Joel KNIGHT family, Yarcombe, Devon, 1840s and earlier

[ScottH]

I found this thread after Googling Benjamin Knight and Joan Spiller. Various online trees and a post on page 2 say they married in Membury on 26 December 1749.

I've found the marriage on FindMyPast, however it appears to show Robert Knight married Joan Spiller, rather than Benjamin.

FindMyPast also has the the baptism records of their children, Betty (transcribed as Kinghs) and Joel in Yarcombe in 1750 and 1751, then four more in Stockland (Benjamin, Robert, Anne and Abraham) between 1754 and 1764.

Is Robert rather than Benjamin on the marriage record just a mistake?

I'm descended from the Knight family through Sarah who married William Loosmore. I recently took a DNA test and have had a couple of matches with different people descended from Grace Knight (born abt 1798) and John Glade. If their trees are accurate her parents were Joel Knight (son of Benjamin and Joan, born abt 1751) and Elizabeth Spark, and my great x 3 grandmother Sarah's father Robert was Joel's brother.

[Jean_E]

Hello, ScottH -

I suspect we are cousins. I don't have much information on Benjamin Knight and Sarah Spiller. I'm in the USA, but have an Ancestry World Membership. I dpn't have a Find My Past subscription.

In my family tree information I try to cite the source of the data. However, I find I don't have a source for the 26 Dec 1749 marriage of Joan Spiller and Benjamin Knight at Membury. Dang it! I will have to "go looking about" to determine where I obtained the Joan Spiller - Benjamin Knight marriage information.

I have Robert as the name of Benjamin Knight's father and his mother, Elizabeth Spiller. Were you able to see the handwritten marriage record for Joan Spiller and Benjamin (or, maybe Robert) Knight? Those are the records I trust more than any others. If the record you found is a transcription, the transcriber could have been fully correct or could have made an error, putting the first name of the groom's father in the space for the first name of the groom. I have seen full-image records (birth, death, and marriage) in the Ancestry records wherein the transcriber/indexer made an error in some of the information that is clearly readable in the actual image of the record.

Besides those with the surname Knight and Spiller in my family lines, I too have Loosmore/Loosemore and Spark/Sparks/Sparke.

I will have to get back to you on your question regarding the correct first name for the husband of Joan Spiller married 26 Dec 1749 at Membury.

Thank you for contacting me.
Jean E. DeLauche, a Devon Knight cousin in the USA

[Jean_E]

Hello, again, ScottH -

I found the source of my info with the Membury, Devon marriage date (26 Dec 1749) for Benjamin (also spelled "Benjamine") Knight and Joan Spiller.

I found the info through the free databases of FamilySearch.org. Initially the database was named "Ancestral File." Now it is named Family Search Genealogies.

This is the link to sources for Benjamin/Benjamine Knight:
(TinyURL link) http://tinyurl.com/zukjqsa

The Family Search Genealogies info for Joan Spiller (b. about 1725-1728) to Robert Spiller and his wife Elizabeth Major differs with one additional source giving the first name for Joan's husband as "Robert." This is the link (TinyURL): http://tinyurl.com/hchtkny

Following is a synopsis of all the info I have found (so far) regarding Benjamin/Benjamine Knight and his wife Joan Spiller:

