4  The Willis and Leonard Families of Hanham and Oldland

In the previous chapter I covered the male line - the Nurse ancestors of my great grandparents Robert Francis and Sarah Elizabeth Nurse. In this chapter I will document my research into the ancestors of Dinah Willis the mother of my great grandmother, Sarah Elizabeth Nurse and therefore my great great grandmother.

Figure 4.1: The Willis and Leonard Ancestors of Sarah Elizabeth Nurse

I will start with Robert Willis, Dinah Willis’s father and therefore Sarah Elizabeth Nurse’s maternal grandfather.

4.1 Robert Willis of Hanham (Born 1777)

3rd Great Grandfather – FFMMF1

Robert Willis was born in 1777. I have not been able to find a baptism, but according to my Aunt Nell’s notes (Nurse 1953), he was born on 28th February 1777. His parents were Samuel Willis and his wife Sarah (nee Rawbone). The birthdate agrees with Robert’s reported age of 74 in the 1851 Census2 as well as his age of 85 in his burial entry3

I have not been able to find out much about Robert’s early life, and there is a bit of confusion as a Robert Willis, born to Benjamin and Betty Willis was baptised at Hanham Abbots4 2 months after the birth date that I have for Robert.

There is a military record for a Robert Willis who was born in Hanham 1n 1777 and enlisted in 1804 to the Fifty-second Regiment of Foot, being discharged in 18175, but I think this is for the “other” Robert Willis.

Robert married Dinah Leonard on the 24th June 18106 at St Nicholas in the City of Bristol.

Figure 4.2: Marriage Register Entry for Robert Willis and Dinah Leonard

Robert and Dinah had 6 children, 1 son, Samuel baptised on 11th July 18137 and 5 daughters, Mary Leonard baptised 2nd December 18108, Sarah and twins Frances and Elizabeth who were all baptised on 23rd February 18179, when Sarah was already 3 years old, and Dinah who was the youngest, who was baptised 3rd April 1825 at the age of 6 at Oldland10.

Figure 4.3: Baptism Register Entry for Sarah, Elizabeth and Frances Willis

The baptism of the three middle girls indicates that Robert was already considered a Yeoman (“Yeoman” 2023), and he lived at Martin’s Farm (see Figure 4.3). This also indicates that he is not the Robert Willis who enlisted in the Army in 1804. Robert lived at Martin’s Farm, or at least he continued to farm there until at least 1832, as he is mentioned as occupier in the Land Tax Assessments11,12.

Figure 4.4: The Family of Robert and Dinah Willis

From 1824, he is also listed as the Owner and Occupier of Mould House, and in the 1841 Census he is listed as the occupier of Mould House13, so at some point he moved from Martin’s Farm to Mould House. Whereas he was a tenant at Martin’s Farm he was the owner of Mould House and in his will he mentions that he purchased Mould House from Francis Earl.

In February 1825, probably in anticipation of their father Samuel’s death, Robert entered into an agreement with his surviving siblings. My great Aunt Nell (Nurse 1953) transcribed this agreement and I have a copy of that transcription (see Section A.3). In it Robert essentially purchases his siblings anticipated share of the legacy of their grand-father Thomas Willis’s will (see Section B.11) that they would have inherited from their father on his decease.

My great-Aunt Nell also had a few receipts from this period which shows that Robert paid each of his siblings £15 for their share.

1826, December 4,
Received of Mr Robt Willis the sum of £15 for all my Wife’s part or share of Certain houses situated in College St Bristol Which was given by Saml Willis Diseased by an agreement with all the rest of the Family
By me Wm Nurse14

Figure 4.5: 1821 Land Tax Assessment for Martins Farm

The only child to marry and have a family of her own was Dinah, who married Samuel Nurse on Christmas Day 1848. while all the other children survived childhood they all died between the age of 19 and 32.

Figure 4.6: Extract from Churchwarden’s Accounts for Hanham Abbots - 1835

Robert was active in Hanham Abbots church serving as Chapel Warden for a couple of terms in the 1830s15 (see Figure 4.6).

Dinah died on the 2nd May 1851 and was buried at St Mary, Bitton a week later16. Robert’s daughter Dinah and son-in-law Samuel Nurse moved into Mould House, presumably to look after Robert who was in his 70s, as they are all listed as occupiers in the 1861 Census17.

The following year Robert died on the 17th November, 1862 (see Figure 4.7) and a very good age of 85. He was buried at St Mary Bitton on 5th December 186218.

