Frances Ann Witchingham and my other Witchingham ancestors

Frances Ann Witchingham (1773-1847).
My 5th great-grandmother.

Witchingham is a reasonably common surname in Norfolk and may well derive from the village of Witchingham, north-west of Norwich. Over time the name has been spelled in a variety of ways including Wychingham, Wichinham, Withingham and even Wichengim.

View where the Witchinghams are in my current family tree

I do have concerns about the Witchingham tree below. Some ancestors hail from in and around Norwich, but there is a long-standing family of Great Yarmouth from the 17th century who may be an alternative source (or a branch of the same family). My Witchingham ancestors moved around Norfolk to an extent that is a little unusual in my family tree and some of the earlier members of the family are missing in the parish records where we would expect to find them being baptised, married or buried, which is odd and difficult to explain.

Without doubt though, Frances Ann Witchingham, my 5th great-grandmother, was the first of the Witchinghams to enter my Finch family tree. She was baptised on 21 November 1773 at St Swithin’s Church in Norwich to parents Lawrence Witchingham and Mary Ann Robinson (see below). Frances married James Symonds, sometimes described as a beachman, in Winterton, Norfolk, on 21 February 1790. They had a large family. Frances died in December 1790 in Great Yarmouth, where the couple had lived for some years. James died in 1855.

Read more about Frances and James’ life and children here.

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Lawrence Witchingham (1755-1825) and Mary Ann Robinson (1752-1824).
My 6th great-grandparents.

Lawrence was born to baker Gregory Witchingham and his wife Matilda Bean (see below) and baptised at St Swithin’s Church in Norwich, Norfolk, on 8 October 1755. He married Mary Ann Robinson at St Benedict’s in Norwich by licence on 20 September 1771. The marriage licence noted that the fathers of both had given their consent to the marriage, Lawrence being described as a minor aged just 15 and upwards.

Mary Ann was born to collar maker Edmund Robinson and his wife Frances King and was baptised on 15 March 1752 at St Benedict’s in Norwich.

Lawrence and Mary Ann had two known children in Norwich but then appeared in Winterton, on the Norfolk coast, north of Great Yarmouth. Their daughter Frances (above) married there in 1790. The Bury and Norwich Post of 10 June 1789 noted that Lawrence was an officer of HM Customs and that he’d seized a horse and cart laden with eight casks of geneva (a type of gin), which had been taken into safe-keeping, near Yarmouth. He obviously had a nose for it because the Norfolk Chronicle of 5 February 1791 reported that Lawrence, the riding officer at Winterton, had seized yet more contraband with a party of mariners and the 15th regiment of light dragoons. This time 21 half ankers of geneva were captured on Scratby beach along with 123 half ankers of spirits plus two bags of tobacco on Hemsby beach. One gets the feeling that Lawrence wasn’t too popular with smugglers…

Lawrence was listed as a freeman of the borough of Great Yarmouth in an entry that states he was the son of Gregory of Norwich, a baker. It’s a confusing entry that suggests that Lawrence was a baker but this could either be a misunderstanding on my part or a sideline on Lawrence’s. Freemen, up until 1835, had voting rights in elections, were able to take part in the running of the town, were exempt from certain customs dues and held other rights. Freedom could be granted through birth or apprenticeship qualifications but I’ve yet to work out how Lawrence gained his. His father, while resident in Norwich, did own property in Yarmouth that allowed him to vote in elections there, as repeatedly noted in poll books throughout the mid-late 18th century, so maybe there is a link there.

In 1820, Lawrence was described as a gentleman in the poll book of the election for two Great Yarmouth Members of Parliament, in which he supported the winning Whig candidates. ‘Gentleman’ indicates that he was comfortably living on his own means, as a man of property – perhaps he’d inherited from his father.

Mary Ann died in 1824 and was buried in Great Yarmouth on 17 August. Lawrence died in 1825 and was buried in Great Yarmouth on 15 September that year. The Bury and Norwich Post of 21 September 1825 described him as having been an officer of the customs for many years but made no mention of him being a baker.

Their two known children were:

• Edmund Lawrence Witchingham (1772-????), my 5th great-grand uncle. Edmund was baptised on 20 September 1772 at St Benedict’s Church in Norwich, Norfolk, but his trail then goes cold.
• Frances Ann Witchingham (1773-1847), my 5th great-grandmother. See above for details about her life and times.

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Gregory Witchingham (1727-1786) and Matilda Bean (1723-????).
My 7th great-grandparents.

Gregory was baptised on 10 April 1727 at St Michael and All Angels Church in Aylsham, Norfolk. His parents were Robert Witchingham and Mary Symonds (see below) but the surname was written as Wythingham in the record.

Gregory married Matilda Bean (written as Bane) on 14 September 1747 at St George’s Colgate, Norwich, Norfolk. She’d been born to parents Lawrence Bean and Mary Sexton and been baptised on 24 November 1723 at St Andrew’s in Bacton, Norfolk.

