A Stokes
Family of
Written by A. G. Stokes
Table of Contents
The Forebears and Descendants of John Henry
Fielding Stokes
LOUISA CHARLOTTE MARY (1861-1912)
JOSEPHINE FRANCES EMMA (1870-1935)
The English-Irish Family Connection
WHITLEY STOKES M.D. (1763-1845)
SIR WILLIAM STOKES (1838-1900)
MARGARET M’NAIR STOKES (1832-1900)
SIR GEORGE GABRIEL STOKES (1819-1903)
Members of the stokes family, born before
1900, who achieved prominence in various pursuits.
Members of the Clergy of the Church of
Ireland or Church of England.
Academics who occupied professorial chairs
Men who served in the imperial forces
Men who achieved eminence in the public
service
Recipients of imperial honours
Will of John Stokes of SEAGREE (1626-87)
Will of Abjohn Stokes of Titherton
(1641-1707)
In
1978 I received a letter from a great niece in
In
trying to meet this request I soon realized I knew very little about my
family. Like most people, I had in my
earlier years the opportunity to ask older members of the family about my
forebears but neglected to do so. My
Stokes grandmother (an Englishwoman) was the only grandparent alive when I was
born and she could have given me quite a lot of information but I never asked. My father gave me some details but his
knowledge was not extensive. He did tell
me that there were a lot of notes in their family bible but it had been lost in
disastrous floods in the
As
I was already retired when I received the request from my niece I had the time
to investigate the family history and proceeded to do so. My first contact was with John Stokes, a
first cousin living in
A
consequent development was to visit these countries to meet the people I had
contacted and to sight a lot of relevant material in the national libraries and
public record offices of
So it sent on. It has been a pleasant experience during which I met a lot of delightful people, saw a lot of nice places and spent many hours in interesting libraries and other repositories of historical documents.
I
think it is now time to gather in the threads and set down the story for others
to read now and in the future. I am
disappointed I have not been able to establish the link between the English and
Irish families. This is especially
frustrating as I believe the evidence exists if it could be found in the
records of the Chief Herald of
In writing the story I have used the first person as I think it is appropriate to do so in notes of this kind.
A.G. Stokes
In writing these notes I have been tempted to use footnotes or notes at the end of each chapter to give the authority from which the information was derived but I have not done so as I think they would distract the casual reader. Naturally I believe the information contained in these notes is correct and have records to substantiate it but they are too voluminous to expect them to survive for long. There are many sources which I have consulted that are available to any future researcher.
In
The
Public Record Office in
County
libraries in
In
The
loss of records has been a disaster for
The
Genealogical Library contains many important records. It used to be housed in the Castle but it has
been closed since 1982 and is being relocated at
The
official register of births, marriages and deaths is at the Customs House where
records from 1864 are available except for
I
found a lot of useful material in the National Library of Ireland including a
comprehensive collection of early Dublin Almanacs. The Registry of Deeds in
As a general guide to sources of Irish material I found the “Handbook of Irish Genealogy” published by Heraldic Artists Ltd. of us although it contained many inaccuracies.
Another
important source of general information has been the International Genealogical
Index compiled by the
I
understand the reason the Mormons have undertaken this work is to confer
retrospective baptism on the departed!
This has met with strenuous opposition from some ministers; others take
a less dogmatic approach and even welcome it because of the wear and tear being
suffered by their registers.
As an outcome of overseas visits and correspondence with members of the family I obtained copies of four histories of the family written by, or for, members of it.
In 1854 Thomas Dalton, a professional genealogist, wrote about the Stokes family of Stanshawes in Gloucestershire for Dr. Thomas Stokes (1784-1859) who was his friend. This history was helpful although Dr. Thomas Stokes seemed to be more interested in recording connections with the County families than in members of the Stokes family.
In
1910 Anson Phelps Stokes, an American millionaire banker, wrote a history of
the Stokes family which he had printed privately in
Anson
seems to have been an eccentric man who spent a considerable amount of money
(and visited
The
most thorough of the historians of the English family of Stokes was Arthur
Schomberg, a lineal descendant of the Duke of Schomberg who led King William’s
cavalry at the battle of the
The pedigree which Schomberg published was a transcription from an old parchment document which set out the generations of de Stokke, Stokys, Stokes (as the name changed) from Sir Adam who died in 1312 down to about 1725. It was written on five skins glued together and contained 64 Coats of Arms. The author is unknown but I suspect it may have been ordered by Richard Stokes (1661-1724), an attorney of Calne (Wilts.). From his will it is apparent he was intensely proud of his ancestry and was also a wealthy man. It would seem that the fortunes of the Gloucestershire Stokes reached their peak in his generation. Richard died shortly before the latest date on the pedigree but it may have been completed by his son, Richard.
Genealogists
have questioned the authenticity of the pedigree but I believe it to be genuine
as I have been able to check it at many points and always found it to be
substantially correct. The original
parchment is in the possession (1986) of Robert Van Slyke of
The earliest notes made by a historian of the Irish family are those compiled by Rev. Thomas Gabriel Stokes (1828-1911) who was also a church historian and those notes have been helpful. Unfortunately all the family historians were only concerned with showing the lines of descent and did not indicate the sources or authorities for their statements.
Sir William Stokes (1838-1900) included some notes on the family in “William Stokes” a biography of his father. The notes were rather superficial involving little research.
Dr.
Henry Stokes (1879-1067) was another researcher who gathered a lot of
information and very carefully set it out in several small notebooks which are
now in the manuscript library of
Another
family historian was Rev. Hudleston Stokes (1898-1978) who lived in
The
pedigree of the Irish family was given in Burke’s “Irish Family Records”
published in 1976 and the work was thoroughly done. It has been one of my principal sources of
information. Through it I was able to
make contact with living members of the family in
It
is my intention to deposit copies of Mr. Dalton’s notes with the Wiltshire
County Library and those by Rev. Thomas Gabriel Stokes in the manuscript
library of
The
relationship of the Stokes family of
It is indisputable
that from the time of Strongbow, the Earl of Pembroke (1170), the English in
Poyning’s Law was repealed in 1782 and in other ways the disadvantages under which the native Irish laboured were relaxed during the 18th. century. Charles II summed up the attitudes of generations of English to the Irish when he said “my justice I must afford to you all, but my favour must be placed upon my protestant subjects.”
In the latter part of the 17th. century when Gabriel came on the scene the penal laws were in force so as Anglo-Irish came to occupy an unusual position in Irish society. Avoided by the native Irish and distrusted by the English they formed in many respects a separate community but it is remarkable that most of the rebellions against English authority were led by Irish protestants such as Wolfe Tone and Edward Fitzgerald.
Perhaps
because of the clannish nature of their society the Anglo-Irish seem to have
kept better records within their families and institutions than was usual in
In 1650 the
population of
Protestant Roman Catholic
Males 2565 1202
Females 2986 1406
5551 2608
This was the
community into which Gabriel was born in 1682.
