25.4 Penniston Topper: 6th great granduncle (1744-1804) Royal Footman hero

My research so far shows that the menfolk in my Topper line were all very much on the right side of the law and weren’t afraid of putting themselves in the way of danger to prevent or prosecute crime.

My 4xgreat grandfather Charles James Topper (1801-1879) worked in London, first as a Thames Lighterman, then a Bow Street Officer and ended his career with 30 years’ work for the GWR at Brentford Docks, as a Foreman Porter. He gave evidence at The Old Bailey against criminals he had apprehended, or crimes he had witnessed, in his time at Bow Street and with the GWR. Unfortunately, he was accidentally run over by railway trucks at the Docks in his ‘70s, and killed.

My 5xgreat grandfather, Thomas Topper, (1769-1838) was a Telegrapher for the Admiralty – and possibly also an officer in the Royal Navy earlier in his career. While working as a Shutter Telegrapher at the Admiralty’s London West Square Telegraph Tower in 1817, he witnessed from his window an attempted murder prompted by a family rift, and is reported as having grappled with the perpetrator, enabling others present to subdue and take him in charge, leaving his victims with knife wounds and covered in blood.

My 6xgreat grandfather, his father Thomas Walker Topper (1742-1806) was born in Lincolnshire, at Somerby near Grantham, but moved to London to join the Royal Mews in the Stables of King George III. While I am unaware of any heroics on his part, his younger brother Penniston Topper (1744-1804), ‘nearly 50 years the King’s Footman’, reportedly stepped in to apprehend Margaret Nicholson, a woman later declared insane, who attempted to stab King George III as he stepped from his carriage in 1786.

Penniston Topper was baptised at Somerby by Grantham in Lincolnshire on 10 March 1744, the son of Edward Topper and his wife Elizabeth. He was one of six known children of this couple baptised at Somerby. His older brother Thomas Walker Topper joined the Royal Household as a Footman allocated to H.M’s Stables in 1765, and it seems that Penniston had also moved to London by 1767, when he married at St George, Hanover Square on 5 May that year. 

The Database of Court Officers: 1660-1837 (luc.edu) (and copies of the Indexes of the Royal Household at FindMyPast) show that Penniston was appointed Groom of the Hobby Stable on 1 July 1769, perhaps on recommendation of his brother. The book ‘Notes and Queries’ at Google Books suggests that a Hobby Groom was a rider available to take messages at all times and particularly in an emergency. 

Interestingly, on the same page as Penniston's warrant of 1769, is listed Sarah Peat, ‘Heater of the Water for Horses’. Perhaps she was a relative of Ann Peat, my 6xgreat grandmother and the wife of Thomas Walker Topper.

From 12 November 1769, he was appointed Footman of the Royal Stables (the warrant shown below from the Index to the Royal Household was signed on 13 January 1770 by the third Duke of Ancaster).

A note in the Index of the Staff of the Royal Household adds “nearly 50 years a Footman to H.M and said to be the person who saved H.M. from an attack by Margaret Nicholson’.  If this length of service were true, he would have started in the Royal Household in about 1760, when he was about 15. Even so, he died in service in 1804, so served at least 35 years. 

The summary of his career, and the note about the attack, from FMP is shown below:

The note re: Ann Topper refers to the pension she was paid as his widow from 1804-1812 (when she presumably died).

The attack on King George III took place on the morning of 2 August 1786 outside St James’ Palace.  It was of course widely reported in contemporary news and was even illustrated in a number of aquatints of the time. Margaret Nicholson: Her Attack on George III in 1786 - Geri Walton gives a good summary and cites some contemporary sources. 

The Hereford Journal of 10 August reproduced - as did many regional papers – the account of this act of High Treason taken from the London Gazette’s extraordinary edition earlier in the month. It includes a paragraph on how ‘the attendant Yeoman’ seized her, and ‘the King’s Footman, Toplin’ seized the knife. Given the note in the Royal Household records, I believe that ‘Toplin’ should read Topper – and that this was Penniston.

The Scots Magazine at FMP includes a footnote to the effect that the Earl of Salisbury offered a reward of £100 to the Yeoman and £50 to the Footman who had ‘first secured Mrs Nicholson after her attempt on the King’. As the Index to the Royal Household summary shows, he consistently refused to accept the reward.

Wikipedia has a print issued at the time (and one of several much advertised, along with the ‘True Memoirs of Margaret Nicholson’ in October 1786). It shows the King, his Yeomen left and right and, behind centre, the Footman – an artist’s illustration of Penniston Topper! This thumbnail snip could be my 6th great granduncle!

Penniston Walker’s wife was Ann Stevens, who he married at St George Hanover Square in London on 5 July 1767. Both sign the Register, and both were single, married by ‘Licence of the A.B. of Canterbury’. One of the witnesses was Thos. Willes, the other’s name is difficult to read but might be Ann or Aron Halam/Holmes.

I have found baptisms for six children of Penniston and Ann in London between 1769-1785. Penniston, as noted above, died in 1804, two years before his brother Thomas Walker Topper. Whereas the latter seems to have ended his life in debt and in poor circumstances, leaving what little he had to his two surviving unmarried daughters in a short will hastily written just before his death, Penniston wrote a long will in 1803 full of convoluted and repetitive clauses typical of the time. In essence he left his ‘dear wife Ann’ her choice of his household goods, furniture, linen, plate and china. He left his property and monies in trust with two friends from the Royal Household, Thomas Shefford and Henry Madgwick to allow Ann to live her natural life in their house, and for proceeds of rents and investments and other property to be shared equally between his children Penniston Topper, George Topper, Diana (wife of James Lintott), Caroline Topper, Mary Ann Topper and Charlotte Topper.

The Pennistone name passed down as a first or middle name for many descendents of Penniston Topper, but I have not reconstructed their various families so far. I do know that his son Penniston, born in 1773, became ‘oil man to the Duke of York’ (whatever that is) and was a victim of 'highway robbery' (a drunk stole his pocket watch while he was out in the street) in 1813. The 20 year old drunk, George Hand, was sentenced to 7 years transportation (a 'lesser crime' as he did not use violence). The younger Penniston was also in the Royal Navy early in his career. More to research.

