William Kirk 1741 & Mary Doughty 1746

William Kirk
~Baker of Mountsorrel
&
Mary Doughty
~ of Mountsorrel

WILLIAM KIRK born 1741 in Glenfield, Leicestershire &

MARY DOUGHTY born c1746 in Mountsorrel, Leicestershire.

William Kirk was born in 1741 and is my 6x great grandfather. In this year George II is currently on the throne of England, George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain and succeeded his father George I of Hanover. The British Prime Minister is Robert Walpole, a member of the Whig party. HMS Wager, one of the vessels of George Anson's voyage around the world is wrecked on the coast of Chile, killing most of the crew. On 21st May George II orders the British Army to prepare for an invasion of Prussia to defend his Electorate of Hanover and later on in the year, on the 11th December a fire-ball and explosion is heard over southern England, this was perhaps resulting from a meteor.

William Kirk was born in Glenfield. He was baptised on the 23rd August 1841 in Glenfield, his parents being William and Ann Kirke . This is the first time we see the Kirke spelling of the family name. William (Junior) would later move to Mountsorrel, here he became extremely successful working as a baker, as with all his business ventures. By the time of making his will he would be considered extremely wealthy. The will was made on the 1st February 1794, this left various properties and his bakery business to his eldest son John (my 5x great grandfather). William's son John obviously made use of the mill he was left as he became the miller at Cossington. Also William left gifts of money to his wife and children, although the gifts of money looks small now, back in 1794 these would have been worth several thousand.

There were at least four bakeries in Mountsorrel at one time. William Kirk was possibly connected to either the bakery on the corner of the Green in the centre of the village or another at 46 Loughborough Road towards North End. You can see an image of both properties via the associated images link below. Later one of these bakeries was owned by a Richard Wale, the Wale family would have a lot of business connections to the Kirk family over the years.

William married Mary Doughty by Licence in St Peters Church, Mountsorrel on the 15th November 1764. William was 22 years of age and Mary around 18, Mary was from Mountsorrel and had been baptised on 2nd January 1746 at St Peters. The marriage licence noted that she was still a minor and the marriage was consented to by her father, it was applied for on the 13th - this was agreed by William Kirk (of Mountsorrel in the Parish of Barrow Upon Soar in the County of Leicester - Baker) and Mary's father George Doughty (of Mountsorrel and aforesaid Cordwainer). You can see a picture of St Peters Church and also an extract of the marriage licence document via the associated images link at the bottom of the page. In the year after their wedding, 1765, William appears in the 'Register of Duties Paid for Apprentices' Indentures' , William is already a baker and has taken on an apprentice called Thomas Adcock. In 1775 William is listed in the Goscote West Hundred area poll book as he owned property. The Poll Books listed owners of land and property, this entitled them to vote in elections. Poll Books trace their origins to a 1696 act of Parliament designed to curb disputed election results and fraud. Poll Books continued to be used for elections until the secret ballot we know today was introduced in 1872.

William and Mary had eleven children according to the baptism records although some would not see adulthood as you would expect for that period. William was the first child born in 1765, although he died before reaching his 2nd birthday and was buried on the 27th June 1767 at St Peters. They had a daughter, Mary, in 1767. John my 5x great grandfather was born in January 1770 and became the eldest son after William Jnr died, so he would profit from his fathers will. They then had four healthy children, Anne, Elizabeth, Richard, Thomas, they were all alive when William's will was made in 1794. The next three children were to die at a young age, George, born 1781 and George Doughty, born in 1783 and Sarah was the next child born in 1784, she is buried in 1791. Both Georges were to die in successive years, George in June of 1782 & George Doughty in April 1783, they are tragically on the same page of the parish burials at Mountsorrel. Catherine was the last known child to be born to William & Mary, she was born in 1787.

It's difficult to give an exact figure for average life expectancy before the 19th century. Historians believe it was about 35 years up to the 16th Century. Even though the average life expectancy was around 35, there would be many people dying in childhood. Approximately 25% of people died before they were 5 years old and as many as 40% died before they reached adulthood but if you could survive childhood and your teenage years you had a good chance of living to your 50s or your early 60s and even in to old age, in the middle ages in western Europe there were some people who lived to 70 or 80. Things improved in the 18th century in Britain, life expectancy at birth rose to about 40 by the late 18th century, the plague had died out which would have helped. The last outbreak of plague in western Europe was in Marseilles in 1720. Diet improved as well, in the 18th century eating potatoes was now common place.(*)

William certainly lived into his fifties, he died at the start of March 1794 and was buried at St Peters, Mountsorrel on the 2nd March 1794. Ann died four years later in 1798 and is also buried at St Peters, Mountsorrel on the 25th November 1798. I could not find their gravestones when visiting St Peters and they are not listed by the local Heritage Group. Between 2010 and 2014 the Mountsorrel Heritage Group cleared the thick undergrowth from around the headstones at St Peters and recorded the transcripts of the gravestones. You can read more at http://mountsorrelarchive.org/gravestones-in-st-peters-churchyard/#more-2822.

