The Wilsons of Stenson Derbyshire

 

In the Mid C17, the Wilsons were yeoman farmers at Stenson, Barrow on Trent, Derbyshire. This tree has been put together with inputs froma number of people, using the parish registers, and most recently I have added information from the will made by Thomas Wilson in 1682.
Michael Sandford 3 March 2011

I Have transcribed the Will of Thomas Wilson (died 1683) it is indexed under Thomas Wylson in The Lichfield Archives

1682

In the name of God – etc.-

Impri I give & bequeath to Mary Wilson my deare & loving wife (whom I make the sole executrix etc.) all that house & land at findren during her natural life, paying to Anne my eldest daughter three pounds yearly out of the forename land whilst she liveth alsoe I give unto the same Anne my daughter a certain house at findren wch. is now inhabited by Thomas Miles during her natural life:

Item I give unto my daughter Mary the ??? sume of fourty pound when she comes to the age of one & twenty, or marryed then to be paid to her.

Item I give to John my Eldest sonne tenne pound to be paid him within a twelve month

Item I give to my sonne Thomas the summe of fourty pound to be paid at the age of one & twenty, & to be maintained by his mother or her executors etc. till he arrive to the age of fifteene

& as for my other two children I leave to my deare wife hoping that she will take care of them & provide for them

and if any of the forenamed should die before their legacies be paid them there part to be equally divided amongst the rest:

I dispose of all other of my estate to my wife: only I give after six years to my sonne John aforementioned the possession of the living at Stenson wch I have upon lease from Mr Hari???an,

& this I own to be my last will and testament in witnesse whereof I here set my hand

Thomas Willson

& in the presence of William Wright Samuel Bristow Bennet Bristow

The attached Inventory shows nothing in the way of valuables in the house, only £16 in total. The farm animals and produce were valued at £200 - it was clearly a substantial farm with at least 22 acres of arable and a great deal of stock which must have been capable of providing a good living. Thomas owns a house in Findern which he bequeaths to his eldest daughter Anne. his eldest son John is to get the lease of farm in five years possibly when he is 21.

The inventory shows the Stenson farmhouse to be modest with 3 rooms downstairs: Parlour, Kitchen, Dairy, and two bedrooms upstairs. The room over the parlour which has 3 beds may have been for the children. The one over the Kitichin with one bed may have been the master bedroom for Thomas and Mary. The third upstair room over the Kitchin seems to have been some sort of store room, with bacon being the valuable produce stored there. Perhaps bacon was the major meat in the family's diet.

A true Inventorie of the Goods & Chattles of the deceased Thomas Wilson of Stenson

Purse & apparrell	2 – 10 – 0
Two Tables in Ye house with chairs & Stooles assortd Fire Irons	1 – 0 – 0
In the parlour a table, Chest, & Cubbord Linnin alsoe as Table Cloathes, napkins etc	3 – 0 – 0
In the Kichin Puter (Pewter), Brasse, Tables Etc	2 – 10 – 0
In the Dairy Barrells & Bottles etc	10 – 0
In the Chamb. over the Kichin Chests Bakon (bacon?) & Shelves	4 – 0 – 0
In the Chamb. over the Parlour two flock beds & a feather bed with furniture	2 – 0 – 0
In the Chamb. over the house one feather bed with furniture & two chests & a chair	1 – 0 – 0
Corne in the Barne	9 – 0 – 0
Som old Hay	2 – 10 – 0
Corne on the Land as first five acre of ?	9 – 0 – 0
Five acres of Wheat	12 – 10 – 0
Four acres & an half of Barley	7 – 10 – 0
Eight acre of Peese	6 – 0 – 0
In the Stable 3 Coltes & one foale	21 – 0 – 0
Two mares & two Geldings	14 – 0 – 0
One old mare	1 – 0 – 0
Two Mares more, & a Filley an old Gelding	15 – 0 – 0
Twelve Cowes	36 – 0 – 0
Tenne Bullocks	20 – 10 - 0
Five Heiffers 2 in calved & 3 barren	10 – 10 – 0
One Bull Calfe	1 – 5 – 0
Barren Sheep upon the Comon	10 – 0 – 0
Ewes & Lambs one score	6 – 0 – 0
Three little Heifers & six calves	10 – 0 – 0
Three Porkes	2 – 10 – 0
Three little Store Pigges	1 – 0 – 0
Tenne Hives of Bees	2 – 0 – 0
The whole sume is	216 – 5 – 0

Praised by us Phylip Prime John Stone Samuel Bristow

The rest of the page below was constructed in - JUNE 2008

The initial purpose of this page is to bring news about our wider Wilson Family to the descendants of the marriage between Charles David Brereton and Frances Wilson. However it may be at some time in the future we shall migrate this page to a more general website for the descendants of the Wilsons of Stenson, Derbyshire.

For some time there has been a world wide collaboration and exchange of information going on between distant cousins -- upto 6th cousins who are all descended from John Wilson (1696-1747) and Anne Henshaw (1698-1755). These early Wilsons were yeoman farmers at Stenson. While the eldest son inherited the farm, two younger sons of John and Anne entered the silk industry through marriages into Coventry cloth manufacturing families, and in due course set up businesses in London. The mercantile wealth enabled them to contract good marriages and to educate their children at University. Many became minsiters in the Church of England.

A group website was set up by Sue Green in February 2004: WE ARE WILSONS which contains many postings, but these are not very well ordered so it is quite hard to get an overview of the family from the hundreds of postings each containing various snippets of information. I hope that I can develope this part of the website to provide an overview of the Wilson family.

Recently Malcolm Harrison has published his book, Unravelling the Threads: A Guide to the Wilsons of Stenson in the County of Derbyshire 1664 to 1880, and on 28 June Gloria and I attended a garden party at his house to celebrate the launch of the book. Below you will find another picture showing our Wilson relatives and others attending the luncheon.

I will add more information here later.

Michael Sandford