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

25.2 6xgreat grandfather Thomas Walker Topper, Royal Groom (1740s-1806)

My 5xgreat grandfather Thomas Topper was baptised at St Martin in the Fields, London, on 31 December 1769 (born on 3 December), son of Thomas Walker Topper and his wife Ann.

A search for his parents’ marriage before 1769 at The Genealogist finds a record for 9 June 1767 at St George, Hanover Square (transcript only). Thomas Walker Topper married Ann Peat. The only other information given in this record is that they were both single.

Ancestry has an image taken from a Bishop’s Transcript from St George Hanover Square which shows that they could both write their names, and that their witnesses were Sarah Peat (Ann’s mother or sister?) and what looks like Charles Mather.

Their first child appears to have been George, born 21 March 1768 and baptised at St Martin in the Fields, Westminster, on 18 April 1768. My 4xgreat grandfather Thomas Topper was their second son, born in 1769, followed by William (1771); Elizabeth (1775); Sarah (1776); Edward (1778); Samuel (1779); Robert (1781); Georgina Charlotte (1783); another George (1785); Samuel Frederick (1786); Caroline (1789) and Richard (1790). That makes at least 13 children over a 22 year period. There is quite a big gap between 1771 and 1775, so there may be one or more baptisms missing.

His distinctive middle name means that searches for Thomas Walker Topper across the family history sites reveal exciting and intriguing records of his occupation and a copy of his will from 1806.

It seems that Thomas Walker Topper was appointed to the Royal Household in 1765 as The Queen’s Footman, as this typed summary of his career and pension entitlement in the Royal Household Index (FindMyPast) shows:

At the time of Thomas’ appointment, the King of England was George III (later the ‘mad king’), who had acceded to the throne in 1760. Two years later he purchased Buckingham Palace as a family home for his wife, Princess Charlotte of Mecklengburg-Streliz, and their growing family. Thomas Walker Topper would therefore have been footman to Queen Charlotte. (Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz - Wikipedia). Thomas Walker Topper and his wife Ann Peat named two of their sons George (the first having presumably died) and a daughter Georgina Charlotte, perhaps in honour of Thomas' employer.

On 26 December 1766, he was appointed as ‘Groom to H.M. in Ordinary vice William Cater (or Cator) (deceased)’ and FindMyPast has a copy of the Warrant Book detailing the commencement of his warrant on that date, and his occupation of the late William Cater’s room. The record comes from Warrant Books relating to Mews Staff (ref: MEWS/WB/4).

A year later, he was to marry Ann Peat. The next record shows him listed as one of ‘twelve grooms & six for the Master of the Horse’ in the Royal Household Index (Mews staff Royal Mews Warrant Books 1760-1867 Image | findmypast.co.uk):

His salary was a very healthy £60.00 per annum – (worth about £60k in today’s money) - which is just as well given that by then he and his wife had eight children.

According to Royal Mews (rct.uk) George III had a riding school built at Buckingham Palace shortly after he had purchased it, but “kept the royal stables and coach houses near Charing Cross”. 

If this is where Thomas Walker Topper and his family were based, this would explain their childrens’ baptisms at nearby St Martin in the Fields church.

From various documents on the household of Queen Charlotte and his Majesty’s stables in the 1760s-1780s at The Database of Court Officers: 1660-1837 (luc.edu) it seems that some Footmen were associated with the Mews and Royal Stables, allocated to the Master of the Horse (the third most powerful officer of the royal household). In 1765 this was the third Duke of Ancaster (who signed the warrant for the appointment as Groom of Thomas Walker Topper).

“In 1761 the position of first groom, ‘which had been extinct for many years’ was revived for William Cates at £10 per annum. George III began with eighteen grooms at £60 per annum.” Thomas Walker Topper was appointed following the death of William Cater/Cator – perhaps this was actually William Cates?

Interestingly there are two other men called Topper amongst the staff of the stables listed in these documents. More information is given about them, and references to their appointments in the Royal Household Index, in the alphabetical listing (T) (PDF) of officers:

Topper, George Stud Helper 17 Feb. 1790 (MOH WB 1, p. 138). Stud Groom 20 Feb. 1793 (Ibid., p. 143). Last occ. Est. of 17 August 1807 (MOH LB C, p176). Vac. by Est. of 5 Apr. 1812 (MOH EB 4, p. 10).

Topper, Penniston Groom of the Hobby Stable 1 July 1769 (LS 13/203, f. 62v). Footman 13 Jan. 1770 (Ibid., f. 65). D. 18 Feb. 1804 (GM LXXIV (1) [1804], p. 191; LS 13/204, f. 70v).

Topper, Thomas Walker Groom of the [?Hobby] Stables 26 Dec. 1766 (MOH WB 1, p. 114; LS 13/203, f. 54). Rem. (“put upon pension”) by 2 June 1801 (MOH WB 1, p. 156)

Perhaps the first two were relatives of Thomas Walker Topper?

As the earlier summary record shows, he was ‘put on pension’ in 1801 after over 30 years with the royal household. The next we hear of him is a record from three years later. On 12 July 1804 he is included in a ‘list of prisoners in Newgate Prison on the Master’s side’ at FMP (from TNA), listed simply as ‘Debtor’. Perhaps his pension did not allow him to live as he had become accustomed during his time in the Royal Household. There is another record here that shows he was discharged from prison after four months, on 7 November 1804.

It seems that Thomas Walker Topper died in 1806; his will was proved on 13 March that year at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, and a copy is available at Ancestry and TNA. 

The will is short:

I Thomas Walker Topper

In the parish of St Margaret Westminster give and bequeathe to my daughters Charlotte and Caroline Topper everything I die possessed of at this time ffurniture and what money is owing to me witness my hand this third day of January 1806. In the presence of Hannah Thompson Thomas Topper.

