dorset, England, and was buried on 4 Mar 1827 in Winterborne Stickland, Dorset, England.

William married Sarah Ellis [519] [MRIN: 155], daughter of Ellis Ellis [3005] and Sarah Wellspring [3006], on 7 Aug 1775 in Winterborne Stickland, Dorset, England. Sarah was born in Jun 1756 in Winterborne Stickland, Dorset, England, was christened on 5 Aug 1756 in Winterborne Stickland, Dorset, England, died on 9 Jun 1844 in Winterborne Stickland, Dorset, England aged 88, and was buried on 13 Jun 1844 in Winterborne Stickland, Dorset, England. They had eight children: William, Elias, Ellis, George, Samuel, Stephen, Sarah and Joseph.

Marriage Notes:  Parish Records Collection - marriage

Day: 7
Month: Aug
Year: 1775
Groom Forenames: William
Groom Surname: KNIGHT
Bride Forenames: Sarah
Bride Surname: ELLIS
Brides parish: By licence:
Place: Winterborne Stickland
Dedication:
County: Dorset
Country: England
Witnesses: Henry HAIN, Thomas BENCH (x).

William Knight [529] was born on 15 Jul 1776 in Winterborne Stickland, Dorset, England, was christened on 21 Jul 1776 in Winterborne Stickland, Dorset, England, and was buried on 22 Sep 1841 in Winterborne Stickland, Dorset, England.

Elias Knight [530] was born on 22 Feb 1779 in Winterborne Stickland, Dorset, England, was christened on 24 Feb 1779 in Winterborne Stickland, Dorset, England, and died on 24 Feb 1779 in Winterborne Stickland, Dorset, England.

Ellis Knight [16]6 was born on 17 Jan 1783 in Winterborne Stickland, Dorset, England, was christened on 17 Jan 1783 in Winterborne Stickland, Dorset, England, died on 24 Jan 1851 in Turnworth, Dorset, England aged 68, and was buried on 26 Jan 1851 in Turnworth, Dorset, England

Noted events in his life were:

•  1841 Census: Census 1841, 1841, Winterborne Stickland, Dorset, England.10 Census Returns of England and Wales, 1841. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK, Dorset County, Blandford RD, Turnworth Village, Class: HO107; Piece 290; Book: 7; Civil Parish: Turnworth; County: Dorset; Enumeration District: 5; Folio: ; Page: 15; Line: 15; Ellis Knight household, GSU roll: 241341.
  Elles Kinght[Ellis Knight]     Age:60    Estimated birth year:abt 1781   Gender:Male    Where born:Dorset, England     Civil parish:Turnworth    Hundred:Cranborne    County/Island:Dorset    Country:England        Registration district:Blandford    Sub-registration district:Milton Abbas     Household Members:Name AgeEdward Kinght  20 Eleanor Kinght  35 Elles Kinght  60 George Kinght  11 John Kinght  15 Martha Kinght  12 Samuel Kinght  14 Thomas Kinght  15   Name, age, occupation, born in Dorset
William Knight, 60, Ag Lab, yes
Elias Knight, 60, Ag Lab, yes
Ellen Knight, 20, -, yes  (age should be 55)
Martha Knight, 1, -, yes (age should be 11)


•  Family Lore: Discussion with Grandfather Samuel Blake. Grandpa mentioned one day when we were talking that one of his great grandparents (and he actually meant great great grandfather) had had 13 children (a baker's dozen and the conversation had resulted from a discussion of what a baker's dozen is!). Ellis and Eleanor did indeed have 13 children.

Ellis married Eleanor Knight [17]1 [MRIN: 11], daughter of John Knight [526] and Ann Vincent [527], on 29 May 1804 in Spetisbury, Dorset, England.7 Eleanor was born in Dec 1786 in Spetisbury, Dorset, England,1 was christened on 12 Dec 1786 in Spetisbury, Dorset, England, died on 25 Sep 1870 in Turnworth, Dorset, England aged 83, and was buried on 28 Sep 1870 in Turnworth, Dorset, England.  They had 13 children: Ellis, George, Mary Ann, Samuel, Maria, Henry, Elizabeth, Edward, John, Thomas, Samuel, Martha and George.

