Robert Wilkinson (abt. 1559 - abt. 1630)

Born about 1559 in Nottinghamshire, England [uncertain]

Descendants

Died about 29 Nov 1630 at about age 71 in Ruddington, Nottinghamshire, England

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Biography

Robert's year of birth is very roughly estimated at 1559 based on what information we can glean from the ages and dates of marriage of some of his children, and based on the known average ages of marriages for men and women in late 16th century/early 17th century England. Despite the coarse nature of the calculation, that fact he had at least six and probably eight or nine married children in 1630 points to him being old for the period.

According to his 20 Sep 1630 will,^[1](see transcript at Images) he was a common labourer and therefore of low socio-economic status. In his will, his total monetary bequests amounted to only just over £5, although he did own two lots of land.

At the time of his will be was married to a woman named Elizabeth (formerly Elizabeth More) whom he named as his executrix. Because she brought a child to the marriage (Margarett More) and given Robert's age, we can strongly infer she was at least Robert's second wife.

Robert requested that he be buried "in the churchyard of Ruddington" and on 29 Nov 1630 he was,^[2] presumably having died sometime in the few days prior. The "churchyard of Ruddington" actually referred to the cemetery around the parish church of St Peter's (sometimes called St Peter's Flawford or Flawford Church), about a mile and a half east-southeast of Ruddington. We know this because the chapel-of-ease of St Mary's in Ruddington did not have a consecrated churchyard until 1773 when it was renamed St Peter's Church and took over as the parish church from the long-derelict St Peter's Flawford.^[3]

Spouses & Children

Robert named eleven children in his will. While their years of birth can only be very roughly estimated, there are nonetheless hints of at least two significant gaps in the birth sequence (before Joan and before Anne), possibly indicating the deaths of previous wives. While it is impossible to prove at this point, Robert's last two daughters appear to have been particularly young at the time of his death (both were unmarried, Anne was still unmarried 12 years later, and Isabell only married in 1639), possibly indicating their mother was his last wife Elizabeth. Because many of these same children were also named in the 1642 will of Robert's relation Henry Wilkinson of Nottingham^[4] (see abstract of the will at Images), we can identify which ones were still alive in 1642 and in many cases derive other useful biographic details about them. Robert's children were listed in the following order in his 1630 will:

• John Wilkinson, who was named in Henry Wilkinson's 25 Nov 1642 will and so was still alive as of that date. Henry described him as a "citizen and blacksmith of London."
• George Wilkinson was likewise named in Henry's Nov 1642 will, at which time he was "of Ruddington."
• Richard Wilkinson, Robert's third son, does not appear to be the same Richard Wilkinson named in Henry's 1642 will; he was possibly deceased by then. The Bishop's Transcript for Ruddington (Flawford Parish) does show a Richard Wilkinson buried on 3 May 1638. This may be him.
• Alice Wilkinson, who later married Edward Barnes of Gedling, was also named in Henry's 1642 will.
• Dorothie Wilkinson, who later married John Johnson of Rattcliffe on the Trent (modern Radcliffe-on-Trent), is also found in Henry's will.
• Mary Wilkinson, who later married William Malice of London, was not named in Henry's will; she was possibly deceased by then.
• Joan Wilkinson, who later married Richard Skellington of Ruddington, was also named in Henry's will.
• Margorie Wilkinson, who later married Nicholas Attkinson of Nottingham, was not named in Henry's 1642 will; she was possibly deceased by then.
• Jane Wilkinson, who later married William Asher of Ruddington, is probably "my cousin [blank space] Asher of Roudington" to whom Henry leaves a bequest.
• Anne Wilkinson, who was also named in Henry's will, was in that year still unmarried and living in Blackwall, at the time a separate community but now an area of East London.
• Isabell Wilkinson, who later married Richard Blood of Ruddington and emigrated with him to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1639, was named in Henry's will as "my cousin Isabell Blood in Newe England."

Note: Robert's three sons appear to be listed in age order in his will (i.e, John is first and is identified as "my eldest Sonne"). His eight daughters likewise certainly appear to be listed in age order as well, based on dates of marriage of the three that we know (Alice, Dorothie, Joan). What is not known is where the sons fit in age-wise with the daughters; e.g., Was John the oldest child or just the oldest son? Was Isabell the youngest child or just the youngest daughter?

Based on what clues can be gleaned from definite, probable, and possible dates of marriage of his eleven children, this is an attempt at placing them in birth order:

1. Alice
2. Dorothy
3. Mary
4. John
5. George
6. Joan
7. Margorie
8. Richard
9. Jane
10. Anne
11. Isabell

In addition to his eleven natural children, at the time of his will Robert's step-daughter Margarett More lived in his household. She is listed as his daughter-in-law, but the fact her surname is not Wilkinson leads to no other conclusion than daughter-in-law in this case means step-daughter in the modern sense, and she was the daughter of Robert's wife Elizabeth from a previous marriage.

Research Notes

He may be the same Robert Wilkinson who was the defendant in the case of Storer v. Wilkinson in Oct 1596. In this case Thomas Storer, vicar of Ruddington, brought charges against a Robert Wylkenson of Ruddington for failure to pay his tithes.^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ Will of Robert Wilkinson of Ruddington, 20 Sep 1630 (digital image of original document), The Nottinghamshire Archive, County House, Castle Meadow Road, Nottingham NG2 1AG, United Kingdom; Document Reference PR/NW. Online database entry at http://nawcat.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqServer=AP266-0029&dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqPos=21&dsqSearch=%28Title%3D%27Robert%20Wilkinson%27%29
2. ↑ "Nottinghamshire Burial Index," online database, FindMyPast.com (https://www.findmypast.com/transcript?id=GBPRS%2FNOTTINGHAMSHIRE%2FBUR%2F000498672 : accessed 3 Feb 2022); First name(s): Robert; Last name: Wilkinson; Death year -; Burial year: 1630; Burial date: 29 Nov 1630; Place: Ruddington; Denomination: Anglican; County: Nottinghamshire; Country: England; Document type: Bishop's Transcripts; Year range: 1628-1730; Archive: Nottinghamshire Archives; Records set: Nottinghamshire Burial Index.
3. ↑ "Flawford St Peter - History," https://southwellchurches.nottingham.ac.uk/flawford/hhistory.php
4. ↑ Will of Henry Wilkinson of Nottingham, 25 Nov 1642 (digital image of original document), The National Archives, Bessant Drive, Richmond TW9 4DU, United Kingdom, Document Reference PROB 11/195/420. Online database entry at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D876181
5. ↑ Cause papers, Storer v. Wilkinson (tithes); c. Oct. 1596, Document Reference AN/LB 219/3/8, University of Nottingham Manuscripts and Special Collections, King's Meadow Campus, Lenton Lane, Nottingham, United Kingdom. Online database entry at https://mss-cat.nottingham.ac.uk/Calmview/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=AN%2fLB%2f219%2f3%2f8&pos=7