Originally this post was one of the email series Peripatetic Peregrinations.
FULTON LINEAGE : Jeffreys, Gunning, Warren, Seymour, Hamilton, etc.
JEFFREYS
The Fulton connection dates from 1.9.1820 when John H.Fulton (1785-1853) married widow Caroline Hurdis nee Jeffreys .
The Jeffreys line stretches back, apparently 22 generations from Caroline, to the tenth century A.D. There are at least three lineage charts posted to the internet, with some inconsistencies ( esp. the Welsh Mediaeval Database, where dates given are palpably wrong, out in some instances by a century). I favour that appearing in ‘History of the County of Breconshire’, Theophilus Jones, pp.119-122,publ. 1805). Evenso, a problem arises with Jeffrey Jeffreys (b. in the seventeenth century, in that Theophilus shows one family of three incl. a ‘John’ and another family of three ( incl. another ‘John’ who appears to continue ‘our’ line ), with no reference to either of two apparent wives . There were several Jeffreys lines prominent in Wales – ours was resident, at different times, in Ynys Allan, Talgarth, the Brecon Priory, Abercynrig (just SE of Brecon ) and Pen y wern. Selecting just a few of our more interesting ancestors :
- Rhys Goch (re-haired) (b.1006). was Lord of Yatradyw.
- Gruffudd (= Griffith), the ‘fat & fair’ (b.1210) was hanged for murdering a monk when the latter – contrary to ‘the seal of the confessional’ – divulged to him that his wife Joan was being unfaithful.
- (Of interest to Bernadette & husband Chris Gunter) : Griffith Jeffreys (b.1326) m. Jane Gunter.
- Colonel John Jeffreys (b.1583), a prosperous mercer in Brecon, bought the Abercynrig property in 1621 from Sir Wm Aubrey. By 1651 he had purchased the whole estate. The present house, only slightly altered at the present day (2016), was built in the 1680s –
JTF pts : FBJF, CSB gpts : TBF, MMW gt gpts : JJF, ESW gt gt gpts : JHF, Caroline Jef.
Caroline Jeffreys : See details on ‘John H.Fulton’ in first ‘Fulton Lineage’ document.
JTF pts : FBJF, CSB gpts : TBF, MMW gt gpts : JJF, ESW gt gt gpts : JHF,CJ
gt gt gt gpts : Thomas Jeffreys, Anne Gunning.
Thomas Jeffreys ( late eighteenth century), son of Richard Jeffreys & unidentified (as yet !) mother. Was living in Percy St, London, when he married Anne Gunning at the Old Church, St Pancras, on 3.5. 1794 ( 3rd May : my parents’ wedding day, as also for my sister Mary to Donald Krone ! – JTF) Had at least three children : Caroline (1797-1878), Lucy Anne (1799-1874 ) and Richard Gunning Jeffreys (1801- ). Possibly also Eliza who is shown travelling to India with Lucy in 1818, arriving on April 10 shortly before Lucy’s marrying Henry Turner at Fort St George, Madras on May 28. On record is a ‘Lt Henry White marrying Eliza Jeffreys at Arcot on 1.11.1820. Possibly another daughter, Harriet – marriage to …Blair / … Johnston ?
In brief : Thomas Jeffreys < Richard < Richard < William etc. ( If you haven’t already fallen asleep / died of boredom / threatened to shoot ), me THEN get great delight out of checking the full 20 odd generations (back from late 17C ) via Theophilus Jones … )
GUNNING
JTF pts : FBJF, CSB gpts : TBF, MMW gt gpts : JJF, ESW gt gt gpts : JHF, CJ gt gt gt gpts : TJ, Anne Gunning gt gt gt gt gpts : John Gunning, Dorothy Warren
N.B. In earlier documents, I expressed bewilderment / consternation / confusion re material supplied to my uncle Ted by his ( and my father’s – JTF) first cousin, Benedictine nun Dame Agnes Wood who claimed relationship with the famed Gunning sisters from Castlecoote in Roscommon, both of whom married dukes, alleging them, erroneously, to be her ‘great grandaunts’ ( they are probably related, but very much at a distance). In 2011, I chanced on a reference to Lucy Ann Jeffreys as born at Torney’s Court in Gloucestershire and – Bingo ! The ‘Torney’s Court’ reference led me to quite a lot of Gunning material.
From Anne Gunning ( 1773- 18 ), the family can be traced back 15 generations to Thomas Gonnynge ( b. 1360, Tregonning, Cornwall). There is a ‘Tregonning Hill’ near Helston in Cornwall. The prefix ‘Tre-‘ is Cornish for ‘Townplace’ which in mediaeval times meant ‘property’ – so ‘Tregonning’ = ‘place of the Gunnings / Gonnings / Gonnynges / Gonyngs’.
