MARTIN OF NORTH TAMERTON

 

A pedigree of this Martin or Martyn family, beginning with the generation of William and Elizabeth (Pomeroy) Martyn, was included in Vivian’s Visitations of Cornwall in 1887. It was not based on a heraldic visitation entry but was compiled from wills, parish registers and “other documents in the possession of the Rev. W.W. Martyn of Lifton”.[1] In 1895, the family was included in Vivian’s Visitations of Devon, where William was stated to have been a son of John Martyn of Lifton and Joane who was granted administration of her husband’s estate in 1650. Considerable ancestry is provided for John Martyn.[2] However, the reasons for making the connections are not explained. There was indeed a John Martyn of Lifton, administration of whose estate was granted to his widow Joan in 1650,[3] but there were other Martyns in Lifton at the time and it is not clear whether there was a good reason to assign William as a son of John. The will of a Joan Martyn of Lifton, widow, written in 1657 and proved in 1665, mentioned a daughter Elizabeth but no son William,[4] although it is not certain whether she was the same person as the administratrix of 1650.[5]

 

An indenture of 1652/53 between William Marten of Lifton, yeoman, and his sister Elizabeth Martyn of Orisdon in the parish of Lifton, widow, relates to property in the manor of Willsworthy in the parish of North Tamerton.[6] This therefore appears to be the William Martin who later lived at North Tamerton and whose residence was given as “Wolsworthy” in his burial entry in 1686. Elizabeth’s husband was Henry Martyn of Orisdon in Lifton, whose will was written and proved in 1647. The testator mentioned, among others, his wife Elizabeth, brother-in-law William Martyn and sister-in-law Anne Martyn.[7] Elizabeth’s will was written in 1682 and includes references to an unnamed sister and “my brother William Marten Children”.[8]

 

Ann Martin, spinster, who wrote her will in 1696, was evidently the sister mentioned by Elizabeth (and sister-in-law mentioned by Henry). Most of Ann’s bequests were to individuals who can be readily identified as children of William Martin and who are described in the will as “Cousen”. This term could also mean nephew or niece at the time as appears to be the case in this instance and the document is in fact labelled “Ante Anne Martens Will”.[9] Ann stated that she was “liveing at Yowlbridge” in the parish of Werrington but the inventory describes her as “of Week St Mary” so she appears to be the one of that name buried at Week St Mary in 1697. The entry in the parish register records her simply as “Anna Martin”, but the bishop’s transcripts show “Anna the daughter of Henry and anna Marten”. Although in general it was very unusual at the time to give the parentage of adults in marriage or burial entries, this does occur in some other examples in the Week St Mary records in the seventeenth century.

 

There were connections of some kind between this Martin family and the Old and Couch families, although the precise links have not been confirmed. In the indenture of 1652/53, William constitutes John Olde and John Couch as his attorneys. The will of Timothy Old of Clawton, written in 1654, mentions his father John Old, cousin John Couch of West Petherwin and cousin William Marten.[10] The will of the Henry Martin who married Elizabeth Martin refers to his uncle John Olde and cousin John Couch. It also mentions a John Martin whose exact connection is unclear. The 1656 will of Jane Clawtor of Clawton mentions among others her sister Thomazine Couch, sister Joan Marten and the daughters of Timothy Old.[11] However, the testator’s connection to Timothy Old was evidently through the latter’s wife and the sister Joan Marten does not make a good candidate for the mother of William Martin of North Tamerton. Joan was the mother of Joseph Marten of South Petherwin whose 1649 will mentions his mother Joan Marten, aunt Jane Clowter, and cousin John Couch but does not mention any other Martens,[12] and there is no obvious indication of a Joseph being a member of the family of William Martin of North Tamerton.

 

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MARTIN

 

1          HENRY MARTIN married ANN.

 

Children of Henry and Ann Martin:

i               ELIZABETH MARTIN, bur 25 Apr 1682, Lifton;[13] m HENRY MARTIN.[14]

2              ii              WILLIAM MARTIN (bur 1686); m ELIZABETH POMEROY.

iii             ANN MARTIN, bur 5 Oct 1697, Week St Mary.[15]

 

2          WILLIAM MARTIN of Willsworthy, North Tamerton, Cornwall, was buried on 22 July 1686 at North Tamerton.[16] He married ca 1652, ELIZABETH POMEROY.[17] She was buried on 4 October 1672 at North Tamerton.[18]

 

