Name confusion!

[ElizabethHerts]

I have two brothers:
Arthur Harris who died in 1694 at Probus, Cornwall and left a will.
He had two children - Sampson and Joan.

His brother Sampson Harris also had two children. Their names? You guessed, Sampson and Joane.

Each brother had a wife called Elizabeth.

Later, we have a convoluted chain of events.

Edward Powell married Joan Harris at Creed in 1715. They had four children, the eldest being John.

One of the Sampsons married Joane/Jennifer Michell in 1724 and they produced three children I know of. This Sampson was the brother of Joan Powell. Sampson died in 1733. His widow Joane married John Crase.

Then:

Ref No ARD/151/24
Title Adultery, Edward Powell of Probus and Jennifer wife of John Craze
Date 1739
Format Manuscript
Extent 11 pieces
Description
Jennifer Craze was widow of Sampson Harris who was Edward Powell's brother in law. Deponents:-William Bone, gentleman of Probus aged 31, Simon Bone, yeoman of Probus aged 77, James White, innkeeper of Probus aged 63, Peter Olliver, butcher of Probus aged 35 and Robert Flamanck, gentleman of Probus aged 55.

Ref No ARD151/24/1-11
Title
Adultery and fornication, Edward Powell of Probus and Jennifer Craze, widow
Date
1739
Description
Adultery and fornication, Edward Powell of Probus and Jennifer (wife John) Craze, widow of Sampson Harris, E.P.s Brother in law). Deponents - William Bone, gentleman of Probus, aged 31, Simon Bone, yeoman, of Probus aged 77, James White, innkeeper of Probus aged 63, Peter Olliver, butcher of Probus, aged 35, Robert Flamanck, gentleman of Probus aged 55.

Joane Powell didn't die until 1744, so this was going on throughout her marriage.


In 1731 Jennifer Kemp, maiden name Jennifer Harris, the sister of Arthur and Sampson, leaves a bequest to Jone Powell and her son John Powell.
However, for the life of me I can't work out whether the father of Joan/Jone Harris who married Edward Powell and of Sampson Harris who married Joane Michell was Arthur or Sampson! So I can't enter them on the tree.

[Kit]

Arthur Harris left a will. Did he leave property, or anything that could have been passed on? I'm just wondering if his children may have wills that mention the same property?

I'm sure you thought of that, but just in case...

It's also inconsiderate of Jennifer Kemp to not state exactly how she was related to Jone and John.

[ElizabethHerts]

Toni, yes, I have transcribed Arthur's will. His two children were very young and Arthur's will was obviously made in a hurry before he died and is very short.

I'm transcribing wills for the whole parish, so something may yet turn up to solve the mystery.

[Kit]

Fingers crossed for you but a whole parish sounds very daunting.

[ElizabethHerts]

I'm OPC for Probus and we are transcribing as many documents as possible. I'm choosing the wills that interest me the most to start with!

[ElizabethHerts]

The only marriage I could find for Arthur Harris and Elizabeth was this:

Day Month 08-Oct
Year 1689
Parish Or Reg District Tywardreath
Groom Fn Arthur
Groom Sn HARRIS
Bride Fn Elizabeth
Bride Sn CONSTABLE
Other Information
Transcriber Notes
Transcriber David Stick

I wasn't sure about it but looked on the CROCAT website for wills for the surname Constable. There were quite a few for that surname at Golant, St Sampson, but some were administrations.

However, there was this one.
Ref No AP/C/2856
Title
Will of Thomas Constable, gentleman or yeoman, gentleman, of Golant, St Sampson
Date
1719
Format
Manuscript
Extent
8 pieces
Description
Will, administration, papers, depositions and inventory. Occupation given as 'gentleman' on will and 'yeoman' on inventory.

At first I wasn't too hopeful as he was naming the Trevannion family, but then there was a reference to his sister Elizabeth Harris, then to Sampson Harris. All tantalising, but both families had these names.

Then I saw: "I give devise & bequeath to John Poyle the son of Edward Poyle of the pish of Probus aforesd Yeoman thirty pounds ...".

At first I didn't twig, then, of course, Edward Poyle is Edward Powell and John was the first child born in 1716!

Now my tree can progress!

[Kit]

Now my tree can progress!

Fantastic. I didn't work out the spelling variation until you explained it so I am very happy for you and also very impressed. I think some of my brick walls might stop being so hard to deal with if I could think outside the (spelling) box a bit more.

[Lindsay]

Now my tree can progress!


Well done, Elizabeth.

I love the thrill when you realise things are falling into place!

[ElizabethHerts]

Thanks, Toni and Lindsay.

This is a good justification for my obsession with wills!