Mackinder

[BaldGenie]

I was first alerted to having Scottish drovers as ancestors in a letter in 1986 from some Lincolnshire genealogists. It rang true because my grandparents had owned a butcher's shop in Skegness, Lincolnshire, in the first half of the 1900's. Also, according to the 1861 Census, my great, great grandfather, Wingate Mackinder, was a "Cattle Dealer" in Hundleby, Lincolnshire. However, the letter claimed that two Scottish droving brothers had settled in Lincolnshire in the 1700's. This is proved wrong by Artemas being born in Lincolnshire in 1575 and his father Jacob in 1550(?). It was delightful to see Artemas' Will, and also to know that he owned cattle.
Artemas is of special significance to me in being the link between Sir Halford Mackinder's branch of the family (through Artemas' son William) and mine (through Artemas' son James). I even have a grandson named after him!
My father, John Mackinder, grew up in Lincolnshire and was a Hurricane pilot in WW2. His WW2 memoirs are freely available at http://www.shades-of-blue-and-khaki.co.uk. Unfortunately the website is currently in its 2004 format, so is somewhat clunky. Each chapter can be downloaded individually to reveal the full text and photographs.

[wildwitch]

My local archive is Lincoln and I have spent many years searching for original Mackinder records there.

I have a copy of Artemas Makender’s (of Marber (Marlborough) in the parish of Aubourn) will as well and there is a surviving inventory showing the contents of his house too which can be viewed for free online on Lincs to the past. His property was worth £44 18s and 4d. Drawn up by Richard Burrow, Robert Ruxton, Isaac Beverley and William Chamberlane

Inventory - Makender Artemas (1623-1624) IV/128/317

The earliest surviving parish register for Aubourn parish held at Lincoln archives is Aubourn par/1/1, which starts in 1749. so unless a very early 16th century Register for this parish exists at another archive or in private hands there will only be surviving Bishops Transcripts for Aubourn before 1749! These are held at Lincoln Archives and I have viewed these and have copies. There are only 3 surviving BTS records however for Aubourn before 1588 (1562/3, 1565/6 and 1569/70) It is indeed rare to find surviving parish registers for small Lincolnshire parishes going back to the mid 1550s, most did not survive the damp conditions they were kept in, plus the mice etc. Of course as said anything could be in private hands! On 27.6.1823 the Stanford Mercury published a search for some Spilsby solicitors searching for the marriage record of John and Ann Mackinder of Reepham, clearly many have researched the Mackinders before us and records could have gone into private hands!

The BTS record for Aubourn for 1562/3 records Artemas‘s baptism as:‘ Artemas Macant‘r was christened ye XX day of May.’ No parent was recorded with this entry! Unless a surviving parish register can be found though it is impossible to prove whether this is the exact baptism for our Artemas since infants frequently died and later born siblings took on their name.

Jacob Makender husbandman of Haddints (Haddington) in the parish of Aubourn indeed died in 1606 and his will is also held at Lincoln archives (reference Nr: LCC Wills 1606/260) as well as his inventory (INV/10/404). I have a copy of this will dated 29.5.1606 and it does not conclusively show any evidence at all that Artemas or Robert were his sons. Both men were mentioned in the will, but quite far down the list and with no explanation of relationship to Jacob, both getting 10s each, the same amount as most of Jacobs siblings got, but less than Jacob’s nephew and niece!. It is therefore possible that they were his sons, but strange they were listed after most other relatives and without the reference ‘son’! Jacob lists his wife Alice, but doesn’t refer to anybody as his child in his will. He may therefore have died childless! He also mentioned a large number of his siblings/siblings in law as well as his mother Elizabeth Gresswell who was still alive in 1606! There is no record to suggest when Jacob was born (that I have ever seen myself, unless a parish register is found). This and the fact his mother and many siblings were still alive makes me think he was more likely a young or middle aged man when he died, therefore too young to be Artemas’s father). Artemas after all was probably 43/44 years old himself in 1606! Jacob’s mother’s Gresswell surname suggests clearly that Jacobs Mackinder father was dead.  Artemas may have therefore been Jacob’s brother or cousin as well. Jacob listed the following ‘siblings’ (including in laws) the term was used quite widely so of course may include his wife’s siblings, step siblings etc: Isabel Ruxton (sister) and Robert Ruxton (brother in law) and their children James and Elizabeth Ruxton; William Gresswell (‘my brother’), Christopher Goodwine (‘my brother’), Elizabeth Wright (‘my sister’), John Brown (‘my brother in law and overseer of will’) Two other people were recorded without mention of their relationship to Jacob: Anthony Hewing and Elizabeth Brand and her sister, who shared 8d between the two of them.

