The Hameringham, Ewerby, Quarrington and Old Leake families of Lincolnshire

And their connection to Nettleham

One of the aims of looking at all of the different families in Lincolnshire as well as further afield was to see if some or all of them could be traced back to Nettleham. One of the wills that has been left a while because it didn't seem an important one to look at seems to have tied a good many people together in one go. Better late than never.

There was an Allis family who were seen in Nettleham in the 1710s and 1720s before moving away, being John and Elizabeth Allis.

In Nettleham at the time were John Allis who was the son of John and Jane who later married Winifred Bains. There was a John born in 1687 the son of Robert and Elizabeth Mosse, but in Robert's will of 1715 he leaves a shilling to his son John "if he be alive", which rules him out as this John was in Nettleham over the same period as Robert. That seems to leave John, the son of John and Elizabeth Pell who was born in 1681 making him about 54 when he died.

John married Elizabeth Cam in Sudbrooke in 1709 and the first child, John, was born in Nettleham in 1710. He was followed by twins Thomas and Robert in 1711, William in 1715, Thomas again in 1718, Elizabeth in 1722, and Stephen in 1725. After this they are not seen in the Nettleham parish registers with only the children of John and Winifred Allis being baptised (except for one child of Robert and Catherine in 1726).

A family appears in the parish of Holton Beckering in 1728 when Mary the daughter of John Allis and Elizabeth his wife was baptised. Following this the family obviously hit some hard times as in 1731 their son Thomas died followed in 1734 by Elizabeth, John’s wife, being buried and in the following year John died. As the names and timings are right it is a reasonable assumption that the family in Holton Beckering is the same as the one that left Nettleham.

Now, with their parents having died John (age 25), Robert, William, Elizabeth, Stephen and Mary (age 7) had to look after themselves. It is not known how long they stayed in Holton for but a Stephen Allis marries in 1755 in Old Leake. Stephen at the time and in the Allis families of Lincolnshire is an uncommon Christian name.

Old Leake

Holton Beckering is about two miles NNW of Wragby and about eight miles from Nettleham.

Old Leake is over twenty-five miles away and not on an obvious path to anywhere so Stephen may have moved more than once to arrive here.

He married Mary Robinson from Wainfleet in 1755, the year their first child was born. In the old Leake parish register the baptisms of Thomas, William, Elizabeth, John, and Eleanor are recorded. Thomas died a few months after birth and the burial for a son John is recorded but not a baptism. Therefore we have William, Elizabeth and Eleanor. Stephen was buried in 1764 with a given age of 44 years, although if he was the Stephen from Nettleham he would have been about 39 or 40 years old although it was not uncommon for remembered ages to be a few years out.

Hameringham and Miningsby

These two villages are about two miles apart and about fifteen miles from Holton Beckering.

In 1747 Mary the daughter of John and Elizabeth Allis is baptised, followed by William and Mary in 1751 and 1753. The parish register shows the burial of Elizabeth Allis in April 1779.

In Miningsby the marriage of Mary Allis to William Coney takes place in November 1776 and an Elizabeth Allis marries James Stout in Goulceby in 1767. By 1777 both Mary and Elizabeth were living at East Keal.

The will of John Allis at Hameringham (written in 1761 and proved in 1767 - LCC Wills 1767/7) shows that he leaves all to his wife Elizabeth and that the unnamed children are all under the age of twenty-one years. Elizabeth also left a will in 1779 (at Miningsby - LCC wills 1779/3) where she leaves to her children Elizabeth the wife of James Stout, her eldest son John, her daughter Mary the wife of William Coney and finally to her youngest son William.

This indicates that the older children John and Elizabeth either did not have their birth recorded (or the records did not survive) or they were born elsewhere. Certainly there are missing records from the Hameringham parish register.

John is a good candidate for the one born in Nettleham in 1710 but no suitable marriage has been found at present.

Quarrington

Quarrington is adjacent to Sleaford roughly twenty miles south of Holton Beckering.

In 1752 at Quarrington in the parish register is recorded the baptism of William the son of William by Eliner his wife. A daughter, Mary, born in 1756 only lived for a few days. Eleanor died in 1785 at the age of 65, and in 1793 at the age of 78 William Allis a farmer was buried. This would give their approximate years of birth as 1720 and for William 1715. Here it can be noted that a William was born in Nettleham in 1715.

A suitable marriage for William and Eleanor has not so far been found.

 

Bringing the families together

Thus far we have three families who are good candidates for the family from Nettleham and Holton but they are widely spread and John and William are very common names.

Elizabeth in her will at Miningsby names her children as John, William, Elizabeth Stout and Mary Coney.

The will of William Allis of Old Sleaford in 1793 (LCC wills 1793/6) appears to pull all of these families together. In this he leaves to his wife Mary: Eleanor had died in March 1785 so it may be assumed he remarried. There is indeed a marriage in November of that year in Sleaford where William Allis a widower from Quarrington married Mary Millington, a widow, by licence.

He then goes on to name his nieces and nephews by his brother John as Elizabeth Stout, Mary Coney, John and William Allis. Further he names his nieces and nephews by his brother Stephen as William, Elizabeth, Mary and Eleanor.

He then names his son William leaving him properties at Ewerby and Ewerby Thorpe.

Therefore three separated families at Hameringham, Quarrington and Old Leake are shown to be related by the will of William Allis of Old Sleaford which also adds three children (two for John and Elizabeth and one for Stephen and Mary) that were not previously known. There is also a tie-in to Ewerby.

This also gives a lineage back to Nettleham although how they got from Holton Beckering remains a mystery.