His birth was recorded in the register of St. Nicholas Within. The only other detail supplied was that his
father was “John. a
The next
record we have of Gabriel is a licence to marry Elizabeth King of Rathfarnam in
1711.
There was a
Gabriel made Freeman of the city of
In 1735 there was a tract printed by Syl. Pepyat, Printer to the Honourable City of Dublin which was described as “a scheme for effectually supplying every part of the city of Dublin with pipe water without any charge of water engines, or any water forcers, by a close adherence only to the natural laws of Gravitation, and the principles, rules and experiments of Hydrostaticks”. It is signed Gab. Stokes and is a well written and well argued tract.
There was
another tract “The Mathematical Cabinet of the Hydrostatical Ballance unlocked:
or an Easy Key to all its uses” by Gab. Stokes, Mathematical Instrument maker
in
Clearly
Gabriel was a very talented man but I wonder how he came to be granted Arms in
1721. This grant will be discussed
later. I suspect that he received
patronage, perhaps from Lord Grafton, Lord Lieutenant of
Gabriel and
Elizabeth seemed to have lived all their married life on the corner of Eustace
and Essex Sts. in
Many of
Gabriel’s children possessed great talent.
Their first born, Gabriel (1712), won a prize of a volume of Horace and
he attended
The records are incomplete but he seems to have had five other sons and three daughters. James was born in 1718, John (1721-81), Gabriel (1732-1806), Benjamin (d.1771) and William (d.1793). Of the daughters, Elizabeth (b.1713), Mary (b.1714) and Ann (b.1718) nothing has come down although it appears from William’s will that Elizabeth may have married George Fowkes and one of the other daughters married a Mr. Richmond.
Elizabeth
(Mrs. Gabriel Stokes) died in 1751 and Gabriel retired as Deputy Surveyor
General in 1753 when he went to live in
The eldest surviving son, John (1721-81), attended T.C.D. in 1735 and graduated B.A. in 1740, M.A. 1743, B.D. 1752, D.D. 1755 and he was admitted a Fellow in 1746. He was appointed Professor of Mathematics in 1762 but later transferred to become Professor of Greek in 1764 when his brother took over the chair of Mathematics. He as Archbishop King’s Lecturer in 1765 and 1768 and was appointed to the living of Rahy in 1777. John was intensely shy which is unusual in a man who achieved so much.
I do not know
the date of Benjamin’s birth but he died in 1771. Gabriel and his sons all left wills but
Benjamin’s is the only one which survived the Four Courts fire although the
genealogical content of William’s will was extracted by Sir William Betham and
is recorded in the genealogical library in Dublin. Benjamin was an eminent goldsmith and
silversmith who was made a Freeman in 1747 and became Warden of the Goldsmith
Guild in 1763. Some of his pieces are on
display in the
William and his descendants are discussed in the section covering the forebears of John Henry Fielding Stokes.
Gabriel
(1732-1806) was also a brilliant academic and churchman. He entered
The talents and mental capacity of John and Gabriel were inherited by their descendants. John’s grandson (Sir) George Gabriel (1819-1903) was a brilliant mathematician and his biography is included in the Appendix. The Dictionary of National Biography records that “as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge (1849-1903), Secretary (1854-85) and President (1885-90) of the Royal Society he held three offices which had only once before been held by one man, Sir Issac Newton”.
Four of John’s eight grandsons became Ministers of the Church, one, John Whitley, becoming an Archdeacon.
Of Gabriel’s three sons, Gabriel (1773-1848) became an attorney, William (1768-1806) was a doctor and Whitley (1763-1845) was a doctor and an academic (his biography is also in the Appendix). Little has come down to us about Gabriel and William. One genealogist recorded that William never married but Dr. Henry noted that he married a Miss Stuart. Faulkner’s Journal noted in his obituary “William Stokes Esq. M.D. late of Killeshandra, a gentleman whose learned and benevolent mind enlightened and improved the circle in which he moved: his capacious friendship embraced the human race”. Rev. Thomas Gabriel (1828-1911) in his family history said of William “He died early from fever caught in the exercise of his profession in Co. Cavan. He was a man of great promise”.
The outstanding man of the next generation was Dr. Whitley’s on, Dr. William (1804-78), a man with an outstanding international reputation in the field of medicine (See Appendix A).
William’s
children also achieved eminence in their chosen vocations. Biographies of Whitley (1830-1909), (Sir)
William (1838-1900), and Margaret M’Nair (1832-1900) are included in the
Appendix. Sir William was an eminent surgeon
and Whitley and Margaret were gaelic scholars.
In this generation many of the Stokes family became prominent in the
Public Service and the Armed Services (especially in
The family is
now scattered widely around the world.
Comparatively few are now resident in
This part of the
story of the Stokes family is about John Henry Fielding Stokes’ forebears and
descendants. This branch is little known
by the larger family and did not appear in Burke’s “Irish Family Records”
published in 1976 probably because there had been no male residents in
There
is another reason why this branch has not entered the main family records which
goes right back to the listing of the children of Gabriel, the surveyor
(1682-1768). The forebears and children
of Gabriel have been discussed in an earlier section but some repetition may be
worthwhile. Gabriel was born in
Gabriel
and Elizabeth lived on the corner of Eustace and Essex Sts. all their married
life and where Gabriel also had his workshop (his office as Deputy Surveyor
General was in the Lower Castle Yard).
After
All
of Gabriel’s children were christened in his parish
A Miss Elliot extracted the following baptismal details of Gabriel’s children :-
1712 June 5th. Gabriel son of Gabriel and Elizabeth Stokes
1714 Nov. 26th. Mary daughter “ “ ”
1718 June 1st. James son “ “ “ “
Miss
Elliott did not find baptismal details of Elizabeth (b. 1713) or Ann (b. 1718)
which were unearthed by other family historians and I have found evidence that
they were daughters of Gabriel. Gabriel
and Elizabeth had other children. Dr
John (1721-81) and Dr. Gabriel (1732-1806) were famous clerics and professors
at
There were at
least two other sons born in the 1720’s.
Benjamin was an eminent
I have a copy of the marriage licence of William’s daughter Mary, signed by William in a very well formed hand.
Our descent is
through John who married Mary Walker, daughter of a haberdasher of Castle
(Dame) St. John appears to have started
his working life as an ironmonger in partnership with his brother-in-law
William Southwood. Their business was in
John next
appears in the records in 1806 when he became “Artificer and Supervisor” with
the Grand Canal Co. He stayed with this
Company for the rest of his working life.
Climbing the ladder he became Chief Engineer in 1832 and lived at
Harcourt Lodge on the
John and Mary
had twin sons, William and Charles, in 1793 and another son, Henry Fielding, in
1797. This is the first appearance of
the name Fielding in the family. It
reappeared in his grandson and in John Henry Fielding Stokes’ grandson, my
uncle John Frederick Fielding Stokes. I
think it may be taken as an indication that William (d. 1793) married a Miss
Fielding. I have found out nothing
further about Henry Fielding (b. 1797).