Noted events in her life were:

•  1851 Census: Census 1851, Jun 1851, Turnworth, Dorset, England.4 Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK, Dorset County, Blandford RD, Turnworth Village, Class: HO107; Piece: 1853; Folio: 5; Page: 3; Household schedule 11, Samuel Knight family, GSU roll: 221000.

  Elena Knight   Age:67    Estimated birth year:abt 1784   Relation:Mother    Gender:Female   Where born:Spetisbury, Dorset, England     Civil parish:Turnworth    County/Island:Dorset    Country:England        Registration district:Blandford    Sub-registration district:Milton Abbas    ED, institution, or vessel:1      Household schedule number:11  Household Members:Name AgeElena Knight  67 Luisa Knight  22 Maria Knight  1 Samuel Knight  23
•  1861 Census: Census 1861, Jun 1861, Turnworth, Dorset, England.5 Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK, Dorset county, Blandford RD, Turnworth village, Class: RG9; Piece: 1332; Folio: 4; Page: 1; Household schedule 5, Samuel Knight family, GSU roll: 542797.

  Ellen Knight   Age:76    Estimated birth year:abt 1785   Relation:Boarder    Gender:Female   Where born:Spettisbury, Dorset, England     Civil parish:Turnworth    County/Island:Dorset    Country:England        Registration district:Blandford    Sub-registration district:Milton Abbas    ED, institution, or vessel:7      Household schedule number:5  Household Members:Name AgeElizabeth Knight  9 Ellen Knight  76 Henry Knight  3 Louisa Knight  34 Maria Knight  11 Mary Ann Knight  7 Samuel Knight  34

George Knight [531] was born in 1785 and was christened on 6 Mar 1785 in Winterborne Stickland, Dorset, England.

Samuel Knight [532] was born in 1788 and was christened on 4 May 1788 in Winterborne Stickland, Dorset, England.

Stephen Knight [533] was born in 1790 in Winterborne Stickland, Dorset, England, was christened on 16 Nov 1790 in Winterborne Stickland, Dorset, England, and died after 1881.Stephen married Mary Ruth [Knight] [3830] [MRIN: 1052] before 1818. Mary was born in 1794 in Wallop, Hampshire, England and died before 1881. They had seven children: Joseph, William, Martha, Stephen, Sarah, Eliza Amelia and Stephen.

Sarah Knight [534] was born in 1792 and was christened on 27 Dec 1792 in Winterborne Stickland, Dorset, England.Sarah married George Morris [11916] [MRIN: 3428] on 1 Mar 1824 in Winterborne Stickland, Dorset, England. George was born circa 1789 in Winterborne Stickland, Dorset, England. They had three children: Samuel, Thomas and Hannah.

Joseph Knight [536] was born in 1799, was christened on 9 May 1799 in Winterborne Stickland, Dorset, England, and was buried on 16 Mar 1835 in Winterborne Stickland, Dorset, England

Knight families at Spetisbury

Following yesterday's revelations on the Knight families at Spetisbury I decided to separate the families out from the transcription of the Knight family in the Spetisbury Parish Registers. I did not actually do this transcription but hope to be able to see the Spetisbury Parish Registers once Ancestry has added the earlier Dorset records to their site.

Using the extracted Parish Register information for Spetisbury and the OPC Dorset website for earlier marriages in the Knight family there I will build the family groupings.

Henry Knight married Mary Oliver 25 Dec 1727 at Spetisbury

Thomas Knight 
Henry Knight
David Knight baptized 2 May 1736

Henry Knight (Junior)  married Ann Holloway 6 Jun 1754 (father Henry Knight)
(data likely missing)
Henry Knight baptized 21 Mar 1764; buried 20 Sep 1773
Sarah Knight baptized 2 Feb 1766
Elizabeth Knight baptized 24 Feb 1768; buried 26 Feb 1768
David Knight baptized 20 May 1770
Henry Knight baptized 3 Apr 1774
David Knight baptized 27 Dec 1777

David Knight married Martha Butler 17 Feb 1756 (father Henry Knight)
John Knight baptized 2 Oct 1757
(Data likely missing)
William Knight baptized 5 Feb 1764
Thomas Knight baptized 13 Dec 1772
Henry Knight baptized 21 Nov 1773
Mary Knight baptized 26 Jan 1777
George Knight baptized 1 Oct 1778

Thomas Knight married Martha
Henry Knight baptized 26 Jan 1777
George Knight baptized 1 Oct 1778

