DEWES OF GRAFTON
The
father of Joan Dewes, wife of Richard Sisson of Allerton Mauleverer, can be
identified from two probate records. The children listed in the tuition
document in the 1608 record for Robert Dewes of Grafton are Richard, Miles,
Thomas, Joan and Ellen.[1]
The 1654 will of Richard Dewes of Marton cum Grafton mentions his brother
Miles, brother Thomas, and “my Brother Sissons Childrren” (sic).[2]
Further support for the Grafton connection is in the will of Richard Sisson
which mentions giving to his daughter Mary “thatt which she had from grafton
from her granfather”.[3]
There
appear to have been at least two men named Robert Dewes in the same area at the
same time, one of Clareton in Allerton Mauleverer, and another of Grafton in
the parish of Marton cum Grafton. The children listed in Robert of Grafton’s
probate record do not match well with the entries in the Allerton Mauleverer
parish registers for the children of Robert of Clareton. Moreover, Robert Dewes
and Joan Smith were married at Allerton Mauleverer in 1595, whereas the widow
of Robert Dewes of Grafton was called Barbara. No parish registers for the
period are available for Marton cum Grafton.
It
is likely that both Robert of Clareton and Robert of Grafton were of the family
of Miles and Katherine Dewes of Clareton and Coneythorpe whose wills were
written in 1557 and 1564 respectively. Miles mentioned three sons, Thomas,
Henry and Robert,[4]
but Katherine only mentioned Thomas and Robert,[5] so
Henry may have died by that time. Thomas Dewes of Clareton was the father of
one Robert Dewes, baptised in 1565 at Allerton Mauleverer. It has been said
that the Robert Dewes of Grafton who died in 1608 was a son of Miles Dewes, the
testator of 1557. This is a possibility and would fit with a reference in the
1602/03 will of Sir Richard Mauleverer to a tenement in Clareton in the
occupation of “Robte Dewes the younger”.[6]
However, most if not all of the children of Miles and Katherine were already
married by 1564 and Robert Dewes of Grafton had young children when he died in
1608, so it seems more plausible chronologically that he was a grandson of
Miles and Katherine. Their son Robert may have been the father of the Robert
Dewes of Grafton who died in 1608. A Robert Dewes was involved
with property in Grafton manor in 1575-76. The 1574 will of John Monkton of
Flaxby mentions “Robert Dewes & Alice his wif layte wif of Roberte Monketon
my brother”.[7]
The 1558 will of Robert Monkton of Grafton includes mention of his wife Alice.[8]
One
Dewes individual in the area was a Thomas Dewes who married a daughter of
George Goldsborough of Goldsborough, the latter making his will
in 1578. Thomas’s father is said
to have been a Richard Dewes which would show that he was distinct from Thomas
son of Miles Dewes.
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DEWES
ROBERT DEWES of Grafton, Yorkshire, died on 6
August 1608.[9]
He married BARBARA.[10]
Children of Robert Dewes:[11]
i RICHARD DEWES of Marton cum
Grafton, yeoman, bur 2 Nov 1654, Marton cum Grafton;[12] m
JANE.[13]
ii MILES DEWES of Marton cum Grafton,
bur 24 Jul 1660, Marton cum Grafton;[14] m
21 Oct 1621, Ripon, ISABEL DUFFIELD.[15]
iii THOMAS DEWES.
iv JOAN DEWES, bur 6 Oct 1670,
Allerton Mauleverer;[16] m
16 Feb 1630/31, Allerton Mauleverer, RICHARD SISSON[17]
(see here).
v ELLEN DEWES.
[1] West Yorkshire Archive Service, R D/AP1/30/11b.
[2] West Yorkshire Archive Service, R D/AP1/31/47.
[3] West Yorkshire Archive Service, R D/AP1/86/23.
[4] West Yorkshire Archive Service, R D/AP1/29/15.
[5] West Yorkshire Archive Service, R D/AP1/29/81.
[6] West Yorkshire Archive Service, R D/AP1/60/117.
[7] West Yorkshire Archive Service, R D/AP1/59/127.
[8] West Yorkshire Archive Service, R D/AP1/59/15.
[9] West Yorkshire Archive Service, R D/AP1/30/11b.
[10] West Yorkshire Archive Service, R D/AP1/30/11b.
[11] West Yorkshire Archive Service, R D/AP1/30/11b.
[12] Marton cum Grafton parish registers (online at www.findmypast.co.uk); West Yorkshire Archive Service, R D/AP1/31/47.
[13] West Yorkshire Archive Service, R D/AP1/31/47.
[14] Marton cum Grafton parish registers (online at www.findmypast.co.uk).
[15] Ripon parish registers (online at www.findmypast.co.uk).
[16] Allerton Mauleverer parish registers (online at www.ancestry.com); West Yorkshire Archive Service, R D/AP1/86/26.
[17] Allerton Mauleverer parish registers (online at www.ancestry.com).