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John Hutchens and Sarah Rowe

Grave of John and Sarah
Grave of John and Sarah Hutchens
St Levan churchyard

The first versions of this page were heavily based on a book entitled The Family History of Thomas Hutchens, produced by Grantley Hutchens (a third cousin of mine), using in part information provided by a researcher he hired to look up the parish registers. Now most of that information has been transcribed for the internet and is available via www.familysearch.org and the Cornwall Online Parish Clerks, and more information has come to light, enabling Grantley to revise his original research. I am grateful to him for keeping me informed.

Most of the people discussed on this page were born in the part of Cornwall near Penzance, notably in the parishes of St Buryan, Paul and St Levan. See Google's map of the area.

John Hutchens and Sarah Rowe were married in St Levan, Cornwall, on 2/10/1824. They had the following children, all of whom were baptized in St Levan:

Grantley and I are descended from the second son, Thomas, who is discussed on another page.

I am also indebted to Grantley for the photograph of the stone in St Levan churchyard marking the grave of John and Sarah, their daughter Nanny and son-in-law William John. Here is a transcription of the words inscribed on it:

Sacred to the memory of
John Hutchens
Who departed this life June 19th 1845
Aged 43 yrs
Afflicted by our loss we lay thee here
In silent sorrow; e'en thy dust is dear,
For never child shall weep or widow bend
O'er kinder parent, partner or true friend.
Also Sarah wife of the above
Died June 25th 1876
Also of William John their son-in-law died at the Logan Rock
Inn Treen May 12th 1906
Aged 72 years
Also of Nanny John
The wife of the above who died Feb 1st 1914
Aged 78 yrs

The following item of family folklore was provided by Connie Fraser, a daughter of one of the grand-daughters of Thomas Hutchens. Connie wrote as follows:

"Family stories told to me by my mother concern Thomas Hutchens' parents. When Thomas' mother was a small girl, the family of the local squire took an interest in her and she spent quite a lot of time with them. They introduced her to some of the niceties of life, manners and grammar in particular, but most importantly, they taught her to read. It would seem that she had opportunities the other village children did not have. Of Thomas' father the story concerns how he died – he overturned his cart into a ditch one night when driving home, regrettably not quite as sober as he should have been."

The story of John's death, at least, has the ring of truth, but I do not know whether to trust the story about Sarah. It sounds too much like a good story that someone might invent, or something that might be easily attached to the wrong person. Casting further doubt on it is the fact that Sarah and John both marked the marriage register with X's, rather than signing their names; similarly, in 1846 Sarah "marked" a legal document detailing her obligations as administratrix of the estate of her late husband (who died intestate).

At the time of his death John was the keeper of the Logan Rock Inn, at Treen (or Treryn). The West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser published the following report of the inquest into his death on 27/6/1845 (see the June 1845 news):

... in the parish of St. Levan, on the body of MR. JOHN HUTCHENS, who kept the Logan Rock Inn, in that parish. The deceased was returning from Penzance market on the 19th to his home, in his cart drawn by one horse, and was descending the hill near his own house, called Buryan hill, when from some cause the horse ran off at full speed down the hill. The deceased was seen in his cart, and apparently pulling at the reins with all his might to stop the horse; but to no purpose, and at the bottom of the hill, he was precipitated from the cart into the road, where he was picked up almost immediately, quite dead. His skull was severely fractured. Verdict, accidental death.

John was buried on 23/6/1845, four days after his death. According to the burial record he was 42 years old, indicating that he was born in 1802 or 1803. His widow, Sarah, lived to the age of 73; she died on 25/6/1876, and was buried on 29/6/1876.

John-Sarah marriage

According to the parish register record of John and Sarah's marriage, John was a farmer. However, according to the baptism records for their children, John was a labourer in 1825 and 1826, a shop-keeper in 1831 and 1835, and a publican in 1840. The 1841 census record for the household is as follows.

Treen, St Levan, 1841:
NameAgeOccupation
John Hutchins35Publican
Sarah Hutchins35
John Hutchins16
Thomas Hutchins15Shoemaker Apprentice
Sarah Hutchins12
Nancy Hutchins6
Edwin Hutchins10m

Thomas emigrated to Australia in 1848, but his siblings John, Sarah, Nanny and Edwin remained in Cornwall. Parish register records of their marriages survive, and in each case their late father's occupation is given "farmer". The Encyclopedia of South Australia (1909) includes a biography of Thomas, which says that his father was John Hutchens, the owner and host of "the Logan Rockin Inn", but also refers to Thomas "working on his father's farm for some years" before emigrating. I presume that this "farm" must have been a small piece of land associated with the Logan Rock Inn, but how John Hutchens acquired this land and the inn is unclear. He surely did not inherit it from his father, who, as we shall see, was a cordwainer (shoemaker), and did not live in St Levan; moreover, John was not the eldest son. It seems more likely that Sarah was the source of this property.

Logan Rock Inn
The Logan Rock Inn

Prior to the marriage of John Hutchens and Sarah Rowe, and the baptisms of their children, there are only a very few occurrences of the name Hutchens (including variant spellings) in the St Levan parish registers, and no Hutchens baptisms at all. It seems likely, therefore, that John Hutchens was not originally from St Levan. Presumably Sarah Rowe was from St Levan, and, since there is only one St Levan baptism record that matches, it is probable that Sarah was the daughter of Ezekiel and Sarah Row baptized on 5/10/1802.

The first occurrence of Hutchens in the St Levan parish registers came on 17th June 1738, when Elizabeth Hitchens married James Jeffreys. There was also a Jane Hitchens of St Levan who married Richard Betty in Sennen on 11th April 1737. I have not found a baptism record that matches Elizabeth, but presumably Jane was the daughter of Edward Hitchens baptized on 20th July 1707 in Sennen, and had siblings named Edward (baptized on 19th November 1701) and Emmanuel (baptized on 25th December 1704). There was an Edward Hitchens buried in St Levan on 6th June 1747, and an Emmanuel Hitchens buried in St Levan 17/3/1792. However, I cannot see any reason to believe that these people were at all related to my ancestor John Hutchens.

The only other two occurrences of Hutchens in the St Levan parish registers before the marriage of John and Sarah came on 6/6/1807, when a Dinah Hutchens of St Buryan married James Barnicoat, and on 19/4/1823, when a Betsy Hutchens married Enoch Tonkin. (Note that although the familysearch.org record of the marriage of Dinah Hutchens to James Barnicoat does not include the important information that she was "of St Buryan", but a Cornwall OPC record that seems to no longer exist did have this information.) I believe that Dinah was an aunt of John Hutchens, and that Betsy was his sister. Although the record of Betsy's marriage says "otp" (of this parish), there is no St Levan baptism record that fits. However, as we shall see, there is a St Buryan baptism record that does. So perhaps this particular Hutchens family, or some members of it, moved from St Buryan to St Levan at some stage.

Deach Cert
Ezekiel Rowe Death Certificate

As mentioned above, I believe that Sarah Rowe's parents were named Ezekiel and Sarah. Ezekiel Row married Sarah Blewett in St Levan on 5/12/1801. They apparently had only two children: Sarah, baptized on 5/10/1802, and Mary baptized on 22/5/1804. Sarah Row, wife of Ezekiel, was buried in St Levan on 12/11/1806; Ezekiel died on 6/2/1838 and was buried in St Levan on 11/2/1838. The informant named on the death certificate was Ezekiel's son-in-law Thomas Hutchens, victualler of Treen in St Levan. Ezekiel's occupation at the time of his death was "laborer".

Ezekiel-Sarah marriage
Grave of Sarah Row
Grave of Sarah Row (née Blewett)
St Levan churchyard

Given that Ezekiel had no sons, his eldest daughter Sarah would presumably have stood to inherit whatever property Ezekiel may have possessed. However, as a laborer he was surely not a land-owner, nor was he an inn-keeper. In any case, John Hutchens had evidently become an inn-keeper before the time of his father-in-law's death. My best guess, therefore, is that John and Sarah must have had enough money between them to buy the Logan Rock Inn. Unfortunately, I have no idea how much money would have been required.

Ancestors of Sarah Rowe

As explained above, it is conjectured that Sarah's parents were Ezekiel Row and Sarah Blewett, who were married in St Levan in December 1801. Working on the assumption that most marriages took place in the bride's home town, we can conjecture that Sarah was the daughter of Thomas and Margory Blewett, born in St Levan on 14/10/1774, baptized on 19/10/1774. There is no other recorded St Levan baptism that fits. Thomas Blewett of St Levan had married Margery Roberts in St Buryan on 31/10/1767.

Sarah's Blewett relatives

St Levan baptism records exist for two siblings of Sarah Blewett: Mary (baptized 17/4/1770) and Thomas (baptized 18/4/1777). Margery Blewett, wife of Thomas, died in 1807 and was buried on 8/2/1807 in St Levan, and Thomas Blewett, widower, died in 1812, buried on 1/7/1812 in St Levan. The will of Thomas Blewett, yeoman of St Levan, includes bequests of £15 to each of his grand-daughters, Sarah and Mary Rowe, the daughters of his deceased daughter Sarah, as well as one guinea for their father Ezekiel. Mary also got "the Truckle Bed in the Hall Chamber with the Bedding and Apparol thereunto belonging". For both grand-daughters the £15 was to be paid "at her age of twenty one years or day of marriage which shall first happen, with Interest for the same at Five pounds per cent to be paid yearly by my Executor".

Perhaps the family folklore story that Sarah was favoured by the family of the local squire has some truth, the squire in question in fact being her grandfather.

Thomas Blewett also left £10 to his daughter Mary, the wife of James Richards, and £30 to another daughter, Margery Blewett, who was evidently unmarried when the will was composed (on 3/11/1808). The remainder of the estate was left to Thomas' son Thomas, who was also named as executor of the will. The total value of Thomas Blewett's estate was sworn to be less than £450.

Margery Blewett married Abraham Jacka of the parish of Paul on 21/7/1810. She was buried in St Levan on 17/7/1812 (just 16 days after her father). Thomas Blewett married Jane Ladner on 11/8/1810. Mary Blewett married James Richards on 13/10/1805.

It seems probable that the Thomas Blewett who married Margery Roberts in 1767 is the Thomas Blewett, son of Thomas, who was baptized on 12th April 1740 in St Levan. Although the baptism record does not give the mother's name we can conjecture that she was Sarah Gard, who married Thomas Blewett on 17th October 1734 in St Levan. I have not succeeded in discovering the parents of Margery Roberts.

Sarah must have received her £15, plus ten and a bit years' worth of interest at 15 shillings per year, making perhaps nearly £8 more, nearly two years before her marriage to John Hutchens. My guess is that this inheritance was used to buy the Logan Rock Inn.

Sarah's Rowe relatives

We turn now to the Rowe ancestors of Sarah Rowe. It seems likely that her father, Ezekiel, was the son of Thomas and Ann Rowe baptized in St Levan on 20/8/1768. Ezekiel was buried in St Levan on 11/2/1838. The burial record gives his age as 70, which is reasonably consistent with the baptism date, and also gives his residence as Treen. Note that Ezekiel's son-in-law John and daughter Sarah were also living at Treen at that time.

A Thomas Rowe, of St Levan, had married Anne Richards in St Buryan on 5/12/1767; presumably these were the parents of Ezekiel. They had at least two other children, baptized in St Levan: Thomas (baptized on 15/4/1770) and John (born 29/12/1771, baptized 17/1/1772). It appears that these boys both died in childhood, since a Thomas Row, son of Thomas, was buried on 25/11/1780, and a John Row, son of Thomas, was buried on 1/12/1780. However, there was also a James Rowe who married a Mary Tonkin in St Levan on 14/1/1804, and one of their many children was an Ezekiel baptized in St Levan on 20/12/1812. Initially it seems plausible that this James may have been another brother of our Ezekiel, but unfortunately closer scrutiny casts doubt on this conjecture.