John Knight married Elizabeth
Joseph Knight baptized ?; buried 4 Sep 1785
David Knight baptized 2 May 1784; buried 19 Jan 1786
Jane Knight baptized 1 Jan 1786; buried 31 Jan 1787
David Knight baptized 16 Dec 1787
Henry Knight baptized 1 Dec 1789; buried 21 Apr 1791
Jane Knight baptized 21 Apr 1791
Charlotte Knight baptized 3 Jun 1792
Mary Ann Knight baptized 7 Oct 1792
Harriet Knight baptized 3 Mar 1794; buried 13 Jan 1796
Henry Knight baptized 17 Sep 1795; buried 5 Jan 1796
Henry Knight baptized 25 Sep 1798


John Knight  married Ann Vincent 9 Jun 1783 (at Shapwick)

Joseph Knight baptized 24 Aug 1785
Eleanor Knight baptized 12 Dec 1786
Sophia Knight baptized 25 Sep 1789
Martha Knight baptized 8 Oct 1796
Maria Knight baptized Jan 1797 ?
John Knight baptized 30 Nov 1800

William Knight married Ann Ballet 23 Oct 1786 (Thomas Knight witness)
Charles Knight baptized 28 Jun 1789
Elizabeth Anne baptized 16 Oct 1791
James Knight baptized 3 Jul 1794
Jemima Knight baptized 13 Nov 1797

Thomas Knight married Elizabeth
Mary Ann Knight baptized 3 Jun 1792

Thomas Knight married Ann
Mary Knight baptized 30 Jan 1794
Ann Knight baptized 15 Dec 1795
Joseph Knight baptized 29 Apr 1798

William Knight (widower) married Sarah Loader 3 Nov 1798 (Henry Knight witness)
William Knight baptized 22 Sep 1799
James Knight baptized 11 May 1802
Hannah Knight baptized 22 Mar 1807
George Knight baptized 20 Aug 1809
Harry Knight baptized 24 May 1812

Henry Knight married Ann Holloway 13 Apr 1799
Benjamin Knight baptized 22 Mar 1799
Henrietta Knight baptized 11 Jan 1801
Mary Ann Knight baptized 26 Dec 1802
Eliza Knight baptized 21 Oct 1804
Eliz Knight baptized 25 Feb 1807
Jane Knight baptized 30 Oct 1808
George Knight baptized 1 Oct 1810

William Knight (widower) married Elizabeth Mitchell 8 Apr 1804 (Henry Knight witness)
David Knight baptized 16 Aug 1807
William Knight baptized 8 Oct 1810; buried 8 Oct 1810


Ellis Knight married Eleanor Knight 29 May 1804 (William Knight witness)
Ellis Knight baptized 27 Jul 1806
George Knight baptized 28 Jun 1808
Mary Ann Knight baptized 26 Nov 1809
Samuel Knight baptized 8 Nov 1811; buried 14 Jul 1823 (at Turnworth)
Maria Knight baptized 16 Feb 1814
Henry Knight baptized 28 Jan 1816
Elizabeth Knight baptized 30 Aug 1818 (at Turnworth)
Edward Knight baptized 12 Nov 1820 (at Turnworth); buried 8 Nov 1841 (at Turnworth)
John Knight baptized 18 May 1823 (at Turnworth)
Thomas Knight baptized 24 Apr 1825 (at Turnworth)
Samuel Knight baptized 25 May 1828 (at Turnworth and my 2x great grandfather)
Martha Knight baptized 21 Nov 1830 (at Turnworth)
George Knight b c 1831 (at Turnworth)

From the Militia Rolls of 1787 at Spetisbury there are the following Knight males listed:

John KNIGHT  bricklayer  1 child

John  KNIGHT  ?servant, bricklayer
   
Willm.  KNIGHT  bricklayer
   
There are two John Knight families at Spetisbury in 1787. John Knight married to Ann Vincent has two children (Eleanor was born at the end of 1786) and John Knight married to Elizabeth has buried all of their children with one born near the end of 1787. More evidence would be nice but it would appear perhaps that John Knight bricklayer with 1 child is the John Knight married to Ann Vincent. William Knight bricklayer would appear to be William married to Ann Ballet and later Sarah  Loader. William and Ann were married in Oct 1786 and did not have a child until after 1787.

