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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Kent => Topic started by: RoserAncestors on Tuesday 19 January 16 06:09 GMT (UK)
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I am interested to hear what other Rootschatters think of the following theory:
I am descended from an Isaac Belsey Reynolds who was baptised on 24 May 1795 at St Dunstan and All Saints, Stepney, London to "James" Reynolds, "gent" of "MEOT" (Mile End Old Town). He married Ann Woodruff on 31 December 1816 at Walmer, Kent, with witnesses John ?Pittock and Susannah Woodruff.
I suspect that there could be some kind of error in the baptism record for Isaac Belsey Reynolds and that his parents were the "Thomas" Reynolds and Mary Belsey who married at St Katherine Creechurch London on 27 Feb 1785.
Thomas and Mary may have had the following children (parents all listed as Thomas & Mary):
1. Richard bap St Katherine Creechurch born 1 Mar 1785 bap 8 Apr 1785
2. Thomas George bap St Mary Whitechapel Stepney Nov 1786 (parents at Swan Street)
3. George Frederick bap St Mary Whitechapel Stepney Jan 1788 (parents at Swan Street)
4. Mary bap St Mary Whitechapel Stepney 20 Feb 1791 (parents at Prescot Street)
5. Henry bap St Mary Whitechapel Stepney 4 Jan 1793 (parents at Prescot Street)
6. Susanna bap St Dunstan Stepney 5 Mar 1797 (father of Mile End Old Town gentleman)
7. Samuel Bawtree bap St Dunstan Stepney 11 Aug 1799 (father of Mile End Old Town gentleman)
As noted above Isaac Belsey's father was also described as a gentleman of Mile End Old Town in his baptism in 1795, like the 1797 and 1799 baptisms above.
Isaac Belsey also had a son named George Frederick Reynolds with his wife Ann Woodruff (bap 27 Dec 1822 St Mary Whitechapel). He also had a daughter Mary Susanna.
I also think the Mary Belsey that Thomas Reynolds married in 1795 may have been the Mary Belsey baptised 1766 at Canterbury to Isaac Belsey and Mary (Pain). There appear to have been three Reynolds-Belsey marriages around the same time with connections to St Katherine Creechurch London, Adisham Kent or Nonington Kent:
1. John Pilcher Reynolds of St Katherine Creechurch married Elizabeth Belsey of Adisham at Adisham 1782 (licence record: "John Pilcher Reynolds of St Kath Creechurch London seedsman wid & Eliz Belsey of Adisham sp (23), at A. 14 Jan 1782.")
2. Henry Reynolds of Adisham married Judith Belsey of Nonington at Nonington 1784 ("Hy Reynolds of Adisham yeo bach (27) & Judith Belsey of Nonington sp, at N. 06 Jul 1784.")
3. the marriage of Thomas Reynolds and Mary Belsey at St Katherine Creechurch 1785 mentioned above
I suspect it may have been three brothers or kinsman who married three sisters. The women in the marriages fit nicely with the children of Isaac Belsey and Mary baptised at St Andres. Canterbury:
1. Elizabeth bap 3 Nov 1758
2. Judith bap 4 Oct 1763
3. Mary bap 23 May 1766
Two of the men fit nicely with the children of Thomas Reynolds and Elizabeth of Adisham, who also had a son called George Frederick in 1765 (like Thomas & Mary in 1788 and Isaac Belsey & Ann in 1822):
1. John Pilcher bap 30 Dec 1754
2. Henry bap 16 Feb 1757
I suspect the Thomas Reynolds who married Mary Belsey in 1785 was also connected to this Reynolds family.
I also have one other bit of quite speculative evidence - I have done an Ancestry DNA test and have been matched as a distant (5th to 8th) cousin of someone whose tree records that they are descended from a Thomas Belsey of Kent who married an Elizabeth Bass, but whose tree ends there. Other trees trace this Thomas Belsey back to the marriage of John Belsey and Mary Pilcher in 1672 in Kent, and a number of trees also trace the Isaac Belsey who married Mary Pain and had Elizabeth, Judith and Mary back to the same couple.
I am wondering if anyone can find any evidence to support (or disprove) my theories? I should note that other researchers have the May Belsey baptised 1766 marrying a William Bowman in Kent, which would disprove that theory.
Any thoughts very welcome.
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Regarding your first query, I think you may be right. If there are no other baptisms with James as a father in St Dunstans, then I would suspect there was an error in the register. Is there a James somewhere close on the same page?
And regarding your other theories, you might need to look at wills if any exist. This could help to put family members together.
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Thanks for that, much appreciated. Yes there is another child baptised son of a James Compton on the same day.
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I'm a descendant of George Frederick Reynolds b.1788, and have also been DNA tested (with FTDNA).
If you upload your results to Gedmatch we could see if we have a match.
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Thanks iawig, I'll send you a personal message :)
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Many thanks RoserAncestors, I've replied to your personal message by email.
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Hi, RoserAncestors, hope you are still active on this forum!
I'm a direct descendent of the Reynolds of Adisham family and I have a lot of the family pinned down to around 1580 (bit wobbly at the beginning). I also have a number of documents (electronic copies anyhow) from the Reynolds family who moved to London in the late 1700's, including a letter from J P Reynolds to his mother-in-law, a Mrs Belsey and a charming letter from a child, Mary Reynolds, who talks about her brother Isaac and sister Susannah, penned in 1801.
I've never been able to place the Reynolds of London (other than a record of John Pilcher Reynolds birth at Adisham in 1754) so you records certainly help - do you have any more??
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Hi Parazine, great to hear from you!
I would be very interested to see the tree you have for the Reynolds family. I'll try to message you privately. Here is what I have recorded for the London Reynolds family: https://www.geni.com/people/Thomas-Reynolds/6000000034559974084?from_flash=1&fsession_id=1501075374732&through=6000000034559974084
(I think Thomas' daughter Mary b.c. 1791 is probably the child who wrote the letter you mention.)
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Hi Parazine, yep I'm still around and thanks for the contact :)
I have a bunch of baptism and marriage records for the family of Thomas Reynolds and Mary nee Belsey that I would be very happy to send to you if you like. I've also spent quite a bit of time tracing the Belsey line back and I would be happy to invite you to my Ancestry tree so you can see the results.
I should add that since I wrote the above post I've uncovered more direct DNA evidence that my theories were correct.
I will send you a personal message with my email address.
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Hi Parazine, just tried to send you a personal message but it says your inbox is full and it won't let me. I think you need to post three times before you can send a message yourself so maybe you could post a couple of replies here and then send me a message with your email address - I'll then send you what I have. Cheers.
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Ah, OK, I just cleared my mailbox, it had a message in it! Can you try again?
Thanks
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And I'll reply again to make three!
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Just sent you a message with my email address, thanks.
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I am a descendant of Samuel Bawtree Reynolds (1799-1867), likely brother of Isaac Belsey Reynolds. Samuel, born at Stepney, married Mary Davison of Staple, Kent and they emigrated with their children to Ontario, Canada in 1850. I would be happy to supply details about SBR if you are interested.
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Hi djscott, thanks so much for your message. Yes I would indeed be interested to hear details about Samuel Bawtree Reynolds - I think we worked out where his middle name came from but I don't know much about his later life. The people who've replied here have done some great research about the origins of the family and particular branches etc. Some of it is recorded in my main Ancestry tree if you'd like to take a look. I'll send you a personal message with my email address :)