John Gunning (d. 1645), Sheriff and Mayor of Bristol, bought Torney’s Court, one of three manors in the parish of Cold Ashton, in c.1629, as well as property in neighbouring Tatwick.
As well as Torney’s Court and Cold Ashton in Gloucestershire, (about three miles north of Bath ) the family had properties in Swainswick and Tatwick in Somersetshire ( junior branches of the family acquired property in Kent and Ireland). Cold Ashton is a small village on the edge of the Cotswolds, just off the A420. Originally the property of Bath Abbey until the iniquitous dissolution, it came to William Pepwall in 1564. He sold it to John Gunning in c.1629. Prominent in the village is the splendid Elizabethan manor house, apparently built by this John Gunning. The forecourt has an impressive ornamental gateway bearing the coat of arms of Sir Robert Gunning of 1678 (another source traces the granting of arms to John Gunning, 1662). The coat of arms shows three cannons barways per pale argent. The archway is a fine example of the Renaissance style, with square Roman doric columns and a rosette frieze surmounted by two floricated urns. Semi-circular steps leading onto the road complete the design. I am grateful to niece Mary Anne Krone who forwarded me a photo of her lucky self standing on said steps with the word ‘Gunning’ in the stonework behind her. Niece Sarah Fulton likewise sent me some very good shots of the Torney’s Court farmhouse, in the lane leading to which she and husband Simon Atkinson purloined blackberries. They perpetrated a similar crime in the Cold Ashton churchyard – only on exit did they perceive a sign warning of ‘ forensic services’ employed to detect thieving ( actually, of lead). (To date, Interpol has not tracked them down)
Enigma re Torney’s Court (research ongoing) : one source has the property’s passing to the Langton family with the marriage of Elizabeth Gunning (1641-1703), daughter of John Gunning (1599-1662) to Sir Thomas Langton. Yet we have the death of John ‘Devil’ Gunning in 1774 at Torney’s Court and, later still, the birth of Lucy Anne Gunning there in 1799. Perhaps in the Torney’s Court Farmhouse, not in the manor house ?
Anne Gunning (1773- ) was born, 29th March, to John Gunning (1733-1798) and Dorothy Warren (d 1805 OR 1813) and christened on 15.4.1773 in St James’s Church, Westminster. She married Thomas Jeffreys in the ‘Old Church’, St Pancras, on 3.5.1794. They had at least three children : Caroline (1797-1878) m. (1) James Courtail Hurdis (2) John H.Fulton , Richard Gunning (1801- ) m. Jean Leslie and Lucy Ann (1799-1874) m. Henry Bushby. There may have been two more daughters viz. Eliza (m.Henry White, 1820, Arcot, India) and Harriet ( m. Blair ? / Johnston ? ).
Siblings : John (1747-1847) Dorothy (17 – ) m. George Porter Elizabeth ( 17 – 1811) m. Giles Daubeny Alicia ( 17 – )
LYMEN / LEMAN / LEMMAN …….……….. SEYMOUR ?
The LYMEN connection comes in with the marriage of John GUNNING ( 1706-1774) to Elizabeth LYMEN.. There is reference to Elizabeth’s brother as ‘ Major John Seymour, Lieutenant-governor of Dumbarton Castle’ : SEYMOUR ? Why the difference in surnames ? Still an enigma for me (July, 2019) but at least I can now discount my theory as expressed in earlier writings that, when she married John, she was a widow viz.Mrs Lymen BECAUSE I have recently come across Historic Houses in Bath, and their Associations (pp.5,6)) where ELizabeth is referred to
‘ Mr Gunning’s grandmother was a Miss Leman of Lyme in Dorsetshire and was a beautiful little woman. Her eldest son (i.e. my 4XGt grandfather, John – JTF) lived at Ttirness (? = Torneys) Court near Tadwick and afterwards in the house which I now inhabit.’ That Lymen was her maiden name is confirmed in various other texts, notably the mini-biography of Gunning-related Mrs Alicia Moore nee Radford where we find :
‘… Elizabeth Lymen ( or Leman or Lemman ) 1712 – 1786, daughter of John Lemman ( b. 20.8.1679, Lyme Regis ). On 14.10.1732, she married John Gunning (1702/06 – 1774) of Torneys Court, Cold Ashton and then Swainswick.’
See ‘Publications, Section 2, Benefaction.home.blog under Burke, Hodgson, Peach, Roberts, Taylor for further reference to the Lymens of Lyme Regis.
