I'm still around!

This is Guildhall Archive/Library before they refurbished. I don't know what it is like now, I have yet to go back.

I just wanted to say that even though I haven't posted in a while, I'm still keen to continue blogging about the Squire's Almshouses, and about the widow Mary Squire herself.

There is still more to be told.

For example the rules she set up for the tenants of her almshouse (copious material for several posts!), my question about what a box maker does (I still haven't found the answer to that), who she mentioned in her will, and I'm sure I can come up with some more areas to cover.

I will do this because I don't want all the work I put into this to go to waste.

So please be patient, I will post again!


PS: several other things have kept me busy: friends, work and other hobbies and interests.

Mr Pennoyer's Gift

Mary Squire's Almshouses

Mr Pennoyer's Gift

This is the eighth post in my series reporting my research into Mary Squire's Almshouses in Walthamstow, London, formerly in the county of Essex; and of Mary Squire herself.

This post relates to a charity mentioned in the apprenticeship indenture for Thomas Squire, Mary's brother-in-law. Mr Pennoyer's Gift enabled him to apprentice to a wheelwright.

Here is the excerpt quoting the charity, repeating the charity name enlarged underneath:

I am pleased to say that I finally found information on this.  I got lucky in finding a book at the British Library (I thank them for letting me have a Reader's Pass. Couldn't do the research without the Library).


The book is:

Pennoyer Brothers - Colonization, Commerce, Charity in the Seventeenth Century

by Raymond H. Lounsbury. Dorrance & Company Philadelphia © 1971 - Library of Congress. Printed in the United States of America (Ref: X.529/16666)

William Pennoyer Esq. Citizen and Clothworker was a wealthy and powerful merchant. His will dated 1670 is lengthy ("Seaventeene sheets of paper and this peece of a sheete") and very convoluted.  I don't think I'm able to make much sense of it but it is quoted, apparently in full, in this book if you wish to look at it yourself.

His five children had died in infancy and, in amongst a great many other legacies, he left money to charitable purposes of several kinds.  From my first read of this book, I remembered that he had left money for the educating of young men, but I thought this related to university education and not apprenticing into trade.

The silly thing is that I can now no longer find this.  I am not inclined to revisit the issue I am afraid.

What did leave a lasting impression is that an unholy mess seems to have broken out in administering the will.  Mr Pennoyer had named a large number of trustees and also overseers but from the Lounsbury book's account the trustees did not do a good job.  They didn't involve themselves in the appointed tasks of will executors and left the paying out to legatees to the named servant.  He in turn did make many payments, but then he died before everyone had been paid.

Then there was trouble and strife of William's brother, Robert Pennoyer, disagreeing with a lesser amount being paid out to him, someone else started a law suit but then died before it was decided, an overseer seems to have enriched himself with money he paid to himself for his expenses and for tasks carried out - and several properties did not bring in much rent money due to heavy repairs... I am not quite sure whate else went wrong.

Suffice to say that it seems pure luck for any money to have gone to charity at all.

Page 237 of the book does state: "...he distinguished himself by making bequests to be used solely for financing the education of children of impoverished parents", this however in context of a legacy to the heirs of his brother Robert based in New England.  Harvard is being mentioned.

The book does refer to Mr Pennoyer's Gift quite often - this is the exact phrase used in Thomas's indenture which can't be a coincidence.  Perhaps the financial situation by 1743 had improved, or the later trustees did a better job.  Mr Pennoyer's will also refers to one draper so he may have had business relationships and friendships with people from the company of drapers but that's neither here nor there for their role so many years later.  1743 is 73 years after 1670.  Why would the Company of Drapers have been involved in paying £50 of Mr Pennoyer's Gift for Thomas to be apprenticed?

In conclusion I can't say if this is the relevant charity only that it seems likely due to its name.  Perhaps there are other accounts out there that may shed more light, I am just pleased that I found a book that says anything at all about it.


If you are wondering why I am writing about Mary Squire's Almshouses then have a look at this first blog post.

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Thomas Squire's apprenticeship

Mary Squire's Almshouses

This is the seventh post in my series reporting my research of Mary Squire's Almshouses in Walthamstow, London, formerly in the county of Essex (the Squire's Almshouses); and of Mary Squire herself.

