I'm Back! And Bland Family Outliers

It's been quite a while since I've posted here.  I've been busy with other commitments, and  I also tried creating a new website on WordPress, but I  got  all  tangled up learning how to use  it and  in the end, I decided  I'd  better stick to what I know.  Lately I've been working on the Bland family.  As  a  reminder, we are descended from Stephen Bland, sexton at Hammersmith, London, England, and his wife Eleanor Whitfield.  They are  the  parents of Ann Bland, who married Robert Elliot in 1794 and moved  to Canada with him and their family. 

We know that Stephen Bland had at least two siblings.  One, John Highlord Bland of St. James, Westminster (c. 1732-1791), was a sword cutler who worked in London and although married seems to have  had no children.  John Highlord Bland left a will, proved August 4, 1792, in London, in which he connects himself  to other members of the Bland  family:

1. His wife Harriet Bland
2. His brother "Stephen Bland of  Hammersmith" and Stephen's  children Edward (referred to as the eldest  son), Ann, Harriet, Thomas, and James 
3. His sister-in-law Mrs. Gwyn Bland, her daughter Gwyn, two other unnamed daughters, and her son Thomas Bland, whom John Highlord Bland disinherits and "cuts off with a shilling"

This will establishes John Highlord and Stephen as brothers and establishes that there is one other brother who is probably deceased at  this point, but had a wife named Gwyn, three daughters (one also named Gwyn) and a son Thomas.  I believe this is a  Thomas Bland, dates  unknown.  We have no marriage record for Thomas and Gwyn Bland but we do have baptism records for five children (Gwyn, Sarah, Mary, Elizabeth Catherine, and John) naming both parents.  Elizabeth Catherine  dies two years after her birth, leaving only three daughters for Thomas and  Gwyn.  I can't find a birth record for a Thomas, but with a father named Thomas, it is not unlikely that there is a son named Thomas whose birth record has not survived.  

So, the core of the Bland  family that we have documented so far includes:

John Highlord Bland of London, cutler, c. 1732-1791

Stephen  Bland  of Hammersmith, sexton/gardener, c. 1733-October 7, 1810.  

Thomas  Bland, occupation  and dates unknown but probably died  between the birth of his youngest  child (1770) and his brother John Highlord's will (1791).  

as  well as Stephen and Thomas's children.

There are a handful of other people who are connected to core group but about whom we  know less.  For the most  part it is their wills which establish the connections.  

Elizabeth Bland, a spinster in Hammersmith, leaves a will proved 1780, in which she names two sisters, Lucy  Paget and  Sarah Watts.  She also mentions a nephew, Edward Bland, who I believe could be Edward the son of Stephen Bland  of Hammersmith, and two nieces, Elizabeth and Ann Watts.  Her burial record gives her age as 82, which would put her birth circa 1698.

Lucy Paget,  of  Fetter Lane, London, also leaves a  will proved in 1780, in which she names  her loving son Thomas Paget, four nieces whom she names  as  Sarah Bland, Sarah Brooks, Ann Watts and Elizabeth Watts, and also her own daughter Mary Jones, the husband of George Jones.  She has two death records, one which puts her age at 74 and another which puts her age at 78, giving her an estimated birth of circa 1702-1706. 

Sarah Bland, a  spinster of Harrow on the Hill, London, leaves a will proved in London on May 5 1803.  Her will names "my loving cousin Stephen Bland of the Hamlet of Hammersmith in the County of Middlesex" as executor and the "sons and daughters of the said Stephen Bland" whom she identifies as "Edward, John Thomas, and James Bland, and Ann wife to Mr. Robert Elliot and Harriott wife of Mr. Daniel Pontifex".  She leaves one guinea to Peers Watts but does not specify a relationship.  She leaves small bequests to her "dear cousins Ann and Elizabeth Watts and Mrs. Mary Jones".  She leaves small bequests to a Mr. John Armstrong, Frances his wife, and Frances their daughter.  In her codicil she mentions a Thomas Bland who is working as a journeyman to Daniel Pontifex.  Unfortunately her death record does not give her age, which would have helped us find a birth record. 

The Watt family feature heavily in the wills of these Bland family members.  The Watt family patriarch, Peers Watts (c.1684-1771), married a Sarah Bland of Hammersmith/Fulham in 1720.  The marriage allegation tells us her father is Edward Bland, gardener (Peers is also a Gardener). 