Name Benjamine [also spelled Benjamin] KNIGHT (AFN:8DFF-Z7)
Pedigree
Born: 1715
Christened: 19 Feb 1715/6 Place: Yarcombe, Devon, England
Died: 29 Apr 1789 Place: Yarcombe, Devon, England
Buried: 29 Apr 1789 Place: Yarcombe, Devon, England
Married: 26 Dec 1749 Place: Membury, Devon, England
Father: Robert KNIGHT (AFN:FGD3-L5)
Family
Mother [of Benjamine/Benjamin Knight]: Elizabeth SPILLER (AFN:FGD3-MB)
Wife's Name Joan SPILLER (AFN:8DFG-0C)
Pedigree
Born: 1725 (other records give the year of her birth as 1728)
Christened: 8 Aug 1725 Place: Yarcombe, Devon, England
Died: 18 Apr 1784 Place: Yarcombe, Devon, England
Buried: 18 Apr 1784 Place: Yarcombe, Devon, England
Married: 26 Dec 1749 Place: Membury, Devon, England
Father [of Joan Spiller]: Robert SPILLER (AFN:FGD3-NH)
Family
Mother [of Joan Spiller]: Elizabeth MAJOR (AFN:FGD3-PN)
- Children of Benjamin/Benjamine Knight and Joan Spiller
--1. Male, Joel KNIGHT (AFN:8DFF-R6)
--- Born: 1751
--- Christened: 10 Dec 1751 Place: Yarcombe, Devon, England
---Died: 19 Apr 1837 Place: Yarcombe, Devon, England
--- Buried: 26 Apr 1837 Place: Yarcombe, Devon, England
--2. Female, Betty KNIGHT (AFN:8DFG-W1)
--- Born: 1750 Christened: 17 Jun 1750 Place: Yarcombe, Devon, England
-- 3. Male, Benjamin KNIGHT (AFN:8DFG-X6)
--- Born: 1754 Christened: 12 Jun 1754 Place: Stockland, Devon, England
--- Buried: 9 May 1837 Place: Yarcombe, Devon, England
-- 4. Male, Robert KNIGHT (AFN:8DFG-ZC)
--- Born: 1756
--- Christened: 2 Feb 1756 Place: Stockland, Devon, England
-- 5. Female, Anne KNIGHT (AFN:8DFH-0H)
--- Born: 1757 Christened: 23 Oct 1757 Place: Stockland, Devon, England
-- 6. Male, Abraham KNIGHT (AFN:8DFH-1N)
--- Born: 1764
--- Christened: 29 Jul 1764 Place: Stockland, Devon, England

Source:
Family Search Genealogies (Formerly named: Ancestral File, FamilySearch.org); http://tinyurl.com/zukjqsa
Publisher
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah

Note: I am descended from Benjamine/Benjamin Knight and Joan Spiller through their son Joel Knight (1751-1837) and his wife Elizabeth Spark/Sparke.
-- Their first son, named Joel was born about 1780 and died 13 Feb 1782. Later on they named their 3rd son Joel as well.
--- That Joel Knight (born about 1785, christened at Yarcombe 10 Apr 1785, died 30 Jun 1858) married Mary Bright 7 Sep 1808 at Yarcombe.
---- The youngest son of Joel and Mary Bright Knight was a great-great grandfather of mine. His name: Joel Knight (born 21 Jun 1829, not born in Devon.) My g-g grandfather, Joel Knight and his brother Robert William Knight, emigrated from Devon with their wives (Robert William and his wife also had their sons Thomas and Robert James with them) to the USA aboard the ship Johns, arriving at the Port of New York 2 May 1851. Eventually, Joel, his wife, Caroline Dunn, brother Robert William, his wife Anne Locke, with their 3 sons - 3rd son Joel (called Joel Knight, Jr. in some records) was born in 1853 in New York state - traveled to the relatively new state of Wisconsin, where they purchased land to farm in Farmington Township, Waupaca County, Wisconsin.

Whew!

You may be interested to know there is a Knight Lake in Farmington Township, Waupaca County, Wisconsin named for the Joel Knight, Jr. (son of Robert William and Anne Locke Knight). I have attached a JPEG image of the lake. It is one of 22 connected spring-fed lakes, named the Chain O'Lakes, which were carved out by glaciers. If you are interested you can see an image of all the Chain O'Lakes here: (TinyURL link): http://tinyurl.com/h9kbgom

Best wishes from one of your American cousins -
Jean

[ScottH]

Hi Jean,

Thanks for the information and replying so quickly. Wasn't sure I'd get one considering how long ago the original messages were posted!

Yes the marriage was the handwritten record. I expect most of the Devon records you mention can all be viewed on FindMyPast, so it may be worth a look.

From what I remember Sarah's parents marriage record had two witnesses, one with the surname Spiller and the other Spark, which helps to confirm the link.

Scott