Have I gone wrong??

[Merry]

I got all excited because I found a will for my 7xg-grandfather, Thomas Brook(e)s of Croxton Cambs.

The will was proved in 1691 and I read it through quickly and thought it said he was giving various children £5 each. However, now I've gone back to transcribe it properly I see he's given three sons £500 each and three daughters £300 each!

Now I'm wondering if I've gone wrong as though this branch were yeoman farmers and the like, I doubt there was that amount of money to throw about.

*sigh*

I don't really know what to do now.

[kiterunner]

Which of his children is supposed to be your 6xg, Merry? Maybe if you post up what you have, we might be able to spot something.

[Merry]

I have Thomas marrying Ann Papworth in 1676 in Elsworth (wife Ann is in Thomas's will).


They have the six children named in the will all of whom were (correctly) said to be underage when the will was written (but I can't see a date on it). Thomas seems to have also had two older sons I didn't know about called Edward and Thomas who were his exors and were presumably from a prev marriage.


The first born of the second marriage, James bap 1677 at Croxton is (I thought) my 6xgg. He married Sarah Scott in 1700 at Croxton and their first child (Sarah Brooks bap 1701 Croxton) married my definite relative, Richard Moule in 1725 at Hatley Cambs.

I'm wondering if maybe it's my Sarah Brooks who is not the child of James and Sarah but maybe from elsewhere as I would imagine that's a fairly common name.

Working the other way, I can't see anything re a death or will for James Brooks son of Thomas, so I'm wondering what happened to his £500!

[kiterunner]

Working the other way, I can't see anything re a death or will for James Brooks son of Thomas, so I'm wondering what happened to his £500!

FamilySearch has a burial for Jacobus Brooke, 7 Mar 1721, at Croxton. It looks as though the names in the register were all in Latin and Jacobus would be the Latin for James (he is also Jacobus on his baptism.)

[Merry]

Yes, I've got the baptism, but didn't have the burial. No will that I can see.

[kiterunner]

It could be an admon? They're not all online.

There is a Cambridgeshire Will Index on British Origins but you have to pay to view. Also Cambridgeshire FHS have one that you can search for free and I can't see him on there, but I don't know how complete it is.

[Merry]

Also Cambridgeshire FHS have one that you can search for free and I can't see him on there, but I don't know how complete it is.


Possibly not very complete as I have three or four wills proved through Cambridgeshire courts, none of which appear in their index.

[Merry]

Much of this research was done 20 years+++ ago, so I think I need to go back to basics and see how accurate this line is. I'm starting with what I'm absolutely certain of, following the Moule line first.....

This is the part I think seems OK......

My 3xg-grandfather, David Maynard married twice. In his memoirs he says his second with was the niece of his first wife. He gives the date and place of his second marriage which is in the LMA records. His second wife is on the censuses, b abt 1774/5 in Orwell, Cambs. Her birth name was Rebecca Moule. He also mentions his first wife was much older than him (he was b 1748) and that they had two children who died. He doesn't give his first wife's name. He says his first wife was a maid servant when he met her, which was whilst he was apprenticed at Great Gransden, Huntingdonshire.

So, there only seems to be one possible baptism for Rebecca Moule at Orwell. That was in 1774 and she was the dau of Robert Moule and his wife Jane (Kefford, married at Orwell in 1758) who had seven children baptised at Orwell between 1762 and 1778. Several of these children and their descendants had connections to the Maynard family in later years, so I'm 100% happy this is the right family group.

I need to connect the above family to David Maynard's first wife. David married Sarah Moule in 1770 at Great Eversden, Cambridgeshire. As she was Rebecca's aunt and has the same surname she is most likely going to be the sister of Rebecca's father.

Rebecca's father, Robert Moule was buried in Orwell in 1817. He was said to have been born about 1730.

