My presumed 6xgreat grandfather John Stoney was a Yeoman of Kettlewell with Starbotton in the West Riding of Yorkshire. He was baptised there in 1703, son of Jonathan Stona. From his will, written just before his death in 1771, we know that he had two brothers, James and Robert. In his will he says:
“...whereas by reason of the abovementioned devise of my freehold estate it may happen that my brothers Robert Stoney and James Stoney may come to be disturbed in the possession of the dwelling house that they now inhabit I do hereby declare that at the time of erecting thereof it was agreed between my said brothers that in consideration of the expense which they were at therein they should hold the same during their joint lives and the life of the longer liver of them quietly and without any form of claim from me or mine which said agreement I do hereby solemnly confirm ...”.
This suggests that the two brothers lived together in a
different house to that bequeathed to his ‘dear wife’ Ann Pawson for the
duration of her widowhood (and subsequently to pass to his son Jonathan
Stoney).
North Yorkshire County
Archive has documents catalogued as part of a collection relating to property
conveyances and other transactions in the Manor of Kettlewell, purchased by
William Bolland in the 1700s. This collection includes a conveyance
of property bought from James Stoney in 1796: Conveyance (L
& R) and assignment | The National Archives. This states: “Also
Bellhead close and the woody grounds adjoining (12 ac.), two closes in the West
Field, close called Mary Scar purchased by William Norton from James Stoney”.
Was this the brother of John Stoney, disposing of property some twenty
years after his death in 1771?
A search at FindMyPast for a marriage at Kettlewell
or nearby within 10 years of 1703, when John Stona was baptised reveals
two records, seemingly of the same marriage, but with a disparity between
dates. The first, on a page of the Kettlewell Register with the heading
‘Marriages 1701’ says:
Jonathan Stona & Elizabeth Ripley married ye fifteen
September 1702
The second, a Bishop’s Transcript headed ‘A true copy of our
Registrs of our Parish of Kettlewell from March ye 25th 1702 to
March ye 25th 1703 is as follows … Marriages’ places the marriage
clearly in 1702:
The first entry is:
Imp: Jonathan Stona & Elizabeth Ripley married
Septembr 15th.
In the absence of any other records, it seems that my
7xgreat grandparents may have been Jonathan Stona and his wife Elizabeth
Ripley, married two years into the 18th century in Kettlewell,
and ten months before the baptism of their eldest child, my 6xgreat grandfather
John Stoney.
What other records can be found relating to this couple and
their children?
A search at FindMyPast and Ancestry for
baptisms (and burials) for children with the surname Stoney/Stona between
1702-1725, with father Jonathan Stona/Stoney, reveals the baptisms of
ten children – and the burials of some of them:
1.
John son of Jonathan baptised 4 July 1703
2.
Elizabeth daughter of Jonathan baptised 16
September 1705
3.
Jonathan son of Jonathan baptised 6 June 1708
4.
Robert son of Jonathan baptised 19 August 1710
5.
Joseph son of Jonathan baptised 8 March 1712
(buried 24 September 1718)
6.
James son of Jonathan baptised 21 November 1715
7.
Margaret daughter of Jonathan, Yeoman, baptised
16 March 1717 (presumed dead <1718)
8.
Margaret daughter of Jonathan, Yeoman, baptised
30 March 1718 (buried 11 Oct 1718)
9.
Ann daughter of Jonathan, baptised 28 March 1720
10.
Mary daughter of Jonathan, baptised 31 Dec 1722
There are other
Stona/Stoney menfolk baptising children at Kettlewell around the same time, who
could be the brothers or cousins of Jonathan Stona. Austin/Augustin
Stona/Stoney is recorded as the father on seven baptism records between 1702
and 1721. He was buried in 1733 as ‘Austin Stona of Kettlewell, Labourer’.
Thomas Stona is the father
shown on five records, although some of these say ‘Thomas Stona Junior’. His
daughter Isabel was buried in 1708, and his wife Isabel in 1709. Thomas Stona
Junior was buried in 1710, his presumed father ‘Thomas Stona Yeoman’, in 1719.
