| [Index] |
| Thomas ELWORTHY (1720 - 1775) |
| Children | Self + Spouses | Parents | Grandparents | Greatgrandparents |
|
James ELWORTHY (1770 - 1837) |
Thomas ELWORTHY (1720 - 1775) + Mary HODGE (1728 - ) |
George ELWORTHY | male ELWORTHY | |
| unknown (ELWORTHY) | ||||
| b. 17 Nov 1720 at Sandford, Devon, England |
| m. 15 May 1769 Mary HODGE (1728 - ) at Crediton, Devon, England |
| d. 18 Jan 1775 at England aged 54 |
| Parents: |
| George ELWORTHY |
| Children (1): |
| James ELWORTHY (1770 - 1837) |
| Events in Thomas ELWORTHY (1720 - 1775)'s life | |||||
| Date | Age | Event | Place | Notes | Src |
| 17 Nov 1720 | Thomas ELWORTHY was born | Sandford, Devon, England | |||
| 15 May 1769 | 48 | Married Mary HODGE (aged 41) | Crediton, Devon, England | ||
| 1770 | 50 | Birth of son James ELWORTHY | Crediton, Devon, England | ||
| 18 Jan 1775 | 54 | Thomas ELWORTHY died | England | ||
| Personal Notes: |
|
In the County of Somerset lies a village called Elworthy which formed part of the
lands given by William the Conqueror to one of his supporters, William de Mohun. He leased it out to others including William of Elworthy, his son Simon of Elworthy and his son Philip of Elworthy who held it until some time between 1201 and 1258. After that the lands appear to have passed to other families. Somerset Record Office data says that Philip or one of his predecessors must have 'subinfeudated' it (meaning the land was granted by a vassal to a dependent). The Domesday Book of 1086 - which really was a census of taxable stock and lands, mentions only total numbers of people in each centre. Lands were taxed at ix shillings per hide or household. That year ELWRDE (Elworthy) paid two pounds, double the tax paid before the Norman conquest. There were 72 sheep, 12 swine and one riding horse as well as nine villeins, as free-born peasants were called, eight bordars (tenants or villeins who held their cottage and a small parcel of land in return for menial services to the lord) and two serfs - a total of 19 people! In 1667 there were 244 people still living in the parish but by the 19th century the population had fallen considerably. In 1971, only 62 people remained but I'm told there are recent signs of expansion in the village. A church at Elworthy was mentioned in 1233. The nave, tower and a lancet window date from the 13th century, with the porch and nave roof added in the late 15th. The 17th century font, the altar rail and table are made from alabaster and are considered quite rare. The patrons of the church during the Middle Ages were the Knights of St John of Jerusalem - more commonly known as Knights Hospitaller. It is interesting to note that the rector of St Martin's from 1643-5 and again from 1660-90 was John SELLACK - the same surname as John Bowcher's second wife, Ann. The Rev Sellack was ejected for loyalty to the King during the Civil War and later was involved in helping Charles II to escape. The parish of Elworthy is on the eastern slopes of the Brendon Hills, much of it within the Exmoor National Park. The entire parish measures only 1768 acres, 202 of which are taken up by Elworthy Farm. Because of the village's extremely small declining population the church was declared redundant in 1976. The village of Elworthy dates back to Neolithic times and Page 187 of "Neolithic Man in Somerset" mentions how few traces.of this civilisation were found when eolithic man was known to have been present in areas between Bath and the Devon border. "The polished stone axe found in Elworthy Barrows ... may have belonged to an inhabitant of that fortified village." Several meanings have been given for the Old English words 'worp' and 'worpig' (worthy) used as a suffix for quite a few towns and villages in Devon and and Somerset - Clatworthy, Hockworthy, Beaworthy, Selworthy, Woolfardis-\'orth (pronounced much like Woolery) and so on. Considering this pronunciation, should Selworthy be called Celery and our name Ellery?? The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Placenames says 'worp' is 'an enclosure, a yard about a house, an open place in a village or town, or a homestead' - take your pick! Surnames did not evolve until about the 12th century, so people were known by various methods such as (1) their trade, (Eric the Baker could have been full brother to William the Carpenter); (2) a strong physical characteristic, (George the Large and his brother James the Small), or; (3) the area from which the person originated say, John of Elworthy. In due time their names were written Eric Baker, William Carpenter, George Large, James Small and John Elworthy. There must have been many families with identical surnames who were totally unrelated and others who were blood related - but with quite different names! It follows therefore, that many ancestors of present day Elworthys would have originally taken their name from that village and as there were only 19 people living in Elworthy in 1086, it is quite possible all people called Elworthy are somehow very distantly related. Over the centuries numerous variations have appeared with Elsworthy being the most cornmon, even nowadays. Others include Ellsworthie, Ellerworthy, Ellworthy, Ellisworthy, Elseworthie, Allworthy, Ullworthy, L. Worthy and even Elthworthy! Pursuing the Elworthy line in which we are interested, it was not possible to accurately go further back than 1769 when the second marriage of Thomas Elworthy took place. There were several Thomases in that area and it would be very foolish to choose just anyone because he seems to fit the bill. This can waste a lot of time, as I found out the hard way when I first started researching. The parish records merely state Thomas Elworthy, widower and Mary ATWELL, widow, both of the parish of Crediton married on 15 May 1769, It was not cornmon in those times to give names of parents of the bride and groom nor their ages but sometimes a parish clerk made unusual or helpful notes in the margin. In this case, unfortunately he did not! The fact the bride was a widow made it relatively easy to look for her birth and previous marriage. Mary, the daughter of John HODGE, was baptised 29 Jan 1728 and married John Atwell on 15 ApI 1754. They had a daughter Mary baptised 21 Feb 1755 and a son John Atwell 25 Jun 1756. When she married Thomas Elworthy, Mary was already past 41 and the birth of a son JAMES the following year was no doubt something of a surprise. This baby (their only child) was also baptised at the beautiful font in the lovely old Church of the Holy Cross at Crediton. He is the progenitor of each branch of the Elworthy family mentioned in this book, |
| Source References: |
| 2. Type: Book, Abbr: Devon to Downunder, Title: Devon to Downunder, Auth: Bettie Elworthy, Publ: Bookbound, Date: 1997 |
| - Reference = 23-24 (Name, Notes) |