 London and Surrey, England, Marriage Bonds and Allegations, 1597-1921.

The text reads, in part:

6 Septembris 1720.  On which day appeared personally Peers Watts of the Parish of Fullham in the County of Middx widower and alleged that he intendeth to marry with Sarah Bland of same parish and upwards of sixteen years and a spinster with the consent of Edward Bland her father now present..."

I believe that the bride's father only  had to consent if she was under 21 years of age, which would make Sarah Bland's year of birth between 1699 and 1704.  

Peers and Sarah had seven children baptized in St. Paul Hammersmith Church between 1722 and 1734, but by 1772 when Peer's will was proved, the remaining family consisted of Peers Jr, Ann, Elizabeth, and Sarah (who married a James Brooks).   The baptismal records for Sarah and Ann Watts are missing.   

So we now have three sisters, Elizabeth Bland born c. 1698, Lucy Paget, and Sarah Watts born between 1702-1706. Their father is Edward Bland and their mother is unknown.  They are aunts to Stephen Bland of Hammersmith, which would make his father, currently unknown, a son of Edward Bland as well.  

Another interesting will by a Bland I can't immediately place is that of William Bland of St. Andrew, Holborn.  His will reads:

In the name of God Amen I William Bland of the Parish of St. Andrew Holborn in the County of Middlesex Innholder being of sound mind and memory do will and bequeath unto my aunt Ann Watts spinster of the parish of St. Andrew Holborn aforesaid in the said county of Middlesex all my goods money plate rings watches horses and all my worldly goods and every thing I dye possessed of And I make and appoint my said aunt Ann Watts the executrix of this my last will and testament in witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this seven and twentieth day of December One Thousand Seven Hundred and Fifty.  (London, England, Wills and Probate, 1507-1858. 1751-B-Bland).  

The will was registered in February of 1751. Again the dates are a bit of a squeeze.  If Ann Watts was born in the 1720s or 1730s like her siblings, in 1751 she would be 20-30 years old.  Surely a bit young to have a prosperous adult nephew who is an innkeeper and on his deathbed.  

This family is like a big scrambled-up puzzle and I know there are pieces missing.  I keep hoping the next piece I discover will connect the whole puzzle, but so far no luck.  More research pending!

ngland Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1558-1812 for Lucy Bland

St Martin-In-The-Fields

1681-1692

London and Surrey, England, Marriage Bonds and Allegations, 1597-1921 for Peers Watts

1720

Jul-SepLo

London and Surrey, England, Marriage Bonds and Allegations, 1597-1921 for Peers Watts

1720

J

Still Fixating on the Whitfield Family

In genealogy, a problem that you can't resolve is known as a "brick wall".  I'm still hitting my head against the brick wall posed by Anne Unknown, wife of James Whitfield, peruke-maker in London, mother of Eleanor Whitfield and grandmother of Ann Bland, who in turn was the wife of Robert Elliot. What's tantalizing is that another researcher has discovered a great clue!  A newspaper   obituary tells us that Anne's uncle is Sir Robert Cotton, 5th Baronet of Connington, and her first cousin is Sir John Bruce Cotton, 6th Baronet of Connington.  With information like that you'd think that finding out who Anne's parents were would be as easy as flipping through a volume of Burke's, but alas, so far no one can find her.  I'm not having much luck discovering the family of James Whitfield, either.  I know that he is the son of another James Whitfield who lived in "Hodington" or Headington, Oxfordshire, but I can't discover anything at all about James the elder.  Many genealogists that I've read suggest that if you need help smashing through those brick walls, you should widen your search to other members of the family and you may find valuable clues.

Now Anne (Unknown) Whitfield's granddaughter, Anne Bland, married Robert Elliot, who appears to have come from a fairly prosperous middle-class family but who was essentially a tradesman (he built a career as a currier in both Hammersmith, England and later in Ontario).  Anne Whitfield's daughter, Eleanor Whitfield, was the wife of James Bland, a gardener in Hammersmith (his brother, Stephen Bland, was a sword-cutler to the King, which sounds pretty fancy but is still a job, i.e. not something a nobleman would do).

However, it's interesting to look at the family that James and Anne Whitfield's daughter Margaret married into.   Eleanor's sister married a man named Lionel Spencer Berkeley.

From Notes and Queries, p. 418, ed. William White. 