Some gleanings : Elizabeth Gunning was the daughter of John Lymen (1679-1714) and Margaret BULL (c.1680) John, a merchant with burgage ( rented property) ‘near the church’, messuage (residential property) and shambles (slaughterhouse, meat & fish street stalls) in Lyme Regis, died quite young – there is reference in his will to his ‘child, Elizabeth’ ( TNA Prob.11/ 567) . His father, also a merchant named ‘ John’, died just a few years later (c.1718). The latter had married Ann WHETCOMBE (1656-1736) and they had at least one other daughter, Ann (m. John Morgan, 29.8.1713) and a son, Joseph. The elder Ann’s brother Jonas conducted a business similar to his brother-in-law John in premises close to Gosling’s Bridge. Elizabeth’s great grandfather, also ‘John’, died in c.1654. His wife’s name was either ‘Emily’ or ‘Cecily’ (recorded in his will, but difficult to decipher). More research required !
· SEYMOUR : The significance remains a mystery ! Interesting that Lucy Ann Bushby nee Jeffreys, granddaughter of John Gunning and Elizabeth nee Lymen, supplied it as a Family name to her daughter Jane. As well, my grandfather ( Thomas Benedict Fulton ) has assigned it as maiden name to his supposed great grandmother in a family tree written up in the early 1900s – slightly out, as it would have been ‘great-great grandmother’ – his gt-grandmama was her daughter (Anne Gunning). IF I were given to flights of fancy (NO COMMENT ! ), I would link us with the lass who met her Nemesis under Henry VIII, while including our forbear Sir Thomas Wyatt in a lurid and salacious soapie. I’d like to see more Seymour …
BULL Margaret (b. c.1680) m. John Lymen (1679-1714) on 29.4.1703 at St Michael’s, Lyme Regis. Reference to Daniel & Robert Bull, mercers of Bridport. Otherwise, nil found so far …
WHETCOMBE (Whettcombe, Whetcomb, Whitcombe). John Lymen ( d.1718) m. Ann Whetcombe (1656-1736) at St Michael’s, Lyme Regis, on 11.8.1675. Ann was apparently from the hamlet Lillington in West Dorsetshire where the’ family mansion’ was situated. Her father John (1628-1694) m. an ‘Ann’ whose maiden name eludes me. J
John Whetcombe’s father was Nicholas (1603-1656) , a merchant with a lead mine also, in Carters Field, Shute, Devon. He was married to Anne …. with sons Nicholas, Samuel, John & William and a daughter, Elizabeth. Nicholas (1603-1656) was the son of Samuel.
The Whetcombes were significant figures in their community, essentially Sherborne and the neighbouring village of Lillington. At this stage of my research, I merely append a few names & dates that may become more relevant later – and possibly link them to Ann < John < Nicholas < Samuel.
WILLS 1598 – Prob. 11/92 – John, mercer of Sherborne / 1657- 11/261 – Robert, gentleman 1685 – 11/380 – John, gentleman / 1687 – 11/388 – Robert, gentleman 1733 11/660 (PG ! ) Sexie ( OH !), widow ( were the local lads daunted by MeToo opposition when they met the aforesaid lady in the street with the greeting ‘Hi ! S……. ?) / 1740 11/702 – Samuel 1744 – 11/733 – John
MASTERS OF THE ALMSHOUSE 1610-12 Robert /1639 – John /1643 – Robert /1671 – John snr / 1686 – John
MARRIAGES 14.7.1604 Jane Whetcombe m. John Long 1623 Robert Whetcomb of Sherborne, merchant gentleman, son of John and brother of Simon, married Mary Allen ( daughter of John Allen & Dorothy Smithes) Jonas Whetcombe m. Sarah Lacy at St Michael’s , Lyme Regis on 11.5.1698.
BURIAL 3.4.1710 Samuel, son of Samuel
Samuel is a name obviously popular with the Whetcombes of the period. Note the following memorial, affixed to a wall in the Church of St Martin of Tours in Lillington – note, not in reference to the burial cited above.
