Ann Burley and my other Burley ancestors

Ann Burley (1775-1850).
My 4th great-grandmother. She married into the Finch family.

Ann Burley was the daughter of John Burley of Limpsfield and Sarah Goodman of Kingston, both in Surrey (see below). She was born on the 27 April 1775 and baptised on 3 June that year at St Peter’s Church in Limpsfield, where her carpenter father lived.

She married Thomas Finch of Reigate, Surrey, at St Mary’s Church there on 13 July 1792. He was also from a family of carpenters. The couple settled in Reigate, where she raised a family of at least 10 children. Ann died in 1850 while living in nearby Kingswood, potentially with or near her son Michael, but she was buried back in Reigate on 10 February 1850.

Read more about Ann, Thomas and their family here. And see where the Burleys fit in my family tree.

Note that the Burley surname has also been written Borley, Burleigh, Borle and so on over time.

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John Burley (1746-1795) and Sarah Goodman (1746-1813).
My 5th great-grandparents.

John Burley was born in the Surrey village of Limpsfield and baptised at St Peter’s Church on the 4 November 1746. His parents were carpenter John Burley (sometimes Burly) and Frances Hutchins, who was often called Fanne or Fanny in the records (see their details below).

John married Sarah Goodman at All Saints Church in Kingston, Surrey, on 27 June 1774. How he met her is a mystery but she was described as of the parish of Kingston in the records so perhaps she was working as a servant in Limpsfield, or they met through his work. Her burial record suggested she was born in around 1746 but I’ve been unable to trace her parents or place of birth with any confidence. The couple married by license but I’ve yet to locate this document, which might provide additional clues to her ancestry.

The newly married couple settled in Limpsfield and had at least five children.

John Jnr’s father died in 1774 and in his will he left property and goods to John and another son, Richard. These included two tenements and his stock of timber, which was shared between them. John also took on his father’s tools, as well as responsibility for his apprentice George Osborn’s indentures. Later, in 1780, apprentice records showed that John had taken on an apprentice called William Jackson.

Other records tracked him as an adult. A poll for the knights of the shire of Surrey held in October 1774 recorded him, as a freeholder of property, casting his votes for Sir Frances Vincent and James Scawen esq. Various Land Tax records from the 1780s and 1790s listed him as both proprietor and resident of property in Limpsfield – although it’s also possible that some may refer to his son. A 1791 record held by the London Archives from the Sun Fire Office showed John as insurer of property on Pebble Hall Hill (or Pebble Hill), Limpsfield.

John died at the end of 1795 and was buried in the village on 2 January 1796. Sarah lived until 1813 and was buried on the 29 May.

John and Sarah had several children but many vital records are curiously absent:

