Events
Date of Baptism: 26 August 1677.
Place of Baptism: Trefeglwys.
The baptism is recorded in the parish register. This assumes the parents given below are correct.
Date of Burial: 16 October 1730.
Place of Burial: Trefeglwys, Montgomeryshire, Wales.
The burial is recorded in the parish register.
Relationships
Father: Charles Bembow.
Mother: Elizabeth Jarman.
This identification is not certain. I argue for it in the Commentary section below.
Spouse: Hester Jarman. Married 2 December 1698.
The marriage is given by the IGI.
Children:
(Complete source citations for facts about the children on this page are currently outside of the scope of this project.)
Mary Bembow (baptized 11 August 1700 in Llandinam) married (1) David Lloyd 13 November 1718 in Trefeglwys; married (2) Charles Ashton 2 December 1730 in Llangurig.
Ann Bembow (buried 27 April 1704 in Llandinam)
Ann Bembow (baptized 18 September 1706 in Llandinam - died about 1741).
Elizabeth Bembow married (1) John Ashton 7 May 1725 in Trefeglwys; married (2) John Evan 25 April 1738 in Trefeglwys.
Evidence
From the Trefeglwys parish register:
Joh'es fil: Caroli Benbow bap: fuit vicesimo sexto die Augusti -- 1677
Johis Bembow sepult fuit Decimo Sexto Octobris [1730]
From the Llandinam parish register:
Anna filia Johannis Bembow de Carnedd Yeoman sepulta fuit 27.o die Aprilis [1704]
Anna filia Johan[n]is Benbowe et Hestor uxor eius baptizat fuit decimo octavo die septembris 1706
John’s will:
In the Name of God Amen I John Bembow of Parish of Tref: Eglwys and County of Montgomeri and diocese of Bangor being in perfect health sense and Memory do make and ordain this my Last Will and Testament in maner and form following first I commend my Soul to god Who gave it & my body to the Earth from whence it came to be buried in decent Xtian burial And as to my Worldly Substance Imprimis I give and bequeath to my Grandson Edward Ashton the sum of Ten pounds Item to my daughter Elizabeth his Mother I give and bequeath the sum of 20 shillings Item I give and bequeath to my two grandDaughter's Hester and Anne Lloyd the sum of Ten pounds Each: Item I give and bequeath to my Daughter Mary their Mother the sum of 20 shillings: Item I give and bequeath to my Grandson David Lloyd my Clock, Wheel Car, Wheels, 2 peat carts and wheels one harvest cart 2 harrows 3 yoakes and 3 chains, one cross and Iron Bar and 2 wedges one plow and one pair of Iron Traces to be delivered him at the age of one and twenty Item I give and bequeath to my Daughter Anne the sum of fourty pounds; All the remainder of my Goods, Cattle and Credits I give and bequeath to my beloved wife Hester Bembow; whom I also ordain and constitute sole Executrix of this my Last Will and Testament Revoking and Annulling all other Wills before by me made or pretended to be made In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal the second day of October in the Year of Our Lord 1729
Inventory:
Due upon bond from Mr John Willson 40:0:0
Due from Mr James Baxter upon bond 40:0:0
Due from Owen Stephens upon bond 60:0:0
Due from Morris Jones 10:0:0
Due from Matthew Davies 10:0:0
John Ashton Jun 20:0:0
Due from John Coans of Lanidloes 5:0:0
Due for Use of Money 8:0:0
Money lyeing in my own hands 5:0:0
.... stuff of all manner valued at 40:0:0
one Yoke of Oxen valued and Sold at 9:10:0
Bridle sadle and Apparel 1:10:0
accounted and apprized by
John Ashton jun'r
John Lloyd
An inventory of the Particulars left to his Grandson David Lloyd
One wheel car and wheels and 2 peat carts and wheels 01:4
One harvest cart and two harrows 00:10
Three yoaks and 3 chains and one saw 00:10
One Iron Bar and two Wedges 00:06
One Plow and one pair of Iron Traces 00:06
A Clock 02:04
apprized by Thomas Hall
Charles Ashton
Commentary
It is difficult to identify the parents of John Benbow with certainty. The John Benbow of this page married Hester Jarman in 1698. He was buried in Trefeglwys in 1730, and his will describes him as being of Trefeglwys.
