John Wrench (abt. 1625 - 1697)

Born about 1625 in Norwich, Norfolk

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 18 Apr 1697 at about age 72 in Norwich, Norfolk

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Andrew Lancaster [send private message]

Biography

Citizen weaver. He served as sheriff, and mayor. He mentioned as the father of Benjamin, Jonathan and John in the Cambridge Alumni summaries, such as Venn's.

Concerning the ancestors of John, the only clear source seems to be the East Anglian pedigrees, which names his father, grandfather and great grandfather all Thomas. He became a freeman of Norwich 1 March 1647, as a worsted weaver, and the record mentions his father as Thomas.

John Wrench was the youngest alderman, and had already been sherrif, on May day 1686 when he was proposed by the freemen as next mayor. King James II (later ejected in 1688) got involved in the choice for mayor and sherriff, annoyed at the local aldermen at the time. In 1688, when things settled down again, John Wrench eventually became mayor. Earlier, in 1669, this John Wrench had been sherriff. He had a PCC will PROB 11/438/240, proved 3 June 1697, as John Wrench of Norwich esquire.

A book called the Church Heraldry of Norfolk by Edmund Farrer, gives us his transcription on the slab in the nave in St Saviour: "Here resteth the body of John Wrench, Esqre, some time Maior of this city, and of Ann, his second wife. He departed this life on the 18th day of April, a.d. 1697, aged 72. She departed this life on the 3rd of January, 1685, aged 59." (So she was born about 1626.)

Looking at parish registers and comparing to the names of known children (for example in his will) seems to make it likely that John's first wife was named Elizabeth. This couple, John and Elizabeth, had several children baptised in St George Colegate parish church.

The will of John Wrench mentions beneficiaries including: kinswoman Elizabeth Church, son-in-law Adrian Parmenter, daughter-in-law Hannah Clark, and a son-in-law William Greenwood. William is only mentioned as occupying one of his properties, but the East Anglian pedigree adds him, presumably based on looking at the same will, though his wife is unknown. Executors (and loving friends) are John Clarke, citizen and alderman, and John Gostling, gentleman. Adrian Parmenter was the name of a mayor during the Commonwealth regime some decades earlier, but this Adrian was presumably a descendent.

In St Saviour Church, the Wrench arms are "impaling" another coat of arms which means that the two sets of arms are sharing one shield, with the main one on the left, and the impaled one on the right. The impaled arms in this case are clearly his wife's Rayley family: Chequy or and gules; on a chief azure a bar wavy argent.

The Wrench coat of arms on the memorial (gules, three cross-crosslets in bend or) which was also used on the monument of his son Jonathan the elder and his grandson Jonathan, are supposed to have originally been granted to a Wrench who was awarded these arms in 1588, who was apparently from Hadenham in the area of the Isle of Ely. Old heraldry books such as Berry (1828), and Robson (1830), point out that these arms were also claimed and borne by Thomas Wrench of Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, and his son Jacob, who lived in both Camberwell and the City of London. They were therefore all effectively claiming descent from Hadenham. It is also said that these arms were claimed also be Thomas Wrench who had was proprietor of the site which became Worcester College, Oxford.

However there is a problem with these arms. The Norfolk Visitations did not mention the Norwich Wrenches until well after one of them was mayor, although they did mention other families of similar wealth. When we look at the history of Hadenham in Ely, and visitations of Cambridgeshire itself (as opposed to heraldry books for Norfolk, Norwich or the whole country), we find that the family who originally earned these exact arms in Hadenham were named Wren, or Wrenn, and not Wrench at all! This Wren family appears as part of a Wren pedigree in the Genealogist. They had come from the north of England, where they bore similar arms in earlier generations, so there seems little room for doubt that the Wrenches had no valid claim on these arms.

Wives and children

He married twice, but not much is known of the first wife. It appears from parish registers that she might have been named Elisabeth. Baptisms to a couple with these names in St George Colegate parish include an Elizabeth and a John (bapt. 1655 below), names of children we know from John's will. Presumably, not all children survived longer than their father. On this basis, we can propose the following.

First wife (likely baptisms):

• Elizabeth Wrench, mentioned as a daughter in the will, is the damaged baptism of 1649 in St George Colegate, with father John Wrench. In any case John had a daughter of this name. In his will, his daughter Elizabeth Wynn, has two children Benjamin and Mary Wynn.
• 8 Dec 1653 there is a Sarah Wrench baptism in St George Colegate, where the father is simply John Wrench.
• John Wrench Jnr the brother of Jonathan and Benjamin was the main heir in John's will and the first son discussed. He appears to be one of the children baptized in St George Colegate. A birth date is given of 18 Dec 1655, with parents being John and Elizabeth. The Cambridge biographical notes (Venn etc) are wrong about the baptism of this John, merging him with his son, a third John who became a cleric, saying that it was a son (not grandson) of the mayor who was baptised St Saviours 11 April 1685. Transcriptions of this baptism wrongly refer to the father as John Snr, when in fact it says Jnr. If the 1685 baptism was the second John, it would not only make him much younger than his brothers, which seems slightly unexpected gives his pre-eminence in his father's will compared to his supposedly much older brothers, but also impossible when we look at when his children named in the will were baptised. It would mean he had 5 children already only 12 years after his birth. The will of the first John names the grandchildren so clearly that they can be easily associated with baptisms in St Saviours, where the father is named John Jnr. The ANF will for this second John Wrench in the parish of Thwaite in 1705 (ANF will register 1705-1707 fo. 51 no. 60), clears up the problem. Thwaite is where his son was buried who really was the cleric born in 1685. (He had a separate will.) Also, in the 1702 listing of freeholders, when John the cleric was still studying, Thwaite was already the residence of one John Wrench. According to his will, John Jnr, the second John, had lands in both Thwaite and Mundham, and houses and estate in Norwich. He refers to a contract he and his wife have with their children John, Samuel and Hannah. The supervisors he names remove all doubt about his position in this family: "my truly and well beloved Brothers Benjamin Wrench of the City of Norwich Doctor of physick, and John Morse of the City of Norwich mercer". The will describes this second John as a weaver (like his father), whose wife Hannah is expected to survive him. This seems to be Hannah Morse. There was a marriage at Heigham 23 Apr 1684 between a Hannah Mors and a John Wrench, and we know his sister Hannah also married a Morse (below). The East Anglian pedigree also says this, and says that Hannah was the daughter of a Thomas Morse. It also mentions that she died 12 September 1718, and her will was proved 23 December. This corresponds to a burial for a widow Wrench in Thwaite, 14 September. This must be her will: Wrench, Hannah, widow, of Norwich 1718 NCC will register Bigot 98. It means she died a few months after her eldest son John (the third John, who was a cleric).
• 3 Jan 1656/57 in St George Colegate a Timothy Wrench was baptised to John and Elizabeth Wrench. Then there is a gap, during the period when probably Elizabeth the mother died, and John re-married. Timothy presumably died young.