Children of William and Elizabeth (Pomeroy) Martin:

i               JOHN MARTIN, b 13 Jan 1653/54,[19] bur 8 Apr 1654, North Tamerton.[20]

ii              MARY MARTIN, b 30 Mar 1655,[21] bur 6 Apr 1700, Week St Mary;[22] m 31 Aug 1687, Week St Mary, JOHN PENGELLY.[23]

iii             ELIZABETH MARTIN, b 24 Nov 1656,[24] bur 25 Dec 1693, North Tamerton;[25] m 28 Jan 1678/79, North Tamerton, LEONARD CORNEW.[26]

iv             JOHN MARTIN, b 1 Dec 1658,[27] bur 27 Feb 1658/59, North Tamerton.[28]

v              SUSANNA MARTIN, bap 22 Jul 1660, North Tamerton,[29] bur 2 Aug 1660, North Tamerton.[30]

vi             CHARITY MARTIN, bap 9 Apr 1662, North Tamerton,[31] bur 3 Aug 1732, North Tamerton;[32] m 6 Oct 1685, North Tamerton, THOMAS CORNEW.[33]

vii            EDWARD MARTIN, bap 12 Oct 1663, North Tamerton,[34] bur 17 Nov 1674, North Tamerton.[35]

viii           ROBERT MARTIN of North Tamerton, yeoman, bap 15 Dec 1664, North Tamerton,[36] bur 30 Aug 1746, North Tamerton;[37] m 15 Dec 1691, North Tamerton, ELIZABETH CHAPMAN.[38]

ix             ANN MARTIN, bap 18 Oct 1666, North Tamerton,[39] bur 19 Apr 1727, Week St Mary;[40] m 4 Aug 1691, Week St Mary, THOMAS BADCOCK[41] (see here).

x              WILLIAM MARTIN of Plymouth, distiller, bap 14 May 1668, North Tamerton.[42]

xi             SARAH MARTIN, bap 5 Nov 1669, North Tamerton;[43] m 3 Aug 1692, North Petherwin, PETER CHAPMAN.[44]

 

Child of William Martin:[45]

xii            HENRY MARTIN, bap 7 Nov 1670, North Tamerton.[46]



[1] J.L. Vivian, The Visitations of Cornwall (Exeter, 1887), 597.

[2] J.L. Vivian, The Visitations of the County of Devon (Exeter, 1895), 556.

[3] Devon Wills Index, 1163-1999 (online at www.findmypast.co.uk).

[4] Oswyn Murray’s testamentary abstracts, vol. 21 (Devon Archives).

[5] Among other Martyn entries, an Elizabeth, daughter of John Martyn, was baptised at Lifton on 30 Jan 1618/19, but the records are very incomplete for the period so it is difficult to determine the relevance.

[6] Kresen Kernow, BRA1901/8.

[7] Oswyn Murray’s testamentary abstracts, vol. 21 (Devon Archives).

[8] Kresen Kernow, AP/M/1194.

[9] Kresen Kernow, AP/M/1506.

[10] National Archives, PROB 11/237/662.

[11] National Archives, PROB 11/266/481.

[12] National Archives, PROB 11/212/623.

[13] Lifton parish registers (online at www.findmypast.co.uk); Kresen Kernow, AP/M/1194.

[14] Entry for Henry Martyn of Lifton, 1647, in Oswyn Murray’s testamentary abstracts, vol. 21 (Devon Archives).

[15] Week St Mary parish registers; Week St Mary bishop’s transcripts; Kresen Kernow, AP/M/1506.

[16] North Tamerton parish registers.

[17] Elizabeth’s forename is given in her children’s baptism entries. J.L. Vivian, The Visitations of the County of Devon (Exeter, 1895), 556, calls her “Elizabeth, da. of ... Pomeroy of Werrington” and mentions a marriage settlement of 1652. An Elizabeth, daughter of Walter Pomeroy, was baptised at Werrington in 1629, but the Werrington records for the period are far from complete and it is not clear whether this was the same Elizabeth.

[18] North Tamerton parish registers.

[19] North Tamerton parish registers.

[20] North Tamerton parish registers.

[21] North Tamerton parish registers.

[22] Week St Mary parish registers; Kresen Kernow, AP/P/2098.

[23] Week St Mary parish registers.

[24] North Tamerton parish registers.

[25] North Tamerton parish registers.

[26] North Tamerton parish registers.

[27] North Tamerton parish registers.

[28] North Tamerton parish registers.

[29] North Tamerton parish registers.

[30] North Tamerton parish registers.

[31] North Tamerton parish registers.

[32] North Tamerton parish registers.

[33] North Tamerton parish registers.

[34] North Tamerton parish registers.

[35] North Tamerton parish registers.

[36] North Tamerton parish registers.

[37] North Tamerton parish registers.

[38] North Tamerton parish registers.

[39] North Tamerton parish registers.

[40] Week St Mary parish registers; Kresen Kernow, AP/B/3214.

[41] Week St Mary parish registers. The marriage is also recorded under the same date in the North Tamerton parish registers.

[42] North Tamerton parish registers.

[43] North Tamerton parish registers.

[44] Cornwall OPC Databse (www.cornwall-opc-database.org).

[45] Henry is the only one of William’s children whose baptism entry does not name the mother, and the entry is preceded by “a.b.”, possibly an indication of bastardy. J.L. Vivian, The Visitations of the County of Devon (Exeter, 1895), 556, states that Henry was named in his father’s will (now seemingly lost).

[46] North Tamerton parish registers.