Ralph Moreton

[Moreton]

I am trying to find information on the parentage of Ralph Moreton of Moreton  Hall Wolstanton. He built the Hall on his marriage to Hannah, and I presume possibly as a result of her dowry (hypothetical at this stage, but I am actively looking into her ancestry).
I have found his descendants, but he remains a mystery.

[goldie61]

I am trying to find information on the parentage of Ralph Moreton of Moreton  Hall Wolstanton. He built the Hall on his marriage to Hannah, and I presume possibly as a result of her dowry (hypothetical at this stage, but I am actively looking into her ancestry).
I have found his descendants, but he remains a mystery.

Welcome to Rootschat Moreton.
Some clue as to what sort of dates you're looking at would be very helpful.

[heywood]

The house was built about 1743 according to this- there is mention of sisters to Ralph.
http://www.thepotteries.org/tour/027.htm

[goldie61]

Found him. He died in 1787. Have you got a copy of his will? it should be on findmypast. It was proved at Lichfield Nov 9 1787.
His wife was Hannah Birtles, married 1741/2.

There are several documents relating to him held at Staffordshire Record Office.
(Sorry, I can't get the hyperlink to the page to work).
Have you seen these?
One of them is a document that gives a Ralph Moreton as executor of the will of John Turnock, and a quitclaim to Moreton in Feb 1667/7.  This must be a Ralph Moreton from a previous generation.
There is also a copy of Ralph's will dated 1761, which mentions a settlement made in 1741/2 on his marriage to Hannah Birtles, which may give some more information about her, plus a few other later documents.

If you go the the National Archives Discovery site, and enter "Ralph Moreton" AND Wolstanton, these should all come up.

There's also an interesting document from 1737 "William Johnson v Samuel Johnson", which includes a mention of "Ralph Moreton the elder of Wolstanton, gent, and his wife Mary Stonehewer".
Possibly the parents of the Ralph that died in 1787?

[*Sandra*]

Would need to be investigated but ancestry tree gives father -

William Moreton 1703–1788
Born abt 1703 - Wolstanton, Staffordshire,
died 1788 -  Madeley, Staffordshire.

Mary Beech 1705–1800
Born abt1705 - Horton, Staffordshire,
died 17 February 1800 • Horton, Staffordshire,

marriage :- 23 Sep 1723 William Moreton & Mary Beech.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V5LC-M97


This couple had 8 children listed, Ralph being the first one in 1724. Died 1787
If this one married Hannah in 1841 he would only be 17

Sandra

Added - Staffordshire Burial Register gives birth 1713 more like the record Goldie mentions below.

Ralph Moreton - Death Age   74
Record Type   Burial
Birth Date   abt 1713 - Death Date abt 1787
Burial Date 23 Sep 1787Wolstanton, Staffordshire.

[goldie61]

A tree on MyHeritage has his baptism as Mar 15th 1712 at St Margaret's Wolstanton.
Marriage Mar 29 1741 to Hannah Birtles Leek Staffs.
Death Sept 23 1787 Wolstanton

Father Ralph Moreton, mother Mary, no surname. (They don't seem to have found the document at the National Archives giving her surname of Stonehewer)
Dates given for the father Ralph 1695 - 1752.
Baptism Nov 13 1695 Wolstanton.
Death Mar 10 1752.
Marriage July 10 1730

Parents of this Ralph were John, (Johannis), and mother Sarah (Sarae) Wedgwood married April 10 1694 Wolstanton.
John born Aug 12 1649 Wolstanton, to yet another Ralph, (given as a 'vicar'), and mother Elizabeth.
This John buried May 21 1673 Wolstanton.

Whoever has made this tree, has obviously found a lot of births, marriages and deaths in the Wolstanton registers - I've not checked - I'll leave you to do that. There are several siblings for each generation as you would expect - too many to list here, but they may prove to be useful when you're trying to find evidence of relationships - for example, a brother or sister, (if she is not married - married women could not make wills), may leave bequests to siblings, nephews and nieces, sisters in law, etc).
You would need to check all this out, and find other pieces of evidence to back up all this information, such as finding wills, and documents like those at Staffordshire Record Office and National Archives.

