William Bloxham junior

Events

Date of Baptism: 19 February 1766.

Place of Baptism: Burton-Dassett, Warwickshire.

The parish register records the baptism.

Date of Burial: 8 May 1801.

Place of Burial: Burton-Dassett, Warwickshire.

The parish register records the burial.

Relationships

Father: William Bloxham (died 1801).

William’s baptism record gives his father’s name. William’s burial record gives his name as “William Bloxam Jun.” (Also, see the Commentary section below.)

Mother: Sarah Harbord.

(See the Commentary section below).

Spouse: Mary Yerrow (1765 - 1836). Married 24 March 1786 in Burton-Dassett, Warwickshire.

The parish register records the marriage.

Children:

(Complete source citations for facts about the children on this page are currently outside of the scope of this project.)

Prudence Bloxham (baptized 18 June 1786 Burton Dassett) married William Bennett 8 April 1805 in Banbury, Oxfordshire.

John Yarrow Bloxham (baptized 2 February 1788 Yelvertoft, Northamptonshire - buried 21 May 1862 Radway, Warwickshire) married Mary Clifton 12 October 1813 in Burton Dassett.

Francis Bloxham (baptized 13 March 1790 Yelvertoft, Northamptonshire - buried March 1790 in Yelvertoft).

Francis Bloxham (baptized 4 October 1791 Burton Dassett).

Elizabeth Bloxham (baptized 19 July 1796 Burton Dassett - buried 10 June 1857 Burton Dassett) married (1) William Freeman 13 November 1815 in Warmington; married (2) George Cooke 12 June 1823 in Long Itchington.

Ann Bloxham (baptized 12 May 1799 Warmington - buried 20 November 1826 Fenny Compton) married Thomas Chater 10 March 1819 in Fenny Compton.

Thomas Bloxham (baptized 7 April 1801 Warmington).

Evidence

William Bloxham’s baptism registration (1766, Burton Dassett)

[Feb] 19 William son of Wm & Sarah Bloxham

[image on FamilySearch]

William Bloxham’s marriage registration (1786, Burton Dassett)

Banns of Marriage between William Bloxham & Mary Yerrow were published on three several Sundays namely on the 5th the 12th & the 19th of March 1786 The said William Bloxham of this Parish a Batchelor and Mary Yerrow of this Parish Spinster were Married in the Church by Banns this twenty forth Day of March in the Year One Thousand Seven Hundred and eighty six my me T Gill Curate

This Marriage was solemnized between Us William Bloxham Mary Yerrow

In the Presence of Thos Bloxham Sarah Yerrow

[image on FamilySearch]

William Bloxam’s burial registration (1801, Burton Dassett)

May 8th. -- William Bloxam Jun. of Warmington

[image on FamilySearch]

Commentary

This is the chain of reasoning I am following in giving William Bloxham and Sarah Harbord as William’s parents:

1. William (junior) seems to have lived in Warmington shortly his death: his last two children were baptized there, in 1799 and 1801, and his 1801 burial record describes him as being “of Warmington”. (“William Bloxham Snr”, who was buried in Burton Dassett shortly after, was also described as being of Warmington in his burial record.)

2. It is likely that William (junior) was a miller: the 1795 Land Tax records give “The Mill” as the owner of the land occupied by “Mr William Bloxham.” (In 1798, presumably the same “Mr William Bloxham” owned and occupied land worth approximately the same amount. (The tax was 3s 4d in 1795 and 3s 1d in 1798.)

3. William had previously had children baptized in Burton Dassett in 1786, 1791, and 1796. (He also had a couple of children baptized in Yelvertoft in 1788 and 1790.)

4. Land Tax records for Burton Dassett show that a William Bloxham occupied the same piece of land from at least 1776 until 1800. This William Bloxham is usually described as a miller.

5. We know that William was married in Burton Dassett and that his first child was baptized there. Also, since William is described as “William Bloxham junior” in his burial record, it seems reasonable to assume that his father was also named William (and buried shortly after he was, in Warmington.)

6. There are two baptisms in Warwickshire in the relevant time period of a William Bloxham with a father also named William. One was to William Bloxham and Sarah [Harbord] in Burton Dassett in 1766. The other was to William Bloxham and Mary Gibbs in Wellesbourne in 1758. (William and Mary had previously been married in Burton Dassett, and moved back there in the 1760s.)

7. The William Bloxham who married Mary Gibbs is unlikely to be the same person as the miller in the Burton Dassett Land Tax records. This is shown by the 1767 will of his uncle, William Bloxham, grazier of Burton Dassett, combined with a number of later records referring to property that he inherited, which show that the William Bloxham who married Mary Gibbs; disappeared for a while around the year 1780, out of fear of being arrested for debt; went bankrupt in 1782; and was in gaol in the late 1780s for threats to his wife and brother in law. He is also recorded in 1782 as being a “dealer and chapman” and as being "late of Burton Dassett," implying that he had moved away. William Bloxham the miller is recorded paying the Land Tax, during this period, on the same piece of property in 1779, 1782, 1785, and 1790, with no indication anything is amiss.

8. On the other hand, William Bloxham and Sarah Harbord are known to have had a son Joseph who was a miller. This William’s father, Richard Bloxham, is also described as a miller in a 1759 release.

9. The land in Burton Dassett which up until 1800 had been occupied by William Bloxham the miller was occupied in 1805 by Richard Bloxham. I believe this was William's brother. (William had a brother named Richard and was a witness at the wedding of a Richard Bloxham in 1769 --William's signature at his wedding and the signature of the witness William Bloxham at Richard Bloxham's wedding are identical).

10. A reasonable interpretation of the evidence is this:

    1. The father of the William Bloxham of this page was the William Bloxham who was recorded as a miller in Burton Dassett.

    2. The latter was the William Bloxham who was the son of Richard Bloxham, also a miller in Burton Dassett.

    3. The elder William Bloxham married Sarah Harbord.

References

Burton Dassett Windmill and Beacon at www.ourwarwickshire.org.uk.

Deeds of the Bitham Hall Estate, Avon Dassett. Warwickshire County Record Office CR 652. Bundles 1, 7, and 10. Especially CR 652/1/39-88; CR 652/1/89-109; CR 652/1/110-115; CR 652/7/53-71; and CR 652/1/10/1-9.

Warwickshire Land Tax. Warwick, England: Warwickshire County Record Office; digital images at Ancestry.com accessed 29 October 2015.

William Bloxham baptism registration (19 February 1766), Burton Dassett, Warwickshire, parish registers 1725-1774; digital image Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 October 2015) citing Warwickshire County Record Office; Warwick, England; Warwickshire Anglican Registers; Roll: Engl/2/1162; Document Reference: DR 292.

William Bloxham - Mary Yerrow marriage registration (24 March 1786), Burton Dassett, Warwickshire, parish registers 1775-1799; digital image Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 March 2014) citing Warwickshire County Record Office; Warwick, England; Warwickshire Anglican Registers; Roll: Engl/2/1162; Document Reference: DR 292.

William Bloxam burial registration (8 May 1801), Burton Dassett, Warwickshire, parish registers 1775-1812; digital image Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 March 2014) citing Warwickshire County Record Office; Warwick, England; Warwickshire Anglican Registers; Roll: Engl/2/1162; Document Reference: DR 292.

Will of William Bloxham, Grazier of Burton Dassett, Warwickshire. 5 January 1767, Prerogative Court of Canterbury. National Archives PROB 11/925/32.