Alan March’s Family History
This site is a work-in-progress. There is a massive amount to cover. I have included both male and female lines, and some go back many generations. Keep coming back for more.
I have numbered the generations working backwards from Alan’s as (1)(1)
HENRY MONK and MARY WIGGINS (8)
HENRY MONK. Henry is the first in a long line of ancestors called Henry Monk. The Monks are found in or near the village of Stone, 2½ miles south-west of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire.
Baptism. St John the Baptist, Stone.
1722 Jan 14 Henry son of Thomas and Sarah Monk.
His mother was Sarah Hawes of Hartwell, a hamlet close to Stone.
Henry was the fourth in a family of nine, at least one of whom died infancy. The Monks were a farming family. Henry’s father was a grazier, meaning that he raised stock rather than crops.
MARY WIGGINS. No baptism has been found for Mary Wiggins. She may have been a widow, but we have found no evidence of this.
Henry Monk and Mary Wiggins were married in Stone on 18 Nov 1746.
Baptisms. St John the Baptist, Stone.
1747 Sep 20 Thomas
1748 Dec 14 Henry
1751 Apr 15 Sarah
1752 Nov 13 Joseph
1754 Sep 11 Mary. Mary’s mother is given as Elizabeth, but this is probably a mistake.
1756 Jun 16 John
1759 Feb 1 Elizabeth
Two of their children are ancestors. Henry’s son married Mary’s daughter.
From the 1760s onward there was an increase in enclosures, intended to make farming more efficient. The old manorial system was replaced by a wider range of landowners with estates, having rent-paying tenants with farms, and wage labourers with cottages. Occasionally, yeoman were freeholding owner-occupiers, but the norm was still for a yeoman to rent his farm. This appears to be the case with Henry Monk.
The lords of the manor for Stone were the Lees. In 1772 we find Henry Monk leasing land from Sir William Lee of neighbouring Hartwell.[1]
10 February 1772
Counterpart Lease
(i) Sir William Lee of Hartwell, Bt.
(ii) Henry Monk of Sedrup, yeoman.
Little Line Hill (inclosed ar. and pasture land) in Aylesbury.
Term: 12 years. Rent: £42.
Sedrup is a hamlet adjacent to Stone.
In 1776 an act of parliament was passed enclosing the parish of Stone. Sir George Lee, lord of the manor, was entitled to the great tithes of Southwarp in Stone, and the Earl of Chesterfield to those of the remainder of the parish. The church tithes were given to some laymen and to the vicar, who was also Sir George Lee.
In 1777 there is another lease, this time giving more detail about the land involved.[3]
20 March 1777
Counterpart Lease
(i) Sir William Lee of Hartwell, Bt.
(ii) Henry Monk of Stone, yeoman.
Soma Hill Ground, Lower Rushingdon, webbs , Long Haydon, Lower and Upper Lunges Close, Horton’s Lower Close, The Piece, Hortons Upper Close, Gingers Home Closes, Home and Orchard Hortons Home Todds Coxes Close part of Southwarp Green, Knights Slip Ground by the Home Close, Long Meadow, Gogmire well, Long Lays, Heyford Grounds, Long ward Ground by the Rectors Allotment, Stone Pit Hill, Home Closes, Homestall, The Calley, Hither Ground by Portway, Farther Ground, and Lords Meadow (360a.1r.) in Hartwell, Stone, and Stoke.
Term: 4 years. Rent: £376.12.0.
In 1780 we see the lease of Upper Farm in Sedrup, with land in adjacent parishes.[4]
1 November 1780
Counterpart Lease
(i) Sir William Lee of Hartwell, Bt.
(ii) Henry Monk of Stone, yeoman.
Upper Farm in Sedrup with Portway Piece, Churchfield, Green Furlong, The Homestead and the Calley in Stone, Long Close, Dove Close, Home Closes, Stone Pitt Hill New Piece, Long Ward, Walbridge Close, Walbridge Piece, Stoke Helm, Ditch and Hill Ground in Hartwell (total 267a. 1r.5p. ar. meadow and pasture); two pieces (Nos.17 and 18) in hamlet of Walton, Lords Meadow, and three pieces (Nos.20,21 and 22) in parish of Stoke Mandeville.
Term: 4 years. Rent: £298
Henry farmed a considerable area.
Henry was the first of the couple to die.
Burial. St John the Baptist, Stone.
1784 Mar 19 Henry Monk Farmer
Six years later we have a burial for Mary Monk.
Burial. St John the Baptist, Stone.
1790 Jul 14 Mary Monk Widow.
There are other burials for Mary Monk, including one in Jan 1784 for Mary Monk, widow and farmer, but this one seems the most likely.
[1] National Archives. D-LE/1/680
[3] National Archives. D-LE/1/710
[4] National Archives. D-LE/1/728
NEXT GENERATION: 7. MONK-WOODMAN
PREVIOUS GENERATIONS: 9, MONK-HAWES