William Webber

Husband of Elizabeth (Rouse) Webber — married 11 Jun 1725 in Saint Endellion, Cornwall, England

Descendants

Died about 16 Jun 1738 in St Kew, Cornwall, England [uncertain]

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Biography

William Webber's parentage and date of birth are unknown. He was married in the year 1725 in the parish of Endellion,^[1] in Cornwall, and buried in 1739 in the parish of St Kew,^[2] adjacent to Endellion.

Prior to 1752 England used the the Julian Calendar, which in the 18th century was eleven days behind the currently used Gregorian calendar.^[3] We shall convert the "old style" dates in the surviving records to their equivalents in the Gregorian calendar.

William Webber married Elizabeth Rouse in Endellion on 22 June 1725 (which was 11 June 1725 old style).‍^[4]‍^[5]

William and Elizabeth had six children:

• Jane, for whom no baptism record has been found,
• Grace, baptized on 5 April 1728^[6] and buried on 19 April 1730,^[7]
• Grace, baptized on 13 February 1731,^[8]
• William, baptized on 2 February 1733,^[9]
• John, baptized on 21 August 1735,^[10]
• Elizabeth, baptized on 27 January 1738.^[11]

These baptisms, and the burial, all took place in St Kew.

Note that the old style convention was that new year's day was not 1 January but 25 March; hence, for example,16 January 1737 old style is 27 January 1738 new style.

Although we do not have a baptism record for Jane, the fact that there was a gap of almost three years between the marriage of William and Elizabeth and the baptism of the first Grace suggests that Jane was the eldest child, probably born in 1726. The gaps between the later children do not seem quite large enough to fit Jane in anywhere else.

William (Elizabeth's husband) was buried in St Kew on 17 June 1738.^[12] We know that this burial record must correspond to the William Webber we have been discussing since a corresponding will survives, and the will gives the names of the wife and children of the deceased.

The will is the source of the information that William had a daughter named Jane.

William Webber's will

Partly because the handwriting is dificult to decipher, and partly because unconventional spelling is used, William's will is in places difficult to interpret.

We give an attempted transcription. Sometimes for an unclear word we give (in brackets) our best guess as to what the word was meant to be. The reader is encouraged to read the original^[13] rather than the transcription.

In the Name of God Amen I William Webbar of the Parish of St Kew in the County of Cornwall being Weake of Body but of Sound and perfict mind and memory praised be to god for itt do make and ordain This to be my Last Will and Testament as followith

First I Bequeate my soul into þ^e hands of god that gave itt me, and my body to be Desently Bured by my Excetor here after menchened —

Itim    I give to my wife Elezabth Webbar one bead [bed] that shee now Lieth in and fornetire [furniture] belongin to it and the second best brass pot and four puter [pewter] Dishes and three pleats [plates] and twentey shillings in money

Itim    I give to my Dafter Jane Webbar all my Right in Trewethrn [Trewethern] and twentey shillings in money when shee come to þ^e age of Eighteen

Itim    I give to my son John Webbar Blaks Tenem^t in Trgeles [Tregellist] and that house agoining [adjoining] to it after the Deces of his Mother

Itim    I give to my Dafter grce Webbar fifteen pounds to be payed when shee come to Eighteen years of age

Itim    I give to my Dafter Elezabth Webbar fifteen pounds to be payed when shee come to Eighteen years of age

Itim    I give and begive [bequeath] to my son William Webbar all my goods and Chattels money or What ever porsest [possessed] of with indors and With out Except before Excepted paying my Depts [debts] paying five shillings pr year unto Agness Webbar Widow Dewring her natural Life and paying sufishent mentainens for his brother and sisters until they come to the age of one and Twentey years and Richard Roos of Indelen [Endellion] and Richard Webbar of St Kew gargens [guardians]

Witness my hand and Seale

This fourth daye of June 1738

The sine of William Webbar

The will was witnessed by Richard Roose, surely the same person as the Richard Roos mentioned in the last sentence of the will, and by James Hill.

Observe that the date on which William made his will was 15 June 1738 new style, just two days before his burial. It seems highly probable that he died on 16 June.

It seems that the order in which the children appear in the will is order of age, except that William, the eldest son and residual legatee, comes last. Probably it was intended that the eldest son would also be named as the executor, but that provision was accidentally omitted.

Note, however, that eldest son was only five years old when the will was made; so the task of administering the estate would in fact have fallen to Richard Roose and Richard Webber.

Since Roose and Rouse could well be variant spelings of the same name, it is quite possible that Richard Roose and Elizabeth Rouse (William Webber's wife) were close relatives. However, no real evidence that they were related has been discovered.