In fact an Ezekiel Rowe had been baptized in St Levan almost a century earlier: Ezekiel Rowe, son of Thomas, was baptized on 29th March 1713 (according to the Cornwall OPC's) or 1712 (according to the IGI). His parents were surely the Thomas Rowe and Jane Pearce who were married on 28th November 1711 in St Levan. There were four Rowe children baptized in St Levan between 1712 and 1720; in each case the father's name was Thomas, and it is a safe bet that the mother was Jane. Here are the details of these baptisms:

It is interesting to note also that an Ezekiel Rowe had been buried on December 9th 1702, and a James Rowe had been buried on December 26th 1702, both in St Levan. It would seem that the names Ezekiel, James and Thomas were traditional favourites for the Rowes of St Levan. Unfortunately the details of the genealogy are elusive.

An Ezekiel Row and a widow named Bridget George were married on 2nd December 1732 in the parish of Sennen (which adjoins St Levan). It is possible that this was the Ezekiel who was born in 1712. I have only been able to locate one child of Ezekiel and Bridget: a daughter named Mary baptized on 11th May 1733 in Sennen. This child died at age 3, buried on December 31st 1736.

A Thomas Row and a Mary Tonkin were married in Sennen on 29th September 1737. Presumably this was the Mary Row of Sennen, wife of Thomas, who was buried on 21/8/1771 in St Levan. A Bridget Rowe, daughter of Thomas and Mary, was baptized in St Buryan on 25th May 1746, and there is a parish register note that says "of Sennen". We can perhaps conjecture that Mary Row, daughter of Thomas and Mary baptized in St Buryan on July 25th 1738, was an elder sister of Bridget, and that Susanna Row, daughter of Thomas baptized in Sennen on March 26th 1749, was another sister.

A James Row and a Susanna Moor (of Scilly) were married in Sennen on 28th December 1733. No doubt these were the parents of Jane Row baptized in Sennen on 14th September 1734, Susanna Row baptized in Sennen on 27th November 1736, Susanna Row baptized in Sennen on 3rd April 1738, and Thomas Row baptized in Sennen on 8th February 1740.

The Sennen parish registers – at least the ones that have been transcribed – date from 1700, and the first Row(e) baptism that appears is that of Mary, daughter of Ezekiel and Bridget. It is at least plausible that these Sennen Rowes and St Levan Rowes are the same people. Note that there is a Sennen parish register record of the burial of Susanna Rowe in 1768 or 1769, and it says that she was the wife of James (of Trengothall). Looking at maps, it seems to me that Trengothall is just about halfway between Sennen and St Levan.

I conjecture that the Thomas Row who was buried in Sennen on January 11th 1745 was Jane's husband, father of the St Levan baptized children listed above. The widowed Jane died in 1751, and was buried in St Levan on December 11th 1751.

The next Row(e) baptisms in St Levan (after the children of Thomas and Jane) occurred in the 1740's. James Row, son of James, was baptized on October 15th 1744, and William Row, son of James, was baptized on October 18th 1747. It seems possible that the parents were the same James and Susanna whose previous children were baptized in Sennen. But I am worried that I am making a lot of conjectures based on very little evidence!

The next Row(e) baptism in either St Levan or Sennen was that of Ezekiel on 20/8/1768. So it is natural to conjecture that his father Thomas was the son of James baptized in Sennen in 1740. But there is a problem with this theory: it is reasonable to think that the Thomas Row baptized in Sennen in 1740 was the Thomas Rowe, husbandman of Sennen, who married Catherine Badcock, widow, in St Buryan on 15/7/1772. Catherine Rowe of Sennen, wife of Thomas, was buried in St Buryan on 12/1/1776, and it seems that Thomas married again the following year: Thomas Row married Ann Thomas in Sennen on 4/4/1777.

The Anne Richards who married Thomas Rowe in 1767 might have been the the daughter of Tobias and Alice baptized in St Buryan on November 10th 1739. Or she might have been the daughter of John baptized on 27th March 1743 in St Levan. This latter alternative matches rather well with the burial of Anne Rowe aged 80 in St Levan on 3/11/1823. However, the Cornwall Record Office has a document called Lease and release, field, Great Sawna, Treen, St Levan, dated August 1811, which says that Great Sawna (about 2 acres) was "late in occupation of Ann Rowe, widow, now Ezekiel Rowe". So I think that Ezekiel's mother was probably the Anne who was buried on 17/2/1811 in St Levan, and that his father had died before that. He could have been the Thomas who was buried in St Levan on 16/7/1788, or the one who was buried in St Levan in 1808. Unfortunately, none of these burial records give the age of the deceased.

So far my attempts to discover more about the Anne Thomas who married Thomas Row in 1777 have been completely unsuccessful. Presumably she was the Anne Rowe who died in 1823, but I wish I could find some separate evidence that Ann Thomas was born in about 1743.

Given that Ezekiel's father had died before 1811, I presume that the 72 year old Thomas Row who died in 1818 and was buried in St Levan on 3/7/1818 was the one who married Catherine Badcock and Ann Thomas. If his age is correct then he was born in 1745 or 1746. It is conceivable that he was a son of Thomas and Mary, though perhaps this is unlikely since they had another child baptized in 1746. But the indications are that he was not James' son, born in 1740, and so I tentatively conjecture that James' son was, after all, Ezekiel's father.

Unfortunately, there is yet another Thomas Rowe mystery: who were the Thomas Row and Grace Thomas who were married on 1/12/1781 in St Levan? I have conjectured – perhaps rashly – that Thomas Row born in 1741 and Thomas Rowe born in about 1745 were both married before 1781 to wives named Ann(e) who lived until 1811 and 1823 respectively. So now I have a third Thomas Row of unknown origin. Perhaps Grace Thomas was the daughter of Thomas Thomas baptized in St Levan on 16/2/1755, but whether or not she was related to Anne Thomas is unknown. Thomas and Grace had children named Jane baptized on 7/2/1783, Mary baptized on 2/5/1784, Peter baptized on 31/12/1786, Grace baptized on 7/1/1789 and Elizabeth baptized on 24/1/1793, all in St Levan.

Let us return now to the James Rowe and Mary Tonkin who were married in 1804. They had eleven children in total:

Based on the second name of the child baptized in 1808, I conjecture that Mary Tonkin's parents were James Tonkin and Anne Davies, who were married in Madron on 14/12/1771, and that Mary was baptized in Sancreed on 10/10/1779. Note also that Mary Ann Row (born 1806) died in 1864 at age 58, and according to the record of her burial on 26/8/1864 her full name was Mary Ann Davey Rowe.

The 1841 and 1851 census records for James Rowe's household were as follows.

Roskestal, St Levan, 1841:
NameAgeOccupation
James Rowe55Agricultural labourer
Jane Rowe20
Luke Rowe20
Jane Rowe4
Roskestale, St Levan, 1851:
NameRelStatusAgeOccupationBirthplace
James RoweHeadM68Ag LabN.K.
Mary RoweWifeM71N.K.
Mary A RoweDauU44CharwomanSt Levan, Cornwall
Jane RoweDauU14St Levan, Cornwall

I guess that the younger Jane in these records was the daughter of Mary Ann.

It is a pity that the birthplaces of James and Mary were "not known" in 1851, because it would have been good to have confirmation of my conjecture that Mary was born in Sancreed, and my other conjecture (based on partly his age) that James was the son of Thomas and Ann baptized in Sennen on 12/9/1783.

James' wife Mary apparently died some time between 1851 and 1861. According to the list of Sancreed burials on the West Penwith Resources site, a Mary Rowe of St Levan was buried in Sancreed on 29/9/1852, and although her age is given as 78 it is possible that she was James' wife. James and Mary Ann can be found in the 1861 census, and, interestingly, they were living at Trengothall. Recall that another James Rowe – conjecturally a relative, although the relationship is unclear – lived in Trengothall about a hundred years earlier.

If James was indeed the son of Thomas and Ann born in 1783, then he had three siblings: Sarah baptized in Sennen on 26/1/1778, Anne, baptized in Sennen on 19/11/1779 and John baptized in Sennen on 19/3/1782.

Recall that Thomas, son of James and presumed father of Ezekiel, had a younger brother named William, baptized in 1747. I conjecture that he was the William Row who married Rebecca Williams in Sennen on 25/2/1773. William and Rebecca had the following children:

Thomas and William also had a brother named James, baptized in 1744. I conjecture that he was the James Row who married Mary Russell in Sennen on 5/10/1773. James and Mary had the following children:

I came across one further interesting, though inglorious, item of information concerning Ezekiel Rowe of St Levan. Cornwall Quarter Sessions Records held at the National Archives show that in the Sessions held at Bodmin on 15 July 1828 an Ezekiel Rowe, labourer of St. Levan, was indicted for assault on Mary Prowse, an infant under ten, with intent of carnal knowledge. I presume that this was the Ezekiel born in 1812. He was sentenced to one month's hard labour in Bodmin gaol, with solitary confinement for the first and last weeks.

Parents of John Hutchens

As we have noted above, John Hutchens was probably born in about 1802 or 1803. According to the 1841 census, he was born in Cornwall. Searching the I.G.I. and the Cornwall Online Parish Clerks database for Cornish baptisms that fit turns up only one possibility: John Hutchens, son of Nicholas and Mary, was baptized on 1/5/1803 in St Buryan. It is fairly certain that this couple were the Nicholas Hutchens and Mary Tonkin who were married on 1/1/1793 in St Buryan.

Nicholas and Mary had the following children:

It seems likely that the son Nicholas was the 29 year old Nicholas Hutchens of "Lower Quarter in Ludgivan" who died in 1828 and was buried on 27/3/1828 in St Buryan. It turns out that John's other siblings (William, Betsy, Nancy and Phillis) all emigrated to South Australia. Although no record of Phillis' baptism has been found, there is reasonably persuasive evidence (to be presented below) that she was indeed a sister of the others.

The record of the marriage of Nicholas and Mary includes the information that Nicholas was a cordwainer by trade. We have already seen that in 1841 John's son Thomas was an apprentice shoemaker; so it would seem that the intention was for Thomas to following in his grandfather's footsteps. It is also known from Thomas' biography in the Encyclopedia of South Australia that Thomas went to school in St Buryan. Perhaps he stayed with his grandparents while attending school. In any case, this St Buryan connection perhaps adds a little support to the conjecture that John was originally from St Buryan.

As noted above, it seems that the younger Nicholas Hutchens lived in Ludgvan prior to his death in 1828. It is conjectured that his elder brother William also lived in Ludgvan, and was the grocer of "Ludgeon" who married Mary Rowe in St Levan on 17/10/1827. Note that one of the marriage witnesses was Nicholas Hutchens, possibly the groom's brother. Moreover, Mary Rowe, the bride, must have been the daughter of Ezekiel and Sarah, sister of the Sarah Rowe who married John Hutchens (presumed to be William's brother). The only other (known) Mary Rowe of St Levan of approximately the right age was Mary Ann Davey Rowe, discussed above, who we know remained unmarried. William and Mary Hutchens will be discussed further below.

Nicholas-Mary marriage

The LDS film of the relevant parish register page reveals that Mary Tonkin was a widow when she married Nicholas Hutchens. I suppose that Phillimore's transcription of the St Buryan register missed this important information, and in consequence the Cornwall Online Parish Clerks database also does not include it. As we shall see, many of Mary's descendants were given the name "Doble" as a second christian name, and this raises the possibility that Doble was Mary's maiden name. It seems likely that this was in fact the case.