‘ To the memory of Samuel Whetcombe Esq. and Robert his Eldest son and John his third son, the first of whom Died Jan.20th1739. Aged 75 yrs and the next Nov.20th1737 aged 25 yrs and the last Jun 10 1742 aged 26 yrs. This monument is erected by Samuel Whetcombe Esq. the second son of the said Samuel Whetcombe Esq. in testimony of his filial duties to his father and his tender affection for his two brothers. Also Simon the fourth son Died 28thNov. 1745 aged 27 yrs. Samuel Whetcombe Esq. the second son Died 4thFeb. 17 ….aged ….. yrs and Mary, wife and mother of the four sons Died 29thOct. 1765, aged 80 yrs.’ The 1730s & 1740s were assuredly a hard time for the poor woman …
OFFICIAL DUTIES : John Whetcombe, merchant – mayor, 1672 Jonas Whetcombe ( merchant with burgage ‘near Gosling Bridge’ ) – mayor, 1733 Samuel Whetcombe – sheriff, 1748 Dr John Whetcombe D.D., Bishop of Clonfert, Ireland, 1735 and later Cashel, 1752 ( d. 1754)
1820 John H.Fulton ( 1785-1853 ) m. Caroline Hurdis nee Jeffreys ( 1796-1878 )
1794 Thomas Jeffreys ( ) m. Anne Gunning ( 1773- )
1763 John ’ Gunning ( 1734- 1798 ) m. Dorothy Warren (1736-1813 )
1732 John ‘Devil’ Gunning ( 1706-1774) m. Elizabeth Lymen ( 1712-1786 )
John Lymen ( 1679-1714 ) m. Margaret Bull (d.c.1680)
1675 John Lymen ( – 1718 ) m. Ann Whetcombe ( 1656-1736 )
John Lymen (d.c.1654) m. Emily / Cecily ? / John Whetcombe ( 1628-1694 ) m. Ann
John Lymen m. ………………… / Nicholas Whetcombe ( 1603-1656 ) m. Ann
Samuel Whettcombe m. ……………….
Warren
JTF : 5 gt gpts : John Gunning, Dorothy Warren 6gt gpts : Richard Warren, Priscilla Fenner 7 gt gpts : Samuel Warren, Sarah Stafford
There are several ‘Warren’ genealogies on the ‘net, some quite fanciful ! One takes you back to Viking ancestor Bjorn ‘Ironside’ Ragnarsson , another way back into the Old Testament. I am restricting myself to (relatively speaking !) more recent times. Dorothy (d. either 1805 or 1813 in Bath, buried Cold Ashton) was the daughter of the Rev.Richard Warren (1681-1748), Rector of Cavendish & Archdeacon of Suffolk. He was noted for his blistering attacks on Bishop Hoadley because of the latter’s views on the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Richard married Priscilla Fenner (1701-1774). His parents were the Rev.Samuel Warren (1647-1730) and Sarah, youngest daughter of the Rev.Thomas Stafford. She died in childbirth in 1687, aged 40.
The WARREN genealogical bits are to be found primarily in the ‘Vikings’ segment.
Fenner
Line of descent : Joseph Thomas Fulton ( 1934,Chatswood – ) < Francis Benedict Jeffreys Fulton (1903,Randwick – 1976) < Thomas Benedict Fulton (1869, Bath- 1915) < John Jeffreys Fulton, (1825,Trichinopoly-1886) < Caroline Jeffreys ( 1797,London – 1878) < Anne Gunning ( 1773- ) < Dorothy Warren (1737,Cavendish,Suffolk – 1813) < Priscilla FENNER(1701, Ashford, Kent – 1774) < John FENNER(1666,Ashford – 1702) & Sarah Bull (….,Mersham, Kent – ) < Thomas FENNER (….,Ashford- 1694) & ………….. < John FENNER (…….., – 1669) & Alice ………
When next you visit the church of St Mary the Virgin in Ashford, Kent, after you have prayed a while ( Does one get excommunicated for praying in a church purloined from the RCs ?), move on to the south chancel to view the following (#9) :
The lettering is in Latin, but – as some of you may be mere plebeians, denied in your tender years the fundamental right of every child to be taught Latin – I have generously & gratuitously (though donations are always warmly welcomed, Aldi bagged or otherwise ) translated same. The original wording can be found by googling ‘Monumental Inscriptions’ under ‘Ashford’ on the marvellous Kent Archaeology Society website. Actually, the original plebeians did speak Latin … Herewith :
‘ Beneath this stone lie the remains of John Fenner, gentleman, so recently an ornament to the town and its inhabitants. He died July 15, 1702, at age 36. Faithful to the Anglican Church, a true exponent of orthodox religious fidelity, he was a man of exemplary life. Furthermore, in praiseworthy fashion, he was blessed with a benign disposition, so easily seen in his speech and manner, a lovable man, not only for his religious observance but for his general virtue overall. He married Sarah, eldest daughter of Thomas Bull of Mersham, a woman worthy of such a man as John. She died 5 April, 1715 and here too lies buried. John & Sarah had seven children, three of whom they were saddened to lose quite young. The four other offspring, Mary Frances, Sarah, Elizabeth and Priscilla survived their father but Elizabeth died of smallpox at age 11. The three remaining sisters have therefore placed this memorial as a token of grateful devotion to their parents. AD 1724
Notes : 1. John Fenner is one of my 6 times great-grandfathers. His daughter Priscilla ( m. Rev.Richard Warren) my 5 times great-grandmother (JTF).