In addition to Mould House which Robert bought in 1824 from Francis Earl, Robert had a share in land and buildings adjoining Hanham Common and in the Batch, which he refers to in his will19 as his one-sixth part share of the property known as Thomas Willis’s Estate - Thomas Willis being Robert’s grandfather.

Figure 4.7: The Official Death Registration of Robert Willis’s death

He also mentions in his will that he has a sixth part share in buildings on College Street and Brandon Street in the city of Bristol, as well as more buildings in the Batch, on Jeffris Hill near Christchurch and some land in Keynsham.

All of this real property he left to his daughter Dinah, which was valued at £200 for the purpose of probate. This was a pretty decent amount of money in the 1860s, worth about £30,000 today.

4.2 Samuel Willis of Hanham (Born 1751)

4th Great Grandfather – FFMMFF

Robert Willis’s father, Samuel Willis was born about 1751, the son of Thomas Willis and his wife Elizabeth. He was baptized in Bitton on 28th July 175120 and he was the 8th child in a family of 12 children.

Samuel married Sarah Rawbone in St Mary’s Bitton on the 1st May 177421. Sarah’s sister Betty had married Jonathan Couch (the parents of Sally Nurse, nee Couch, my 3rd great grandmother) a year earlier, and Jonathan and her father John Rawbone witnessed their marriage (see Figure 4.8)

Figure 4.8: Marriage Register Entry for Samuel Willis and Sarah Rawbone

Sometime between 1784 and 1786 Samuel and Sarah and their family moved into Castle Inn Farm, near the Batch (see Figure 4.10)22, as Michael Newton Esq. is shown as the occupier in the 1784 Land Tax Assessment23.

Figure 4.9: 1786 Land Tax Assessment for Castle Inn Farm

Just up what is now Castle Farm Road where it crosses Abbots Road at Hanham Cross are a couple of houses, one of which I believe to be Mould House, where Samuel’s son Robert ended up living with his family (see Section 4.1).

Figure 4.10: 1902 Map of Hanham Green showing Castle Inn Farm and the Batch

In the photograph of Castle Inn Farm (Figure 4.11), the farm where Samuel and Sarah lived is the white house towards the right. Interestingly, I believe that the house on the left is where Sarah’s sister Betty and her husband Jonathan Couch lived with Jonathan’s father, John Couch.

Figure 4.11: Castle Inn Farm c.1900

Between 1774 and 1800 Samuel and Sarah had 11 children. Unusually for the day most of them survived infancy, only the first-born Thomas, named after Samuel’s father died young, at the age of 7.

Figure 4.12: The Family of Samuel and Sarah Willis

Figure 4.13: William Willis c.1850

Many of Samuel’s children married and had families of their own. I have already discussed Robert’s family (see Section 4.1) and I have alluded to Mary as she married William Dolman Nurse, Samuel and Rachel Nurse’s oldest son (see Section 3.5).

Thomas married Hannah Brain in 180424 at St Mary’s Bitton and had 11 children, Samuel married Mary Holloway in 180725 at St Philip and St Jacob in Bristol and had 6 children, Jane married John Burgess in 181726 at St James and had 5 children. Phoebe married Joseph Burgess in 182027 at St Paul, Portland Square in Bristol, and William married Sarah Olds in 181628 at St Mary Redcliffe in the Bristol and had 6 children.

I won’t go into a lot of detail on these other children of Samuel and Sarah, my 3rd great granduncles and grandaunts, but Samuel’s youngest son William is of interest. He was a Sculptor by trade29, but he is best known, at least within the family, as an organist. My Aunt Nell’s notes (see Nurse 1953) indicated he was the organist at Kingswood Parish church for many years and had composed a number of Hymn tunes, including Kingswood Hill, which according to my Aunt Nell30 was a setting for the Christmas Carol, “While Shepherd’s Watched their Flock by Night”.

Figure 4.14: Kingswood Hill by William Willis

Sarah died in July 1823 and was buried on the 13th July 1823 at St Mary, Bitton31, and her husband Samuel died two years later and was buried on 26th September 1825, also at St Mary, Bitton32.

