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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Kent => Topic started by: tompion on Saturday 30 January 10 09:57 GMT (UK)
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Dear All,
I have a lot of information about this Spratt family, which I am happy to share, but also some gaps that I would love to fill in. The earliest family were in Wingham, then Ash and then Woodnesborough.
Names of spouses of my direct Spratt line going back in time, are Jeffreys, Foad, Langley, Wanstall, Maytum, Warde, Shoveler, Powell, Cobb.
I have a number of problems: EG, I cannot find the marriage record of Solomon Spratt and Anne Shoveler. A LDS entry says Solomon married Ann Shovelor in Bishopsbourne (about 10 miles from Wingham) in June 1750. It says she was born on 6 March 1733. There is however a settlement order for Solomon and Anne from Littlebourne to Wingham - the marriage may therefore well have been in Littlebourne rather than Bishopsbourne. However, I could not find the marriage in either set of Parish records. The marriage date of June 1750 is consistent as their first child was baptised in June 1751.
There is also a second closely related Solomon Spratt (a cooper) who apparently married Sarah Evernden in Jun 1751 at Ickham (near Ash) - this comes from a transcript of Canterbury Marriage Records and also an entry at the LDS site. The marriage date is consistent with the date of birth of their first child in Wingham Parish records (1752). He is probably the Solomon Spratt buried in Wingham Churchyard alongside a second tomb for Sarah Spratt and their infant daughter Anne. I have been unable to find their marriage in church records of Ickham and surrounding churches.
It is very hard to disentangle these two Solomon Spratts as I have not found either of their marriage certificates and I have suspicions about the transcription of the dates in secondary sources including the tomb inscriptions, which now are very hard to read. Bsically the dates of births, mariages, deaths etc don't tally and I am confused.
Anyone interested in this family?
Yours Tompion
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Hi
I am interested in the Spratt family, I have a marriage of a Grace Spratt marrying William Griggs in 1708. The marriage was in Canterbury but they lived in Wingham/Woodnesboroug and had a son Thomas. Do you know anything about Grace, who her parents were etc?
Regards
Virginia
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Dear Virginia,
The only Jane Spratt I found in the Wingham Parish Records was baptized on Sept 15 1695, daughter of John and Jane Spratt. However, she married Richard Cranbrook, a yeoman of Wingham. I looked through Woodnesborough parish records and I have a note saying there were no Spratt entries prior to about 1800.
Of course, if Grace was married in Canterbury she would have lived there, and would very probably have been born there and thus in the records of a Canterbury Church, and once married as Jane Griggs I would not have found here as I have not looked for any Griggs children etc in Wingham or Woodnesborough records.
Best wishes, Tompion
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Hi,
For the Solomon Spratt Marriage, it was by License, it says at Bishopsbourne, Knowlton or Guston. 1/6/1750
Sorry if you have this already.
Lis
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Thanks Lis,
Not sure I have seen this and it is interesting as it suggests Solomon Spratt and Ann Shoveler may have married in Knowlton. This is where Solomon's father and mother (Henry and Maria Spratt, nee Court) got married and where they lived after moving back from Wingham (where Henry was born and where their older children were born), and they had their younger children in Knowlton and were buried there.
I couldn't find the marriage in Bishopsbourne church records - will have to check Knowlton church records.
Best wishes, Brian
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I've got somewhat tenuous commections to FOAD and POWELL in that area, but my only Spratt is from the Channel Islands.
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Hi Kathyw,
My paternal grandmother was Kathleen Foad daughter of Stephen Foad of Sutton Court, Near Deal.
Brian
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whoops - Katherine Foad not Kathleen
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Yes! I'm very interested in this family! I am descended from a William Spratt and wife Mary of Wingham who were the parents of Mary Spratt, christened at Wingham on 22 January, 1672. She evidently later married to Thomas Ladd Sr., on 18 March 1691. The source for this marriage (Tyler Index to Parish Records) only lists the venue as "St. Mary Magdalene" without specifying which town or village. ... However, this source also says, immediately following the bride's name, "b. Wingham". Thomas and Mary (Spratt) Ladd were the parents of several children in the Wingham parish register, of whom their eldest son John, christened in 1695 (a "Cordwainer" by trade), was my ancestor. This John Ladd later relocated to East Langdon, Kent, where he died and was buried on 22 June 1788. By his wife Mary, this John Ladd was the father of my ancestor Mary Ladd, who was christened at East Langdon on 21 September, 1740. She later married William Johnson Sr. shortly after the last of the banns were read, on 29 December, 1771, and died and was buried in Wingham on 10 May 1806. My ancestors descend from these Johnsons.
