FOOT/DRAKE - Bere Ferrers

[united]

Looking for information about Christopher Foot, believed to have baptised 14 May 1743 in Bere Ferrers, who married Elizabeth Drake on 1 February 1773. They appear to have had at least 10 children.

If anyone has information about Christopher or Elizabeth, I would love to hear!

[basa364]

Hi,
im brand new to this site and was wondering if you could help. My ggg grandfather was John Drake 1791--1861 from Bere Ferrers, living in Monkeys Castle, im pretty sure he was married to Mary but i don't know her maiden name. I'm hoping John mught be related to your Elizabeth and was wondering if you had any info that could link them together.
     Thank You.

[united]

Hi - good to know these old posts are still read ....!!!
I am afraid I know very little indeed about the Drake family; so far as I can tell there is very little online for Bere Ferrers, and I have not managed to get to the record office in Exeter for a long time.  My only connection - so far - to the Drake name is Elizabeth, who married Christopher Foot in 1773.  Elizabeth appears to have been baptised in 1747, the daughter of John Drake and Mary Fursman, who married in 1746.  I have seen Elizabeth's baptism and the marriage of John and Mary in the parish register films at the record office - but ran out of time before I could look for any further baptisms - and I have never been back!
I do have a transcription of the marriages and burials at St Andrew's Church, Bere Ferrers, but "your" John is not there.
I presume you have census details for "your" John?  Just in case, I have had a quick look:

1841 HO107 piece 240 folio 11 page 17
Church Cot, Beer Ferris
John Drake, 50, ag lab, born Devon
Mary Drake, 20, born Devon
Christopher Drake, 13, born Devon
Mary Drake, 18 months, born Devon
William Drake, 14 months, born Devon

1851 HO107 piece 1883 folio 79 page 18
Monkeys Castle, Beerferris
John Drake, head, widower, 63, ag lab, born Beerferris
Jane Harry, daughter, married, 27, born Beerferris
Christopher Drake, son, unmarried, 22, labourer in lead mine, born Beerferris
Mary Ann Harry, granddaughter, 1 month, born Beerferris

1861 RG09 piece 1457 folio 54 page 7
Monkeys Castle, Beerferris
John Drake, head, widower, 71, sexton, farm labourer, born Beerferris

1871 RG10 piece 2142 folio 41 page 3
Well Farm, Beer Ferris
William Cole, head, married, 54, hind, born Thornbury
Elizabeth Cole, wife, married, 49, born Beerferris
John Cole, son, unmarried, 19, born Beerferris
Jane Cole, daughter, unmarried, 10, scholar,born Beerferris
John Drake, father, widower, 82, sexton, born Beerferris

Thought this 1871 might be yours - even though you say John died in 1861 - because of the occupation - but you probably know better!!

Sorry I cannot be of more (any!) help - I have not done any research on the Drake family for ages because I came to a brick wall, but you have prompted me to have another look online to see if there is anything new, or maybe I will have a look at the Devon Family History Society website to see if they have any new publications about Beer Ferrers - I doubt that I will get to Exeter in the near future!  If I find anything about your John - I will certainly let you know.  Please keep "my" Elizabeth in your thoughts if you make any further discoveries ....!!!

Best wishes
Barbara

[united]

Hi again
I have been rummaging around in my old files and folders in search of anything further I could find about the Drake family; I had not looked in this box for years!
I have found a family tree that was sent to me some years ago – and I cannot find the accompanying letter, so have no idea who sent it!
However, there is some information that may point you in another direction, and it does look as though “my” Elizabeth and “your” John may well be from the same family.
I have already said that I believe my Elizabeth to be the daughter of John Drake and Mary Fursman who married on 7 September 1746 at Bere Ferrers.  I can confirm that marriage; I have seen it in the parish register, and it also appears on the transcript I have of the burials and marriages at St Andrew’s, Bere Ferrers.
The family tree I have found shows that John and Mary had (at least) 2 children:
(my) Elizabeth, baptised August 1747
John, born 1753 and died (or was buried – it is not clear) 19 July 1831

So, concentrating on John for a moment – he appears to have married Celia Foote (who may, or may not, be connected to Elizabeth’s husband Christopher) at Bere Ferrers on 29 April 1782.  This is not on my transcript – I will check the dates covered when I have a minute.
John and Celia had a son, John, who married Mary Harris on 29 October 1814 at Bere Ferrers.  No dates for John, but Mary apparently was born 1784 and died 1832, which fits with the census information.
John and Mary appear to have had 6 or 7 children, amongst them, Jane who married William Harry in 1850 in Plymouth (census).  Other children are listed, along with their children; if you think this is correct, I will give you the rest!