William Dobell, an Officer of Excise, and an Elizabeth Simpson of St Buryan, were married in Sennen on 6/12/1761, and Mary Dobell, daughter of William and Elizabeth, was baptized in St Buryan on 17/12/1762. William and Elizabeth had four more daughters after Mary: Elizabeth (baptized 16/11/1764), Martha (baptized 16/11/1766), Phillis (baptized 14/2/1768) and Martha (baptized 14/2/1768). Mary married James Tonken on 16/12/1780, in St Buryan. James may have been the son of Thomas and Jane Tonkin baptized on 26/12/1755 in St Buryan. If our theories are correct then James must have died before 1793, but unfortunately I have not been able to find any likely looking burial record.

On the record of his marriage to Mary Dobell, James Tonken is described as a yeoman, which places him relatively high in the social scale (at least compared with most of my ancestors). It seems also that William Dobell was a man of rather high status, since in several of the parish register entries he is given the title "Mr".

Elizabeth Dobel married Joseph Freeman Rattenbury, an Excise Officer, on 15/12/1781. Martha Doble, "dau of Mr Wm" was buried on 23/5/1768 in St Buryan. I do not know what became of Phillis or the second Martha. Elizabeth Dobell, wife of Mr Wm, was buried on 20/5/1770 in St Buryan.

William remarried about nine years after Elizabeth's death, and had a second family. William Doble, excise officer, married Jane Tonkin in St Buryan on 12/1/1779. This is the fourth Tonkin we have encountered, and there are several more to follow. Because Tonkin was a very common surname, determining what relationships may have held between these various Tonkins is very difficult. I tentatively conjecture that this Jane was the daughter of Thomas and Sarah baptized on October 17th 1747 in St Buryan, and I have no idea whether she was or was not related to the James who married Mary Dobell.

William and Jane Doble had the following three children, all of whom were baptized in St Ives: William Nathaniel Simpson Doble (baptized on 25/1/1782), Robert Doble (born on 29/12/1783 and baptized on 26/7/1784) and Charlotte Doble (born 14/12/1786 (?) and baptized on 3/1/1787). I conjecture that the elder son was named in honour of the father of William Doble's first wife. Elizabeth Sympson, daughter of Nathaniel and Mary, was baptized in St Hilary on June 3rd 1739, and there are burial records to suggest that Nathaniel and Mary may have moved to St Buryan: Mary Simpson, widow aged 70, was buried on 25/6/1773 in St Buryan, and 70 year old Nathaniel Sampson – perhaps there was a transcription error here – was buried on 23/12/1765 in St Buryan.

There were three Nicholas Hutchens baptisms in St Buryan in the 1760's. Charles and Mary Hutchens had a son Nicholas baptized on 24/6/1765, and another son Nicholas baptized on 26/6/1767. The former was buried on 10/6/1767 and the latter was buried on 19/9/1775. The Nicholas Hutchens who was to marry Mary Tonkin was the son of William and Ruth baptized on 11/5/1766. In the next section below we shall attempt to delve into the ancestry of William and Ruth.

A Nicholas Hutchens of Church Town, St Buryan, died in 1837, buried on 20/6/1837. His age was 72, suggesting that he may have been a year old at his baptism (although ages on burial records are often unreliable). Mary Hutchens (formerly Tonkin, née Dobell) was still alive at the time of the 1841 census, widowed for the second time, and living in the household of a 35 year old James Tonkin, husband of her daughter Nancy. Again I am unable to say whether or how this James Tonkin was related to Mary's first husband or her father's second wife. The census record says that Mary was aged over 80 on 6/12/1841; this was evidently a slight exaggeration, since the 80th anniversary of her parents' marriage was not until some six months after the census.

Deach Cert
Mary Hutchens Death Certificate

According to her death certificate, Mary Hutchens, widow of a deceased cordwainer named Nicholas Hutchens, died on 31/1/1846 at St Buryan Church Town. The death was registered on 4/2/1846; the cause of death was "Unknown", and the informant was James Tonkin of St Buryan Church Town, who was present at the death. Mary's age at death was 84, which fits well enough with the baptism date of 17/12/1762. The COPC's have a transcription of the St Buryan parish register record of the burial of Mary Hutchens on 11/2/1846; it originally gave the deceased's age as 34; this has now been changed to 84 with a note that the age could be 34. Evidently the parish register is not very legible at this point, but the death certificate makes it clear that this was actually our Mary.

It appears that Mary's first marriage had produced at least one child: a Mary Doble Tonkin, daughter of James, was baptized in St Buryan on 25/12/1785. Mary Doble Tonkin married Charles Rodda, a butcher, at St Buryan on 27/3/1808. They had three sons baptized in St Buryan: William (baptized 8/3/1808), Charles (baptized 7/1/1810) and Thomas (baptized 28/1/1817). It is somewhat puzzling that William was apparently born before his parents were married, yet was given his father's surname. (Still, I suppose that they were almost married – the marriage took place 19 days later – and perhaps the clergyman decided that was close enough.) Charles and Mary also had a son named James Tonkin Rodda baptized in Paul on 1/12/1811, and – curiously – there was a Matilda Rodda, daughter of Charles (a butcher) and Polly, baptized in Paul on 12/8/1813. I wonder if the mother's name was misrecorded somehow.

Hutchens ancestors of Nicholas the cordwainer

Grantley Hutchens has attempted to unravel the genealogy of Nicholas Hutchens' ancestors. The source data are parish register transcriptions and transcriptions of several wills; I am indebted to Grantley for sharing these with me. Of course, the further back in time one attempts to go the less complete the information becomes, and the likelihood of errors increaes. Hence the following story, while plausible, could well be wrong. I believe that Grantley's conclusions and mine are much the same.

Early ancestors in Paul

A William Hutchens was buried on June 26th 1694 in St Buryan. His will (dated June 20th 1689) survives, along with an inventory of his goods and chattels taken on July 9th 1694. The will begins "In the name of God Amen. I William Huchins of the Parish of Buryan in the countie of Cornwall, yeoman, ...", the inventory begins "An inventory of all and singular the goods and chattels of William Hutchens of the parish of St Burian within the County of Cornwall, husbandman lately deceased, ..."; so it seems that William's own perception of his social status may have been slightly inflated. From a purely genealogical perspective, the most important thing about the will is that it names William's wife and children. William bequeathed twelve pounds to each of his sons Sampson, Serkwell and William, and his daughter Margaret, and three pounds to each of his grandchildren. The residue of his estate was left to his wife Philippa and daughter Prudence, who were named joint executors of his will.

Another transcription of the same will has the sums of money bequeathed to his children and grandchildren all equal to 12 pence, rather than 12 pounds to the children and three pounds to the grandchildren. Unfortunately I cannot check these transcriptions, because I do not know how to get a copy of the original document.

The following children of William Huchens are included in familysearch.org's list of baptisms in the parish of Paul: Samson (baptized 23rd September 1638), Nicholas (baptized 3rd April 1643), Sakeueld (baptized 20th June 1645), Margeret (baptized 23rd January 1647) and William (baptized 7th April 1651). I presume that Philippa was William's second wife, since another record at familysearch.org shows that Willi Huchens and Philip were married in Paul on October 10th 1657. I have no information on William's first wife. Prudence Hutchings, daughter of William and Phelep, was baptized in St Buryan on July 10th 1664.

Since William's will makes no mention of his son Nicholas, it seems reasonable to conclude that Nicholas had died before 1689. In fact there was a Nicholas Hutchens buried on 29th December 1678 in St Buryan, and a Nicholas Hutchings buried on 9th March 1683 in St Buryan. No doubt one of these was William's son and the other William's grandson, son of Sampson and Elizabeth, who was baptized on 20th July 1666. In fact, as we shall see, Nicholas' wife Bridget had children every couple of years from 1667 to early 1679, and then no more. So I am inclined to guess that it was Nicholas son of William who died in December 1678, about three months before the birth of his last child.

In the year 1662 a William Huchens of Paul, husbandman, "being sick in body but perfect in mind", made his will. According to the transcript I have been given, he left five pounds to each of his first son William, second son Martin, third son William, fourth son Thomas and fifth son John. It seems strange that he ahould have his third son christened William when his elder son William was still alive, but apparently that is how it was. His wife Margaret was named as the executor, and the will was witnessed by Richard Tremearne and John Tremearne.

A William Hewchen had married Margeret Bodene in Paul in 1621. His eldest son was presumably the William Hewchen baptized in Paul on 18th April 1624, his second son the Martem Hewchin baptized in Paul on 28th June 1626, his fourth son the Thomas Huchens baptized in Paul on 29th January 1636, and his fifth son the John Huchens baptized in Paul on 30th November 1642.

The following marriages are listed on familysearch.org:

I mention these marriages since I am interested in a William Hutchens from the next generation, and it looks as though the couples listed above all had sons named William:

Since the William of interest to me married in 1694, the son of John can safely be excluded as being too young. The Williams in the above list, together with the son of William baptized in Paul on 7th April 1651, cover all the known baptisms of William Hutchenses in Paul or St Buryan between 1650 and 1680. I can probably also exclude the one baptized in 1651 as being a bit too old.

Although all six marriages in my list above took place in Paul, baptism records indicate that three of the six couples lived in St Buryan. Sampson and Elizabeth had seven children baptized in St Buryan between 1664 and 1680; Nicholas and Bridget had six children baptized in St Buryan between 1667 and 1679; Martin and Elizabeth had nine children baptized in St Buryan between 1658 and 1676.

Presumably the Samson and Nicholas above were the sons of the William of St Buryan who made his will in 1689, while Martin and Thomas were the sons of the William of Paul who made his will in 1662. I would like to think that the name of this William's third son was actually Richard rather than William, and that at some stage a transcription error occurred; unfortunately I cannot check because I do not know how to obtain a copy of the original will.

Besides the John Huchens who married Ann Cock in 1677, there was also a John Huchens who married married Margeret Tremearne on 26th September 1671. This John died intestate, and in 1689 his widow Margaret signed a legal document handing administration of the estate to her "trusty and well-beloved brother and friend John Tremearne" and to John Paul of Sancreed, she herself being "unable of myself by reason of my age and weakness to take upon me the burden thereof". The document also says that her husband was in debt to John Tremearne and John Paul. The Tremearne connection suggests that this John Hutchens was the son of the William whose will of 1662 was witnessed by Richard and John Tremearne. The parentage of the John who married Ann Cock is therefore unclear.

In fact I am not entirely convinced by the argument of the preceding paragraph. Margaret Tremearne was baptized in May 1629; her brother John was baptized in December 1635; their father was named Richard. If Margaret did marry the John Hutchens born in 1642, then she was quite a bit older than her husband. It is at least conceivable that her husband was a younger brother of William of the 1662 will, rather than his son.

Will and Dina

Will Hutchens married Dina in St Buryan on 27th January 1694, and the Williams listed above are certainly the prime suspects. Perhaps the ones born in St Buryan can be regarded as stronger suspects than the ones born in Paul, since Will and Dina lived in St Buryan, as their children's baptism records indicate. For reasons to be explained below, my best guess is that Dina's husband was the son of Nicholas and Bridget, but the evidence is far from conclusive. And I cannot rule out the possibility that Dina's husband was someone else entirely.

A Martin Hutchens, son of Martin, was baptized in St Buryan on 2nd January 1676. Unfortunately the baptism record does not give his mother's name, but it seems likely enough that he was a brother of the William baptized in 1665. Failing any other baptism record that fits, he could well be the Martin Huchens of Paul who died in 1747, buried on 19th March. The will of this Martin survives; it was written on 9th March 1747 and proved on 6th May 1748.

