Godfrey Weston and my other Weston ancestors

Godfrey Weston (1785-1862).
My 4th great-grandfather.

Godfrey Weston took advantage of a young woman and then tried to evade his responsibilities to her and the daughter he fathered out of wedlock…

He was born on 14 March 1785 and baptised three days later at St Mary’s Church in Banham, Norfolk. His parents were John Weston and Esther Bailey (see below).

As a young man he became a managing farm servant for a family in nearby Wymondham, which is where he met Elizabeth Pilgrim – my 4th great-grandmother. Baptised in Old Buckenham, Norfolk, in 1791, her parents had sent her as a teenager to work for their relations at the same farm. In 1811 she gave birth to Weston’s illegitimate child Mary back home in Banham.

Several newspapers reported on the backstory to Mary’s birth, the promise Godfrey Weston made to marry Elizabeth and his reneging on that pledge. The Norfolk Chronicle of 26 March 1814 and The Statesman of 28 March 1814 were among the publications reporting on the breach of promise case before Norfolk Assizes. This reported that Elizabeth was the daughter of Maurice Pilgrim, of Morley St Peter, who’d sent her to live with and work as a servant for his Pilgrim relations. The Statesman reported: “The defendant availed himself of this opportunity to take advantage of the plaintiff’s youth and unwary innocence under the most unqualified promises of marriage.” After being in Wymondham for 40 weeks it was clear that Elizabeth was pregnant, at which point she quarrelled with her relations and returned to her father to give birth. Weston continued to visit and was treated as part of the family by Elizabeth’s parents while he continued to talk of the forthcoming marriage. Banns – published at Elizabeth’s behest – were read at the local church and no evidence was found that he’d objected to them.

Weston was on the one hand telling Maurice Pilgrim that he couldn’t marry his daughter because she had no money, while at the same time writing to her saying she was his ‘constant love’ and that if he ever married it would be to her. However, the court heard that Weston married another woman – Sarah Long – in November 1813. His counsel admitted the promise of marriage to Elizabeth but attempted to mitigate the damages by saying Weston had made various payments either voluntarily or as ordered by magistrates. However, damages were still awarded of £150 – worth about £7,000 today.

Godfrey was Mary’s father but it’s unclear whether he was also the father of Elizabeth’s other child Alice Pilgrim, who was born in 1814. Elizabeth died not long after in 1815 and was buried at All Saints Church in Old Buckenham on 2 April.

After his marriage to Sarah Long at St Stephen’s in Norwich on 12 November 1813, Godfrey settled in the Wymondham area and a few miles away in Wicklewood where he farmed. Indeed, he’d been named as the beneficiary of what was left of his grandfather’s farm and estate on the death of Godfrey’s father John, which happened in 1809. The Norfolk Chronicle of 19 March 1831 went on to report that he was a “considerable farmer and dealer at Wymondham” during a court report that noted that he’d won damages of £187 from a man who sold him poor quality sheep.

The 1851 and 1861 Census returns for Wicklewood noted that he was a farmer of more than 120 acres and an employer.

He became a supporter of plans to build a railway between East Dereham and Wymondham, joining a committee to promote its benefits and the interests of Wymondham in the scheme (Norfolk Chronicle, 9 November 1844).

He died in Attleborough on 11 September 1862, the Norfolk News of 13 September reporting that he’d been talking to a friend about business when he suddenly collapsed and could not be revived. He was buried in Wicklewood on 15 September. He left effects valued at just under £6,000.

Godfrey’s wife Sarah was born to parents John and Mary Long on 24 December 1792 and baptised on 10 March 1793 in Wymondham, Norfolk. She must’ve been pretty forgiving for she put up with his fathering an illegitimate child not once but, at the least, twice. For in addition to having Mary with Elizabeth Pilgrim before their marriage, he fathered Martha Ann Fulcher Weston in 1819 (see below). It appears that Sarah didn’t have children of her own.

She died in 1860 and was buried in Wicklewood on 5 March.

