Telford Family of Ellinbank
KIRBY FAMILY - Kings Lynn, Maldon and Edinburgh
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The magnificent St Nicholas Church in Kings Lynn was built around 1400 AD as a Chapel-of-Ease attached to the parish church of St Margaret. It now is used for occasional services and for concerts and other events.
Records available online from 1653 ( at findmypast.co.uk ) show numerous marriages, births and deaths of members of the Kirby family at this church and at nearby St Margaret’s and at All Saints/ All Hallows at South Lynn.
Walter Kirby was mayor of Kings Lynn in 1661 and 1668. ( see list of mayors at west- norfolk.gov.uk website). He left a will in which he is described as a Merchant of Kings Lynn and names his current wife Alice and his late wife Elizabeth. The burial of both Walter and Alice is recorded on marble stones in St Nicholas’ Chapel - inscriptions above
Walter bequeathed his house and lands at Shipdham and Bradenham (southeast of Kings Lynn) to his grandchild Francis and the White Hart Inn in Kings Lynn to his son Walter and bequeathed the custody of his grandchild Francis to his wife Alice until Francis should reach the the age of 24. Alice was his second wife and was about 30 years younger than Walter. The White Hart Inn on St James St. dates from the 12th century and still operates.
In the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries Kings Lynn was a major port engaged in trade with Europe, initially trading with the Hanseatic League of Germany and later engaged in corn export; as a merchant Walter Kirby would likely have prospered. Originally named Bishop’s Lynn, the town and manor became royal property when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in 1538, the names Lynn Regis and King’s Lynn reflecting this change. Some records refer to it just as Lynn or Lyn.
Between 1650 and 1750 there are numerous births, marriages and deaths of both Walter and Francis Kirby within a few km of Kings Lynn - too many to be able to determine an unambiguous genealogy. However it is quite probable that the Walter Kirby mentioned above is the great- great-great grandfather of William Kirby M.D. who died at Maldon Essex in 1808 and his brother Walter who are discussed in detail below.
Also in the Chapel of St Nicholas, Kings Lynn, is a wall plaque (above) in memory of another Walter Kirby and his mother Alice nee Kidd. This Walter was also a mayor of Kings Lynn in 1744 - he died 1751 aged 45 - no wife is mentioned so probably not married. He could conceivably be an uncle or other close relative of William and Walter who were born 1744 and 1738 respectively.
Below is the marriage record of Francis Kirby and Ann Wilkinson at Winbotsham, some 10 km south of Kings Lynn, in 1736.
In 1803 Walter Kirby, Doctor of Physic died in Paris, aged 65, and left a will in which he identifies as “the son of the late Francis Kirby of London and Ann (Wilkinson) his wife”.
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In January 1808 William Kirby M.D. Doctor of Physic, aged 61 died and is buried at Maldon Essex. In his will he mentions property at Balderton in the County of Nottingham “which descended to me as heir at law of my late brother Doctor Walter Kirby”. This same property is mentioned in Walter Kirby’s will i.e. this establishes that William Kirby born 1746 and Walter Kirby born ca. 1738, are brothers and hence both sons of Francis Kirby and Ann Wilkinson.
There are no available baptism records for those years for either William or Walter.
There is a record of William Kirby being apprenticed to Henry Fysh of Lynn, Norfolk, surgeon and apothecary from 1760 to 1767 (when William would have been aged from 14 to 21). This leaves little doubt that William and Walter were from Kings Lynn and part of this extended network of Kirby relatives.
The mother of Walter and William was most probably Ann Wilkinson the daughter of Jeremiah Wilkinson and his wife Mary, born 1712 at Stow Bardolph which is immediately adjacent to Winbotsham - see baptism record above.
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William Kirby M.D. named his son Jeremiah in 1774 - most probably after his own grandfather.
William and Walter both became doctors, their wills describing them as “Doctor of Physic”. William’s has the added description “surgeon” and on his gravestone “M.D.” Walter is listed in the 1802 London Holden Directory as “Apothecary” in Red Lion Square - the address is significant because Walter’s will mentions his friend Benjamin Smith of Red Lion Square as both a co-executor and a minor beneficiary.
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They moved around - William was at Birchington Kent when he married, had children at both London and at Isle of Thanet, Kent and later lived and died at Maldon, Essex.
Walter Kirby 1738 - 1803
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Walter died in Paris after a brief time in Aix-en-Provence and had lived in both Dorking, Surrey and London but left property in his will located in Nottinghamshire.