Jacob’s step father William Gresswell (husband of Elizabeth) died in 1603 (buried 6.3 according to BTS record).

Note also that a Robert Ruxton helped draw up Artemas’s inventory in 1624, which could have been the brother in law mentioned 18 years earlier by Jacob!

Robert Makender was certainly an adult by 1606 since he is one of the men who drew up Jacob’s inventory

[wildwitch]

In the absence of a parish register (and lack of early BTS records) we can therefore only use whatever other records have survived to understand who Artemas’s ancestors were.

1. The 3 BTS records previously mentioned (the only ones surviving before 1587/8 for Aubourn) reveal further Mackinder evidence. In 1562/3 there were two Mackinder baptisms without a father being recorded: Artemas (20.5) and Alice Macant’r (21.2) these clearly both had different mothers and therefore also most likely different fathers! So two adult Mackinder males were probably fathering children in Aubourn in 1562/3 but their names are not certain. A Robert Macant’r though was church warden that year and thus probably father of one of these two children!

2. The BTS record for Aubourn 1565/6 shows: Robert Macat’r was buried XXV April. So probably the previously mentioned church warden? The BTS record for 1569/70 doesn’t record any Mackinder

3. Robert Mackinder was also one of the men who drew up the inventory for Thomas Lansdall of Aubourn on 23.1.1561

4. Thomas Macanter is recorded as a witness in the will of Jenner Tubbe of Aubourn on 20.10.1569 (LCC wills 1569/i/38). This gives us a second name of an adult male Mackinder in Aubourn in the 1560s. Thomas Makynder also appears as one of the men drawing up the following inventories in Aubourn: William Vesse (1574) and Nicholas Bennett (1569/70, vicar of Aubourn),

5. So both Robert and Thomas Mackinder could have been Artemas’s fathers. The BTS records and early Mackinder wills for Aubourn though show that in the 1590-1620 region there were several adult male Mackinders in Aubourn fathering or able to father children: Artemas and Robert (likely brothers since they were named in Jacob Mackinders will together in 1606) and John and Anthony who were definitively brothers (see John’s will dated 1624) and seem to have been younger than Artemas and Robert, judging by when they had children. Jacob as previously mentioned may have been the brother of Artemas and Robert.

6. We can find evidence of one earlier Mackinder generation in inventories and wills for Aubourn! William Mackinder was certainly alive and an adult in Aubourn on 8.4.1541 when he was one of the men drawing up the inventory for Thomas Chamberlayn of Auburn (INV/10/187) original record can be viewed on the Lincs to the past website! William also was a witness on 22.7.1546 to the will of Robert Tubbe of Auburn (LCC wills 1545-6 i/56). William Mackinder died in 1555-6 and his original inventory can also be viewed on Lincs to the past! (INV/28/105) inventory Mackant’r William. Dated 28.11. Sadly I haven’t found a matching will yet for this inventory. I do though recon that William was the father of both Robert and Thomas and thus grandfather of Artemas.

[BaldGenie]

Wow! Thanks so very much wildwitch for sharing your extensive & painstaking research. It seems each piece of the jigsaw adds more intrigue without ever quite closing the circle! I will need to pour through it many times more, together with the conclusions of Machis, before I get close to understanding these early relationships.
Nine years ago, when I was researching the family tree for my late father, I relied for my 16th & 17th century data on a tree placed on an ancestry website by a Robin Beard, who I was never able to make contact with. I was unable to substantiate any of his data, and much now seems inaccurate. Robin had Artemas as 1575-1642, which, if I understand correctly, should be 1562-1624. He had Artemas' father as Jacob (1550-1606), which again seems false. In addition to the sons & daughters named in Artemas' Will, Robin also has recorded Artemas having an eldest son, John (b1591), who had three children, Elizabeth (b1611), Francis (b1611) and Thomas (b1614). Is this correct?
Does anyone know about the Mackinder clocksmiths of Spilsby, Lincolnshire? I have recently acquired a grandfather clock supposedly made by a William Mackinder in the 1840s, which has "Mackinder Spilsby" on the clock face. Initial searches suggest there was a family of three clocksmith Mackinders in Spilsby named Thomas, Townson and William. Hence I am guessing they could be Townson (1777-1836), his son William (b1805) and possibly Townson's uncle Thomas (1723-1779)? 