On the thirteenth day of March in the year of our lord one thousand eight hundred and six, administration with the will annexed of all and singular goods and chattels and credits of Thomas Walker Topper formerly of his majesty’s grooms and late of the Broad Sanctuary of Westminster in the county of Middlesex deceased was granted to Charlott Topper spinster daughter of the said deceased and one of the universal? Legatees found in the said will she having first sworn duly to administer the executor being named in the said will.

It is possible that the witness Thomas Topper is his son – and my 5xgreat grandfather. Thomas Walker Topper ‘late of his Majesty’s grooms’ left everything (which may not have amounted to much, given his previous debtor status) to his two unmarried daughters [Georgina] Charlotte and Caroline. He may have written it shortly before his death, given how short it is.

I have not found a burial record for him, but his death was probably in January 1806, his will proved two months later. None of the records found give an indication of his year of birth, but if he was at least 21 on marriage in 1767, he was probably born around 1740-46. Given his consistent use of his middle name, it may be that this was his mother’s maiden name, or he may have been illegitimate and given his father’s surname as a middle name.

A search for a marriage across the family history sites between a Mr Topper and a Miss/Mrs Walker in the years before 1740 finds just one entry:

·       Edward Topper & Elizabeth Walker were marryd June ye 23^rd 1730 at Somerby by Grantham, Lincolnshire (FindMyPast, Ancestry, FamilySearch, FreeREG)

This warrants further research (as do the other Topper men listed in the Royal Stables around the same time that Thomas Walker Topper was there).

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

25.4.1 The will of Penniston Topper (1744-1804) Footman to George III

The Will of Pennistone Topper 

Transcribed by Lesly Huxley, Dec 2021. Names are highlighted in bold. Question marks represent words or letters I have been unable to read.

From image at Ancestry

Pennistone Topper

In the name of God Amen I Pennistone Topper of Ebury Street in the Parish of St George Hanover Square in the County of Middlesex Gentleman do make publish and declare this my last will and testament in manner following that is to say ffirst I desire to be buried in my own vault or burying place at or near Bayswater in the Parish of St George Hanover Square and my ffuneral to be managed and conducted at discretion of my dear wife Ann Topper and my executors hereinafter named and I direct that all my just debts ffuneral expenses and the charges of proving this my will may be duly satisfied and paid by my executors hereinafter named with all convenient speed after my decease also I give and bequeathe unto my ffriends and trustees Thomas Shefford of Old Burlington Street in the County of Middlesex Gentleman ^ [inserted in margin] and Henry Madgwick of Pimlico in the said County of Middlesex Gentleman all that my ffreehold messuage and dwelling house with the appurts situate and being in Orchard Street Westminster in the said County of Middlesex now in the occupation of Thomas Brown Ffarrier to hold to them and their heirs upon trust to permit my dear wife Ann Topper and her assigns to ?derive the rents shares? and profits thereof and every part thereof for and during the term of her natural life to and for their own use and benefit and upon further trust from and after the decease of my said wife to convey and assure my said ffreehold messuage or dwelling house with the appurtenances unto and to the use and benefit of my sons Pennistone Topper and George Topper and my daughters Diana Lintott now the wife of James Lintott Caroline Topper Mary Ann Topper and Charlotte Topper their heirs and assigns absolutely for ever equally to be divided between or amongst them share and share alike as tenants in common and not as joint tenants also I give and bequeathe unto my said dear wife Ann Topper so much and such part of my household goods ffurniture plate linen china and other my household goods and effects that I shall die possessed of as she my said wife shall make choice of at or after the time of my decease to hold to her my said wife absolutely as and for her own absolute goods chattels property and effects and whereas I am entitled to certain leasehold premises in the occupation of Mr James Stevens Hatter situate and being in St James Street Westminster aforesaid and which I have let to him at a certain yearly rent which after deducting the ground rent thereof produces me during the term of his lease clear and net yearly rent or sum of one hundred and thirty pounds per annum which I divide by half yearly payments now I give devise and bequeathe the same premises and the rent received and made payable to me by the same James Stevens {or is it Harris?) the occupier thereof when due and payable and all arrears and future payments due and to grow due thereon and all my Estate Right Reversion and interest thereon unto my said ffriends Thomas Shefford and Henry Madgwick Their executors and administrators upon trust that they or the survivor of them or the executors and administrators of such survivor shall and do from time to time lay out or invest or cause the net said yearly rent or sum of one hundred and thirty pounds payable or to be paid in respect of the said leasehold premises in Saint James Street aforesaid and all arrears and future accruing payments thereof when and as the same shall grow due and payable and be received in their own names or name in or upon some of the Parliamentary shares or ffunds or upon Real or other Government security or securities at interest upon the several trusts and to and for the several intents and purposes hereinafter expressed and ? of and concerning same and as to and for concerning all my ready monies and all other monies debts owing and which are and shall be secured or due or owing to me at my decease upon Bills Bonds notes or otherwise and all monies in the shares or ffunds or upon Government or other security or securities at interest and all and singular the rest and residue of my household goods ffurniture plate linen china and effects as shall remain after my said wife shall have made her choice as aforesaid I give devise and bequeathe the same debts monies Bills Bonds Notes Shares ffunds or securities household ffurniture goods and effects except as before excepted and bequeathed and all and singular other rest and residue and remainder of my goods chattels estate property and effects whatsoever and wheresoever and of what nature or kind soever not hereinbefore already by this my will otherwise bequeathed or disposed of unto my said Ffriends Thomas Shefford and Henry Madgwick their executors administrators and assigns absolutely as and for their own absolute property according to the nature and quality thereof upon the trusts ? and to and for the intents and purposes hereinafter expressed and declared of and concerning the same respectively that is to say upon trust that they the said Thomas Shefford and Henry Madgwick or the survivor of them or the executors  or administrators of such survivor shall and do with all convenient speed next after my decease sell and absolutely dispose of my said remaining household goods ffurniture plate linen china and effects after my said wife’s having made her choisc thereof as aforesaid and subject to publick auction or by private contract as to them my said trustees shall seem most fit and beneficial to any person or persons whomsoever for the most money or best price or prices that can be had or obtained for the same and shall and do with all convenient speed next after my decease call or collect in demand interest or receive of and all and every person or persons who is are or shall be indebted to me or be liable to pay or account for the same every and all my debts and debts due and dues of money which at my decease shall be owing or secured or made payable to me upon simple contract and upon bills bonds notes or other securities whatsoever when and as soon as the same shall become due and payable or recoverable and also sell out and dispose of or otherwise continue in their names at interest all my money in the ffunds which shall be vested or laid in or upon real or government security or securities as they my said trustees shall think most advisable upon further trust that they the said trustees Thomas Shefford and Henry Madgwick and the survivor of them their executors or administrators of them and so as soon as conveniently maybe afterwards pay out and invest all the clear monies all produce to arise and be produced by and from such sale or sales and disposition and so to be called in collected recovered and received when and as the same shall be got in and received after satisfying and paying all my just debts ffuneral and testamentary expenses and deductions of all costs charges and expenses attending the execution of this my will and the performance of the trust hereby declared in their or his own names or name in or upon some of the Parliamentary shares or funds or upon real or government security or securities at interest and I do hereby voice declare and direct that they the said trustees shall stand and be possessed of and interested in as well the aforesaid that yearly rent of one hundred and thirty pounds and the notes ffunds and securities wherein the same monies

