LAMBERT GORWYN FAMILY HISTORY

TABLE 6: THE IMMEDIATE DESCENDANTS OF JOHN GORWYN OF BRADLEIGH (1691-1733)

The generations are numbered from John Gorwyn (1691-1733), the founder of the Bradleigh branch of Gorwyns and Lambert Gorwyns,  who is generation (1); generation (2) are his children; generation (3) his grandchildren etc . TABLE 7, TABLE 8 and TABLE 9 show further descendants of the Bradleigh branch.

(1) John Gorwyn (1691-1733). Baptised and buried in Cheriton Bishop. He was the son of John Gorwyn and Mary and probably the brother of Richard Gorwyn, the ancestor of the Lambert branch (see TABLE 1 and TABLE 2). Probably lived at Bradleigh.

m.  Joan Morrice in 1717 in Cheriton Bishop.  She was died in 1721, possibly as a result of complications in childbirth. They appear to have had 3 children: Mary, John and William. Mary and William both died in infancy.

(2) John Gorwyn alias Lambert (c. 1720-1778). He probably lived at Bradleigh, as there is an annuity to his wife chargeable on the estate which could be expected to date from a marriage settlement. He is probably the Mr John Gorwyn of Crediton buried on 16.7.1778 at Cheriton Bishop. He is probably the John Gorwyn whose will was proved at Exeter in 1778, as there is no father signing John junior’s marriage settlement in 1788, so he was presumably dead by then. His death date is not absolutely certain, as there is another John Gorwyn alias Lambert buried in Cheriton Bishop in 1796.

m. Elizabeth Cockram in 1747 in Crediton. There is also a marriage between John Gorwyn and Elizabeth Ford in Crediton in 1740 that could be a first marriage.  She probably died 1760. The couple appear to have had 5 or possibly 6 children: John, William, George, Ann and Joseph, details below.

(3) John Gorwyn of Bradleigh (1748-1812).

m. Mary Lambert Gorwyn (1744-1806), dau. of John Lambert alias Gorwyn of Lambert (see Tables 1 and 2) in 1788 at Cheriton Bishop. Their marriage settlement survives. They had two sons, one of whom died in infancy:

 

(4) John Lambert Gorwyn (baptised and died 1780).

 

(4) John Gorwyn of Bradleigh (1782-1824).  Lived at Bradleigh in Crediton and was active as land tax collector etc. there, but does not appear to have married. He appears to have acquired a neighbouring property called Ashes in the 1780s. He seems to have suffered a nervous breakdown towards the end of his life and his affairs were in a mess when he died, prompting a couple of lawsuits.

 

(3)  Ann Gorwyn, baptised in 1750. Presumably died young as her parents had another daughter called Ann in 1759.

 

(3) William Gorwyn (1750-1817). An active member of the parish of Cheriton Bishop, as churchwarden; Overseer of the Poor; and trustee for the Cheriton Bishop churchlands. He appears to have lived at Hole Farm in Cheriton Bishop, at any rate towards the end of his life, but he also farmed Spirelake and Middle Mounson. His will survives (in it he is described as a yeoman).

m. Ann Haydon of Hittisleigh in 1779 at Cheriton Bishop. She could be the Ann Gorwyn who died in 1843.  The couple had six children:

 

(4) William Gorwyn of Spirelake and Bradleigh (1780-1845). Bequeathed Spirelake by his father, and he then  inherited Bradleigh (Crediton) from his childless uncle John Gorwyn of Bradleigh in 1824.

m. Ann Blanchford of Drewsteignton in 1808 in Cheriton Bishop. They appear to have had 8 children and were the ancestors of the Bradleigh and Coxland branches. See TABLE 7 (Lambert Gorwyns of Bradleigh) for their family.

 

(4) John Gorwyn of Hole (1783-1854). He was left the leasehold of Hole (described as having 186 acres in 1842) by his father and in 1841 was living there with 3 servants and 3 apprentices. Unmarried. His will survives.

       

(4) George Gorwyn of Medland (1784-1862). After his marriage he appears to have lived at Hittisleigh,  probably at Medlake, which he inherited (along with Five Beacons Down) when his father died in 1817. But by 1841 he was at Greystone in Drewsteignton with his family and 5 labourers and servants, and by 1851 at Medland, where he died.

m. Jane Stone in 1810. They had 6 children. See Tree 8 (Lambert Gorwyns of Hittisleigh) for their family.