The couple raised a family in Norwich – mostly in the St Swithin’s parish – but Gregory was clearly a successful man for he owned property in Great Yarmouth, which enabled him to vote in elections there. Poll books record his name from the 1750s on, each time noting that he actually lived in Norwich. He was also entitled to vote in Norwich and in 1768 the poll book shows that he cast his for Thomas Beevor, a man seen as a radical by the establishment and who went on to support the French revolution. He stood as a Whig candidate pledging to fight against “all attempts upon the liberty of the subject and every other unconstitutional measure”. He didn’t win but it shows where Gregory’s sympathies lay.

The poll books also show that Gregory was a baker and in 1770 he had an apprentice by the name of William Beaumont Firmin.

Gregory died on 8 December 1786, as reported in the next day’s Norfolk Chronicle: “He was indefatigable in business, and uniformly supported through life the character of a worthy honest man.” He left a will, dated 20 November 1786 and in which he was described as a baker of Norwich, leaving Matilda his household goods, stock in trade, money and other possessions. Matilda was made an executor alongside Peter Blomfield of Norwich, another baker. A note on the will said that it was exhibited but not proved on 3 January 1787 because Gregory had died with no personal estate. The reason why was not stated.

I have yet to find a death record for Matilda.

Gregory and Matilda had the following children:

• Matthew Witchingham (1753-1754), my 6th great-grand uncle. He was baptised at St Swithin’s in Norwich on 27 August 1753 and buried there on the 23 June 1754.
• Lawrence Witchingham (1755-1825), my 6th great-grandfather. Details of his life and times are above.
• John Witchingham (1758-1759), my 6th great-grand uncle. John was baptised at St Swithin’s in Norwich on 23 May 1758 and buried there on the 29 May 1759.
• John Witchingham (1760-?1782), my 6th great-grand uncle. John was baptised at St Swithin’s in Norwich on 20 April 1760 and married Elizabeth Bushell on 12 July 1780 at St Mary’s Church in Elsing, Norfolk – a village some miles to the north-west of Norwich. The record stated that he was of the parish of St Swithin’s. Her parents were Robert and Mary Bushell and she’d been baptised in Elsing on 3 February 1760. They had a child soon after their marriage but I’ve found few further records for the couple so it’s likely that he was the John Witchingham buried at St Swithin’s on 4 September 1782, described as a married man. Elizabeth’s fate is less clear. Their child was:
  • Matilda Witchingham (1781-1867). Born in Norwich, Matilda married farmer Robert Brown in Beeston, Norfolk, in 1809, and raised a family with him. She died in Hertfordshire, where she was living as a widow with family in the 1861 census.
• Mary Witchingham (1763-????), my 6th great-grand aunt. She was baptised at St Swithin’s in Norwich on 19 June 1763. A Mary Witchingham was buried there on the 27 July but it’s not definite this was her.

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Robert Witchingham (?1703-?1750) and Mary Symonds (????-????).
My 8th great-grandparents.

There is some mystery about Robert Witchingham, the son of Gregory Witchingham. A boy was baptised Robert in Norwich in 1691 to Gregory and his first wife Sarah Overton but it’s now thought that this boy died as his age doesn’t fit with subsequent records. My 8th great-grandfather was instead one of Gregory’s children with his second wife Hannah Ames, which is how he was described in Gregory’s will. Robert was also listed last in this document, suggesting he was the youngest of the children. No record has been found for his baptism but it’s likely that he was born in around 1703, perhaps in Aylsham or Palling in Norfolk where his father lived and worked.

Gregory died when Robert and his siblings were young and his will made provision for their upkeep and later training for work. Apprenticeship records dated 1717 list Robert being apprenticed to patten maker Henry Coxton at Aylsham for the consideration of £2 0s. Unlike some of his siblings, no mention of his father was made on the record. Pattens were wooden clog-like overshoes designed to lift and protect the owner’s normal shoes from messy streets.

Robert married Mary Symonds at St Michael and All Angels, Aylsham, Norfolk, on 10 March 1725, but where she came from and the year of her birth is currently unknown. They raised a family in the town.

While no burial record has yet been found for Robert, his widow Mary was appointed administrator of his estate on 23 June 1750, Robert having died intestate. He was described as of Aylsham. I’ve also found no mention of Mary’s death.