Here's an excerpt of what Volume III of The Peerage of England by Arthur Collins has to say about the Berkeley family:

 

 

So, in case you're overwhelmed by the meandering style of this family history, let me set out some key points.

• Margaret Whitfield's father-in-law, Henry Berkeley, held positions in which he directly served  English royalty (he was page of honour to Queen Anne, and Master of the Horse to George I).  He had a distinguished military career and was a Member of Parliament for many years.  
• Her husband's grandfather was the 2nd Earl of Berkeley.  He was for a time the equivalent of an English Ambassador to Holland, and was later, among many other positions, on the Privy Council of England. 
• Her husband's uncle was the 3rd Earl of Berkeley.  He also had a distinguished military career, which culminated in the position of Vice-Admiral of Great Britain,  and like his father was on the Privy Council.  

James Berkeley, 3rd Earl of Berkeley, Margaret Whitfield's Uncle-in-law. 

I could go on some more about the Berkeleys, but the point is, this is quite a family to be attached to. Not to mention that: 

•  Lionel Spencer Berkeley's mother, Mary Cornwall or Cornewall, was the daughter of the wealthy Colonel Henry Cornewall, M.P. for Weoboly, Hereford and  Herefordshire, and Susanna Williams, daughter of Sir John Williams.    Her brother Velters was also an MP, and her other brothers were all officers in the military.  
• His paternal grandmother (wife of Charles Berkeley) was Elizabeth Noel.  She was the daughter of Baptist Noel, 3rd Viscount of Campden, and his third wife Hester Wotton.   

While all of these glamorous connections formed by James and Anne's daughter doesn't directly tell us what Anne's connection to the Cotton family is, it does add credence to the idea that the Whitfields are connected somehow to the Baronets of Cotton.   People very rarely drastically jump class lines when they marry--if someone connected to nobility marries into a family, it can be a sign that the first family has good connections as well.

So who did James and Anne Whitfield's other children marry?  The only other sibling of Eleanor's who lived long enough to marry was her sister Anne, who married a man named John Latimer in 1746.  This is probably the same John Latimer (or Lattimer, as it is spelled in the apprenticeship documents) who was her father's apprentice and paid him an apprenticeship fee in 1731.  They had a son named Cotton Edwards Latimer and a daughter named Margaret Sophia Latimer.  What was John's social standing?  I haven't yet found his family, but I'm still trying.  Remember that James Whitfield's father was from Headington?  Coincidentally, there is a Latimer family (headed by Edward Latimer, wine merchant (1774-1845) who had a thriving business in Headington and owned a place called Headington House from 1815-1848.  Of course this is later than James's time, and this Edward appears to have been born elsewhere.  As far as I can tell, they are not connected.  Dead ends everywhere!

The Whitfields also seem to have a connection to Twickenham (both James Whitfield and his wife died there).  There probably isn't a relationship here either, but the Twickenham Museum Website has some information about a Mr. George Whitefield, pronounced Whitfield, and his religious influence in Twickenham.  Yesterday I went to the Toronto Reference Library where most of the library's genealogical material is held, and looked at two books on the history of Twickenham. One (Twickenham Past, a Visual History of Twickenham and Whitton by the Borough of Twickenham Local History Society, published in 1993) was quite interesting but had nothing of direct relevance.  (I did discover that Twickenham during the Whitfield's time was awash with famous writers, such as Alexander Pope).  The second book (Memorials of Twickenham, Parochial and Topographical by Richard Stuteley Cobbett, published in 1872) had some information which I can't connect to our family at the moment.  One chapter contains excerpts from the register of Parish burials from 1743 to 1762, and it contains the two following entries, on pages 68 and 71 respectively:

"The wife of Lionel Berkeley, Esq.  May 6, 1751."
"Cornwall Berkeley, infant son of Lionel Berkeley, Esq., August 30, 1753".  

And on page 100 there is this entry, describing memorials on the floor of the church nave:

"Here lies the body of Martha Berkley (the faithful widow of Lionel Spencer Berkley) who departed this life the 29th day of April, 1751, in the 30th year of her age.  Whose conduct was an ornament to herself, a pattern to her sex, and a pleasure to her husband".  