[goldie61]

The National Archives Manorial Register says that Wolstanton comes under Tunstall Manor Court.
I have previously researched the Tunstall Manor Court rolls as part of my own family history, and have not seen Wolstanton mentioned in them.

However, if you go to the website 'Staffordshire Names Indexes', (part of the Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Archive Service), some volunteers have kindly transcribed some of the Newcastle of Under Lyme Manor records, under which Wolstanton comes.
Go to the index 'Copyhold tenants of the Manor of Newcastle under Lyme'.
They have done 1700 - 1832 so far. No doubt there are more.

If you then search for 'Moreton', you'll see there are evidently many instances in these court rolls for the name. This is only an index, but if you scroll down, you can send for a transcription of the entries. The originals are at The National Archives at Kew. They are part of the Duchy of Lancaster records held there. There may well be entries in these rolls when Moreton fathers are passing on land to their children.

I've had a very quick look through, particularly for any that mention Ralph.
Many of the entries don't give any other information other than the name, so it's difficult to know if they are the correct person.
These ones state that Ralph is a 'gentleman' of 'Wolstanton Hall'.
24.1.1710 Ralph Junior.
TNA ref DL30/5076/2
Ralph Junior 8.5.1717
TNA ref DL 30/507/4
5.12.1716 Ralph
26.12. 1716 Ralph
15 4.1719 Ralph
18.10 1721 Ralph of Wolstanton Hall
18.10 1721 DL 30/507/5 'son and heir of John Senior' (these 2 entries are listed separately but the same reference number)
29. 7.1724 Ralph
Plus many more........

10.11.1742 DL30/507/12 'Ralph, wife Mary, son Ralph'.

You would need to go through these much more carefully - I have only looked very quickly.
You could either send for the transcripts. (it doesn't look as if it costs very much), or go to The National Archives at Kew to view the actual entries. Perhaps get the transcripts first to see if it's worthwhile going to London.
It's a shame they have only indexed back to 1700, that will have been a huge task in itself.
If you go to The National Archives site and put in the references DL 30 507, you'll see there are thousands of documents for The Duchy of Lancaster. The court Rolls prior to 1700 would no doubt be something to research further.

If you go to 'Home' on the Staffordshire Indexes Page, you'll see there are many more indexes, some of which might also be interesting.
I like to use the index for Lichfield wills - especially if you don't have a subscription to findmypast to look at them.
Although they are only an index, they do give a little information about the person whose will it is, like their places of residence and occupation, so you can see whether this may be the person you're looking for or not.

You have a lot of hours of research to do ! Good luck!

[Moreton]

Thanks for the replies, I didn't expect so many so fast.
 Sarah Wedgwood John Moreton are my direct ancestors. I have seen quite a few trees where their relatives do not correspond with my own research. 
I'm looking at the possibility that John Moreton's family and the Wolstanton/Moreton Hall Moreton's might be connected via a will,hence the need to find out a lot more on Ralph Moreton's origins.
The information on Ralph's wife, Hannah I had found previously on the National Archives site, but not a lot on Ralph, so thanks very much for your help, as you say hours of work to crack on with
Happy New Year to you all.

[Moreton]

The National Archives Manorial Register says that Wolstanton comes under Tunstall Manor Court.
I have previously researched the Tunstall Manor Court rolls as part of my own family history, and have not seen Wolstanton mentioned in them.
However, if you go to the website 'Staffordshire Names Indexes', (part of the Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Archive Service), some volunteers have kindly transcribed some of the Newcastle of Under Lyme Manor records, under which Wolstanton comes.
Go to the index 'Copyhold tenants of the Manor of Newcastle under Lyme'.....
You have a lot of hours of research to do ! Good luck!

A little update. I have received the information from the archives which I am starting to work through.  The information that acted as my starting point for Moreton House came from http://www.thepotteries.org/tour/027.htm  . However, it appears that Moreton House was known previously as Wolstanton House https://archive.org/stream/williamadamsano00turngoog/williamadamsano00turngoog_djvu.txt but credits Ralph Moreton as the 'builder'. However, the documents I received indicate Moreton's in Wolstanton House before the date Moreton House was allegedly built, so there is still that to try and clarify but I am sure that the archival material will reveal a lot in due course. Thank you so much for putting me on that path.