11. BELSEY-SALLY

Cory Tree

LEONARD BELSEY and MARY SALLY (11) 

 

LEONARD BELSEY. Leonard began his life in the Kentish village of Tilmanstone, 4 miles inland from Deal.

Baptism. Tilmanstone.
1616 Jul 7  Leonard sonne of John Belche.

His mother was Margaret Elseter.
Leonard was the youngest of five children, and the fourth son.
His father was a yeoman, though his holdings seem to have been rather small.
Leonard became a husbandman, working a small amount of land.

His parents spent their whole lives in Tilmanston, but Leonard travelled around to at least six parishes, an unusually high number. Leonard is a fairly unusual name at this time, and there is no evidence of another Leonard Belsey of a similar age. It seems that all the occurrences of this name refer to the same man.
Before he married, at the young age of 20, he had already moved to Littlebourne. This is a village 7 m NW of Tilmanstone.

 

MARY SALLY. In her marriage licence, Mary’s surname appears as Solley. But that same licence tells us that her fathers was Samuel Solley of Wickhambreaux. In Wickhambreaux the name is almost always spelt Sally.
Mary was the second of the five children of Samuel Sally and Jone Stretton.

Baptism. St Andrew, Wickhambreaux.
1614 Apr 25  Mary daughter of Samuell Sally
Her father was a husbandman.

Wickhambreaux is 5 m east of Canterbury. Before their marriage, she too had moved to Littlebourne, just 3 m SW.

The couple were married by licence. For this, they went to Canterbury and married there in one of Canterbury’s churches.
Canterbury Marriage Licence.
Belsey, Leonard, of Littlebourne, husb, ba, about 21, whose father, John Belsey consents, and Mary Solley, s p, v, about 23, d of Samuel Solley of Wickhambreaux, husb, who also consents. At St Andrew’s, Cant. Nicholas Bacheller of Wickhambreaux, husb, bonds. Feb 6 1636.

This means that Leonard was a husbandman and a bachelor, and that Mary was of the same parish and a spinster.

The couple were married in St Andrw’s in Canterbury.
Marriage. St Andrew, Canterbury.
1636/7 6  Leonard Belsey and Mary Solley

Their first child was baptised in Mary’s home parish of Wickhambreaux.
Baptism. St Andrew, Wickhambreaux.
1636/7 Mar 19  Anna

This is only a month after the wedding, which explains why Leonard was married so young. He was not yet 21.

They moved on to Northbourne, 9 mile SE and close to Leonard’s birthplace of Tilmanstone. The reason for these frequent moves is unclear.
Two sons were born here.
Baptisms. St Augustine, Northbourne
1640 Jun 14  Thomas
1644 May 20  Richard.

Leonard and his family were in Northbourne for the 1641 Protestation Return, swearing loyalty to the king and the Protestant religion of the Church of England. Everyone over the age of 18 was required to swear, though, in practice it was usually only the males.  Those who refused to sign, such as Catholics, were listed separately. Leonard Belsey is the only adult male of this surname in Northbourne parish.

The Protestaion oath was a last-ditch attempt to avoid war between the King and Parliament. It failed in this. The following year, the Civil War broke out between the two. We do not know what part, if any, Leonard played in the was. He was of fighting age.

In Kent, there was fighting over castles such as Deal, Walmer and Sandgate. Royalist garrisons were eventually overcome by the Parliamentarians.

From Northbourne, they moved yet again to Adisham, 7miles west, where their last child was born.
Baptims. Holy Innocents, Adisham.
1645/5 Mar 17  Roger

At the baptism of their first child, Anna, the mother’s name is given as Mary. In all the subsequent baptisms only the father’s name is given. We have found no burial for Mary Belsey, so we conclude that Mary was the mother of all Leonard’s children.

There are two possible burials for Leonard. One is in Alkham, 7 miles south of Adisham and close to Dover..
Burial. St Anthony the Martyr, Alkham.
1660/1 Feb 4  Leonard Belsey.

There was a Leonard Belsey born in Alkham in 1646. He does not seem to have married or raised a family. He may well have died in his teens.

The other is back in Wickhambreaux, 3 miles north of Adisha,.
Burial. St Andrew, Wickhambreaux.
1677 Aug 24  Leonard Belsey

This seems the more likely of the two.
It would make him 51 when he died.

We have found no convincing burial for Mary. There is a possible remarriage in Alkham for Mary Belsey to Richard Hogbins, but there were many Mary Belseys. The record does not say whether she was a widow. We have not found a burial for either Mary Belsey or Mary Hogbins.