Other than Mary Pilgrim, Godfrey’s only other known child was:

• Martha Ann Fulcher Weston (1819-1877), my 3rd great-grand aunt. Martha was born on 27 December 1819 to Elizabeth Fulcher and baptised as illegitimate the following day at Lakenham, a suburb of Norwich in Norfolk. At that point she was known as Martha Ann Weston Fulcher. She was baptised again on 24 January 1832 at St Andrew’s and All Saints in Wicklewood, with her parents given as Elizabeth Fulcher and Godfrey Weston and the date of birth listed. Her surname now became Weston and she was clearly accepted by him as she was described erroneously as his “only daughter” in the Norwich Mercury of 13 April 1844, which reported her marriage on the 8th at Wymondham to William Rose. He was baptised in Great Ellingham, Norfolk, on 15 August 1813, the son of grocer William and his wife Amelia, and became a draper in Attleborough. However, the subsequent census records note that they became farmers, with the 1851 return locating them in Panxworth, the 1861 in Wymondham and the 1871 in Wicklewood. William died on 20 April 1871 and was buried in Wymondham. Martha Ann died six years later and was buried alongside him. Their only known child was:
  • William Weston Rose (1845-1914). Baptised in Attleborough, Norfolk, he married Amelia Rose in 1869 and was a farmer for some years but then he and his family upped sticks for the Channel Islands, where he became a tea merchant, stationer and bookseller on Jersey according to the 1881 and 1891 census returns. The Jersey Independent of 14 April 1894 noted that they had gone bankrupt but there was dispute over a private income Rose earned from his estate back in England. By 1901 they were living in Croydon and by 1911 were back farming in Wicklewood, perhaps on the estate previously mentioned. William died in 1914, Amelia in 1934.

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John Weston (1760-1809) and Esther Bailey (1757-1826).
My 5th great-grandparents.

John Weston’s birth and baptism dates are unknown as I’ve found no relevant records for him but he was aged 49 on his death in 1809. It’s possible that his name was missed off a baptism register in error and possible but unlikely that he was never baptised. He was identified, though, as the son of Godfrey Weston (see below) in the latter’s will signed in 1804. His mother was Susanna or Susan Orford.

John had several siblings and they were baptised in Banham, Norfolk, although most of them died young. His father was a farmer.

John married Esther or Hester Bailey at St Mary’s in Banham on 29 September 1781 and the couple raised a large family. His father left him the barn, stable, outhouses, yards, gardens, orchards, lanes and grounds in Banham along with all other real and personal estate that he owned in Banham in his will following his death in 1805. John was described as a farmer in an 1806 Poll Book record for Banham.

John died in 1809 and was buried in Banham on 27 May. Esther died in 1826 and was buried there on 29 June.

Their children were:

• Godfrey Weston (1785-1862), my 4th great-grandfather. See the details above.
• William Weston (1786-1793), my 4th great-grand uncle. Baptised on 5 November 1786 at St Mary’s in Banham, he was buried there on 21 September 1793.
• Nathaniel Weston (1789-1874), my 4th great-grand uncle. Nathaniel was born on 4 February 1789 and baptised two days later at St Mary’s in Banham. He married Emma Mears at Forncett St Peter, Norfolk, on 16 March 1820 and although the record said she was a single woman, it appears that she was the widow of John Mears. They had married on 29 October 1812 in Forncett, although her name was transcribed variously as Emmy and Emery, and he was buried there in 1817. Her maiden name was Stackard or Stackerd and the Norwich Mercury of 25 April 1868 shed further light on her origins. This legal notice said that she was the daughter of Thomas Stackerd of Forncett, who had left her a house, carpenter’s shop and lands in the village in his will of 1812. The notice was seeking relatives of her father as she had died without surviving issue to take on the property. Emma and Nathaniel didn’t stay in Forncett for in 1841 they were living in Hemblington some miles east of Norwich and Nathaniel was farming – the 1851 census recorded that he had 238 acres and was employing 10 men and four boys. By 1861 the acreage had grown to 270. Emma died in Hemblington in 1867 but was buried back in Forncett St Peter on 1 February. Nathaniel continued farming but died on 14 August 1874. A death notice in the Eastern Daily Press four days later noted that he had been a tenant of the late H N Burroughes Esq. He was buried with his late wife on 20 August in Forncett St Peter. He left effects worth just under £9,000 and in his will left £200 or £100 each to various siblings, nephews and nieces. Rent from his private property and land in Moulton, Norfolk, that was then occupied by James Herne, was to be used to pay an annuity to another relative until her death. His great nephew would ultimately inherit the bulk of his estate. The couple had just the one child:
  • Thomas Weston (1821-1821).
• John Weston (1791-1855), my 4th great-grand uncle. John was born on 17 November 1791 and baptised on 11 December at St Mary’s in Banham. He married but lost his first wife – I don’t have confirmed details of this yet – but then married again. His new bride on 22 June 1841 was Ann Cooke, a spinster, and the ceremony took place at St George at Colgate in Norwich. At this point he was described as a butcher and she was the daughter of farmer William Cooke. Ann was born on 3 September 1796. John and Ann were living in St Stephen’s parish in Norwich in 1851, John now working as a gardener. Also with the couple was Sarah Weston, his daughter who was born in about 1830. John died in 1855 and was buried on 28 February at St Martin at Palace Plain, Norwich. Ann died in the city in 1875.
• William Weston (1794-1862), my 4th great-grand uncle. William was born on 22 March 1794 and baptised on 29 March at St Mary’s in Banham. He married Sarah Bailey there on 27 May 1828. She came from the village where I suspect she was born on 3 December 1802 to parents James and Sarah – although in future census returns she always took about five years off her real age. The couple raised a large family in Banham, where he worked as a shoemaker. The 21 October 1854 edition of the Norwich Mercury reported that he had been stabbed in the stomach by a man called Tollemache Bloomfield, who had been drinking with him at home, causing an injury that left him in bed for four days. The incident happened after William had suggested the man get some rest. Bloomfield, who had previously been in an asylum, ran away but was brought before the Norfolk Quarter Sessions, where he was acquitted by the jury but confined at Her Majesty’s Pleasure. By the 1861 census William and his family had moved to the nearby village of Kenninghall. Something of his character emerged in a County Court case heard at Attleborough reported in the Norfolk News of 20 July 1861, in which he was claiming 12s 11d for boots supplied to a widow. The reporter noted: “Weston is a curiosity in his way, giving utterance to all manner of anomalies which now and then convulsed the audience and the Court in laughter.” In particular his book-keeping baffled onlookers, muddling subtractions and additions and pointing to invisible figures. The defendant, despite her “dogged wordy resistance” to his claims, lost. William died not long after in Kenninghall on 24 May 1862. His widow later moved to Yorkshire, where the 1871 and 1881 census returns listed her in the Sheffield suburb of Attercliffe cum Durnall. In 1871 she was working as a housekeeper and living there with her daughter Sarah and her illegitimate child. Ten years later she was staying with daughter Emma and her family. She died in 1884 and was buried in the Durnall Municipal Cemetery on 27 July. William and Sarah’s children were:
  • Godfrey Weston (1828-1875) was baptised in Banham and followed his father in becoming a shoemaker. He married Caroline Edwards in her home village of Kenninghall in 1862 and together they had a large family. He died in the Union Workhouse at Kenninghall and Caroline remarried, moving to Burnley in Lancashire with her new husband cotton weaver Joseph Sharpe. She died in 1912.
  • Mary Weston (1833-????) was baptised in Banham and married widowed bricklayer Jonathan Jessup in Kenninghall in 1863. He was more than 40 years her senior and died in 1876. I suspect, but cannot yet prove, that she then married senior citizen William Oxer in 1878.
