8. BEAN

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Jack Priestley’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. Keep coming back for more.
I have numbered the generations working backwards from Jack’s as (1)

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JOHN BEAN (8)

 

JOHN BEAN. In 1773, Sarah Bean of Tadcaster married the trainee doctor John Buck, who was serving his apprenticeship there. Her baptism in 1754 is recorded in two registers, both of which say she is the daughter of John Bean.

The following year there is the baptism in Tadcaster of John Bean, who in one register is described as the son of John Bean, and in the other as the son of John Bean jnr. This may lead us to conclude that Sarah was the daughter of John Bean snr., but her entry in that second register is in a different hand. It might have been written by someone who did not think it important to make this distinction, as the writer of the first register did not.

She could be the daughter of John Bean and Elizabeth Robinson, who married in 1743, or of a younger John Bean and Ann Rennison, who married in 1753. The Tadcaster baptismal register is later than most in naming the mother.

The younger John Bean was the son of Ralph Bean jnr, who was brother to the older John Bean, making the younger one the nephew of the older one.

 

JOHN BEAN and ELIZABETH ROBINSON (8)

 

JOHN BEAN. The older John was baptised in 1713.
Baptism. Tadcaster.
1713 Jan 8  John son of Ralph Bean of Tadcaster.

His mother was Elizabeth Brieray.

John was the youngest of six children, five of whom were boys.

His father was a maltster, as his great-grandfather had been. Tadcaster was known for its breweries, as it still is today.

We know from the burial of one of his sons in 1783 that John senior became a labourer. The men of this family were more often craftsmen. John’s son was a tailor.

 

ELIZABETH ROBINSON. The age given for her when she died puts her birth in 1710-11.

Baptism. Tadcaster.
1711/12 Mar 3 Elizabeth daughter of Thomas Robinson junr.

She had a younger brother and perhaps an older one.

Her father died when she was 5.

 

John Bean and Elizabeth Robinson, both of Tadcaster, were married in the parish church on 15 Sep 1743.

 There seems little doubt about the father of the first three baptisms.

Baptisms. Tadcaster.
1745 Aug 19  Thomas son of John Bean of Tadcaster. Privately baptised
1747  Jul 26   John
1753 May 2   Mary, privately baptised

Private baptisms usually took place when there was doubt about whether the baby would survive, They could be performed by a lay person. If the child lived, it would be taken to church later to have the baptism publicly confirmed and the baby received into the church.

 

In 1753 another John Bean of Tadcaster married Ann Renoldson (Rennison) of Tadcaster at St Olave, York.

From now on it becomes difficult to know which of these children were born to the older couple and which to the younger. In only one case is the father specified as “John Bean jnr”. Sarah Bean’s parents could be either couple.

The younger John Bean was the son of Ralph Bean junior

 

RALPH BEAN and ANN KIRKBY (8)

 

RALPH BEAN. If Sarah Bean was the daughter of the younger John Bean, then her grandfather was Ralph Bean.

He was the brother of the older John Bean, born about 11 years before him.

We do not have a baptism for Ralph, but we know from his marriage licence that he was born in 1701-2.

His burial record in 1780 tells us that he was the son of Ralph Bean of Tadcaster, Maltster, and Elizabeth. “Of Tadcaster” means that the family lived in the town, not in a rural part of the parish. His mother’s maiden name was Brieray.

He was the third of five sons, though one died soon after birth. He also had a sister.

Ralph became a maltster like his father.

He married Ann Kirkby in 1729.

 

ANN KIRKBY. Ann married Ralph in St Mary’s, Beverley, and the marriage licence tells us that this was her parish. Beverley is some 33 m east of Tadcaster. She was then 27.

We have not found a plausible baptism for her in the Beverley area, or near Tadcaster.

 

In Dec 1729 Ralph applied for a marriage licence

Marriage Licence. Archdiocese of York.
1729 Dec  Ralph Bean of Tadcaster, aged 27, and Ann Kirkby of Beverley St Mary, aged 27, to be married at Beverly St Mary.

Marriage, St Mary, Beverley.
1729 Dec 15  Ralph Bean of Tadcaster Maltster & Ann Kirkby of St Mary’s spr [spinster].

Given the distance between Tadcaster and Beverley, it would be interesting to know how Ralph and Ann met.

 

The couple set up home in Tadcaster. Five children were born there.