Three baptisms show the
father as John Stona (one of them as John Stona Junior). Judeth wife of John
was buried in 1725. There is also a burial for John Stona in 1721, who may or
may not be the husband of Judeth – as she isn’t shown as ‘widow’.
The surname is variously
spelt Staney, Stannay, Stona, Stonah, Stonay, Stoney between 1600-1800, with
some variations taking place as those completing or copying the Registers –
vicars, curates, church wardens - changed.
I explore this - and point out the gaps in the Registers available - in this blogpost.
I have not found any marriage records for John Stoney’s brothers
Robert and James, mentioned in his will. They appear to have died in 1781
(Robert) and 1805 (James), so both lived long lives. Apart from John Stoney,
the only other sibling for whom I have found a marriage record is Mary Stona,
who married Butcher Leonard Calvert in Kettlewell in 1755, and had three
daughters with him before dying in 1766.
Intriguingly, there is an apprenticeship
record for a Jonathan Stoney, possibly the brother of John Stoney, for 1725 (FMP) or 1730 (The
Genealogist). He is shown as son of Jonathan Stoney of Kettlewell, and a
premium of £20 was paid for his apprenticeship to Edward Anderson of
Whitechapel, Middlesex, Attorney. He would have been between 17-22 at the time.
He may not have relished being an Attorney in London; there is a burial record
for Jonathan Stona, Yeoman, at Kettlewell, in 1754. These may be different
people, but I have not found a likely burial record – or any other record – for
Jonathan in London.
TNA Discovery has a
catalogue record for the will of Edward Anderson, Gentleman of Whitechapel in
1765, some 40 years after he took on Jonathan Stoney as his apprentice.
Potentially, this is the son of that Edward Anderson, Attorney. TNA also
has a record of clerkship of Edward Anderson Junior to Edward Anderson Senior
in 1743.
My 7xgreat grandparents Elizabeth Ripley and Jonathan
Stona married in Kettlewell in 1702. I have not found a baptism record for Jonathan,
so do not know who his parents were; there are records for Stoneys in the area
going back to the mid-1600s, and at least one branch of the family (George
Staney, who married in 1675 in Rilston) moved to Ireland in the 1680s, founding
a dynasty there with some wealth and property, and not a little scandal. There
is, however, no indication of where in this family Jonathan Stona/Stoney
fits.
There is a baptism record for an Elizabetha Ripley at
FindMyPast. She was baptised on 3 November 1678, daughter of Thomas
Ripley, at Kettlewell.
If this is the correct person, she would have been 24 years
old when she married Jonathan Stona.
Interestingly, one of the Church Wardens who signs the copy
of the Register is one Thomas Stoney, possibly a relative of Jonathan Stona (Uncle?
Father?). Under the marriages listed on the same page is one for Thomas Stoney
and Isabella Ripley, in February 1678.
A Thomas Ripley married Helen Heeles at
Burnsall on 1 May 1665 – if these are Elizabeth Ripley’s parents, they
had been married over ten years by the time she was born.
Other children of this couple (from a search at FMP)
could be:
·
Robertus Ripley bapt 6 Jan 1667 Kettlewell son
of Thoma
·
Robertus Ripley bapt 10 Sep 1669 Kettlewell son
of Thoma
·
Allicia Ripley bapt 13 Apr 1675 Kettlewell
daughter of Thoma
·
Willielmus Ripley bapt 23 Mar 1683 Kettlewell
[no fathers given in this register]
·
Sarah Ripley bapt 14 Oct 1683 Kettlewell [no
fathers given in this register]
An Elizabetha Ripley was buried at Kettlewell in 1683, but
is not shown as ‘daughter of’, so may have been the wife of one of the other
Ripley men baptising children around the same time as Thomas. There are gaps in the Registers / Transcripts available online so their details may be missing.
For the sources mentioned in bold, see blogpost: MyRoots: Lesly's family history: Sources and resources: A quick view
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