William (1669-1712) and Mary (d. 1726) WILLIAMSON of Allonby
New page 15 July 2019
Links:
Immediate ancestors: Jonathan and Mary WILLIAMSON; Mary's parentage uncertain
Immediate descendant: Jonathan WILLIAMSON
The Williamson story - WILLIAMSON 1 research notes
index of surnames
William is recorded as the father of my next ancestor Jonathan in the Quaker registration of his birth (RG6/1247/17). William also names Jonathan, along with Jonathan's sister Sarah, in his will (Cumbria Archives Service, Carlisle, PROB/1712/WX155).
I believe William's parents were Jonathan and Mary WILLIAMSON of Tallentire in the parish of Bridekirk in Cumberland.
I haven't identified Mary's birth or parentage for sure, but I suspect she may have been a BEEBY
William was I think the eighth child and second son of Jonathan and Mary WILLIAMSON. As well as his older brother and sisters, he had a younger brother. Jonathan and Mary owned and worked an agricultural property in the small settlement of Tallentire in the Cumberland parish of Bridekirk (where she, but not he, had been born). Jonathan and Mary baptised their children in the Church of England (at least most of them--there is a gap or two in the baptism record sequence). William's childhood is covered more fully at his parents' page.
As a younger son, William may not have expected to inherit the family farm in Tallentire, and this may be why he moved to Allonby. Or the move may have been motivated or enabled by his marriage, or by his conversion to the Religious Society of Friends, the Quakers.
William and Mary's marriage, and Mary's identity, are interesting and linked questions. William's conversion may also be linked. Although their children's births were registered by the Quakers (see below), I have not found a Quaker record of their marriage. But there are Church of England marriages of William WILLIAMSON and Mary, of which by some margin the best match for date and place is William WILLIAMSON to Mary BEEBY, on 10 April 1698 in Bromfield, the parish for Allonby. BEEBY is a name that was already established in the Allonby Quaker community, and there were Mary BEEBY births registered by them in 1664 (to John and Ann of Allonby) and 1673 (to Robert and Elizabeth of Bowscales). If our Mary was one of these two, I think the older is perhaps slightly more likely given that she stopped having children after a few years of marriage, but it is all getting very speculative. I also note that two of the three witnesses to William's will in 1712 were John and Daniel BEEBY. On my reading of the registers, both Marys mentioned above had brothers called John.
Research notes: Obviously I would very much like more evidence on William's move from Tallentire and who Mary was. Get sight of an image of the original marriage register. I have looked for the Quaker minute books of the Allonby Monthly Meeting, but I found that there is a gap from 1697-1737. Should still look at the minutes up to 1697 (Carlisle Record Office, DFCF 3/1) to see if there's a reference to William arriving in the community or Mary courting a non-Quaker. Maybe get Carlisle Record OfficePROB/1716/WX7--it seems to be the only BEEBY will in the immediate area 1698-1726--I would ideally hope to find a reference to Mary by her married name as a relative (from the Quaker registers I think the testator may be a brother of the Mary born in 1673, but he had quite a few children so he might not mention his sister). See also DX 64/1 and DX 748/105. I should also see if there is any non-Quaker Mary BEEBY baptism who could be the bride in the 1698 marriage.
William and Mary lived at Allonby. They had three children that I know of:
Jonathan, 22 January 1699/1700
Sarah, 13 May 1702
Mary, 19 June 1704
(note that the months are given in the registers as the 11th month, the 3rd month and the 4th month. I think that at this date they correspond to January, May and June)
Having seen images of the original registers, although the above births appear in their chronological sequence, I thought that the first two looked like later insertions, suggesting that William and Mary were not members of the Society of Friends in 1699 or 1702, but were admitted by 1704. I think this would be consistent with them (or one of them) being excluded from membership for marrying before the priest, and the couple re-admitted later. But it might also be consistent with neither of them being members to begin with and only converting around 1703.
William was obviously known as Will, and is referred to as such in two of those birth records.
William describes himself as a yeoman and a dyer.
William died when the children were young and he was only about 42 himself. He made his will on the 7th of April 1712, decribing hiself as weakly in body, and was buried just three days later, in Allonby Friends' Burying Ground. Mary survived him and saw the children grow up, being buried also in Allonby, on 16 March 1725/26.
William left his eldest son Jonathan the value of a certain watch. However, it seems likely that he had already transferred property to him, including the dyehouse in which he conducted his business and a place called Connell Land, which is also in the family in later generations.
William left to his wife his two parcels of enclosed ground at Tallentire, which is a good piece of evidence that he is indeed the William Williamson baptised to Jonathan of Tallentire in 1669.
William required his son Jonathan to pay his daughter Sarah twenty pounds 'out of the dye house and outlying ground of Connell Land'. Both these properties are mentioned in wills of later generations, so I guess Jonathan was able to fulfil the money obligation without selling the properties entirely.
The residue of the estate was also to Mary, William's wife, and Sarah his daughter. Mary did not leave a will but I imagine she left her property to her children. Land at Tallentire is also mentioned in wills in later generations.
Jonathan is our next ancestor and has a page of his own.
Sarah married William WILKINSON in 1731, according to Brooker. She is mentioned under her married name in her brother's will made in 1777 so must have lived that long.
I do not have information on what became of young Mary. I have not found either a marriage or a death for her in the Allonby Quaker registers, so she may have left the Quakers or moved out of the area. She is not mentioned in her brother's will and it seems likely she had died by 1777.
If you are interested in this family I'll be pleased to hear from you. Click this link to email me at deletethis.ianwilliamson161@gmail.com but delete everything up to and including the first dot, leaving just my name and number @ service provider.
Links:
Immediate ancestors: Jonathan and Mary WILLIAMSON; Mary's parentage uncertain
Immediate descendant: Jonathan WILLIAMSON
The Williamson story - WILLIAMSON 1 research notes
index of surnames