  • Sarah Weston (1834-????) was baptised in Banham and was living with her widowed mother in Yorkshire in 1871, when the census listed her in the Sheffield suburb of Attercliffe cum Durnall with a two-year-old illegitimate child called Matilda. I suspect she died in the area in 1878.
  • Nathaniel Weston (1836-1906) was baptised in Banham and followed his father in becoming a shoemaker. He married his relation Martha Barker (below) in 1865 but just a few months later was fined £5 for assaulting a policeman in Kenninghall (Norwich Mercury 1 July 1865). His brother William was fined £2 for the same offence. They moved around Norfolk in the coming years but Martha died in 1884. Nathaniel settled in Stickney, Lincolnshire, with his second wife Betsey Taylor. The Lincoln, Rutland and Stamford Mercury of 22 September 1899 reported another £5 fine for aggravated assault, this time on his wife. A separation order was granted at the same time but they were back together at the 1901 census. He died in 1906, Betsey in 1938.
  • Matilda Weston (1838-1838).
  • Matilda Weston (1839-1889). Born in Banham, Matilda married coal miner Thomas Bradley in Sheffield, Yorkshire, in 1864.
  • Emma Weston (1842-1913). Born in Banham, Emma married labourer John Potter in his home village of Kenninghall in 1866. They too moved to Attercliffe in Yorkshire and raised a family. John worked down the mines for many years and by the 1911 census was described as an invalid. He died two years before his wife in 1911.
  • William Weston (1841-1926) was born in Banham and followed his father in becoming a shoemaker, although later census records list him as an agricultural labourer. He was often in trouble with the law – in 1861 he was committed to prison for not paying fines relating to poaching and assaulting a police officer (9 November 1861 Norwich Mercury) and in 1865 he was fined £2 for assaulting a policeman in Kenninghall (Norwich Mercury 1 July 1865). There were other cases too. William married Esther Ward in her home village of Kenninghall in 1872 and settled there with their children. Esther died in 1909, William in 1926.
  • Ursula Maria Weston (1845-1871). Born in Banham, Ursula also moved to Yorkshire. There she married brickmaker Mark Ashley and settled in Attercliffe. She had a son but died young in 1871. Mark died in 1922.
• Charles Weston (1796-1797), my 4th great-grand uncle. Charles was born on 22 May 1796 and baptised on 2 August that year at St Mary’s in Banham and buried there on 28 August 1797.
• Mary Weston (1798-1873), my 4th great-grand aunt. Mary was born in 1798 and baptised on 27 August 1800 at St Mary’s in Banham. She married agricultural labourer Robert Barker in nearby Wilby on 25 December 1818 and raised her family in Old Buckenham, Norfolk, a few miles away. Robert died in 1850 and was buried back at All Saints in Wilby on 16 November. Her father left her £200 in his will but she died the year before him in 1873 and was buried in Wilby on 19 April that year. Robert and Mary’s children were:
  • Robert Barker (1829-1916) was baptised in Old Buckenham and married Mary Draper in Wilby in 1851. They emigrated to New South Wales in Australia in 1857 with their children and settled in Shellharbour there. Mary died in 1882.
  • Nathan Barker (1831-1898) was baptised in Old Buckenham and married Mary Ann Pease in Wilby in 1857. They raised their family there and he worked as an agricultural labourer. Mary Ann died in 1886. Nathan was killed on the railway when he was hit by a train at Attleborough Station as the Diss Express of 18 November 1898 reported. A signalman had shouted a warning of an approaching train but Nathan was struck and his body carried along the line. A relative told the inquest that he was in good health, had given no indications of wanting to kill himself but was hard of hearing.
  • John Barker (1834-1894) was baptised in Old Buckenham and married Bertha Moneyment in East Dereham in 1857. He worked as a railway porter and lived in Norwich, where the couple raised a family. He died not long after being hit by a timber cart on Foundry Bridge near the former Thorpe Station in Norwich, now the mainline station (Norfolk Chronicle 4 August 1894). Bertha had died a few months earlier.
  • James Barker (1837-1923) was baptised in Old Buckenham and married Willoughby Hicks in Felmingham in 1862. He worked as a farm labourer in and around the area of his birth and raised a family. Willoughby died in 1877. From 1891 he was living with a Maria as man and wife although I’ve yet to find a marriage record. She died in 1904. In later years he lived in Alby with Thwaite in the north of Norfolk with family but was buried back in Wilby.
  • David Barker (1840-1884) was baptised in Old Buckenham and married Mary Ann Jolly in Wilby in 1861. A labourer, the couple and their children lived in the area for some years but later moved to Sheffield in Yorkshire.
  • Mary Ann Barker (1842-1917) was baptised in Old Buckenham and married Thomas Howard of Cambridgeshire in Wilby in 1861. They had children and he became a labourer at a gas works, settling in Redenhall in south Norfolk. Thomas died in 1914.
  • Martha Barker (1845-1884) was baptised in Old Buckenham and married her relation Nathaniel Weston (above), a shoemaker. They had children and settled in the far west of Norfolk at Outwell, where she was buried. Nathaniel remarried.

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Godfrey Weston (1731-1805) and Susan Orford (????-1773).
My 6th great-grandparents.

It’s likely that Godfrey Weston came from Suffolk. It was a rare name combination and the child baptised in 1731 is the only likely candidate unless others turn up – Suffolk’s parish records alone are not easily available in many instances making them hard to research.

This Godfrey Weston was baptised on 19 December 1731 in Sudbury, Suffolk, to parents Nathaniel Weston and his wife Elizabeth. Nathaniel is a recurring name in the subsequent generations (along with Godfrey) and Sudbury, while more than 30 miles away, is a direct route to the village of Banham in south Norfolk where Godfrey would live as an adult so it’s not an unreasonable assumption to make.

He married Susanna Orford at St Ethelbert’s in Larling, just a few miles from Banham in Norfolk, on 4 June 1758. I’ve found no baptism record for her at all.

They raised their children in Banham but Susanna died young and was buried at St Mary’s in the village on 8 January 1773.

Godfrey was recorded in the county poll books for 1802 as a farmer, freeholder and voter in Banham. He died the following year and was buried in the village on 29 April 1805. His age was given as “about 70”.

In his will he left his son John the house he was living in in Banham along with his barn, stable, outhouses, yards, gardens, orchards, lanes, grounds and other personal estate. After John’s death, the estate was to go to his grandson Godfrey Weston. He gave £10 to his daughter Susan Riches, widow, annually. After her death, the money was to be divided among her children. Susan also got his bed, tea table and looking glasses. He left £5 to Deborah, the granddaughter of William Nichols late of the parish of Tibenham, and £21 to his granddaughter Mary Weston once she reached adulthood. Godfrey’s son John and Nathaniel Weston Jnr of Kenninghall were his executors.

Godfrey and Susanna’s known children were:

• John Weston (1760-1809), my 5th great-grandfather. Another of the Weston farmers – see above for his life.
• Susanna Weston (1761-????), my 5th great-grand aunt. Susanna was baptised at St Mary’s in Banham on 23 June 1761 and married Edward Riches there on 19 July 1780. He came from nearby Bunwell, where he was baptised on 2 February 1758. A record from 1774 noted that he had become an apprentice of carpenter Robert Calver or Culver in Banham. Susanna and Edward had a large family in Bunwell and Attleborough but he died in 1792 and was buried in Bunwell on 9 February that year. In 1797 Susanna baptised an illegitimate daughter, Rhoda, in Attleborough. I’m unsure what happened to her but she may have remarried in 1807 – a widow Susan Riches married John Nurse in Attleborough on 12 October that year. Her signature on the marriage was very similar to that on the one for her marriage to Edward. However, there’s no proof other than this. Susanna and Edward’s children were:
  • Edward Riches (1779-1867). Baptised in Carleton Rode, Norfolk, he married Ann Fincham in Norwich in 1802. Edward worked as a blacksmith and settled in the far west of Norfolk with his family, where he was buried in Fincham on 2 January 1868. Ann had died in 1853.
  • Susanna Riches (1781-????) was baptised in Carleton Rode.
  • Elizabeth Riches (1783-1784).
  • William Riches (1787-????) was baptised in Bunwell.
  • Robert Riches (1790-????) was baptised in Attleborough in 1792.
  • James Riches (1792-1876) was baptised in Attleborough and married Alice Lee in Stow Bardolph, Norfolk, in 1819. Census records from 1851 listed him as a farmer in Stow Bardolph, where he was buried. Alice died in 1884.
  • Stephen Riches (????-????) was mentioned in his grandfather’s will but I’ve found no evidence of him.
  • Rhoda Riches (1797-????) was baptised in Attleborough illegitimately. She married John Howlett in Watton, Norfolk, in 1816.
• William Weston (1766-1766), my 5th great-grand uncle. William was baptised at St Mary’s in Banham on 5 June and buried on 3 October 1766.
• Elizabeth Weston (1768-1768), my 5th great-grand aunt. Elizabeth was baptised at St Mary’s in Banham on 30 Mau and buried on 5 November 1766.
• William Weston (1770-1771), my 5th great-grand uncle. William was baptised at St Mary’s in Banham on 26 December 1770 and buried on 10 May 1771.

Sources: BMDs and census info at Ancestry.co.uk and Findmypast.co.uk, where I also accessed the British Newspaper Archive (dates and titles in text). Records at Norfolk Family History Society. Godfrey Weston’s 1804 will: National Archives will records IR 26/391/107 and Norfolk Archives ANF will register 1805-1807 fo. 130 (1805 no. 82). Nathaniel Weston’s will proved in Norwich on 8 October 1874 from the Probate Service.