^[inserted in the margin: shall from time to time be ? and invested by them in their names aforesaid on the pursuance of this my will and the trusts hereinbefore declared thereof as also of and in the said ? monies so to arise and be produced by or form any sale or sales or disposition and so to be called in collected recovered or received as aforesaid the notes ffunds securities wherein the same ….

shall be so laid out and invested by them as aforesaid upon trust that they said Thomas Shefford and Henry Madgwick and the survivor of them or the executors or administrators of such survivor shall and do from time to time during the life of my said dear wife Ann Topper pay to or otherwise permit and suffer and fully authorise and empower her my said wife and her assigns to receive and take the dividends interest and annual produce of the said trust monies and securities as and when the same shall become due and payable to and for her and their own use and benefit and from and immediately after the decease of her my said wife Ann Topper then upon trust that they the said Thomas Shefford and Henry Madgwick or the survivor of them his executors or administrators shall and do thenceforth stand and are possessed of and interested in all the residue of my said trust monies shares ffunds and securities and the interest dividends and proceeds thereof in trust for ? and to pay Transfer and assign the same and every part thereof unto and amongst my said Sons and daughters namely Penniston Topper George Topper

^[inserted in the margin: Diana Lintott Caroline Topper and Mary Ann Topper]

and Charlotte Topper equally to be divided between them share and share alike as tenants in common and not as joint tenants and to for or upon no other trust intent or purpose whatsoever provided always and my will is and I do hereby expressly declare that the several ? and requests heretobefore made to or in trust for my said children or any or either of them shall not lapse or become void by the deaths or ? of the same children or any or either of them in my lifetime it being my intention and desire that the executors or administrators of such of my said children as shall happen to die in my lifetime shall as upon my decease succeed or become entitled to the share or shares of and in my said estates effects hereinbefore given and stated to or in trust for them my said children as aforesaid as fully and effectually as such child or children himself herself or themselves would have done in case he she they had survived anything to the contrary thereof not withstanding and I do hereby nominate constitute and appoint the said Thomas Shefford and Henry Madgwick trusted executors of this my last will and testament and I give and bequeath to each of them a legacy of one guinea each for mourning rings as a small acknowledgement for the trouble they will have in the execution of this my will and the trusts hereby stated and I do hereby so declare that they my said trustees and executors their executors administrators or assigns shall not be charged or chargeable with or accountable for any more of the said trust monies and premises than they respectively actually shall receive or shall come to their respective hands by virtue of this my will nor with or for any loss which shall or may happen of or to the same so as such loss happen without their respective wilful default nor the one for the other of them nor for the acts deeds receipts or disbursements of the other of them but both of them only for his own acts deeds receipts disbursements and defaults and also that it shall be careful? for my said trustees and executors and each of them and each of their executors and administrators in first place by and out of the aforesaid respective trust monies and premises to deduct and reimburse to them all such costs charges and expenses as they or any of them shall sustain or be put into for or by reason of the trusts hereby in them reposed all the management or execution thereof or any other thing in any wise relating thereto and lastly I do hereby revoke and make void of all and other wills by me at any time heretofore made and declare this only to be my last will and testament in witness whereof the said Penniston Topper have to this my last will and testament contained in this and four proceeding sheets of paper subscribed and set my hand and seal that is to say my hand to the bottom of each of the said four proceeding sheets and my hand and seal to the ffifth or last sheet of paper this 12th day of October in the year of our lord 1803 Penniston Topper signed sealed published and declared by the said Penniston Topper the testator as for his last Will and Testament in the presence of us who in his presence and at his request and in the presence of each other have subscribed our names as witnesses thereto

? Salt? Broadway Westminster ? Salt?

This will was proved at London the 19th day of March in the year of our lord 1804 before the worshipful Charles Coste doctor of laws surrogate of the right honourable sir William ? Knight also doctor of laws master keeper and commissioner of the prerogative Court of Canterbury lawfully instituted by the oath of Thomas Shefford and Henry Madgwick the executors named in the said will to whom administration of all and singular the goods chattels and trusts of the deceased was granted having been first sworn duly to administer.

 

19.2.6 6xgreat grandparents John Stoney and Ann Pawson: early years?

Previous research shows that my (presumed) 6xgreat grandfather John Stoney married his second wife, Ann Pawson, in 1748 in Kettlewell, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. His first wife, Alice Stainforth, had died two years before, having given birth to four children, two of whom died in infancy. He married Alice in Burnsall in 1736, and was eligible to vote in the General Election of 1741 due to his owning property in Kettlewell, although at the time he was living at Grassington. He is described as ‘of Kettlewell’ at both his marriages, and seems to have lived or worked in nearby villages, including Burnsall, Grassington and Hartlinton Moorside. 