So, since he is dead by 1751,  this is obviously some other Lionel Spencer Berkeley.  There is a Lionel Spencer Berkeley who married a Martha Colthart in St. Mary's Church, St. Marylebone, London, on March 28, 1740, according to England, Select Marriages, 1538-1973.  The Registers of Marriage of St. Mary le Bone, Middlesex, 1668-1812 and of Oxford Chapel, Vere street, St. Mary le Bone, 1736-1754 also has the following entry under marriages in 1740:

"March 28.  Lionel Spencer Berkeley Esq. of St. Anne's, Westm, & Martha Colthart of St. James, Westm. L."  

The two Lionel Spencer Berkeleys were probably related, although I don't know how.  So it turns out that this information is probably not that relevant to my search for the Whitfield family.  I'm not giving up!

The Birth Family of Stephen Bland

Stephen Bland is the father of our ancestress Ann Bland, who married Robert Elliot and moved to Canada.  He was also father to Harriot Bland, wife of Daniel Pontifex, and a sword cutler in London, England.  Who were his family?

Stephen's brother, John Highlord Bland, also a cutler, left a will which names many relatives, and which is a good place to begin our information gathering.  John Highlord died before his brother Stephen did:  his will was proved in London, August 4, 1792.

"I John Highlord Bland of St. James Street in the parish of St. James and city of Westminster sword cutler do make this my will and testament in manner following..."

John Highlord Bland leaves bequests to

• "my wife Harriet Bland" 
• "My brother Stephen Bland of Hammersmith"
• "Edward Bland the son of the said Stephen" (he also refers, elsewhere in the will,  to Edward as Stephen's eldest son):  to Edward  he leaves a bequest of two hundred pounds
•  more of Stephen's children: "his [Stephen's] two daughters Ann and Harriet Bland" get a bequest of one hundred and fifty pounds each, "his son Thomas Bland" gets a bequest of sixty pounds and "his son James Bland" gets a bequest of forty pounds
•  "to my Sister in Law Mrs. Gwyn Bland"  (amount is illegible)
• "to her daughter Gwyn ten pounds (?) and to her other two daughters five pounds each"
• "my nephew Thomas Bland the son of the said Gwyn Bland I totally disinherit and put him off with a shilling" 

 He appoints his "friend and partner Robert Forster" sole executor of his will.

Thomas Bland obviously did something to irk his uncle!  I wonder what it was?

John Highlord Bland's will not only establishes that he is the brother of our ancestor Stephen and the uncle of our ancestress Ann, but also names all of Stephen's children and gives good clues to finding another sibling.  Now we have to search for a Bland man who married a woman named Gwyn and had children named Gwyn and Thomas, as well as two other girls.   I propose the best candidate is Thomas Bland, married to a Gwyn, last name unknown, who had four girls baptized in the parish of St. Dunstan in the West, London.

Gwyn Dau of Thomas & Gwyn Bland B. July 31st Whites Alley. Baptized August 5, 1764.

Sarah Daughter of Thomas & Gwen Bland Born Jan 27th Whites Alley.  Baptized February 9th, 1766.

Mary Dr. of Thomas & Gwen Bland Born April 13, Whites Alley.  Baptized April 19, 1767.

Elizabeth Catherine Dr of Thomas & Gwen Bland Born March 18, Whites Alley.  Baptized March 27, 1769.

 

Sadly, Elizabeth Catherine died at two years of age, which may be why John Highlord Bland indicated in his will that this family had three daughters.

Elizth Catherine Bland, buried Fetter Lane, from Whites Alley.  May 21, 1771. 

There is an additional birth record for a son:                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                                               

John Son of Thomas & Anne Gwenn Bland born Nov. 14. Whites Alley.  Baptized Nov. 25, 1770.

This record is especially interesting because it gives an additional name for the mother;  rather than Gwen, she is referred to as "Anne Gwenn". I still don't see any sign of a Thomas Bland.

Now all I have to do is find a couple named Bland who not only had a son named Stephen but also one called Thomas and one called John Highlord.  Shouldn't be too hard, right? 

Who Was Ann Bland's Mother?

Ann Bland, who married Robert Elliot and moved to Canada with her family, including her son and our ancestor William Elliot, was the daughter of Stephen Bland:  he is named in several places, including the birth record of their son Josiah Elliot; also, his will names Ann the wife of Robert Elliot as his daughter.  But who was Ann's mother?  That's harder to figure out, as Stephen's will does not name a wife.  I have a candidate for the position, but I don't have definite proof.

