I have found an inscription recorded at Tewin church:
"Here lyeth the Body of
George White Gent
Who descended lineally from
Ralph White Esq
Of Feifeild Manor in the County
of Berks
Brother of Sir Thomas White
Founder of St Johns Coll in Oxford
He Dyed May 16, 1692
In the 80th Year of his age"
(from ‘The Historical Antiquities of Hertfordshire’ by Sir Henry Chauncy)
George White was my 10x great-grandfather
I have got George’s will and that refers to his wife, Hannah and to two daughters: Hannah and Sarah
What I haven’t been able to find is any record of George’s marriage, and so I don’t know his wife, Hannah’s, maiden/ family name. There are several references in later years to land changing ownership across several generations within this family, and, if George’s family came from Berkshire rather than Hertfordshire, then this land must logically have belonged to his wife’s family. The land is variously referred to (in A2A searches at the National Archives website) as Thunderidge Marsh/ Thunder Marsh/ Southistle Field called Southgate... in the Manor of Rennesley/ The Manor of Marshalls Youngs and Sootes. I am not sure if these documents (extending over almost the whole of the 1700’s) are referring to exactly the same land or to different places; I simply don’t know the area at all.
Sarah, George and Hannah’s daughter, married John Wheatley at Tewin in Feb 1671 and that couple lived in London.
Another intriguing detail concerning this family is that George and Hannah’s grandson/ Sarah and John’s son, who had indeed gone to Oxford by means of a scholarship as he could prove that he was also directly descended from Sir Thomas White, was Rev Charles Wheatley who was vicar at Pelham Furneaux from 1726-1742. Was that a coincidence or did his grandmother’s family have any influence over who held that ‘living’?
I am especially keen to locate George White’s marriage (and therefore Hannah’s family name), to know more about the land referred to, and to know if Rev Charles Wheatley becoming vicar at Pelham Furneaux had any connection with his grandmother’s family.
Any help or suggestions where to look for answers to these questions would be very welcome.
