G7 Grandparents

George Bissell left a will Probate, Worcester, 26 Jun 1739 in which he describes himself as a gentleman. He names his children as John, Joseph, Thomas, Mary and Sarah. His will would suggest his wealth was probably based on ‘iron’  and ‘ironmongery’ interests. Continue reading →

William Baker, a yeoman of Coseley, died and left a will in 1696. This will identifies him as the father of Elizabeth Shaw the wife of Richard Shaw of Cinder Hill, Sedgley. Elizabeth Baker had married Richard Shaw on 9 Nov 1691 in All Saints Sedgley. Continue reading →

Thomas Elwall, yeoman of Ettingshall, died in early 1716 leaving a will written in 1712. Here he lists his four children as Thomas Elwall, Edward Elwall, Elizabeth Gibbens and Mary Elwall. The following sequence of baptisms can be found in the All Saints, Sedgley Parish register viz. Thomas (bap 21 Aug 1673), Edward (bap 9 Nov 1676), Elizabeth (No Baptism found), Mary (bap 22 Oct 1670) Continue reading →

Adam Read was a Barber Surgeon in Dudley, who lived from approximately 1658 to 1717. He left a will dated 20 Jan 1716/17, which clarifies a number of points about his life Continue reading →

Joseph Whitehouse, nailer, of Coseley left a will written on 14 Mar 1727/28. He was probably baptized on 11 May 1682 in All Saints Sedgley, the youngest son of Thomas Whitehouse, a yeoman and nailer. Continue reading →

There were three successive, fathers and eldest sons, called Edmund Darby of Rowley Regis, near Dudley in Staffordshire. Firstly Edmund Darby buried in St Giles Rowley Regis on 22 Feb 1687/8. Secondly Edmund Darby 1670-1746  Thirdly Edmund Darby 1695-1768. All were literate and left wills, held at Worcester. Continue reading →

William Hayward was born in 1642 and was buried on 14 Sep 1708 in St Lawrence, Little Wenlock. He is the father of Mary Hayward, the second wife of William Bendy (1653-1724). In the marriage bonds of February 1697 it states that she comes from Little Wenlock in Shropshire. The Hayward family were prominent landowners in that area of Shropshire since the middle ages. Continue reading →

Ann Toovey married William Rolles in All Hallows Church in the City of London in 1686. Both their families were from the Turville area on the edge of the Chilterns. Continue reading →

William Rolles was baptized on 30 Oct 1648 in Garsington in Oxfordshire, the second eldest son of Ralph Rolles and his wife Jane. This branch of the Rolles family had been living in Turville from the mid 16th century but it is almost certainly a junior branch of the Rolles family of nearby Lewknor, where they briefly had tenure of Lewknor Manor and where there is an impressive eighteenth century monument to the full Rolles ancestry in the local church. Indeed William Rolles ‘returned’ to Lewknor and died there in 1711 leaving a will, describing him as a ‘yeoman of Lewknor.’ Continue reading →

William Payne was probably born around 1670 not far from Thame in Oxfordshire. We know a fair bit about him from various records most notably his will of 1747. He was a glover and clearly ran a successful business as a master glover and breeches maker in the small Oxfordshire market town of Thame where he lived for over fifty years. The glove trade was closely related to the tanning business that was to be a theme repeated in the subsequent generations notably with John Warmington. He was part of the class of literate tradesmen with a progressive and perhaps non-conformist outlook that was typical in a small market town like Thame. Other related trades are currier (curing leather) and fellmongerer (stripping and dealing sheep hides) Continue reading →

Oliver Shaw was baptized in St Thomas, Dudley on 5 Sep 1647, the son of Oliver and Elizabeth Shaw. The Shaws were a prominent family in the small town of Dudley – owning land and carrying out a variety of trades. A 1649 levy on the town indicates 162 houses existed in Dudley that were taxed. By 1660 the population of Dudley including Netherton based on Hearth Tax records is estimated at just over 1800. Various Shaws appear on these two tax lists. Continue reading →