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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Suffolk => England => Suffolk Lookup Requests => Topic started by: davidjculley on Tuesday 05 August 14 13:00 BST (UK)
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Family of Metyer REYNOLDS Rector of Gisleham 1758 to 1794. Metyer believed buried at Gisleham but at least one daughter Jane alleged born Spexhall 1763 and buried Spexhall as Jane Martin 22 November 1813. Quite possible alleged birth at Spexhall is an assumption. Many thanks if you can help.
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The National Burial Index has his burial at Holy Trinity, Gisleham 23/02/1797 aged 83.
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Many thanks. In 1801 Jane Martin nee Reynolds allegedly baptises Metyer Reynolds Martin at Spexhall. In 1797 a Leonora Allen nee Reynolds baptises Metyer Reynolds Allen at Morton on the Hill, Norfolk. Leonora is my 3xg grandmother. In view of scarcity of the name Metyer I think it likely Leonora and Jane are da's. of Metyer Reynolds, maybe baptised Gisleham, as no baptism found Norfolk. Metyer Reynolds himself may well be the child of a marriage between the Reynolds and Metyer families. There is just one Metyer family in Nfk. (minor gentry status) but no Reynolds/Metyer marriage has been found yet.
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have you seen the entry for Metyer Reynolds on the CofE clergy database? theclergydatabase.org.uk - gives a rundown of his career in the church from 1737 until his death in 1797.
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Thank you, yes I've been there. Also his Cambridge admission 1733 where he was organist at Emanuel. His will and that of his wife are at the NRO. I hope to visit in the next 2 or 3 weeks and may find legacies name his speculative (to date) daughters. I'm sorry to say my known relation, Metyer Reynolds Allen, was transported to Tas. in 1824, it would appear for the theft of an Ass.
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I checked a transcript of the Gisleham parish register and can confirm the burial there in 1797:
Rev. Metyer Reynolds Rector of this parish
Buried 23rd February 1797 aged 83
Unfortunately there were no baptisms at Gisleham for any of Metyer Reynolds' children, only his marriage:
Metyer Reynolds clerk of this parish
Honour Cooke of Forncett St Mary, Norfolk
Married by licence 19th April 1762
Both signed their names
Witnesses: William Hacon, Thomas Bishop
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Taken from Spexhall parish register
Meyter (sic) Reynolds Martin s/o Robert Martin and Jane his wife late Jane Reynolds spinster was privately baptised 30th November 1801.
The couple also baptised George: born 4th May, baptised 5th May 1805, buried 16th May 1805 aged 3 weeks
Also a Robert George s/o Robert and Jane Martin buried 3rd July 1801 although I couldn't see his baptism.
Robert Martin was a widower when he married Jane, his first wife Mary Fisher was buried at Spexhall 18th February 1793 aged 32.
Jane Martin buried at Spexhall 22nd November 1813 aged 50. I checked the baptisms at Spexhall ~1763 but couldn't see any Reynolds baptisms there at this time.
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Very many thanks your efforts. I am floundering now. Here's why. I have an ancestor, Leonora Reynolds who marries a Thomas Allen in Norfolk. No baptism found for Leonora in Norfolk. In 1797 she baptises a child Metyer Reynolds Allen. All her children have middle name Reynolds. I guessed Metyer was a clue to her parents. Metyer is a scarce name but Metyer Reynolds rector of Gisleham also had interests in Norfolk and property near Leonora's place of marriage. Jane Reynolds who married Spexhall named her son Metier Reynolds Martin in 1801. He ends up in Norwich. I see a report in the Monthly Magazine has Jane's marriage at Bury.1801 (no date) Mr Rt Martin of Spexhall to Miss Reynolds of Bracondale. The only Bracondale I know of is in Norwich. And yet I can find no connections! I'm not asking for help, just putting you in the picture. Regards David Culley
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Hi David what an intriguing web! I don't have anything to add unfortunately; I don't have any online access or cd's at my disposal, all my searching is done at the records office. However there are some wonderful people who contribute to the Suffolk boards who can pick apart the trickiest of puzzles and often have other resources they can access.
Hopefully someone else can help ;)
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The marriage is on the familysearch site at Scottow, Norfolk 22/05/1794 - wondering if there would be more information in the parish registers?
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You probably know this already - but a Metyer Reynolds marries Elizabeth Varnish on 9th Feb 1786 at St John De Sepuchre Norwich. Both single.
Not Metyer Reynolds the vicar, obviously, as he would be about 72 and already married :P but another relation maybe?
Hopefully you'll find more clues at Norfolk records office.
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The date of birth of Jane is presumably taken from her supposed age at death? This would only be as accurate as the informant knew (presumably her husband) or she led him to believe. Could she actually have been a couple of years older and was Honour's daughter before she married Metyer.