Martin bequeathed gloves and hatbands to a remarkably large number of people. No less than eight women each received a pair of gloves, and no less than thirteen men each received a hatband and a pair of gloves. In most cases these were crepe hatbands, but the lucky minister of the parish of Paul received a silk one! I suppose that Martin must have been a vendor of gloves and hatbands. William Hutchens of Boscarne was one of those who received a pair of gloves and a hatband, and his wife received a pair of gloves, but the will does not say that William of Boscarne was related to Martin.

One of the principal beneficiaries of Martin's will was Francis Hutchens of Paul, whom Martin refers to as "my kinsman". Martin's "Mortgages, Lands and Tenements in Kerris in the said parish of Paul" were all left to Francis, not to mention "All the Rest residue and Remainder of my Goods, Chattels, Debts and on Mortgages, Bonds, Bills, notes, amounts or otherwise howsoever". If Francis was to die leaving no wife or child alive at the time of his death then the mortgages, lands and tenements were to instead pass to William, son of William Hutchens of Boscarne. In view of this, I do think it likely that William of Boscarne was also Martin's kinsman. But the most noteworthy item for us at present is that Martin left five shillings to his brother William and forty pounds to William's daughter Margaret Hutchens. This gives us one small piece of information about one of the William Hutchenses.

The forty pounds left to his niece Margaret was the largest monetary bequest Martin made. The next two largest were thirty pounds to Jane Tippett, the wife of Thomas Tippett of St Buryan, and twenty pounds to Mary Jacka, the wife of Charles Jacka of St Buryan. Grantley Hutchens conjectures that these two women were also nieces of Martin. Thomas Tippet married Jane James in St Buryan on 25th April 1734; Jane James, daughter of William and Ann, was baptized on 13th November 1703 in St Buryan; William James married Ann Hutchings in St Buryan on 14th May 1702; Anna Hutchins, daughter of Martin and Elizabeth, was baptized on 14th February 1769 in St Buryan. Similarly Charles Jacka married Mary Hitchen in St Buryan on 21st February 1729; Mary Hutchings, daughter of William and Joan, was baptized on 9th March 1705 in St Buryan; William Hutchons married Johan Rawling in St Buryan on 9th June 1705. (Note that the pre-1752 calendar has 9th March just a couple of weeks before the end of the year, while June was the third full month of the year. So 9th March was in fact nine months after 9th June.) So the conjecture is that the William who married Johan Rawling was Martin's brother, and hence that Margaret Hutchens and Mary Jacka were sisters. And therefore the Will Hutchens who married Dina was not Martin's brother.

Unfortunately, no baptism record is in evidence for a daughter of William and Joan named Margaret. Perhaps they moved away from St Buryan, to some place for which baptism records are not readily available, or perhaps the baptism record is lost or illegible. It is worth noting that there is some evidence that William and Joan also had a son named Francis, despite the fact that again there is no St Buryan baptism record for such a person. The Francis in question married Elizabeth Richards on 24th November 1748 in Paul, and made his will on 9/11/1780. He then died some time before 1788, since Elizabeth refers to "my late husband Francis Hutchens deceased" in her will dated 19/1/1788. Elizabeth also refers to a Deed of Settlement made before her marriage to Francis and dated 23rd November 1748. It seems very likely that this Francis is also the Francis of Martin's will; if I am right about his parentage then he was Martin's nephew.

Francis's will mentions three nephews: Charles Jacka ("now of the town of Penzance, Schoolmaster"), Hugh Jacka and Francis Jacka, as well as Charles' son Francis Hutchens Jacka. So perhaps Charles, Hugh and Francis were sons of Charles and Mary Jacka, Mary being the Mary Jacka (née Hutchens) mentioned in the will of Martin Hutchens, as well as being Francis Hutchens' sister.

Unfortunately this fine theory is only partially supported by the parish register information available to me. I cannot find any baptism record from the right era for a Francis Jacka, but Charles Jacka, son of Charles and Mary, was baptized on 15th January 1731 in St Buryan. Disappointingly, though, the Hugh Jacka baptized on 13th June 1730 in St Buryan was the son of Charles and Elizabeth rather than Charles and Mary. Nevertheless, in the 1750's there were two Hugh Jackas fathering children in St Buryan, one with a wife named Ursula and the other with a wife named Elizabeth. So it is my conjecture that one of these was a son of Charles and Mary, brother to the Charles born in 1731. And I conjecture also that they had a brother named Francis, quite possibly the Fras. Jacka who was buried on 12/4/1788.

There is one further item lending much needed support to this theory. In his will Francis Hutchens also mentions his sister Margaret, the wife of Thomas Nicholas. We had had already conjectured that Francis had a sister named Margaret, who was unmarried at the time of Martin Hutchens' will in 1748. She could well have married Thomas Nicholas between then and 1780 (although again I cannot find any record of such a marriage).

About ten years after the marriage of Will and Dina, on 15th February 1704, William Hutchens married Margaret Harvey in St Buryan. There are St Buryan baptism records from this era for several children with fathers named William Hutchens (under various spellings):

The Charles born in 1703 is of central importance to our present investigations, since it is quite likely that he was the great-grandfather of Nicholas the cordwainer, father of John Hutchens inn-keeper of Treen. We shall return to Charles in due course.

The William baptized in 1719 presents a mystery, since I can find no marriage record that fits his parents Wm and Eliz. It is possible that his mother was the Elizabeth Hutchens buried on 9th May 1720. Perhaps his father was the son of John Huchens and Ann Cock.

A William Hutchens was buried on 6th August 1750 in St Buryan. His will survives. He refers to himself as William Hutchens of Borah in the parish of St Buryan. Mentioned in the will are his wife Elizabeth, son Sampson ("the longest liver of my setforthem", according to the transcription I have been given), daughter Catherine, and sons Richard and Nicholas. Clearly William of Borah must be the William who married Margaret Harvey, and he must have married Elizabeth later. No doubt his first wife was the Margaret Hutchens, wife of William, who was buried on 14th February 1723 in St Buryan, and no doubt he was the Mr Will Hitchens of St Berian who married Mrs Eliz Lanyon in Sancreed in 1725 (on 29th April, according to the Sancreed OPC website). It really looks as though the Nicholas born in 1720 was actually the son of William and Margaret, and at some stage "Margaret" (perhaps abbreviated) has been erroneously transcribed as "Mary". And it must just be a coincidence that another William Hutchens and Elizabeth Lanyon were married on 25th April 1722 in St Buryan.

William of Borah names as executors of his will his "trusty and well beloved friend John Harvey the Younger of Tregurno, Oliver Hoskin of Bolethe and Sampson Hutchens of Pendrea all of them now of the said Parish of St Buryan" and he entreats them to take care of his son Sampson "Considering my said Sons incapacity and disability to Act do and manage for himself in his own behalf". How or whether Sampson Hutchens of Pendrea was related to William Hutchens of Borah is unclear, but in material forwarded to me by Grantley Hutchens it is conjectured that Sampson of Pendrea was the son of William's brother John. There is only one surviving baptism record for a Sampson Hutchens of about the right age: Sampson Hitchins, son of John, was baptized in Madron on 3rd December 1705 (so that he would have been in his mid forties at the time of William's will). Included in the conjecture is the assertion that William of Borah was the son of Samson and Elizabeth baptized in 1672, and Sampson of Pendrea's father was the John Hutchings, son of Sampson and Elizabeth, baptized on 8th May 1664 in St Buryan. So the conjecture is that Will, husband of Dina, was not the son of Martin and Elizabeth (who married Joan Rawling), and not the son of Sampson and Elizabeth (who married Margaret Harvey). The remaining St Buryan William, namely the son of Nicholas and Bridget baptized in 1667, now seems to be the most likely candidate for Dina's husband. He would have been about 27 years old when he married, and that at least seems pretty normal.

Since it was a widely followed convention that one of the boys in a family should be named after the father's father, it make sense that William son of Sampson and John son of Sampson might both have had sons named Sampson. John, son of Sampson, might have been the John Hutchens who married Faith Web in St Buryan on 18th February 1704, and it is at least conceivable that this couple went to live in Madron and were the parents of the Sampson born about nine months later. It is perhaps worth noting that William of Borah says that his executors are all now of the parish of St Buryan; so maybe at least one of them was previously from somewhere else. Nevertheless, the evidence that the Sampson born in Madron was Sampson of Pendrea is tenuous at best; Sampson was a common enough name, and there could easily have been a John Hutchings in Madron with no St Buryan connections.

map
Map of St Buryan Parish, from "West Penwith Resources"
http://west-penwith.org.uk/

Bearing in mind that the spelling used in old documents is frequently different from that used today, the above map can be used to find the locations of the various places in St Buryan that have been mentioned. Borah is at E44.3 N24.5, Bolethe at E43.6 N24.9, Tregurno at E44.3 N24.2, Boscarne at E39.6 N27.1, Pendrea at E40.2 N25.1.

Baptism records exist for six or seven children of Nicholas and Bridget, as follows.

The problem here is that familysearch.org does not mention Bridgett and the Cornwall Online Parish Clerks do not have Francis. Given that both alleged children were baptized on 22nd February 1673, I am conjecturing that the child was actually named Francis, and the COPC transcriber inadvertently wrote the mother's name in place of the child's name.

The daughter Sara may be the Sarah Hitchings who married Thomas Richards on 10th January 1697. And Joane may be the Joan Hutchins who married Thomas Tremewan on 13th January 1700.

Since William son of Nicholas and Bridget had a sister named Sara, it may not be a coincidence that William and Dina had a daughter named Sarah.

I am guessing that the William Hitchens baptized in 1695 was a son of William and Dina (who had married the previous year), and that William and Dina had four children in all:

The first Sarah was buried on 9th February 1699, and quite possibly the second was the Sarah Hitchens buried on 10th March 1736.

The IGI gives the date of William's baptism as March 1696, rather than 1695. I suppose that whether the year was 1695 or 1696 depends on whether or not the day of the baptism was before March 25th, which was New Year's Day in the pre-1752 calendar.

William, conjecturally the son of William and Dina, was not the only William Hutchens baptized in St Buryan in 1695-6. The other, baptized on 16th February 1695, may be the William of Boscarne mentioned in the will of hatband-and-gloves Martin Hutchens (see above). My main reason for believing that William son of William and Dina was not William of Boscarne is that hatband-and-gloves Martin was at best distantly related to the son of William and Dina, whereas the the other 1695 baptized William might well have been Martin's nephew (and the main beneficiaries of Martin's will appear to be his nephews and nieces). The genealogy I am conjecturing has William husband of Dina as the son of Nicholas and grandson of William of the 1689 will, and hatband-and-gloves Martin as the son of Martin and grandson of William of the 1662 will. The two early Williams may have been cousins, but then Dina's husband would have only been a third cousin of hatband-and-gloves Martin.

The names of the parents of the William baptized in February 1695 are not known, since the baptism record is not legible at that point. All that can be said is that the father's name started with "J". Perhaps he was John, the son of Martin and Elizabeth baptized on 25th February 1671, and brother of hatband-and-gloves Martin.

William Hutchens of Boscarne died in 1782, aged 89, and was buried in St Buryan on 29/5/1782. His will survives; in fact, two wills survive. The first was dated 25/5/1770, the second was dated 10/1/1782, the first starts with the words "In the name of God Amen. I, William Hutchens of Boscarne within the parish of Saint Buryan in the County of Cornwall, yeoman, being of sound and perfect mind and memory ..." and the second starts with the words "By God's Permission. I William Hutchens of Boscarne in the parish of Saint Buryan, in the County of Cornwall, yeoman, being of an advanced age but of sound Mind, Memory and Understanding (Thanks be given to Almighty God for the same) ...". The names of the various relatives mentioned in the two documents agree, making it clear that the same William of Boscarne authored both.

