Money Mystery

[Spidermonkey]

Personally my next move would be to establish whether his father in law, Bartholomew Blenkiron left a will, and how much he left and to whom. This could be the origin of the wealth; remember there was no married women's property act before the 1880s.

If he was the Bartholomew Blenkiron who died in 1875, he left effects of under £200.  His will was proved by John Blenkiron, son and George SMith, timber merchant.

[verezzi]

He's the grandson of my Bartholomew I believe- there are a million Bartholomew Blenkirons through the ages! I need to find out when my Bartholomew died next time I go to the archives.

Thanks again,

Dan

[Redroger]

Yes, I think Bartholomew will prove to be the key to the situation.

[Roger in Sussex]

Hi Dan,

Do think your John Petty might have been a participator in a tontine? (See Wikipaedia under Tontine for more information.)

His parents might have invested a quite modest sum in his name when he was a child,
but when he was getting older, he would probably have received an increasing interest payment each year as his fellow participants started to die off.

He lived a long life for those days, from 1764 to 1846, and his "independent means", would have stood him in good stead as he grew older.

Just a thought.

Roger

[verezzi]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I'd never heard of Tontine by the way! Next time I can get to the Yorkshire archives I'll start to research the Blenkiron line and see if there is a will, perhaps John's will will provide a clue if it exists and it is there. It's not just the 'money mystery' though for me but why his family did not benefit until only the daughter was left, my poor ag labbing ancestor toiled away while his father's money remained untouched. I wonder why John Harland left the will 'unadminstered', I looked him up on the Marrick census and he appears to be a rich man of property himself and perhaps he is the source of the money? Time will tell.

Best regards,

Dan

[Genie24]

Hi Dan,
I have just come across your old postings after researching those same lines of Pettys and Blenkirons. I think I may have some information that may help but is has been a while since your last post so you may have it all sorted out by now.
I think it is possible that the money came from Elizabeth Moore - wife of Bartholomew Blenkiron and Hannah's mother. Elizabeth was the sister of my great x 6 grandmother Mary Moore - 1733-1799. She firstly married George Dent (Baker) in 1752 on Marrick then after his death married Nathan Cansick in 1776 also in Marrick. They had one son Nathan Cansick who according to a lady in the Upper Dales Family History Group, who contacted me , became a solicitor in London with the backing of his Uncle James Moore. He later has a son named after him James Moore Cansick.
Whilst researching the name Nathan Cansick, I came across an old Google Book -  Cases in Chancery 1822 Dent vs Pepys which is quite confusing but relates to a contested will of an unamed testastor who I have worked out was James Moore. He leaves 2 fifths of his estate to his eldest sister Mary's children. He had two other sisters Eliza who died in infancy in 1732 and Elizabeth Moore who married Bartholomew Blenkiron. I think it is possible that he left the remaining estate to Elizabeth's children.
 The Chancery document confirmed everything I have in that part of my tree. My great x 5 grandfather was William Dent of Reelshead Farm Marrick. He is named in the document. He married firstly Dorothy Taylor then Edith Temple my great x 5 grandmother. William had 6 children two to Dorothy and 4 to Edith.
I recently found James's will on Ancestry. He died on 30th January 1817 in Percy Street, London and the date of probate was 3rd April. Residence Bedford Square. The will is quite long and I haven't transcribed it yet. I may need the help of the people in the UDFHG.
I found all of this out by accident really. One of their daugters Mary was my great x 4 and married Joseph Imison from Coverham. I found a document Index to death duty and one of the executors was George Pickering of Reelshead, Marrick. This led me to find George's marriage to Edith Dent. Mary was their witness. George also witnessed Mary and Joseph's marriage in Coverham.
I was interested to find out the details of John Petty's occupations over time. I am assuming that came from the baptism records of his children.
Please let me know if you have discovered any further developments.
Julie

[verezzi]

Hi Julie,

Thanks for the reply, you are right, the money did come from James Moore who went to London and made his fortune as a conveyencer. One of his witnesses or executors on the will (can't remember which) was Ottywell Robinson also from the Marrick and Grinton area and who also went to London. I completed a lot of research after these posts including Nathan Cansick who James says in the will lost him a great deal of money. If you do a search on the online google books you will find some poems by Nathan Cansick, the address given confirms it is him as I can link him to those addresses through baptisms etc. James Moore was an interesting fellow and adopted one of his sister Mary's grandchildren. I ended up writing a social history book on the Petty family and there's a large section on the Blenkirons and Moores.

