Tomlins Gloucestershire

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]

Some analysis of the Tomlins/Tomlyns families in Gloucestershire around 1600

This review was initiated by research into the Temple family in Warwickshire and Anne (Tomlins) Temple (bef.1568-1642) who married John Temple

Anne Temple has a brother and sisters shown on wikitree confirmed by several sources

• Richard Tomlins (1561-)
• Elizabeth (Tomlins) Byfield (-abt.1623)
• Mary (Tomlins) Willis (-1665)

and all four are linked back to a father Richard Tomlins (-1568)

The problem with this linkage is that the three sisters would all be over 40 years old before their first children, which seems unlikely. There are also discrepancies with the names listed in the will of the elder Richard. I believe the three sisters are actually grandchildren of the elder Richard.

It looks likely that Richard Tomlins (1561-) is correctly the son of the elder Richard, but not the brother of the three sisters. I suggest Richard Tomlins (abt.1589-aft.1660) is more likely the brother and that the three sisters were also born around 1590. The difficulty is to find their father. Richard has been described as the son of Edward Tomlins of 'Tiddenham' on his record at the Inner Temple.

There were several Tomlins families in close proximity in Gloucestershire.

Edward Tomlins (abt.1556-1621) of Todenham is shown with two wives and 'at least' 8 children. Edwards sons Edward and Timothy migrated to America and Mary (Tomlins) Willis (-1665) was described as their sister in the family history of the Willis family.^[1] If this Edward was really born around 1556 (no source) he may be the son of Richard Tomlins (-1568). If Edward's first marriage was 1597, as shown, then he could be much younger and a grandson of Richard.

However it is not possible that Mary Willis was the daughter of Edward and Mary Banbury because her birth in 1610 would be too late for her own children born from 1619. Also the will of Edward does not list Richard, Elizabeth or Anne. Two possible solutions might be either that Edward had an earlier wife than the two shown, if his own date of birth is really 1556, and the Richard, Mary, Elizabeth and Anne were from the first marriage and for some reason excluded from the will - perhaps because they already had families. Alternatively maybe Mary was not the sister of Edward and Timothy.

Trying to find a baptism for Ann turned up another family, that of William Tomlins (abt.1560-bef.1608) in Ebrington, which includes children Richard, Anne, Mary and Elizabeth, but the Ann shown is too young to be Anne Temple, from her marriage and first child, and would have to discard the references to Edward as Richard's father and the Willis book. William is probably the right age to be another son of Richard Tomlins (-1568)

Another family is Robert Tomlins (abt.1560-bef.1608) of Stretton on Fosse, but this does not seem to have the right set of child names other than Ann. It is not clear whether or how Robert might connect to the other families.

Another Robert Tomlins has several children listed in the parish register of Blockley between 1579 and 1593.

It may be possible to link Richard Tomlins (-1568) as the husband of Margaret (Pate) Tomlins (abt.1523-) but it may require a modification to the understanding of the transcript of the will of Richard Pate (abt.1515-1588). Currently an obscured line has been transcribed in Richard Pate's profile as

• the heirs of Thomas Pury, Edward Tomlins, Richard Ockoulde, and Richard Tomlins, husbands of my sisters

this is a slight misreading of the line which should be

• and to Thomas Pury, Edward Tomlins, Richard Ockoulde, and Richard Tomlins, heirs of my sisters Joan, Margarett and Elinor.

This was also the interpretation made by Browne.^[2] If the potential legacy was to the husbands, then Richard Tomlins, husband of Margaret could not be included as he predeceased Pate. But if it is to the heirs of the three particular sisters then the Richard and Edward Tomlins listed are the two sons of Richard Tomlins (-1568). There are also other links - the 'Richard Ockwell' in Richard Tomlins will is almost certainly Richard Ockoulde.

Sources

1. ↑ A history of the Willis family. archive.org
2. ↑ Browne, A.L. Richard Pates, M.P. for Gloucester. Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society. 1934, Vol. 56, 201-225. BGAS