Back up the tree, John Drake who married Mary Fursman, appears to have been baptised on 23 January 1721, and this baptism is on the IGI.  John is the son of William Drake and Phillipa, formerly Stockman, who married at Bere Ferrers on 7 September 1715.  This marriage is on my transcript.  William and Phillipa had a further son, William, baptised 24 March 1719 (from IGI).  William’s father is said to be Edmund – no dates!
I will have another root around and see if I can find anything else; this has reawakened my interest in the Drakes – thank you!

[basa364]

Hello Barabara,
 Thank you so much for your help.As i mentioned i'm new to this area of research and have just about exhausted the GRO and census info for all the branches of my family, and i am just dipping my toe into parish records. I don't even know what IGI records are and don't know how to go about viewing county records,( i'am excited about learning though).
   your info is fantastic as William Harry who marries Jane Drake is my gg grandfather. If you could let me have his fathers siblings info that would be great. Also it looks like John Drake lives longer than i thought, (he must be the sexton from1871). We may even be very distantly related if Christopher and Celia are from the same family.
once again thank you very much.   Kevan

[united]

Hi Kevan - or should I say Hi 6th cousin Kevan - since I am almost sure that we share common 5xgreat grandfathers - and by my reckoning, that makes us 6th cousins!  I think your 4xgreat grandfather, John Drake, and my 4xgreat grandmother, Elizabeth Drake, were brother and sister - children of John Drake and Mary Fursman.
I have checked the transcript of marriages and burials from Bere Ferrers, and the marriage dates covered are 1538-1753, burials 1754-1812, which will be why a couple of the marriages I have already quoted are not on the transcript; the Devon Family History Society may have more information - I need to check their website.
I will send a personal message with the details of Jane Drake's children, as I have them, but have to emphasise that I have not confirmed any of these.  Since they seem to be part of my family too, I will have to have a look!
As I have already said, I have not looked at this family for years; there may be much more around now.  I cannot now remember why I did not follow up some of this before when I first acquired this tree; maybe I did, and did not get anywhere!  William Drake and Phillipa Stockman rings faint bells though, so I must have done something!
Best wishes
Barbara

[RichardK]

Hello - another distant cousin belatedly joining in the thread - I too am descended from William Richard Harry and Jane Drake and have been looking at the Drakes of Bere Ferrers.  John Drake and Mary Harris appear to have had seven children, the youngest of whom was baptised Christopher Foote Drake, making a connection with the Christopher Foot already mentioned highly likely.  They also had a daughter named Celia Drake, presumably named after John's mother Celia Foot by the looks of information on this thread.  I've been putting what I've got on WeRelate:
http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Family:John_Drake_and_Mary_Harris_%281%29

Do you have a baptism for the John Drake son of John Drake and Celia Foot?
Many thanks
Richard.

[basa364]

Hello Richard,
               I'm afraid i dont' have a baptism date for john, my information on this line came from a lady who had visited the records office in Exeter. When i get round to it, (i'm up to my eyeballs in garden landscaping at the moment), i intend to join the Devon family history society, it seems that they have data from the Bere Ferrers records.
                                     good luck withyour search, Kevan.

[Sssence]

Looking for information about Christopher Foot, believed to have baptised 14 May 1743 in Bere Ferrers, who married Elizabeth Drake on 1 February 1773. They appear to have had at least 10 children.

If anyone has information about Christopher or Elizabeth, I would love to hear!

Hi I have a Mary Foot/Foote b c1776 married 1794 to William Reed and had 10 or so children.
Cannot see any baptism for her though to fit her into the Christopher/Elizabeth Foot family. None of the Reed boys are Christopher though!