• Ann Burley (1775-1850), my 4th great-grandmother. See above for details.
• John Burley (1776-1809), my 4th great-grand uncle. John was born on 16 November 1776 and baptised at St Peter’s Church in Limpsfield, Surrey, on 15 December that year. Land tax records for the late 1790s suggested that he took over his father’s property in the village, although without a will this cannot be proven. Baptism records suggested that John married a woman called Mary, although I’ve yet to find a convincing record to prove it. Three children were born to them in Limpsfield and baptised there. John died young in 1809 and was buried in the village on 14 May. His wife’s fate is a mystery. Their children were:
  • John Burley (1805-1850). John was baptised in Limpsfield in 1806 and, according to the 1841 Census and some baptism records, worked as a gardener. He had a wife called Elizabeth – who was from Limpsfield and born in around 1808 according to census returns – and they had several children but, just like his father, I can find no marriage record that matches them. He was buried in Limpsfield in 1850. Elizabeth is probably the woman who died in 1886.
  • Mary Burley (1807-????) was baptised in Limpsfield but I’ve found no further records that match her.
  • Charles Burley (1809-1828) was born and buried in Limpsfield.
• Charles Burley (1779-1799), my 4th great-grand uncle. John was born on 10 January 1779 and baptised at St Peter’s Church in Limpsfield, Surrey, on 31 January that year. It’s likely that he was the Charles buried on 16 May 1799 in the village.
• James Burley (1780-1847), my 4th great-grand uncle. James was born on 13 December 1780 and baptised at St Peter’s Church in Limpsfield, Surrey, on 7 January 1781. He married Martha at some point in his life but I’ve yet to find a record of the marriage or her birth or death, and she wasn’t living with the family at the time of the 1841 Census. Various records placed James in Limpsfield. From 1811, Land Tax records listed him renting property from various proprietors including a house from the corn dealer John Clark in the early 1820s. Lists of jury-qualified freeholders and copyholders recorded him under Limpsfield in the early 1820s and noted that he worked as a gardener. An 1832 electoral roll showed him as qualifying to vote in elections as freeholder of a house and land in Limpsfield occupied by various tenants, including John Unstead and Thomas Barling. By 1839 another electoral roll noted that he owned several houses in the village, one of which he occupied. James lived until 1847 and was buried in the village on 11 June. He signed a will but there’s no mention of Martha in it and he left all his property and goods, including a number of properties and land, to his son. It’s likely from the fact that he owned such property that James had a gardening or nursery business of some kind rather than worked as a jobbing gardener – his son was a nurseryman too. Martha remains a mystery. The couple appeared to have had just the one child.
  • James Burley (1814-1862). Baptised in Limpsfield in 1814, James Jnr inherited all his father’s estate on his death in 1847. He married Suffolk native Hannah Edwards – although an obvious marriage record has not been found – and went on to have several children in the area. He ran his own business as a gardener and nurseryman, employing several locals, before his death in 1862. Various publications, including the The Gardeners’ Chronicle and Agricultural Gazette, Volume 18, mentioned his propagation of calceolarias as a particular interest. Hannah died in 1898 and her modest estate went to her son James, described as a ‘gentleman’.
• Sarah Burley (1786-1856), my 4th great-grand aunt. Sarah was born on 18 April 1786 and baptised at St Peter’s Church in Limpsfield, Surrey, on 21 May that year. I’m confident that she was the woman who married John Harbour at St Mary’s Church in Beddington, Surrey, on 26 February 1808. Even though both were “of this parish”, John Harbour would turn up staying with a nephew in a future census, a James Burley was a witness, the couple baptised their child in Limpsfield and there are few if any other candidates. I’ve not found a baptism record for John and there’s confusion over his birth village – some sources suggested Lingfield in Surrey, another East Peckham in Kent. Certainly, the 1841 Census noted that he was not born in Surrey. The couple spent many years living in Lingfield, with John working as a wheelwright. Land tax records from 1828-1832 showed John owning and occupying a house and land there, while electoral registers in the 1830s noted his address as Lingfield but also his owning freehold land and a wheelwright’s shop at nearby Dorman’s Land (now Dormansland). The 1841 Census listed them in Dormansland with a couple of youngsters, who were probably their grandchildren. Curiously, the 1851 Census listed John twice. One record had him living with Sarah and their child James’s family at Holy Bush in Lingfield, the other recorded him as a visitor with his nephew and nurseryman James Burley in Limpsfield. Both were listed as wheelwrights so they must be the same person – it’s just that someone was in error in reporting them as resident on the night of the census to the enumerator. The Limpsfield document is the one that recorded his birth place as East Peckham. Sarah died in 1856 and was buried in Lingfield on 22 May. John died in 1870 and was buried there on 27 July. Their only known child was:
  • James Harbour (1809-1889) was baptised in Limpsfield, Surrey, in 1809. He was most likely the man who married Mary Ann Head at St Saviour’s in Southwark, Surrey, in 1830. Why there is unclear. They settled in Lingfield, Surrey, where James had been brought up and Mary Ann had been baptised in 1806. They had a family and James worked as a wheelwright. Mary Ann died in 1853 and later census returns showed James living with various members of his family, including a son in Chipstead, Kent, in 1871 and back in Lingfield with a daughter in 1881. He died in the East Grinstead Workhouse in 1889 (most likely in its capacity as the local hospital) and was buried in Lingfield.

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John Burley (1701-1774) and Frances Hutchins (1715-1771).
My 6th great-grandparents.

John Burley’s descendants may have lived and worked in the Surrey village of Limpsfield but he came from Chiddingstone in Kent, today a picture-postcard village on the tourist trail. Confirmation comes from the baptism record of his daughter Frances, in which he was described as from ‘Chitinstone’. John was born in 1701 to parents John Burley Snr and Elizabeth Blackman (see below) and baptised on 25 May that year at St Mary’s Church, his father described as a husbandman.

