Richard Smale's Story

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Richard Smale is the oldest known ancestor of the Smale line I am working on. The first record found for him was a marriage to Joanna Grigg on 2 Feb 1767 in Merton, Devon, England (Film 916859 Items 4-5).

There is a William Smale who is occupying Coalhouse in Merton from 1780 (when the records begin) until 1805 (Film 1471091 Item 13). There is a burial record for William Smale “of Colhouse”, age 89, in 1806 (Film 916859 Items 4-5). This William could be Richard’s father. He would have been 50 years old when Richard married. Although the baptismal records in the parish registers cover the time period that Richard would have been born, there is no record for a Richard Smale in Merton. It is possible that he was baptized in a neighboring parish. A radial search is underway (hence this blog!) to find all the Richard Smales born during the 40 years before 1767 (Richard’s marriage). These Richard Smales will be followed in the parish registers to find which could be the one who marries Joanna Grigg in 1767.

Joanna was baptized in Merton on 30 Mar 1738 (Film 916859 Items 4-5). Her parents were John Grigg and Trypheena Arnold. There is no record of a christening for John in Merton, but their marriage took place there on 19 Sep 1734 (Film 916859 Items 4-5). The note next to the marriage entry says that Trypheena Arnold is from Little Torrington. This is an important note as a Trypheena Arnold of the correct age was baptized in Merton. The Little Torrington parish registers show Trypheena baptized on 23 Mar 1709 (Film 933231 Item 10). Her parents are Nicholas Arnold and Mary Sage. Nicholas and Mary were married on 30 May 1699 in Little Torrington (Film 1037023 Item 1). There is no baptismal record for either of them. However there is a record of eight of their children who were baptized in Little Torrington, including Trypheena.

Trypheena lived in Merton with John. They had a little boy, John, who died as an infant. His birth and death were followed by the birth of two girls: Mary and Joanna (Film 916859 Items 4-5). Unfortunately, John died after just five months after the baptism of Joanna and four years after marrying Trypheena. There is no record of Trypheena dieing or remarrying in Merton, but these events may have occurred in a neighboring parish. The daughters remained in Merton. Mary gave birth to an illegitimate daughter who she named Joanna (presumably after her sister). There is no other record of this baby, Joanna, in Merton. Mary never married and lived near her married sister Joanna (Film: 1471091 Item 13). Mary may have died after 1812 (the end of the burial records for Merton at the FHL.)

Joanna and Richard had seven children who were baptized in Merton (Film 916859 Items 4-5). The oldest, William, is the continuing Smale line of interest and will be dealt with in the next biographical post. William was followed by John who died when he was just age two. Their younger brother was born a few months after John died and was also given the name of John. Joanna’s and Richard’s fourth child was a girl who they named Elizabeth. She was followed by another girl, Joanna. Unfortunately, Elizabeth died the year after Joanna’s birth when she was just four years old. Samuel was born next, but he only lived for 13 days. Mary was the last child born. Just four of their seven children lived to adulthood.

Richard appears to be occupying Yeotown/Youltown house in Merton from 1787 (20 years after his marriage) until 1831 (Film 1471091 Item 13). In 1832, the last year of the record, Yoetown is occupied by George Snell. 1832 is 65 years after the marriage of Richard and Joanna. This is possible if he married young and lived a long life. Or if he had a son (not in the parish registers) named Richard who took over Yeotown. Or Richard of Yeotown may not be the correct Richard.

Joanna died in 1811 at age 73 in Merton (Film 916859 Items 4-5). If the assumptions about Richard and Yeotown are correct, he was a widower for 20 years.

There are no burial records for Merton after 1812 in the FHL. An index to the Merton burials for 1813-1837 is available for purchase at the Devon Family History Society's website. Alternatively, images of the parish registers could be viewed in England.

Comments about my research or the readability of this article are gladly welcomed! (All the citations are to films previously listed on this blog.)