1. Thomas Pitt of Blandford, m. Priscilla … That is, Blandford Forum, North Dorset. If you imagine a triangle to be 70 mls along its base, with two sides of 40 mls, and slightly tilted to the right, you have an area which encompasses Wivelscombe to the west (in Somerset), Blandford Forum (in Dorset) to the east, and Wedmore (in Somerset) to the north. Christopher Lawne of Blandford Forum and his (Oliffe) step family were Puritan refugees in Amsterdam, where they would have attended the Ancient Church of Amsterdam. Edward Bennett (merchant of London) was an elder of this Church; he being the son of Robert Bennett, a tanner, of Wivelscombe, and Elizabeth Edney.

1.1. William Pitt, b. 1578, Bristol (encompasses North Somerset and South Gloucestershire); d. 25 Oct. 1624, in Bristol, Will pr. 3 Feb. 1625. To my wife Mary £500; to son Robert, three score and ten pounds; to son Henry £250; to son Thomas £250; to dau. Mary Pitt £250. To my wife Mary a lease of the house wherein I now dwell in Redcliffe Street and also house in same street where Samuel Griffith dwells, and my garden in Thomas Lane for life. After her decease I give said house and garden to son William, with remainder to son Henry, then to son Thomas, next to son Robert and lastly to heirs general. To my son Robert Pitt the tenement without Temple Gate called the Saracens Inn and the new house built by my father Thomas Pitt. To my sons Henry and Thomas a lease for two tenements in Redcliffe Street. To niece Ann Waters a lease of tenement at main gate with remainder to my nephew Robert Merricke. To dau. Ann Pitt my chain of gold; to dau. Mary Pitt my white silver and gilt tankard which was given them by my father. To dau. Martha the inlaid chest in the great chamber. I give my son William my best Turkey ring, which was my great grandfather’s, Mr. Roger Cookes. My second ring with pearl I give to son Robert. My signet ring I give my son Henry, and my ruby ring to my son Thomas. My books to son William, Sons to have their portion at one and twenty and daus. at twenty or marriage. Brother-in-law Richard Davis 20s for a ring and sister Mary Davis a double Harry gold sovereign of gold. Wife and son William, executors. William was named executor of his father Thomas’ will and was given a lease for life of a tenement outside the Temple Gate in the City of Bristol, in the possession of George Tyce, the owner of the Saracen’s Head. William Pitt married Mary Owen:

Robert Owen, of Bristol, Merchant. Will dated Sep. 5, 1614, Codicil Sep. 4, 1615, pr. Feb. 16, 1615-16. (8 Cope) My wife Mary, £400. My son Robert, £200. My daughters Mary & Joan. Messuages in Portburie, Somerset. My brother Griffith Owen. My sisters Mary & Elinor. My brother George. Mary & Robert, Exors. My cousin Rice Davies, esq. My brother in law William Pitt, overseer. Davis v Owen. Plaintiffs: Richard Davis esq, of Tickenham, Somerset. Defendants: Robert Owen, James Owen, Thomas Wall gent, Mary Wall his wife, Thomas Woodward and Walter Holbrooke. Subject: Settlement of the will of Robert Owen merchant, of Bristol, Gloucestershire, deceased, payment of legacies and the possession of certain messuages: mentions John Harris, Mary Davis (alias Mary Owen) wife of Richard Davis and William Pitt merchant, of Bristol, Gloucestershire: property in Portbury, Somerset and the Quay, Bristol, Gloucestershire. 1628. PROB 11/160/27: Will of William Pitt, Merchant of Bristol, Gloucestershire. C 6/400/16 9 June 1631. Rice Davies, of Tickenham, Somerset Will dNicholas Poated Aug. 28, 1638. proved Apr. 23, 1649, by his daughter ELinor, wife of Nicholas Poyntz. (41 Fairfax) My wife Mary, dec*. To be buried in the Chapel at Backwell, between my late wife Dorothy, daughter of Maurice Rodney, esq., decd, & my late wife Isabel Lygon. To my daughter Eleanor Poyntz, & her husband Nicholas Poyntz, all my manor of Tickenham, &c., they to pay £300 of debts, &c. Money owing to the Exors of Sir Daniel Norton. My daughter Joan Browne. My daughter Elizabeth Williams, her husband Roger Williams, & her son Rice Williams. Thomas Smyth & William Winter, Exors. My daughter Cox. A Codicil witnessed by John Baber. (Barber).

