Middle name Zouch

[Tom Tom]

My ancestor was called John Zouch Walker. For many years, I have wondered about the significance of the Zouch middle name.

John Zouch Walker
Born: 24 Feb 1791 (Middlesex)
Christened: 4 April 1791, St James, Clerkenwell.
Married: 16 April 1816 to Martha Howard, Spitalfields Christ Church, Stepney
Died: 9 May 1849, Bethnal Green.

As far as I can tell, John's parents were Joshua Walker and Susanna Lavender, who married 12 Jan 1789 at St John, Clerkenwell.

Joshua Walker, born c1764 and died 1801 (buried Clerkenwell). Parents unknown.
Susanna Lavender, born 1760 (Dudley), daughter of Stephen Lavender and Mary. Nothing more known.

If anyone has any great ideas - or can see anything I am missing, I would be very grateful.

Of course, there may not be anything in the name, but it feels as though there should be.
Thanks for looking.

[kiterunner]

Phillimore's Derbyshire Parish Registers has Zouch Walker of Quarne marrying Anne Cutler of Duffield 30 Jul 1732 at St Alkmund's, Derby. Maybe Zouch was Joshua's grandfather or other relative?

[kiterunner]

These are the christenings of Zouch's children which come up on FamilySearch:
Mary 21 Oct 1732 Duffield
Anne 30 Jun 1734 Duffield
Ellen 19 Mar 1736 Duffield
John 29 Apr 1739 Duffield
William 12 May 1745 Ockbrook

[Tom Tom]

Thanks Kate. Looks interesting.

Have found some children for Zouch:

Mary, chr 1732.
John, chr 1739.
William, chr 1745.

Cross post - hadn't found those others yet!

[kiterunner]

There is a Joshua Walker baptised 28 Dec 1767 at St Andrew Holborn, parents John and Ann, abode Warwick Court. Of course there are loads of Joshua Walkers born around the right time, but he is the only London or Derbyshire one that came up on FamilySearch. There are 3 public trees on ancestry which have him down as the one who married Susan Lavender, but probably just because he was born in London about the right time since they don't seem to have much evidence.
Not so easy to pick out who are the other children of that couple, so we can figure out when John and Ann got married and look for their marriage to see whether this could be the John who was Zouch's son.

[Tom Tom]

Zouch Walker died 9th Jan 1791 (aged 87) - just a few weeks before my John Zouch Walker was born.

[Tom Tom]

There is a Joshua Walker baptised 28 Dec 1767 at St Andrew Holborn, parents John and Ann, abode Warwick Court. Of course there are loads of Joshua Walkers born around the right time, but he is the only London or Derbyshire one that came up on FamilySearch. There are 3 public trees on ancestry which have him down as the one who married Susan Lavender, but probably just because he was born in London about the right time since they don't seem to have much evidence.
Not so easy to pick out who are the other children of that couple, so we can figure out when John and Ann got married and look for their marriage to see whether this could be the John who was Zouch's son.

Yes - I had seen this christening entry before, and thought it could be my one, but because of the lack of evidence, I haven't put it on. Something that I thought may help, is that at JZW's marriage, one of the witnesses was Catherine Walker, but I have never been able to find anything about her.

[Tom Tom]

Not so easy to pick out who are the other children of that couple, so we can figure out when John and Ann got married and look for their marriage to see whether this could be the John who was Zouch's son.

These were all children of John and Ann, all christened in St Andrew, Holborn, and all with Warwick Court.

Tilly (son) chr 27 Aug 1765
Ann chr 29 May 1770
Nathan chr 23 June 1772

[kiterunner]

There is mention of Zouch and John in a long news report on FMP / British Newspaper Archive. I haven't got time to type it all out but you can look it up on there. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to say where John lived:
Derby Mercury 21 Aug 1794
William Mee, of Castle Donington, after a trial of seven hours, was convicted upon the clearest evidence of wilful and corrupt perjury...
It appeared from the statement of the learned Counsel for the Prosecutor, that the defendant was the scout of an horde of miscreants, who ???? the profession of the law, and who make it a business to get, by stratagem, into the posession of estates, to strip the farms, and plunder the tenants.
Mr Master, the owner of a large estate called Codnor Park, in this county, which formerly belonged to the Zouch family, has resided for many years in America. His absence, and the well stocked farm yards of his tenants, having made Codnor Park an object of their wicked attention, in the year 1789 a claim was made to it, in the name of Zouch Walker,a pauper. - It was reported that Walker was the heir at law of Sir John Zouch, and that the estate being granted to Mr Master's ancestor, not in fee simple, but for a term of years which was then expired, he was intitled to the possession. But we conceive that the various tricks which appeared to have been practised by the parties concerned... manifest a design, very unlike that of restoring to a poor man, a property unjustly detained from him.-

It was proved that in March 1791... about two months afterwards other ejectments were delivered, in which John, the eldest son of Zouch Walker (then dead), was named lessor of the plaintiff, and to which Mr Master's solicitors appeared and pleaded...

