Newton Family |
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Lots of claims have been made for the origin of my NEWTON family. A search of the ancestral file (link opens in new window) of my Mary Newton indicates that she is of "Royal" descent, having been born into a family of descendants of the Newtons of Barr's Court (aka Barscourt), or the East Harptree NEWTONs. The line as provided in the ancestral file I believe is false. The baronetcy was to pass to the NEWTONs of Lincolnshire (relation to the NEWTONs of Barr's Court, if any, is unknown) "by tails" if there were no heir to continue the line of NEWTON of Barr's Court. This is exactly what happened. Subsequently, the NEWTONs of Lincolnshire similarly found themselves without male issue by which to perpetuate the baronetcy. Thus this baronetcy became extinct. So not only did my family of NEWTON not descend from this family of NEWTON of Barr's Court, but nobody's NEWTON family descends from them, as the male line died out. This is not to say that my line is not "Royal", as it may descend from number of English Kings and et cetera. However, there is no evidence of such. In any case, the descent as given in the ancestral file is false, and that is why there is no documentation to support it - because none exists. I have personally taken the trouble to snail mail all the information submitters affiliated with this line, and as of yet, I have failed to receive a single reply of any kind. I would love to be wrong about this, and have someone demonstrate that I am in error, and that, in fact, I do have "Royal" descent, yet I fear this is not likely to happen in my lifetime. If there are any among the persons who may read this page who can shed light on this issue, then I encourage you to contact me. I would be very happy to receive any primary documentation contemporaneous to the issue. |
So if the NEWTONs didn't come from Barr's Court in Gloucestershire/Somerset, then where did they originate? In John Newton's will, dated 19 AUG 1695, is this passage: ...Item I give unto my Eldest son John & his heirs & assigns forever, what land I have at Charlton & Camilsforth in Yorkshire and that house in Hull which was my Fathers... Hull is a reasonably large city which can generally be found as Kingston-Upon-Hull on most maps. However, the other towns mentioned are less easily found. The towns of Charlton and Camilsforth are seen in the map (above) as "Carlton" and "Camblesforth". The arrow in the center of the middle panel of the bottom row in the map points to Camblesforth, and Carlton is just south from there. So this indicates that John Newton believed he had right to land near Camblesforth/Carlton, and that his father had a house in Hull. I would argue that John Newton should have been a pretty good authority on what land he himself owned, and where his own father lived. Notice also that John Newton makes no mention in his will of any land in Hull.
 The above marks, though perhaps seemingly different, do clearly represent the same person, as can be seen by reading the entire documents. These deeds I show here both as their digital image, and as my transcription of same.
Image of deed 1; Transcription of deed 1. The importance of the above documents is primarily in that they show that Thomas Newton of Kingston-upon-Hull moved to the nearby Parish of Cottingham. These documents relate to Trinity House, which has a very long and interesting history. Trinity House (at the time Thomas Newton would have known it) was a kind of Seamen's Guild. This fits perfectly with what is known about the Westmoreland NEWTONs, even though this Thomas Newton was referred to as "taylor". Notes for Elizabeth (NEWTON) Gilson Berryman: Source: Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, 33, p. 300 (1925). (Notes to Council Journals) "Deposition of Eliza Berryman Aged 70 years or thereabouts being Sworn and Examined in a Suit between Garrad Davis and others Plts. and Richd. Lee Defendent-deposeth and Saith that John Newton the Elder. the Depts. Father informed her, he was a Yorkshire man and had three wives there and one Son by each wife namely John, Joseph and Benja. and that after the death of his last Wife he came to Virginia and married this Depts. mother and sometime after the Marriage he went Home again and brought in with him his three Sons afores'd & that the sd. John the eldest Son some time after he came to Virginia married and had issue Wm. Newton who married Barbary Johnson Daughter of James Johnson ye Elder half sister to John Gerrard the younger the said Wm. Newton had issue by the said Barbary Johnson a Son and daughter named Frances, the sd. Wm. Newton survived the sd. Barbary and afterward married Eliza. Berryman the Daughter of this Depts. last Husband by his first wife & had issue by the sd. Eliza. Wm. Newton now in King George County & others. Joseph Newton the son of the second wife had no issue now alive. Benja. Newton the son by the third wife married in Virginia and had issue one Son named Benja. & three Daughters-the last mentioned Benja. married and had issue a Son named Benja. now living and is married to a Daughter of Rachel Colclough of Stafford County & this Dept Saith that her Father had issue by her Mother who was his fourth and last wife two Sons namely Gerrard and Thos. Newton and further this Dept. Saith-----------James Johnson the Elder married Eliza. the Mother of John Gerrard ye younger and had issue by her Jas., Eliza. Frances, Barbary and Anne. ye sd. Jas died without issue. Eliza. married William Davis and had issue. Frances married one Wiggington & had issue. Barbary married the aforesd. Wm. Newton & had issue as aforesd. Anne Married Saml. Heath and had issue & further this Dept. Saith not. Elizabeth (her X mark) Berryman Westmoreland' Sct. The within sworn to the 10th day of February 1755 before us by Virtue of a Dedimus to us directed Dated the 15th Day of November in the twenty-------year of our Reign----
Wm. Berryman
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