Similarly, it is likely that Richard Webber was closely related to William, but how they were related is unknown.

It is tempting to conjecture that the widow Agnes Webber mentioned in the will was William's mother, but again there is no real evidence. Thomas and Agnes Webber had a daughter baptized in St Kew on 12 January 1710,^[14] and Agnes Webber was buried in St Kew on 5 March 1748,^[15] but nothing else about Agnes seems to be known.

A child named Elizabeth Webber was buried in St Kew on 9 July 1738, just twenty-two days after William Webber's burial, and another Elizabeth Webber was buried in St Kew later that year, on 21 October.^[16] It seems probable that these two Elizabeths were William's daughter and wife.

Sources

1. ↑ St Endellion: Wikipedia article.
2. ↑ St Kew: Wikipedia article.
3. ↑ Old Style and New Style dates: Wikipedia article.
4. ↑ William Webber and Elizabeth Rouse, 11 June 1725 (old style): "England Marriages, 1538–1973" database (FamilySearch, 13 March 2020).
5. ↑ Endellion Marriages 1718–1728: Cornwall Parish Registers, Marriages, Vol. IV, W. P. W. Phillimore, Thomas Taylor and Mrs. J. H. Glencross (eds), Phillimore & Co., London (1903). Digitized by Google.
6. ↑ Grace Webber, 25 March 1728 (old style): "England, Cornwall Parish Registers, 1538-2010" database with images (FamilySearch, 14 April 2015), Cornwall > St Kew > Baptisms, Marriages, Burials, 1680-1794 > image 37 of 200; Kresen Kernow, Redruth.
7. ↑ Grace Webber, 8 April 1730: "England, Cornwall Parish Registers, 1538-2010" database with images (FamilySearch, 14 April 2015), Cornwall > St Kew > Baptisms, Marriages, Burials, 1680-1794 > image 161 of 200; Kresen Kernow, Redruth.
8. ↑ Baptism of Grace Webber, 2 February 1730 (old style): "England, Cornwall Parish Registers, 1538-2010" database with images (FamilySearch, 14 April 2015), Cornwall > St Kew > Baptisms, Marriages, Burials, 1680-1794 > image 39 of 200; Kresen Kernow, Redruth.
9. ↑ William Webber 22 January 1732 (old style): "England, Cornwall Parish Registers, 1538-2010" database with images (FamilySearch, 14 April  2015), Cornwall > St Kew > Baptisms, Marriages, Burials, 1680-1794 > image 41 of 200; Kresen Kernow, Redruth.
10. ↑ John Webber, 10 August 1735 (old style): "England, Cornwall Parish Registers, 1538-2010" database with images (FamilySearch, 14 April 2015), Cornwall > St Kew > Baptisms, Marriages, Burials, 1680-1794 > image 44 of 200; Kresen Kernow, Redruth.
11. ↑ Elizabeth Webber, 16 January 1737 (old style): "England, Cornwall Parish Registers, 1538-2010" database with images (FamilySearch, 14 April 2015), Cornwall > St Kew > Baptisms, Marriages, Burials, 1680-1794 > image 46 of 200; Kresen Kernow, Redruth.
12. ↑ William Webber, 6 June 1738 (old style): "England, Cornwall Parish Registers, 1538-2010" database with images (FamilySearch, 14 April 2015), Cornwall > St Kew > Baptisms, Marriages, Burials, 1680-1794 > image 165 of 200; Kresen Kernow, Redruth.
13. ↑ William Webber's will: FamilySearch film # 004476855, image 597 of 1834.
14. ↑ Webber baptism 1 January 1710 (old style): "England, Cornwall Parish Registers, 1538-2010" database with images (FamilySearch, 14 April 2015), Cornwall > St Kew > Baptisms, Marriages, Burials, 1680-1794 > image 22 of 200; Kresen Kernow, Redruth.
15. ↑ Agnes Webber, 22 February 1747 (old style): "England, Cornwall Parish Registers, 1538-2010" database with images (FamilySearch, 14 April 2015), Cornwall > St Kew > Baptisms, Marriages, Burials, 1680-1794 > image 170 of 200; Kresen Kernow, Redruth.
16. ↑ Elizabeth Webber burials, 28 June and 10 October 1738 (old style): "England, Cornwall Parish Registers, 1538-2010" database with images (FamilySearch, 14 April 2015), Cornwall > St Kew > Baptisms, Marriages, Burials, 1680-1794 > image 165 of 200; Kresen Kernow, Redruth.