Honour was from Fornsett St Mary, have you checked likely baptisms in her home parish?
I have come across another Metyer Reynolds, a grocer in Norwich.
From Ancestry: He becomes an apprentice in 1773. In 1785 he takes on his own apprentice. In 1786 and 1787 his name is recorded in the electoral roll for St Swithin Norwich. In 1786 he marries Elizabeth Varnish in Norwich. Can't find a baptism or burial, so his age would be guesswork, but assuming he is apprenticed at 14, his year of birth would be 1759. By 1785- 87, he would be in his mid to late twenties and has become well established with his own business and can afford to marry.
Again with the same name and an unusual one, there is a strong liklihood of a relationship.
Rev Metyer was in his late forties when he married Honour, did he have an earlier marriage and grocer Metyer is his son?
ADDED@ just seen last post mentions Metyer jnr
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Ancestry and familysearch have the marriage of Rev Metyer and Honour Cooke at Forncett St Mary as well as Gisleham, but a few days before the Gisleham date. This usually means it is the Banns not marriage and the date is the last reading of the Banns. But on a previous post it says the marriage was by licence, so there would be no Banns read.
The transcript says Honour was 30 at marriage. Did she outlive Metyer?
A reference to Metyer's will here - looks like some dispute but a long time later, these are from May and Juky 1834.
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/19173/page/1340
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/19152/page/818
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Thanks for all the interest. I am aware of the second Metyer Reynolds, grocer of St Benedicts St, Norwich St. Swithin. He was the son of a Thomas Reynolds of Hethersett and had a brother Thomas who also named a son Metyer Reynolds but he died as an infant. It appears from the grocer's will at NRO that he had no children, all is left to his widow Elizabeth. My best explanation is that Metyer Reynolds, rector of Gisleham (and Bacton) began his career as curate at Hethersett 1737-1741 and made an impression on the young Thomas Reynolds.
The will of Honour Reynolds, dated 1788, has all her property left to Jay(?)Bracey of Norwich and Mary his wife, Lieutenant in the navy. Honour had extensive properties in Forncett, Aslacton and Tacolneston.......and the will begins with reference to a tripartite indenture between a baronet, Metyer Reynolds and herself which in my ignorance suggests a previous marriage.
I've seen reference to the dispute over Metier's will but no sign of the will itself as yet.
Now Scottow where Leonora Reynolds was married, is not so far from Salhouse and Woodbastwick where a Yeoman family of Metyers resided. Unfortunately, as far as I can see, only one daughter, Mary survives to raise a family of Appletons. The wills of successive Edward Metyers at NRO have no other family members.
Studying this family reveals one of the snags. Nobody is very sure how to spell Metyer. There is every imaginable phonetic rendition and some unimaginable ones. Mary is Macher when she marries Appleton and I would have missed her but for the will.
Finally, and I'm sorry to say this, my g.uncle Sam records in his very unreliable memoirs that Leonora Reynolds was the daughter of a brother of Joshua Reynolds. In spite of what you might think, this sounds plausible. Joshua Reynolds was a substantial farmer of Beeston St Andrew just at the time when my 3xg grandfather married Charlotte Reynolds Allen, the daughter of Leonora Reynolds (whose son was Metyer Reynolds Allen). 4xg grandfather was a labourer at Beeston, and as there were only about 6 families in the parish may well have been employed by Joshua. However the dates of baptism of Joshua's brothers at Blofield exclude the possibility of Sam's suggested relationship which I suspect, like so much else, was speculative. And finally! In 1841 when her descendants are all scratching a living, not always legally, Leonora is "annuitant" in a local hostelry. Perhaps an indication that she had once been "somebody"....perhaps Sam had a vague recollection of being told this when in later life he wrote his memoirs.
David Culley
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Have found two Hethersett burials fot Metyer Reynolds on FreeReg. One in 1790 son of Thomas and Mary (nee Peters) and one in 1795 son of Thomas and Frances (nee Kettle). It looks like both are child burials.
Also a burial in 1788 at Forncett transcribed as Honor Cooke Clark and gives Maybeer (sic) Reynolds Clark as spouse. If Clark as occupation (alternative to vicar/rector) had been mistaken for part of name, could this by Honour's burial back in her home village?
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Looking at Hethersett baptisms on familysearch there is a Jane Reynolds bapt to Thomas and Mary on 6th July 1763, possibly the one who married Mr Martin in Spexhall.
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Also marriage of James Postons to Mary Reynolds in Hethersett on 30 May 1776. Metyer the grocer was apprenticed to a James Postons in 1773. Mary Reynolds bapt in Hethersett to Thomas and Mary on 17 July 1751. So it looks like Metyer's master became his brother in law.