This charting has been somewhat helpful but I still do not have a clear line back before John Knight since there are two John Knight families at Spetisbury in this time interval. Going through the burials might be helpful to see when these two men died - one John Knight was buried 17 Nov 1826 and by his age at death he is likely the John Knight baptized 2 Oct 1757 and the son of David Knight and Martha Butler but was he the husband of Ann Vincent. I shall need to re-examine the burial records for Spetisbury.

The other interesting item is my other 4x great grandfather William Knight married to Sarah Ellis 7 Aug 1775 at Winterborne Stickland. There really isn't any evidence to prove that this William Knight was ever living at Spetisbury. There was a William Knight son of David Knight and Martha Butler baptized 5 Feb 1764 but he is likely the William Knight who married Ann Ballet and then Sarah Loader and was a bricklayer at Spetisbury. Looking at the Winterborne Stickland records will be most interesting once they are available on Ancestry before 1813.

But again I do not know the history of the Knight family at Spetisbury prior to 1727 when Henry Knight married  Mary Oliver. My suspicion is that these two families are linked but I have no idea how far back - the naming of the 13 children of Ellis and Eleanor Knight is most interesting.

There was a John Knight who married Elizabeth Kebble 31 May 1778 at St Peters Shaftesbury Dorset. This is the location for the William Knight/Mary Dashwood marriage as well. There is a family lore that the Knight family were stone masons/bricklayers in Cann and gradually moved down to the Blandford Forum area from the mid 1600s on.

Knight family of Spetisbury, Winterborne Stickland and Turnworth

An interesting email and a number of images from an Australian correspondent on the Butt family has led me back once again to my Knight family. I haven't been able to agree with other Knight researchers on our mutual ancestors before William Knight (married to Sarah Ellis) and John Knight (married to Ann Vincent). I have a vague recollection of my Grandfather mentioning that he had grandparents that were cousins and that they had 18 children. It does appear that it was a set of his great grandparents who had 13 children but I was only eight when he died so could easily have misunderstood that. I haven't been able to find the cousin relationship although Ellis Knight and Eleanor Knight certainly shared the same surname (they were my grandfather's great grandparents). There is at least one cousin marriage though that I do know about now and my grandfather could have been confused in that regard now that I have put the Carter/Blake/King family puzzle together with Joseph Blake and Joanna King (one set of my 4x great grandparents) being first cousins.

As I was going through the Winterborne Stickland Parish Registers I noted a marriage with John Vincent of Dewlish and so I had a look at that parish and discovered many Vincent entries including Ann baptized 26 Oct 1755 at Dewlish and the daughter of James Vincent and Ann Moulam. Ann Vincent married John Knight 9 Jun 1783 at Shapwick (2 miles from Spetisbury) and I have been trying to find information on this couple for quite a while. Why do they marry at Shapwick and not Spetisbury? Dewlish is 11 miles from Shapwick as well; why not Dewlish if that is her birthplace? James Vincent and Ann Moulam married 28 Nov 1733 at Dewlish and their first daughter Ann died young. However, when I check the OPC Dorset site for Shapwick the marriage registration is there for John Knight and Ann Vincent but no baptisms at Shapwick for the Knight family. Also they are the only Knight marriage at Shapwick between 1731 and 1813.

Also in the Winterborne Stickland Parish Registers I found the burial of John Knight 17 Nov 1826 and his age was listed as 69 years giving him a likely year of birth of 1757 and there is a christening 2 Oct 1757 at Spetisbury of John son of David Knight and Martha Buller (married 17 Feb 1756 at Spetisbury). I had discarded this couple as the parents of John because John and Ann did not name one of their sons David. Nor did they name one of their sons Henry and David is known to be the son of Henry Knight and Mary Oliver (married 25 Dec 1727 at Spetisbury). But as I worked my way through these thoughts I am remembering that I did not find the children of John Knight and Ann Vincent - they were given to me early on in my genealogy work. I did not touch the Knight family when we went to Salt Lake City so in fact I have not really looked at this family beyond doubting the connections that other researchers have found between William and John Knight (both are my 4x great grandfathers) and the ancestors of these two.

Looking at the IGI since the baptisms are not yet online at Ancestry in the Dorset records, I find

Eleanor baptized 12 Dec 1786 at Silton
Martha baptized 28 Oct 1796 at Silton

I know from the census that Eleanor always says she was born at Spetisbury so the Silton is somewhat confusing and as well 19 miles from Spetisbury. Is this an error of transcription? Once the registers are online prior to 1813 I will have an answer to that question. Looking at the OPC Dorset website, Silton Bishop Transcripts do not list any Knight baptisms between 1731 and 1880 so it is an error but in favour of which village? That remains to be discovered.

