Isaac Whitehouse

Isaac Whitehouse, a farmer in Coseley in the Parish of Sedgley, was born in about 1711 the son of Joseph Whitehouse. He died in 1786.

Much of the land listed in his father’s will of 1728 ended up in his hands – not least because his brother John Whitehouse died childless in 1768. John’s will, written in 1766 lists Isaac’s surviving sisters and their husbands. It also confirms that the family held strong non conformist beliefs and Isaac was a trustee of funds to promote Protestant education in Coseley.

Because all Isaac’s children were baptised in dissenting churches the records are sparse. His wife would appear to have been called Elizabeth and they must have married in about 1738. The Coseley Old Meeting house records only survive after 1779, and then only partially.

The eldest child would appear to be Mary Whitehouse born about 1739 and we know because of wills that she married Henry Marsh on 7 Jan 1761 in All Saints, Sedgley.

His oldest son was Joseph Whitehouse who must have been born about 1740. He married Mary Thompson on 2 Oct 1766 at All Saints, Sedgley. This was part of a long and complex intermarrying with the Thompson family, Locksmiths of Sedgley.

Elizabeth Whitehouse is one of only two of Isaac’s children whose baptismal records survive. She was baptised in the Old Meeting House in Dudley on 17 Jul 1746. She married Richard Thompson on 17 Oct 1763 in All Saints, Sedgley. Richard Thompson was the oldest son of John Thompson and Ann Shaw. His grandfather was Richard Shaw making him the first cousin of Rev Thomas Shaw-Hellier.

Richard Thompson’s brother Paul married Isaac’s second youngest daughter Phoebe Whitehouse in Oct 1777. The Mary Thompson, who married Joseph Thompson is not the sister of Richard and Paul as we know they had a sister Mary, who married James Male on 12 Jun 1769 at Brierley Hill

His other daughter was Hannah who married twice – firstly to Thomas Jenkins on 21 Sep 1775 at All Saints and secondly to James Wooldridge on 4 Nov 1783 in St Peter’s Wolverhampton.

The youngest son was John Whitehouse probably baptized in Dudley in 1755, leaving a will in 1831.

Isaac Whitehouse’s second son was called Isaac and must have been born about 1748. He seems quite a wealthy man and his will of 1818, where he is styled gentleman, helps bring a lot of this information together. He refers to his Barrs relatives, descendants of Isaac’s aunt Hannah Barrs and also to his nephew Isaac Thompson, Japanner of Bilston, eldest surviving son of Richard Thompson. It also shows that his two brothers Joseph and John are still alive, but he appoints Isaac Thompson and Joseph Barrs as his executors.

 

Sources

  • Old Non Parochial registers of Dudley, ed Arthur Rollasson 1899
  • Will of Isaac Whitehouse, Farmer, Probate 8 Nov 1786, Lichfield Record Office
  • Will of John Whitehouse, Ironmonger, Probate 8 Jun 1768, PCC (Brother)
  • Will of Isaac Whitehouse, Gentleman, Probate 15 Jun 1818, PCC (Son)
  • Will of Paul Thompson, Farmer, Probate 1828, Lichfield Record Office (Son in law)