MITCHENALL FAMILY HISTORY

Whilst William (1793-1865) and his wife Mary Winter are the common ancestors of all Mitchenall’s now living, his father John Mitchenall (1759 – 182) and  his wife Hannah Dartnall did have other Mitchenall relations, and their history goes back to 1650 in Edenbridge.

 

The emboldened italic entries below reflect the direct ancestry of the living Mitchenalls in Edenbridge before 1793.

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Henry Mitchenall (1650 – 1712) married Mary Hayman (1650 - ).

 

They had six children, but Elizabeth (1690 – 1690), George (1694 – 1694), John (1697 -1698) and Andrew (1701 -1710) died in infancy.

 

Henry’s second child William (1691 -1769) married Elizabeth and had two Children,

William (1730 – 1786) and

Rebecca (1731 – 1740).

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Henry’s fourth child Henry (1695 – 1768) married Sarah and they had a child, Sarah, who died in 1749.

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Henry’s only known Grandson William, (1730 – 1786),  married Anne and they had 5 children. These children were

Rebecca (1755-1831),

John (1759 -1820),

Anne (1761-1822),

William (1768-1805) and

George (1772-1784)

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Rebecca married George Hale and had a daughter Rebecca Hale in 1784.

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Ann (1761-1822) Married John Stephens in 1796, but there is no record of family and she died in 1822.

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William (1768-1805) is recorded lost at sea- no record of family

 

George (1772-1784) is recorded buried in East Grinstead. 

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leaving 

John (1759-1820) who married Hannah Dartnell and had 8 children. These were Nancy (1780–1781), John (1783-1869), George (1786-), Rebecca (1786-1867), Elizabeth (1789-1803), Sarah (1790-1867), William (1793-1865) and James (1795-1803). Of those apparently surviving childhood,

 

John (1783-1869) married Mary Mills (?-1820) in 1815 and, following her death,  married Susanna Green (1800-1863) in 1821.

John and Mary had a son  before she died

William, born 1818 in Westerham, who died in 1863 leaving all his estate to his spinster (half) sister Ann who also lived at 29 Brunswick Place Bermondsey. He seems to have remained a bachelor

John and Susanna had six children, five daughters and a son. Elizabeth (1822-1824), Susan (1824-1863), Ann (1824-1875), Sophia (1826-1830), Sarah Rebecca (1829-1869) and John (1832-1885)

John and Susanna married in Reigate but when Elizabeth was born, they were in Horsleydown. This was a small parish in Bermondsey at the southern end of Tower Bridge. More information may be found on Exploring Southwark. Elizabeth and her later siblings were all born in Bermonsey.

Elizabeth (1822-1824) died in infancy.

Susan (1824-1826) died in infancy

Ann (1824-1875) also died a spinster.

Sophia (1826-1830) was identified to have married William West, but this proved false. Edenbridge records show she died in 1830

Sarah Rebecca (1829-1869) married a William Cook in 1866, but only had 3 years of married life and no record of children.

John (1832-1885) married a Mary Cropper in 1865. There is no record of their having family.

 

George (1786 - ) was born in Edenbridge after which there seems no further record of him.

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Rebecca (1786-1867) married John Delves and had 9 children; James Delves (1806-1875), Ann Delves (1807–1892), John Delves (1810-?), Lucy Delves ((1811-?), Frances Delves (1812-1839), William Delves (1815-1887), Henry Delves (1819-1884), David Delves (1824-1892), Harriet Delves (1828-1836) and Mary Delves (1829-?).

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Sarah (1790-1867) was born and died in Edenbridge in 1803 or 1867. – no further information

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William Mitchenall (1793-1865) married Mary Winter and is the youngest common ancestor of all Mitchenalls. Details of his family comprise most of the records on this website.

 

Tracing the family line from William (1793-1865) back to Henry, through John (1759), William (1730), and William (1691), one finds few sidelines and a distinct lack of Mitchenall sons.

 

Only John (1783), son of John and brother of William, who married twice, and had a number of children in Bermondsey, had descendants who were contemporary with William ‘s (1793) family.

 

By 1885 all of John's descendants named Mitchenall (his sons, his unmarried daughters and his sons families) had died out.

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What did the family do?

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Henry Mitchenall and his descendants to William 1793 are reasonably well documented in Lionel Coles documents on the history of Edenbridge. (see The Weald website )

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Henry was a licensed victualler, running or owning the Crown Inn in Edenbridge. From 1696-1698 he was church warden at St Peter and St Paul, Edenbridge Parish Church, and his sons and grandsons continued with connections to the Church. He traded with the bridgewardens, and supplied beer and wine to the church.

After his death in 1712 his wife Mary continued the trade, and his younger son Henry ((1695) took on the licence at the age of 17, supported by his mother.  Henry (jnr) appears to have run the Crown, but he died in 1768 in the workhouse and was buried by the parish.

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William (1691), Henry's elder son, had in the meantime set himself up as a Tanner and with his wife Elizabeth purchased Bowling Green,  a plot of land adjacent to the now Car Park / Market Square. William also acted as a church warden, and traded with the bridgewardens. William seems to have also owned land used as a Tanyard at Aldretts, located at Stanfords End, a property south of the village near the modern day Harwoods Garage.

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William (1730), William's (1691) son continued on the family business of property and pub trade, with his wife Ann. He was a church warden from most of the years from 1762 to 1772, performing various civic roles relating to the church and bridge. He mortgaged the Crown in 1779, redeeming the mortgage in 1784, but in 1785 was living in Southwark (Maid Lane). Maid Lane is now Park Street, renamed in 1850 as it acquired its name from the notorious brothels and Bankside Stews which were sited there from Elizabethan times. He died in 1786, leaving all to Ann.

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John (1757 or 59) William's 1730 son, married Hannah Durtnall in 1779. He had a number of children, Three of his eight children (John, Rebecca and William (1793) married and had children. The record for John himself is less detailed than his father William, and he died in 1820 at the age of 61 (according to his tombstone) or 63 (according to the record books). Given he was recorded baptised 2 years before he was born, perhaps he was 63.

 

His tombstone in the Edenbridge Church Yard of St Peter and St Paul is clear, and also carries the details of the demise of his wife Hannah and son William.

 

Also mentioned in records at this time in Edenbridge are Edward Mitchenall (no connection traced) and John (1783), recording the death of is first wife Mary. John then moved to Horselydown, as earlier stated.

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Another curious references is Henry (in 1785), when the last known Henry died in 1768.

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Of Johns (1757)  three children, only William (1793) still has descendants alive today. The Edenbridge record records Williams  marriage to Mary, the birth of his children, and his trade as a tanner, boot and shoe maker. He is in 1850 noted as a member of the Edenbridge Friendly Society, so not without status in Edenbridge. Why he alone ended up on his father and mother’s tombstone I have as yet no idea.

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One aspect looked into elsewhere which has links to this back story is the connection with St George the Martyr, close to where John and his father William had connections.

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William’s (1793) elder brother John moved close to St George after the death of his first wife; his later children were born nearby.

William (1730) was reported living in the disreputable Maid Lane close to St George the year before his death.

Why was this part of London where the Edenbridge Mitchenall’s ended up at times?