2. In his will, he leaves property in Ashford and nearby villages (Sellindge, Kingsnorth, Wye, Newchurch & Snave ) to his four daughters. His father Thomas’s 1694 will cites properties in Ashford, Sellindge and Kingsnorth. His grandfather John’s 1669 will leaves his house in Rochester to wife Alice and ‘messuages & tenements in Ashford and elsewhere in Kent’ to son John, brother to my 7 times gt grandfather Thomas.
3. There are two more Fenner wills covered by the KAS research – probably a connection (e.g. mention of ‘Priscilla’ but cannot at present (Aug. 2019) see any link). Interesting bit of trivia : a different John Fenner’s bequeathing of ‘best warming pan’ to granddaughter. ( Who bagsmy hot water-bottle ? Niece Katie at age 11 claimed my electric can-opener (now slightly the worse for wear…ummm…actually broken…)
3, His wife Sarah’s father Thomas Bull was not so well-off : the will of Rev.John Halke (1601-1678) cites him as a tenant farmer. Perhaps the fact that he and wife Mary (nee Hall) had eleven children to provide for between 1662 and 1681 kept them rather poor…. Mersham is a village fairly close to Ashford. (More on the Bull connection after more research ).
4. The Fenners were obviously devoted Anglicans : John’s sister Mary m. Rev.Robert Vicaris, his sister Priscilla m. Rev.Thomas James and daughter Priscilla m. Rev.Richard Warren (1681-1748) ( my 5X gt-grandparents). Richard was the son of Rev.Samuel Warren (1647-1730) and father of John, Bishop of St David’s & later Bangor ( 1730-1800). On your next weekend jaunt to London, take time to look for the memorial to said Bishop & wife Elizabeth (nee Southwell), buried in the north aisle of Westminster Cathedral. Bishop John was an elder brother of my immediate forbear, gt-gt-gt-gt-grandma Dorothy Gunning. To compound all this clerical confusion, add in another Rev.John Warren (1609-1659), the doyen : father of Samuel (above), grandfather of Rev. Richard & gt- grandfather of Very Rev.Bishop John. But wait ! there’s more ! Yet another Rev.John Warren, this one (1767-1838), one of the 13 children born to Dorothy’s brother, Dr Richard Warren, physician to King George III, and Elizabeth (nee Shaw).
5. Those of you blessed with a proper education will have no problem with the following, the inscription on the tomb of Rev.Richard Warren at Cavendish, Suffolk :
Ricardus Warren, S.T.P. Huius Eccelesiae Rector, et Archidiaconus Suffolciensis; vir pietate ex doctrina insignis; Natus est Ashfordiae, in agro Cantiano, patre Samuele , ejusdem Parochiae Vicario. In matrimonio habuit Priscillam, Joannis Fenner armigeri filiam, feminam dignissimam. Obiit iv.Januarii, MDCCLXVIII. Vixit annos LXVI, menses ix Conjugem et septem liberos reliquit supersitos.
Note. ‘armigeri’ implies that John Fenner (1666-1702) had (a) the right to a coat of arms OR (b) the right to bear arms. Intriguing that it should rate a mention here …
Priscilla’s tombstone has the following :
‘ Underneath this marble are interred the remains of Mrs Priscilla Warren, Relict of Richard Warren D.D., late Rector of this Parish. She was a woman of great virtue and prudence, and died, much lamented by all her Relatives and Friends, January 16, 1774, aged 73 years’.
JTF gt gpts :JJF, ESW gt gt gpts : JHF,CJ gt gt gt gpts : TJ, AG gt gt gt gt gpts : J. Gunning, D. Warren gt gt gt gt gt gpts : John Gunning, Elizabeth Seymour
John Gunning (1733-1798), a most impressive man, was the eldest son of John ‘Devil’ Gunning (1706-1774) and Elizabeth Lymen aka Seymour (1712-1786). He was born at Swainswick
(near Cold Ashton). In c.1763, he married Dorothy Warren (c.1737-1813). They had five children (See Anne – siblings above). John had a most distinguished career : educated initially at Winchester from 1747 to 1750, he progressed to the St George’s Hospital Medical School, London ( Pupil No. 14). In 1756, he was House Surgeon, assistant to Mr C. Hawkins. From 1765 to 1798, he was the Senior Surgeon. In 1773, he was elected Steward of Anatomy but paid the mandatory fine for refusing to serve on account of pressure of other duties. A member of the Court of Assistants and Examiners of the Corporation of Surgeons, 1784-1798, he was elected Master of the Corporation in 1789. His year of office was characterised by his firm efforts to reform its administration and reorganise its work. His philippic on retiring in 1790 shows that he could be fearlessly outspoken : ‘Your theatre is without lectures, your library-room without books is converted into an office for your clerk and your committee room is become his eating-parlour. If … you make no better use of the hall than what you have already done, you had better sell it and apply the money for the good of the company in some other way’. During his many years at St George’s, he knew much controversy with fellow surgeon, John Hunter, who treated his colleagues with disdain and neglected his duties for unrelated pursuits. In addition to his commitments to St George’s, John Gunning was appointed in 1793 as surgeon-general of the army, succeeding the same John Hunter who had just died. As well, he held the position of Senior Surgeon-extraordinary to the king (George III). Living in Old Burlington St ( part of the very prestigious ‘Burlington Estate’ with the Prime Minister, a couple of dukes and other notables among his neighbours ), John married Dorothy Warren ( 1736-1805/1813 ) in c.1763 ( See below) and had four daughters and one son ( See Anne- siblings above). His son John was probably the John Gunning expelled from Winchester College in 1793 for ‘rebellion’. Surgeon John died at Bath, 14.2.1798, and was buried at Cold Ashton, Gloucestershire. For some reason that I cannot establish, he was disinherited by his father.
Siblings : Thomas (1735-1784) m. Elizabeth Shirecliffe Charles (1737-1796) m. Fanny Purlement Joseph (1738-1805) m. Elizabeth Browne Peter (1750-1822) m. Anne Randolph, Elizabeth (1752- ) m. Thomas Radford (to be checked) Matthew ( 1754 – ) d.India. I am playing with the notion that it was THIS Elizabeth who inherited Torney’s Court, rather than her brother John (the eldest son), not the ‘Elizabeth’ above and that ‘Radford’ should read ‘Langton’.
JTF gt gt gpts : JHF,CJ gt gt gt gpts TJ,Ag gt gt gt gt gpts : JG,DW 5 gt John ‘Devil’ Gunning, Elizabeth Seymour / Lymen 6 gt John Gunning, Elizabeth Fido
John ‘Devil’ Gunning : (1706-1774), b. Langridge, Somerset, was the son of John Gunning (1676-1745) and Elizabeth Fido ( 1668-1712). How he gained the pseudonym ‘Devil’ I have yet to ascertain. He inherited Torney’s Court and the Swainswick estates but for some reason disinherited his son John (above). He married Elizabeth Lymen /Seymour in 1732. Following her death, he married Anne …… ( – 1786)
Elizabeth Seymour I have been bemused by her being referred to as ‘Elizabeth Lymen’. Working from this reference :
‘ Devil John Gunning m. Elizabeth Lymen, sister of Major John Seymour. Lieut Gov. of Dumbarton Castle. She died 1786, leaving 6 sons and 2 daus living’ ( Homepage, Richard Adkins),
I conjecture that Elizabeth was a widow when she married John Gunning. ‘Seymour’ was certainly the name under which later generations remembered her e.g. (b) below.
In the early 1900s, my grandfather, Thomas Benedict Fulton, drew up a ‘family tree’ covering recent generations :
Richard Jeffreys m. Seymour
! ! Caroline m. John Fulton Richard m. Jean Leslie Lucy m. Henry Bushby
! ! !
! ! !
Graeme ,James, John ,Helen, Emma Jane ,Lucy ,Isabella, Katie, Carrie,Andrew Henry, Elliott, Jane
(a) ‘Richard Jeffreys should read ‘Thomas Jeffreys’ – Richard was Thomas’s father.
(b) ‘Seymour’ should read ‘Anne Gunning’ – Elizabeth Seymour /Lymen was Anne’s grandmother. Interestingly, Lucy Bushby’s daughter Jane had ‘Seymour’ as her ‘family name’.
(c) Richard & Jean had nine children, while Lucy & Henry had seven.
And so : (the basics) :
Richard Jeffreys m. Lucy Stedman John Gunning m. Eliz. Lymen nee Seymour
! !
Richard Jeffreys m……………………….. John Gunning m. Dorothy Warren
! !
Thomas Jeffreys m Anne Gunning
!
Caroline m.John H Fulton Lucy m. Henry Bushby Richard m. Jean Leslie Eliza ?? Harriet ??
