Hi,
I am trying to work back from my ancestor John Newenham of Cork, a clothier and Quaker, who married Elizabeth Wight in 1704 and died in 1735. He first appears in the Quaker records shortly before his marriage when goods were taken from him in lieu of tithes. He is described there as John Newenham Jnr, so his father might also have been John. His Quaker marriage certificate was signed by John, Thomas and Elizabeth Newenham, none of whom appears elsewhere in the Quaker records.
A Betham's abstract of his will dated 25 July 1734 and proved 6 Feb 1735 is a little odd. It mentions his wife and children as per the Quaker records, also sisters Ann Newell, Margaret Claushy (?) and Jane Hill, cousin Newenham [no 1st name] and his son John, brother John Newenham [how can John Newenham have a brother John Newenham?], John son of same, brother Thomas N, Betty daughter of same, sister Sarah Massey [actually a sister-in-law], cousins Sarah Moore and Joanna Bridges.
There are also Betham’s abstracts of the wills of his sons Richard dated 30 April 1750 proved 29 June 1759 and George dated 26 Jan 1792 proved February 1793. The people in them are easily identified except for Richard’s aunt Ann Newell (as in his father’s will) and cousin John Smyth and George’s cousin Mary Sproule. (I have a Quaker Mary Sproule 1768-1851 in my tree, but they weren’t related as far as I know.) Richard has an (inaccurate) entry in the Dictionary of Irish Biography which states (without the author knowing his parents) that ‘he was a direct descendant of John Newenham, who settled in Cork during the Cromwellian period and was sheriff (1665) and mayor (1671) of the city’.
I think that this last claim is unlikely, although the two families may be related. I hoped to use the relatives mentioned in John’s wedding certificate and the wills to link them up, but have not managed to do so. The mayor’s family is described in Burke’s Irish Family Records, starting with Edmund Newenham m Jane Desmyniers. It mentions a son Robert (dspm) and a second son John mayor of Cork who m 1672 Jane Hodder and left a will dated 29 Jan 1695 proved 21 August 1706. It then expands on the mayor’s family with no space for my Quakers. A Betham’s abstract of the mayor’s will also exists. It clearly mentions ‘Brother Thomas Newenham – John – Richard and Jane sons & daurs of said brother Thomas – Ann Porter another daur of said brother Thomas’.
I wonder whether my John’s father might have been the son John mentioned here, although the dates are difficult. Thomas was presumably the mayor’s younger brother, and yet my John married in 1704 whereas the mayor’s grandson (hypothetically the same generation) married in 1726.
One document that appears to link the two families together, although tenuously, is a deed of lease and re-lease dated 3 December 1712 (memorial #3813). Party 2 was Thomas Newenham Esq son and heir of the late John Newenham Esq [the mayor]. This deed was witnessed by Thomas Newenham Clothier of Cork, possibly the mayor’s brother mentioned above, in which case the profession of clothier might have been passed down from him to my Quaker John. Another witness was Thomas Clanchy, of Ballyshadine, Limerick, possibly the family into which my John’s sister Margaret married.
I would be very grateful to anyone who could shed any light on this, identify any of the relatives mentioned in the wills or indeed suggest avenues for further investigation.
Many thanks,
Alan
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Topic: Quaker Newenhams Cork (Read 571 times)