Note that William Hutchens, son of William of Boscarne, was buried on 28/11/1779. Thus he died before his father, and also before Francis Hutchens, thereby ending his chances of inheriting the lands and tenements that were formerly Martin's.

William of Boscarne's first will mentions his daughter Constance, his daughter Margaret (who was the wife of William Richards) and his grandsons John Hutchens, Thomas Hutchens, William Richards and William Hutchens. The grandson William Hutchens was to receive all of William's "Mesuages Lands and Tenements in Boscarne aforesaid" and was also to be executor of the estate. William's second will mentions his daughter Constance (the wife of Thomas Tressillion), the four grandsons mentioned in the first will, and also a granddaughter Mary Richards (sister of William) who was at that time less than twenty years old.

Clearly the William Hutchins who married Constance Quick in St Buryan on 28th September 1719 was William of Boscarne. There are baptism records for five daughters of William and Constance: Alice (1st June 1723), Constance (4th December 1731), Mary (28th October 1733), Elizabeth (11th December 1737) and Margarett (2nd August 1741). Unfortunately, I have not found a baptism record for William son of William of Boscarne; my guess is that he was born halfway between Alice and Constance. I am also unable to find a marriage record for this William, although I conjecture that he married a woman named Elizabeth, and that these were the parents of Alice (16th January 1749), William (4th May 1752) and John (25/10/1754).

I think that William son of William and Dina must be the William who married Elizabeth Lanyon on 25th April 1722 in St Buryan, and I attribute the following children to them:

The first child, Charles, was presumably named after his father's brother. However, the occurrence of the name Sampson is a little worrying, because according to my guesswork the Sampsons of the previous generation belonged to a different line: they were second cousins of the father of this Sampson. It is true that William husband of Dina had a grandfather named Sampson, and an uncle named Sampson, and I guess there is no reason why a boy should not be given the same name as his father's great-uncle and great grandfather. So perhaps there is no need to worry.

I think that Sarah, daughter of William and Dinah, did not marry.

Charles, son of William and Dinah, appears to be the first St Buryan Hutchens to be named Charles. So perhaps the name came from his mother's family. Based on this I conjecture that Dina was Dina Jacka, daughter of William and Dina Jacka, baptized on 27th August 1671 in St Buryan. She had a brother named Charles who was baptized on 23rd Nov 1659.

Dinah was buried on 4th March 1736 in St Buryan. There does not appear to be a record of her husband's burial.

Charles and Ann

It would appear William and Dina's son Charles married a woman named Ann in about 1727, because, starting in 1728, we find St Buryan baptism records for children of Charles and Ann Hutchens. There are eleven altogether.

It is believed that William, the eldest son of Charles and Ann, was the father of Nicholas the cordwainer, father of the John Hutchens who married Sarah Rowe.

Observe that we now have two Sampson Hutchenses baptized in 1733: the son of William and Elizabeth and the son of Charles and Ann. I have conjectured that William husband of Elizabeth was the William baptized in March 1695-6, and also that the William baptized in March 1695-6 was the son of William and Dinah. Both these conjectures rely on flimsy evidence. By contrast, it seems reasonably clear that Charles husband of Ann was the son of William and Dinah. So the fact that William had a son named Sampson cannot be regarded as evidence that he was not the son of William and Dinah. Indeed, the fact that William and Charles both had sons named Sampson increases my confidence that William and Charles were brothers. But it still leaves me wondering whether it was correct to identify Dinah's husband with the son of Nicholas and Bridget.

At present I do not have any good way of distinguishing between Sampson son of William and Sampson son of Charles. Undoubtedly one of them was the Sampson Hutchens who married Honour Daniell at St Buryan on 5/10/1763. This couple had a child named Hannah, baptized 10/3/1765, buried 17/2/1767, and a second child named Hannah, baptized in Madron on 10/6/1767. Honour Hutchens was buried on 10/9/1790. There was a Sampson Hutchens buried on 31/3/1788 and another buried on 22/1/1792. I think that these were probably the 1733 Sampsons, because the Sampsons of the previous generation (born in 1705 and 1711) had probably died before then, although I have not seen matching burial records.

A Sampson Hutchens evidently married a woman named Anne in about 1748, since Sampson and Ann had three children baptized in St Buryan: Sampson (30th September 1749), John (23rd May 1752) and Henry (13/7/1755). This Sampson could not have been either of the 1733 Sampsons, who would not have been old enough, but he might have been the son of William of Borah (despite his "incapacity and disability") or he might have been Sampson of Pendrea. Or he might have been someone else altogether.

A Samson Hutchens of Westmoor died in 1825, aged 76, and was buried on 25/2/1825. A transcription of his will is available online, courtesy of Corinne Thompson, and since it confirms that he had a brother named Henry we can be sure that he was the son of Sampson and Anne baptized in September 1749. The will tells us that he had two other brothers, for whom there do not appear to be St Buryan baptism records; their names were William and Benjamin. Note that Sampson's brother John died as a teenager, and was buried on 26/1/1767.

According to the map of St Buryan Parish above, Westmoor and Pendrea were adjacent places. Perhaps this makes it more reasonable to conjecture that Samson of Westmoor was the son of Sampson of Pendrea.

There was a Charles Hutchens buried on 10/3/1767 and another buried on 8/1/1767. According to the list of St Buryan burials 1750–99 on the West Penwith Resources site, the one buried in March was 37 when he died, which means that he must have been the son of Charles and Ann born in 1730. I expect that the one buried in January was his father, the Charles born in 1703, although it could conceivably have been the Charles Hutchens, son of Charles and Mary, who was baptized on 4/3/1758. Note that the son of William and Elizabeth named Charles, born in 1723, died at age 90, and was buried on 27/3/1812.

A legal document dated 30/9/1767 grants administration of the estate of Charles Hutchens, deceased, to his widow Alice. Now Ann, wife of the Charles born in 1703, was buried on 30/9/1759, and so she was clearly still alive when Charles Hutchens married Alice Symmons on 20/9/1759. Thus Alice must have been the wife of the younger Charles rather than the second wife of the elder Charles. Alice lived to the age of 90, and was buried on 17/5/1822. It seems that Charles and Alice did not have any children.

The Charles who married Mary Ladner on 15/1/1757 in Sancreed must have been the son of William and Elizabeth. It seems that this couple had six children: Charles (4/3/1758), Mary (9/12/1758), Elizabeth (18/10/1763), Nicholas (24/6/1765), Nicholas (26/6/1767), and Ann (6/6/1772).

Francis Hutchens, the son of Charles and Ann born in late 1732, died at age 81, and was buried on 21/2/1813 in St Buryan. There is a headstone commemorating him in the churchyard at St Buryan, erected by his children. Reportedly, it is not completely legible, but says that Francis died on 18/2/1813 aged 81 years, and had worked in HM Dockyards at Plymouth for 45 years. It must be possible that his children included Charles Hutchings, son of Francis and Elizabeth, baptized in Stoke Damerel on 24/11/1765, and John Hutchins, son of Francis and Elizabeth, baptized in Stoke Damerel on 24/3/1768.

Francis grave 1813
Grave of Francis Hutchens, died 18/2/1813

The above photograph of the grave of Francis Hutchens, and the other photographs of St Buryan Hutchens graves appearing below, can be found on the Hutchens Graveyard page of the Crooks Family Web Site.

Ann, the daughter of Charles and Ann baptized in 1736, may have married Richard Harvey on 20/2/1762.

I have not positively identified a marriage of Elizabeth, the daughter of Charles and Ann baptized in 1748. There is more than one possible marriage, and there were several other Elizabeths to confuse the situation.

John, the son of Charles and Ann baptized in 1751, married Margaret Williams on 30/4/1773. To complicate things, there was also a John Hutchens who married Mary Shetfar on 21/7/1781 and a John Hutching who married Alice Scholar on 31/12/1788, and some baptism records give only the name of the father and not the name of the mother. I tentatively attribute the following children to John and Margaret: John (baptized 27/12/1773, buried 20/10/1829), Mary (baptized 17/3/1775, married William Vingoe), Ann (baptized 23/7/1776, married John Ladner), Charles (baptized 1/11/1777, buried 14/9/1777 – presumably this should be 14/9/1778!), Elizabeth (baptized 17/4/1779, married Charles Hutchens, buried 20/5/1840), Charles (baptized 17/3/1781), Francis (baptized 17/9/1782, buried 18/7/1812), Thomas (baptized 4/4/1784, buried 10/10/1784), Margaret (baptized 18/6/1785, married John Tremewen) and Thomas (baptized 3/12/1786).

Although the COPC version of the 27/12/1773 baptism of John Hutchens gives his mother's name as Mary, and a version of it at www.familysearch.org does the same, there is a second version on www.familysearch.org that gives the mother's name as Marg. Since John Hutchens and Mary Shetfar were not married until 1781, I prefer to believe this second version.

Although the burial of the first Charles is definitely recorded in the 1777 section of the parish register, a close inspection of the entry reveals that it was added late, squashed in between two pre-existing lines. Evidently it was accidentally inserted under the wrong year.

Note that although John was a joiner at the time of his marriage, he was publican or innkeeper at the time of the baptism of Thomas in 1784 and Margaret in 1785. However, since this was in St Buryan rather than St Levan, presumably he was not the proprietor of the Logan Rock Inn.

Charles and Thomas grave
Grave of Charles and Thomas

John and Margaret's first Charles and their first Thomas are buried together at St Buryan; the stone marking their grave is shown above. According to a web page entitled Hutchens - St Buryan, Cornwall, England the inscription on the stone says that Charles was born on 29/8/1777 and died on 12/9/1778, while Thomas was born on 12/4/1784 and died on 7/10/1784. Apparently there is also a third Hutchens buried in this grave, possibly C. T. Hutchens, although the initials are unclear. I presume that he or she was another infant.

Francis grave 1812
Grave of Francis Hutchens, died 15/7/1812
The stone shown above marks the grave of Francis, son of John Margaret. He died on 15/7/1812. The inscription (according to Hutchens - St Buryan, Cornwall, England) says this:

Francis Hutchens, son of John and Margaret Hutchens, once of this parish. Was born on the 17th September 1782 and died on the 15th July 1812 and was buried on this spot. READER: Behold the plainly written page of human life, and learn a moral lesson from the life and death of him who sleeps beneath thy feet. This was his native village, and here in the playful days of infancy his little feet have pressed the green sward on which thou standest. Here he grew in activity and strength. Foremost of the companions of his youth, his mind and sentiments were cultivated and refined, his heart was kind and affectionate and with those who knew and loved him well he trod hand in hand, through the paths of boyhood and of manhood till in the prime of his manhood death laid him low, and those who idolized him in life saw him descend into an early grave. He is gone. Reader, thy day will come and thou must follow.

So be warned!

John died at age 64 and was buried on 27/8/1814. Note that the age is consistent enough with the baptism date of July 1751, since he could easily have been born in 1750. Since the other similarly aged Johns for whom baptism records exist were all baptized later, this seems to confirm that the John who died in 1814 was the son of Charles and Ann. He died intestate, and a legal document concerned with the administration of his estate confirms that he was a victualler and that his wife's name was Margaret. Margaret died the following year, and was buried on 24/12/1815, aged 63.