JTF : 6 gt gpts John Gunning (1676-1745), Elizabeth Fido (1668-1712)
Elizabeth Fido was the daughter of the Rev.Edward Fido, rector of Cold Ashton and gt granddaughter of Sir Thomas Wyatt. She died in her forties on 2.4.1712. John & Elizabeth had two sons, Edmund and John (‘Devil’) (1706-1774)
Hamilton
JTF : gt gpts : JJF, ESW gt gt gpts JHF, CJ gt gt gt gpts : James Fulton, Ann Hamilton
(See ‘Fulton Lineage’)
Of the family lines that I have tried to explore, the Hamilton, stretching back to the 1200s, appears to be the one that can best be relied upon for authenticity. This is due to the exhaustive research into a large number of documents (e.g. parish registers) by the Scots Ancestry Research Society at the behest (and with considerable expenditure !) of my uncle, Edward Thomas Whyte Fulton ( 1904-1999) in the late 1970s. Several progressive reports, the work of professionals, cite quite authoritative details (whereas my surfing the ‘net has frequently encountered some rather amateurish supposition presented as ‘fact’, as also the ‘family history’ as narrated by Dame Agnes Wood OSB …) Conscious of my risking the same, I would appreciate, dear reader, your alerting me to any discrepancies ( God forbid !) that you may detect. The Society also sought to explore the Fulton line in earlier centuries, but with very limited results, owing to a lack of textual evidence.
Ann Hamilton (1761-1831) was the youngest daughter of Robert Hamilton (d.1769) and Agnes Fotheringham. She married James Fulton in Fife in c.1784. Her sister Janet ( – 1824) m. James’s brother, Dr Robert Fulton. After his death, Janet married Bishop George Gleig . James and Ann had five children : John H. (1785-1853) (my gt gt grandfather – JTF) m. Caroline Jeffreys, Ann (1787- ) James (1791-1839), Robert (1793-1869) m. Helen Hamilton Fotheringham, Mary m. ……Brown.
Siblings : Robert ( in India,1782), Agnes, James, Thomas, Helen (- 1804) m. Kyd Fotheringham, Mary, Stewart, Janet m. Dr Robert Fulton.
JTF : 4 X gt gpts : Robert Hamilton, Agnes Fotheringham
Robert Hamilton was the son of Philip Hamilton, born in Kynbrachmont (Kilbrackmont). Philip was married three times – regrettably the otherwise very laudable genealogical chart drawn up by Scots Ancestry does not indicate who was the mother of Robert or his siblings and so we cannot determine who was Ann’s grandmother. Robert married Agnes Fotheringham. They had eight children ( See Ann, above). He died at West Anstruther, Fife, in 1769.
Siblings : Margaret (1697- ), Helen, Mary, Stewart, Agnes
Philip Hamilton ( my 5 X gt g’fr – JTF) was the eldest son of Robert Hamilton and Margaret Carstairs of Kilbrackmont. His first marriage (to Helen Gedde) in October, 1696 produced daughter Margaret the following year. His second marriage (to Margaret Weimes, 15.6.1706) is recorded in the old parochial registers of Kilbrackmont, but no trace of his third marriage (to Helen Fotheringham) nor records of the births of his other children have been located.
A selection of our Hamilton forbears
- Earliest on record : Sir Walter Hamilton. living in the 13th century.
- His great grandson, Sir James Hamilton of Cadzow ( d. c.1440). He was held hostage pending the ransom of King James I when the latter was being held captive by the English. He married Janet (b.c.1395), daughter of Sir Alexander Livingston of Callendar. (Cadzow in Ayrshire became the township of Hamilton.)
- Gavin Hamilton (b.c.1417) brother of the first Lord Hamilton (c.1415-1479) ( See below)
- Sir Alexander Livingston (d.1451), co-regent of Scotland with Sir William Crichton for the six-year-old King James II (1437-1460). Fearing that the extremely powerful family of Douglas threatened the position of the king (and so their own status), they organised the infamous ‘Black Dinner’. They invited the Earl of Douglas and his brother to a banquet at Edinburgh Castle. After an effusive welcome, they treacherously dragged the young Douglases out and murdered them. Ironically, Livingston fell foul of the King when the latter assumed the government of his kingdom in 1449 : believing that Livingston had misappropriated the crown finances, the latter was forced to forfeit his lands – to the new Earl of Douglas !
- James Hamilton of Rouchbank m. Jean Dishington :
From The East Neuk of Fife, Rev.W.Woods, 1887 : ‘Kilbrachmont … old spelling Kynbrachmont … first among the extensive properties of the Dishingtons of Ardross … we find James Hamilton marrying Jean Dishington and with her acquiring Kynbrachmont. He married (1) Agnes Beaton (Bethune / Balfour – d. 1613) and (2) Anna Stewart but appears to have died without issue, for the next proprietors were Jean Hamilton’s (Dishington’s) niece Margaret and her husband, known as James Hamilton of Rouchbank ( fifth son of Gavin Hamilton of Orbiston)
And now the one you have been waiting for : a link with ROYALTY ! Actually rather tenuous, but enough to earn a place at table, surely, in the downstairs kitchen of Buckingham Palace. It involves the marriage of Lord James Hamilton (created the first ‘Lord Hamilton in 1445) to Mary Stewart (1452-1488), daughter of King James II. Our direct ancestor of that period was James’s younger brother, Gavin m. Jean Muirhead ( known as ‘the Fair Maid of Luckbrunnock)
Herewith endeth my attempt at highlighting salient features in the lives of some of our ancestors !