It does not appear that Samuel left a will, but as mentioned above there was an agreement made between the siblings regarding Samuel’s share of his father Thomas’s Estate, whereby the other siblings renounced their share in favour of their eldest brother, Robert (see Section A.3)

4.3 Thomas Willis of Hanham (Born 1714)

5th Great Grandfather – FFMMFFF

Thomas Willis, Samuel Willis’s father was born about 1714, the son of William Willis and his wife Sarah. He was baptized at Hanham Abbots on 22nd August 171433 and he was one of 6 children.

Figure 4.15: Baptism Register Entry for Thomas Willis

Thomas married Elizabeth Hicks on 16th April 173434 at St Philip and St Jacob in the City of Bristol. I haven’t been able to find out anything about Elizabeth’s ancestry, or why Thomas was resident in the the parish of St Philip and St Jacob, but given that there are no other marriages of a Thomas Willis and any woman named Elizabeth, and Thomas mentions his wife in his will, I am fairly confident that this marriage is correct.

Figure 4.16: Marriage Register Entry for Thomas Willis and Elizabeth Hicks

Over the next 25 years Thomas and Elizabeth had 12 children (see Figure 4.17) , most of whom were baptised at St George’s Hanham Abbots.

Figure 4.17: The Family of Thomas and Elizabeth Willis

Eight of their children grew to adulthood and were married and had families of their own. Robert the eldest boy married Elizabeth Bright in 1768 at St Mary, Bitton35. Elizabeth must have died as Robert was married to Hester Tucker in 1783 st St Augustine the Less in Bristol36. He had one child by Elizabeth, who died in infancy, and two children, Elizabeth and Thomas by Hester, who both grew to adulthood.

Elizabeth the eldest married Thomas Waters in 177937, Katherine married William Derrick in 176738, Bethia married Samuel Lapham in 177039, Thomas married Mary Frampton in 177740, Hester married William Lear in 177641 and Susanna married Morris Britten in 177842, all of these marriages were in St Mary, Bitton. As mentioned above, Samuel my 4th great grandfather married Sarah Rawbone, also at St Mary, Bitton in 1774.

Thomas was quite involved in parish life. In 1762 and again in 1777 he served as Church Warden. Interestingly, there are two entries in the Church Warden’s Accounts for 1762. One just says “Thomas Willis for Burnells, 1762”43, which implies that to be Church Warden at the time you had to be a landowner within the parish, while the other is the usual record of the vote44 (see Figure 4.18).

Figure 4.18: Extract from the Churchwarden’s Accounts for Hanham Abbots - 1762

Also in 1762, the parish applied a rate of six pence in the pound on all the landowners in the parish and Thomas was required to pay 4s 6d for Burnells45. The rates were charged when major work was required on the church, or when the chappel funds were low. A total of £15 2s 5d was raised from this rate. A further rate of three pence in the pound was applied in 1770 so Thomas was required to pay 2s 3d46.

By 1775 Thomas had aquired quite a lot of property, as the Land Tax Assessment of 177547 required him to pay the sum of £2 4s 4d for 5 pieces of property (see Figure 4.19). Thomas is noted as an Assessor for 178048, 178249 and 178450 Land Tax Assessments

Figure 4.19: 1775 Land Tax Assessment for Thomas Willis

Thomas died in 1786 and was buried at St Mary, Bitton on 22nd Mar 178651. His wife Elizabeth died 6 years later in 1792 and was buried at St Mary, Bitton on 1st Feb 179252.

In his will53, Thomas left his Estate to his children Robert, Samuel, Thomas, Elizabeth, Bethia, Hester and Susanna and his grand-daughter Ann, daughter of his deceased daughter Katherine.

4.4 William Willis of Hanham (Born ~1675)

6th Great Grandfather – FFMMFFFF

William Willis, Thomas Willis’s father was born about 1675. I have not been able to find any record of the baptism of William in either Hanham Abbots or Bitton. However, during the latter half of the 17th century there are large gaps due to the degradation of the registers and the almost impossible task of deciphering them. Suffice it to say that there are a number of Willis’s who could be William’s father.

I have found a marriage entry for a William Willis in the Parish Register of St Luke’s, Brislington, where a William Willis marries Sarah Carrol on 24th May 169754. Brislington is just over the river from Hanham. I believe this to be the marriage of Thomas Willis’s father, as the first name of his wife, Sarah, is the same as his wife’s in his will55. Also, the marriage register entry states that William was from the parish of Bitton.