Some confirmation that the Mary, Ann, Elizabeth and Margaret Hutchens who married (respectively) William Vingoe, John Ladner, Charles Hutchens and John Tremewen were indeed the daughters of John and Margaret is provided by the will (dated 1818) of John Williams, yeoman of St. Buryan. This John was evidently the brother of Margaret Hutchens (née Williams) the wife of John Hutchens; his will mentions his nieces Mary Vingoe, Ann Ladner, Elizabeth Hutchens and Margaret Tremewen, and his nephews John, Charles and Thomas Hutchens.

The fact that Mary Hutchens, the daughter of John and Margaret born in 1775, survived childhood and became Mrs William Vingoe, surely indicates that Mary Hichins, daughter of John, who was baptized on 18/2/1787 in St Buryan, was not another daughter of John and Margaret. Since John Hutchens and Alice Scholar were not married until 1788, I presume that the parents of this child were John Hutchens and Mary Shetfar. And the Dinah Hichins baptized with Mary on 18/2/1787, must have been another daughter of John and Mary. Note that the Dinah who married Will Hutchens in 1694 was long dead by 1787, but perhaps the 1787 Dinah was named after another Dinah, or Dinahs, who were ultimately named after Dinah wife of Will.

Charles Hutchens carpenter and Charles Hutchens architect

I imagine that Francis Hutchens who worked in HM Dockyards at Plymouth was essentially a carpenter by trade. I conjecture that he had a son named Charles (baptized 1765) and that this was the Charles Hutchens who married Elizabeth, the daughter of John and Margaret Hutchens baptized in 1779. If this is all correct then Charles and Elizabeth were first cousins. Although the marriage record says that Charles was a yeoman resident in Stoke Damerel, the record of the baptism on 7/11/1813 of Charles Francis John Hutchens, son of Charles and Elizabeth, states that Charles Francis John's father was a carpenter of Plymouth Dock. So it seems likely that Charles son of Francis followed in his father's footsteps.

As well as Charles Francis John baptized in 1813, there was a Chas. Fras. Hutchens, son of Charles and Elizabeth baptized on 14/5/1802 in St Buryan. I have been told that this child was born on 13/5/1802 and died on 22/7/1802, and as far as I can see the only possible source for such information would be a gravestone inscription. Perhaps Chas. Fras. was the third infant to be buried in the grave that contains Charles and Thomas (who, had they lived, would have been his uncles).

Elizabeth grave
Grave of Elizabeth Hutchens

The above photo shows the grave of Elizabeth, who was buried on 20/5/1840 (aged 61). The inscription (again according to Hutchens - St Buryan, Cornwall, England) says that she is buried with a person named Margaret, but Margaret's surname is no longer visible. However, I have been told – and it certainly seems plausible – that Margaret was Elizabeth's daughter. Presumably this information originated with someone who had access to the full text of the gravestone inscription.

A Margaret Hutchens married Samuel Harvey on 23/5/1837 in St Buryan. An 1851 census record shows Samuel Harvey (43, farmer of 29 acres), with his wife Margeret (39) and children Samuel (13), Sally (9), Elizabeth T. (6), Margeret (5) and Charles (3m.), living at Boscarne. Margeret was born at Torpoint, which in 1811 was in Antony parish, and I have been unable to find any transcriptions of Antony baptisms from that era. But Torpoint is near Plymouth, and it is quite believable that Charles and Elizabeth lived there. Margeret Hervey of Rosepannel (near Boscarn), aged 43, was buried on 11/9/1854 in St Buryan.

Apparently Elizabeth Hutchens' three brothers – John (born 1773), Charles (born 1781) and Thomas (born 1786) – all followed in their father's footsteps and became carpenters or joiners. John married Mary Hutchens, the daughter of John Hutchens and Mary Shetfar, in St Buryan on 8/1/1811. They had the following children, all born in St Buryan: Francis (baptized 7/6/1812, buried 4/7/1813), Mary (baptized 1/5/1814), Nancy (baptized 2/6/1816), Francis (baptized 24/7/1818), John (baptized 30/12/1820), Hannah (baptized 28/9/1823), Charlotte (baptized 26/2/1826) and Elizabeth (baptized 3/6/1827). The baptism records show that John was a carpenter and lived in Church Town. He died in 1829, and was buried on 20/10/1829.

John died intestate, and his widow Mary was obliged to sign the standard legal document committing herself to faithfully carry out her duties as administratrix of the estate. A transcription of this bond is available on the St Buryan OPC web page, courtesy of Corinne Thompson. Observe that the date on the bond is 29/3/1832, some two and a half years after John's death.

The ancestry of John's father-in-law, the John Hutchens who married Mary Shetfar, is unclear. I tentatively conjecture – though perhaps this is rash – that he was a son of William Hutchens, the son of Charles and Ann born in 1728. If so then he was a first cousin of the John who married his daughter Mary. The reasoning behind the conjecture will be presented in the next section below.

Thomas, Elizabeth Hutchens' youngest brother, married Susanna Johns in Sennen on 13/2/1809. They had the following children: Margaret (baptized 10/12/1809), Mary (baptized 13/1/1812), Thomas (baptized 27/8/1814), Susanna (baptized 26/5/1816), Elisabeth (baptized 6/6/1819), Elisabeth (baptized 6/6/1821), Susanna (baptized 21/3/1824), Nancy (baptized 24/10/1824), John Williams (baptized 11/12/1825) and Rebecca (baptized 12/3/1830). It would seem that Thomas, like his father before him, gave up carpentry in favour of inn keeping. Since this change in occupation occurred between 1814 and 1816, around the time that his parents died, we can perhaps deduce that he took over the inn that his father had kept. However, at the 1841 census Thomas' occupation is given as joiner; so perhaps he had abandoned inn-keeping by this time. I have to concede that the inn in question might possibly be the Logan Rock Inn, since my ancestor John Hutchens could well have taken it over in the 1830's.

Elizabeth's remaining brother, Charles, was the most prominent member of the family, becoming a well-known architect. In particular, he designed the parish church of Penzance St Mary, which was built in 1833–35, although he died before the building was completed. Some further information is available at www.churchplansonline.org. H. M. Colvin's book A Biographical dictionary of British architects 1600–1840 contains information about Charles (along with some 2000 other architects), but I have yet to look up this reference.

Charles married Ann Sargent in Bodmin on 8/2/1808. At the time Charles was a resident of Cardenham; presumably Ann was a resident of Bodmin. Their first child, Margaret May Hutchens, was baptized in St Buryan on 19/5/1809, but the baptism record says that she was born in the parish of St Martins; this was St Martin by Looe, as later census records show. They also had a son named John who was born in the parish of Antony and baptized in St Buryan on 16/5/1813, and three children baptized in Torpoint: Elizabeth, baptized on 15/2/1820, Frances baptized on 26/8/1822 and Charles received into the church on 17/11/1830, having been baptized privately on 26/7/1827. These baptism records give Charles' occupation as Joiner, Carpenter, Carpenter and Architect (respectively).

William and Ruth

William Hutchens, the son of Charles and Ann born in 1728, married Ruth Lanyon on 29/11/1756 in St Buryan. Ruth was the daughter of Thomas Lanyon and Mary Lanyon née Rowe; she was baptized on 25th March 1729 in Sancreed.

There are St Buryan baptism records for the following children of William and Ruth:

Nicholas became the cordwainer who married Mary Tonkin (originally Dobell) and father of John Hutchens. His elder brother William died at age 17, buried on 6/8/1775. His sisters Ruth and Dinah both married: Ruth married James Green on 1/1/1787 in Sancreed; Dinah married Richard Jeffery on 10/10/1795 in St Buryan.

I suppose that this Dinah somehow owed her name to the name of her father's grandmother, although that Dinah had died some 35 years previously, when William was only six or seven years old. Even William's parents, Charles and Ann, were both dead before the birth of his daughter Dinah; so the name was not chosen at the wish of William's father. I would prefer to be able to find another Dinah after whom William's daughter might have been named. So the question arises whether the Dinah Hitchens who married Martin Williams on 16/11/1753 in St Just in Penwith, was somehow related to William. However, I cannot find a baptism record for this Dinah, and it is hard to see how she could fit in. Certainly there is no room for another daughter of Charles and Ann! The only possibility would be if William and Elizabeth had a daughter Dinah in between the birth of their eldest son (Charles) in 1723 and their second son (William) in 1729.

Note the rather long gap between William and Ruth's son William (born 1758) and daughter Ruth (born 1764). It seems very possible that could have been another child, or children, born in the intervening years. Moreover, there is one outstanding candidate: the John Hutchens who died in 1832 aged 71, buried on 11/7/1832 in St Buryan. It is tempting to conjecture that this John was also the man who married Mary Shetfar on 21/7/1781, and was the father of Dinah born in 1787. According to this theory, John and Mary named this daughter after John's 16 year old sister.

There is a possible objection to the above theory: the burial record shows that the John who died in 1832 was from Penberth, and a 77 year old Alice Hutchens of Penberth died in 1836, buried on 9/3/1836. It seems clear, therefore, that these people were the John Hutchens and Alice Scholar who were married in 1788. But of course this does not necessarily contradict the previous theory, because the John Hutchens who married Alice Scholar on 31/12/1788 could possibly be the same man who married Mary Shetfar on 21/7/1781. There was a Mary Hutchens buried on 2/5/1788 in St Buryan.

Ruth Hutchens was buried on 10/5/1798. There are several William Hutchens burials that could correspond to her husband; I suppose the most likely is the one dated 1/1/1794.

Because of the possibility that John Hutchens who married Mary Shetfar was Nicholas' brother, it seems appropriate to list the children of John and Mary. I attribute the following children to them.

As we saw earlier, Dinah married James Barnicoat in St Levan in 1807.

And it is also possible that the John Hutchens who married Alice Scholar was the man previously married to Mary Shetfar; so here is the list of children that I attribute to John and Alice:

Siblings of John Hutchens

Four of the six children of Nicholas and Mary Hutchens who survived infancy emigrated to South Australia. The two that did not were Nicholas, who apparently died unmarried, and John. Recall that the children of Nicholas and Mary were William (1795), Betsy and Nicholas (1799), Nancy (1801), John (1803) and Phillis (1805).

William

William Hutchens, a grocer of Ludgvan, married Mary Rowe in St Levan on 17/10/1827. It is believed that Mary was the sister of Sarah Rowe, who married John Hutchens. The evidence that William was the son of Nicholas and Mary baptized on 24/2/1795 is perhaps not entirely conclusive, but his age as given on his death record (see below) indicates that he was born at about the right time, and I have not been able to find any other birth or baptism record of a William Hutchens of the right age. Although it perhaps seems unlikely that the son of a St Buryan cordwainer would become a grocer at Ludgvan, there are two items of evidence I know of that possibly links William of Ludgvan with our St Buryan Hutchens family. The first of these is that one of the witnesses at the marriage of William and Mary was a Nicholas Hutchens, and if we have the right William then he had a brother named Nicholas who would a been a natural choice as a marriage witness. Or the witness might have been the groom's father. In fact Nicholas Hutchens was also a witness at the marriage Nancy Hutchens to James Tonkin, Nicholas Hutchens and James Tonkin were witnesses at the marriage of Phillis Hutchens to William Trenowth, and William Hutchens and James Tonkin were witnesses at the marriage of Betsy Hutchens to Enoch Tonkin. The other (more compelling) piece of evidence is that one of the grandchildren of William and Mary was named Ruby Olive Doble Hutchens, and the name Doble must surely indicate that Ruby was a descendant of Mary Doble, wife of Nicholas.

