William Nurse of Chew Stoke (Born ~1675)

6th Great Grandfather – FFFFFFFF1

While the records are not complete, and where available, are not always legible, a survey of the parish registers in northern Somerset2 reveals that the only references to a Nurse family in the late 17th and early 18th century are to William and Rebecca Nurse of Chew Stoke (sometime part of the parish of Chew Magna).

Figure 1: Map of North Somerset Parishes

William Nurse was married to Rebekah(sic) Cox in the parish of Norton Malreward on July 1st 1694.3 The parish register notes that both were from Chew Stoke, and the parish register for Chew Stoke reveals the baptisms of three children Robert4, William5 and John6, as well as the burial of the eldest child, Robert7.

Figure 2: Marriage Register Entry for William Nurse and Rebecca Cox

The reference in the Chew Stoke parish register to the burial of the infant Robert Nurse is interesting as it was an affidavit under the Burial in Woollen Act of 1678.  The reference is as follows:

Robert Nurse was buried January 5, 1695
Rebecca Nurse of Chew Stoke hath made affidavit before Robert Payne Rector of Norton Malreward in the presence of Mary Lassey and Jone Walker for burying in woolen. – January 12 1695

Figure 3: Burial Register Entry for Robert Nurse

Between 1705 and 1730 the parish register is illegible, but I believe that William and Rebecca had at least one more child and named him Robert as well. As mentioned before it was quite common to name a child after a deceased sibling. There is a reference in the parish register of Long Ashton, another Somerset parish just to the south of Bristol, in 1709 of the baptism of Robert son of William Nurse8, and I believe this is William and Rebecca’s son.

This Robert, moved to Compton Dando in the early 1730’s.  I believe that he is my 5th great grandfather. In fact it appears from the parish registers of Compton Dando that the other two sons, John and William as well as Rebecca also moved to the compton Dando area.

Figure 4: The Family of William and Rebecca Nurse

In 1714, William Nurse was buried in Keynsham parish9. In the burial register he is listed as being “of Chewton”. Chewton is a small village on the road from Keynsham to Compton Dando.  His wife Rebecca was buried in Compton Dando in 174110.

The eldest surviving son William apparently moved to Whitchurch, another neighboring parish to the south of Bristol, and the parish register reveals that he had 7 children – John (baptized in 1728), William (baptized in 1733), James (baptized in 1735), Sarah (baptized in 1737/8), Robert (baptized in 1739/40), Robert (baptized in 1742/3) and Elizabeth (baptized in 1745).11

One of them, James was also baptized, the week before, in Compton Dando, probably while they were visiting William’s mother, Rebecca, who as mentioned above was probably living in Compton Dando at the time.12

Although people did not travel very far in the early 18th century, this conclusion is still quite reasonable, as the parishes concerned are quite close to each other. As can be seen quite clearly in Figure 1, no single movement between parishes is more than about 5 miles, which is quite a comfortable walk.

The second son John had three children – John (1736) and William (1738) who were both baptized in Compton Dando and Susannah (1733) who was baptized in Publow13, a neighbouring parish, to the south east.

It appears from the Compton Dando records that both sons married (John to Elizabeth Wilton in 1757, and William to Ruth Sage in 1761) and had families of their own.

References

“Bristol, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812.” 2019. Ancestry.com. 2019. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/61666/.

“Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1531-1812.” 2016. Ancestry.com. 2016. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/60856/.

Footnotes

  1. When showing relationships F means Father, M means Mother, U means Uncle and A means Aunt. So FFM is my father’s father’s mother, and FFMU is my father’s father’s mother’s uncle.↩

  2. The parish registers of the following parishes were searched:- Bedminster (from 1722), Brislington (from 1566), Charlcombe (from 1709), Chelwood (from 1720), Chew Magna (from 1686), Chew Stoke (from 1663), Compton Martin (from 1559), Corston (from 1567), Dundry (from 1695), Farmborough (from 1561), High Littleton (from 1599), Kelston (from 1538), Keynsham (from 1629), Long Ashton (from 1558), Nempnet Thrubwell (from 1611), Norton Malreward (from 1666), Pensford (from 1650), Publow (from 1660), Queen Charlton (from 1562), Stanton Drew (from 1607), Weston (from 1538), Whitchurch (from 1617), Winford (from 1695).↩

  3. Parish Register of Holy Trinity, Norton Malreward 1554-1812, see (“Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1531-1812” 2016), D/P/n.mal/2/1/2, p. 6.↩

  4. Parish Register of St Andrew, Chew Stoke 1663-1812 see (“Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1531-1812” 2016), D/P/chew.s/2/1/1, p. 59.↩

  5. Parish Register of St Andrew, Chew Stoke 1663-1812 see (“Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1531-1812” 2016), D/P/chew.s/2/1/1, p. 63.↩

  6. Parish Register of St Andrew, Chew Stoke 1663-1812 see (“Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1531-1812” 2016), D/P/chew.s/2/1/1, p. 65.↩

  7. Parish Register of St Andrew, Chew Stoke 1663-1812 see (“Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1531-1812” 2016), D/P/chew.s/2/1/1, p. 177.↩

  8. Parish Register for the Parish of All Saints, Long Ashton, 1558 - 1812, see (“Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1531-1812” 2016), D/P/l.ash/2/1/1, p. 6.↩

  9. Parish Register for the Parish of St. John, Keynsham, 1576 - 1812, see (“Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1531-1812” 2016), D/P/keyn/2/1/2, p. 6.↩

  10. Parish Register for the Parish of St Mary, Compton Dando, 1653 - 1912, see (“Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1531-1812” 2016), D/P/com.d/2/1/2, p. 29.↩

  11. Parish Register of St. Nicholas, Whitchurch 1565-1812, see (“Bristol, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812” 2019), P/Wch/R/1/a.↩

  12. It is not uncommon to find that a child appears to have been baptized more than once, as is the case with James Nurse, who, at least according to the parish registers is baptized in Compton Dando and then again a week later in Whitchurch. It is quite likely that the second occasion is not actually a baptism, but a recording in their home parish of the fact that James Nurse had been baptized.↩

  13. Parish Register for the Parish of All Saints, Publow, 1569 - 1811, see (“Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1531-1812” 2016), D/P/pbl/2/1/2, p. 33.↩

Created: Mar 24 2014, Last Modified: Aug 2 2023

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