Second wife:

• 25 May 1662 an Anne Wrench was baptised in St George Colegate, but this time the parents were John and Anne, fitting well with the fact that we know John did have a second wife named Anne. That there was a baptism in St George Colegate for John and Anne first, before they started having their children baptised in St Saviours, supports the proposal that the previous baptisms in St George Colegate were for this same family. Having said that, we must be cautious, because for example Anne does not appear in her father's will. (He mentions more sons-in-law than daughters, so he clearly made no effort to list all daughters.)
• Hannah Wrench, mentioned in her father's will, must be the baptism in St Saviours 17 Sep 1663 (father simply John). In the will of her father Hannah is the wife of John Morse, and she had two children, John and Anne Morse. The pedigree says that the marriage happened in Norwich Cathedral in 1693. It seems possible this was a close relative to the wife of her brother John, also a Morse.
• Dr Benjamin Wrench, knight was baptised St Saviours 8 Sep 1665 with the father simply named as John Wrench. From the baptismal records of his children we see that Benjamin's wife was Rebecca during the years leading up to his father's death. The Boyds index suggests the marriage happened 1691, that her surname was Raily, and connects her to Upminster in Essex. As discussed above, visitations say she is a member of the Rayley family of Norwich, closely related to Benjamin's own mother. In the will of his father John, Benjamin and his wife had four daughters whose baptisms can be traced to St Andrews Norwich. Benjamin and Rebecca had several more children after this will, all in St John Maddermarket. He died 15 Aug 1747. Dame Rebecca's monument there says she died 4 March 1727, in her 59th year, after 36 years in the conjugal state. It seems he remarried twice and his second wife was Mary Jermy and last wife was Anne Laton. Benjamin was a well-known doctor and was made a knight, and Lord of Little Melton. From the Cambridge alumni information: "Adm. pens. (age 15) at CAIUS, Mar. 22, 1680-1. S. of John, weaver, of Norwich. Bapt. Sept. 8, 1665, at St Saviour's, Norwich. School, Norwich (Mr Burton and Mr Mazey). Matric. 1681; Scholar, 1681-88; B.A. 1684-5; M.A. 1688; M.D. 1694. Fellow, 1689-91. Perhaps adm. at Leyden, Feb. 22, 1686; Wrenck. Knighted, Apr. 1720. A distinguished physician in Norwich for many years. Married three wives. Died Aug. 15, 1747. Will (Norwich C.C.) 1747; to be buried in St John Maddermarket. Brother of Jonathan (1685) and John (1701). (Venn, I. 466.)" One writer some generations later claimed that his quick wits "gave occasion to the well-known, but perhaps nearly obsolete, designation of "Silver-tongued Sir Benjamin."" He appears to have been one of many regional doctors involved in very early smallpox inoculation trials.
• Jonathan Wrench was baptised 1 Nov 1667 at St Saviours with the father being marked as simply John Wrench this time.
• Mary Wrench was baptised 4 Dec 1669 is not mentioned in the will of John Snr, but it seems that John did not try to mention all the girls. Younger children and girls were often considered to be looked after by some arrangement outside the will, because still being looked after by other family members. She is one of two younger girls baptised to John Wrench, "alderman" at St Saviours. At this point in time the description "alderman" was apparently deemed a good way to distinguish father and son.
• Rebecca Wrench was baptised 25 Apr 1671. Her father John is called an alderman, and this was in St Saviours, where her parents would be buried later.

Sources

• The first versions of this entry were made by Andrew Lancaster based to a large extent on his pre-existing webpage about the same family.

Sources cited by Lancaster:

• Cambridge Alumni
• Church Heraldry of Norfolk by Edmund Farrer. https://archive.org/stream/churchheraldryn02farrgoog#page/n172/mode/2up/search/wrench
• East Anglian Pedigrees p.234 (available behind paywall at WorldVitalRecords)
• A history of Horstead and Stanninghall, Norfolk (available on ancestry.com)
• Francis Blomefield, 'The city of Norwich, chapter 32: Of the city in the time of King James II', in An Essay Towards A Topographical History of the County of Norfolk: Volume 3, the History of the City and County of Norwich, Part I (London, 1806), pp. 421-425. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-hist-norfolk/vol3/pp421-425 [accessed 4 May 2017].