Baptisms. Tadcaster.
1730 Aug 24  Mary
1731/2 Feb 26  Sarah. Sarah was buried on 1 Oct 1732.
1733 Oct 17  John
1735 Sep 24  William
1736/7 Feb 8  Ralph

For the first three, the father is said to be Ralph Bean junior. For the last baptism, Ralph Bean is said to be “of this town”.

Ann died in 1754.
Burial. Tadcaster.
1754 Feb 14  Ann the wife of Ralph Bean.

Ralph lived to the considerable age of 80. At that time, the register gives an unusual amount of information about people.

Burial. Tadcaster.
1780  Ralph Bean, son of Ralph Bean of Tadcaster, Malster, and Elizabeth, aged 80. Died 3 Apr, buried 5 Apr in the churchyard. Old age.

 

JOHN BEAN and ANN RENNISON (8a)

 

JOHN BEAN. The younger John Bean, who may be the father of Sarah Bean, was the son of Ralph Bean and Ann Kirkby.

Baptism. Tadcaster.
1733 Oct 17  John son of Ralph Bean junr.

He was the third of five children, one of whom had died before John was born.

His father and grandfather were both maltsters but, like the older John, he seems to have become a labourer..

In 1753, at the age of 20, John married Ann Rennison.

 

ANN RENNISON. At her marriage in 1753 Ann’s surname is given as Renoldson. She was married in York and was then said to be of Tadcaster. No baptism has been found for Ann Renoldson.

At her burial in 1810, however, we are told than Ann Bean was the daughter of Henry Rennison of Tadcaster, Blacksmith. She was then said to be aged 78, giving her a birth date of 1731-2. In fact she was born a year later. With this information we are able to find her baptism.

Baptism. Tadcaster.
1733 Aug 17  Ann daughter of Henry Rennison.

She was the older of two daughters.

Her blacksmith father was of sufficient standing in Tadcaster to be appointed one of the collectors for the window tax.

 

Marriage. York.
1753 Apr 23  John Bean of Tadcaster and Ann Renoldson of the same were married by licence.

A string of baptisms in Tadcaster follow for the children of John Bean. It is not always possible to determine whether this was the older John Bean, husband of Elizabeth, or the younger one, husband of Ann.

Baptisms. Tadcaster.
1754 Apr 15  Sarah
1755 Nov 30   John son of John Bean jnr
1758 Mar 27   Ann
1760 Aug 6   Ralph son of John Bean Oxton

We know that the second of these was the son of the younger John, but Sarah and Ann could be either. Only one of two registers gives baby John’s father as” John Bean jnr”. The other says simply “John Bean”. Sarah’s entry is in a different hand from the one that specified “John Bean jnr”. It could be written by someone who did not think it important to make the distinction. Nor do we know which John Bean was resident in Oxton, which was then an outlying township in the parish of Tadcaster.

 

In 1763, John Bean of Tadcaster, like Ann Rennison’s father, appears in a list of collectors for the window tax. He and George Fisher were entered under “Collectors names”. The total sum for Tadcaster was £11.18.6d.

Again, this could be either John.

Another baptism follows, with the father not clearly identified.

Baptisms. Tadcaster.
1763 Jan 2   Elizabeth

 

One of the John Beans died in 1763. It is more likely to be the older one. We have found no other burial for him, and there is one that could be the younger John.

Burial. Tadcaster.
1763 Aug 7  John Bean

In 1764 George Fisher and John Bean again appear in as the assessors for the Tadcaster Window Tax. This is likely to be the same John Bean as in 1763, and therefore not the one who died.

On 12 Apr 1766 Thos Wise and Jno Bean were appointed assessors for the Window Tax in Tadcaster.

There are three more baptisms. It is highly likely that these are children of the younger John Bean and Ann

1765 Hannah
1770 Richard
1771 John

The older John’s wife died in 1783.

Burial. Tadcaster.

1783 Elizabeth Bean of Tadcaster. Died Jun7, buried Jun 9 in the churchyard. Aged 72 yrs. Daughter of Robinson of Tadcaster.

 

Ann, wife of the younger John Bean, lived on until 1810.
Burial. Tadcaster.
1810 Ann Bean of Tadr, daur of Henry Rennison of Tadr., Blacksmith. Died the 12th of June, buried the 14th of June in the churchyard. 78 years.

 

The younger John Bean died 6 years later.
Burial. Tadcaster.
1816 Mar 21  John Bean of Tadcaster. 86 years.

His true age was 84. When old people died, their relatives did not always know their exact age.

 

[1] Tadcaster Historical Society

 

 

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