The family and descendants of JOHN LEE Circa 1660.
John
Lee circa 1660 and his wife Mary Briddon, had eight children, as we will see
if we decipher the documents available to us concerning this family.
To make things a little easier to follow, before going into detail, I
have set out below the family tree of John and Mary.
JOHN
b. circa
1660.
d. 1741
at Brsn.
(M)
MARY BRIDDON
22nd July 1683
at Brassington.
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MARGARET JOHN ESTHER ELIZ. FRANCES GEORGE ANN MARY
b.1684 b.1691 b.1693 b1694 b.1697 b.1700? b.? b.?
Brsn. Brsn. ? Brsn. Brsn. Brsn. ? ?
(M) (M) (M) (M) (M) (M) (M) (M)
CANTRELL 14 Aug. 2nd Aug KIRK EATON 7th Nov. BRIDDON BERISFORD
1725 1714 1736
HANNAH ROBERT ELIZABETH.
BURTON ALSOP GREATOREX.
(See at Brsn. at Brassington.
tree 3) (THIS IS THE LINE
OF MY OWN FAMILY)
The first document we must explore is the will of John Lee 1660 and below, I have set out a transcript of this will.
THE WILL OF JOHN LEE THE ELDER, HUSBANDMAN.
Signed 2nd May 1741 Proved 17th October 1752.
To son John, testators cottage with the garden lying on the East side of the same adjoining to a small croft belonging to Robert Lea.
To son George, one barn containing two bay of building adjoining the East a barn belonging to Robert Alsop, on the West to a kitchen belonging to William Toplis.
To daughters Margaret Cantrell, Elizabeth Kirk, Frances Eaton and Anne Briddon, 1/- each.
To daughter Esther Alsop, one bed-hilling. (A bed-cover)
To daughter Mary Beresford, 10/-.
To sons John and George, testators personal goods and chattels, equally divided.
John Lea, his + mark. Witnesses,
John Lea's seal. John Hardy. Robert Alsop. Jane Alsop.
This will is most explicit when describing
all the members of John's family. We
can also see by the omission of any reference to Mary, his wife, that she must
have died prior to the commissioning of the will.
This is borne out by an entry in the register of St. James', Brassington.
1741,
Feb. 4th. Mary, wife of John Lee buried. also,
1741,
May 27th. John Lee buried.
John was approximately 80 years old when he died, just over three weeks after the will was drawn up on May 2nd. We can see that he has two sons, John and George, and six daughters - all married. The parish registers give the baptism dates of only four of the children. They are:-
1684,
Aug. 3rd. Margaret, daughter of John and Mary Lea.
1691,
Dec. 23rd. John, son of John and Mary Lea.
1694,
Oct. 16th. Elizabeth, daughter of John Ley.
1697,
Jan ? Frances, daughter of John Ley.
(the
name change and method of recording was probably due to a change of incumbent at
the church).
The other four
children, Esther, George, Anne and Mary were probably baptised at another
church. A search of registers in
the surrounding area would probably unearth them. The irregular dates of the recorded baptisms would suggest
that they would fall within the period 1684 - 1700.
A marriage entry in the Brassington register gives the date of August 14,
1714 for the marriage of Daughter Esther to Robert Alsop.
This would suggest that Esther was Born circa 1693.
However, for the purpose of linking the families, it is not important to
know the exact dates or place of birth. We
can link them with the information we have to hand plus entries in the Manor
Court Book. Let us take it one step
at a time.
We know that
George Lea 1625 drew up the original will, most probably in his advancing years,
in 1683. However, probate was not
proved until 1731 - a gap of fifty years. It is highly likely that the family were a close one and each
knew the contents of the will and respected the wishes of George 1625.
The most likely reason probate was applied for in 1731 was that, John
1660, and now around seventy years of age, wished to relinquish his rights of
administration in favour of his sons, John and George, as was stated at the
commencement of the will. Therefore
the cottage that was left to John 1660 was the same house that was left to his
eldest son, John, in the will of 1741.
Another source of
evidence linking the families can be found in the previously mentioned Manor
Court Books pertaining to Brassington. These
can be found in the County Record Office at Matlock.
In those books, an identifiable barn and stable was passed on from John
1660 to his son George circa 1690, and from him to his son, George 1732. We have
not come to him yet but it would be wise to remember this piece of information.
What we have discovered from the will of
1741 is that the estate left by George 1625, has now dissipated amongst the
family. It is obvious that John Lea
1660, was not as successful as his father.
In the will of 1741, he is described as a "Husbandman", (farmer
of a small area), which is some way down the social ladder from the Yeoman
he was described as in the will of 1683.
However, in 1741 he was 81 years of age, so the fact that he was
described as anything is perhaps a tribute to the old man - not forgetting the
lady who stayed by his side for 58 years, Mary Briddon as was.