Figure 4.20: Marriage Register Entry for William Willis and Sarah Carrol

Apparently William and Sarah had at least 6 children, 4 of which were baptised at Hanham Abbots, the other two are inferred from bequests made in William’s will. The eldest daughter Mary was baptised at Hanham on 9th July 169956 and married Isaac Tippet on 23rd September 1719 at Bitton57. Sarah was baptised on 3rd January 170258, and according to William’s will was married to Francis Williams. William, the eldest son, was baptised on 17th December 170559 at Hanham Abbots. According to his father’s will he married someone called Rebecca and died before 1740. However I have been unable to find any record of either event.

Figure 4.21: The Family of William and Sarah Willis

As mentioned above,Thomas my 5th great grandfather was baptised at Hanham Abbots in 1714. I have not been able to find baptism register entries for the remaining two children, Henry and Hannah, but they are mentioned in William’s sill. Henry married Rachel Lovel on 21st May 1738 at Bitton60 and Hannah married William Newman. Again, this is inferred from William’s will.

William died in Mar 1739 and was buried in Bitton on 23rd March 173961. His wife Sarah lived another 3 years dying in May 1743. She was also buried at Bitton on 8th May 174362. In his will William lives most of estate to his two surviving sons, Thomas my 5th great grandfather and Henry, with bequests to his surviving daughters and the children of his deceased son William.

4.5 Earlier References to Willises in the Hanham area

While I have not been able to find out who William’s parents were, I am fairly confident that he was born in the Hanham/Bitton area as there are quite a few families living in the area at that time. For example:

  • John Willis, Yeoman, died in 169563
  • Henry Willis, also died in 169564
  • Henry Willis, died in 164565
  • Henry Willis, died in 163366
  • Henry Willis and Alice Blesley were married on 12th December 1593. I believe this is the same Henry who died in 1633 above as his will states his wife was Alice67
  • Thomas Willis son of John Willis was baptised 8th July 159668

It might be possible to narrow down which family William came from by a process of elimination.

4.6 Samuel Leonard of Hanham (Born ~1740)

4th Great Grandfather – FFMMMF

Dinah Leonard, Robert Willis’s wife (see Section 4.1) was the daughter of Samuel Leonard. The Leonard family were fairly well off, many of them being called Yeoman.

Samuel Leonard was born about 1740 to Samuel Leonard and his wife Dinah Cool. While I have been able to find out quite a lot about Samuel Leonard the Elder, I haven’t been able to find as much about the son.

Samuel married Sarah Foord on 28th April 1766 at St Mary Redcliffe69 in the City of Bristol (see Figure 4.22).

Figure 4.22: Marriage Register Entry for Samuel Leonard and Sarah Foord

I believe that Sarah came from Keynsham. There are quite a few Ford/Foord families in the Keynsham registers during the first half of the 18th century. Regardless, Samuel and Sarah settled in Keynsham as the first child Robert Foord Leonard was baptised there on 8th June 176770, and Mary Foord Leonard was baptised there on 26th Jan 178471, although I believe she was born much earlier than that in about 1768.

By the early 1770’s the family had moved to Hanham, and Fanny and Solomon were both baptised on 22nd September 177172 at Hanham church. In addition to my 3rd great grandmother Dinah Leonard, Samuel and Sarah had another son Samuel, whose baptism I have not found73.

Figure 4.23: The Family of Samuel and Sarah Leonard

Dinah, however, was baptised, althogh much later, at the age of 27, not long before she married Robert Willis, at Hanham on 2nd November 180774 (see Figure 4.24.

Figure 4.24: Baptism Register Entry for Dinah Leonard

Samuel was a property owner in the Hanham parish and as such was one of those present at a meeting of the “Owners and Occupiers of Estates ithin the Hamblet of Hanham” called for 24th December, 1782, to discuss whether to pay a rate to help the parent parish of Bitton with its church repairs, as his name is marked in the Churchwarden’s Accounts75 (see Figure 4.25).

Figure 4.25: Extract from the Churchwarden’s Accounts for Hanham Abbots - 1782

There is no record in the Churchwarden’s accounts of the collection of the money, it is probable that the information was recorded in the accounts of Bitton parish. However in the Gloucestershire Land Tax returns for 1784, Samuel is recorded as the Owner of 2 properties - Dunns and Bridge House, for which he was assessed £1 10s76. In 1786, in addition to these two properties in Hanham, for which he was again assessed £1 10s77, he is also shown as the owner of 4 properties in Oldland - Highetts, Isles Kittmead and Hick’s, where he is assessed £1 4s 6d78. In 1800, he is no longer listed as the owner of the Hanham properties, and for only 3 of the Oldland properties79.

