James Wetherill (1750?-1801) and Mary Proctor (1758-????)

James Wetherill (1750?-1801) and Mary Proctor (1758-????).
My 6th great-grandparents.

James Wetherill’s birth year is a bit of a mystery. It’s most likely that he was born in or around 1750, judging by the year of his marriage and the fact that he died in Great Yarmouth aged 51 in 1801. I found a James baptised in the town on 27 February 1746/7 to Thomas Wetherill and Sarah Sley. However, this infant son of the couple was buried at the parish church of St Nicholas in October of the same year.

I believe that a subsequent child was born to Thomas and Sarah and baptised James despite having found no evidence of this, perhaps because the records were damaged or lost over time. Interestingly, James’ first two children were called Thomas and Sarah and this was a time when people often called their children after their parents. In addition, a James Wetherill was mentioned as a grandchild in the will of Sarah Sley’s father written in 1758 and proved after his death in 1765. In it, he was granted the sum of £10.

Wherever he came from, James married Mary Proctor on 5 June 1776 at St Nicholas’s Church in Yarmouth. Mary was likely the girl baptised on 26 February 1758 in Great Yarmouth to parents Thomas Proctor and Elizabeth Woodcock.

James may be the James Wetherill mentioned in the Ipswich Journal of 7 December 1775, specifically in a humble petition to King George III signed by a number of men of Great Yarmouth. The petition called for a peaceful solution to the war between the American colonies and Britain for the benefit of both sides. It was, of course, a petition that the King and his ministers would ignore. 

What did James do for a living? The baptism records for his children give few hints but a Norfolk Chronicle report from 5 June 1784 referred to an auction of property around the Market Place in Great Yarmouth, owned by a James Hey, who’d been made bankrupt. The sale included “a shop, two parlours, kitchen, dining-room, seven bed-chambers, and other convenient offices, most advantageously situated for the millinery and drapery business…” as well as a barber’s shop and cellar leased to a James Wetherill that was being used as a public house called The Chequers. James had taken on the lease for 21 years from Christmas 1783 for an annual rent of £8 8s. There’s little or no evidence of another man by this name in the town at this time, so this is probably my ancestor – but he wasn’t a publican.

It’s his will, written in 1797, that reveals the story of his life and career, as well as his success in business. James was a peruke maker, a man who made the sort of extravagant wigs we associate with the grand men and women of Georgian England. A record of 23 November 1763 revealed that he was apprenticed to peruke maker Will Nutman in Yarmouth.

It’s possible that James purchased the properties in the Market Place auction mentioned previously because in his will he bequeathed to his wife Mary his “messuages, tenements or dwelling houses, ground and hereditaments” near the Market Place that James as well as his tenants had occupied. Mary was ordered to keep “the same in good and tenantable repair”. This wasn’t the only property James owned because his will also referred to four other tenements or dwelling houses, hereditaments and appurtenances in Great Yarmouth, all of which went to his wife. The script is difficult to read but the suggestion is that some of this property was occupied by a Mr Custins, a baker.

The will made provision for Mary to pay six shillings a week to James’s mother Sarah every Saturday. However, on her death his trustees Samuel King, a baker, and Nathaniel Lewis, a leather cutter, were instructed to dispose of the Market Place properties and divide the proceeds. James’s mother was to get £100, to be paid into Gurney’s Bank, in place of her six shillings a week. The rest of the money was to be divided equally among James’s surviving children or their offspring. The other properties, occupied by the baker, were to go to the children on Mary’s death or remarriage and to be held by them as tenants in common. James’s goods, chattels and moveables were also to be divided, half to go to his wife and the rest to be divided among his children.

James died in May 1801 and was buried in Great Yarmouth on 4 May. I’ve not found a burial date for Mary, so did she remarry?

Mary and James had at least seven children, and several of them migrated to Barking in Essex:

• Sarah Wetherill (1777-1831), my 5th great-grand aunt. Sarah was baptised on 28 March 1777 at St Nicholas’s Church in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. She married a William Crook at the church on 23 September 1798 by licence. I’ve yet to locate where William was born but the marriage licence noted that he was from Barking in Essex at the time. Subsequent records show that they went to live there. Indeed, it may have been Sarah’s move that kicked off a number of subsequent migrations to Barking among her siblings. William died in 1829 and was buried at St Margaret’s in Barking on 7 February 1829. In his lengthy and complex will he was described as a gentleman and was clearly a man of means, with much property to his name. It’s not entirely clear where William made his money but the will made mention of his profits from the fishing trade and a number of other unidentified trades and businesses. Barking was once one of the largest fishing ports in the world. William left his wife his plate, furnishings and other personal property. She was also to be paid an annuity of £300 per year, a significant sum. His son William James Crook inherited much of his leasehold, copyhold and freehold properties on condition that the annuity was paid to his mother and that his sister also received her share of the income from the properties. William Jnr also received his father’s money, stocks and other such estate, although again he was to share these with his sister. The will made provision for any grandchildren. His wife, son and daughter were made executors, alongside his brother-in-law James Weatherill, a tailor (see below). Sarah died in 1831 and was buried at St Margaret’s in Barking on 31 January that year.
  • William James Crook (1801-1866) was born in Barking, Essex, and married Sarah Peachey in Enfield, Middlesex, in 1831. They raised a family in Lambeth and he worked for a time as a fish salesman (he’s referred to as this in a number of newspapers including the Chelmsford Chronicle of 15 November 1833). However, he later worked as a stockbroker in London. The 1861 Census showed the couple living in Hackney. William died in July 1866 and left behind a substantial estate on his death – up to £35,000. Probate revealed that he died at Five Houses, Clapton, Middlesex.
  • Sarah Eliza Crook (1809-1832) was born in Barking in October 1809. She is most likely the Sarah who was buried in Barking on 24 October 1832. A woman by this name married a William Trocke at St Bride’s in the City of London in 1833 and is a potential alternative.
• Thomas Wetherill (1779-1842), my 5th great-grandfather. He made a living as a watchmaker in Great Yarmouth and Norwich, Norfolk.
• Mary Wetherill (1781-1820), my 5th great-grand aunt. Mary was baptised on 12 December 1781 in St Nicholas’s Church, Great Yarmouth, and grew up in the town before marrying John Lester at St Mary Magdalene in East Ham, Essex, on 21 October 1810. John worked as a fisherman according to their children’s baptism records but Mary died relatively young in Barking, Essex, and was buried at St Margaret’s Church there on 19 March 1820. Their surname was often written ‘Leicester’. They had three known children:
  • John Joseph Lester (1812-????) was born in Barking, Essex. It’s likely that he died young as the couple’s next child was baptised John.
  • John James Lester (1814-1906) was born in Barking and married Rebecca Cast in Poplar, Middlesex, in 1838. At that point he was described as a mariner while subsequent census returns listed him as a fisherman and fishmonger. It appears the couple never had children. Rebecca died in 1881 and John married Hannah Youngs in 1882. By this point, census returns show he was living on his own means, suggesting he was reasonably well off. He lived to a grand age, dying in April 1906. He was buried at St Margaret’s Church in Barking alongside his uncle James Wetherill and his first wife (whose name was spelled Rebekah on the tombstone).
  • Mary Ann Lester (1817-1877) was born in Barking. She is probably the woman who married John Samuel Lester in Poplar, Middlesex, in 1839 as her father was named John and described as a fisherman. Her husband, son of a George Lester, worked as a journeyman brewer but she was widowed young and left to raise their children alone. She lived in and around east London and Barking for the rest of her life and died in 1877.