He wrote his will a few days before his death in April 1771, leaving everything to his only son Jonathan Stoney. To his five surviving unmarried daughters, he left a guinea each, and directed his son to allow Ann Pawson to continue living in his ‘dwelling house’ while she remained his widow.

But what of his origins? We know nothing of him before his first marriage in 1736, although from his will we know he had at least two brothers – Robert and James. He was likely to have been at least 21 years old at the time of that marriage, which would suggest a birth year of around 1715. A search at FindMyPast reveals no baptisms at that time in Kettlewell or nearby. There is one potential candidate in the Kettlewell Parish Register some years earlier:

John ye son of Jonathan Stona baptised July ye 4^th 1703

The original register is very faded, but the Bishop’s Transcript is clear:

The surname spelling is of course different, although when his son Jonathan was buried in 1807, his surname is also given as Stona, even though his will clearly shows it as Stoney. There are other Stona records in the late 1600s/early 1700s at Kettlewell at FindMyPast which I explore here.

If this is the correct baptism, then he would have been 33 when he married Alice Stainforth, and about 68 when he died in 1771. Did this Jonathan Stona/Stoney also have sons Robert and James?

FindMyPast has baptisms for James, son of Jonathan Stona, at Kettlewell in 1702 and another James in 1715, and for Robert, son of Jonathan Stona at Kettlewell in 1710. The first James Stona was buried at Kettlewell in 1710, a few months after Robert’s birth. Not conclusive, and more research is needed into these Stonas as there seem to be other families of the same name in Kettlewell around that time.

What of his second wife Ann Pawson? She was probably younger than John Stoney when they married in 1748; he would have been 45 at the time. She is recorded as a spinster in the marriage record; a search of FindMyPast for the baptism of an Ann Pawson at Kettlewell 20 years either side of 1710 reveals only two possibilities:

• ·       Ann & Alice daughters of William Pearson Junior Cordwainer baptised privately 3 April 1714
• ·       Anne daughter of Joseph Pawson Labourer baptised 5 February 1720

The Bishop’s Transcript of the second baptism above gives the father’s occupation as Labourer. I have not found burials for either of these girls as infants. If the second – which has the correct name – is for ‘our’ Anne Pawson, she would have been about 28 when she married John Stoney. There are no marriage records for a Joseph Pawson at Kettlewell. So her parentage for now remains a mystery.

There is a burial record for an Ann Stoney/Stona (transcripts vary) in Kettlewell in 1798, aged 78, which would match the baptism date of Anne Pawson, daughter of Joseph Pawson. She is described as ‘widow of John Stoney’. There is also, however, another burial for Ann Stona, widow of John, in Kettlewell in 1778. The records need more unpicking to determine which of these burials 20 years apart might be ‘our’ Ann.

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

19.2.5 What happened to the eleven children of John Stoney (1703-1771)?

 My presumed 6xgreat grandfather John Stoney married twice and had eleven children between 1737-1762. All but one were girls, and only half of these survived infancy. They were:

With first wife Alice Stainforth:

1.     Elizabeth, daughter of John Stoney of Hartlinton Moorside, Yeoman, born 10 February 1737 and baptised 20 February, Burnsall

2.     Eleanor, daughter of John Stoney of Hartlinton Moorside, Yeoman, was publicly baptised 23 January 1738, Burnsall (Elin, daughter of John Stoney, of Grassington, buried 29 Dec 1740)

3.     Margaret, (possibly, 20 Nov 1740, Linton in Craven, daughter of John Stoney of Gris., Yeoman), daughter of John Stoney of Grassington, Yeoman, buried 2 January 1741

4.     Jonathan, son of John Stoney of Kettlewell, Yeoman, baptised 6 February 1743, Kettlewell

With second wife Ann Pawson:

5.     Elin, daughter of John Stoney of Kettlewell, Yeoman, baptised 31 October 1750 (buried 6 November 1751, daughter of John Stoney, Yeoman), Kettlewell

6.     Dorothea, daughter of John Stoney, Yeoman, baptised 29 January 1752, Kettlewell

7.     Ann, born around 1754, named in her father’s and half-brother’s wills, baptism not found

8.     Mary, daughter of John Stoney of Kettlewell, Yeoman, baptised 27 March 1756, Kettlewell

9.     Rachel, daughter of John Stoney and Ann, 5 December 1757 (buried 30 January 1759, daughter of John Stoney, Yeoman), Kettlewell

10.   Alice, daughter of John Stoney and Ann, baptised 17 April 1760, Kettlewell

11.   Hannah, daughter of John Stoney, baptised 14 February 1762, Kettlewell

1. Elizabeth Stoney (1737-1809)

After her baptism at Burnsall in 1737, nothing is heard of Elizabeth, the first child of John Stoney, until her marriage at Kettlewell, aged 22, to Joseph Lindsay on 12 May 1759. FindMyPast has an image of the register which records the banns as well as the marriage. Both are of ‘this parish’ (Kettlewell) and Joseph is a Blacksmith.

I have found baptisms for five of their children between 1761-1771. It seems that Elizabeth used many of the names of her siblings and parents for her children: Jonathan (1761-1761); William (1765-?); John (1767-?); Alice (1769-1770) and Ellen (1771-?). The will of an Elizabeth Lindsay of Kettlewell was proved in 1809 (copy available from The Borthwick Institute); she would have been about 72 years old if she died that year, although I have not found a burial record for her. Her husband died in September 1799.

2 & 3: Elin/Eleanor and Margaret Stoney

Both of John Stoney’s next two children died in infancy.

4. Jonathan Stoney (1743-1808)

Jonathan’s story – what little we know of this Yeoman of Kettlewell – has already been told. He was the last of John Stoney's children with his first wife, Alice Stainforth, who died three years after Jonathan's birth.

5. Elin Stoney (1750-1751)

Elin was the first child of John Stoney and his second wife Ann Pawson. Sadly, like her older half-sister, she died in infancy.