Did they have only the two children? There are seven other children listed for this couple by other researchers: Elizabeth Ann, Thomas, Jemima, Benjamin, Joseph, James and Samuel. No baptisms are listed by other researchers for these children; dates given are from the census when available otherwise they would appear to be subjective.A great deal is known about Eleanor and she was 83 years of age when she died. She lived with my grandfather's grandfather and died just before the marriage of my great grandparents Blake 25 Sep 1870 at Turnworth (Edward Blake married Maria Jane Knight 29 Oct 1870 at Upper Clatford).

Eleanor Knight married Ellis Knight 29 May 1804 at Spetisbury but their marriage in the IGI is listed as Silton. This Knight marriage does not appear on the Silton Parish Records on the OPC site.

From another researcher I have but not verified by me:

Spetisbury Parish Records
FHL Film # 1239228

Baptisms
1812  May 24    Harry  s/o William & Sarah Knight 
1811  Nov 8      Samuel s/o Ellis & Eleanor Knight
1810  Oct 1       George s/o Henry & Anne Knight
1810  Oct 8       William s/o William & Eliz Knight
1809  Aug 20    George s/o William & Sarah Knight
1809  Nov 26    Mary Ann d/o Ellis & Eleanor Knight
1808  Jun 28     George s/o Ellis & Eleanor Knight
1808  Oct 30     Jane d/o Henry & Ann Knight
1807  Feb 25    Eliz d/o Henry & Ann Knight
1807  Mar 22    Hannah d/o William & Sarah Knight
1807  Aug 16    David s/o William & Eliz Knight
1806  Jul 27      Ellis s/o Ellis & Eleanor Knight
1804  Jan 22    Charles s/o William & Sarah Knight
1804  Oct 21    Eliza d/o Henry & Ann Knight
1802  May 11   James s/o William & Sarah Knight
1802  Dec 26   Mary Ann d/o Henry & Ann Knight
1801  Jan 11    Henrietta d/o Henry & Ann Knight
1800  Nov 30   John s/o John & Ann Knight
1799  Mar 22    Benjamin s/o Henry & Ann Knight
1799  Sep 22   William s/o William & Sarah Knight
1798  Apr 29    Joseph s/o Thomas & Ann Knight
1798  Sep 25   Henry s/o John & Eliz Knight
1797  Jan ?      Maria d/o John & ?? Knight (bef Jan 10)
1797  Nov 13   Jemima d/o William & Ann Knight
1796  Oct 8      Martha d/o John & Ann Knight
1795  Sep 17  Henry s/o John & Eliz Knight
1795  Oct 4      George s/o Sarah Knight
1795  Dec 15   Ann d/o Thomas & Ann Knight
1794  Jan 30    Mary d/o Thomas & Ann Knight
1794  Mar 3      Harriet d/o John & Eliz Knight
1794  Jul 6        James s/o William & Ann Knight
1792  Jun 3       Charlotte c/o John & Eliz Knight
1792  Aug 9      Mary Ann d/o Thomas & Eliz Knight
1792  Oct 7       Mary Ann d/o John & Eliz Knight
1791  Apr 21    Jane d/o John & Eliz Knight
1791  Oct 16    Elizabeth Anne d/o William & Ann Knight
1789  Jun 28   Charles s/o William & Ann Knight
1789  Sep 25   Sophia d/o Jo & Anne Knight
1789  Dec 1     Henry s/o John & Eliz Knight
1787  Dec 16   David s/o John & Eliz Knight
1786  Jan 1      Jane d/o John & Eliz Knight
1786  Dec 12   Eleanor d/o John & Ann Knight
1785  Aug 24   Joseph s/o Joh & Anne Knight
1784  May 2      David s/o J & Eliz Knight
1778  Oct 1       George s/o Thomas & Martha Knight
1777  Jan 26     Mary d/o Thomas & Martha Knight
1777  Dec 27    David s/o Henry & Ann Knight
1774  Apr 3        Henry s/o Henry & Ann Knight
1773  Nov 21     Henry s/o Thomas & Martha Knight
1772  Dec 13    Thomas s/o David & Martha Knight
1770  May 20     David s/o Henry & Ann Knight
1768  Feb 24     Elizabeth d/o Henry & Ann Knight
1766  Feb 2       Sarah d/o Henry  & Ann Knight
1764  Feb 5      William s/o David & Martha Knight
1764  Mar 21    Henry s/o Henry & Ann Knight