• Elizabeth Wetherill (1785-1850?), my 5th great-grand aunt. Elizabeth was born on 28 May 1785 and baptised at St Nicholas’s in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, on 23 June that year. She also moved to Barking and George Marchant in the parish church of St Margaret on 3 January 1803. He was from Barking and had been baptised there on 7 September 1777 to Hanavell Marchant and his wife Sarah. Elizabeth had children but the couple didn’t have long together for George died on 27 October 1812 and, according to his tomb at St Margaret’s in Barking, was lost at sea on that date – suggesting he was a fisherman. Elizabeth had a family to bring up and endured more tragedy but what happened to her isn’t certain. She probably remained a widow for an Elizabeth Marchant was buried in Barking on 8 September 1850, even though her given age of 71 would’ve made her birth year 1779. A woman by her name married a Daniel or David Linsel in Colchester, Essex, in 1824 but this person was said to be single. Elizabeth and George had four known children:
  • George William Marchant (1805-?1829) was born in Barking and the family tomb at St Margaret’s shows that he died at sea on 4 December 1829 (potentially another year as the plaque is faded). Again, George Jnr was probably a fisherman.
  • James Thomas Marchant (1807-1811) was born in Barking but he too drowned according to the plaque on the family tomb, although this time as a toddler in 1811. I’ve yet to find information about the circumstances of his death.
  • William Marchant (1809-1895) was born in Barking and married Elizabeth Susanna Horsley in 1839. He became a smack owner, employing a number of local men, and later a fish factor. They lived mainly in Barking. Later in life he was listed as a gentleman and had clearly done well for himself. The couple appear to have remained childless and Elizabeth died in 1877. William followed on the last day of 1895, leaving £1,595.
  • James John Marchant (1813-1813) was born and buried in Barking.
• James Wetherill (1787-1790), my 5th great-grand uncle. James was born on 9 August 1787, baptised at St Nicholas’s in Great Yarmouth on the 24th of the month and died in March 1790. He was buried on 28 March, described as the son of James and Mary.
• James Wetherill (1790-1879), my 5th great-grand uncle. Born on the 5 May 1790 and baptised at St Nicholas’s in Great Yarmouth on the 3 June that year, James also ended up moving to Barking in Essex after growing up on the Norfolk coast. He proved to be successful in business, never married and lived in Heath Street, Barking, for most of his life. The 1841 census listed him as a slopshop keeper, which described a seller of ready-made clothes (or sometimes baskets). By 1851 he was still in the business but also referred to as a proprietor of houses, while employing his own staff. In 1861 he was listed as a fundholder, which usually referred to someone who was living off their investments, and ten years later was described as a retired tailor. James died on 26 July 1879 in Barking and was buried on the 31st. His gravestone survives at St Margaret of Antioch Churchyard, although in a badly damaged state, and also names two Lester family members – John James and Rebekah (his nephew and his first wife – see above). James left an estate valued at under £5,000 and his executors were three nephews from the Marchant and Lester families.
• William Wetherill (1792-1792), my 5th great-grand uncle. Baptised on 27 July 1792 in Great Yarmouth and baptised on 30th, he was buried on 1 October. His mother was said to be Sarah Proctor in the burial record, but I believe this to be a transcription error.
• Ann Wetherill (1795-????), my 5th great-grand aunt. was born on 27 January 1795 and baptised in St Nicholas Church, Great Yarmouth, on 5 February that year. After this she disappears from the records.
• William Wetherill (1797-1814), my 5th great-grand uncle. William was born on 1 August 1797 and baptised on 14th at St Nicholas’s Church in Great Yarmouth. He was probably the 16-year-old William who was buried on 12 April 1814 at St Andrew’s Church in Norwich, Norfolk.
• Harriet Wetherill (1801-1859), my 5th great-grand aunt. She married the famous Norwich artist Thomas Lound.

Sources: Birth, marriage, death and burial records including civil registrations from the General Register Office, census returns and other records at Ancestry.co.uk, Findmypast.co.uk and Norfolk Family History Society. British Newspaper Archive, titles in text. James Wetherill’s 1801 will, Norfolk Archives ref: NCC will register Francklin 79.