I am particularly interested in corresponding with anyone having knowledge of the earliest generations of this Spratt/Ladd family in Wingham.
Thanks sincerely,
T.J. White
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Please forgive me for being a "Johnny-come-lately" who knows little to nothing about this family, but is there any truth to the oft-stated 'connection' between these Spratts of Wingham and the marriage at St. Andrew's, Canterbury, on 15 December 1634, between a William Spratt and a Mary Harflete?
Any semi-authoritative answer, whether pro or con, will be much appreciated, and may save me considerable research effort.
Thanks,
T.J. White
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Addendum:
Just discovered this, from "A Directory of Medical Personnel Qualified and Practising
in the Diocese of Canterbury, circa 1560-1730," by Ian Mortimer, BA MA PhD FRHistS RMSA (online):
Unless I am greatly mistaken, it would appear that my ancestor Mary Spratt who married Thomas Ladd (at St. Mary Magdalen, Canterbury, as I now know) was a daughter of Dr. William Spratt, Sr., Surgeon of Wingham, by Mary his wife, and a sister to Dr. William Spratt Jr., Physician and Surgeon of Ash.
Does anyone know anything about these people?
Thanks,
T.J. White
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I have transcripts of a certain amount of parish records, sadly Wingham is not among them, but I have Ash and Sandwich, among others. There were several baptisms to William & Elizabeth at Ash, also his marriage to Elizabeth JULL and a few at Sandwich also to William and Elizabeth and also to Harfleet & Sarah, as well as his marriage to Sarah DEWAY (?).
If this is of interest to anyone I would be happy to provide names and dates.
Kind regards
AJ
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Thank you, AJ, for your very kind offer. Alas, though, the William and Elizabeth of Ash whom you found do not seem to be in my direct line. The very earliest (recorded) generations of this family were definitely at Wingham, in the Seventeenth Century; and yes, no one seems to have ready access to their original parish records (save FindMyPast.co.uk). I have found a few of the records there. Only later, in the 18th Century, did some of them relocate to Ash (and possibly Sandwich). I posted my comments in the (vain?) hope that someone else may possibly already have researched this family, and could save me much time and trouble.
Kind regards,
T.J. White
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I have information about these people and have a list of all Spratt entries in the Wingham parish records. Will look through what I have tomorrow - my Spratt family is the same one, who were in Wingham until they moved to Ash and then to Woodnesborough.
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Terrence, I have a large amount of information about the people you mention and it is difficult to know where to start. You say that Dr William Spratt Jnr (born 7th April 1665 in Wingham), who worked in Ash and died in 1710 in Sandwich, and was married to Elizabeth Jull, is not on your direct line.
William's father, Dr William Spratt Snr, was born in Wingham perhaps around 1630 (as he was probably about 30 by the time he was licensed to practice as a surgeon in 1662). He may have first married Joane Church as a William Spratt of Wingham chirurgeon married Joane Church in 1650 in Canterbury and she died shortly after without issue. He then married Mary - Mary Spratt, wife of William Spratt, chirurgeon, was buried in Wingham on 8 Sept 1691.
Dr William Spratt Snr and Mary had six children born in Wingham (William Jnr, John, Samuel (the other chirurgeon mentioned in the list of Kent medical men), Solomon, Mary and Sarah. I am descended from this Solomon who was a publican.
If you let me know where you fit in I will provide information about your ancestors if i know about them.
Best wishes, Tompion
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Correction - I don't think william Snr first married Joane Church - this was a pure guess and probably wrong.
