23.2 The many children of John Windebank and Anne Ewen, born 1762-1784

 I have made an assumption that the parents of my 4xgreatgrandfather Jeremiah Windebank, baptised in 1780 in Empshott, Hants, son of John Windebank and his wife Anne, were the same John Windebank and Anne Ewen who married at nearby Hawkley, Hants in September 1762. They appear to have baptised children at Hawkley and thenEmpshott, although it is not known whether they lived in both or just one of those places, preferring to use one or other local church.

Although Jeremiah Windebank married twice and moved around Hampshire, Sussex and Berkshire in a career spanning the role of gamekeeper and publican, I do not know what his father did for a living. So what of the siblings of Jeremiah Windebank, the other children of John and Ann? Can any of their records give us more information?

1. Mary Windebank (1762-?)

Their first child was baptised on 27 October 1762 at Hawkley; they had married there just over a month earlier, on 20 September. As we don’t know who their parents or siblings were, we cannot tell whether her name was chosen in honour of either of their mothers or sisters. Ancestry has a marriage allegation transcript for what could be her marriage:

Priors Dean, Hampshire, 6 April 1799: Mary Windebank, age 36 (born around 1763) to William Baker, age 39 (born around 1760).

The transcript shows that William Baker was of Priors Dean, a Farmer, bachelor, and Mary Windebank was of the same parish, spinster. Mary’s age is quite late for marriage and child-bearing. Ancestry also has a transcript of the marriage record, from 9 April 1799.

Prior’s Dean is a tiny hamlet two miles from Hawkley. There do not appear to be any baptisms of children from this marriage in Prior’s Dean and I haven’t found any other obvious records for them either.

2. John Windebank (1763-<1784)

Their second child was John, probably named for his father. He was baptised at Hawkley on 30 November 1763. The couple had another son, John, baptised at Empshott in 1784, so presumably this first John died at a young age. If he died as a young adult rather than an infant, there are two possible burials for him:

·       John Windybank buried at Hawkley 26 July 1783 (FreeREG has him as Blacksmith, 1784)

·       John Windybank buried at Hawkley 7 July 1784

He would have been about 20-21 years old so not necessarily shown as ‘son of …’. But as we only have transcripts, it is possible one or both of these original records would give further information to be able to prove or discount them. The second John Windebank was baptised in October 1784.

3. James Windebank (1765-?)

James Windebank was baptised at Hawkley on 27 December 1765. I have found no further obvious records for him in Hawkley or Empshott, although there are several James Windebanks listed in marriage, burial and census records further afield in Hampshire.

4. Ann Windebank (1767-?)

Ann was the couple’s last child (as far as I know) to have been baptised in Hawkley; the rest of her siblings were baptised at Empshott. Her baptism date was 20 August 1767. I have not found a likely burial for her in infancy, and no marriage record at Empshott or Hawkley. There are several other marriage records, with Ancestry hints suggesting that she married a John Gregory at Ropley, Hampshire, in 1796, but there is nothing to prove or disprove this link.

5. Charlotte Windebank (1770-1788)

The only reference I have to Charlotte’s baptism is from another tree on Ancestry which gives a screen shot of a baptism record from the Hampshire Genealogical Society for a baptism on 1 January 1770 (so she was probably born in December 1769).

This tree also has a burial record from the same source for Charlotte Windebank, buried at Hawkley on 14 February 1788, aged 19, daughter of John and Anne. This record is also available as a transcript on FamilySearchand FreeREG.

6. Jemima Windebank (1771-)

Jemima was baptised at Empshott on 19 August 1771. There are various marriage records at Froxfield, Hampshire, but there are also baptisms for a Jemima there. It is possible that the daughter of John Windebank and his wife Ann married Noah Bond at Froxfield on 24 November 1791, and had at least two children, Noah (1792) and Jemima (1793), with him before she was buried in 1796, perhaps in or after childbirth. This Jemima, wife of Noah, was buried in Petersfield, where daughter Jemima was baptised. Jemima Bond junior married in Prior’s Dean in 1812 to Richard Hall.

By the 1841 census, she and Richard are living at Hawkley – which may provide a link to her mother’s family. Richard is a gamekeeper – so perhaps she met him via her uncle Jeremiah Windebank? They have four children aged 11-20 at home with them at Upper Green.

By the 1851 census, they are still at Hawkley but Richard is now a Publican, and Jemima is described as landlady; none of their children are at home. Ten years later, Jemima has been widowed. She is still living at Hawkley, her 29 year old son at home with her. She is now the ‘publican’ of the family. What may provide a further link to her mother’s family is that next door is a family with the surname Ewen – her maternal grandmother Anne Ewen’s relatives perhaps? She makes her final appearance in the censuses in 1871, still at the same address, Public House, Pocock’s Lane, where she is still landlady. She died in 1874. There is still a Hawkley Inn at Pocock’s Lane in the village, a few miles from Petersfield where Jemima was baptised. Whether this is the same public house run by Jemima Bond and her husband is not known.

7. Hannah Windebank (1774-?)

Hannah was baptised at Empshott on 21 March 1774. I have not found any further reliable records for her.

8. Benjamin Windebank (1777-?)

Benjamin may or may not have been the son of John Windebank and his wife Anne Ewen. I have not found a baptism record for him, but he appears in the 1851 census in Harting, Sussex, a Pauper born in Empshott, Hants around 1777. He is shown as a widower. The only Benjamin Windebank in the 1841 census is in Petersfield Union workhouse, formerly a Horse Dealer. There isn’t really enough to connect the man in the censuses with John Windebank, so he may be a red herring! There are various baptisms for children of Benjamin Windebank and his wife Mary (Panell?) with names used elsewhere in the family: Noah, Jeremiah, Jemima, but this doesn’t seem sufficient to tie them together.

9. Jeremiah Windebank (1780-1856)

My 4xgreat grandfather’s story has been told elsewhere.

10. John Windebank (1784-?)

John was – as far as I know – the youngest of the ten children born to John Windebank and his wife Anne Ewen. By the time of his birth, his mother would have been about 39-40. He was baptised at Empshott on 17 October 1784. Again, there are no burial or marriage records for him at Empshott. With several other Windebank families in the area, including marriages in Froxfield, it hasn’t been possible fully to tie them in with ‘our’ John Windebank.

This means that although I have been able to trace my 4xgreat grandfather Jeremiah Windebank fairly reliably, I haven’t had the same luck with his parents nor siblings.

For the sources mentioned in bold, see blogpost: MyRoots: Lesly's family history: Sources and resources: A quick view