I have not been able to find any burial record for either Samuel or Sarah. However, I believe Samuel died in 1809, as there is a Death Duty Register entry for a Samuel Leonard of Bitton for 7th September 180980, and Samuel’s son Robert Foord Leonard was granted Administration the same day claiming his father died intestate81.

4.7 Samuel Leonard of Hanham (Born ~1699)

5th Great Grandfather – FFMMMFF

Samuel Leonard’s father was Samuel Leonard the Elder. I refer to him as Samuel Leonard the Elder, as that is how he refer’s to himself in his will82.

Samuel Leonard (the Elder) was born to yet another Samuel Leonard in 1699/1700 and baptised at St George, Hanham on 3rd March that year83. He married Dinah Cool the daughter of Robert Cool of Oldland on 23rd December 1725 at Bitton84.

Figure 4.26: Marriage Register Entry for Samuel Leonard and Dinah Cool

Samuel and Dinah had 6 children, 3 boys and 3 girls. I have not been able to find baptism register entries for any of the children. There are Leonard baptisms, but at this time Samuel had 3 brothers, who were all married. As I have also not been able to find burials for either Samuel or Dinah, I think that they were non-conformists who by this time were allowed to keep their own records85. The children were inferred from Samuel’s Will.

Figure 4.27: The Family of Samuel and Dinah Leonard

In 1762, Samuel is mentioned as the owner of some land in Hanham when the parish assessed a rate on property owners in the parish to pay for chapel repairs86. Although the entry is not clear this piece of property is probably Dunns and Bridge House, for which he was assessed £1 10s in the 1782 Land Tax returns87, and for which his son Samuel was assessed in later Tax returns.

According to the 1775 Land tax returns, Samuel was also the owner of 4 pieces of property in Oldland88 - Hyetts, Iles’s, Kittmead and Hicks, for which he was assessed 18s 4d and Lydiards in Bitton89 for which he was assessed 8s 6 3/4d.

Samuel died in about 1782, as his will was proved on 14th August of that year. While sometimes it can take a while for wills to be proved after death, Samuel was at least alive in 1779 as hs brother Solomon refers to him in his will dated 17th March 177990, while he refers to another brother Francis, who died in 1777 as my late brother Francis.

In his will, see (Section B.12), Samuel leaves the bulk of his estate to his two sons Samuel and Robert. His other son William would get his share once he returned from abroad. It is not clear whether William ever did return but I have found no references to him in Hanham, Oldland or Bitton. Each of his married daughters received annuities of two pounds a year.

4.8 Samuel Leonard of Hanham (Born ~1675)

6th Great Grandfather – FFMMMFFF

Samuel Leonard the Elder’s father was also Samuel. I have not been able to find out much about this Samuel, other than the baptisms of some of his children.

The first time Samuel appears in the records of Hanham is for the baptism of his son Samuel on 3rd March 1699/1700. Although not all the baptisms are recorded in Hanham, I have been able to prove that Samuel had 7 sons, of which 4 survived to adulthood, 3 of whom owned enough property to write a will.

Figure 4.28: The Family of Samuel Leonard

I have already described the life of Samuel’s son Samuel (the Elder) (see Section 4.7), and I will now give a brief biography of the three brothers that survived childhood and became men of property in Hanham and Oldland.

I will start with Francis. I have not found a baptism entry for Francis, but he was married in Bitton to Mary Stone on 26th Mar 172291, so he was probably born just before or just after Samuel. Francis and Mary had seven children who were all baptised, most of them at St George, Hanham or St Mary, Bitton.

While Francis died before there are any Land Tax records, he must have owned property in Hanham, as he was nominated to serve as Chapelwarden in 175692, and in the 18th century only property owners within the parish could serve. However, I have been unable to find any other references to Francis in the Churchwarden’s Accounts.

Francis died and was buried at Bitton on 22nd May 177793.

I believe that Robert was the eldest brother, although I have no proof. This is purely based on the fact that he was the first to marry, on 24th November 171994 to Sarah Cool. Sarah was the daughter of Robert Cool and her sister Dinah married my 5th great grandfather Samuel, Robert’s brother. While Samuel and Dinah were married in Bitton, Robert and Sarah were married in Yate, the Cool family ancestral home.