Charles never married and was buried in
William
married Charlotte Conroy of Clonakilty in 1816 and they had two children, John Henry
Fielding (1819-72) and Charlotte (1827-98).
William was a land surveyor. It is rather strange how many members of the family were concerned with surveying or civil engineering; William (d 1793), clerk to the Board of Works; his son John, Chief Engineer of the Grand Canal Co.; his son William, land surveyor; his son John, a chief Engineer of the Irish Northwestern Railway; his son William who was a Civil Engineer of the Australian Commonwealth Railways and my father, Alan, who was a land surveyor.
William
(1793-1864) was a fine penman as well as a surveyor and produced a booklet
“Pictorial Survey and Tourist Guide to Loch Derg and the river
William’s wife
Charlotte may have died about 1840 as he lived in many places in
John Henry
Fielding married Louisa Crowe Wherland in
There is quite
a number of family legends concerning the Wherlands. These stories have it that they were a very
well to do family who once owned
Although the
name Wherland sounds common enough, in all my researches I have never found it
in any records except in reference to this family of
The ownership
of
I have set out
a pedigree of the Wherland family (4F) as far as I have been able to discover
it, covering the 18th. and 19th. centuries (about 150
years). They were mainly trades with the
odd professional man. I can find no
reference to any Wherlands presently living in
But now back
to the Stokes family. John and Louisa
lived mostly in
John had at least six sons and two daughters:-
William (1846-1902) Louisa Charlotte Mary (1861-1912)
John Frederick (b.1847) Josephine Frances Emma (1864-1935)
Joseph (b. 1849)
George (b. 1851)
Charles Henry (1852-95)
Alan Brook (1860-1932)
John
died prematurely at Enniskillen in 1872 and was buried in the family vault at
Due
to John’s premature death the family was impoverished so the sons were affected
by the urge to emigrate and four of them left
WILLIAM (1846-1902). The eldest son, William, decided to leave
When
the work at
John Frederick Fielding (1881-1968)
Alan Herbert (1883-1968)
Louisa (1885-1954)
John started off his working life
as a surveyor in
Alan
Herbert was trained as a surveyor and worked in
JOHN FREDERICK (b.
1847). I have little
information about this son of John Frederick Fielding. He was born in
JOSEPH (b. 1849). Nothing is known of this son other than that
he was christened in
GEORGE (b.1851) was also born in
George
had four sons and two daughters. One
son, George, and the two daughters migrated to
CHARLES HENRY
(1852-1895) was
also christened in
He
sailed to
As each porter carried about 30kg. on his head some of his later caravans consisted of about 3000 natives which must have resembled an army on the move. Such a caravan would carry goods approximately equal to the total load of about four modern large semi-trailers.
In
1882 the C.M.S. sent out four trained nurses to help in its work. Charles fell in love with the prettiest one,
Ellen Sherratt, who came from
In
1885 Charles married an African, Limi, a kinswoman of the new Chief of the
Wanyamwesi tribe with whom he was on very friendly terms. In 1886 the couple went through the church
ceremony at
The
marriage to Limi produced no children.
By this time he had assumed the Moslem way of life and dress (but not
its religion). The King of Buganda gave
him two young women, Nanjala and
Charles’
business ventures prospered and in 1890 he joined the German service in their
territory as an Assistant Commissioner whilst still carrying on his transport
and trading activities. In 1894 he
decided to organise a huge caravan of over 3000 porters and cross into the
Unfortunately
everything came unstuck. Unknown to
Charles the Belgians had decided that all
The
matter of Charles Henry Stokes adventures in
Charles’
daughter Ellen Louisa was brought up by her mother’s relatives in
Charles
Stokes had two children by his concubines.
Louisa was the daughter of Kabula.
She died at a mission station in 1895.
Photographs of Nanjala taken when she was an old lady show her to be a
very dignified person. She lived to be
well over 90 and died in
About
1908 Charles Kasaja was taken to
At
the time of writing (1986) Charles Kasaja is alive and enjoying good health at
the age of 91. He lives in
Charles Nanjala (Kasaja) married Sarah Nambalilwa in 1921. They had a family of eight children, 3 sons and five daughters, of whom 2 sons and 4 daughters grew to maturity and married.
Stanley,
who married Alice Alison, lives in
Two
of Charles daughters live in the
Jessica
lives in
More details of the descendants of Charles Henry Stokes can be seen on pedigree 4D.
ALAN BROOK
(1860-1932). Alan was
the only son to remain in
The story of Alan Brook’s family is a sad one. It was obviously wrecked by the first world war and died out with the demise of Lucy. For further details see chart 4B.
LOUISA CHARLOTTE MARY
(1861-1912). In 1878
Louisa married Robert Symes who became a bank manager with the Bank of
Ireland. They had one son, Sandham, and
three daughters. Sandham married Cherrie
Copinger in 1907 and they had three sons and five daughters. The eldest son, Sandham had two sons and a
daughter; his eldest son migrated to
Of the five daughters of Sandham Charles, Dorothy married the Rev. Studdert, Vera married Patrick West and Helen married Robert Sandys. Cherry is unmarried and Marjey, who died this year (1986) was also unmarried.
Of the three daughters of Louisa, May Kathleen married N. Dickson without issue. Ina Amy Alice married John McElderry and they had three sons. Edward John married Myra Tracey without issue. Victor Neville married Florence Cunningham and they had two sons and one daughter. Thomas died in his minority. Louise Nancy married Dr. Welply and they had one son, Brian.
Some further details are shown on pedigree 4E.
JOSEPHINE FRANCES EMMA (1870-1935) was the only child of John and Louisa not born in Duplin. She was born at Enniskillen after John had been transferred there by his employers.
Josephine never married. She looked after her mother until she died in 1897 and later was given custody of Charles Henry’s daughter, Ellen, as the result of litigation over Charles’ will.
Josephine
died at Sandymount, near
In this story of the descendants of John Henry Fielding Stokes I have stopped description at my father’s generation as it would be tedious to follow them down to the present day. Some details are shown on the charts 4A-E but I will leave it to future family historians to set out details about them.
The
name of Stokes occurs in English records as early as the reign of King Stephen
(1135-1154) and often in the 13th. century. It is now common in
The
early Stokes came from
From
the reign of Henry III (1216-72) onwards the name of Stokes appears with
increasing frequency. In 1245 there was
a note “a number of carcases of bacon which were being sent to the King (Henry
III) in
The
first positive identification of the Wilts.-Glos. family comes from land
records in the
The effigies of Sir Adam and his son, Sir
Roger, were in the south transept of the parish
Records show that the effigy of Roger had an inscription around the figure. It read “Roger de Stocre, chev ici gycht deu de sa alme yet merci”. It seems that de Stokke may have been a corruption of the French de Stocre.
