John King

BMDB data

     John King was baptized on 17 Jul 1727 Walkhampton, DEV, ENG; the entry reading simply: "John son of Richard and Margaret King was baptized."^2,3 He married Ann King, daughter of James Barter and Ann Stephens, on 2 Aug 1771 Par. Ch, Walkhampton, DEV, ENG; entry reads: John King Par. of Sampford Spiney Yeoman and Ann King Widow of Walkhampton mar. in church by licence 2nd Aug 1771, both signed, witnessed by Richard King and Richard King Junr (This marriage creates quite a tangled web of Kings. Ann appears to be the widow of Walter King, uncle of her 2nd husband. I am unsure as yet who these two Richards are. My initial guess of father/son and John's father/brother does fit by dates, any other combination of father/son Richards in the family don't have the right dates.)^5,1,4
     John King died on 1 Dec 1815 ?Filley, Manor of Walkhampton, DEV, ENG.^3,6,7 He was buried on 5 Dec 1815 Walkhampton, DEV, aged 88.⁸

Census/Where lived/Occupations

     By bet. 1783 - 1804 John King was a farmer West Deancombe, DEV, ENG.^1,9 John King employed William Glanville cir. 1786 Sampford Spiney, DEV, ENG, but this information does rather depend on the correct identification of a John King mentioned in the settlement statement of William in 1817 .. then yearly servant with one John King of the Parish of Sampford Spiney for one year .. (by which time I calculate William would be about 21 and this John is the only one close by age or place that I currently know about. Wiliam is the son of Susanna Glanville nee German who later married John Creber 1st cousin once removed to this John King's wife Ann nee Barter.¹⁰)

Wills/bequests

     John King wrote a will on 23 May 1807 in the Par. of Walkhampton, DEV, ENG, the first bequest being his "soul unto almighty God who gave it me and my Body to Christian Burial". Other bequests were:
to Walter King, Elizabeth King, Ann King, "son and daughters of my son in law (step son in modern parlance) James Barter King of the said Parish of Walkhampton yeoman" £50 each to be paid within 12 months of his death; also £50 to James Barter King son of my son in law James Barter King to be paid when he reached 21 (from which list I deduce that James Barter King's dtr Mary had died by then);
to each of my nephews Richard King of the Parish of Buckland monachorum miller (believed to be the son of John's brother Richard and his 1st wife Elizabeth Bone) and George King of the Borough of Plymouth, cordwainer (not yet positively identified);
to Ann Creber, wife of John Huggins Creber of the said Parish of Walkhampton, yeoman, £20 (no relationship specified but she was nee King and on her death in 1840 James Barter King's son Walter paid her heriot, and she is of an age to be a niece, and I eventually found a baptism of Ann to Ricahrd and 1st wife Elizabeth)
unto my nephew John Creber of the said Parish of Walkhampton yeoman £10 (assumed to be the son of John's sister Margaret Creber nee King)
Also .. "unto Robert Damerel son of John Damerel of the said Parish of Walkhampton yeoman" .. £5 .. "to be paid to him when and as soon as he shall attain his age of twenty one years (a John Damerell and Alice King married in Walkhampton in 1804, the marriage being witnessed by J B King and J M King - Alice may be the dtr of George King and Gertrude Worth?)
And to Richard King of the Borough of Plymouth cooper son of George King late of the said Parish of Whitchurch ?yeoman deceased? an annuity or yearly rent charge of ten pounds [....] to be paid out of all that my messuage and tenement called by the name of Hicklake (is this Bicklake? It's definitely an H not a B in the will) situate within the said Parish of Whitchurch and the Parish of Sampford Spiney
Also I give and bequest unto my said Son in law James Barter King, all [??] third parts of All that my moiety of All that messuage and Tenement and the appurtenances situate lying and being in Sowton within the Parish and Manor of Buckland Monachorum aforesaid enti[..] in the possession of Lewis Crymes afterwards of John Crymes Gregory [??] Richard Bold and Richard ?Willcock? and now in the possession of John Daw
More details to follow, that's as far as I've worked through to date.¹¹
     The will of John King was proved Archdeacon's Court, Totnes, DEV, ENG, on 22 Dec 1815 and executor(s) James Barter King appointed.¹¹

All the other info

     John King and George King are related uncle/nephew according to John's will, but I've no idea as yet where George fits.¹¹ John King was considered as a potential duplicate of John King, but this has been discounted; one recorded as being a yeoman, and granted a licence, in 1735, to be a "Badger; Kidder or licensed S..", the other however was later found to only be a 12 yr old at the time. These two John Kings may be grandfather/grandson.^12,13
     In 1765 John King and James Barter were named as tenants of Dittisham Rewe, Par. of Walkhampton, DEV, ENG, with George King and James Barter King as named lives. The Manor Survey "lessees grandchildren" are assumed to be George and James Barter King, the lessee being James Barter. The other party John King also noted on the survey (rent £1/0/8d, heriot £3) but crossed out with James Barter King written in, possibly later. However Joseph Atwill appears to have been the actual tenant, possibly having sublet to James Barter. When Joseph died in 1768, Walter King was presented as tenant in his place (the named lives would be very young). John was apparently Walter's nephew.¹⁴ In 1780 John King succeeded Richard King as tenant of The Filley, Manor of Walkhampton, DEV, ENG, being presented at the Manor Court in that year.¹⁵ John King witnessed the marriage of James Barter King and Sarah Pike on 12 Jul 1780 Walkhampton, DEV, ENG.^16,17 John King witnessed the marriage of John Dawe and Elizabeth King on 20 Sep 1781 Par. Ch, Walkhampton, DEV, ENG.¹⁸
     Cir. 1783 John King was named as tenant on the Filley, Walkhampton, DEV, ENG, with Richard King and Walter King as named lives. The survey notes John, the lessee, as 53, brother Richard as 50 and son Walter as 12 (from other evidence, I've assumed this means Richard's son Walter, not John's.¹⁹ )
     In 1795 John King was named as tenant of Filley, Manor of Walkhampton, DEV, ENG, with Walter King as a named life. John, the lessee, aged 65 and Walter King aged 24. Footnotes later appended to their entries record that they died on 1st December 1815 and 29th September 1822.²⁰
     John outlived his wife Ann King who died cir. Jun 1804.²¹
     John King paid a heriot in Jun 1804 due on the death of Ann King of West Deancombe, Manor of Walkhampton, DEV, ENG, "John King for a Heriot due at the death of Ann King for West Deancombe" (assumed to be husband/wife given John's connection with West Deancombe and Ann's dth in 1804.)²² John King and Robert Damerell are supposedly related I have assumed that Robert, s/o John Damerel refers to the John Damerel married to an Alice King, the nearest Alice seems to be John's wife's granddtr and John's 1st cousin once removed.^11,13
     James Barter King paid a heriot in 1815 due on the death of John King Filley, Manor of Walkhampton, DEV, on Dec 2 in lieu of B.B. £10/10/-" (James and John believed to be cousins, and B.B. stands for "Best Beast.")^6,23