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Dear "Tompion"
You and I would seem to be distant cousins, then, since my ancestor was the Mary Spratt you mentioned as a daughter of William Spratt, Chirurgeon, of Wingham, and his wife Mary. Daughter Mary (my ancestor) was christened in Wingham on 22 Jan. 1672, and married in St. Mary Magdalene, Canterbury, to a Thomas Ladd, on 18 March 1691. The parish register entry for this marriage says, immediately after Mary's name, "b. Wingham," and, indeed, we immediately afterward find record in the Wingham parish registers of the births of Thomas and Mary's eleven (!!) children, some of whom died in infancy. Their child John Ladd, cordwainer, of Wingham (chr. 1695--bur. 1788) was my ancestor. From him to myself, the line runs down (all born or resident in Wingham) as follows: Mary Ladd (daughter of John), christened in Wingham in 1740; married in Wingham on 29 December 1771 to a William Johnson; their son William Johnson Jr. (1774-1837) was also my ancestor. He married Frances Gibbs also in Wingham, on 28 May, 1803. Their youngest child Sarah Johnson was christened in Wingham on 26 January 1817, married a John Knight in Wingham on 12 October 1832. Sarah (Johnson) Knight showed up in Canterbury in the 1851 census with her husband (a "Labourer"), and as a widow in the 1861 census (her husband having apparently having died in Canterbury circa the date of his burial, 16 June, 1859. One of Sarah and John Knight's children was my ancestor, Harriet Knight Myers Jauncey, who was christened in Canterbury on 19 February 1837. She married my ancestor Sgt. Henry Myers (1818-1877) as her first husband, at the church of St. Mary Northgate, Canterbury, on 20 January 1862. Her youngest child by Sgt. Myers (who saw service with the 40th Regiment of Foot at Kandahar and Karachi in 1842, and at Maharajpore, India, in 1843) was my great-grandfather, Albert Edward Myers (1871 Canterury--1942 Edmonton, London). Albert's daughter Beatrice Myers Rumble (1900-1972) was my maternal grandmother, whom I knew personally. Beatrice emigrated to Alberta Canada, Utah and later California in 1919.
Thanks for your kind offer of help. Since I have the later generations basically proven, what I am most interested in are the connections of the earliest generations--the ones hardest to prove. I would also be interested to see how you descend from Solomon (my ancestral uncle).
Kind regards from your cousin in the States,
T.J. White
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Dear Terence,
Mary's elder brother Dr William Spratt Jnr provides clues as to the earlier Spratt line. I have that William married Elisabeth Jull and, if so, he named his eldest son Harflete Spratt. This is all clear from his will - my notes on the will say:
The will of the William Sprat clarifies matters considerably although it doesn't give any profession just calling him William Sprat Gent. - William died in Sandwich and his will was written on 23rd January 1710 (proved 8th December 1711), leaving his property to his 'four sons, Harflete Sprat, William Sprat, John Sprat and Thomas Sprat' and says they should 'maintain and bring up my two daughters Elizabeth Sprat and Dorcas Sprat' until they reach twenty one or be married. The children all agree (with what I had from Parish records) and as the elder ones were born in Ash and the younger ones in Sandwich it suggests William and Elizabeth moved from Ash to Sanwich. The name Dorcas also supports the fact that William's wife was Elizabeth Jull as her mother's name was Dorcas.
The only plausible explanation for the very odd 'Harflete' christian name is that it was in homage to a recent ancestor and this makes it likely that the mother of Dr William Spratt Snr was Mary Harflete:
Dec 12 1634 William Spratt of Eastwell married Mary Harflete of Ash
The date of the marriage works as Dr William Snr was licensed as a doctor in 1662 and, assuming he was about 25 when this happened, he would have been born in about 1637. The Harflete's were very high status and the Spratt's would have been proud of this lineage injection (and maybe Mary brought money and property into the family).
I will tell you about my line from Solomon later.
The Harflete line is well known and would take you back quite a few generations.
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Tompion:
That does it! I had seen that 1634 marriage to Mary Harflete, but without the specifics of that 1710 will was unable to prove the connection.
Also, I have a christening record for a William Spratt son of William Spratt, baptised in Wingham on 7 July 1644 (the transcript says "1643," but the context of the actual image makes it clear that the year was really 1644). That's a little late, but still possible. Our William Sr. would have been 19 when licensed, if this is the same person.
I also have found a 1656 will for a William Spratt, Gentleman, in Eastwell. Think he is probably also related somehow. I haven't really attempted to decipher all of the crabbed 17th Century writing yet, but do see that it gives bequests to wife Mary, daughter Mary when she reaches age 21 or marries, eldest son William, and sons John, Henry, Thomas, and Samuel. (Those last named three sons were given their father's estate in Biddenden, Kent.) The testator William Spratt also left a small bequest of what looks like 10 shillings to the poor of the parishes of Eastwell and Boughton. I have JPEG images of that will, if you are interested. (It is also on Ancestry.com)
Also, I see a christening record for a Marie Harflete in St. Margaret's, Canterbury, on 12 June 1608, with father Edward. This could well be her. Her father Edward married Marie Goodhew on 22 October 1605, at St. Paul's, Canterbury. He was of that same parish, whereas Miss Goodhew was of the parish of Preston-next-Wingham. ... That same Edward Harflete is said on a few Ancestry trees to have been a son of a William Harflete, who was himself a son of the well-known Thomas "At Chequer" alias Septvans alias Harflete (ca. 1502-April 1559), who--as you rightly say--has quite a distinguished ancestry. If this connection is correct, then the appellation "At Chequer" could possibly explain and account for the "Chequer" name of the pub in Wingham owned by your ancestors Solomon and Mary (Cobb) Spratt in the 1730s and 1740s.