Recall that Mary Rowe, like her sister Sarah, inherited money from her grandfather Thomas Blewett. In fact she would have received more than Sarah, since there would have been the best part of two extra years' worth of interest. Presumably this money found its way into the grocery business. Note, however, that William was a grocer before his marriage; so I guess he must have had enough money of his own to be able to make the original purchase.

An item in the West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser from 20/10/1837 reads as follows:

Ludgvan Fair – This fair, which was commenced about five years ago, by the exertion and interest of Mr. Wm. Hutchens, has been annually increasing in supplies of cattle; and on Tuesday, the 10th instant, it greatly exceeded any former fair held there by its large supply of horses and bullocks, for which there was a lively demand, and a great number were sold. From the desirable situation of this parish, it is the general opinion of farmers that this fair will soon rise to exceed most of the country fairs in its vicinity.

It is not entirely clear that the above story refers to our William. However, the next item surely does: it is also from the 20/10/1837 issue of the West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser:

Thomas WATERS, 40, was charged with stealing from the house of William HUTCHINS, of Ludgvan, four bottles of porter. Joseph DENNIS, jun., of Ludgvan, stated that on the 7th of August he saw the prisoner come into the house, and take four bottles of porter. Witness told him that he had no right to them, but he refused to put them back. The court said the evidence was very slight, and the prisoner was acquitted.

It would appear that William was not a successful businessman, since he ended up in the insolvent debtors' court. The above newspaper reported as follows in its issue of 18/4/1838.

William HUTCHINS, in his examination, stated that he kept a beer-shop and a grocer's shop, about four miles from Penzance. The commissioner stated "there had been all through his circuit, more beer-shop keepers brought before him than men of any other calling whatever". He was declared to be entitled to the benefit of the act, and was discharged accordingly.

William's court appearance is also mentioned in the London Gazette, and a quick glance at the other cases reveals that the commissioner's statement about beer-shop keepers was accurate.

The following children of William and Mary Hutchens were baptized in Ludgvan.

Sally Rowe Hutchens of Ludgvan died at seven weeks of age, and was buried on 11/3/1831 in St Buryan.

On 7th June 1840, in Truro, William Hutchins and family applied for Free Passage to South Australia under the Emigrant Labourer scheme. The application was made through an agent in Truro named J. Latimer of Truro. William was described as a 48 year old schoolmaster of Truro, his wife was 34, and they had sons aged 11 and 5 and a daughter aged 7. Mary would actually have been 36, but it was common for people to understate their ages on such applications. But since in fact William would have only been 45, I think that a transcription error must have occurred somewhere.

The family came to South Australia on the Waterloo in 1840. William's death certificate shows that William and Mary had another son, George Waterloo Hutchens, presumably born on the voyage. However, George must have died as a baby, since the 1841 South Australian census for Hindley Street, Adelaide, says that William's household contained only one male under the age of seven, and that would have been John. There were also one male aged between seven and fourteen, one male aged between thirty-five and fifty, one female aged between seven and fourteen and one female aged between thirty-five and fifty, corresponding to the other members of the family as listed above.

Mary died on 27/5/1843, and was buried in Adelaide's West Terrace Cemetery. On her death certificate William is described as a farmer of Magill.

William Hutchens, widower, married Catherine Edwards on 25th April 1848, at Brighton. Catherine was aged 38. At this time William was again a storekeeper. He opened a store on Hindley Street in 1847, and it appears to have quickly become established as a major enterprise.

new store
The Register, 15/9/1847
agent
The Register, 29/9/1847
reward
The Register, 24/1/1849
real distress
The Register, 23/12/1848
debt
The Register, 11/10/1848
debt
The Register, 9/6/1849

The year 1846 on the Willunga Slate Quarries advertisement is a misprint: the same advertisement had appeared four days earlier but bearing the date 24th September 1847, rather than 1846.

William was also, about this time, a Wesleyan local preacher. His name appears in a report of a meeting of Wesleyan local preachers, which appears to have actually been concerned with a political issue, namely the question of state aid to religion. Three preachers opposed to state aid were suspended from office for "slandering the ministers of the Methodist Society in this Circuit" and refusing to apologize for it. A detailed report of the meeting appeared in another newspaper article.

preacher quarrel
The Register, 25/8/1851

By 1851 William's business was flourishing enough for him to be able to open a branch in Kooringa, managed by his son William (now in his early twenties), servicing the needs of the Burra mining community. Kooringa is described in the Register of 8/7/1851 in an interesting article "Sketches of the present state of South Australia: No. XXI – Kooringa (dated 16th February). There was a chronic shortage of currency in the region, and to overcome this problem the mining companies issued promise note of various values. Local tradesmen followed the same system, and the article specifically mentions that Boord Brothers and Hutchens, storekeepers, both also issued promise notes.

employee
The Register, 18/3/1851
burglary
The Register, 18/8/1851

In The Register of 7/3/1851 there appeared a political advertisement bearing the names of 85 electors of Kooringa, Aberdeen and Redruth, including W. R. Hutchens, storekeeper, urging William Lang Esq R.M. M.D. to allow himself to be nominated for election to the New Legislative Assembly. Dr Lang's acceptance of the request was appended.

nomination
The Register, 7/3/1851

No doubt the W. R. Hutchens here was William Hutchens the younger, "R" standing for "Rowe", although I have not seen or heard of any other document that gives him a middle name. Possibly the R was inserted on this occasion to distinguish the younger William from his father.

The elder William declared himself insolvent in September 1851, thereby demonstrating that as a businessman he was just as successful in Australia as he had been in England. Maybe it was the Kooringa adventure that brought him down. In November 1851 it was reported that his balance sheet showed liabilities of £2,001 2s. 2d. and assets of £1,492 7s. 10d.. It must have eventually turned out to be worse than this, because in the end, when everything was finally settled in 1855, creditors received a total of 5 shillings 6 pence and seven-eights of a penny per every pound they were owed.

declaration
The Register, 12/9/1851
auction
The Register, 15/10/1851
auction
The Register, 15/10/1851
balance sheet
The Register, 22/11/1851
initial dividend
The Register, 7/6/1852
auction
The Register, 19/9/1851
auction
The Register, 19/9/1851
more creditors
The Register, 13/12/1851
creditors
The Register, 1/11/1851
final dividend
The Register, 7/9/1855

Note that one of William's creditors was his son, William Hutchens junior. Perhaps when financial disaster was seen to be looming the business was split, as a means of ensuring that the family did not lose everything.

After the collapse of the business the family moved to Melbourne, which is very convenient since Victorian death certificates of the 19th century are much more informative than South Australian ones. Part of William's is shown below.

Death Cert
William Hutchens Death Certificate, 1871

The certificate says that William lived for 13 years in South Australia, then for 20 years in Victoria, that he married Mary Rowe when he was 31 and Catherine Edwards when he was 54, and that at the time of his death he had two sons living (William (44) and John (37)) as well as a deceased son (George Waterloo) and a deceased daughter (Mary Ann). No doubt Catherine supplied the information, and she was not quite sure how long William had lived in South Australia before they were married. She also, unfortunately, did not know the names of William's parents, since on the relevant part of the death certificate it says "parentage unknown".

William died on 14th December 1871, aged 77, at 147 Fitzroy Street Fitzroy, the cause of death being chronic bronchitis, which had afflicted him for 8 months. His "rank or profession" is given as "Gentleman".

Death Cert

William, son of William and Mary, married Mary Ann Cruickshank in Collingwood on 1st January 1856. They had the following children: Mary Ann (1856–1915, married Henry John King), Ernest William (1858–1913, married Alice Maude Mattinson), Percy Herbert (1861–1929, married Eliza Julia Butlin), Laura Beatrice (1861–1866), Edgar James (1863–1936, married Mary Ellen Hilson) Clara Alice (1865–1937, married John Briggs), Louie Clements, known as "Sis" (1867–1962. married Frank John Ketley and after his death married James David Sharp), Arthur John (1869, died aged 7 months), Melville Howard (1871–1872), May Harcourt (1873–?, married Alex Smith Laird), Ruby Olive Doble (1875–1908, married Walter James Cornish), Stanley Harold (1877–1950, married Olive May Winsor), Nellie (1879–?, married Percy Williams) and Roy (1881–1928). William died on 7/8/1891.

Mary Ann, daughter of William and Mary, married James Spensley in Victoria in 1853. James and Mary Ann had one daughter, Polly, born on 29/11/1855, but Mary died in childbirth and Polly lived only for 16 hours.

John Hutchens, son of William and Mary, married Margaret Mary Place on 22/5/1861 in Castlemaine, Victoria. John and Mary had the following children: Richard James (1865–1939, married Elizabeth Emily Reynolds and after her death married Catherine Proud), Annie Clara (1869–1954, married Joseph Hales South and after his death married Robert Graham Baptie) and Selina Colsen (1869–1891). John died on 1/2/1891).

Betsy

Betsy, eldest daughter of Nicholas and Mary, married Enoch Tonkin (son of Richard Tonkin and Honour Guy) in St Levan on 19/4/1823. They had the following children.

Enoch, Betsy and family migrated to South Australia, sailing on the Java in 1840. The voyage is infamous for the fact that some 30 to 50 passengers died of starvation.

Grave of James Tonkin
Grave of James Tonkin, son of James Tonkin
and Nancy Hutchens (at Laura).

Nancy

Nancy, second daughter of Nicholas and Mary, married James Tonkin (brother of Enoch) in St Buryan on 27/10/1827. They had the following children.

James, Nancy and family migrated to South Australia, sailing on the Cressy in 1847.

Phillis

Phillis, youngest child of Nicholas and Mary, married William Trenowth in St Buryan on 15/4/1826. They had the following children.

William, Phillis and family migrated to South Australia, sailing on the sailed on the Lady McDonald in 1855.

The other two children of Nicholas and Mary to survive infancy were Nicholas, who apparently died unmarried, and John. We proceed to discuss the descendants of John and Sarah.

Descendants of John and Sarah

Recall that John and Sarah had the following children, all of whom were baptized at St Levan:

The parents John and Sarah died on 19/6/1845 and 25/6/1876 respectively. John was buried on 23/6/1845, and Sarah was buried on 29/6/1876.

Note that there were two Sarah Rowe Hutchenses born in 1831: the daughter of John and Sarah and the daughter of William and Mary. They were "double cousins", in the sense that their fathers were brothers and their mothers were sisters (unless I have somehow misidentified their parents). However, as we noted above, William and Mary's Sarah died in infancy.

Thomas, the second son and my great great grandfather, emigrated to Australia, sailing on the Santipore in 1848. He later married Elizabeth James, who had grown up in Sancreed parish, which adjoins St Buryan. See the Thomas Hutchens and Elizabeth James page for more information.

The 1851 census record of the household of John's widow Sarah describes her as an innkeeper and head of the household. Her son John, whose age was then 26, is described as a farmer of 16 acres employing one labourer. There was a 23 year old farm servant named William Angove in the household, as well as Sarah's daughters Sarah and Nanny and son Edwin.

According to The Family History of Thomas Hutchens Sarah continued as keeper of the Logan Rock Inn until her death (from "natural decay") on Sunday 25th June 1876, after which her daughter Nanny took over the inn.

John

John Hutchens the younger married Jane Sampson at St Levan on 16/11/1852. Here is the Cornwall Online Census Project's transcription of the 1861 census record of their household.