Marriages
1804  Apr 8     William Knight & Eliz Mitchel
1804  May 29  Ellis Knight & Eleanor Knight
1799  Apr 13    Henry Knight & Ann Holloway
1798  Nov ?     William Knight & Sarah Loader
1793  Nov 7      James Collins & Ann Knight
1791  Jan 17     John Smith of Blandford Forum & Mary Knight
1786  Oct 23     William Knight, b & Ann Ballet, s, both OTP

Burials

1810  Oct 8      William s/o William & Eliz Knight
1806  Jan 1      Martha Knight
1801  Feb 3     Henry Knight
1801  Jun 10    Elizabeth Knight
1801  Sep 14   Charles Knight
1801  Sep 14   James Knight
1799  Feb 15   John Knight
1798  May 8     Ann Knight
1796  Jan 5      Henry s/o John & Eliz Knight
1796  Jan 13    Harriet d/o John & Eliz Knight
1793  Oct 19    Miriam Knight
1791  Apr 21   Henry s/o John & Eliz Knight
1788  Jun 2      Henry Knight
1788  Jun 11    Ann widow of Henry Knight
1787  Jan 31    Jane d/o John & Eliz Knight
1786  Jan 19    David s/o John & Eliz Knight
1786  Aug 16    Mary Knight
1785  Sep 4      Joseph s/o John & Eliz Knight
1778  Sep 28   Henry Knight, parish clerk
1773  Sep 20   Henry s/o Henry & Ann Knight
1768  Feb 26   Eliz infant d/o Henry & Ann Knight


From this list I have as children of John and Ann Knight:

1800  Nov 30   John s/o John & Ann Knight
1796  Oct 8      Martha d/o John & Ann Knight
1789  Sep 25   Sophia d/o Jo & Anne Knight
1786  Dec 12   Eleanor d/o John & Ann Knight
1785  Aug 24   Joseph s/o Joh & Anne Knight

I am noticing that Elizabeth Ann, Thomas, Jemima, Benjamin, James and Samuel belong to different parents namely William and Ann Knight. David, Henry and Thomas are all brothers and sons of Henry Knight and Mary Oliver. The big question to me at this point is who is Henry Knight married to Mary Oliver. He was Parish Clerk at Spetisbury and buried 28 Sep 1778.

I shall check the Spetisbury records on Ancestry now to see if I can find any marriages for these children and I did not find anything conclusive for Sophia, Martha, Joseph or John siblings of Eleanor.

I do have one part of my question answered with respect to John and William Knight. They are not brothers. Probably they are not first cousins but beyond that I have no idea. I am not sure of the parents of William Knight and Sarah Ellis. Sarah does appear on the census so I know that she was born around 1756 which fits with the data that I have. But were the parents of William Knight as thought? Were they William Knight and Mary Dashwood who married 9 Aug 1760 at St Peter Shaftesbury Dorset?

Vincent at Spetisbury

The Vincent family at Spetisbury remains completely unknown to me. Ann Vincent married John Knight 9 Jun 1783 at Spetisbury. John Knight was not the son of William Knight and Mary Dashwood it would appear but was he a brother to William Knight father of Ellis Knight who married Eleanor daughter of John Knight and Ann Vincent? That is one of the puzzles that I hope the Dorset registers for the 1700s (once they are up on Ancestry) might help to solve. Most Knight researchers do make this connection and I have accepted their statements but remain unconvinced although do have the family lore of a cousin relationship between Ellis and Eleanor.

The OPC Dorset site does offer a list for the marriages at Spetisbury in the 1700s and I find:

9 Aug 1792 John Vincent and Elizabeth Evans married with Thomas Knight as a witness (Thomas though was often a witness so probably doesn't mean anything particularly)

2 Apr 1793 Joseph Vincent of Dewlish and Elizabeth Meader married (Thomas Knight witness)

24 Jul 1796 George Florance and Elizabeth Vincent married

26 Mar 1799 Benjamin Garrett and Amelia Vincent married (Henry Knight witness and again he was often so)

The next Vincent marriages are into the 1830s. I am curious why the marriage of John Knight and Ann Vincent in 1783 does not appear as other researchers have given me this information. From 1754 onwards where the listing of witnesses is recorded there is often a member of the Knight family with the earlier Knight being Henry. By 1774 the Knight member is Thomas. and by 1794 we are back to Henry Knight. 