There is a baptism at Great Eversden in 1734 for Robert Moule b 19th Sept 1731, the son of Richard Moule and his wife, Sarah. Richard and Sarah had four children bap at Great Eversden: Sarah 1727 died as baby, Catherine 1728, Robert who married Jane Kefford and was Rebecca's father and Sarah bap 1734 who seems to have been David Maynard's first wife.

To confirm that... David says his first wife died in 1803. There is no burial for a Maynard in Whittlesford where they lived, but there is one at Fenstanton, Hunts for Sarah Maynard (wife of David, no age given) which is where her two children, mentioned in the memoirs were buried.

So, I think I'm happy with that part (is anyone else, if you are still reading! lol) and it's now the name Brooks has been introduced by me......Two paragraphs up I said Richard Moule and his wife, Sarah had their first known child bap at Great Eversden in 1727. This couple are my 5xgg-parents. I have decided they married at Hadley Saint George in 1725 and that she was Sarah Brooks. I don't seem to have any particular evidence this is the right marriage.

Any comments?

[kiterunner]

So, I think I'm happy with that part (is anyone else, if you are still reading! lol) and it's now the name Brooks has been introduced by me......Two paragraphs up I said Richard Moule and his wife, Sarah had their first known child bap at Great Eversden in 1727. This couple are my 5xgg-parents. I have decided they married at Hadley Saint George in 1725 and that she was Sarah Brooks. I don't seem to have any particular evidence this is the right marriage.

Any comments?

Where (what county) is Hadley Saint George, please?

[Merry]

Cambridgeshire. Sorry, I spelt it wrong - Hatley Saint George. It's five miles from Great Eversden and even closer to some of the Hunts places I've mentioned.

[Merry]

Hmmm, well I can't see any other marriage that looks likely for Richard and Sarah. The next question is, how many likely Sarah Brook(e)s are there in the right area who could have married in 1725 and had children until 1734.

I chose Sarah, dau of James Brooks (son of wealthy Thomas??) and his wife Sarah, bap at Croxton in 1701, but maybe the correct Sarah was a bit older which might explain her not having more children after 1734.

I didn't have burial records for Richard and Sarah Moule (nee Brooks?), but there are likely ones at Great Eversden, where their children were baptised:

Sarah Moule bur 21 Sep 1779
and
Richard Moule bur 9 Jun 1777

but as neither give ages then that doesn't help much!

There's only one other Sarah Brooks appearing when I search. She was bap 1697 in Burwell Cambs (20 miles away), but she may have died in 1722 in the same parish, so the dau of James Brooks is still looking the most likely.

Time to eat something........!

[Merry]

I've just realised why that Cambs Wills Index doesn't turn up many results:

The Cambridgeshire FHS is aware that there is much information gleaned by researchers from wills but this information is not readily available to others. All probated wills are indexed by the Testator/Testatrix’s surname. Calendars of these names are to be found at Record Offices, The National Archives and online.

What Cambridgeshire Wills Surname Index aims to provide is a list of those beneficiaries, legatees, kin, witnesses with surnames NOT the same as that of the Testator.

[Merry]

There's only one other Sarah Brooks appearing when I search. She was bap 1697 in Burwell Cambs (20 miles away), but she may have died in 1722 in the same parish, so the dau of James Brooks is still looking the most likely.


I take that back, the Sarah who died is more likely to be the dau of Wm b 1719 than the dau of Wm b 1697.

[Merry]

Richard Moule and Sarah X married 1725 and had children 1727, 28, 31 and 1734, but I had overlooked this one:


Name: Elizabeth Mole
Gender: Female
Baptism Date: 29 Nov 1747
Baptism Place: Great Eversden, Cambridge, England
Father: Richard Mole
Mother: Sarah

So, I wish I knew if this was a surprise rather late baby or a teen or something else!

[Merry]

Ah, maybe she was not a baby:


Name: Elizabeth Mole
Gender: Female
Marriage Date: 10 Oct 1758
Marriage Place: Great Eversden,Cambridge,England
Spouse: Richard Moreden