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

John Highlord Bland in "London Silver-hilted Swords"

The reference book London Silver-hilted Swords:  their makers, suppliers and allied traders, with directory by Leslie Southwick (Royal Armouries, 2001, Leeds, UK) contains an entry on John Highlord Bland, Stephen Bland's brother, and his partner Robert Foster.

"Bland/Bland & Foster/Foster
John Highlord Bland (died 1791) was a royal sword cutler and belt maker to George III, of 68 St. James Street, parish of St. James, Piccadilly, Westminster.  The building was on the west side of St. James Street 'situated at the Corner of Catharine Wheel Yard, near St. James's Place in St. James's Street'. 

Bland succeeded the royal cutler and belt maker Mrs. Anne Becket (widow of John Becket, died 1767)...at the above location in the spring of 1768 and he is recorded being there in the poor-rate book dated 19 April 1768.  A Sun insurance policy (no. 390917) was taken out by Bland on the property on 18 October 1777.  Following the death of Anne Becket he was appointed Beltmaker and Sword Cutler in Ordinary to George III in Anne's place on 26 February 1782.  Following this appointment Bland...undertook the annual supply of swords and belts for the yeoman guards and warders at the Tower.

The partnership of John Bland and Robert Foster was established by 1787.  Robert Foster (1758-98) the son of the sword cutler and hilt maker Thomas Foster...was indentured as an apprentice sword cutler to Bland on 24 September 1772....

There is no doubt that Foster worked under Bland until their partnership was formed.  The union was established certainly by 1787, if not just before.  The joint names are found on an invoice dated 25 March 1787, which relates to work undertaken for the Prince of Wales between January and March 1787....However, only Bland is listed in the rate books until 1789.  

John Bland died on 3 August 1791....His will, proved on 4 August 1792, left his estate in part to his wife, Harriet, and to his brother (PROB 11/1207, f350).  However, the testament was disputed by Foster because of the arrangements made for their business.  The will was proved a second time two years later on 4 August 1794, a tribunal finding in Foster's favour...

Following Bland's death, Foster succeeded to the business of being royal sword cutler and belt maker (see PRO LC9/399, no. 50).  Seven years later, in March 1798, 'Robert Foster of Barleyford in the Parish of St. Nicholas, Shepperton, Middlesex' died aged 39 and was buried at the church of St. Nicholas on 18 March 1798 ..."
 
There are two other Blands listed as silver-hilted sword cutlers in Southwick's directory:  one, Cornelius Bland, comes from Oxfordshire and is probably not related.  The second, Edward Bland, might be Ann's brother. Here is his entry:

"Edward Bland was a sword cutler and a freeman of the Weavers' Company.  'Son of Stephen Bland of Hammersmith, a Gardner', he was indentured to Thomas Foster for seven years on 5 November 1770...and sworn free of servitude of the Weavers' Company 23 years later on 5 March 1793, giving his address as 63 Fetter Lane, Holborn, the house next door to Foster's then location.  Clearly, Bland had worked with Foster as a journeyman long after his 'time' had finished.  His name does not appear as being at the above address in the land-tax assessment books in this period."

Notice that Edward's master was Thomas Foster;  Thomas was the father of Robert Foster, John Highlord Bland's apprentice and eventual partner.  (Thomas also had a son named John Foster who began life as a leather-seller and ended up succeeding his father as a sword cutler in Fetter Lane, so sword-making seems to have been a family occupation.) 

Now, our Stephen Bland, Ann (Bland) Elliot's father,  lived in Hammersmith, but I thought he was a cutler, not a gardener.  However, when I go over my notes, I can't see any documentation for this.  Did I just imagine it?  Stephen definitely had a son named Edward Bland, as evidenced by Stephen's  will, and the timing would be about right.

Stephen also had a son named James.  And here is a document from the database "London, England, Freedom of the City Admission Papers, 1681-1925", dated October 7, 1789, that records a James Bland, "Son of  Stephen Bland of Hammersmith in the County of Middx Gardener" apprenticing himself to "John Foster of Fetter Lane London Sword Cutler". 

All of these professional connections between the Bland and Foster families make it seem more likely that Edward and James, son of Stephen Bland of Hammersmith, Gardener, are indeed John Highlord Bland's nephews and Ann Bland's brothers.  

By the way, here's another record from the same database, showing that the profession went down in the family for at least one more generation:

"This Indenture Witnesseth, That Stephen John Highlord Bland Son of Edward Bland of Cow Cross Street Est Smithfield Sword Cutler doth put himself Apprentice to Charles Matthews of Kings Head Court Shoe Lane Cutler a Citizen and Goldsmith of London, to learn his Art of a Cutler....the...Second day of April...in the Year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and Seventeen." 

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?