The militia list of 1787 for Spetisbury lists two John Knight - one is a bricklayer with 1 child and the second is a servant bricklayer (apprentice perhaps?). There is also a William Knight bricklayer. By 1787 John and Ann Knight appear to have just the one child Eleanor Knight. Is the date of their marriage in error (and the place). The mention of a Vincent at Dewlish attracted my interest. There are a lot of Vincent marriages at Dewlish but not a marriage for John Knight and Ann Vincent. There are eight children attributed to this couple by other researchers:

Eleanor Knight baptized 12 Dec 1786 at Spetisbury (married to Ellis Knight and my 2x great grandparents)

Elizabeth Ann Knight born circa 1790 and married to Ambrose Cousins 31 Mar 1818 at Spetisbury

Thomas Knight born circa 1794 at Spetisbury

Jemina Knight born circa 1798 at Spetisbury married to Thomas Randall 22 Aug 1825 at Spetisbury

Benjamin Knight born circa 1799 at Spetisbury married to Caroline Loader 26 Sep 1820 at Spetisbury

Joseph Knight born circa 1800 at Spetisbury married to Ann Robbins 23 Sep 1822 at Corfe Mullen

James Knight born circa 1802 at Spetisbury married to Frances Butcher 16 Aug 1829 at St Pancras (London)

Samuel Knight born circa 1806 at Spetisbury

I am left to ponder whether these are all their children and the next research day for Vincent may find the earlier registers for Dorset online at Ancestry.

Proving 4x great grandparents

I am now back to the project that I want to complete before we have our trip to Salt Lake City. I discovered I have proven Joseph Blake, Joanna King, John Coleman and I was working on Elizabeth Pearce. I discovered that Elizabeth (Pearce) Coleman had remarried in 1781 (her husband was buried in 1780 at Upper Clatford. I suspect that they lived with Dinah (Bever) Coleman and that they were involved in running an Inn although I still have to ferret out those details. The Coleman family had an Inn at Goodworth Clatford in the late 1600s and on into the 1700s but I am not sure how long they were there yet. Still working on those details! Elizabeth married John Head in 1781 at Upper Clatford. The marriage registration lists her as a widow and I finally have now found her burial registration in 1823 at Upper Clatford and she was 85 years old. This works well back to the Elizabeth Pearce baptized at Collingbourne Ducis in 1737. This is one record that I need to look at when we are in Salt Lake City. I did do some photography of this register but I was looking for Farmer entries. Elizabeth Pearce's grandmother was likely Anne Farmer and so the story may start to come together for the Farmer family which married into the Lambden family and then into the Blake family. I was trying to place Isaac Farmer in Andover but the only really good match is at Collingbourne Ducis. I completed my proof for Elizabeth Pearce but with the stipulation that I need to verify the details on her baptism and her parentage which would appear to be William Pearce and Elizabeth Hapgood. Elizabeth is from Collingbourne Ducis and the daughter of Thomas Hapgood and Anne Farmer. If I can indeed prove this line then the linkage with the Farmer family is very intriguing. Isaac Farmer was orphaned by the time he was 7 years old but he signs his marriage registration with a firm hand and well rounded letters leading one to suspect that he was educated. I related earlier my suspicions on the Farmer family so will not expand on that thought at this moment in time.

