Wilks Family Part I

Welcome to Pea-Bee’s History Blog

 

In mapping out a family history, the researcher can easily get sidetracked. Then, venturing down these strange by-ways, other stories are revealed. Rather than let these odd discoveries disappear into the depths of the computer, this Blog is intended to share them with whoever might be interested. If the information helps you in your researches, Pea-Bee’s History Blog has done its job. And if you can add to the information, so much the better.

To start it off, here is the story of one family that might – or might not – have employed someone in our family tree.

 

The Wilks Family – part I

  

Robert Wilks married Martha Dalbiac at St Mary, Leyton, Essex, on 11 July 1751[1].

They had at least four children:

Robert (c1753-1818)

Charles was born about 1754 and baptised on 19 August 1754 at Bull Lane, Stepney, Independent Chapel[2].

Matthias (c1759-1841) was baptised on 14 April 1759 also at Bull Lane Independent Chapel[3].

Joseph (c1761-before 1844) was baptised on 27 November 1761, again at Bull Lane Independent Chapel[4].

No record of Charles had been found after his christening, and it is assumed he died in infancy. He was not menioned in his father’s will while his three brothers were.[5]

Martha died in 1768 and was buried “in a vault” at Bunhill Fields Burial Ground on the City Road on 6 April. Her body had been brought from Bishopsgate[6].

Her husband died in 1774[7] but his body was not interred in the vault at Bunhill Fields Burial Ground until 31 August 1779[8].

 

Their son Robert Wilks lived in Wanstead, Essex. In his will he requested that he was to be buried in the family vault in Bunhill Fields[9]. He died on 20 March 1818 and was duly buried in the vault on 28 March 1818[10].

In 1797, Robert had purchased “all that Capital Messuage or Mansion House called or known by the name of Valentines at Ilford in Essex with various fields totalling 168a. 3r. 9p by Auction at Garraways Coffee House for the sum of £9,500”. He also purchased a further 80 acres which had been part of Wyfields but was added to the Valentines holding by Sir Charles Raymond. At this time there was an economic crisis because of the Napoleonic War and it seems likely that Robert purchased the property as an investment, and that it was left unoccupied. If so, he had made a shrewd investment as he sold the property in 1808 for £13,100[11].

He had no surviving children and there is no evidence that he ever married. However, his will mentions his brothers Joseph Wilks of the Royal Mint, and Matthias Wilks of Easton Neston Park, Northants, and he made bequests to some of their children.

 

To be continued…

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[1] Leyton, Essex, England; Collection: St Mary; Date Range: 1721 - 1754; Film Number: 1564254. (Ancestry.com England & Wales Marriages, 1538-1940)

[2] National Archives: General Register Office: Registers of Births, Marriages and Deaths surrendered to the Non-parochial Registers Commissions of 1837 and 1857; Class: RG 4; Piece: 4414. Stepney, Bull Lane (Independent), 1644-1837 (Ancestry.com England & Wales, Non-Conformist and Non-Parochial Registers, 1567-1970 Piece 4414 image 45)

[3] ibid  (Piece 4414 image 49)

[4] ibid  (Piece 4414 image 51)

[5] National Archives: Prerogative Court of Canterbury and Related Probate Jurisdictions: Will Registers; Class: PROB 11; Piece: 994. Cresswell Quire No 1-45 (1774) (Ancestry.com England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858 images 521-522)marion

[6] National Archives: General Register Office: Registers of Births, Marriages and Deaths surrendered to the Non-parochial Registers Commissions of 1837 and 1857; Class: RG 4; Piece: 4289. Bunhill Fields Burial Ground, City Road, 1764-1771 (Ancestry.com England & Wales, Non-Conformist and Non-Parochial Registers, 1567-1970  Piece 4289 image 54)

[7] National Archives: Prerogative Court of Canterbury and Related Probate Jurisdictions: Will Registers; Class: PROB 11; Piece: 994. Cresswell Quire No 1-45 (1774) (Ancestry.com England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858 images 521-522)

[8] National Archives: General Register Office: Registers of Births, Marriages and Deaths surrendered to the Non-parochial Registers Commissions of 1837 and 1857; Class: RG 4; Piece: 3985. Bunhill Fields Burial Ground, City Road, 1778-1781 (Ancestry.com England & Wales, Non-Conformist and Non-Parochial Registers, 1567-1970  Piece 3985 image 95)

[9] National Archives: Prerogative Court of Canterbury and Related Probate Jurisdictions: Will Registers; Class: PROB 11; Piece: 1603. Cresswell Quire No 157-208 (1818) (Ancestry.com England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858 images 826-830)

[10] National Archives: General Register Office: Registers of Births, Marriages and Deaths surrendered to the Non-parochial Registers Commissions of 1837 and 1857; Class: RG 4; Piece: 3994 Bunhill Fields Burial Ground, City Road, 1816-1819 (Ancestry.com England & Wales, Non-Conformist and Non-Parochial Registers, 1567-1970  Piece 3994 image 174)

[11] http://www.valentines.org.uk/node/253 (accessed 5 February 2014)