Rice Davies, Esq., of Tickenham, married ist, Dorothy, daughter of Maurice Rodney, Esq., and sister of Sir George Rodney, by whom (who died Jan. 2, 1604) he had 3 daughters — Elisabeth, married to Roger Wlliams, of Renhily, Monmouthshire; Joan, married to Richard Browne, of Backwell, and Margaret, wife of — Cox. He married 2ndly, Isabel, daughter of Henry Lygon, of Colne Rogars co. Glouc, widow of Edward Basset, His 3rd wife was Mary Pitt, widow of Robert Owen, of Bristol, merchant, by whom he had one daughter, married to Nicholas Poyntz. Their daughter Eleanor married ist, Major Will. Goodriche.

1.1.1. William Pitt: Bargain and sale 1. Mathewe Haveland, mayor, and the Burgesses and Cominaltye of Bristol. 2. William Pitt, merchant. Premises: One messuage in the parish of St.Thomas the Apostle extending from Redcliffe Street to the Avon, 25′ front breadth, 29′ at the back. One messuage in the parish of Redcliffe, extending from Redcliffe Street to Avon Back.

1.1.2. Henry Pitt: Marriage settlement by deed to lead the uses of a recovery: 1. Henry Pitt, merchant 2. Thomas Dale of Wrington, Somerset, gent., Walter Stephens, mercer, John Price and William Shute, gent. Premises: One messuage in Redcliffe Street, St.Thomas. One garden near St.Thomas’ Lane, St.Thomas. One messuage in Redcliffe Street, Redcliffe. Consideration: Marriage, already solemnised between Henry Pitt and Margaret, daughter of Thomas Dale and £450 dowry. (Bristol Record Office, 9 June 1635). He was Captain Henry Pitt, of Pagan Creek, who married 2. Ann, widow of Robert Watson. His son, Thomas, married Col. Athur Smith’s daughter, Mary. (Deed to lead the uses of a fine 1. Henry Pitt and Anne his wife, Thomas Pitt (son of Henry) and Sarah Pitt. 2. Edward Moore, cooper. 3. Edmond Heath, merchant. Premises: Messuage in Redcliffe Street, St. Thomas. (Bristol Record Office, ref. 33072/8, 18 May 1663).
1.1.3. Col. Robert Pitt, d. bef. 9 January 1674, Isle of Wight, VA. He was Captain of the Thunder, a merchant ship out of Bristol and a Colonel in the Virginia Militia.
1.1.3.1. John Pitt, married Olive, dau. of John Hardy and Alice Bennett. She married 1. Giles Driver; 2.John Bromfield, and 3. Lt. Col. John Pitt.