His father died when he was a young boy, in 1707, and he must’ve spent some years supporting his mother. This might explain why he married later in life, on 29 January 1739. His bride was Frances Hutchins and they wed at St Edmund King Church in West Kingsdown, Kent, although Frances was said to be from Limpsfield and John from nearby Oxted, both in Surrey. Quite why they married there, or what had led John to move from his home in Chiddingstone to live in the neighbouring county, remains unclear but it may be that West Kingsdown was where Frances was born or brought up. I’ve yet to find a baptism record for her.

Settling in Limpsfield, where he worked as a carpenter, John and Frances had at least eight children. Judging by his will, he must’ve been reasonably successful as he owned property. He died in 1774 and was buried on 26 January at St Peter’s Church in the village. In his will he left his freehold house and lands, as well as two tenements occupied by others, at Pebble Hall Hill in Limpsfield, to his sons John and Richard Burley. They also shared his stock of timber, but his carpentry tools went to John Jnr. The latter also took over the indentures of his father’s apprentice George Osborn. John Snr’s household goods, bedding and other furniture were shared between sons John and Richard and daughters Elizabeth and Ann Burley. Ann was also to be paid £15, Elizabeth £10. His daughter Mary, wife of Joseph Newton, received the sum of £1 1s, as did his other daughter Frances Burley.

John’s wife Frances had died in 1771 and been buried in Limpsfield on 22 December. The burial record described her only as the wife of John Burley and didn’t even give her name.

The couple’s known children were:

• William Burley (1740-1760), my 5th great-grand uncle. William was baptised at St Peter’s Church in Limpsfield, Surrey, on 7 December 1740. He died in 1760 and was buried in the village on 10 February.
• Frances Burley (1742-????), my 5th great-grand aunt. Frances was baptised at St Peter’s Church in Limpsfield, Surrey, on 15 August 1742. She was referred to in her father’s will, dated 1773, the beneficiary of £1 1s. No mention was made of her being married (unlike her sister Mary). I’ve not found references to her after the will.
• Mary Burley (1744-????), my 5th great-grand aunt. Mary was baptised at St Peter’s Church in Limpsfield, Surrey, on 11 October 1744. She married at St Luke’s Church in Finsbury, north London, on 11 June 1764, her father giving his consent as she was a minor at the time. Her husband was Joseph Newton. What had taken her to the area is not clear. She was mentioned as a beneficiary of £1 1s in her father’s will, proved after his death, but after this I’ve not been able to trace her.
• John Burley (1746-1796), my 5th great-grandfather. His details are above.
• Richard Burley (1748-1789?), my 5th great-grand uncle. Richard was baptised at St Peter’s Church in Limpsfield, Surrey, on 21 July 1748. He was listed as a voter in the poll books for Limpsfied in 1774, then married Mary Brett by licence in the village on 28 March 1776, described in the document as a carpenter. Mary had been baptised in Limpsfield on 7 January 1753, the daughter of Thomas. Her mother’s name wasn’t recorded but was probably Elizabeth based on Thomas’s marriage in the village in 1744. A Richard Burley was buried in the village on 18 September 1789 but this could have been another family member. The confusion is that land tax and other records continued to show a Richard Burley as an owner and occupier of land in the village late into the 1790s. I have found no record of Mary’s death and no record of them having had any children.
• Elizabeth Burley (1750-????), my 5th great-grand aunt. Elizabeth was born in 1750 and baptised at St Peter’s Church in Limpsfield, Surrey, on 30 September that year. She was still alive when her father, who died in 1774, wrote his will as she was the beneficiary of £10. I’ve not traced her beyond this.
• Ann Burley (1753-????), my 5th great-grand aunt. Ann was baptised at St Peter’s Church in Limpsfield, Surrey, on 30 September 1753. She was the beneficiary of £15 in her father’s will, proved in 1771, and then married James Dew on 17 March 1776 at St Peter’s. A marriage licence dated 8 March 1776 described James as a tailor. They had at least one child but after her baptism the family disappears from the records.
  • Elizabeth Burley (1776-????) was baptised in Limpsfield. I’ve found no records that clearly match her.
• Phoebe Burley (1755-????), my 5th great-grand aunt. Phoebe was born in 1755 and baptised at St Peter’s Church in Limpsfield, Surrey, on 19 October that year. I’ve not traced her beyond this but the fact that she wasn’t mentioned in her father’s will of 1771 suggests she may have died young.

