View Full Version : Oooh, a new lead!
Help!! I'm all of a jitter with a new lead after a decade or two of struggling on this line........
I've just been looking through the death duty indexes hoping to find an entry for Thomas Maynard.
He's difficult because all I know about him is this:
Parents William Maynard and Elizabeth Crawley who married in 1737 at St John's Bedford.
Thomas b some time between then (he's not the eldest child) and about 1750 when Elizabeth is supposed to have died.
Probably married around 1770-1775 - don't know his wife's name
Possibly had at least three children (based mostly on the 'fact' that these children don't seem to belong to anyone else!):
Leah about 1775/80-ish probably in Hertfordshire (she married and lived in Herts)
Levi similar dates place unknown (he emigrated to South Africa)
Another daughter who married someone called Millwood, probably by 1792.
I've no idea what happened to Thomas.
Anyway, today's breakthrough is that as I looked through the Death Duty indexes for all the Thomas Maynard entries to see if any of them felt like they might be him (given I don't know much about him or where he lived.), I found this entry:
Index to Death Duty register 1831
Testator: Maynard, Thomas
Executor: J Lavender, Redbourne, Herts
Court: Bedford (the index has another word or abbreviation in front)
Register 1 Folio 162 Number 6
J Lavender of Redbourn(e) is highly likely to be Thomas's grandson, John Lavender, son of his dau Leah. If Thomas isn't the Thomas I'm expecting then I'm sure he is going to be a close relative!!
So, can anyone find anything else about Thomas Maynard who probably died 1830/31 possibly in Herts or Beds and where do I get the will from?? (by yesterday! lol)
Assuming Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service would hold a will proved through Bedford court I'm just emailing them for a quote......
Court: Bedford (the index has another word or abbreviation in front)
Most of Bedfordshire was under the pre-1858 probate jurisdiction of the Court of the Archdeaconry of Bedford.
Is Archdeaconry abbreviated to "Are"?? (EDIT: maybe it's Arc?)
Hmmmm, there's a burial in Rickmansworth Herts 16th Nov 1830 for a Thomas Maynard aged 48. So, if it turns out to be that Thomas he's more likely to be yet another brother rather than father of Leah etc
Can't find anything for Bedfordshire at the moment.
The only other Maynard burial I can see in Rickmansworth is Sophia Maynard in 1847 aged 74. Not old enough to be Thomas's mother, so possibly he was a toyboy?! I wonder if she wrote a will??
Checking 1841 census and wills stuff...
No will for Sophia, just administration (not until 1859) granted to her son Thomas (confirming that relationship) who I see was born in Portsea Hants about 1807.
I wonder if his father was Thomas jr (abt 1782-1830) and therefore Leah Lavender Maynard was his aunt?
Come on Bedford Archives!!! lol
kiterunner
13-05-14, 13:52
Hmmmm, there's a burial in Rickmansworth Herts 16th Nov 1830 for a Thomas Maynard aged 48. So, if it turns out to be that Thomas he's more likely to be yet another brother rather than father of Leah etc
Can't find anything for Bedfordshire at the moment.
On the same page of the Index to Death Duty Registers as the J Lavender entry (looks like Lavendon to me though), go down about a dozen lines and there is an entry for Maynard Thos, executor S Maynard, Rickmansworth.
Hmmm....there's a burial in Portsea for a Thomas Maynard in 1807 (might be the person I was originally looking for!) and a will in the death duty index for 1808 (which I saw this morning and ignored!).
I remember the death duty entry was indexed as 1809 when it said 1808 on the actual page, but there was no further info.
Is this therefore for the same entry? (from ancestry)
Name: Thomas Maynard
Residence Place: Portsea, Hampshire, England
Death Date: Abt 1809
Record Date: 29 Dec 1809
Record Location: Winchester, Hampshire, England
Notes: Occupation or Status: Superannuated Scavenger
and if so where does that info come from?
(may of course be a red herring!)
EDIT: Ah, TNA:
Abstract of Will of Thomas Maynard, Superannuated Scavenger of Portsea, Hampshire
So I could get that whilst I'm waiting (£3.30)
kiterunner
13-05-14, 13:59
So is the Rickmansworth one this one on TNA site?
Will of Thomas Maynard of Chipping Wycombe , Buckinghamshire
Prerogative Court of Canterbury and related Probate Jurisdictions: Will Registers. Will of Thomas Maynard of Chipping Wycombe , Buckinghamshire.
Collection: Records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury
Date range: 08 October 1831
Apparently Chipping Wycombe is an old name for High Wycombe.
On the same page of the Index to Death Duty Registers as the J Lavender entry (looks like Lavendon to me though), go down about a dozen lines and there is an entry for Maynard Thos, executor S Maynard, Rickmansworth.