Chyoon, Paul, 1861:
NameRelStatusAgeOccupationBirthplace
John HutchensHeadM36Farm 36 Acre Emp Inmates OnlySt Levan, Cornwall
Jane HutchensWifeM31St Breage, Cornwall
Mary J HutchensDau7ScholarSt Levan, Cornwall
Susan HutchensDau5St Levan, Cornwall
Agnes HutchensDau3St Levan, Cornwall
John G HutchensSon2St Paul, Cornwall
Thomas HutchensSon9mSt Paul, Cornwall
Alice W PollardServntM21DairymaidMawgan, Cornwall
John RobertsServntM19CarterSt Paul, Cornwall

By 1871 the family has moved to Penzance, and John has become an innkeeper.

38 North Street "Farmers Arms", Penzance, 1871:
NameRelStatusAgeOccupationBirthplace
John HutchensHeadM46InnkeeperSt Levan, Cornwall
Jane HutchensWifeM41St Breage, Cornwall
Mary J HutchensDau17AssistantSt Levan, Cornwall
Sarah HutchensDau15AssistantSt Levan, Cornwall
Agnes HutchensDau13ScholarSt Levan, Cornwall
John G HutchensSon12ScholarSt Paul, Cornwall
Thomas HutchensSon10ScholarSt Paul, Cornwall
William HutchensSon7ScholarSt Paul, Cornwall
Edwin HutchensSon5ScholarSt Paul, Cornwall
Richard J HutchensSon3Penzance, Cornwall
William HayesLodgerM26ComedianManchester, Lancashire
Kate HayesLodgerM26ComedianManchester, Lancashire
James HayesLodgerM28ComedianManchester, Lancashire
Caroline HayesLodgerM30ComedianManchester, Lancashire
Henry HertelliLodgerM28ComedianBradford, Yorkshire
Jessie HertelliLodgerM28ComedianDundee, Scotland
James HayesLodger5Manchester, Lancashire
William HayesLodger3Manchester, Lancashire
Emma CariotLodgerW58ComedianLondon, Middlesex
Mary E CookeLodgerU18ComedianManchester, Lancashire
Alice CookeLodgerU12Manchester, Lancashire
Jane HayesLodgerW25Manchester, Lancashire

It appears that the name of John and Jane's second daughter was incorrectly transcribed in the 1861 record: she was Sarah, not Susan. The birth of a Sarah Hutchens was registered in the Penzance district in the March quarter of 1856, but there is no record of a Susan Hutchens being born at about that time.

The Cornwall Online Parish Clerks' database includes baptism records for the following children of John and Jane: Mary Jane Hutchens (St Levan, 7/8/1853), John Hutchens (St Levan, 23/7/1854), Sarah Hitchens (St Levan, 27/4/1856), Agnes Hitchens (St Levan, 5/8/1857), John George Hutchens (St Levan, 5/12/1858), Thomas Hutchens (Paul, 23/9/1860), William Hutchens (Paul, 22/6/1862), Edwin Hutchens (Paul, 1/10/1865) and Richard James Hutchens (Newlyn St Peter, 16/8/1868). The first John was buried at St Levan on 5/8/1857.

In 1873 John was the keeper of the "Wellington Hotel & Posting House" in St Just (see the list of pubs, inns, taverns and hotels provided by West Penwith Resources). At the 1881 census John is back in Penzance as the keeper of the "Duke of Cumberland", the four youngest children are still living at home but the others have left. In fact Mary Jane Hutchens married William Thomas Reynolds in Paul in June 1875, Sarah Hutchens married Thomas Eddy in the Penzance district in the September quarter of 1876, and Agnes Hutchens married Walter Holman in the Penzance district in the June quarter of1880. They had families of ten, six and two children respectively.

William Hutchens married Mary Jane Peak in Penzance in the first quarter of 1882. I am told that they had five children.

Edwin Hutchens married Emma Jane Roberts in Penzance in the third quarter of 1883. At the 1891 census Edwin and Emma have a seven year old son named William J., their address is 50 Causeway Head, Penzance, and Edwin's occupation is given as "Pony establishment".

Richard James Hutchens married Annie Roberts James at the High St. Chapel, Penzance, on May 5th 1893. They also had five children.

John, Jane and family
Photograph conjectured to be of John and Jane Hutchens and family, c.1890.
Left to right: William Hutchens, Sarah Eddy, Mary Jane Reynolds, John Hutchens, John George Hutchens,
Jane Hutchens, Richard J Hutchens (at front)), Edwin Hutchens, Thomas Hutchens, Agnes Holman.

In the 1881 census John George Hutchens is found in Lee, Kent, working as a clerk in the establishment of one Charles Henry Reed, a Draper, Stationer & House Furnisher. Among the 53 other people listed in the same household there is a 40 year old housekeeper named Ellen Kekwick, whom John George Hutchens married later that year (despite being her junior by 18 years). Their marriage was registered in Lewisham in the second quarter of 1881, and the birth of their son Herbert George Hutchens was registered in Lewisham in the first quarter of 1882. John George Hutchens must have achieved a position of some seniority in Charles Henry Reed's business, since in 1900 John George Hutchens was named as one of the executors of the will of Charles Henry Reed (see http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/issues/27206/pages/4069/page.pdf).

The 1911 census schedule for John George Hutchens' household provides the following information. There were five people altogether: John Geo., Ellen and Herbert Geo. Hutchens, Gwendoline Mary Jones (single, aged 23, domestic help) and Emily Sarah Glaze (lodger, single, aged 53, dressmaker). Their address was 330 High Road, Lewisham, and there were eight rooms in the dwelling. The ages of John George, Ellen and Herbert George were 52, 70 and 29 respectively; John George was an incorporated accountants' clerk, while Ellen and Herbert George both assisted in a fruiterer and greengrocer business. John George and Ellen had been married for 29 years, Ellen had had three children, two of whom had died.

The deaths of John George Hutchens and Ellen Hutchens were registered in Lewisham in the second quarter of 1921 and the first quarter of 1922 respectively. Herbert George Hutchens' death was registered in Edmonton in the June quarter of 1931.

Sarah

Sarah Rowe Hutchens married Henry Jones at St Levan on 31/12/1856; the witnesses were Sarah's brother John and sister Nanny. Henry and his father John Jones are both described as mariners. At the time of the 1861 census Henry and Sarah Jones appear in the household of Sarah Hutchens, innkeeper, at Treen. Henry is described as a fisherman and Sarah as a fisherman's wife.

Treen, St Levan, 1861:
NameRelStatusAgeOccupationBirthplace
Sarah HutchensHeadW59InnkeeperSt Levan, Cornwall
Henry JonesSonlawM37FishermanManaccan, Cornwall
Sarah JonesDauM29Fisherman's wifeSt Levan, Cornwall
Nanny JohnsDauM26Engaged In Domestic DutiesSt Levan, Cornwall
Sarah JohnsGrndau2St Levan, Cornwall
Martha OsbornLodgerU48CharwomanSt Buryan, Cornwall

There are St Levan baptism records for six children of Henry and Sarah Jones: John Hutchens Jones (22/11/1857), Thomas Jones (29/9/1861), Mary Roe Jones (28/12/1862), Harvey Jones (15/4/1864), Catherine Jones (11/8/1867), Mary Jones (7/5/1870) and Catherine Jones (21/1/1872). John Hutchens Jones died aged 3 months, buried on 27/1/1858, Mary Rowe Jones died aged 14 weeks, buried on 11/5/1863, and the first Catherine lived only nine weeks, buried on 10/10/1867. There was also a three week old Thomas Jones buried on 23/12/1859, and the Harvey Jones baptized on 15/4/1864 was presumably the nine week old Harry Jones buried on 3/6/1864.

At the 1871 and 1881 censuses the households at the Logan Rock Inn were as follows.

Treen, St Levan, 1871:
NameRelStatusAgeOccupationBirthplace
Sarah HutchensHeadW68InnkeeperSt Levan, Cornwall
Sarah JonesDauM40St Levan, Cornwall
Nanny JohnsDauM36St Levan, Cornwall
Henry JonesSonlawM47FishermanManaccan, Cornwall
Sarah JohnsGrndau11ScholarSt Levan, Cornwall
Tom JonesGrnson9ScholarSt Levan, Cornwall
Mary JonesGrndau1St Levan, Cornwall
Henry S HassardLodgerU19TelegraphistAlderney, Channel Islands
Treen (Logan Rock Inn), St Levan, 1881:
NameRelStatusAgeOccupationBirthplace
Henry JonesHeadM57Inn KeeperHelford, Cornwall
Sarah R. JonesWifeM50St Levan, Cornwall
Thomas JonesSon20FishermanSt Levan, Cornwall
Mary JonesDau11ScholarSt Levan, Cornwall
Kate JonesDau9ScholarSt Levan, Cornwall
Nanny JohnsSislawM46NurseSt Levan, Cornwall
Edwin HutchensBoarderM26Stone MasonSevington, Somerset
Sarah HutchensBoarderM21St Levan, Cornwall
Hutchens (unnamed male infant)Boarder1mSt Levan, Cornwall

Nanny

Nanny Hutchens married William John at St Levan on 6/4/1859. The marriage record gives William's surname as Johns, and states that William and his father Richard Johns were both farmers, and that William's residence was in St Just. William and Nanny had one daughter, Sarah Hutchens John, who was baptized on 17/7/1859. The census records above show Nanny Johns and her daughter Sarah living at the Logan Rock Inn in 1871 and 1881, but I have been unable to identify William in any census records, before or after his marriage to Nanny, until the 1891 census, at which he appears as the keeper of the Logan Rock Inn. His age in 1891 was 57.

As we shall see below, Nanny's brother Edwin Hutchens had a son named Edwin, and as we have seen above her brother John also had a son named Edwin. In view of this it is a somewhat remarkable coincidence that Nanny's daughter Sally married an Edwin Hutchings. This is the boarder appearing as Edwin Hutchens in the census record above. The unnamed male infant was Edwin Asa Hutchings, whose birth was registered in the Penzance district in the second quarter of 1881.

In the 1891 census Edwin Hutchings junior appears with his grandparents William and Nanny at the Logan Rock Inn. His mother Sarah had died in the third quarter of 1889, and his father remarried. In fact Edwin was still with his grandparents at Treen at the 1901 census.

Edwin

Edwin Hutchens married Grace Gilbert in St Buryan on 25/12/1860. His occupation is given as carpenter, his age was 20, hers 25. Her father was Samuel Gilbert, a labourer. At the time of the 1861 census Edwin and Grace were in St Buryan; Edwin is the head of the household, and described as a Carpenter Journeyman. There were two others in the household: Grace's mother (a 62 year old charwoman and widow) whose name is given as Jane Gelbart, and a six year old girl whose name is given as Ellen Gilbart, a niece of Thomas and Grace. At the 1871 census Edwin and Grace are living in Penzance at 49 Chapel Street, a beer shop. Edwin's occupation is given as "carpenter, keeps beer shop". There are two sons: Edwin J., aged 9, and Thomas, aged 3. Jane Gilbert is still living with them. In 1861 Jane's birthplace was given as "Cornwall - Gulval", but in 1871 it is given as "Lancashire - Manchester". The household also has two lodgers, equestrians travelling with a circus, whose birthplaces are given as "Lancashire - Preston" and "unknown"; I suspect that it was actually one of lodgers who was born in Manchester. At the 1881 census Edwin and Grace are living at 46 Adelaide Street, the son Edwin has disappeared, the son Thomas is a telegraph messenger, there is a 9 year old son named Harry and 7 year old daughter named Sarah Jane, and Jane Gilbert is still there, now aged 81 and with her birthplace returned to Cornwall - Gulval.

Edwin John Hutchens, son of Edwin and Grace, was baptized on 29/12/1861 in St Buryan. However, according to the 1871 census record he was born in St Agnes. I do not know whether or not his birth was registered.

If you have any corrections, complaints, criticisms, suggestions or additional information, please email bobhow@tpg.com.au.