Joseph Tomkins, Sr.

Joseph Tomkins, Sr. and his wife were the future parents-in-law to Anne Steele, Mary Steele's half-sister and niece of the poet Anne Steele (1717-78). The Tomkins's lived in a beautiful manor house near Abingdon called Caldecott, and were part of a family that had been prominent members of the Baptist church at Abingdon since the seventeenth century. The chapel in use at the time of these letters was most likely constructed on property once owned by John Tomkins, Joseph’s ancestor and for a time minister to the church. His son, Benjamin, was a ruling elder in the church from 1721 to 1733. He and his father operated a successful malting business in Ock Street. Benjamin died in 1733, and his son, Benjamin, Jr., also a deacon in the church, died in 1736. He declared in his will that his houses in Ock Street should be used thereafter as an almshouse, which still exists today. Around 1760 the library of William Tomkins, an Arian divine who was also a relation of Benjamin Tomkins, was donated to the church. Another William Tomkins served as church treasurer from 1761 to 1807. By the latter part of the eighteenth century, the Tomkinses of Abingdon had become prominent bankers, thereby increasing their wealth considerably. See Michael G. Hambleton, A Sweet and Hopeful People: The Story of Abingdon Baptist Church, 1649-2000 (Abingdon: Abingdon Baptist Church, 2000), 5, 23-27, 32-34, 43, 110.