Their known children were:

• Gregory Witchingham (1727-1786), my 7th great-grandfather. Details of his life and times are above.
• Francis Witchingham (1731-1781), my 7th great-grand uncle. Francis was baptised on 7 September 1731 at St Michael and All Angels, Aylsham, Norfolk, but by at least the age of 13 he was apprenticed to Samuel Egraham, a patten maker of Norwich. Pattens were raised wooden clog-like overshoes that were designed to lift, and therefore protect, shoes off of the often filthy streets. He married single woman Ann Potter on 11 February 1752 at St James with Pockthorpe in Norwich and had many children with her in the city. Various subsequent poll books list Francis as a patten maker – in 1768 he was living in the St James’ parish and voted for the radical Thomas Beevor (see above) but by 1780 had moved to the parish of St Paul’s. It was there that Ann and Francis died within days of each other in 1781; Ann was buried on 19 November, Francis on the 29th. Their children were:
  • Ann Witchingham (1755-????) was baptised in Norwich.
  • Hannah Witchingham (1758-????) was baptised in Norwich and married Richard Pearson there in 1790. She may be the woman aged 65 buried in Norwich St Peter in 1836.
  • Esther Witchingham (1761-1804) was baptised in Norwich and was unmarried. A June 1804 inquest held at the The Rainbow pub in St Etheldred, Norwich, heard that Esther had been “labouring under a fever and being delirious she threw herself into the River Wensum near the staithe of Thomas Jay and drowned.”
  • Mary Witchingham (1763-1764) was baptised and buried in Norwich.
  • Francis Witchingham (1765-1765) was baptised and buried in Norwich.
  • Martha Witchingham (1767-1767) was baptised and buried in Norwich.
  • Mary Witchingham (1768-????) was baptised in Norwich.
  • Ann Witchingham (1771-1806) was baptised and buried in Norwich. She remained unmarried.
• Samuel Witchingham (1734-1779), my 7th great-grand uncle. Samuel was baptised on 17 June 1734 at St Michael and All Angels, Aylsham, Norfolk, but at some point moved to London. On 4 June 1764 he married Elizabeth Cock by licence at St Andrew’s in Holborn, Middlesex. The licence noted that he was a peruke maker – a peruke was a man’s wig, which were elaborate and often powdered affairs in the Georgian era. Samuel died in 1779 and was buried at St Ann’s in Kew Green, Surrey, on 16 June. Elizabeth has been too problematic to trace so far but the marriage licence said she was aged 29, making her a 1735 baby. However, an Elizabeth Witchingham aged 53 was buried at St Ann’s in Kew Green on 14 November 1784. Was this her? I’ve only found one child for Samuel and Elizabeth:
  • Samuel Witchingham (1765-1800) was baptised in Kew, Surrey, and married Elizabeth Coates in Hanover Square, London, in 1785. He died in 1800 and left a will in which it was stated that he was the parish clerk of Kew. He left most of his estate to his wife but other beneficiaries included his father-in-law John Coates, Elizabeth’s brother William and the daughters of his late uncle Francis Witchingham of Norwich. There is also mention of his brother John Witchingham of Deptford, records of whom exist other than a baptism.
• Hester Witchingham (1736-????), my 7th great-grand aunt. Hester was baptised on 7 November 1736 at St Michael and All Angels, Aylsham, Norfolk, but no further records have been found for her.
• Mary Witchingham (????-1739), my 7th great-grand aunt. I’ve found no baptism record for Mary but she was buried on 31 December 1739, described as the daughter of Robert and Mary.
• Robert Witchingham (1739-????), my 7th great-grand uncle. Robert was baptised on 15 April 1739 at St Michael and All Angels, Aylsham, Norfolk. It’s possible he was the ‘single man’ buried there on 5 February 1755/6.
• Henry Witchingham (1742-????), my 7th great-grand uncle. Henry was baptised on 27 September 1742 at St Michael and All Angels, Aylsham, Norfolk, but his trail then goes cold.

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Gregory Witchingham (1655-?1715) and Sarah Overton (????-????) and Hannah Ames (????-????).
My 9th great-grandparents.

Records of the Witchinghams by this point are sparse and transcriptions variable, so Gregory’s name has often been transcribed incorrectly as George or Georgius.

Where did he come from? Some records point to a baptism in Colby – a village a few miles north-east of Aylsham in Norfolk – in 1652 but looking at the online copy of the register, his name isn’t there. Various Witchinghams were baptised around this time in the village – John, Bartholomew, Richard and Elizabeth to Gregory and Rose Witchingham.

Gregory married Sarah Overton at St Giles’s Church in Colby on 14 February 1676. Their one known child was my 8th great-grandfather Robert (above).

Sources: BMDs and other records at Ancestry.co.uk and Findmypast.co.uk. City of Norwich Coroner’s inquests reports. NCR 6a/15 Norfolk Archives. Apprenticeship Records of GB 1710-1810 at Society of Genealogists. British Newspaper Archive – titles in text. Norfolk Archives: ANW will register 1786-1787, (1787) fo. 5, no. 3 / ANF will register 1708-1709 fo. 204 no. 174. Witchingham, Gregory, of Palling. 1708-9 / ANW administration bond, 1750-1751, no. 42 /