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Apart from his will, mentioned above, the main information we have about Walter relates to his death and burial. There is no evidence that he married or had children. His will is dated 10 March 1803 and a codicil dated 14th March, 3 months before his death in Paris in June 1803. He was living in Aix in the Rhone at the time and other papers relating to the will state that he had lived there for about 5 months. This burial record (below) for Walter Kirby in Paris in 1803 is from the records of l’Oratoire, a protestant church on Rue Saint-Honore.
The timing of this burial is interesting: Walter Kirby had signed his will in March 1803 giving his address as Aix in the Department of the Mouth of the Rhone ( i.e now known as Aix-en-Provence); this was during the truce between Britain and Napoleon’s French Republic (following the Treaty of Amiens in March 1802). But on May 18, 1803 Britain declared war on France and in early June Napoleon responded i.e. Walter Kirby has apparently visited France during the truce but got caught there when the war resumed - dying there in June 1803.
As late as 1802 Walter was living in London as attested by his listing in the 1802 Holden Directory as an Apothecary in East St, Red Lion Square, London.
William Kirby 1746 - 1808
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There is a gravestone in the chancel of St Mary's Anglican Church, Maldon, Essex which records the death of WILLIAM KIRBY M.D. on January 3 1808 aged 61 years. He is buried together with members of the Thomas family including his father-in- law John Thomas M.D. , William having married a second time to Sarah Thomas in 1789. William Kirby left a will in which he describes himself as Doctor of Physic and Surgeon of Maldon in the county of Essex.
These photos of Maldon High Street and of St Mary's church are taken from the booklet Maldon & Heybridge through Time (2012) by Stephen P. Nunn who kindly found and photographed the gravestone in St Mary's church for me.
William Kirby is listed in the 1783 Medical Register under “Apothecaries and Surgeons” in Maldon.
The beneficiaries of his will are son Jeremiah, daughters Mary and Elizabeth and his surviving widow Sarah.
William's assets included a farmhouse, buildings and 7+ acres of land in the Parish of Lympne, County of Kent which were subject of a “lease and release” contract with his then wife to be, Mary Omer of Monkton, dated October 1770 and in which he is described as William Kirby, surgeon of Birchington in the County of Kent. The property included "New Inn Farm"and “New Inn Green"; this is now the village of Newingreen at the junction of the A20 and the A261, 11 Km west of Folkstone. ( more on William's will at the bottom of this page )
The actual record of their marriage ( above ) shows Mary Omer as living in the parish of West Farleigh where the marriage took place.
Mary Omer was born at Dover in 1743 to Rev. Jacob Omer and Rebecca Mann but her mother died sometime before Mary’s 3rd birthday and her father Jacob remarried in 1746 to Mary Hope. When Mary Hope / Omer died in 1767 she refers in her will to her two daughters Catherine and Mary although they were in fact step-daughters. Mary Hope’s sister Sarah was married to Stephen Amhurst of West Farleigh and Sarah Amhurst was the witness at the marriage of Mary Omer and William Kirby - see above record; thus it is apparent that Mary Omer was in close contact with the Amhurst family and possibly even living with them at West Farleigh after her stepmother’s death - her father Jacob died in 1749 at Margate when Mary was only six years old.
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Thus William Kirby's wife Mary Omer was the daughter of Rev Jacob Omer and Rebecca Mann and step-daughter of Mary Hope.
JACOB OMER was ordained as a deacon at Bromley, Kent by Bishop Joseph Wilcox of Rochester in September 1740 and immediately appointed curate at St Paul’s, Deptford ( near Greenwich); in September 1741 he was ordained priest - information from the CCEd website (Clergy of the Church of England Database).
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In September 1737 Jacob had married Rebecca Mann at Rochester, St Nicholas with his residence recorded as Rotherhithe, Surrey ( about 2 Km up the Thames from Deptford where he was later appointed curate); Rebecca’s residence given as Hastingleigh which is much further east in Kent between Canterbury and Ashford. Jacob was 20 years of age.
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Jacob and Rebecca had 4 children ( records on ancestry.co.uk) - Jacob baptised at the historic St Alfege’s church, Greenwich in1740 and Catherine in 1741, Rebecca baptised September 1742 and MARY December 1743 at St Mary the Virgin church at Dover.
Subsequently Rev Jacob Omer was buried at the same place ( St Mary’s, Dover - pictured right) in May 1749, joining his wife Rebecca ( Mary’s mother) who had been buried there 4 years before in September 1745.