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I had missed the Postons connection. Thanks for pointing it out. And thank you for drawing my attention to the Jane Reynolds baptised at Hethersett at just the right time to be the same Jane who names her son Metyer Reynolds Martin at Spexhall....rather near rector Metyer Reynolds at Gisleham. Mary Martin, widow of Metyer R Martin dies in Trowse (by Norwich) in 1869 possibly suggesting a return to home territory. Rector Metyer Reynolds begins his career as curate at Hethersett but no sign of a baptism for him. I favour a close family relationship between Leonora, Jane and rector Metyer Reynolds....and the other Metyer Reynolds of Hethersett. I've raised the topic in the Norfolk area of this site.
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Have you got a reasonably reliable birth year for Leonora? I see on the 1841 census her age is given as 65, so allowing for rounding, she could be between 65 and 69. As the census was taken on 6th June 1841, this gives a birthdate between 7th June 1771 and 6th June 1776.
I cannot find her on 1851 census, so presumably she has died, but have been unable to find a death registration for her.
Looking at Hethersett baptism transcriptions on Freereg, there is one for a Livah (sic) Reynolds (female child) on 17th July 1771, which would fit the timespan, assuming this baby was baptised fairly soon after birth. Bit of a long shot but it could be bad, faded handwriting on the original and that was the best the transcriber could do. The parents of Livah are Thomas and Hannah. So not the sister of Jane and Metyer (grocer). Mary Reynolds nee Peters was buried in 1802 and was described as widow of Thomas, so he predeceased her. So Thomas cannot have married again and Hannah be his second wife. It is possible the name Hannah is just a mistake, on one of the two transcripts of Metyer's baptism (the one who died young) it says Mary was crossed out and Frances inserted. There is a marriage for Thomas on 8 May 1770 in Norwich to Frances Kiddal/ Kiddele - probably the one referred to as "Kettle", so feasible for Livah to be their child. Mary was 80 when she died so born abt 1722, so a bit old to give birth in 1771.
James Postens pops up again in Hethersett. He is a witness at the marriage of Hannah Reynolds and John Brown on 28 Sep 1775. Hannah is a spinster, so can't be mother of Livah and widowed between 1771 and 1775.
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Familysearch has scans of the Hethersett register. Strangely I can't find anything close to "Livah" on 17th July, but there is one other possibility on 21st July 1771. Terrible writing!
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-11565-55806-73?cc=1416598&wc=92B2-ZJJ:29714601,29365801,29830601
One entry up from bottom of right hand page.
Could be intended to be Leonora. And it looks like "Mary his wife" written under Thomas "Ranolds"
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It appears Leonora's death was not registered. I'd dismissed Livah as being a misreading of Livia or Lydia but I'll have another look. The next question is what relation Parson Meyer Reynolds was as I've found no trace of his baptism, which would be ca.1713/14. Many thanks for your persistence. Oh yes, Parson Metyer's will or extract from it are at National Archives. I'll have a look this evening.
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If the rather illegible name in my reply#19 is Leonora, then it makes Jane, Leonora, Metyer (grocer) and Mary (married J Postons) all siblings and children of Thomas Reynolds and Mary nee Peters. Also a Hannah bapt to Thomas and Mary 17 Dec 1753 so the right age to be the one whose marriage J Postons witnessed. They all fit together. Thomas was bapt 9 Mar 1716, his father was also Thomas, no name for wife - a space left on the register for her name but not filled in later. (Seen that a lot - very sloppy record keeping).
But still not a real connection to Rev Metyer apart from his being the curate in the same parish for about 4 years. The rector at the time was John Berners, but he had a couple of other parishes concurrently so probably left a lot of the everyday things to Metyer.
There are various internet references to Metyer being presented at Hethel and Bacton which were in the patronage of the Berneys and the Branthwaites. Sir Richard Berney married Dorothy Branthwaite of Hethel, so the familes were connected. Metyer was only 4 years a curate which seems quite short, so must have impressed the rector, who was probably related to the baronets.
Rev Metyer must have come from a family wealthy enough to send him to University to get his qualifications unless he had a wealthy benefactor. If the latter was the case, one possibility is he wasn't baptised Metyer but took the name of the benefactor, and it was perpetuated in other branches of the family.
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I can read leaoney. Well that's 4 syllables at least with the first 50% correct, but quite dyslexic. In view of other factors I think this is likely to be my 4x g grandmother so thanks!
I hadn't considered the possibility of an adopted name, as a mark of gratitude to a benefactor, in fact I didn't know it happened. The Metyer family of Salhouse and Woodbastwick were noted for charitable work...there still is a Metyer charity at Salhouse. Now did the Berneys or Branthwaites have an interest at Salhouse? Perhaps it was Metyer's skill as an organist at a young age which brought him to the notice of a benefactor. I'll investigate later but plan to watch some sport on TV tonight.