I have deliberately included only a few references that verify the provenance of what I have written, so as to make the task of reading same a little easier. Perhaps, at a later date, I may rework the material with footnotes …
Some trivia :
Family names – a very common practice in earlier times in two respects :
- Grandparents’ first names were very frequently given to the two eldest grandchildren.
- Ancestors’ surnames , particularly in the 19th century, were often the second or third given / Christian name. Early 1900s, we have my father and his siblings : Frank (Jeffreys), Edward (Whyte), Jack (Woodward), Mary (Hamilton), Henry (here I am stumped – Claughton … ). Mid 1900s : Edward Fulton’s daughter Mary (Hamilton). Late 1900s : Christopher & Veronica Fulton’s offspring, Guy (Jeffreys) and Robyn (Jeffreys) and Bernadette Krone’s son, Patrick Gunter (Byrne). Very occasionally, the surname of a minister officiating at a christening was included e.g. my gt-gt-uncle, Colonel James Fulton (1821-1875) had a son George (1865-1882) named after the Rev. English. The most recent, with a slight variation, is the names selected for Guy & Yvonne Fulton’s son, born in Hong Kong in 2015 : in full, James Robert Meinrad aka Lin Jun Ming – ‘Meinrad’ commemorates Francis Norman James Fulton, in religion Dom Meinrad OSB ( my grandfather’s brother – JTF)
Just a sampling :
Beaton / Bethune aka Balfour ( from Agnes who married James Hamilton of Kilbrackmont – see above No.5) My grandfather’s eldest sister, Caroline Selina Wilson Gertrude Wood nee Fulton, must have had a fair knowledge of her ancestors – and regard for Agnes of eight generations back ! – to name two of her offspring : (1) Mildred (1887- ), known in religion as ‘Sr Mary of St Margaret’ (!), Good Shepherd nun, with ‘Balfour’ and (2) George with ‘Beaton’ – OR was there, by coincidence, a later ancestor bearing those names ?
Fulton Caroline Wood’s son Francis (1878-1940) – he copped a double dose – ‘Meinrad’ as well as ‘Fulton’ ! and daughter Hilda ( 1889 – 1982), Naomi Langhorne (1886-1974) and her sister Vera (1892-1982), granddaughters of Colonel James Robert Fulton and her sister Vera (1892-1982), Andrew Eric Crawford (1886-1949), grandson of the same James Fulton, James Johnson (1910-1967, grandson of John Jeffreys Fulton’s sister Emma, the Spilsbury grandchildren of Colonel J.R.Fulton – Edgar (1889- kia, Gallipoli, 1915), Gordon (1890- ) and Donald ( 1895-1974)
Gunning Richard Jeffreys (1801- ), Caroline Wood’s son Alexander (1916- ), Dominican priest, Fr Valentine OP.Hamilton probably the most popular cognomen : my great grandfather’s sister Emma ( 1830-1889, m. John Reddie Black ) gave the name to her daughter Helen Hamilton Black (1853- ) who passed it on to her son Robert (1877- ). Emma’s son Henry (1858- )had two sons, Ian ( Reddie + Hamilton )(1898- ) and Kenneth (1905- ) to carry on the tradition. Caroline Wood’s son John (1880- kia,1917) and grandson Ian (son of Henry Wood above, b.1922). Madge Langhorne (1901-1973, granddaughter of Colonel James Robert Fulton, Robert Johnson (1877-1968) and his sister Monica (1917-2000, grandchildren of Emma Black, above . The combination most favoured would appear to be ‘Mary Hamilton’ – Graeme Auchmuty’s daughter Mary ( m. Dr Geo.Gilray) ( whose daughter Jean was also given ‘Hamilton’), John Jeffreys Fulton’s Mary (1858-1925), Thomas B.Fulton’s Mary (1909-1988 m Holman Asquith), and Edward TW Fulton’s Mary (1945- ) (m. Stewart Anton) who has passed it on to Georgina (1975- ). Mary’s other daughters ( Catherine 1972-1972 and Francesca – 1974- ) carry the family name ‘Fraser’ from their father’s line).
For those avidly interested, I would be only too happy to supply more examples.
Jeffreys Lucy Ann Jeffreys’ son Henry Bushby (1820-1903 ? m. Lady Frances North ), my father, Francis Benedict Jeffreys Fulton ( 1903-1976) – JTF, Guy, Robyn ( See above)
Seymour : Jane Bushby ( 1832-1922), daughter of Lucy Ann Jeffreys
Woodward my uncle, John Norbert Woodward Fulton (1906-1972) – JTF
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