 

(4) Joseph Gorwyn of Hole (c.1787-1871). Unmarried. He seems to have lived at Hole with his brother John; by 1851 John is described as annuitant and Joseph has taken over as head of household at Hole. His will survives.

 

(4) Ann Gorwyn bpt. in 1791.

m. Charles Finch, maltster, in 1815 in Crediton.

(5) Elizabeth Finch.

 

(5) Louisa Finch.

 

(5) Susan Finch.

 

(5) William Gorwyn Finch, born in 1816 at Crediton and may have married his first cousin Martha Lambert Gorwyn (daughter of William of Spirelake and Hole - see TABLE 7) and had a daughter Elizabeth born in 1840.

(4) Elizabeth Gorwyn b. possibly about 1794 (1821 census shows an Elizabeth age 27 living at Hole with her brothers  John and  Joseph), but probably in 1788 (when Elizabeth, d. of William and Ann Gorwyn, was bpt. at  Cheriton Bishop).  She was the main heir of her brother John.

m. Richard Coombe of Cheriton Bishop in 1823 in Cheriton Bishop.  In 1851 they were living at Hookway Road, Crediton.

(3) George Gorwyn of Mill (1757-1825). He had a leasehold interest in the farms of Mill and Slade in Cheriton Bishop). Appointed one of the trustees for the Cheriton Bishop churchlands in 1780. His will survives.

m. Ann  Pridham, poss b. about 1761. She died in 1796 age 35, and was buried in Cheriton Bishop  in the same grave as her husband. The couple had five children:

(4) George Lambert Gorwyn (1785-1827), bpt. in Hittisleigh. Bequeathed a leasehold interest in Mill and Slade by his father. Living with his father at Mill in 1821. Unmarried. His will survives.

 

(4) Elizabeth Gorwyn baptised at Hittisleigh in 1786.

 

(4) Ann Gorwyn baptised at Hittisleigh in 1788.

m. James Wright  in 1806 at Stoke Damerel; he went to Bristol as a lathe and hoopmaker .

 

(4) Jane Wright, b. 1822, dressmaker in Exeter in 1851.

 

 (4) John Lambert Gorwyn (probably 1791-1818). Lived at Mill.

 

 (4) Mary Gorwyn baptised at Hittisleigh in 1793. Living with her father at Mill in 1821 and in 1851 in Exeter with her niece Jane Wright. Died 1864 in Exeter; effects valued at £200.

(3)  Ann Gorwin (1759-?).

 

(3)  Joseph Gorwyn (1764-1832). In the 1780s and 1790s he was  farming at Mallets, Morlehays and Stair Hills in Crediton.  But by 1821 he is at Hole with son William, 1 servant and 3 apprentices. By that time his brother William’s son John was the owner of Hole, and the two families were both living there, probably in separate houses, John possibly having offered a refuge to his probably not very successful uncle Joseph. Joseph was one of the farmers who rode into Crediton to form the Crediton Association in 1792 to support the English forces fighting against the French revolutionaries. By the time Joseph made his will in 1831, he appears to have moved to Exeter with his son William and given up farming altogether.

m. Sarah Gater possibly in 1787 at Crediton.  She was probably the Sarah Gorwyn who was buried in Cheriton Bishop in 1815 aged 50. They had seven children, but some may have died young.

(4) Elizabeth Gorwyn, baptised in 1788 in Crediton . Not at Hole with her father in 1821 or mentioned in her father’s will, so could have married by then or died young.

 

(4) John Gorwyn, baptised in 1791 in Crediton.

 

(4) Sarah Gorwyn, baptised in 1795 at Crediton. Not at Hole in 1821 or mentioned in her father’s will.

m. William Adams Heath.

 

(4) George Gorwyn (1798-1811), baptised in 1798 at Crediton. Probably the George, son of Joseph Gorwyn of Crediton, who buried at Cheriton Bishop in 1811.

 

(4) Mary Gorwyn, baptised in 1801 at Crediton.

m. Abraham Cann, a famous wrestler, in 1820 at Crediton  and had three children:

(5) Mary Ann Cann bpt 1820 at Clannaborough

 

(5) William Cann bpt Clannaborough 1821 .

 

(5) Abraham Gorwyn Lambert Cann, bpt. 1823 at Clannaborough

(4) William Gorwyn, bpt. in 1803 at Crediton. At Hole with his father in 1821, aged 18, but by 1831 was a maltster in Exeter. It is not clear whether he married or left any descendants.