The deeds of Rushall tell us more about the family. Sir Adam’s parents Roger and Alice Stokke received the property by grant under royal licence from Lord de le Warre in 1302 as recorded “In an inquisition taken by John de Hertrugg, Sheriff of Wilts., at Cherleton next Upavene, on Saturday next after the feast of St. Dunstan, 30 Edw.1 (1302) on the oath of various Jurors, who say it is not to the damage of the King or others if the King shall grant to Roger la Warre that he may give his manor of Rustesal, which he holds of the King in Chief, to Roger de Stocke and Alice his wife, to hold to the said Roger and Alice of the King and his heirs for the whole life of the said Roger and Alice by their services therefore due and accustomed.
The said manor is held of the King in chief by the service of one knight’s fee, and is worth per annum, clear 20 pounds. No tenements or lands remain to the said Roger besides the said gift and grant in Co. Wilts, and the Jurors do not know what lands and tenements he held of the King or others elsewhere”.
Under another royal licence a Rushall was granted to Adam and his wife Gena (sometimes Eve or Yves). When Adam died in 1312 the manor was settled on Gena and Robert Hungerford whom Adam’s widow had married. When Hungerford died in 1352 Rushall was settled on Edward Stokke, the son of Roger (d. 1331), grandson of Adam and Joan, his wife, in 1355. Edward died in 1361 and the manor was held by Joan who later married William Hornby until her death in 1404. Edward had a son, John, who died without issue in 1376 so the manor passed out of the Stokke family to the Hungerfords in 1404 under the terms of the settlement of 1355.
To follow the history of the family we now have to refer to the old parchment pedigree which was drawn about 1725 and which is now in the possession of Robert Van Slyke of Auckland. This follows the descent from Sir Adam’s son Thomas Stoke of Sende in the time of Edward III (1327-77).
Six
generations later the pedigree shows William Stoke living at
John paid for the building of the north aisle of Seend church (and perhaps the whole church). He and his wife were buried there and small brasses of them were inlaid in the stone flagging of the north aisle. Later covered with pews the brasses were forgotten for many generations but when rediscovered they were mounted on the west wall of the aisle where they can be seen today. They are about 40cm. high and under them is the inscription “here lyeth Iohn Stoyks and Alys his wiff whiche Iohne decessed the XVIII day of June in the year of our Lord God thousand CCCCLVII on whose soulys Jh’u have mercy. Amen.”
The surrounds of the window above the brasses have shears and a pair of scissors carved in the stone to indicate the trade of clothier along with other decorations. The windows were adorned with pictures of John, his wife and children but it is reported that “about the year 1648, in that rebellious sacril’gious and pretending age to holiness, these things were lookt on with suspicion, and al the painted glass was defaced and broken by William Somner of Sene”
John (d. 1498) had two sons called John which was most unusual. I have come across instances where parents used Christian names a second time when the older child had died before the younger one was born but both Johns grew to maturity. John (d. 1502) married Marjery Nicholas of Rundwale and the pedigree shows the Coat of Arms formed by this marriage. This is the first appearance of the ermine lion rampant with forked tail on a black escutcheon which was the Coat of the Stokes of Stanshawes.
Of the sons of John (d. 1502), William the eldest remained in Seend and in the pedigree this line is continued down to about 1700. The Stokes of Titherton are descended through the second son, John. The third son, Christopher, was a clothier at Castle Combe as was his son, Anthony. Castle Combe was an important centre of weaving until the end of the 17th. century when the stream, Bybrook, was said to have dried up and insufficient power was available for the looms.
It is a tradition that the name, blanket, originated in Castle Combe in Christopher’s time. It was named after the brothers Blanket who devised a way of raising the nap on the woolen bed cover.
The parchment pedigree states that Christopher (d. 1566)
was of Stanshawes. There is no mention
of the property in his will but Anthony (d. 1593) mentions his messuage and
ferme of Stanshialls now in tenure of John Stokes”. From other records it appears Stanshawes
passed into the family in 1566 so perhaps Christopher was not the owner on 5th.
November, 1565 when he wrote his will and did not add a codicil to bequeath the
property to his son before he died about June, 1566.
The
descent of the Stokes of Stanshawes from Anthony is shown on chart No. 1. John of Codrington went to
The line of primogeniture descended through Samuel (1608-1705) to Dr. Adrian Stokes who died on New Year’s day 1885. With his death the male line became extinct. The fortunes of the family seemed to reach their peak in the time of Richard (1661-1723/4) who was an attorney in Calne. From his will (see appendix C) it is evident he was a wealthy man. The later members seem to have been quite comfortable with a sprinkling of doctors and lawyers.
I did not follow the descent at Seend in great detail as I was mainly concerned in discovering the forebears of the Irish family but they seemed to have proliferated around Seend, Corsham and Bishopstrow many being yeomen or weavers.
The Stokes of Titherton, Wilts., descended through Edmund
(d. 1614), the grandson of John Stokys de Sende (d. 1502). Edmund’s grandson, Edward (1615-1677) was a
worthy citizen in very comfortable circumstances. He was a J.P. for the counties of Wilts.,
Glos. and
It was left to Edward’s son, Abjohn, to squander the assets of the Titherton Stokes. His first wife, Ann Scott, brought eight thousand pounds into the marriage but that was soon spent by Abjohn. Anson Stokes said Abjohn was persecuted by Jeffries, “the hanging judge” which may, or may not, be so. The story is told in a petition which Abjohn presented to Parliament:-
“To the honourable the Knights Citizens and burgesses in Parliament assembled the humble petition of Abjohn Stokes Esqr. Folio showeth
“That the petitioner in the reign of King Charles and the late King James being in the Commission of the peace for Gloucestershire Wiltshire and Somersetshire did make a discovery of about six hundred Clyppers Coyners and utterers of false money and by the encouragement of both the said Majesties, four years did prosecute and convict great numbers of said criminals at his own proper cost and charges …..
“That your petitioner, to the great Damage and almost Ruin of himself and family, having expended above 3000 pounds, did at length meet with obstruction on the said Proceedings from the late Lord Chief Justice Jeffries, who being prevailed with by indirect means usd by the said criminals did oppose the further prosecution against them.
“That his said Majesty King Charles the Second declared your Petitioner should be refunded his charge, and also gratified for his said services, but died soon after before any order was made. That the said late King James did order 1000 pounds, be paid your petitioner by Richard Kent Esqr. Receiver of his Majesty’s Customs, in part for your Petitioner’s disbursements, and also a Commission for a Regiment of Foot provided be would use his endeavours to abrogate the Test and Penal Laws, but because your Petitioner would not comply, the said Commission was not sealed, nor the 1000 pounds paid so that your Petitioner was forced to mortgage the greatest part of [his] Estate and since sell for the payment of Debts contracted in the Prosecution.
“Your Petitioner most humbly implores that this Honourable House will vouchsafe to take his great sufferings into their consideration that some expedient may be found out (as in your great wisdom shall be thought meet) by which your Petitioner may be preserved from ruin ….”