6. Dorothy Stoney (1752-1811)

Dorothea Stoney was baptised at Kettlewell in January 1752. She is the first-named daughter in her father’s will of 1771, when she was bequeathed a guinea, like her sisters. She would have been about 19 years old at his death, and was his oldest unmarried daughter. Ten years later, aged 29, she married the splendidly named Robinson Grandidge on 26 July 1781 at Kildwick, about 18 miles from Kettlewell. From his baptism record, he appears to have been illegitimate – perhaps his father’s surname was Robinson? He and Dorothy/Dorothea baptised at least four children between 1784 and 1796 – there may have been others, as the surname is open to much variation in spelling. Robinson Grandidge is recorded as paying land tax at Farnhill, just across the canal from Kildwick, where the couple married. He was a Yeoman farmer like his father-in-law. His wife died in 1811, buried on 29 September that year, ‘wife of Robinson Grandidge, Yeoman’, when she would have been about 59 years old. Robinson continues to be recorded as paying taxes at Farnhill until 1823, although he actually died in July 1822, being buried at Kildwick on 21 July. Their youngest son, also Robinson Grandidge, was born in 1796 and passed on the Stoney name to his own son, Jonathan Stoney Gandidge, who was born in 1836.

7. Ann Stoney (1754-1828)

Ann Stoney was 17 when her father died, leaving her a guinea in his will. She was about fifty years old when her half-brother Jonathan Stoney made his will in 1804, writing “all my real estate whatsoever situate at Kettlewell aforesaid or elsewhere and also all my household goods and ffurniture plate linen ready money money owing to me upon or without security or securities and all other my personal estate whatsoever and wheresoever I give devise and bequeathe to my sister Ann Stoney and her assigns during the term of her natural life and from and immediately after her decease I give devise and bequeath the same unto my Nephew William Stoney [of Leeds in the County of York Grocer]”. It seems that she did not marry, despite not receiving much under their father’s will. Perhaps she had lived with Jonathan, acting as housekeeper, as he also remained unmarried, or he maintained her during her lifetime. She died intestate on 6 April 1828, her married sister Hannah Myers being granted administration of her estate, which is said not to exceed £20 in value. It is not clear whether Jonathan Stoney’s estate – which he willed to pass to his nephew William Stoney, Grocer of Leeds after her death – was actually transferred to him, as by then he had been imprisoned on a Hulk on the Thames for four years, been pardoned and had started a family in London, being regularly in debt before and after.

8. Mary Stoney (1756-1799)

My 5xgreat grandmother Mary Stoney was also unmarried, aged 15, when she was left a guinea in her father’s will. She did not marry, but had an illegitimate son, William Moorhouse Stoney, the ‘nephew, Grocer of Leeds’ mentioned in her half-brother’s will in 1804 some five years after her death.

9. Rachel Stoney (1757-1759)

The fifth daughter of John Stoney and his second wife Ann Pawson died aged just two years old.

10. Alice Stoney (1760-?)

We know that Alice Stoney was baptised in Kettlewell on 17 April 1760, and that she was still alive – aged about 11 – when she is left a guinea in her father’s will. I have not found any obvious death or burial records for an Alice Stoney after that. There is a marriage record for 20 October 1784 for an Alice Stoney and Richard Duckett at Arncliffe – about five miles from Kettlewell – at FindMyPast. She was about 24 years old. This Alice is said to be from Arncliffe Parish, her husband is from nearby Long Preston. This couple baptised a son, William, at Long Preston in 1788, but little else is known about their lives. I have not been able to find any obvious death or burial records for them, although their son moved to Nottinghamshire and Leicester, and was a Cabinet Maker.

11. Hannah Stoney (1762-1833)

John Stoney’s youngest daughter was baptised at Kettlewell on 14 February 1762; she would have been about nine years old when her father died, naming her in his will and leaving her a guinea, like her other unmarried sisters. She was only 16 when her mother Ann Pawson died in 1778. It seems that Hannah, like her older sister Alice, moved to Arncliffe at some point in the 1780s, as she was also married from there on 10 March 1788, aged 24. Her husband was John Metcalfe, and one of the witnesses was her older sister’s husband, Robinson Grandidge. Whereas sister Alice married Richard Ducket by license, Hannah and John married by banns. Her husband died some time before 1813, and she remarried on 17 June 1813 at Arncliffe. Her husband this time was Henry Myers. When her spinster sister Ann Stoney died in 1828, Hannah Myers, widow of Long Preston, is granted administration of her small estate. She appears to have died in February 1833 and was buried – aged 70 – in Kettlewell, her parish of birth. Administration of her estate was granted to a Robert Metcalfe. He may have been her son from her first marriage, or another relative of her first husband.

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

19.2.4 The will of Jonathan Stoney 1804

Jonathan Stoney was the only son of my 6xgreat grandfather John Stoney and his first wife Alice Stainforth. He was baptised in Kettlewell in the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1743. He does not appear to have married, but worked land at Kettlewell as a Yeoman. He died in 1808, having made a will four years earlier, in 1804. 

I ordered a copy of the will from The Borthwick Institute (the transcript and any errors are mine). The cover sheet notes:

See Vacant.
Exeon of the will of Jonathan Stoney late of Kettlewell yeoman decd was granted to William Stoney his nephew and sole executor before Haddon. 4th Janry 1808 Under 100L

The will follows the usual form:

In the name of God Amen I Jonathan Stoney of Kettlewell in the County of York Yeoman being of sound mind and memory DO make this my last will and testatment in manner following (that is to say) all my real estate whatsoever situate at Kettlewell aforesaid or elsewhere and also all my household goods and ffurniture plate linen ready money money owing to me upon or without security or securities and all other my personal estate whatsoever and wheresoever I give devise and bequeathe to my sister Ann Stoney and her assigns during the term of her natural life and from and immediately after her decease I give devise and bequeath the same unto my Nephew William Stoney [of Leeds in the County of York Grocer] and his heirs executors and administrators forever (subject nevertheless to the payment of all my just debts funeral expenses and the charges of proving and registering this my will and I make and appoint him [the said William Stoney] my said Nephew sole executor of this my will hereby revoking and making void all former and other wills by me heretofore made I publish and declare this to be and contain my last will and testament this twenty sixth day of June in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ffour. Signed and sealed by the said jonathan Stoney the above mentioned testator and by him published and declared to be and contain his last will and testament in the presence of us who in his presence and at his request and in the presence of each other have hereto subscribed our names as witnesses the interlineation above appearing to have been first made.