These newspaper extracts below show that Jacob was vicar at St John’s, Margate for 2 and a half years from March 1747 to September 1749. It is reasonable to assume that he was vicar of St Mary the Virgin, Dover at the time of Mary’s birth and probably up until the time he moved to Margate.
His second marriage was to Mary Hope at Hougham ( between Folkstone and Dover) in 1746 and they had one child, Jacob born 1748 at Margate (St John the Baptist).
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Jacob Omer ( later Rev.) was born to Peter Omer, Mariner, and Catherine, baptised August 1717 at St Mary Magdalen, Bermondsey - they were living at East Lane, Surrey. Peter Omer married Catherine Baily at All Hallows, Staining (London) in 1711. This was Peter’s second marriage, his first being to Elizabeth Huggett in March 1705 in the bride’s parish of St Peter in Thanet - the groom’s parish being recorded as St John’s (probably Margate) and his occupation “seaman”.
It was also Catherine's second marriage - she was born Catherine Jacobs, so her son Jacob was given her family name, parents Robert Jacob and Mary de la Pierre.
When Rev Jacob died his place at Margate church was taken by Rev John Jacob - possibly a relative.
The Omer family and the Jacob's had lived around Margate and Isle of Thanet since at least the early 17th century. Below is a copy of the entries for OMER in the Tyler Index for the period around 1607 when Roger, son of Roger was baptised at the Minster, Thanet ( St Mary the Virgin ).
There is a burial of “Captain Roger Omer” aged 74 at Thanet (St Johns) in 1731 ( i.e. born 1657) which is probably Peter’s father. Roger was born to Richard Omer and Sara Henneker and baptised at St Johns. Richard Omer was born to Roger in 1622 and baptised at the Minster, Thanet.
Richard Omer and Sarah Henneker were married at St John the Baptist, Margate in March 1652 and shortly after built a brick house and attached stable cottage at what is now 16 Omer Avenue, Margate. The house is heritage listed - pictured at right.
As his career as a mariner developed Peter Omer moved from Thanet at the eastern edge of Kent, to Bermondsey on the south bank of the Thames, where he is recorded in 1712 as being Master to an apprentice (William Studholm). His first wife Elizabeth died in October 1709 and is buried at St Peter in Thanet.
Peter Omer wrote a will in 1722 in which he mentions his son Jacob ( who would have been 4 years old at the time) and specifies that “my Will and pleasure is that my son Jacob Omer shall be in the care of my loving Spouse Susanna Omer and in case of her death then my Will is that my said Son may be in the care of Margaret Routon Senior and Captain Charles Martin his Guardians to take care of his Education for my desire is that no relation of mine may have anything to doe about the management of my said Child in any degree whatsoever”.
In fact Jacob was educated at Kings School Canterbury (pictured) which is attached to Canterbury Cathedral, a prestigious school, still operating officially founded as the Kings School in the 16th century but as a place of learning since 597 AD) He went onto obtain a B.A. in 1741 from Cambridge University where he is listed among the alumni (accessed on www.ancestry.co.uk. ) This entry also confirms his father as being Peter Omer, shipowner of Surrey.
Peter married for a third time to Susanna James in July 1722; the will was dated 5 days after the marriage - it is not clear when Peter actually died. Catherine (Jacob’s mother) had died in March 1721 and is buried at St Mary the Virgin, Dover. Susanna and Jacob are named as the principal beneficiaries but others mentioned include Elizabeth Huggett, “niece” (of his first wife), his brother James Omer, brother Roger, and James’s son Roger.
It appears likely that Peter Omer was the son of Captain Roger Omer, mariner referred to above and his wife Mary, baptised in October 1681 at St John in Thanet.
Rebecca Mann who married Jacob Omer (later Rev.) in 1737 gave her residence as Hastingleigh. I can find no other records of the Mann family around Hastingleigh; it is difficult to determine with any certainty who Rebecca’s parents were but there was a Rebecca born to Andrew Man, mariner, of Rotherhithe Wall, Surrey, baptised at Bermondsey, St Mary Magdalene in February 1716 (Jacob Omer was born 1717). Andrew married Rebecca Ellis there in 1705 - see below record. Thus Rebecca and Jacob’s fathers would have both been mariners at Bermondsey at the time of the marriage.
On the Janet and Robert Wolfe website there is an extensive genealogy of the Omer family which suggests that Richard Omer of Margate (who built the house) is descended from Roger Omer of Ash-next-Sandwich, Kent, and Elizabeth Sayer, married at St Nicholas' in 1569 and traces them back a further 3 generations to Laurence Omer of Ash ( 1430-1487), all of whom appear to be yoemen with in some cases several small holdings of a few acres.