Apparently Abjohn received nothing from the Crown and at the time of his death he was in hiding from the Sheriff. In the many Chancery proceedings which followed his death the character witnesses had little to say in favour of Abjohn except one witness, John Fido, Clerk in Holy Orders, of Hilperton, who said he was with him three or four days before his death and also on the day of his death when he prayed with him. “Be behaved himself” Fido said, “decently and humbly like a Christian”.
Before leaving Abjohn in his dishonour let me relate a story told by Sir James Long of Draycot. “Mr. Norborne of Caine upon insufferable abuses desired to meet him upon a hill of the Downes near Caine. They met without seconds. Mr. Stokes excepted against Mr. Norborne’s sword as too long. Mr. Norborne gave him his sword to measure, which he took and immediately got to horse and carried away with his own also, of which he hath so heard since that of late he wears no sword because he will not be engaged to fight.”
After Abjohn’s death his son and grandson continued litigation against John Mereweather in attempts to recover the Stokes’ properties. As they were unsuccessful this completed their ruin and they were forced to leave Titherton Lucas.
Abjohn had a more respectable brother, Christopher (1642-1700) of Whitchurch who married Jeane Stenhouse (Stonehouse). David Stonehouse was the M.P. for Great Bedwyn in the Long Parliament (1661) and Jeane’s brother, Francis, held that seat in the time of Charles II and William and Mary. Christopher Stokes became the member for Whitchurch in the second and third parliaments of William and Mary (1689 and 1695).
Before leaving the Stokes of Titherton I would like to place on record the rather romantic story of Abjohn the Elder’s granddaughter Sarah (1703-88). Richard of Calne did not approve of his eldest son Thomas’ behaviour and in his will he excluded him from his inheritance unless he “reclaim and become a sober man and a good husband and marry a wife with a future of 1000 pounds bona fide paid, to the satisfaction of my trustees”. The term, a good husband, meant one who conserved his assets and the marriage provision was designed to stop him marrying his “cozen” Sarah Stokes, the granddaughter of Abjohn (1641-1707) with whom he had been in violent disagreement.
Thomas
and Sarah went ahead with their plans and were married a few months after
Richard died and the trustees denied him his inheritance. Stanshawes passed to the second son, Richard
(1700-82) so Thomas and Sarah went off to
Thomas
was 84 years old when he came to live at Stanshawes with Sarah. He did not have long to enjoy the old manor
as he died four years later but he did have time to mortgage it for 2500
pounds! He as able to do this as he had
inherited it from his brother and not from his father. It has been suggested that he developed his
profligate ways at
Thomas
and Sarah were buried at Yate and a memorial tablet may still be seen in the
parish church. It says, in part, “To the
memory of Captain Stokes of
Take these tears, mortiality’s relief
and till I share your joys forgive my grief
these little rites, a stone, a verse, receive,
‘tis all that tender friendship can now give.”
It is curious that the tablet understates Thomas’ age by eight years and there are other instances where his age is understated. Anson Stokes suggested that it may have been done to imply that he was not the eldest son of Richard and so suppress the fact that his younger brother had kept him out of Stanshawes for fifty eight years.
The problem of establishing the
connection between the Stokes of Dublin and their English forebears is the most
perplexing one I have encountered in my research into the family and the
annoying aspect is that it should not be so.
The heraldic records of the
Gabriel
(1682-1768) the Deputy Surveyor General of
Fox-Davies
in his “Armorial Families” (1929) records the grant in these terms “STOKES
(U.O.,
In
that note Fox-Davies states that a pedigree was lodged with the
Clearly
Gabriel’s pedigree should be available from the
Protracted
correspondence with the Somerset Herald at the
I
also took up the matter of the missing pedigree with Mr. Begley, the Chief
Herald of
I
again met Mr. Begley, the Chief Herald of
In the absence of Gabriel’s pedigree we must look elsewhere for evidence of the Irish-English connection as it is obvious such a connection existed. The evidence is very fragmented and half a dozen hypotheses can be propounded using available evidence and a deal of imagination.
The
tradition in our branch of the family is that the ancestor of Gabriel went to
Rev.
Henry Hudleston (1798-1878) met a tea planter named Stokes in
Sir William Petty who was in charge of the Down Survey was a prolific writer on many subjects. I was in touch with the office of the Marquis of Lansdowne (who is a lineal descendant of Petty) at Bowood (Wilts.) to see if he left a list of the surveyors he employed but they were unable to locate any such list in Petty’s private papers.
The
idea that the possible forebear of Gabriel was John the surveyor and a brother
of William the tailor was taken up by Rev. Hudleston and Dr. Henry and they
unearthed a lot of information. There
were two such brothers in
Then
there was John, a vintner, who was married.
He died intestate and bankrupt in 1672.
Dr. Henry noted some Chancery cases where John was sued for not
honouring some bonds covering purchases of wine. In these cases he was described as “late
citizen of
William and John were certainly known to each other and they seem to have acted in concert in becoming members of the Merchants Guild and Freemen of the City of Dublin:-
Roll
of the Freeman of the City of
Car. 2 16 (1664) pas. Stokes John vinar
Car. 2 16 (1664) pas. Stokes William vinar
The description of William as a vigneron is almost certainly an error)
Records of
the Merchants Guild,
5th. August 1664. John Stockes merchant admitted a brother of this Guild upon grace especiall and for the fine of five pounds sterling and has paid for his admittance 2/- and for wax 2/- and has put in for securitie Edward Meredith to pay all taxes.
20th. April 1665. William Stocks, merchant, admitted a brother of this Guild upon grace especiall and for the fine of seven pounds sterling and hath paid for his admittance 2/- and for wax 2/- and hath put in for securitie John Eaton to pay all taxes. (In the index the name is written Stoakes, William).
The connection between John the surveyor cum vintner and Gabriel (b. 1682) is vague. Obviously John was not Gabriel’s father as he died ten years before Gabriel was born but he could have been his grandfather. The similarity of occupation is noteworthy; John (d. 1672) had been a surveyor and Gabriel became one; William was a tailor and Gabriel’s father was also a tailor.
I
tried to trace John the vintner in
A
search of the I.G.I. for
I made a brief study to see if I could find the forebears of William the painter of Halleton. The visitations of Leicestershire, 1619 records that a William Stokes of Abkettleby in Leics. married Theodosia Neale but doesn’t say when.
Leaving
John the surveyor and vintner hypothesis I will now describe another which also
takes us to Leicestershire and some English history. Adrian Stokes (d. 1585) came from
William
Brandon was the standard bearer for the Duke of Richmond (Henry VII) and was
slain in person by Richard III on
Charles
Brandon and Mary had three children one of whom
The Duke of
Suffolk lost all his possessions to the Crown when he was attainted, including
Beaumanor in northwestern Leicestershire.
Apparently the Duchess leased it back from the Crown and bequeathed the
lease to her husband, Adrian Stokes when she died in 1559.