[wildwitch]

William Mackinder the clockmaker was the son of Townson Mackinder (1777-1836). Townson in turn was the son of Charles Mackinder (Born 1728 in Langton by Partney). Charles in turn was the son of John Mackinder (1690-1771) and Ann. John and Ann are my direct ancestors and I descend from their son James (1730-98) who was a yeoman in Spilsby.
This John Mackinder (1690-1771) was the great-Great grandson of our Artemas.  In other words these Spilsby Mackinders were descendants of the Aubourn Mackinders through Artemas.

John Mackinder was born in Washingborough in 1690 and moved to Langton by Partney (just a stones throw from Spilsby). He was the clerk for Burrell Massingberd of South Ormsby manor (the Manor House still exists) and manorial records (cashbook) in John‘s hand writing have survived at Lincoln archives. John earned £20/annum from this work. His wife Ann initially stayed at Reepham near Lincoln, where John had inherited lands and tenements from his father in 1719. Ann must though have followed John to the Langton area by 1726, since their daughter Dinah was baptised that year at South Ormsby and they stayed there.

Now back to Artemas and Aubourn. He did indeed have a son named John - we know this from Artemas’s will. He was in fact quite interesting.  There was a John Macander baptised at Aubourn on 29.8.1591, but the father’s name was not recorded. You can find this baptism in the original Bishops Transcripts (BTS) held at Lincoln archives. I cannot find any other potential baptism for a son of Artemas named John, but of course his will states he had a son by that name. Artemas married his first wife Jane Chamberlain in June 1590, so could absolutely have had a son named John in 1591. This though would have made John his first born child. There is though something odd about John mentioned in Artemas‘s will. John would have been 33 years old when this will was written providing we have the correct baptism! The entry reads: ‘I give unto my sonne John Makender Xiid in full satisfaction of his Childe person.’ This could mean that John was a child, but then where is his baptism? Sometimes indeed parish records are incomplete, but then there would also be a burial missing for the John born in 1591. Or maybe it could mean that John was ‘child like’ in behaviour for example had learning disabilities or he was not deemed sensible, maybe had mental health problems or simply made decisions his father did not agree with. I have an interesting 17th century court case in a completely different branch of my family, where my female ancestor inherited freehold property because her brother (the only son) was not deemed sensible in view of his ‘lunacy’ the poor guy allegedly developed mental health problems after some girl broke his heart (so the court records say). We do have to remember that the 17th century was a very different place. I have at any rate not found what happened to Artemas’s son John after 1624.

There was though another John Mackinder in Aubourn at the time, a yeoman farmer, who died in 1625/6 (buried 27.5.1625/6 in Aubourn). This will will clarify things for you. It is this John who had his children Elizabeth and Frances baptised in April 1611 and Thomas in 1614. I mentioned this John previously, he was the brother of Anthony Mackinder. John’s original will can be obtained from Lincoln Archives order code: LCC Wills 1624-5/417 and I have a copy. The will dated 24.5.1625 even has his own signature showing he could sign his name. This will mentions all of his surviving children and shows that he was born before 1591! His eldest son was William (born 1599 at South Hykeham died 1667, left a will), next son John born in 1603/4 in Aubourn (died 1665, left a will), Thomas (1614-1671 Tailor in Aubourn, left a will and inventory), Mary (eldest daughter according to will, born 1605/6 Aubourn), Frances (youngest daughter according to will). Elizabeth wasn’t mentioned in the will since she died in infancy in 1611/2 (buried 23.2.).

Thomas Makender’s inventory can be viewed online on the Lincs to the Past website reference: INV/173/34. The same website also has original images for the Aubourn inventories of John Makender (1624-5) (INV/129/408), Artemas Makender (1623-1624) (INV/128/317), Jacob Makender (1605-1606) (INV/101/404) and Anthony Makender (2 May 1639) the brother of John who died in 1625 (INV/149/54)

[arthurk]

There is though something odd about John mentioned in Artemas‘s will. John would have been 33 years old when this will was written providing we have the correct baptism! The entry reads: ‘I give unto my sonne John Makender Xiid in full satisfaction of his Childe person.’ This could mean that John was a child, but then where is his baptism? Sometimes indeed parish records are incomplete, but then there would also be a burial missing for the John born in 1591. Or maybe it could mean that John was ‘child like’ in behaviour for example had learning disabilities or he was not deemed sensible, maybe had mental health problems or simply made decisions his father did not agree with.