THE BENNETTS OF WIVELSCOMBE AND BRISTOL

1. Robert Bennett, a tanner, of Wivelscombe, m. Elizabeth Edney.
1.1. Thomas Bennett, d. 1616, Wivelscombe.
1.1.1. Thomas Bennett, claimed in 1635 as a headright by his uncle, Governor Richard Bennett.
1.2. Edward Bennett, baptised February 2, 1577, in Wivelscombe; later of of St Olave, Southwark, London, and Lawn’s Creek, Virginia.
1.2.1. Alice Bennett, m. John Hardy. Nugent, C&P vol. 1, p. 569: Mr. John Hardie 1150 acres IOW Co., 5 June 1666. Beginning at upper corner tree of Mathew Tomlins old land, running SSE by Wm. Westwrayers land &c. SW on Mathew Tomlins new land. John Hardy m. 2. Alice Tucker, widow of Arthur Allen. Her daus. were Katherine Allen, who m. Robert Johnson, and Joan Allen, who m. Dr Robert Williamson, John Burnett, and Reuben Proctor.
1.1.1.1. Lucy Hardy, m. Hodges Council.
1.1.2. … Bennett, m. Richard Jackson, who patented 450 acres in IOW adjacent to Justinian Cooper.
1.1.2.1. Mary Jackson, m. Capt. George Hardy, who patented 500 acres on July 17, 1648 ‘lying on east side of Lawne’s Creek extending to main river and along the great river to the creek dividing the same from land of Alice Bennett’. On 19 June 1666, he made a deed to land which belonged to his wife Mary whom he refers to as the ‘daughter of Richard Jackson, dec.’. Her sister, Sarah Jackson, m. Col. Arthur Smith II. George Hardy was an appraiser of the estate of Edward Harris, d. 1677.
1.1.3. Richard Bennett. He lived at Blackwater, in the vicinity of the plantation of Justinian Cooper. In 1669, Thomas Wood, son of Arthur Wood and Sarah Wooten, his mother, ‘relict of Arthur deceased’, deeded him land as ‘Richard Bennett of Blackwater’. In 1666, Colonel Arthur Smith made a deed to land at ‘Blackwater’ inherited by his wife, Sarah Jackson, from her ‘grandmother Alice Bennett’. Richard Bennett’s first wife was Anne, who was Charles Barham’s sister (see Douglas Richardson, ‘Plantagenet Ancestry’). Mr. Charles Barham Ex., Thomas Harris (d. 1672) and Thomas Tuke overseers, were officers of the will of William Ridley, who was probably the br. of Elizabeth Ridley, Charles Barham’s wife. Richard Bennett’s son, James Bennett, witnessed the Will of Joseph Bridger. Prob. Apr. 9, 1685: ‘Son: William land granted to me by escheat of 850 acres formerly belonging to Nathan Floyd, except what is disposed of by me to Francis Hobbs, Mrs. Dorothy Bond, and William Blount. Francis Hobbs was the br. of Margaret Hobbs, first wife of John Harris, son of Thomas Harris (d. 1672) and first wife, Eleanor George).
1.3. Elianor Bennett, m. Richard Harris, son of William Harris, who m. Dorothy West, Aug. 31, 1562, at Wivelscombe, Somerset.
1.3.1. Thomas Harris, m. Judith Blake, November 20, 1623, at Wivelscombe.
1.3.1.1. Thomas Harris, d. 1672.
1.3.1.1.1. Thomas Harris. Deborah Portis Widow of John Portis, appoints Richard Bennett, son of Richard Bennett, Sr. and Thomas Harris, her attorneys. Wits: Francis Floyd, Thos. Wilson, Benj. Drewit. Rec. Nov 21, 1704. IOW B. 2, pp. 16-17.
1.3.1.1.2. Edward Harris, d. 1677.
1.3.1.1.3. John Harris, d. 1687, m. Unity …
1.3.1.1.3.1. Elizabeth Harris, m. Samuel, son of Robert Lancaster Sr. and Sarah, widow of 2nd husband Richard Bennett Sr., d. 1710. B. 5, p. 224: Henry Baker deceased, estate dated 27 April 1701. Witnesses: Robert Lancaster Sr., Nicholas Sessoms, whose da. was Mary Blake, wife of William Blake; the Lancasters being intermarried with the Council family, of Wedmore, Somerset.

The Driver family were probably of the following family:

Lease: 1. William Hayman, merchant, Thomas Jones, and ors., feoffees of the lands of St. Augustine the less; 2. Charles Driver, merchant. Premises: Messuage on St. Augustine’s Back. The Star. (Bristol Record Office, ref. P/St.Aug/D/3/1 November 16 1631).

Bond: 1. John Ballston of Hanam, yeoman, 2. Charles Driver of St. Anstenes parish, Bristol, merchant venturer. Bond for £100 to perform covenant. (Gloucestershire Archives, ref. D2957/146/172, 24 September 1631).

Driver v Holwey. Plaintiffs: Nathaniel Driver and Rachel Driver his wife. Defendants: Stephen Holwey. Place or subject: property in Bristol, Gloucestershire. (Nat. Arch., ref. C 7/91/20, 1685).

I will be exploring the possible connections between the Poyntz and Owsley families, and between the Rodney and Turner/Parker families as an addition to this article.

copyright m stanhope 2016