George Leigh (abt. 1606 - 1656)

Born about 1606 in Longborough, Gloucestershire, England [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Wynnyatt) Leigh — married before 1642 in Gloucestershire, England [uncertain]

Husband of Susannah (James) Stratford — married 1647 in England

Died Dec 1656 at about age 50 in Shipton Sollars, Gloucestershire, England

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Biography

George was the son of William Leigh and Elizabeth Whorwood.

He was sometimes described as George of Frogmill. George was a Royalist Captain in the English civil war. ^[1] His allegiance to the King was noted on the memorial to his daughter Mary in the church at Broadwell, Gloucestershire which describes him as being Caroli Regis & Martyris in exercitu Equitum Turmae Prefecti or "in the army of the Prefect of the Horse (the cavalry) of King Charles the Martyr. ^[2]

The Visitation of Gloucestershire notes that George married 'the widow_____ of Hinson, of Hunt Court, Gloucestershire" and that they had a son William who married Ann Rose. ^[3] Hunt Court was in the nearby parish of Badgeworth, Gloucestershire. However, the 1642 Inquisition Post Mortem of Giles Roberts clearly states that his father George had married Mary Wynnyatt, daughter of John Wynnyatt and that at the time of the Inquisition she was "now the wife of George Leigh, gent" and still living.^[4]So, Mary was the mother in law of William Hinson of Hunt Court rather than the widow of a Hinson.

The pedigree of Cartwright in the Visitation of Gloucestershire also mentions Sarah, daughter of George Leigh, younger son of Sir William Leigh of Longborough who married James Cartwright of Crickley. ^[5] The Stratford pedigree states that, Susanna, widow of Robert Heydon married as her second husband George Leigh.

George was responsible for the erection of an elaborate monument to his parents in the church at Longborough, Gloucestershire. The lengthy inscription reads:

"Sacred to the memory of William Leigh Knight and also Elizabeth his wife. He came from both the lines of Leigh and Berkeley, enriched with noble blood, and ornamented each family with his virtues; as a youth he devoted himself not unhappily to work of scholarship at Oxford; of full age, having entered into matrimony, it was his custom to give his wealth in alms compassionately and liberally, not without loss; the office of justice of the peace he executed for many years with the greatest impartiality not just the letter of the law; attacked at length by consumption, he changed this life for a better, in the month of November, in the year of the Christian era 1631, aged 46. And four sons and as many daughters the issue of his marriage, of these three, namely, Isabel, Elizabeth and Anne, survive both parents. Two of the sons, namely William and George, the father left still living; the mother only the elder. She was the daughter of William Whorwood, Knight, of Stafford. Bereaved of her husband, for 34 years of uninterrupted widowhood she drew out a truly religious life; her house always offered a refuge to the poor of the neighbourhood, and an asylum to faithful subjects of the king (in most difficult times). This not unseemly monument to the best of husbands and to herself was set up with a generous endowment from the liberal hand of the younger son while he lived; at length she acquired immortality by a perfect death on the 23rd March in the Christian year 1664 / 5 aged 83 "^[6]

George was buried on 16 December 1656 in Shipton Sollars, Gloucestershire, England.^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ The visitation of the county of Gloucester : begun by Thomas May, Chester, and Gregory King, Rouge Dragon, in Trinity vaction, 1682, and finished by Henry Dethick, Richmond, and the said Rouge Dragon, Pursuivant, in Trinity vacation, 1683 pg 181 Pedigree of Stratford of Farmcote and Temple Guiting. Family Search
2. ↑ Frith, Brian Edit. Historical, Monumental and Genealogical Collections Relative to the County of Gloucester, Bigland, Ralph ( 1791-1899) Part 1 Abbenhall - Cromhall. pg 256
3. ↑ The visitation of the county of Gloucester : begun by Thomas May, Chester, and Gregory King, Rouge Dragon, in Trinity vaction, 1682, and finished by Henry Dethick, Richmond, and the said Rouge Dragon, Pursuivant, in Trinity vacation, 1683 pg 114 Pedigree of Leigh of Adlestrop Family Search
4. ↑ Abstracts of Gloucestershire Inquisitiones post mortem returned into the Court of chancery..: Great Britain. Court of Chancery: 1893 pg 183 Internet Archive
5. ↑ The visitation of the county of Gloucester : begun by Thomas May, Chester, and Gregory King, Rouge Dragon, in Trinity vaction, 1682, and finished by Henry Dethick, Richmond, and the said Rouge Dragon, Pursuivant, in Trinity vacation, 1683 pg 35 Pedigree of Cartwright of Washbourne and Tredington Family Search
6. ↑ Frith, Brian Edit. Historical, Monumental and Genealogical Collections Relative to the County of Gloucester, Bigland, Ralph ( 1791-1899) Part 2 Daglingworth-Moreton Valence. pg 817
7. ↑ Burial: "Gloucestershire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1813"
   Gloucestershire Archives; Gloucester, Gloucestershire; Gloucestershire Church of England Parish Registers; Reference Number: P290 in 1/3
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry au Record 4732 #526865 (accessed 2 January 2022)
   George Loigh burial on 16 Dec 1656 in Shipton Oliffe and Shipton Sollars, Gloucestershire, England.