The property at New Inn Green mentioned in William Kirby’s will appears to have come into William and Mary’s possession as some kind of marriage settlement facilitated by Mary’s Amhurst relatives. John Amhurst is mentioned as occupying the property; he would be the son of Stephen and Sarah (Hope), born at West Farleigh in 1738.
From the birth records online it seems likely that the following baptisms are the children of William and Mary Kirby:
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Mary, April 1773 at St Martin-in-the-Fields, London
Jeremiah, June 1774 at St Pauls Covent Garden, London
Anne, June 1775 at St Pauls, Covent Garden, London
Elizabeth, April 1780 at Peter-in-Thanet (Broadstairs).
These dates and places suggest that shortly after their marriage William and Mary moved to London, probably so that William could further his medical career and in particular gain the experience to pass an examination to qualify as a Doctor of Medicine ( M.D.), before returning to Kent before 1780.
By 1785 William was practising at Maldon, Essex and in April 1789 he married for a second time to Sarah Thomas, daughter of John Thomas M.D. William's first wife Mary died in May 1788 and is buried at St Peter's, Thanet.
William and Sarah had a son born 1791, named Walter after William's brother. Walter joined the navy, married Hannah Smith in 1814 at Langford, Essex, reached the rank of commander and was knighted in 1835.
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Anne is not mentioned in William's will so presumably predeceased him.
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Mary, Jeremiah's elder sister is the author of the poem entitled “Description of an Essex Farm-House at the close of the 18th century” -
to read the complete poem, click the green button:
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It is partially reproduced here - click the link to read the whole poem..
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Mary died in 1799 aged 24 and left a will mentioning her siblings Jeremiah and Elizabeth and specifically requesting that she be buried beside he mother in the churchyard of St Peter's, Thanet, the grave to be "covered with a plain marble slab" and an inscription to their memory. The will gives her residence as Newington, Surrey which is on the outskirts of London in the parish of Lambeth.
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Jeremiah followed his father into the medical profession, studying for his M.D. at Edinburgh University. Details of Jeremiah's life in Edinburgh can be found on the Edinburgh page.
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Transcription of the will (page 1) of William Kirby, Doctor of Physic.
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This is the last will and testament of me William Kirby of Maldon in the County of Essex Surgeon whereas by a Certain Judicature of Lease and Release made previous to the marriage of me and my late wife Mary Kirby bearing date respectively on or about the first and second days of October in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy the release being Quadripartite and made or mentioned to be made between me by the description of William Kirby of Burchington in the Isle of Thanet in the County of Kent , Surgeon of the first part my said late wife by the description of Mary Owen of Monkton in the said Isle and County spinster of the second part the Reverend Thomas Johnson of the parish of Elmstone in the county of Kent clerk and John Fagg of Ham in the said county of Kent , Gentleman of the third part and John Amherst of West Farley in the County of Kent Gentleman of the fourth part all that Messuage Tenement Farmhouse commonly called or known by the name of New Inn Farm with the Barns Stables Outhouses Edifices and Buildings Yards Gardens Orchards Backsides and other Appurts hereunto belonging or therewith used or enjoyed together with the Scite of the said Messuage or Tenement or farm and the Green or parcel of ground called New Inn Green containing by estimation seven acres more
DESCRIPTION OF AN ESSEX FARM-HOUSE, AT THE CLOSE OF THE 18TH CENTURY.
by Mary Kirby
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At a rustic retreat, by the side of the road,
An honest old couple had fix’d their abode:
There many a summer well pleased they had spent,
And many a winter had seen them content:
Thus they jogg’d on through life, arm in arm, still the same,
And wondered when age and infirmities came.
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No walls or proud structures this cottage surround,
But before it a paling appears as a bound;
No gates of stern iron an access deny
To those who no access by grandeur can buy;
But a latch courteous op’ning at each one’s request,
A welcome proclaims to the wandering guest,
At the side the horse-block a carpet of green.
Here the fairy king Oberon oft holds his court,
And Titania there and her female elves sport.
In requital they watch o’er the favourite spot,
With plenty, with peace, and content bless the cot,
Exuberance show o’er the full rising grain,
And decree that the flocks shall secure range the plain:
Nay, their tutelage cares e’en to trifles descend,
The pantry, the churn, and the poultry they tend;
For this I have often heard Dolly declare,
And, when backed by her mistress, deny it who dare ?
Hence the sweet bud of beauty ne’er suffers a blight,-
Ah! Would all her buds had so watchful a sprite !
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to be continued ........
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