William died
in 1596/7 aged 70-72. Unfortunately he
made a nuncupative (oral will on his deathbed in which he left “all his goods
to his kinsfolk and servants amongst them” without specifying his kin so it was
not possible to follow the descent beyond William without considerable research
which I did not undertake. It may be
possible to establish a connection between William,
In searching
for the name Stokes in wills I came across a reference which may bear on the
relations of the Stokes of Ireland and Leicestershire. James Margetson, Archbishop of Armagh, died
in 1678 and in his will he said “Indenture of
Before leaving
I also conducted
a search to find the forebears of the Irish family in the Stokes of Glos. /
Wilts. based on assumptions that the brothers John and William had gone to
In my search for two brothers John and William of the appropriate age in the Glos. / Wilts. families I noticed two sons of Thomas of Titherton and Anne Cheeke; John (b. 1626) and William (b. 1632). This looked promising but the theory collapsed when I discovered John had never married and died at Seagree in Wilts. in 1687. No other likely forebears were found in the Glos. / Wilts. families.
There have
been suggestions that the Stokes of Dublin came from
I have given a
thought as to whether unusual Christian names could provide a lead to the
English-Irish connection. The only
unusual names which occur with any frequency are Gabriel, Whitley and, to a
lesser extent,
I consulted
the I.G.I. for many countries in southern
I also
wondered if the name Gabriel had any geographical significance. There is a village called Stoke Gabriel on
the river Dart in
The name
Whitley is also unusual. It does not
seem to have crept into the family until 1763.
I can attach no significance to it other than that there is a
I think we can
safely assume that if there is any significance in the name of
There is some
evidence that John the vintner / surveyor may have come from
Rev. Hudleston Stokes (1898-1978) discussed the significance of the components of the Coat. I doubt if he was any more knowledgeable in heraldic matters than I am but he conjectured that when the grant was confirmed on Gabriel Stokes the half lion was used to denote the traditional connection within a bordure to denote its lack of proof. Sir William said “The similarity of his Arms … indicate that he probably belonged to a junior branch of the family long resident in Gloucestershire”. In heraldic usage either interpretation could be correct but it is apparent that neither of them was aware of the Arms worn by Sir William in the 15th. century. Their theories would, of course, have been equally applicable to the original application for a grant of Arms by Sir William or his forebears. The bezants in the bordure may have been an indication that the original grantee was a crusader but they were also used simply as a mark of difference or just an embellishment.
Burke’s “Dictionary of the Landed Gentry” (1846) speaking of the Stokes family of Stanshawes noted that “some of the family enjoyed lands in Sussex and Kent” and this statement was repeated in Edward Dalton’s history of the Stokes family of Gloucestershire in 1854.
Watersend was
a manor about 5km. northwest of
The next
reference to Stokes of Watersend is a deed by Queen Elizabeth granting to him
the manor of Brosthall in Swingfield. A
manor, Sutton Farm (Winkleton) was bought by a Stokes and a descendant, John
Stokes, sold it to Edward Merriweather “about the beginning of Charles I reign”
(1625-49). This period is getting close
to the time when John the vintner was in
William Berry
in his “
Henry
Stokes = Thomazine daughter of Robert
Symonds of Swingfield
John Stokes of Watersend = Mary d. of John Sellers B.D. and
Ann
d. of Thomas Cranmer
John aet. 11 1619 Thomas Mary Susannah Dorothy
John, born about 1608, could be
John the vintner of
In
my research into the Stokes family of Watersend in the parish of
In
this section I have discussed a number of hypotheses about the origins of John
the possible grandfather of Gabriel the surveyor. Others can be developed from Chancery cases
involving Stokes resident in
I
believe the forebears of Gabriel will not be established with certainty unless
his pedigree is found in the Dublin Genealogical Library or some other
documentary evidence comes to light. If
I had to make a guess I would say that his ancestors came from
Gabriel
Stokes was born in
He
was next promoted to the living of Dysart-Martin in the diocese of
Dr.
Stokes was the eldest son of Rev. Gabriel Stokes, Chancellor of Waterford
Cathedral, Rector of Ardtrea and his wife Sarah Boswell. He was born in 1763 and educated at the
Of
known nationalist tendencies, he was summoned before Lord Clare at his
visitation in April, 1798 which was held for the purpose of purging the College
of all those in sympathy with the United Irishmen. Dr. Stokes admitted being a member of the
Society before, but not since 1792; having visited professionally an insurgent
who was sick and in distress; and having furnished information to Lord Moira
about the atrocities and torture inflicted on the people of the south of
Wolfe
Tone, the leader of the 1798 revolution, was a fellow student of Whitley Stokes
at
When the passions of the times had worn themselves out, Stokes regained his former positions. In 1805 he was made a senior fellow; in 1816 he was appointed lecturer of natural history and in 1830 he became Regius Professor of Physic to the university, which appointment he held until 1842 when he was succeeded by his son, William (1804-78).
Whitley
was engaged in many activities in addition to his university work. As a physician he had a large practice and
much distinguished himself by his treatment of fever during the severe
epidemics of 1817 and 1827 and he was instrumental in founding the College
Botanical Gardens and in establishing the Zoological Gardens in
Dr. Stokes was one of a family of five. He had two brothers, Dr. William (1768-1806) and Gabriel (1773-1848) and two sisters, Harriet (b. 1768) and Eliza (d. 1846). He had a large family of five sons and five daughters, Whitley (1801-71), Dr. William (1804-78), Dr. Gabriel (b. 1806), Henry (1808-83), John (1810-45), Harriet (1798-1825), Mary Anne (1799-1832), Elizabeth (b. 1803), Sarah (b. 1812) and Ellen Honoria (1816-80). He married Mary Anne Picknoll of Swords who predeceased him in 1844.
Whitley
died at his home in
William
Stokes was born in
He
studied medicine and graduated from
After
qualifying he returned to
In
April, 1828 he married Mary Black of
He continued to write and lecture on the application of the recently invented stethoscope to diseases of the chest and published a major work in 1827, “A treatise on the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the chest”. This was based predominantly on his clinical lectures with clear and definite summaries of the various conditions mentioned. It also discussed in detail the views of Laennec, the French chest physician, who was the first to introduce auscultation as a major aid in diagnosis. Much of the book was highly original and at the time was said to be “a model of medical exposition”.
The
description of the peculiar type of respiration now known as Cheyne-Stokes had
been clearly defined by Dr. Cheyne in the
In
1843 William assumed the duties of Regius Professor of Medicine at
The
second of his great works was published in 1854, “Diseases of the heart and
aorta”. This was again an original piece
of observation and description in the field of cardiology. Together with
William
was elected Physician to the Queen in
His
interest in art, archaeology and Irish history was recognized when he was
elected President of the
William had a large family of whom three sons and six daughters reached maturity:- Whitley (1830-19090, William (1838-1900), Henry (1842-1920), Margaret (1832-1900), Marianne (1834-61), Harriet (1836-1915), Janet (1840-70), Elizabeth (1844-1926), Helen (1847-73). Some of these children established reputations in several fields of endeavour.
