John was baptised on 25 Feb 1737 . He passed away aged 71 in 1807.
He changed his surname from 'Sparrow' to 'Port' when he inherited his uncle George Port's estate at Ilam, Staffordshire in 1769. (The inheritance came via his mother's Frances Newell's family, her brother Rowe Newell having himself inherited the Ilam estate and changing his name to 'Port'.)
Like his father and grandfather before him he was owner of several coal mines. (See paper by King PW, ref. below.)
When he wrote his will in October 1805 he was living at Clifton in Gloucestershire.
Notes
While some sources state that John inherited his estate from a John Port, from his own will and other correspondence in 1776 it was in fact inherited from his uncle George Port.
In his will he specifically asks to be buried alongside his uncle George. (This would also seem to be supported by the fact that a George Port was buried at Ilam in 1769.)
A letter of 1776 in the Eyton family papers in the Shropshire Archives reads as follows: " John Sparrow of Wolverhampton took the name of Port on inheriting the Ilam estate under the will of his uncle George Port of Ilam."
It has been difficult to establish precisely how John Sparrow was related to George Port.
Burke, John & Bernard, 1851, The royal families of England, Scotland, and Wales : with their descendants, sovereigns and subjects, Vol. II, London : E. Churton, Pedigree XCIV Augusta Lady Hall, Archive.org: https://archive.org/details/royalfamiliesofe02burk_0/page/n3/mode/2up
The National Archives: Letter: Eyton family.PART II.ESTATE AND FAMILY.Documents relating to persons outside the family and connections.Whitmore and Pennington families.Henrietta Pennington daughter of Henrietta & Joseph. friendship"
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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with John by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA.
However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line.
It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with John: