Wightmans of Framlingham (and Websters)

[Rezillo]

I haven't really got much further with Deborah. Yes, there are a lot of Wightmans/Whitemans in the Framlingham area but the only birth I've found even close is for a Deborah Whiting as the illegitimate daughter of Eleanor at Burston, 10 miles from Stradbroke, in 1760.

Their eldest son Edmund was first indentured to James Garrod of Stradbroke, which supports an area connection with Framlingham.

Jesse was removed from Leiston to Framlingham in 1817 as having no settlement rights. He married at Framlingham in the same year.

The cordwainer that Joshua was apprenticed to was John Ling.

Isaac Webster was apprenticed by the parish to Samuel Wightman of Framlingham, a carrier. in 1817. He was a 'poor child of 14 years'.

Samuel and Lucy's gravestone is in Thornham Magna churchyard.

Any more info gratefully received. Joshua is a minor mystery - he may have a son in 1825, son of Joshua and Margaret.

[Suffolk Mawther]

I have a Jesse Wightman china cup and saucer which would have been sold from his shop in Well Close Square, glass, china, grocer and draper.

John Wightman was a joiner living in Double Street.
Jonathan Wightman was a Malster living in Well Close Square.
Samuel Wightman was a tailor living in Double Street.
Samuel Wightman Cabinet Maker (broker).
Jonathan Wightman a farmer at Wormwood Hills.

Taken from White's Framlingham 1844 when husband's ancestors were blacksmiths in the town.

SM

[Phodgetts]

Edmund and Deborahs's gravestone is right by the main entrance to Framlingham churchyard. It is quite a substantial one and an inscription area is worn off but fortunately it was recorded in a 19thC newspaper article. It was a verse about Edmund being a bellringer at the church. I left a copy of this article in the church's grave index book a couple of years ago but I don't know if it is still there.

I visted the church a few days ago, sadly the article you mention is not in the grave index book. I was full of expectation to see it and was disappointed not to be able to see it. Are you able to share it with us here please?

Philip

[Dulverton]

Perhaps you could try & get hold of a copy of "History of the Wightman Family" by Bryan l'Anson?
This book was privately published at the end of WW1.

[Rezillo]

This is part of a larger article that appears to be number 9 of a series. It is a shame the article has gone as it has several other Framlingham gravestones similarly transcribed
----------------
Ipswich Journal 11 July 1882

The graveyards of Suffolk with ancient and modern epitaphs.

What may be termed a professional epitaph is that over the grave of "Edmund Webster" whose chiming proclivities during a long life were not forgotten after his death, which took place June 8th, 1834, aged 79 years. His epitaph at one corner of Framlingham churchyard is as follows:

In the year seventeen hundred and eighty four
To chime he did begin,
And constant with rising companies
He many years was seen.
His last great peal for a wedding was,
Which he performed with glee,
So the years he was a chimer,
Above you may plainly see.

The above is evidently truthful and to the point, though it does not say much for the poetic talent of the writer.
----------------

Being a bellringer probably explains the rather grand gravestone for a family that seems to have been poor. Deborah's funeral bills were paid by the church (original document in the Record Office). The church also seems to have secured the indenture of at least some of the family's children to respectable Framlingham businessmen.

Deborah's surname is recorded in the baptism records for her children as Whiting, Wighting, Wightman and Whiteman. A Deborah Whiting of Athelington married an Edward Webster of Framlingham at Athelington in 1784, the year that the above epitaph has as the start of of his bellringing career. They had a daughter Elizabeth baptised at Stradbroke in 1785 who may have died at Framlingham in 1789. I was hoping the recent baptism cd release by SFHS that covers 18thC Framlingham might cast some light on Edmund/Edward's origins but he is not listed there.

[Phodgetts]

Thank you both so much for sharing that and also for the suggestion about Bryan's book.

It was wonderful to go to the church and see the places they knew themselves so well. I attach a photo of the grave taken by me just a few days ago.

Philip

By the way, Edmund and Deborah are my 4 x Great Grandparents. I am descended from their daughter Elizabeth and her husband John Pearce, thence their son William Pearce and his wife Emma nee Pallant and then their daughter Harriett. Families of Dennington and Peasenhall.

[Rezillo]

My line is via Edmund's son, Samuel. Samuel was a (tenant) miller at Framsden by 1851. The census has him as a master miller employing one man and one boy. Shortly afterwards, he took over the mill at Thornham Magna. His death there in 1857 forced a sale of all his possessions, which must have been bought by loan. The sale notices referred to him as a "farmer and miller of Stoke Ash and Thornham and also of Framsden".

Samuel's son, Edmund, briefly took over the running of the mill at Framsden (Framsden had two mills but this is assumed to be the current one). Edmund made a hash of things and his involvement with the mill did not last long. Evicted from his house by Lord Tollemache and involved in at least one fight at the local pub! His son, also Edmund, was much more successful, as was his son Sam, who went on to run Debenham mill and Hill Farm at Debenham.

The mill passed into Webster ownership in 1879, hence the name of Websters Mill, even though the Webster family had been involved with running it, with some gaps, some years beforehand.

For me, the interesting feature of these families is that although the trees of the later Framsden millers and my own diverge in the early 19thC, the family ties were still strong enough in the 1930s for my mother to spend summers recuperating from illness at Sam Webster's farm at Debenham.

[gobbitt]

Published in 1834, Green's history of Framlingham is a little too early for the Websters but there are several members of the Wightman family in the churchyard inscriptions on page 170 of the attached extracts from Google Books.

David