When
he retired William moved from his home in
Whitley
was the eldest son of William Stokes M.D. and was born in
Although
he led a busy life as a lawyer his life was one of unflagging industry in
Celtic studies. In his father’s house he
had met Patric O’Donovan and O’Curry and from his early twenties devoted
himself to the words and forms of the Irish language. His first publication “Irish Glosses from an
old M.S. in T.C.D.” appeared in 1859 as a paper in the transactions of the
Philological Society of London. For his
first book, “A medieval tract on Latin declensions” he received the gold medal
of the
With
John Strachan he published a thesaurus, “Paleo-Hibernicus”, more than 1200
pages of old Irish glosses from manuscripts anterior to the 11th.
century. This work rendered easily
accessible for the first time the mass of old Irish glosses on the continent
and in
In
1865 Whitley married Mary Bazely by whom he had five children, four of whom
grew to maturity: Whitley (b. 1867), Frank, Harriet (1866-1961), and Anne (b.
1870). Mary, his first wife died in 1884
and in 1885 he married Elizabeth Temple.
He died in
William
was the second son of William (1804-78) and Mary, daughter of John Black of
In
1864 William settled in practice in
Sir
William was a Governor of the Westmoreland Lock Hospital, a consulting surgeon
to the National Children’s Hospital, a member of the Council of the Royal
College of Surgeons in Ireland, and he was for a number of years one of the
representatives of the College on the committee which managed the examinations
conducted by the College of Physicians and the College of Surgeons in
Dublin. He took much interest in the
Early
in 1900 William sailed to
In
1869 William married Elizabeth Moore by whom he had one son, Aleyn (1880-1965)
and two daughters, Anna (b. & d. 1871) and Angel Helen (1872-1952). Like many other members of the family in this
period William was a man of great versatility; a good surgeon and a first rate
teacher, he was also an orator and a master of English composition. He was also a cultivated musician, possessed
of a fine tenor voice which was often heard in private society in
Margaret
was born in
Her aptitude for archaeological investigation was stimulated by the careful training of her father and was well suited for the work she was later to undertake. Although her taste for research was developed in this atmosphere it was not until she was past middle age that she found the leisure necessary for the pursuit of her interests.
Margaret’s first important work was undertaken with no thought of publication but was the outcome of her friendship with, and admiration of, Sir Samuel Ferguson. It took the form of illustration and illumination of his poem “The Cromlech of Howth”. The illuminated initial letters were modeled on examples in the Book of Kells. This work was so widely admired that it was arranged to publish an illustrated edition of the poem which appeared in 1861.
She
next undertook to edit the monumental volumes of the Earl of Dunraven’s “Notes
on Irish Architecture”. This work
appeared in 1875-77 after Dunraven’s death.
She next produced “Christian Inscriptions in the Irish Language, chiefly
collected and drawn by G. Petrie”.
Margaret also published “Early Christian Architecture in
Margaret
was made an honorary member of the
George
Gabriel was the youngest son of Gabriel Stokes, Rector of Skreen and his wife,
Elizabeth Haughton. He was born at
Skreen and educated at Dr. Wall’s school in
In
his early
Gabriel
remained a student throughout his life, closely pondering over mathematical
questions and the causes of natural phenomena, perhaps over cautions in drawing
conclusions and in the publication of his work, remarkable for his silence and
abstraction even in crowded assemblies, but an excellent man of affairs,
inspiring universal confidence for directness and impartiality in such
administration as came to him. In 1849 he
was appointed Lucasion Professor of Mathematics at
In
his early years of residence as a graduate Gabriel promoted most conspicuously
the development of advanced mathematical knowledge at
The copious output of his own original investigations slackened towards middle life. In 1851 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society and next year was awarded the Rumford medal for his discovery of the nature of fluorescence. In 1854 he became secretary of the society. He became a member of the Meteorological Council which managed the British weather service and in 1878 he founded the observatory for solar physics.
The
insufficient endowment of the Chair at Cambridge made it necessary for him to
supplement his income from other sources and for some time he was a lecturer at
the School of Mines and a secretary of the Cambridge University Commission of
1877-81. In 1883 Gabriel was appointed a
lecturer at
In
his later years Gabriel received nearly all the honours open to men of science
including the Prussian Order of Merit and foreign associateship of the
Sir
George Gabriel Stokes married Mary Robinson.
He had two sons, William George Gabriel (1863-93) and Sir Arthur Romney
(1858-1916) as well as three daughters, Susanna Elizabeth (1859-63), Isabella
Lucy (b. 1861) and Dora Susanna (b. & d. 1868). He died at
There
is a portrait of Gabriel in
In
1919
In
1922
Dr
Adrian Stokes was a keen sportsman engaging in fishing, shooting and
cricket. He was extremely popular and in
his short life he exerted an enormous influence for good on all those whom he
came in contact at
This list is almost
certainly incomplete
Dr. John (1721-82) Hudleston (1831-1902)
Dr.
Gabriel (1732-1806) Charles
Henry (1852-95) (
Henry (1760-1838) William Fenwick (1959-1945)
Gabriel (1762-1834) Henry Cortlandt (1865-1949)
John
Whitley (1800-83)
William Haughton (1802-84) Gerald Angus (1876-1951)
Henry George (1804-78) Cosby Hudleston (1881-1932)
Henry John (1820-72) Henry Hudleston (1898-1978)
Thomas Gabriel (1828-1911)
Dr. John – Founding Professor of Mathematics, T.C.D. 1762-64
Regius Professor of Greek, T.C.D. 1764-75.
Dr. Gabriel – Professor of Mathematics, T.C.D., 1764-1806.
Whitley – King’s Professor of the Practice of Medicine, T.C.D.
1798-1812. Regius Professor of Physic, T.C.D. 1830-40.
William – Regius Professor of Physic, T.C.D. 1840-78.
Sir
George Gabriel – Lucasian Professor of Mathematics,
(1849-1903)
William – Professor of Surgery R.C.S. (1872-1900)
Adrian – Professor of Bacteriology and Preventive Medicine T.C.D.
(1919-1922)
Professor of Bacteriology,
Whitley (1763-1845) Whitley Bland (1867-1909)
William (1768-1806) Whitley (1868-1807)
Gabriel (1806-83) Thomas G. Nesbitt (1877-1963)
William (1804-78) Henry (1879-1967)
Sir William (1838-1900)
William George Gabriel (1863-93)
John Whitley (1760-1838) Gabriel (1808-52)
Whitley (1801-1871) Whitley (1830-1909)
Gabriel (1773-1848) Alexander Hudleston (b. 1876)
John Whitley
(1821-44)
Thomas G. Nesbitt (1877-1963) Adrian Henry James (1897-1974)
William Noel (1881-1969) Aleyn (1880-1965)
Terence (1890-1917)
Gabriel
(1682-1768) Gabriel
(1849-1920)
John Whitley
(1760-1838) Sir
Hopetoun Gabriel (1873-1951 (
John (1791-1876)
Henry (1808-83) Henry (1879-1967)
Whitley
(1838-1909)
Herbert Bland (1894-1962)
Thomas Gabriel (1828-1911)
Whitley (1830-1909)
Margaret M’Nair (1832-1900)
John (1791-1876) I.C.S. Sir Hopetoun Gabriel (1873-1951)
Hudleston (1806-95) I.C.S., K.C.I.E., C.S.I., C.I.E., I.C.S.