All for now.
Many, many thanks for this very important information!
Terrence
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Hi Terrence,
I am still worried by that 'of Eastwell' as this is quite some way from Wingham and may suggest that the Spratt's moved from Eastwell to Wingham in the 1600's.
Incidentally, the father of Mary was Henry Harflete:
Spratt, William, of Eastwell, g(ent)., ba(chelor)., about 24, and Mary Harflete of Ash, v(irgin)., about 21, d. of Henry Harflete, s. p., g., who consents. At S. Andrew's, Cant. Dec. 12, 1634.
Also, Henry Harflete's will is available and mentions his daughter Mary Sprat, wife of Mr William Spratt
I would be very interested to get a jpg of William Spratt of Eastwell's will - I can swap with Henry Harflete's will! The latter is also very hard to read.
Yes, Solomon and then Mary Spratt held the license of the Chequers in Wingham which no longer exists although there is one of the same name in nearby Ash.
All the best, Tompion
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Tompion:
Yes, I realised the other day (unfortunately) after I had sent my last message, that the Mary who was christened in 1610 in Ash, as a daughter of Henry, was a much better candidate to be the wife of Wm. Spratt in 1634. Your latest information only confirms that my suspicion was correct. I have the Harfletes pretty well documented back to Thomas At Chequer alias Harflete (d.1559), who married as his second wife Marian Brockhull, daughter of Edward, and then have the Brockhulls fairly reliably documented (so it seems) back to Sir John de Brockhull, Knt., of Saltwood, Kent (d.1378), and his wife Ida de Criol. About the Criols there is still some speculation amongst genealogists, but it seems very likely that Ida was a descendant of the Anglo-Norman nobililty, through at least the Pecche, Peverel, St. Liz, and perhaps most importantly, the de Clare family, of which the most significant scions were the Earls of Clare and Suffolk. My work now consists of firming up all of the above with as much reliably solid documentation as I can find.
As to the respective wills, kindly contact me at tjwhite1963 "at" gmail.com, and we can exchange JPEG copies of the Wm. Spratt of Eastwell and Henry Harflete of Ash wills. (I don't at all mind publicising my actual email address or photo on this site, because both are freely and publicly available elsewhere in many places.)
Oh, and I did find the other day the parish baptismal record from St. Nicholas, Ash, of "Henrie sonne of Henrye Harflete, gt." dated the 22nd day of January, 1580/1. This record also (miraculously) lists his actual birth date, the previous day, 21 January, of the same year. I will be happy to include this scan, should you not already have it.
Perhaps one day, with all of this solid documentation, I may consider pulling together a written, thoroughly-documented family history of these Spratts and their antecedents and some of their descendants, as I already have elsewhere for my ancestral White and Lovelace families.
I look forward to hearing from you, and many thanks for your very kind offer.
Sincerely,
T.J. White
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Hi Brian
I have Katherine in my tree, 4th cousin 4 x removed but still there :)
I do not have descendants for her two sons so would love to compare notes
Suzannah Foad
Hi Kathyw,
My paternal grandmother was Kathleen Foad daughter of Stephen Foad of Sutton Court, Near Deal.
Brian
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Hi Suzannah,
Katherine Foad and Henry George Spratt had two boys. My father, Clarence Albert Spratt (always called Jack) was born in 1908 at Churchgate Farm, Woodnesborough, and died in 1966 and Henry Lewis Spratt (always called Lewis) born in 1911 at the same place and died 1973.
My father married Marjory Alice Jeffreys and there were two children, me and my elder sister. Lewis never married.
All best, Brian
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Lovely - Thank you :)
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Hi. Browsing, I have just come across this page re: Spratt family. I recently found that I have a William Spratt c1643 who had a son Samuel married a Mary and their daughter Mary born c1699, married Henry Morris of Littlebourne Kent. My line is down to the Pilcher family in Folkestone. I think this is correct....
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Hi Argent, welcome - it would help if you had info on where these people were born/christened/married/died etc. If you have such info I and others could look at the Spratt data we have collected - the Spratt family we are talking about came from Wingham and surroundings. Regards Tompion