Samuel Leonard of Hanham (Born 1699)

Category: Leonard Family
Created: Nov 13 2023, Last Modified: Nov 15 2023
5th Great Grandfather - FFMMMFF1

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 will2.

Samuel Leonard (the Elder) was born to yet another Samuel Leonard in 1699/1700 and baptised at St George, Hanham on 3rd March that year3. He married Dinah Cool the daughter of Robert Cool of Oldland on 23rd December 1725 at Bitton4.

Figure 1: 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 records5. The children were inferred from Samuel’s Will.

Figure 2: 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 repairs6. 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 returns7, 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 Oldland8 - Hyetts, Iles’s, Kittmead and Hicks, for which he was assessed 18s 4d and Lydiards in Bitton9 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 177910, while he refers to another brother Francis, who died in 1777 as my late brother Francis.

In his will, 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.

References

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

“Gloucestershire, England, Land Tax Records, 1713-1833.” 2016. Ancestry.com. 2016. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/60628/.

“Gloucestershire, England, Wills and Inventories, 1541-1858.” 2014. Ancestry.com. 2014. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/4294/.

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 Will of Samuel Leonard, dated 22Aaug 1774, see (“Gloucestershire, England, Wills and Inventories, 1541-1858” 2014), 255712.↩

  3. Parish Register of St George, Hanham Abbots, 1697 - 1730, see (“Bristol, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812” 2019), P/HA/R/1/b, p. 9.↩

  4. Parish Register of St Mary, Bitton, 1720 - 1781, see (“Bristol, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812” 2019), P/B/R/1/c, p. 53.↩

  5. Many of Samuel’s descendants as well as some of the descendants of his brothers were non-conformists as I have been able to find records in the non-conformist registers.↩

  6. The Account Book of the Chapel Warden of the Hamlet of West Hanham, Bristol Record Office, P.HA/ChW/1/a, p. 76.↩

  7. Land Tax Assessment for the Hamlet of Hanham, Langley and Swinehead Hundred, see (“Gloucestershire, England, Land Tax Records, 1713-1833” 2016), Q/REL/1/LangleyandSwinehead/1782, p.27.↩

  8. Land Tax Assessment for the Hamlet of Oldland, Langley and Swinehead Hundred, see (“Gloucestershire, England, Land Tax Records, 1713-1833” 2016), Q/REL/1a/4, p.795.↩

  9. Land Tax Assessment for the Hamlet of Bitton, Langley and Swinehead Hundred, see (“Gloucestershire, England, Land Tax Records, 1713-1833” 2016), Q/REL/1a/4, p.774.↩

  10. The Will of Solomon Leonard, dated 17 Mar 1779, see (“Gloucestershire, England, Wills and Inventories, 1541-1858” 2014), 255167.↩

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