Sir George Gabriel (1819-1903) Bart. Thomas G. Nesbitt (1875-1963) IMS
Whitley (1830-1909) C.S.I., C.I.E. William Noel (1881-1969) DSC OBE
William (1838-1900) K. Bach. Adrian (1877-1927) D.S.O., O.B.E.
Sir Henry Edward (1841-1926) KCSI ICS Lucie Mary (1893-1985) O.B.E.
Henry John (1842-1920) KCSI ICS Adrian Henry James (1897-1974) DSC
Sir Arthur Romney (1858-1916) Bart. Aleyn (1880-1965) D.S.O., M.C.
Whitley Bland (1867-1909) I.M.S. Henry (1879-1967) O.B.E.
Wills are a prolific source of genealogical information and in the course of my research I have student many Stokes wills as well as others. In this appendix are reproduced some of the more interesting ones not so much for their genealogical content but rather as a matter of general interest. They show what the people had, what they valued, how they disposed of them and how they tried to influence the decisions of their descendants in their social behaviour.
The following Stokes wills are included:-
William (d. 1596/7)
Edward (1615-67)
John (1626-87)
Abjohn (1641-1707)
Richard (1661-1723/4)
Thomas (1672-1731)
John Stokes (1626-87) left fifty pounds (a large sum in those days) to Mary Stokes, the granddaughter of his half-brother Edward on the condition that she did not marry Andrew Killen within two years of his death. She didn’t, so presumably she got her fifty pounds.
Abjohn
Stokes (1641-1707) was the head of the Titherton Lucas branch of the family and
a dissolute rogue withal. He literally
cut off his eldest son with one shilling and left all his estate to his
son-in-law, John Merriweather who had married his daughter Mary, the one
mentioned in John’s will above. This led
to prolonged litigation over two generations and eventually forced the Stokes
off their Titherton lands. They seem to
have gone to
Adrian
Stokes was a romantic character who married the Duchess of Suffolk when she was
in disgrace after the decapitation of Lady Jane Grey and the attainting and
subsequent execution of her husband the Duke of Suffolk. After the Duchess died
William died in 1596/7 but unfortunately he made a nuncupative (oral) will which left all his goods to his kinsfolk and servants. He must have been at the point of death when he made the will as he did not specify his kinsfolk. This was unfortunate for me as I wished to follow that line of descent.
The will of Richard Stokes of Calne is very interesting. It is obvious he was a very wealthy man for those times. I imagine his second wife would not have been pleased to read that Richard wished to be buried as near as possible to his late wife!
Richard
didn’t like his eldest son’s (Thomas) ways and made provision to disinherit him
unless “he do reclaim and become a sober mane and a good husband and marry a
wife with a fortune not less than the sum of one thousand pounds”. The marriage provision was designed to
prevent his marrying his “cozen” Sarah, the daughter of Abjohn Stokes
(1675-1725). However Thomas was a
resolute man and he married Sarah about four months after Richard died. He was disinherited and went off to
Another interesting point in Richard’s will is the provision he made in case his sons left no male heirs. This was to the effect that any beneficiary through his daughters had to change their name to Stokes or suffer severe penalties.
The will of Edward Stokes of Titherton (1615-77) is of interest mainly because it shows that the Titherton Stokes were reasonably well off until his son, Abjohn, started squandering his inheritance. Edward was a worthy citizen who fought with the Cromwellian forces in the civil war attaining the rank of Captain and he was a J.P. for his county. In his capacity as a J.P. he had to hear charges against Thomas Webbe “the pretending minister of Langley Burrell” of profanity, obscenity etc. What the evidence produced was so offensive to him that he published an 83 page booklet which he titled “The Wiltshire Rant”, a copy of which is in the British Library. It was described as “a narrative of the most unparalleled prophane actings, counterfeit repentings and evil speakings of Thomas Webbe, late pretended Minister of Langley Burrell” Apart from showing the character of Edward it illustrates the intensity of religious fervour in this period.
The
last will in this appendix is that of Thomas Stokes (1672-1731) a doctor who
practiced in
In
noting dates in old documents it is worth remembering two points. The first is that up to 1752 the calendar
year ended on March 24th. but 1753 began on the 1st.
January. The change also involved
advancing the date in September, 1752 by eleven days to bring
In
order to avoid misunderstanding dates between the 1st of January and
24th of March prior to 1752 are often shows as for example
The second point concerns the early practice of noting the year not as anno domini but as the number of years the monarch had been on the throne. This method causes little trouble in normal circumstances as the conversion to A.D. can be made simply by referring to the date the particular monarch ascended to the throne. However, in the case of Charles II who was proclaimed King in May, 1660 the records show that the year of the reign was calculated from the date of execution of Charles I in January, 1649. The result is that Charles II was proclaimed in the 12th. year of his reign.
One
final point. The spelling of names
varies and they have to be interpreted cautiously. For example, Adrian Stokes (d. 1585) is spelt
Stockes in his own will; on Lady
IN
THE NAME OF GOD AMEN. The eighteenth day
of August in the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred eighty and seven I
John Stokes of Seagree in the
I,
Abjohn of Titherton Lucas, esquire, revoking, etc., given unto my son Abjohn
Stokes one shilling, to be paid to him by my executor in one year after my
decease if lawfully demanded; my son-in-law Mr. John Merriweather, all my
messuages, lands, tenements, and heriditaments, as well in possession as in
reversion, with their appurtenances that I have not otherwise conveyed to him
or in trust for him to have to him his heirs and assigns forever; also all my
moneys paid into the Court of Chancery by Daniel Parke, esquire, or his orders,
and all my other goods and chattels, the said John Merriweather my sole
executor; the executors, administrators, representatives, or whom it concerneth,
of Michael Naish and Henry Rogers, both long since deceased, my trustees or
survivors of them to make the said John Meriweather, his executors,
administrators or assigns, a legal title as well as he hath now in equity to
certain closes called by the several names of Warthe Lease, Long Meade, and
Great Meade Lease pursuant to a deed by me and my wife executed, dated 12
December 30 Charles II, “deceased annoque Domini 1678” and recited in a deed of
assignment dated 17 June, A.D. 1693, and executed by me to convey the said
closes to Jeffrey Meriweather, his executors, administrators, and assigns, and
as he should direct for his wife and family, for the raising certain sums of
money and interest as therein, or that the executors, administrators, or assigns
of my trustees, Naish and Rogers, or the survivor of them, do otherwise raise
the said money and all interest for the said John Meriweather and family as and
according to the power by me to them and the trust in them vested by my deeds
for that aforesaid purpose. Signed and
sealed by the said Abjohn Stokes,