Jonathan Stoney
Frances Birkbeck of Leyburn Spinster
Mary Ann Wood of Leeds Spinster
Jos Wood of Leeds attorney at Law

Jonathan signs and seals the will.

 

 

 

 

The document is appended with the grant of probate:

I do hereby certify that on the second day of January in the year of our Lord 1808 William Stoney of Leeds in the County of York and the nephew and sole executor named in this the last will and testament of Jonathan Stoney late of Kettlewell in the County and Diocese of York aforesaid yeoman deceased was sworn well and truly to execute and perform of the same and that the whole of the goods, chattels and credits of the said deceased within the diocese of York do not amount in value to the sum of one hundred pounds.

Under 100L Exchequer Witness my hand Peter Haddon Surrogate 10s stamp passed seal 4 Janry 1808 under 100L

Jonathan’s sister Ann Stoney herself died unmarried, aged about 74, in 1828. She died intestate, and it seems that her brother’s direction to transfer his estate to his nephew William Moorhouse Stoney was not passed on or, perhaps, had diminished too much, as grant of administration was given to her married sister Hannah Myers, the estate valued at under £20.

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

19.2.2 Tracing the children of John Stoney, Yeoman of Kettlewell (1703-1771)

My supposed 6xgreat grandfather John Stoney’s will was written just before his death in April 1771 in Kettlewell, West Riding of Yorkshire. In it he names his wife, Ann Pawson, his son Jonathan Stoney and daughters Dorothy, Ann, Mary, Alice and Hannah Stoney.

A search at FindMyPast for the baptisms at Kettlewell of these children after his marriage to Ann Pawson in 1748 reveals the following:

• ·       Dorothea, daughter of John Stoney, Yeoman, 29 January 1752 (Age 19 in 1771)
• ·       Mary, daughter of John Stoney of Kettlewell, Yeoman, 27 March 1756 (age 15)
• ·       Alice, daughter of John Stoney and Ann, 17 April 1760 (age 11)
• ·       Hannah, daughter of John Stoney, 14 February 1762 (age 9)

It seems that the couple had at least two other daughters who died in infancy, as the following baptisms and burials were also found at FindMyPast:

• ·       Elin, daughter of John Stoney of Kettlewell, Yeoman, 31 October 1750 (buried 6 November 1751, daughter of John Stoney, Yeoman)
• ·       Rachel, daughter of John Stoney and Ann, 5 December 1757 (buried 30 January 1759, daughter of John Stoney, Yeoman)

I have not found the baptism of daughter Ann, who is listed second in her father’s will after Dorothy and before Mary and was presumably born between the two, in about 1754 – she would therefore have been 16-17 when her father died.

His son Jonathan Stoney, who inherited land and property, appears to have been a child of John Stoney’s previous marriage. A Jonathan Stoney was baptised at Kettlewell on 6 February 1743, son of John Stoney. No mother’s name is given. He would have been 28 at the time of his father’s death.

There is a marriage record for a John Stoney  to Alice Stainforth in 1736 (FamilySearch) in Burnsall, Yorkshire, nine miles from Kettlewell. FindMyPast has a very faint copy of the register of Burnsall for 1736 which shows that ‘John Stoney of Kettlewell Husb. [husbandman] & Alice Stainforth of [the parish of Har?] Spins. Were 3 publishd? lawfully and married in the parish of Burnsall by Mr. [?] on the 3 day of May with certificate from M. Currer Minister of Kettlewell’.

A husbandman was one below a Yeoman in the social strata of the day, but perhaps at that time he only held and worked land on leasehold, later buying his own and therefore being a Yeoman.

An Alice Stoney ‘wife of John Stoney Yeoman of Kettlewell’ was buried in Kettlewell on 26 April 1746, ten years after the marriage, and two years before he married Ann Pawson.

It would seem strange that John Stoney and his first wife Alice only had one son, seven years after their marriage. A search at FindMyPast and FamilySearch for the baptisms of other children of John Stoney in Kettlewell between 1736 and the death of Alice Stoney in Kettlewell in 1746 failed to find any other than Jonathan.

However, two daughters -  children of John Stoney Yeoman - were baptised in Burnsall, where they were married: Elizabeth in February 1737 – nine months after the marriage - and Eleanor in 1738. The baptism records are very hard to read, but the place of residence of the father in both cases looks more like Hartlinton, Moore Side. On another transcript of the marriage record of John Stoney and Alice Stainforth, she is said to be of ‘Hartlinton’ or similar … so there may be a connection. Hartlinton is a tiny village near Burnsall.

There are also two burials in Kettlewell – one at the end of December 1740 for Elin (Eleanor), daughter of John Stoney of Grassington (near Burnsall), Yeoman and for Margaret, daughter of the same, in January 1741. However, John Stoney was registered to vote at Kettlewell in the 1741 general election; is this the same man? Another search at FindMyPast for the 1741 election provides a clue that he might be. John Stoney is registered as a freeholder residing at Grassington, but his freehold property is in Kettlewell!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So it seems possible that John Stoney and his wife Alice Stainforth had at least four children: Elizabeth, Elin/Eleanor, Margaret and Jonathan, and that at least two of them had died by the time he married Ann Pawson. Their daughter Elizabeth may have married a Joseph Lyndsey in Kettlewell in 1759, when she would have been about 22 years old (record at FindMyPast).

Of John Stoney’s 11 children from two marriages, only one was male – Jonathan, son with his first wife Alice – and only five of the ten daughters survived beyond infancy. I share what I have found about them all - and the potential links with William Moorhouse Stoney, in another post. 