I have James' will, I found the google books reference you referred to and then bought the will on the offchance that it was him and luckily it was. I have transcribed the thing too and typed it up into a word document- and a right pain it was! I also have his wife's will, she owned property in her own right being from a rich northern family, her surname was Ettrick and there is still an Ettrick's Quay in Sunderland that belonged to her, she mentions it in her will I have a few other wills and documents pertaining to James including his marriage certificate and info relating to the Cansicks. If you are interested I would be happy to send you these? There is still a headstone at Marrick priory for the Dents on this line, can't remember exactly but it might have been a George and Dorothy. I have a photo of it somewhere.

Thanks for getting in touch, I will look at your information properly tomorrow, I seem to remember the Moore family were at Reelshead farm, James' father is mentioned in a parish record as a resident there.

Dan

[Genie24]

Hi Dan,
Delighted to hear from you. I have spent a lot of time today transcribing the James Moore will which is incidently on Ancestry. I was thrilled to find it as the Case in Chancery left me wanting to know more. I usually send wills to the Upper Dales Family History Group to transcribe but I was impatient. I struggled with parts of it though and it is the missed words which make a difference.
Yes Ottywell Robinson was born in 1776 in Grinton and I believe went to London around 1800. I have seen the poems of Nathan Cansick too. I am wondering what he did to lose so much money. Surely there must be a reference in the newspapers at that time.
I wasn't aware that James adopted Elizabeth Dent. How did you find out?
I have been to the Marrick Priory Graveyard but sadly very few stones remain. Dozens of my ancestors were baptised and buried there.  The grave you refer to was Dorothy Dent (nee Taylor) my great x 5 grandfather's first wife who died aged 21. I also found one of a William Dent of Woodhouse who died in 1908 and wife Barbara who died 1914. They are showing on the census but were born in Durham. It is possible that he was born to a native of Marrick and then moved back. I am going to look into it.
I would love to see anything you have pertaining to these families and also to know your connection.  In particular Ann Ettrick's will. They married late in life, she was a spinster and he a bachelor at their marriage and had no issue. I didn't know about Ettrick's Quay which is interesting as I was born in Sunderland and live nearby.
On George Moore's baptism on 1706, it states that his father Lancelot Moore's abode was Reelshead but no mention on the others. I tried to find it and think the place we found probably was it but there were no signs so can't be sure.
If you can find the time, please forward any documents, or research that you have. Maybe I can help you with something too.

[verezzi]

Hi Julie,

I am off at the moment so have a rare bit of time, I live in Stockton on Tees- not too far away from Sunderland I have some maps with the location of Ettrick's Quay marked on. If you private message me an email address on here then I can send you all the information I have.

As to newspaper articles, there are a few I have found relating to James Moore but none to Nathan Cansick, I am not sure what he did but it didn't stop James providing for his children. I have some other wills that mention James Moore including a relative of his wife's. I kept getting these Blenkiron wills that mentioned his legacy to them, one was for an Elizabeth Dent who married into the Blenkiron line- she was Mary Moore's daughter, her son Matthew Blenkiron married Elizabeth Garthwaite and when he died Elizabeth Garthwaite married the son of the John Petty mentioned on this rootschat page, small world. i am descended from John and Elizabeth. I have an ancestry tree called schilver, some of my bits and pieces may be uploaded there but it will be quite a sporadic mix. There is quite a lot of odd stuff too e.g. Photos of James Moore's house interior, oddly Ottywell and his wife's portraits were sold on ebay around 2011-12 so I have saved those images too, shame it wasn't James.

Best regards,

Dan