I then moved on to my Knight 4x great grandparents. This has been something I have wanted to work on for awhile. I did not do any Knight research at Salt Lake City and will do that the next time. I have a lot of information from other researchers who link this family back to the Knight family at Shaftesbury and then Cann before that. I am still sitting at William Knight (burial at Winterborne Stickland is a W Knight in 1827 and the individual is 67 years old which would work well with the records that I have for him. There are not a large number of Knight families at Stickland and I more or less know each one there. The baptism that I am looking for is at Spetisbury. At Spetisbury in 1787 we have three Knight members listed on the Militia list - William Knight bricklayer, John Knight bricklayer, John Knight, servant bricklayer (apprentice perhaps). Possibly this is John Knight son of William Knight. Eleanor though the wife of Ellis (son of William above) is the daughter of John Knight who is a bricklayer. Are they first cousins? Family lore says that they are first cousins. William Knight and Mary Dashwood at Shaftesbury (and the Knight family is not there after the 1860s when they are found at Spetisbury) had sons William, Samuel, George, John, and Thomas. Ideally I would be looking for this William to have sons William and John and indeed they do. But is this John the father of Eleanor who married Ellis the son of William. That I am still not sure about. The difference in their station continues to plague me - John was a bricklayer and William was an agricultural labourer. I need some interesting entry that relates them so that I can actually say that they are both the sons of William Knight the bricklayer. I have started entering my proofs for them. This is my grandfather Samuel Blake's line back (his 2x great grandparents). I have thus far proven four of the sixteen. I have evidence to complete John Butt, Jane Durnford, William Arnold and Elizabeth Malton. That brings me half way. I need to add to my Knight data which is four more (two Knight and one each Ellis and Vincent). The Farmer line I do have information on the likely father of Isaac and his name was John. I have no idea of his mother's name at the moment. The Lambden line I have information on Nathanael but I am not sure that the Nathanael baptized at Bradfield Berkshire is him and need to look at the other Nathaniel baptized in this time period in Berkshire. He was not baptized at St Mary Bourne. The wife of Nathanael Lambden is thus far unknown beyond the forename of Sarah and her burial in 1797 at Andover Hampshire.

Today I am having my eyes tested and more on that later. I have been meaning to upgrade my glasses for awhile but at $200 a lens I need to contemplate it for awhile! I think they need to be a little stronger perhaps in the reading portion. Although I am reading this quite well at 18 inches from the computer. We will see!

I shall dedicate another day to my grandfather's 2x great grandparents as that should permit me to add all the proofs and images to my Legacy file. Then I shall move on to my grandmother Blake's families. I will prove her "natural" parent line Cotterill (I am missing one of her 2x great grandmothers) but I want to find the grandparents of her adopted father William Taylor and perhaps beyond if I am lucky. The researcher who is doing this line has not gone beyond what I have done thus far. Perhaps she will later and she lives in England so has easier access to the registers. For her mother's line I will be able to prove those eight lines as I have collected all the evidence.

For my maternal grandfather I have the proofs for all sixteen of his 2x great grandparents. I collected all of that information (which I didn't have already) when we were at Salt Lake City last time. For my maternal grandmother I still have the problem of using family lore to connect my Ellen Taylor (her mother) back to her parents. If that connection is true then I have the proofs for five out of eight. On my grandmother's father's side I have the proofs for four out of eight. I need to work on the Cheatle lineat the 4x great grandparents but I have the fiche for that. For my Christopher Buller's parents I do not have even an inkling at this point in time. Another line to research at Salt Lake City.

That means I will work on the Pearce family at Abbotts Ann/Collingbourne Kingston, Collingbourne Ducis to find William Pearce my 5x great grandfather and his line. I will work on the Knight family to sort them out. I will work on the Farmer family at Collingbourne Ducis - I have some information on them already that I need to sort. I will work on the Lambden family in Berkshire. I will look at my paternal Grandmother's natural parentage at the 5x great grandparent level. I will seek out the family of William Taylor (her adopted father). I want to do more work on the Charley family at Kentisbear Devon. I have a few 5x great grandparents in my mother's that are known and I need to check the registers for their parents information.

I shall soon start to build my excel file for Salt Lake City. I have one created that includes the itens that I set aside last time and I will add more items to it. I know that I can look at about 40 to 50 films if I control my day very well. I am more experienced with the camera which will help and I will repeat the few pictures that are blurry and I really want to have a good copy. Quite often the ones that were blurry were not a problem for me.

I spent most of the afternoon working on the West Hampshire Tax Subsidy as I had copied about 30 pages when we were at Salt Lake city. I am producing an excel file that I can sort by surname, forename, year or place. I have a number of Hampshire ancestors who are listed in this set of records. Since I did not have eye drops I could spend the rest of the day working - a real surprise.

My new glasses will be ready in a couple of weeks and will be a change. They are not big round lenses this time but rather more of an oblong shape. I tried them out for a bit and quite liked them.

Tomorrow I will continue with the Tax Subsidy for West Hampshire.