There are several John Benbows whose baptisms show up in the Llandinam/Trefeglwys area in the relevant time period.
A John Benbow (1) was baptized in 1667 in Trefeglwys to the vicar, John Benbow, and Dorothy Wilson. This John is named in his father’s will, but I assume he died before the vicar’s brother Edward (also a vicar) made his 1673 will, since Edward in his will names his own father (John), his two sisters (Ann and Joan), two brothers (Roger and Charles), his deceased brother (the Rev. John) and the daughter of his deceased brother John (Dorothy). I assume that if the John who was baptized in 1667 were still alive at this time, he would probably have been mentioned along with Dorothy in Edward Benbow’s will.
A John Benbow (2) was baptized in 1665 to Roger (a brother of the two vicars above).
A John Benbow (3) was baptized in 1677 to Charles (another brother of the two vicars). He was still alive in 1729 when his brother Charles (the younger) made his will.
A John Benbow (4) was baptized in 1663 to Edward Benbow (not the vicar) and Ann John. An 'X' appears beside the baptism entry, with unclear meaning. His younger brother Richard became a Quaker (Morris p. 51) and lived in Glyn Trefnant, Trefeglwys, probably at Gribyn Fach.
These John Benbows show up later in the area:
A John Benbow (a) had a son, John, baptized in 1687 in Trefeglwys.
The John Benbow (b) of this page married Hester Jarman in 1698 in Trefeglwys. Their children were baptized in Llandinam, where Hester was from, but John is later recorded as being of Trefeglwys and he was buried there.
A John Benbow (c) had a child, Charles, baptized in 1709 in Llandinam. Charles was buried the next year. The mother Damasina was probably the elder sister of Hester Jarman. (Damasina was baptized in 1669, and was married already in 1693 when her father Giles made his will, although he does not name her husband. Hester was born some time after 1673 and was unmarried in 1693.)
A John Benbow (d) of Llandinam, carpenter, had a son John, who married in 1715 and became a miller.
I suspect that either John Benbow (2) or John Benbow (4) married Damasina and was the father of the John Benbow (a) baptized in 1687, who was perhaps identical with (d).
Probably John Benbow (3), born in 1677, is the John Benbow of this page, whose wife Hester was born some time after 1673. This identification is made more secure by a couple of pieces of evidence connecting the John Benbow of this page with Charles Benbow (the elder and the younger).
The son-in-law of John Benbow (3), David Lloyd, was a witness to the 1726 will of Charles Benbow the elder, and an appraiser of the probate inventory. (The signature makes the identification certain.) The other appraiser was John Ashton, who later married David’s widow.
Charles Benbow the younger was an appraiser of David Lloyd’s 1727 probate inventory.
Charles Benbow the younger makes his brother John the tutor and guardian of his children in his 1729 will. The 1730 burial of the John Benbow of this page shows that the identification of these Johns is possible chronologically.
References
Llandinam parish register. Digital copy at Findmypast.co.uk, accessed 23 December 2017.
Montgomeryshire Baptisms. A transcription by the Montgomeryshire Genealogical Society. Digital copy on Findmypast.co.uk, accessed on 24 December 2017.
Montgomeryshire Burials. A transcription by the Montgomeryshire Genealogical Society. Digital copy on Findmypast.co.uk, accessed on 24 December 2017.
Montgomeryshire Marriages. A transcription by the Montgomeryshire Genealogical Society. Digital copy on Findmypast.co.uk, accessed on 24 December 2017.
Morris, Ronald. “Quakerism in West Montgomeryshire” in The Montgomeryshire Collections Vol. 56 (1959-60).
Will of Charles Benbow of Pen y Castle, Llanidloes. Proved 1726 in the Diocese of Bangor.
Will of Charles Benbow of Trefeglwys. Proved 1730 in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury.
Will of Edward Bembowe of Trefeglwys. Proved 1673 in the Diocese of Bangor.
Will of John Bembowe of Trefeglwys. Proved 1677 in the Diocese of Bangor.
Will of John Bembow of Trefeglwys. Proved 1730. Diocese of Bangor. Digital copy at the National Library of Wales: http://hdl.handle.net/10107/15450