I believe that Ann Bland's mother may have been Eleanor Bland (birth name unknown).  Here's my evidence: there is an Eleanor Bland who was buried at St. Paul's Church, Hammersmith, on August 16, 1810.  This was the church which Robert and Ann attended.  Just a few weeks later, on August 21, 1810, Stephen Bland of Hammersmith writes a will in which he leaves his estate to Ann and Robert (he also mentions their children John and Robert Jr.), his other daughter Harriott (sic) Pontifex, wife of Daniel Pontifex, and his son John Thomas Bland "son of my first wife Elizabeth Bland" (the implication being that Ann and Harriot are children from a second wife).    He also leaves property to two other sons, Edward and James Bland.  A few months later, on October 7, 1810, Stephen Bland dies and is also buried at St. Paul's Church in Hammersmith.  I wish I could see their gravestones;  they would probably definitively answer the question of their relationship!  The book The History and Antiquities of the Parish of Hammersmith by Thomas Faulkner (London, 1839) lists the following Blands buried in the St. Paul's yard:  E. Bland, 1741, E. Bland, 1764, John Bland, 1791, Stephen Bland, 1810, and James Bland, 1832.  No female members of the Bland family are mentioned.

According to the website British History Online, the churchyard also contains a tombstone for "John Highlord Bland, late of St. James's Street, sword cutler and belt maker to the King, Prince of Wales, ye army, etc. 3 August 1791. Aged 59".  

Suggestively, Robert and Ann name one of their daughters Eleanor.  Eleanor Elliot was born in 1804, and died in 1809 at the age of five.

None of this consitutes definite proof, however.  I have yet to find a marriage record for Stephen and Eleanor, or birth records for their children.  I will keep looking.

UPDATE:  Another researcher kindly sent me some marriage records for Stephen Bland.  On August 3, 1755, Stephen Bland married Elizabeth Parker in Fulham, Middlesex, England.  Elizabeth must have died since on May 18, 1769, Stephen married a second wife,Elianor Whittfield, again in Fulham.  These records come from the West Middlesex Marriage Index, provided by the West Middlesex Family History Society. So it looks like Ann Bland's mother was Elianor or Eleanor Whittfield.

This brief obituary was found in the European Magazine and London Review, Volume 9, Spring 1786, under the article title "Monthly Obituary, April 1786".  This must be for the second Mrs. Bland, Eleanor Whittfield.  

The Marriage Record of Robert Elliot and Ann Bland

Here is the marriage record of Robert and Ann, from the parish wedding registers of St. Bride's Church, Fleet Street, London, 1794.  They are marriage number 2120.

Robert Elliot, of this Parish, Batchelor (sic) and Ann Bland, spinster, of the same, were Married in this Church by Banns this Sixteenth Day of January in the Year One Thousand Seven Hundred and Ninety Four by me John Priddon...This Marriage was solemnized between Us Robert Elliot Ann Bland In the Presence of William Pontifex, Stephn Bland, Mary Elliot, John Pontifex.

It's exciting to see actual signatures.  I believe that Stephen Bland was Ann's father.  Mary Elliot is probably Robert's sister,  but who are William and John?

Here is a marriage record between a Daniel Pontifex and a Harriot Bland, the year previous, again at St. Bride Fleet Street Church.  Stephen and Ann Bland are witnesses--the signatures match.  The Pontifex and Bland families seem to be related.  In fact, Ann and Harriot are sisters, as I found out when I saw a copy of the will of their father Stephen Bland. He leaves two copyhold houses to Ann which appear to be rented out, and two "houses or tenements in short laws" to Harriot "wife of Daniel Pontifex silversmith of St. John's Square in the parish of St. James Clerkenwell".  The will also lists several brothers:  a son, "John Thomas Bland son of my first wife Elizabeth Bland" (who also gets two houses "in short laws", one of whom is occupied by his brother James, who is not, Stephen instructs in his will, to be turned out of it),  Edward Bland, and James Bland.  Everyone gets two houses.  Stephen Bland was obviously quite prosperous.  The will was proved in January 1811, so Ann would have received her inheritance around that time.  I wonder what happened to the land once she and Robert moved to Canada? 

I have found two baptismal records for Harriot and Daniel's children:  Julia, born May 7 and baptized June 4, 1809, and Robert, born June 15 and baptized August 21, 1811, both at St. James, Clerkenwell, Middlesex.