Foster Reynolds of Mitcham and Carshalton

[Penndennis]

I seem to have hit a brick wall in trying to get further back with one branch of the family.  Other people researching the same family have apparently made no progress as well.

Foster Reynolds (of Mitcham) b. c. 1736 d. 1797.  He was a linen bleacher in Carshalton and may well have bought/rented Carshalton House in the 1770s and 80s.  I have found two probable sons, William Foster Reynolds Esq of Carshalton House (1767- ?) and Jacob Foster Reynolds (1775-1851).  Their descendants seem to be well researched, not least because William's son married Elizabeth Fry's daughter.

Foster Reynolds married Deborah Brady (my distant relative) in 1774.  There are two doors I have not yet managed to open, possibly because of the strong Quaker conections of all the families involved.

1.  There must have been a previous marriage unless William is not Foster's son after all.
2.  Who were Foster's parents?

Grateful for any pointers

[Mark1973]

I have a book on the history of Carshalton House at home, i'll have a look through when i get home from work, also got lots of Carshalton and Mitcham history books

[corkcutter]

I am researching the Foster Reynolds at the moment (though not for family tree purposes) and live in Carshalton so can easily access the local archives.  I have what appears to be a reliable tree for them which was made out in the 1960s by a descendant. It gives details of Foster Reynolds' parents:  Thomas Reynolds (1714-1771) member of the Clothworkers Company married at Southwark 1734 to Mary Foster (d. 1741) daughter of William Foster, leatherseller of Southwark. Their son Foster Reynolds (1736-1797) was their second and eldest surviving son. Foster Reynolds married  Elizabeth Hayes who died in 1772 so your ancestor must have been a second marriage (not mentioned on this tree at all) - or are you sure that your Foster Reynolds was the same one you have discovered in Carshalton?

Foster Reynolds had three sons - Thomas, William Foster and Jacob and the tree also gives details of some though not all of their offspring. I have a scan of the whole tree but don't seem able to attach it to this message.  Let me have your e-mail if you want a copy.  There is a copy of a picture of Foster Reynolds with his young son Thomas in an old book called Reminiscences of an octogenarian by Edward Arbuthnot Knox pub. 1934)  Hope this helps

[Penndennis]

That's very helpful indeed, thank you.  I am pretty confident that I have the right Foster Reynolds, because of the quality of the Quaker records.  Two marriages seems to make complete sense of the details so far.  Good luck with your own research.

[Penndennis]

And yes, I would very much like a copy of the tree.
^(*)

(*) Moderator Comment: e-mail removed in accordance with RootsChat policy,
to avoid spamming and other abuses.
Please use the Personal Message (PM) system for exchanging personal data.

See Help-Page:  http://www.rootschat.com/help/pms.php
Just click on the small green scroll to the left of the post of the person you wish to contact.