William's will summary below ~ 1st February 1794

In the will William bequeathed several properties including tenements in Mountsorrel & Barrow Upon Soar, a croft lying in north end Mountsorrel, purchased from a Mr Ebbs, also a tenement inhabited by my daughter Ann Kirk. He also leaves all household goods & furniture, stock, plate, money, securities for money and the money thereby secured, book debts, goods, cattle, chattels, personal estates & effects, the whole of the baking business, the whole of his wind & water mills & all the utensils thereto belonging to my eldest son John Kirk.

He bequeathed £20 a year to his dear wife Mary Kirk for life, daughters Mary Adderly & Ann received £50. Also the four other children, Elizabeth, Richard, Thomas and Catherine all were to receive £21 on reaching 21. The executors of the will would be his wife Mary Kirk & son John.

The codcil added that son John Kirk have full power & authority to sell the croft situated on the north east side of the old Soar in parish of Barrow Upon Soar now in the tenure of John Lewin and also 3 tenements in the north end of Mountsorrel now in the tenure of Hugh Shelton & William Fletcher. Also if Mary was to marry again John did not have to pay her the £20 per year but she would receive a percentage of any profit instead.

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WILLIAM KIRK born 1741 in Glenfield

Baptism. William Kirke 23 Aug 1841 Glenfield

Son of Willm and Ann Kirke

Marriage. 15 Nov 1764. William Kirk to Mary Doughty

St Peters, Mountsorrel, Leicestershire.

Leicestershire Phillimore's Parish Registers

William Kirk, baker & Mary Doughty, a minor, lic.,

with consent of father 15 Nov. 1764

Will. Made on the 1st February 1794.

Death. March 1794

Buried. St Peters, Mountsorrel 2nd March 1794.

Children of WILLIAM KIRK and MARY DOUGHTY are:

i. WILLIAM KIRK

bap 1 Oct 1765 St Peters, Mountsorrel, Leics

bur 27 Jun 1767 St Peters, Mountsorrel, Leics

ii. MARY KIRK

bap 12 Apr 1767 St Peters, Mountsorrel, Leics

mar John Adderly 20 Dec 1788 by Licence, Mountsorrel, Leics

iii. JOHN KIRK

bap 25 Jan 1770 St Peters, Mountsorrel, Leics

mar 29 Dec 1796 to Ann Beale. Broughton Astley, Leics

mar2 21 Mar 1805 to Elizabeth Hall, Market Harborough, Leics

d 21 Jan 1841 Barrow Upon Soar, Leics

bur 27 Jan 1841 Cossington, Leics

iv. ANNE KIRK

bap 21 Apr 1772. St Peters, Mountsorrel, Leics

mar 21 Oct 1794 John Barfoot Eames of S.Martins, Leicester.

by Licence, Mountsorrel, Leics

v. ELIZABETH KIRK

bap 3 Jun 1774. St Peters, Mountsorrel, Leics

mar William Buckley 24 Oct 1797 by Licence, Mountsorrel, Leics

vi. RICHARD KIRK

bap 10 Jul 1776 St Peters, Mountsorrel, Leics

vii. THOMAS KIRK

bap 29 Dec 1778 St Peters, Mountsorrel, Leics

mar Sarah Keen 7 Feb 1804 by Licence, Mountsorrel, Leics

viii. GEORGE KIRK

bap 26 Jan 1781 St Peters, Mountsorrel, Leics

bur 30 Jun 1782 St Peters, Mountsorrel, Leics

ix. GEORGE DOUGHTY KIRK

bap 17 Apr 1783 St Peters, Mountsorrel, Leics

bur 27 Apr 1783 St Peters, Mountsorrel, Leics

x. SARAH KIRK

bap 1 Jun 1784 St Peters, Mountsorrel, Leics

bur 16 Sep 1791 St Peters, Mountsorrel, Leics

xi. CATHERINE KIRK

bap 11 Nov 1787 St Peters, Mountsorrel, Leics

mar 27 Apr 1814 William Gilson (of Twyford) at Cossington

bur 13 Apr 1865 Twyford, Leics