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

19.2.1 The Will of John Stoney of Kettlewell, Yeoman, 1771

John Stoney was possibly my 6xgreat grandfather – grandfather to my 3xgreat grandfather William Moorhouse Stoney, who was (also possibly) the illegitimate son of Mary Stoney. John Stoney died in April 1771 and was buried at Kettlewell, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, where he had lived – as far as I can tell – all his life, married (probably twice) and raised a large number of children, almost all girls. The will is lengthy with legalistic prose and many detailed bequests to family members, which is helpful in reconstructing how – if at all – Mary Stoney and her son William Moorhouse Stoney – fit in. The transcription (and therefore any errors) is all mine. The cover page records the grant of probate to his widow, Ann:

Execrs of the Will of John Stoney late of Kettlewell ???? was granted to Ann Stoney widow relict and sole executrix. By Carr 10 October 1771

The Will of John Stoney of Kettlewell

The next page simply says: 30th March 1771, John Stoney’s will. On page 3, the will starts in the usual fashion:

This is the last will and testament of me John Stoney of Kettlewell in the County of York Yeoman which I make in manner and form following that is to say I give and devise to my son Jonathan Stoney all that my messuage and my dwelling house wherein I reside together with the appurtenances thereunto belonging and all other my estate situate within the township of Kettlewell aforesaid which is of the nature of freehold I hold the same and every part thereof unto him my said son and his heirs and assigns forever Subject nevertheless and upon express condition that he and they permit and suffer my dear wife Ann Stoney without any molestation whatsoever to use occupy and keep my said messuage and dwelling house with the turfhouse and garden thereunto belonging and adjoining and during so long as she shall remain my widow which I intend as a place of residence for her during that state Also I give devise and bequeath unto my said son Jonathan Stoney all my lands tenements and premises with their and every of their appurtenances situate in Kettlewell aforesaid which I hold by term of years and which is of the nature of leasehold to hold the same unto him my said son his executors administrators and assigns from and immediately after my decease for and during the remainder of all such term and terms of years as at the time of my decease I may happen to have unexpired therein yielding and paying thereout yearly unto my said dear wife and her assigns the sum of forty shillings during her widowhood as aforementioned and no longer which I hereby direct shall be paid by half yearly payments the first whereof and to commence and be made immediately at the end of six months after my decease To my daughters to wit Dorothy, Ann, Mary, Alice and Hannah I give each the sum of one pound and one shilling to be paid to them respectively at the end of twelve months next ensuing my decease by my executrix hereinafter named whom I do hereby direct to discharge all my just debts, my funeral expenses and the expense of proving this my last will and testament and I do hereby constitute and appoint my said dear wife Ann Stoney sole executrix of this my said last will and testament and 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 In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this thirtieth day of March in the year of our lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy one

Signed sealed published and declared by the testator as and for this his last will and testament in the presence of us, who in his presence, and in the presence of each other, and at his request have as witnesses hereunto subscribed our names

Abraham Gopham?  John Bolland   Warren Simondson

John Stoney’s ‘hand’ in signature alongside his seal is somewhat shaky – perhaps from old age or infirmity, or perhaps because he wasn’t used to writing.

 

Appended after this is the declaration of one of the witnesses and the executrix:

Know all men by these presents that we Ann Stoney of Kettlewell in the County of York Widow and Warren Simondson of Starbotton in the parish of Kettlewell aforesaid Gentleman do stand and are firmly burdened and obliged unto the Worshipful PETER JOHNSON Master of Arts Commissary of the Exchequer Court of the most reverend father in God ROBERT by divine providence Lord Arch-Bishop of York, Primate of England and Metropolitan lawfully constituted in the sum of Fifty pounds of good and lawful money of Great Britain to be paid to the said commissary or his true and lawful attorney executors administrators or assigns to the which payment well and truly made We bind us and each of us jointly and severally for and in the whole of them firmly by these presents sealed with our seals Dated the nineteenth day of the month of September in the year of our lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy one The condition of this obligation is such that if the above bound Ann Stoney relict and sole executrix named in the last will and testament of John Stoney late of Kettlewell aforesaid in the diocese of York Yeoman deceased do well and truly execute and perform the said the last will and testament of the deceased And do pay his debts and legacies so far as his goods will extend law shall bind her if also she do exhibit into the Exchequer court at York a true and perfect inventory of all and singular the goods, rights, credits, cattles and chattles of the said deceased and do make a true and joint accompt of the same when she shall be thereunto lawfully called And moreover if need require enter into further Bond with more sufficient Sureties for the performance of the premisies as the Judge of the said court for the time being shall think requisite and needful And lastly do save, defend and harmless keep the above named judge, and all his Officers and Ministers, against all persons by reason of the Premisies Then this present obligation to be void and of none effect or else to remain in full force and virtue Sealed and delivered in the presence of Tho. Carr Surrogate Ann Stoney X her mark] Warren Simondson

Ann Stoney the within named executrix was duly sworn before me Tho. Carr Surrogate. Past? 10th October 1771.

From this we can reconstruct the family of John Stoney as it was at the time of writing his will in March 1771:

His wife was Ann (formerly Pawson, as per the marriage record of 1748) and his children were:

• ·       Jonathan, his son, who was to receive the bulk of the legacy of lands and property, freehold and leasehold, but permit Ann Stoney to continue living in his ‘dwelling house’ for the remainder of her widowhood and receive 40 shillings annually from the produce of the land
• ·       Daughters (probably in order of birth): Dorothy, Ann, Mary, Alice and Hannah who are each to receive “the sum of one pound and one shilling to be paid to them respectively at the end of twelve months next ensuing my decease by my executrix”
• ·       Brothers James Stoney and Robert Stoney to continue to live in the ‘dwelling house that they now inhabit’ for as long as they live (ie until the death of the surviving one)

The guinea to each of his daughters is a gesture only, as they would not be expected to retain any monies given to them as these would immediately become the property of their husbands (whether married at the time or later). None of them is described as ‘the wife of …’ so they were all presumably at this point unmarried and, possibly, under age.

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