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John Burley (1668-1707) and Elizabeth Blackman (1670s?-????).
My 7th great-grandparents.

John, my 7th great-grandfather, grew up Chiddingstone, Kent with parents James Burley and Ann Chapman. He was baptised on 23 March 1668 at St Mary’s Church, his surname written ‘Borle’.

He married Elizabeth Blackman in the village on 21 April 1701 and the record stated that both were of the parish and that he was a husbandman – a farmer of a small number of acres that were usually held leasehold or copyhold. While Elizabeth was from Chiddingstone at the time of her marriage, there are no Blackman christenings surviving in the village records. Two girls with the name were baptised in Sundridge (1674) and Westerham (1677) about seven or eight miles north but I’ve not been able to narrow down further.

John died in 1707 and was buried in Chiddingstone on 17 August but what happened to his wife is unclear. I’ve found no proof that she remarried. Was she the Elizabeth Burley who was buried in nearby Penshurst in 1748, or the Elizabeth Burleigh buried in February 1719 a few miles away in Speldhurst?

The couple appear to have had just the one child:

• John Burley (1701-1774), my 6th great-grandfather. His details are above.

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James Burley (????-1694) and Ann Chapman (????-1690).
My 8th great-grandparents.

Records get more unreliable at this point in history, not helped by the Civil War and the resulting period of the Republic. The latter saw the disestablishment of the church and the rise of Puritanism, as well as changes to how baptisms, marriages and funerals were carried out and recorded. Justices of the Peace, for example, were solely responsible for marriage ceremonies. Because of the turmoil of those years, some records were damaged or destroyed. Those still favouring the Anglican church were known to get former parish clergy to secretly carry out the old services, such as marriages, without them being officially recorded.

James, my 8th great-grandfather, must’ve been born around the 1630s, before the Civil War, but I have found no baptism record to prove it. However, records prove he married Ann Chapman on 3 July 1656 in her home village of Chiddingstone in Kent. He was a husbandman of Brasted, a village about seven miles north. The marriage was also noted in the records of Brasted the following day.

Ann’s origins are also shrouded in mystery although a girl by her name was baptised in Penshurst, a few miles from Chiddingstone, in April 1626.

Ann died in March 1690, noted as the wife of James Burley, and was buried in Chiddingstone on the 26th. James was buried in the village on 11 December 1694.

The couple had a number of children but many died young:

• Joan Burley (1657-1675), my 7th great-grand aunt. Joan was born on 5 January 1657 (1658 in the new calendar) and was buried on 21 January 1674 (1675 in the new calendar).
• John Burley (????-1662), my 7th great-grand uncle. I’ve found no birth record for him but John was buried on 25 May 1662.
• James Burley (1662-1662), my 7th great-grand uncle. He was born in Chiddingstone on 27 March 1662 and buried on 19 July that year.
• Richard Burley (1663-????), my 7th great-grand uncle. He was baptised in Chiddingstone on 16 January 1663 (1664 in the new calendar). He married Sarah Walter of nearby Penshurst, Kent, on 29 March 1687 at St Mary’s Church in his home village. I’ve found no baptism record for Sarah in Penshurst but a girl by this name was baptised in Chiddingstone on 28 April 1665, her father being William Walter. Was this her? Richard and Sarah had several children but she died days after giving birth to their son Thomas and was buried in Chiddingstone on 1 October 1690. Richard’s fate is not known. Their children were:
  • James Burley (1687-1688) was baptised and buried in Chiddingstone, Kent.
  • Richard Burley (1688-????) was baptised in Chiddingstone but his fate is unknown.
  • Thomas Burley (1690-????) was baptised in Chiddingstone but his fate is unknown.
• James Burley (1664-????), my 7th great-grand uncle. He was baptised in Chiddingstone on 8 January 1664 (1665 in the new calendar) but I’ve not traced him further.
• John Burley (1668-1707), my 7th great-grandfather. See his details above.
• Ann Burley (1671-1671), my 7th great-grand aunt. She was baptised in Chiddingstone on 9 April and buried on 17 May 1671.

Sources: Birth, marriage, death and burial records including civil registrations from the General Register Office, census returns, land tax and other records at Ancestry.co.uk, Findmypast.co.uk and familysearch.org.
Wills at The National Archive.
London Archives Royal & Sun Alliance insurance documents CLC/B/192/F/001/MS11936/375/580892.