[kiterunner]

And you have probably seen this one already:
Derby Mercury 20 Jan 1791
Derby, January 19
Sunday the 9th inst died at Shardlow in this county, Zouch Walker, gent, aged 87.

[Tom Tom]

Thanks for those Kate.

Yes - I had seen the second one, which is where I got Zouch's death date from.
Interesting that he is named as a gent. when in the other article, he is a pauper.

Must admit - find the previous one (the one about William Mee) to be a bit confusing!

[Tom Tom]

There is a burial at St Andrew, Holborn.

John Walker
Buried 20 July 1790
Abode Warwick Court.

There are several other John Walkers, but it was the Warwick Court bit that jumped out at me.

[kiterunner]

It looks as though these people were trying to get the court to rule that Zouch Walker was the rightful owner of Codnor Park, but they weren't actually doing it on his behalf, they wanted to take possession of it themselves and just strip it of anything valuable. But the court was having none of it.

[kiterunner]

There is a burial at St Andrew, Holborn.

John Walker
Buried 20 July 1790
Abode Warwick Court.

There are several other John Walker's, but it was the Warwick Court bit that jumped out at me.

Oh, right. If it is the John Walker who was married to Ann, father of Joshua, then he can't be Zouch's son as he was apparently still alive in 1791.

[Tom Tom]

Oh, right. If it is the John Walker who was married to Ann, father of Joshua, then he can't be Zouch's son as he was apparently still alive in 1794.

I read it wrong and thought the (then dead) bit referred to John, but read again and it obviously means Zouch.
It may not be the correct John. No ages are given.

[kiterunner]

Sorry, I should have said John was apparently still alive in 1791, not 1794.

[kiterunner]

Okay, it seems that John Walker, son of Zouch Walker, was living in Castle Donington in 1791:
Northampton Mercury 5 Feb 1791
This week in the Court of Chancery, John Walker, of Castle-Donnington, in the county of Leicester, was admitted to sue in forma pauperis, in order to recover the Codnor Estate, formerly belonging to the Baron Grays, of Codnor, descended to the family of the Zouch's by the marriage of Elizabeth Gray (daughter and heiress of Richard Lord Gray,) to Sir John Zouch (second son of Wm Lord Zouch of Harringworth, in this county) and descended from the Zouch family to the Walker's, by the marriage of John Walker, late of Quorn in Derbyshire, with a daughter of the late Sir John Zouch.

So maybe your Joshua Walker comes from another branch of the same Walker family?

(Edit - sorry, I suppose we don't know for sure that Zouch Walker actually was descended from John Walker and Miss Zouch since the person who claimed that he was, was a perjurer, so I should say, maybe your Joshua Walker comes from a branch of the John Walker / Miss Zouch family.)

[kiterunner]

I found another Zouch / Walker connection in the TNA Catalogue, probably not connected with the Derbyshire families:

DDRO/18/49 1768
Marriage settlement of William Walker and Arabella Zouch
Parties: 1) William Walker of Wakefield, surgeon 2) Arabella Zouch of Kingston upon Hull, widow 3)John Test gentleman, and John Burden, wharfinger, both of Kingston upon Hull

[Tom Tom]

Thanks Kate - another couple of interesting bits of info.

Hmmm... Arabella is an unusual name.

So annoying, not knowing where my Zouch came from!

[Margaret in Burton]

Just throwing this in Tom. Have you considered a connection with Ashby de la Zouch? It's only 10miles or so away from Castle Donington. I know you have ancestors from there but of course this may be a different family.

[Tom Tom]

Hi Marg - have considered it, but this is a completely different family, so always thought it would make a nice circle if it did end up coming from there (my JZW's gg grandson married a lady whose gg grandfather was my branch in ADLZ).