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John Buckby and Mary © It is estimated that John Buckby was born around 1657, his parents thought to be John and Sara. A possible baptism has been found for John in Stepney on the 22nd February, 16571. This record indicates his father was a Mariner from Ratcliffe. Up until the early 14th Century St Dunstans and All Saints served the whole of Middlesex, which is east of the City of London2. The existing building is the third on the site and was built of Kentish ragstone, a type of hard limestone, mainly in the 15th Century, although the chancel dates from 200 years earlier. The church has a long traditional link with the sea and many sailors were buried here, and was once known as the 'Church of the High Seas'. Ratcliff or Ratcliffe is a former hamlet lying by the north bank of the River Thames between Shadwell and Limehouse3. It is now a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, and is located to the south of Stepney. In earlier times Ratcliffe was also known as ‘sailor town’, originally known for shipbuilding, but from the 14th Century more for fitting and provisioning ships. In the 16th Century various voyages of discovery were supplied and departed from Ratcliffe, and by the early 17th Century it had the largest population of any village in Stepney, with 3500 residents. It was also the site where a number of sailing warships were built for the Royal Navy. Located on the edge of Narrow Street on the Wapping waterfront it was made up of lodging houses, bars, brothels, music halls and opium dens. By the early 18th Century, this overcrowded and squalid district had acquired an unsavoury reputation with a large transient population. In July 1794 approximately half of the hamlet was destroyed in a huge fire. Dubbed the largest fire disaster in London between the Great Fire of 1666 and the Blitz in 1940, it started when a smaller fire ignited a barge loaded with saltpetre. The conflagration that followed destroyed over 400 homes and 20 warehouses, and left 1000 people homeless. Following the fire tents were set up near to St. Dunstan's Church whilst the area was rebuilt, even so Ratcliffe continued as a notorious slum well into the 19th Century. Record indicate John married a Mary around 1676, however to-date no marriage record has been located. It is thought Mary was born around 1650, but again nor record has yet been identified. Family trees on Ancestry and references on FamilySearch indicate John & Mary had at least eight children: William 1677; Thomas 1679; John 1681; Mary 1684; Elizabeth 1687; Edward 1691; James 1695, he married Sarah Nichols 1719; and Isobell 1698. A John Buckby, appears in the UK Poll Books and Electoral Registers, of Northamptonshire, 1702-17054. These Poll Books were a list of the Names of the Persons, together with the places of their Freehold, who voted for Knights of the Shire for the County of Northampton at the last two elections, July 1702 and 17th May 1705. This record shows John of Maidwell in 1702 and of Desborough in 1705 voted for a Thomas Cartwright. Although it has not been proved this is our John, I believe the two records are for the same person, as Maidwell and Desborough are both in the Parish of Kettering. Maidwell sits approximately 20km north of the city of Northampton5. Like many other villages in England, Maidwell has most likely been a settlement from as early as the Bronze Age. Archaeological evidence certainly supports the presence of Romans, and by 1086 Maidwell was a medium sizes agricultural settlement with two owners, each with their own manor. Two manors in a village was not unusual, but in Maidwell each manor also had its own church. St. Mary’s, like the manor to which it belonged, survived and is today’s Parish Church. But there was, for at least 300 years from the early-13th to the mid–16th Century, another church, Maidwell St. Peter's, only a couple of fields away from St. Mary’s. This duplication of churches so close together within the confines of the village was rare, and it may give credence to the ‘two village’ origins of modern Maidwell, but it is perhaps more likely that the 'second' church, whichever that may have been, was built by its lord of the manor in an excess of devotion, self-aggrandisement, or simply out of rivalry with the other. Today, Maidwell is a small village with under 400 inhabitants, and the historic Maidwell Hall is a mainstream independent school. Sitting 8km north-north-east of Maidwell, Desborough's origins lie in the Bronze Age some 2000 years BC, and Urns from this period have been found in and around the town. The most important archaeological finds have been the 1st Century Desborough Mirror, and an Anglo-Saxon necklace which comprises gold beads, a gold cross and a red garnet. Both objects are now held in the British Museum. The Domesday Book of 1086 refers to Desborough as a 'place of judgement'. In fact the name itself is thought to have derived from 'Disburg', which meant a sacred and fortified place. It is not known clear how John or his family came to settle in or around Maidwell, or how he became a Grazier, but it is assumed his father retired as a Mariner and possibly purchased land which John may have inherited, or worked. Parish records of Maidwell, Northamptonshire indicate John Buckby was buried in the Parish Churchyard on the 29th July, 17157. A will for John Buckby, of Maidwell, written on the 4th September, 17148, has been located, and indications are that the Will was proved on the 21st February, 1715, six weeks after John was buried. Signed in the presence of William Cottman (believed to be daughter Mary's husband), John Lucas and Richard Davey, John’s Will is quite informative and gives us cause for speculation regarding his family members and his financial standing in the community. John named his wife Mary, sons William, Thomas, John, Edward and James, and daughters Elizabeth and Isabella. This document also indicates that he was a Grazier, that he owned 2 houses and had substantial funds and assets. He bequeathed one shilling each to his sons William, Thomas and John, one shilling each to all his grandchildren and to his daughter Mary. To Edward he left three pounds, with the stipulation it was to be paid if he ever came to the Executors and demanded it. Could this indicate Edward was out of favour with his father, or had moved away from the family? To his daughter Elizabeth he bequeathed five pounds, to be paid to her twelve months after his death. To his daughter Isabella he left one of his houses, twenty-five pounds in cash and five pounds worth of household goods. Wife Mary and son James were to receive his other house and the remainder of all his assets. John attached a condition to this inheritance by stating that if Mary were to remarry, then the house and all assets were to go to son James. John's wife Mary and son James were made equal executors to fulfil his last will and testament and he revoked any prior wills. It is believed that eight years later, at around the age of 70, Mary was buried 10th October, 1723, also in the Churchyard at Maidwell7. Given the inheritance in John’s will, it is unclear why she would have been described as a 'poor widow'. Was this an indication she had fallen on hard times, had her children squandered the bequest, or maybe the person writing in the register just felt sorry for her.
References:
5. Local History Maidwell
https://www.maidwellwithdraughton.co.uk/local-history/how-it-all-began 8. Will of John Buckby via Ancestry.co.uk https://www.ancestry.co.uk
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