I haven't seen the will, but from the context, it seems to me that the phrase is most likely to be "in full satisfaction of his Childe portion" (possibly spelled 'porcion', or 'porcon' with a contraction mark). This refers to the amount or proportion which the offspring of the deceased were entitled to inherit, and doesn't in itself imply anything about John's age or mental capacity.

[BaldGenie]

Thanks Wildwitch for the information on William Mackinder, my clockmaker. It makes the clock even more precious to me, now I know how closely related I am to its maker. I am descended from Charles' (William's grandfather) and James' younger brother Jonathan (1735-1825). It seems William had three daughters and no sons, so the clockmaking business must have died with him, although I have no date for his death.

[Machis]

Thought this might be interesting to some. Definitely shows how family history research has evolved.
Sir Halford wrote regarding an inquiry in 1941 by a young lad, Charles Mackinder.

In reply to your letter of 22nd July, here are a few statements for which I can vouch. I was the son of Draper Mackinder III who was the son of Draper Mackinder !!, who was the son of Draper Mackinder !, whose wife was Elinor Draper. The said John and Elinor Mackinder had five children of whom the eldest was Elizabeth and she is in the register of Rowston Church, Lincolnshire, as having been born on 14th Sept. 1740 - that is the earliest date I possess. My father (1818-1912) left among his papers a short note dictated by his father (Draper Mackinder !! above) to the effect that John M. above was one of two Scots brothers who went to England and each took up 1,000 acres of newly enclosed land in Lincolnshire, and that Elinor Drpaer was the daughter of an English farmer at Rowston.
The descendants of these two brothers became a numerous stock of the name Mackinder in the county of Lincolnshire and overflowed into Leicestershire, Rutland and Yorkshire. So far as I know my father was the first of the name to be connected with the ancestral Scotland. He studied medicine at Anderson's College and the Royal Infirmary in Glasgow, graduated as M.D. at St. Andrews and when he died was one of the three senior Fellows of the ROyal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. But he practiced his profession at Gainsborough, Lincolnshire.
One day while I was M.P. for Camlachie I walked away from a meeting with the Duke of Argyll, Princess Louise's husband, and suddenly, apropos of nothing he turned to me and said, "I am sure your name in MAC-AN-DEOIR." I can hear him now tolling those three vowels in that order -EOI - round his tongue. I believe he was a Celtic scholar.
Around the same time I received a letter dated 3rd Feb. 1911 from a Celtic scholar resident in Manchester who was unknown to me. His name was A. Macarthur Loft. He said in so many words that my name was a corruption of the Gaelic "Mack-an-Deoir" or Macindeor. He added in brackets (Deoradh=pilgrim). If that be so then Deor or Deoir is the equivalent of the English Palmer which also signifies a pilgrim. He finished by telling me that the Macindeors are a branch of the MacNabs of Glendochart at the head of Loch Tay. You will probably know that the last MacNab of MacNab and some hundreds of his clanspeople migrated to Canada in 1821 having got into financial trouble.
Here is all I know on the subject. I was too busy with practical affairs to follow up those clues and now I am too old to seek new evidence. But if your researches lead to definite facts indisputably established I should be much interested. My kind regards to an old constituent.
(Sir) H.J. Mackinder
PS There are now Mackinders, migrants from England in USA New Zealand, Australia and I believe, Canada.

[BaldGenie]

Thanks, Machis, for sharing this historic document. It explains the letter I received in 1986, unsolicited and purely on the basis of my surname. That letter referred to two Scottish brothers who each purchased 1000 acres of land in Lincolnshire in the 1700s - clearly this is straight from Sir Halford. Unfortunately the note in his Sir Halford's father's papers must have omitted at least four generations prior to John II & Elinor: ie John I (b 1673?), Joseph(b1621?), William(b1595?) and Artemas(b1575), who were all born in Lincolnshire.
The "Mack-an-Deoir" derivation of our surname is replicated in a "handwritten history" of the surname that I purchased in 1995. Do we think this is based purely the supposition of the Duke of Argyll? My handwritten history claims there are documents referring to a Colin Macindoyr in Fife c.1250. I also note the in the Lincolnshire Archives there is a book "Long Road from Loch Awe. A Mackinder Family History". Does anyone know how I can get hold of a copy, and does it contain more substantial data on the Scottish connection?