Agnes Gardner-Dedham Essex

[CelticAncestry]

Well I guess that I take a big boot in the proverbial optimistic backside...  I've been on the go in the past 24 hours, logging in about 300 miles on my car, chauffering about some friends and family members--when I catch my breath and get a good night's sleep under my belt, I will have a look at Agnes Gardner's Last Will and Testament.  Perhaps that might have a clue in it...  In recaping what I do know, she lived in Dedham (why there I have no idea) in the 1780's because her nephew stayed with her when he attended Dedham School.  We know that she lived there until her death and was buried in St. Mary's Churchyard.  She never married.  She was a woman of means.  Clearly she must have rented a home.  She was very close to her sister Dolly Gardner-Barrie-Clayton, and George Clayton is mentioned several times in her Will--perhaps there is a link there with the land... will get out my magnifying glass and see what I can uncover.   

I know you went to alot of trouble and time to dig through the records for me... I can't thank you enough for the time and effort you have gone to in order to help me with what had been a brick wall--slowly I will be tearing it down... and it will come down!! 

Thank you again for your kindness

[CelticAncestry]

After having taken a deep breath and did a bit of checking on Agnes Gardner's Last Will and Testament, I came across this bit that I thought I would ask about... "Agnes bequeathed ALL her personal possessions to George and Edward CLAYTON, together with "all and every the Messuages lands tenements and hereditaments parts of the Messuages land tenements and hereditaments and all other my real estate whatsoever and wherever......"  Wouldn't this tend to make one think that she possibly owned where she lived?  Can you possibly tell me if there is a Deeds Registry somewhere in Essex that might have the information that I seek? 

[Clincher]

Hallo again
When I looked at the Land Tax records for you, every page seemed to contain a column which was headed 'Rental' or 'Rent'.
And it seemed that every line in those columns had a number in it. On the strength of what the archivist told me, I earlier explained that the number signified the acreage to be taxed.
Because of this I assumed (and perhaps I should have explained this too) that this number took no account of the status (fiduciary or otherwise) of the owner/occupier but was just a number used for calculating tax. I cannot imagine local government in 18th century Essex being able to do anything more sophisticated than that.
In England and Wales we have a Land Registry (a government office) where in modern times at least deeds could be registered  but the deeds themselves (which are steadily being replaced by modern land certificates) would be retained by the owners or their legal representatives.
I'll try to check the 1841 Tithe Awards for any Claytons and let you know the results.

[Clincher]

I could see no CLAYTONs in the list of Tithe Awards for Dedham. It is possible of course that any real property left by AG was not in Dedham.
Although it took a lot of perseverance to cope with the microfilm images, I had a look at the Land Tax Assessments for years 1816-1818 (Essex Record Office refs: D/RPI 615-617 inc).
In the first two of those years the owner's name becomes Gardener & Prior (at least to my eyes it looks like Prior).
By 1818 no entry for any Gardner/Gardener remains. Perhaps it took that long for the real property to be disposed of. No Clayton can be seen either.
I think I'll have to leave it at that for now.

[CelticAncestry]

Well we have possibly a BINGO here--  Mary Prior was a companion of Agnes Gardner's... and she was mentioned in Agnes' will; however, in the Will she was only left 100 pounds... nothing was mentioned about any land given to her.  Wondering if something was worked out between the Gardner family and Mary Prior that she would have a place to live??  I think this is what I have been looking for.

[CelticAncestry]

Something tells me that Mary Prior must have passed away sometime in1817.  I find it interesting that the surname is written Gardener, but then in my own specific surname research, family members added an additional letter and some did not... so I guess it isn't so unusual.

[Clincher]

The Dedham burial register Essex Record office ref: D/P 26/1/8 fiche 1 of 3 contains this entry on page 11:

Mary (or could be read as May) PRIOR of Dedham buried Sep 3 1815 age 53

It has occurred to me that there is a faint hope of some record at Suffolk RO which may help. I'll be going there soon and let you know what I find.

[Clincher]

There was a newspaper of the times called Ipswich Journal. Someone in years gone by prepared an old-fashioned card index of names which appeared in that newspaper even for mundane things such as property auctions. Because Dedham is close to Suffolk I had hoped that I might find your names mentioned  in this index but sadly this was not the case.
I also looked in the book 'Wills preserved in Essex Record Office Vol 3 1721-1858' for all the names GARDNER/BARRIE/CLAYTON/PRIOR (or anyone from Dedham) but they did not feature.

[CelticAncestry]

Hi:  Thanks for taking the time to check the Ipswich Journal index and the "Wills Preserved in Essex Record Office Vol 3 1721-1858".  You wouldn't find Sir Robert Barrie nor George or Dolly Clayton there because they all died in Lancashire.  Lord Alan Gardner died in Staffordshire, Valentine Gardner died in London, and his son William Linnaeus Gardner (who founded Gardner's Horse) died in India.  I was only able to locate Agnes Gardner's Last Will and Testament in the National Archives--why her Will appears in the Nat'l Archives but not in the book you looked through, I have no idea--that's certainly a puzzlement to me.  As you did locate the date of burial for MRS. Mary Prior, and as she was listed as a "partner" in Agnes Gardner's Will, (which I had taken to mean companion but now believe they were also business partners possibly co-landowners) I have to believe there is something to the "Gardener-Prior" Land Tax Assessment record you found and posted to me on 23 May 05.