Scott Research
|
The best Baptism match for John Scott, father of Edward, is the John Baptised in 1744 in Banstead with parents William and Elizabeth Scott. William Scott married Elizabeth May on 07 January 1740 and their are two Baptism records for their children, Mary 09 August 1741 and John in 08 June 1744; both Christenings would have taken place at All Saints Church, the parish church (Source IGI Church of England. Parish Church of Banstead (Surrey) in Banstead that dates back to the Doomsday book: http://www.bansteadallsaints.com/aboutus.htm William and Elizabeth died and were buried in Banstead, so they did not leave the area and there is a marriage record for a Mary Scott who married at Epsom Parish Church in 1762 which is a good match for their daughter Mary as we have no record of any other Mary Scott living in the area at that time and she would have been 21. This suggests a connection with Epsom and the proof is in John's Will where he mentioned living with a John May. His mother Elizabeth's maiden name was May and her family can be traced back in Banstead to Richard May who was married in Banstead in 1675 to Mary Harris. The John May referred to in John Scott's Will was born in Epsom in 1773 and his parents were John and Susannah May. John May born in 1749 in Epsom and was the son of Thomas May born in Banstead in 1724 whom I believe to be the brother of Elizabeth May, making John May b. 1775 in Epsom John Scott's first cousin once removed (his first cousin's son). Although no baptism record exists for Elizabeth, the fact that she was married in Banstead, which usually indicates the bride's Parish, suggests she may have been born in Banstead and as she was married in 1740, she would have been born around 1720 which makes her the right age to be Thomas' sister. Her father was therefore Thomas May born 1683 in Banstead, the son of the previously mentioned Richard May and Mary (formerly Harris). There is a Will for John May, yeoman of Banstead, dated 19 July 1790 who had children born in Banstead between 1747 and 1761 and who was born in around 1725-30, making him another of Elizabeth's brother and he too is not mentioned in the Baptism records. He married Amy and had a daughter called Elizabeth. The earliest record of a Scott in the Banstead area is John Scott Esquire in 1556: Photograph (nd) of bond relating to an arbitration of a dispute as to... Title Photograph (nd) of bond relating to an arbitration of a dispute as to lands in Woodmansterne 1) John Scott, esq 2) Jeffrey Lambert of Banstead. Reference G6/1/35/5-6 Unit Date (30 Jan 1556) Start Date 15560130 End Date 15560130
I believe he is an ancestor of John Scott born in Banstead but I have not been able to find any records to trace the line back further than William Scott who married Elizabeth May in Banstead in 1740. As John Scott's Will showed him to be a man of moderate wealth and property when he died, it suggests that William too was fairly well off and that he came from a fairly prosperous line of Scotts which is consistent with the record for John Scott which suggests him to be a man of upper gentry as the use of the word Esquire suggested someone who was the son or descendant of a peer. The earliest record of a Scott born in Epsom is Henry Scott born to Thomas and Jane Scott in April 1751. Thomas and Jane had 5 children in Epsom, Henry, Sarah, Richard, Jenny and the last being William in 1770 (source Parish records). There could be a connection with our Scotts as Elizabeth (who married William Scott's) father's name was Thomas, so she may have had a son called Thomas and Henry, Sarah and William are names associated with the Scott family. Some Baptism records do appear to be missing. The St Martin of Tours Baptism records from 1686 - 1894 are said to be incomplete with gaps ranging from months to years, so it is no wonder that Baptism records for Elizabeth Clark Scott b. c1790 and Thomas Scott b. c 1775 cannot be found. The transcripts of Banstead church records are likely to be similarly incomplete and so William and Elizabeth may have had more children than just Mary and John. For example, William Scott married Mary Stride in Epsom in December 1766 and Samuel Scott married Rebecca Haswell in 1758 (Source Parish Records). As John and Sarah Scott had a son called Samuel and William is also a family name, I think that William may have been a brother of John and Samuel an Uncle, unless he was very young when he married or was a step brother. John Scott 1744-1839 was a shop keeper and an insurance broker for the Royal Fire and Life Assurance Company - a very early insurance salesman!
We know from John's Will that he left his business to Edward who was then a teacher and in 1841, just two years after his father died, we find Edward living in Epsom High Street as a Grocer, having taken over his father's shop, so we know from this that John's grocer's shop was in Epsom High Street a much more profitable location than having a shop in Banstead village which explains his move to Epsom. John's death record states he was 88 when he was actually 94 but it was not unusual for ages to be wrong at that time, sometime because the people giving the information to the Parish dd not know the person's true age and sometime it was beneficial for older people to reduce their age. I believe that Edward's mother Sarah's maiden name was Clark, firstly because John and Sarah named their first daughter Sarah Clerk Scott and secondly, because Sarah died in 1819 and in that year, Edward gave his daughter Elizabeth the middle name of Clark and I believe this was in respect of his mother. Edward had a brother Thomas was a grocer who lived in Kent. The 1841 census record claims he was born in the County in which he was living (Kent) but census records, particularly the early ones, are not always a reliable source of information and the enumerator often got the 'y' and 'n' wrong in the born in the County column. However, as no Baptism record can be found for Thomas in Epsom, although this may simply be due to the patchy records that were kept at the time, it may be that he was born in his mother's parish, although we do not know where Sarah was born. I think he was most probably born in Epsom. Again, according to the 1841 census, Thomas was the eldest brother born in c1776. Another brother was Robert who was a farmer of 180 acres in Kent, employing 5 men. There were also brothers John who lived in Epsom, William who was a grocer and lived in Cranleigh, Sarah who married William Pate Adds and lived in Epsom and Elizabeth who married John Elden a carpenter from Norfolk and lived in Aylsham. Robert and William had male descendants. This concludes the information I have about the Scott family at the present time - 02/05/2011 |