5

Monk Tree

 JOHN EUSTACE and FRANCES CRIPPS (9)

 

JOHN EUSTACE married in Haddenham, Buckinghamshire, in 1717, giving him a likely birthdate around 1689.

There is a baptism for John Eustice in Waddesdon, 5 miles north of Haddenham, in 1696, but this is more likely to be the John Eustice who married there in 1714. No other plausible baptism has been found.

We do, however, have a legal document that tells us that John Eustace, butcher of Haddenham, was the son and executor of an older John Eustace of Haddenham, also a butcher, who died in 1723.[1] John was his principal heir and the executor of his will.

Haddenham is a village 6 m SW of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire. By far the greatest concentration of early Eustaces in Buckinghamshire is in nearby Waddesdon. John’s forebears may originally have come from there.

His father’s will shows John to be the only son, with two sisters. The births of their children make it likely that John was the middle child. There may have been other children who died before their father.

His mother was Roberta, but we do not have her maiden name.

His father was a butcher, but more than a modest shopkeeper. The legacies in his will amounted to £800, worth about £92,000 today. And there was also the worth of his house and other goods and money, which came to this younger John.

John junior followed his father as a butcher. The older John owned land, and was probably farming as well, raising animals for slaughter.

 

FRANCES CRIPPS. We have not found a plausible baptism for Frances either.

We know from a lawsuit that she had a brother John. At the time of her wedding she was resident in the village of Kingsey, a mile south of Haddenham. There is a baptism there in 1681 for John Crips son of Thomas Crips. There were not many Cripps in Kingsey, so Thomas Cripps is very likely to be Frances’s father too. If this is correct, then her mother was Anne.

 

The couple married in Saunderton in 1714, the year Queen Anne died and the first Hanoverian king George I came to the throne.

Marriage. Saunderton.
1714 Jun 20  John Eustace of Haddenham and Frances Cripps of Kingsey. By licence.

Saunderton is a village 6 m south of Haddenham. It is likely that Frances was working there, though her parish of settlement was still Kingsey.

 

The couple raised their family in John’s parish of Haddenham.

Baptisms. St Mary, Haddenham.
1716 Oct 17  Mary
1718 Jul 10  Frances
1719 Oct 16  Richard
1722 Jul 21  John
1727  Oct 8  Thomas

There was also a daughter Rebecca, whose baptism we have not found, but who is mentioned in John the elder’s will.

Richard is not named in the list of John junior’s children in that will, so we assume he died young. Thomas was born after his grandfather’s death

 

Haddenham is a village in the Vale of Aylesbury. The parish is bounded on three side by the River Thame and its tributaries, the Dad Brook and the Ford Brook.

For a short period it had enjoyed a market and fair, from a charter granted in 1295, but the larger town of Thame to the south objected to the competition, and the charter was revoked in 1302. Since then, Haddenham has reverted to the status of a village.

 

When John’s father died in 1723, John was the executor of his will. He was also the residual legatee, receiving all his father’s goods after the payment of other legacies.

His children, Mary, Frances, Rebecca and John each received £50, to be paid when they reached the age of 21.

His mother Roberta was left all her husband’s household goods. The likelihood is that she continued to live in the family home, which we assume to have been part of John junior’s legacy.

 

In 1726, John Eustace, butcher (son and executor of John Eustace senior, butcher deceased) both of Haddenham, Buckinghamshire, was the plaintiff in a case against Simon Mayne junior, Edward Harley and John Vanhatton.[3] This was probably related to a mortgage John’s father had taken out with Simon Mayne the elder, for lands in Haddenham and the nearby parish of Dinton.

 

The younger John died five year later.

Burial. St Mary, Haddenham.
1731 Sep 8  John Eustace.

 He was probably aged around 40.

The following year, his widow Frances was engaged in a lawsuit.[4] This was brought by Humphry Munday, drovier of Thame in Oxfordshire and others who were creditors of John Ewstace, butcher deceased late of Haddenham, Buckinghamshire. The defendants were Frances Eustace, widow, and John Eustace infant son of Frances, Israel Bull, George Francklin and Matthew Loder.

No doubt these creditors were trying to get payment of their debts from the deceased John’s heirs. Israel Bull, George Francklin and Matthew Loder may have been Overseers of John’s will, as George Francklin was of John’s father’s. He was a local gentleman, as was Matthew Loder.

The “infant” John was 11. As the oldest surviving son, he was probably the principal beneficiary.

 

In 1734, Frances’s brother, John Cripps, brought a case on behalf of his nieces Mary, Frances and Rebecca Eustace.[5] The defendants were George Francklin, Simon Mayne, Frances Eustace, widow, Henry Warner, gent and John Eustace an infant.

Judging from John the Elder’s will, it is likely that, if Frances was her husband’s executor, she would have had to pay her daughter’s legacies to a trustee, to hold until they reached the age of majority. John Cripps may well have been that trustee. There may have been some difficulty about that payment.

 

The same year, there was another lawsuit.[6] This time, the plaintiffs were George Franklin, esq (son and administrator of George Franklin, gent deceased) both of Haddenham, Buckinghamshire, and the defendants were Frances Ewstace, widow and Simon Mayne, esq (the son).

George Franklin has featured in Eustace family documents before. He was evidently a friend of the family, and John’s sister Mary had married James Franklin. Simon Mayne has appeared before too. John’s father bought land from the older Simon Mayne.

It is unclear in this case what the dispute may have been about.

Frances and others were again billed in 1742. [7] The plaintiff was again George Francklin esq (son and administrator of George Francklin, gent deceased) both of Haddenham. The defendants were Frances Ewstace and John Ewstace her son, Abraham Ewstace and Frances Ewstace his wife, Simon Mayne, Rebecca Ewstace, Edward Colt, Isaac Brand Colt, Mary Ewstace, John Kemp and Elizabeth Kemp his wife, Simon Mayne and John Colt.

John Ewstace (Eustace) was now nearing the age of majority. He was probably the principal beneficiary of his father’s will, his older brother Richard having died, and would take possession of his inheritance at 21. George Franklin senior had been an Overseer of his grandfather’s will, and probably of his father’s. He was now dead, and George Francklin junior was apparently trying to resolve this.

There are a number of other Eustaces named. Seven years earlier, the widowed Abraham Eustace had married Frances Eustace of Haddenham. She is probably the daughter of the older Frances. Mary and Rebecca Eustace are likely be her unmarried daughters.

Three years later, in 1745, there is a similar bill.[8] Again, the plaintiff is George Francklin. The defendants are also the same as before. They are: Frances Eustace, widow, John Eustace, Mary Eustace, Abraham Eustace and [unknown] Ewstace his wife, Rebecca Eustace, Isaac Bland Colt, John Kemp and [unknown] Kemp his wife and Simon Mayne, esq.

As yet, we only have short descriptions of these legal documents. We would need to see the whole text to find what was at issue.

 

We have no record of a burial or remarriage for Frances.

 

 

 

[1] National Archives: C 11/1730/44

[3]  National Archives: C 11/1730/44
³ National Archives: C 11/1770/18
⁴ National Archives: C 11/2784/24
⁵ National Archives: C 11/1511/20
⁶ National Archives: C 11/1843/5
⁷ National Archives: C 11/1939/15

 

NEXT GENERATION: 8. EUSTACE-BARNARD

PREVIOUS GENERATIONS: 10. EUSTACE

Monk Tree