Robert and Sarah settled in Oldland and had 7 children. As with Samuel and Dinah, I have not been able to find baptism records for the children, and I think Robert and Sarah were non-conformists.

Robert was probably the wealthiest of the 4 brothers. In his will he states that he is of “Barrs Court” in Oldland95. He was not the owner of this property, but probably held a long term lease. Barrs Court was the biggest property in Oldland as can be seen from the 1781 Land Tax Assessment96, where Michael Newton Esquire is registered as the owner and Isaac Leonard, Robert’s son was the occupier97. In this assessment, the Land Tax was £17 19s for Barrs Court alone. In that assessment, Robert’s children were listed as either the Owner or Occupier of 16 pieces of property in Oldland alone.

Figure 4.29: Map of part of Oldland showing Barr’s Court - c1902

Robert died in 1772 and his will was proved 20th Feb 1772. As mentioned above he gave several legacies to his children. His wife Sarah died in 1791 and was buried at St Mary, Bitton on 10th November 179198.

The last brother, who was probably the youngest based on his baptism, was baptised at Hanham on 14th Jul 170699. He married Joan Fox at Bitton on 4th December 1735100.

Solomon and Joan were childless, at least no references to children can be found in the registers and Solomon left all of his estate to nephews and nieces, primarily children of his 3 brothers, Samuel, Robert and Francis101. He owned some property in Oldland - Thirlbeys for which he was assessed 1 13s 9d in the 1775 Land Tax Assessments102 as well as some property in Bitton - “Late Poynts Foxes”, for which he was assessed 4s 9d103.

Solomon died 1st October 1779 and was buried at Hanham Baptist Church Cemetery104. His wife Joan died 5th April 1797 and was also buried at Hanham Baptist Church Cemetery105.

Given the relative wealth of the 4 brothers, it is probable that Samuel (the father), was quite well off, although other than the baptism of some the children there is no record of him.

However, both Samuel and Robert may have received help from their father-in-law Robert Cool, who left quite a large estate when he died in 1746. I will discuss the life of Robert Cool next.

4.9 Robert Cool of Oldland (Born ~1675)

6th Great Grandfather – FFMMMFMF

Dinah Cool, Samuel Leonard the Elder’s wife, was the daughter of Robert Cool. I believe Robert was born in Yate to Robert and Joan Cole, and moved to the Hanham are as an adult.

I have inferred this based on the fact that a Robert, son of Robert Cole was baptised on 11th July 1675 at St Mary, Yate106. As I will show later 3 of his daughters, while they were born in Hanham, and married men from Hanham were actually married at St Mary, Yate. Why would they do that unless there was a family connection. And I believe that the connection was that their father was Robert, son of Robert Cole.

I have not been able to find a definitive marriage entry for Robert, but 5 of his 6 daughters were baptised in Hanham. There is one possible marriage entry in the Bitton Parish Register, but it is a bit of a stretch. On 9th April 1699107 Robert Pooll was married to Joan Fry at Hanham108. While the entry is clearly Pooll, the priest could have mis-heard or even just made a mistake when entering the name. The timing is perfect as this marriage takes place 5 months before the baptism of the first daughter Mary, who was baptised 29^th” September 1699109.

Figure 4.30: Marriage Register entry for Robert Pooll and Joan Fry

My 5th great grandmother Dinah was next being baptised on 16th March 1700/01110. Amey the third daughter was baptised 10th May 1702111, Grace was baptised on 20 February 1703/04112 and Sarah, who later married my 5th great granduncle Robert Leonard was baptised on 25^th Feb 1704/05113.

Figure 4.31: The Family of Robert and Joan Cool

Interestingly, both Grace and Sarah’s entries in the register are also entered as Pooll, but we know that Robert had two daughters named Grace and Sarah from his will114, so this is corroborating evidence for the marriage, discussed above. It appears that Robert was referred to as Robert Cool and Robert Pooll interchangeably.

Robert had one other daughter that can be inferred from his will, Hester.

Robert died in 1746, and his will was proved 14th October 1746, see (Section B.13). He left most of his Estate divided between 4 of his 5 daughters still living and the children of his deceased daughter, my 5th great grandmother Dinah. The remaining two properties he left to his grandchildren Grace and Charles Cool, the children of his daughter Grace’s first marriage to George Cool.

I have found no actual record of his burial and no record of his wife Joan’s burial, but she must have predeceased him as she is not mentioned in his will.

Footnotes