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The will of Metyer Reynolds. In summary form, headed "Archdeaconry of Suffolk". National archives. Real and personal estate to be converted to money.
Executors John Browne of Trowse nr. Norwich and Rbt. Reeves of Lowestoft, gent.
Legacies: Sarah Downing £50 a year for life. (Notes suggest she was 45).
Executors £50 each
£400 for establishment in perpetuity of a school in Gisleham to teach 6 poor boys to read.
Residue to nephews and nieces, children of my brothers and sisters, share and share alike, and if deceased to their children.
Scribbled note: value £614 duty paid £36.17 which I take to be the total value of his estate. website suggests at least £64,000 today in purchasing power.
Trowse again. The children of nephews and nieces would be the right generation for the children of Thomas and Mary at Hethersett. Likely that rector Metyer had assisted his family during his life.
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From the summary, it looks a pretty straightforward will. I wonder why disputes went on for some years afterwards. But if he did not actually name the nephews and neices (or his siblings whose children they were), then there might be people left out when the estate was divvied up and who popped up later and went to court to get their share.
The National Archive has a reference to the case so presumably hold documents relating to it. It is titled John Lowden v Henry Denny Berners and others and A-G (Attorney General), date range 1831-36 - so would be around the same time as the London Gazette was advertising for the heirs of the nephews and nieces. I wonder who John Lowden was?
This is much more intersting than my OH's Spexhall ancestors!
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Its a long winded process getting access to the document above. I'm waiting for an email estimate of the cost and then they post to me....if I think its value for money. My guess would be that any dispute relates to the £400 for the school which was certainly set up. Of course the newspaper ad suggests otherwise. I'll give that a look.
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National Archive have a reference to a case over the school.
Wood v Attorney General - ref TS 18 / 1023. The date is 1893 / 1894 so quite a lot later.
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Page 4 of this
http://heritage.suffolk.gov.uk/Data/Sites/1/media/parish-histories/gisleham.pdf
has the school date as in the 1840s, much later than the will and closer to the date of litigtion.
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Legacies: Sarah Downing £50 a year for life. (Notes suggest she was 45).
Executors £50 each
£400 for establishment in perpetuity of a school in Gisleham to teach 6 poor boys to read.
Residue to nephews and nieces, children of my brothers and sisters, share and share alike, and if deceased to their children.
Scribbled note: value £614 duty paid £36.17 which I take to be the total value of his estate.
If the estate was only worth £614, the executors remuneration and the bequest for the school would only leave less than 3 years annuity for Sarah Downing and nothing for the nephews and nieces.
I wonder who she was? At 45, she had the potential for quite a few more years,
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I checked freereg again for the "Livah" baptism it was the same date as the badly spelled Leonora not the 17th July. The reference was Archdeacon's transcripts not the PRs that Leonora came from. So with one more copying stage, less likely to be reliable.
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Metyer Reynolds started at Cambridge in 1733. Suppose he was 20, that takes us to 1713. John Reynolds is baptised to Thos and Mary 1712 and I have found no other references to him.
The Metyer family male line died out in 1727 leaving a widow and a paternal aunt, either of them might have tried to perpetuate the name.
I've emailed the Emanuel College archivist. We'll see how friendly they are.
Maybe I've misinterpreted the note added to the will suggesting its value. Of course Metyer may have given gifts during his life. In addition to Leonora's annuity, there is the estate of Metyer Reynolds Allen.
He was transported in 1824 for theft of an Ass. In 1892 Sophia Reynolds Allan Allen (don't ask), his niece, is granted administration of his estate valued at £50. Presumably by this time they though he would be deceased. Now presumably he wouldn't have been stealing Asses if he'd had £50 to his name in 1824. Could this be his share of the will, only paid out after a long delay?
Can't do much more for now. Will come back if anything arises.
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Apologies! John is the son not of Thomas and Mary but Thomas and (I think) Elizabeth.
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Hi,
No further records at Emmanuel. One little give away I think. Both the Norfolk Gazette and Ipswich Journal report the death of Metyer Reynolds, grocer of Norwich early in 1790. The Gazette gets the name correct: Metyer Renolds. The Journal has "John Metyer Reynolds". Seems like someone knew something but wires got crossed. I've written the story for publication in The Norfolk Ancestor. If you'd like a draft copy (3 sides) please advise how I may reach you. The attachment options provided above this message as I write seem fairly opaque....probably not appropriate for this purpose.
Regards. DC
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It may be of no help to anyone but FYI Lt Jay Bracey was later found dead on a beach! Sorry don;t have the details to hand- my interest is in a Thomas Bracey a sailor who first shows up in Devonport in 1791 and Portsmouth 1795. I suspect he may have been born in Yarmouth- as was Lt Jay. There is a will listed for jay Bracey on the A2A site which may have further leads for the OP.