Ah-ha!! Thanks Kate.
I didn't think to look forther once I found the first entry.
It's too much of a coincidence for J to be Lavendon :(
So is the Rickmansworth one this one on TNA site?
Will of Thomas Maynard of Chipping Wycombe , Buckinghamshire
Prerogative Court of Canterbury and related Probate Jurisdictions: Will Registers. Will of Thomas Maynard of Chipping Wycombe , Buckinghamshire.
Collection: Records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury
Date range: 08 October 1831
Apparently Chipping Wycombe is an old name for High Wycombe.
Yes it must be.......
I have to go out now to fetch son, but will be back soon.....
My head is spinning! lol
So, I should really wait until I have an answer from Bedford RO and then go one step at a time.
kiterunner
13-05-14, 14:06
My head is spinning! lol
Mine too, I meant to go back and look at the PCC will on ancestry once I had found it on TNA, then I forgot!
Thomas Maynard of Chipping Wycombe 1831 (http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/5111/40611_310450-00638/309535?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.co.uk% 2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fMS_AdvCB%3d1%26db%3dCanturburyPrer ogativeCourt%26rank%3d1%26new%3d1%26so%3d3%26MSAV% 3d2%26msT%3d1%26gss%3dms_db%26gsfn%3dtho*%26gsfn_x %3dXO%26gsln%3dm*n*rd%26gsln_x%3dXO%26rg_81004261_ _date%3d1831%26uidh%3dvm5&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnSearchResults)
Husband of Sophia. Also has children named Thomas and Sophia.
OK so the Rickmansworth Thomas just happened to die around the same time as mine, and may well not be connected at all. He is the husband of Sophia I found on the census and father of Thomas b Portsea.
Presumably the scavenger of Portsea is another unconnected person (to me, I mean).
So, it's back to hoping the first death duty record I found is for an old man, father of Leah etc.
*crosses fingers*
Bedford Record Office have got problems they lost five of their staff so there is probably nobody to answer your question. I rang yesterday and they are supposed to be recruiting this week.
There's a William Maynard of Redbourn, Hertfordshire appearing in the Militia index in 1764.
If you're interested I've got some early references to Maynard in the Muster Book for North East Hertfordshire 1580-1605
I've found the will for Chipping and saved it for you. It may not be the correct one but I'll send it to your email address if I can find it again.
I am not sure what you'll get, you used to be able to save images to a file on your PC and work on them and then save them. This new Ancestry is pants.
kiterunner
13-05-14, 16:47
Mary, I'm sure Merry will be able to access the will on ancestry anyway.
Yes, I've read the will via ancestry thanks Mary. At the moment I don't see any connection to my tree through those people, but you never know how things might change later!
I think William Maynard of Redbourn must be another branch too, as the Wm I have, right age for militia lists was still living in Kempston at that date.
I haven't found saving images on ancestry has changed at all!
Please don't worry about the muster books - I have another 130 years to get back before I reach those dates!!
Now, had you found it yesterday, I could have checked it for you today (Death Duties, I mean).... But as it has taken nearly two hours to get home, I think I'm glad I couldn't :D
lol! Thanks for the retrospective offer Phoenix!
Long journey ;(
Bedford Record Office have got problems they lost five of their staff so there is probably nobody to answer your question. I rang yesterday and they are supposed to be recruiting this week.
Oh no!!! I hope they get more staff really soon!! :eek:
They are sending me images of the will! :D
They told me he is Thomas Maynard, a straw plait dealer of Campton, which doesn't sound anything like any of the rest of my Maynards, so I pointed out (again) that the exor should be J Lavender and if it is, I would love a copy of the will and have sent them the money online.
I also complemented them on the speed of service (especially as they are apparently short-staffed at the moment! :cool:)
*drums fingers*
Hmmm, Campton is on the NBI for the time period in question, but there are no Maynard burials within two centuries of 1831!
Sounding more like my Maynards after all :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
kiterunner
14-05-14, 13:17
*waits impatiently*
It's here!! Two full pages of neat writing and a couple of pages with a small amount of writing.
Now, do I go and cook, or at least read the will first?!! :D
Oooh, I've just been a bit rude to a lady who phoned from the World Wildlife Fund asking for money when I had only read "This is the last will and testament of me Thomas Maynard".....
After a very quick read indeed, I can say this isn't Leah and Levi Maynard's father. It is a new person to me and is another sibling for them. He helpfully tells me the first name of his sister who married the Millwood (I've been waiting about 12 years for that!) and also confirms that at this date another female on my tree was not yet married (she was mentioned in another will without a surname), but I don't know if this will help me find her!
So, three steps forward, one back (only because he wasn't from the previous generation!)
Well done to Beds CRO for being very quick indeed!!
