Edward Bland and Frances Winchester of Hammersmith

 In a recent post I explored which Bland family members had been sextons at St Paul Hammersmith chapel. The first one identified by the vestry minutes was Edward Bland, who married Frances Winchester on June 9, 1726, at St Giles in the Fields, Holborn, London. Frances was the daughter of John Winchester, yeoman, and his wife Mary, and she was baptized on August 8, 1699, at St John the Baptist, Pinner, Harrow, Middlesex. They were apparently married by licence but I have not located it so far.  The marriage record doesn’t say if Edward was a bachelor or a widower. 

Frances Winchester had several siblings, who are identified in the will of her brother John Winchester “of the Hamlet of Pinnor in the parish of Harrow on the Hill”,  proved April 21, 1742. John gives two acres of land, which he calls a close,  to his sister Mary Chandler, widow of the late George Chandler, for the course of her life and makes her his executrix. After Mary’s death the land passes to his sister Susanna Chandler, also a widow, and after Susanna’s death the land finally goes to Mary’s daughters Mary and Elizabeth Chandler.  John gives his sister Frances Bland one guinea, and his sister-in-law “Anne the widow of my late brother James” one shilling. Here’s the source for the will if you’d like to see it yourself:

These are the children of Edward and Frances that were baptized at Hammersmith:

1. Edward bap. June 25, 1727 died September 1766 (he was sexton at Hammersmith after his father)
2. Susanna bap. Jan. 24, 1733
3. Steven bap. Jan. 18, 1734 (potentially our ancestor and father to Ann Elliot)
4. Sarah bap. May 22, 1738
5. James birth unknown buried June 8, 1740
6. Thomas bap. Nov. 30, 1741 buried August 14, 1785 age 44

There is no record of John Highlord Bland’s birth, but nor is there anywhere else, and it is quite a distinctive name. His birth date is circa 1732 so he could fit in between Edward and Susanna.  There is a gap of six years between those two. 

We know that Edward Sr. dies in August of 1764. His widow Frances died March 10 and was buried March 14, 1773, age 74. By the way, Frances was the only Bland I have seen so far who was unable to write her name, as evidenced by this signature witnessing a marriage in Hammersmith Chapel in 1769. 

What do we know about the children? We don’t actually know from the vestry minutes whether Edward Jr. is married or not. There is an Edward Bland who marries a Mary Hubbard in Hammersmith on April 15, 1754 who could be this Edward.  They don’t seem to have had children. 

This may be the death record of Thomas Bland, son of Edward and Frances, potential brother to Stephen and John Highlord Bland. The dates fit exactly and he is buried in Hammersmith. August 14, 1785. This would make him 23 years old when Thomas and Gwyn Bland’s first child is born in 1764, which would be reasonable. 

What is purple fever, you ask? Well, so did I. It can mean various things, from childbed fever (obviously not applicable here), to typhus, to scarlet fever.  Poor Thomas. 

For the moment I can’t find any further records for Susanna or Sarah.