I believe that the Squire siblings moved away from Walthamstow after their parents died in 1742 and 1744.  In terms of their occupations, William named himself a boxmaker in his 1763 will and I found the original apprenticeship indenture for Thomas.

Again this is incredibly exciting - I believe that not all that many of these parchment apprenticeship certificates survived.

The certificate reads, in part:

This indenture witnesseth that Thomas Squire Son of William Squire late of Walthamstow in the County of Essex Farmer dec'd

doth put himself Apprentice to William Hatch Citizen and Wheelwright of London, to learn his Art...
... serve for seven years...
And the said Master (in consideration of Fifty Pounds of Mr. Pennoyer's Gift paid by the Worship[ful] Comp[any] of Drapers being the money given with said Apprentice). [etc]

2 August 1743

The reference of the apprenticeship records at LMA containing Thomas's indenture is:
X109/005 - 1734-1752
The letter 'S' against Thomas's name in the index stands for 'servitude' and means he served an apprenticeship.  Other references were 'P' for patrimony, when someone could apprentice because their father was a member of a worshipful company, and also 'R' but  unfortunately I can't think what this stands for (could it be renumeration?).

This date confirms that the burial record dated 14 May 1742 is most likely that of Thomas and William's father, and not of Thomas's brother William (which would scupper the idea that William was Mary's husband. So phew!).

1743 was the year after William Sr died, and one year before Elizabeth Squire died - so I feel that this was likely the mother's burial and not that of their sister.

Starting an apprenticeship meant that Thomas moved away from Walthamstow to likely live with William Hatch and his family to carry out the seven years' contract.  I know from the apprenticeship indenture of Thomas's own son that Thomas did become a wheelwright.

I found out a little more about apprenticeships.  Boys, and some girls too, would commit themselves (or I should say their fathers committed them) to serving an apprenticeship of seven years under a master or mistress.  This was the normal, standard length of time.

Some apprentices had a really bad rep: they would go drinking and carousing and form street gangs that made a nuisance of themselves and could even be dangerous.  I suspect that the vast majority of apprentices were nothing of the sort.  I may write more about 18th Century apprenticeships at some future point but this post is already long enough, so I won't add to it just now.

An apprenticeship could also be quite a harsh regime, depending on the master.  Some apprentices were horribly exploited and abused.  Most would probably have experienced a more middle of the road apprenticeship.  I hope Thomas did.


The last point of interest of this apprenticeship indenture is where the money came from: apparently not from the Squire family (did their father's death leave them in financial straits?) but the Company of Drapers seems to have procured a charity payment from something called Mr Pennoyer's Gift.
I found out more about that, and (think that I) learnt a context that makes it even stranger that Thomas would have had help from this quarter - more about that in another post.

© Company of Drapers

I must say that I don't understand why the Company of Drapers got involved (it is lucky for Thomas that they did. Who helped him by putting the Squire family in touch with the drapers?  Was someone at the Company of Drapers a mentor for young Thomas?). Thomas's son William did an apprenticeship to become a haberdasher, which is a lot closer to what drapers did (wool and cloth merchants) - but a wheelwright?  Maybe this is just the apprenticeship they could find for him, maybe it was just luck of the draw.  I must emphasise that I have not found out who helped Thomas get the charity payment, and unfortunately I am unable to answer any of the other questions that occurred to me.  Such a shame.

Most apprentices would start their apprenticeship at 14, I reckon that Thomas was 15 and a half, a bit late in starting.  Was this because of possible financial problems at home?  Where was his older brother William at this time?  William would have been 18 in 1742 at the time of his father's death and 20 when his mother died.  Was there no farm to inherit from his father?  Did he perhaps not want to work as a farmer, or did they lose the farm without their father around because William Sr may have been a tenant farmer?

The late apprenticeship start by Thomas could point towards them giving up farm life in 1743 or 1744 when their mother died.  I have the feeling that this is when William moved to the city - but I have not been able to find an apprenticeship record for him to become the boxmaker his will names him to be in 1763.


If you are wondering why I am writing about Mary Squire's Almshouses then have a look at this first blog post.

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Mary's parents-in-law

Mary Squire's Almshouses

This is the sixth post in my series reporting my research into Mary Squire's Almshouses in Walthamstow, London, formerly in the county of Essex; and of Mary Squire herself. Official name: The Squire's Almshouses.