PS I wonder what they did with his body? Yet another unburied Maynard??????
kiterunner
14-05-14, 21:41
That sounds useful, Merry. What's the sister's name?
Answer to your Q in Bold, Kate!
So, Thomas Maynard was probably born in the 1770 or 1780s
At the time he wrote his will (Nov 1830) he had a wife Ann
Ann had children (presumably not belonging to Thomas) They were:
William Brittain (a maybe - 1851 and 1861 b abt 1801 Campton, living Shefford)
Lucy, wife of Richard Smith (possible 1851,61,71 b 1800 Meppershall, living Campton)
Mary, wife of John Brightman
Thomas had a sister called Sarah Millwood (I knew he had a sister called Mrs Millwood already, so now I know her first name!)
Sarah Millwood had two daughters:
(Mrs) Sarah McCrery who I already knew about. She was a widow when her uncle Thomas Maynard wrote his will and in 1832 she married John Lavender who was the exor of the will!
Elizabeth Millwood who I have never been able to pin down, but now I know she was unmarried as at 11th Nov 1830. (not sure how much help that is!)
So, still no baps for siblings Thomas, Leah, Levi and Sarah Maynard (b 1770s+) the children of Thomas Maynard whose will I had hoped this was going to be.
No marriage for Thomas Maynard to Mrs Ann Brittain.
No burial for Thomas (will proved 7th Feb 1831 so only a couple of months for it to slot into) or for widow Ann.
No Brittain marriages to Smith or Brightman or baps for the Brittains (Lucy, Wm and Mary children of Ann prob b abt 1800).
So, quite a lot to work out!
Thomas had property at Pinford Holes in Campton and also at Pepperstock in the parish of Hamstead (Hemel Hempstead??? It seems to be nearer Luton and right next to the M1), Hertfordshire.
I think I've found Thomas's widow in 1841.
Ancestry have her as Ann Maynord 75 and is listed following Richard and Lucy Smith and family (ie her dau and son-in-law). They are in Campton and there's a burial in Meppershall in 1842 aged 74.
..........and a Burial at Meppershall for Thomas Minnard aged 47 on 23rd Nov 1830 a few days after the will was signed. So, he was probably a few years younger than his wife (b abt 1783)
Annoyingly, my life is getting in the way of my research today - supermarket, visiting mum, orthodontics with dau, normal dentist with son and dau, parents evening :(
I felt that as Thomas Maynard gave his three adult step-children £50 each and didn't seem to have any living children of his own there's a chance he had been married to Ann for some time. The potential matches I have for the Brittain children have them being born in the late 1790s/1800.
There's a marriage in Meppershall:
Name: Wm Britain
Gender: Male
Marriage Date: 17 Jan 1791
Marriage Place: Meppershall,Bedford,England
Spouse: Ann Farrer
FHL Film Number:845461
There's a burial in Meppershall for a William Brittain 2nd April 1802. Then there is this marriage:
Name:Ann Britain
Gender:Female
Marriage Date:16 Apr 1804
Marriage Place:Meppershall,Bedford,England
Spouse: Tho Maylor
FHL Film Number:845461
I wonder if that should say Maynard or similar?
Mary Brightman (dau of Ann and Wm(?) Brittain) seems to have died in 1832 which is why I couldn't find her on the census!
Bur 17th May 1832 Meppershall aged 36
(why is it always easier to find info on the people who are not your relations?!!)
At long last I've realised I don't want to type Bedfordshire on Ancestry, just Bedf* to capture everything:
John Brittain 24 Jul 1791 Meppershall,Bedford,England William, Anne
Elizabeth Brittain 3 Feb 1793 Meppershall,Bedford,England William, Anne
Mary Brittain 5 Jun 1796 Meppershall,Bedford,England William, Anne
William Brittain 23 May 1802 Meppershall,Bedford,England William, Anne
Just Lucy missing.
I'm sure I saw burials for a John and an Elizabeth as children.
I wonder if this is Lucy?
Name:Lucy Cheriton
Gender: Female
Baptism Date: 23 Jun 1799
Baptism Place: Meppershall,Bedford,England
Father: William Cheriton
Mother: Anne
FHL Film Number:845461
I can't find any other Cheritons connected to Meppershall.
Ah, Thomas and Ann Maynard did have two sons baptised but they both died as young children (Thomas and James) All at Meppershall.
Well done, Merry.
Isn't it nice to be able to finally "bury" him ?
I have had a couple where I knew the Will probate date, but hadnt been able to get a burial date.
Thanks, lol! I have a few like that too!
I may have buried Thomas (on the first day I met him!) but I now know a lot more about his wife and her immediate family than I do about Thomas!!!
vBulletin® v3.8.7 PL3, Copyright ©2000-2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.