William Kean (1739 - 1786)

Born 1739 in West Teignmouth, Exter, England

Ancestors

Husband of Mary Carter — married 1771 in West Teignmouth, Exeter, Devon, England

Descendants

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Mary Ottinger [send private message]

Biography

5. WILLIAM 5 KEEN (WILLIAM 4 KEAN, WILLIAM 3 KEEN, WILLIAM 2, WILLIAM1) was born Abt. 1739 in West Teignmouth Exeter England, and died 1786. He met (1) MARY CARTER Abt. 1771. She was born Abt. 1751. He married (2) ELIZABETH ESCOTT March 30, 1773 in West Teignmouth England. NAME CHANGE TO KEAN W/ MARY CARTER ?

Notes for WILLIAM KEEN:

Against his fathers wishes he married Elizabeth Escott, It seems that Mary Carter was his common law wife in Newfoundland and Elizabeth his wife he left in England.

One of the more infamous surnames in Newfoundland is Kean. Because of the lack of recorded information in the 1700s, the early history of this family, as with many others in Bonavista Bay, must be based mainly on speculation. In the early 1800s however, clergy came to the north side of Bonavista Bay, and along with them came better record keeping. This provided a means to determine ancestral connections.

One of the first incidence of Keans in Newfoundland is in 1718. In that year a William Keen financed improvements in the salmonries in the Gander Bay area for George Skeffington. Keen had been in Newfoundland since 1704. It is not known where or when he was born, but a safe guess would have him born in the 1680s in England. One of his descendants later made a trip to Teignmouth, Devon to visit his relatives.

By 1729 Keen was appointed one of the first residence Justices of the Peace. This position he held until his murder in St. John's in 1754. The murder had been committed by ten individuals for a bag of money. Four of them were executed. The court case is fully documented in Colonial Office records. Throughout the 18th century there are many instances of Keen, and his son William jr. being mentioned in the Colonial Office records. In 1741 William jr. was appointed naval officer for the district. At about this same time the family began operating a business at Bonavista, and William became a Justice of the Peace there.

Eventually this business expanded to the north side of the bay. In 1759 Gov. Richard Edward granted William a fishing room at Greenspond. Over the next 20 - 30 years there are several mentions of different Keens in the Colonial Office records. It is very likely they are descendents of Judge William Keen.

By 1800, three Kean brothers, two of whom were William and Joseph had settled on Flower's Island, prior to their move to the Wesleyville/Pool's Island area. In all likelihood they are descendants of Judge William Keen. Examination of the gravestones on Flower's Island may lead to confirmation of this. You will notice that at about this time there was a change in the spelling of the name. This was a common occurrence during this time period.

Two of these brothers gained fame for themselves in the fishery. The eldest, William, moved to Pool's Island in the mid 1800s and earned for himself a reputation as a fishing captain. He commanded the barque "Barbara" for many years. Many of his descendants still live in the Bonavista North area.

The next eldest son, Joseph, was the father of the infamous Capt. Abram Kean. First gaining notoriety as a great sealer (he was the first captian to bring in 1,000,000 pelts from the seal hunt), Kean later became a member of the Newfoundland government.

Drowned in a storm in the Atlantic crossing from Newfoundland to England.

Dated April 2, 1780

This is the last will and testament of me, William keen of West Teignmouth of the County of Devon, Merchant. In the first place I give and bequeath unto my dear wife Elizabeth { Escott } all my household goods and furniture and implements of household and all my plate things and towel and also her gold watch. Also i devise and bequeath unto my said wife of my land, tenements, good, chattels, and effects whatsoever and wheresoever to be found either in Great Britain or America or in any part of the world in which I shall die possessed of or may be entitled unto by virtue of the last will and testament or the codicil thereof of William Keen, Esq. my late father deceased to hold unto my said wife from.... after my death then to be equally divided between my son William and my daughter Elizabeth Keen and the child if living with which my wife Elizabeth is now pregnant { Unborn child is Martha Ann } Proven July 9, 1789

This biography was auto-generated by a GEDCOM import. It's a rough draft and needs to be edited.

Name

Name: William /Kean/^[1]

Baptism

Baptism:

Date: 01 AUG 1739

Object

Object: @M31@

Sources

• Source: S2 Title: Ancestry Family Trees Publication: Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.; Repository: #R1
• Repository: R1 Name: Ancestry.com Address: E-Mail Address: Phone Number:

1. ↑ Source: #S2 Page: Ancestry Family Tree

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Brian King for creating WikiTree profile Kean-140 through the import of Osmond.ged on Jul 22, 2013. Click to the Changes page for the details of edits by Brian and others.