To complete the St Mary parish register records that I found at the Walthamstow Local Archive I'll next write about Mary's parents-in-law.

I found either four or even six children baptised at St Mary's Walthamstow whose oldest son looks to be William Squire who went on to marry Mary (all my research points to William being the right man, I have not found any contradiction).  The children were baptised, and probably born, between 1724 and 1731.

I then looked for the marriage of William's parents, i.e. Mary's parents-in-law.

It wasn't very surprising that this marriage was not to be found in the parish register of St Mary's Walthamstow.  People back in those days usually got married in the bride's parish, and if the bride wasn't from the same place as her husband-to-be, then that could be anywhere.

I looked at Essex parishes to begin with, because the village of Walthamstow was in the county of Essex in the 18th Century.  In family history research terms that might be called casting your net widely.  Thankfully I got lucky!

© Society of Genealogists

I went to the Society of Genealogists for their excellent collection of records. The SoG and its library is at 14 Charterhouse Buildings, Goswell Road, London EC1M 7BA - just around the corner from  Barbican tube station.  To use the library you can either buy access time on the day or become a member (pdf form), which I can recommend.  The SoG has some records that are unique to them so this library is a great resource to check out. Have a look at the online catalogue SoGCAT to see what they have. The membership page gives more information on their holdings.

At the time of writing, their current fees are £5, £10 or £18 for 2 hours, 4 hours, or a day pass respectively. The annual subscription of £54 (plus a one-off joining fee of £10) is very good value. If you expect to go more often than three days in a year then being a member really pays off.

I found a marriage record that mentions Walthamstow as the parish of origin for William (and Elizabeth too!), so it is likely to be the correct marriage.  Mary herself did not mention anyone named Stubbing but then she didn't much refer to her husband's family in her will either.  She does list a nephew-in-law, and his sister.  More on them in a later post.

This marriage is at exactly the right time: a year before the oldest son William (Mary's future husband) was baptised in Walthamstow, and in roughly the right place, Essex.  Thaxted (Great Dunmow) is a village located a little North-East of Stansted Airport.  It is 37 miles from Walthamstow.


I don't recall how I found this specific marriage, I may have checked Boyd's Marriage Index, or just gone through all the Essex parishes.  The SoG has very good books on many Essex parishes that contain typed entries presumably transcribed from parish registers.

The marriage information is as follows (not verbatim):

Marriage on 11 Aug 1723 of William Squire and Elizabeth Stubbing - Thaxted, Essex, both of the parish of Walthamstow

Now it is a bit strange that they are both listed as 'of the parish of Walthamstow'.  Because of this phrasing, William must have lived there prior to marrying (I haven't found his origins yet: he wasn't baptised in Walthamstow, his children were), and I am fairly certain that Elizabeth Stubbing was not born in Walthamstow either.  At the London Metropolitan Archives I found a record of her baptism in Thaxted:

Baptism 13 Sep 1698 Elzabeth daughter of Richard and Frances Stubbing

The LMA reference is: ES/R 136 BAP 1660-1812
ES/R 72 also lists their marriage: 11 Aug 1723 William Squire & Elizabeth Stubbin
The family name is usually spelled Stubbings in Thaxted records and occasionally Stubbin.
In the handwritten ES/R 135 volume her name is also given as Stubbin but her first name is even more mangled as: ‘Elzabelh’. Go figure.

The reference to them both being of the parish of Walthamstow must mean that Elizabeth also lived in Walthamstow before she married William Squire Sr.  Thaxted was where she was from and I imagine that they married in Thaxted so her family could attend the wedding.

The marriage in 1723 took place before Elizabeth's 25th birthday (if she was also born in September when her baptism took place).  25 is quite an average age to marry even back then.

I have not found William Squire Sr's baptism.  It looks like he was not originally from Walthamstow and I am still looking for a sign of him and the two cousins I could identify: Henry (Croydon) and Thomas (boxmaker in the City of London). I may have found Thomas's father John who was a fruiterer.  No sign yet of William or Henry's parents.


I found records of two burials in the St Mary Walthamstow register:

William Squire buried 14 May 1742:

I believe that this must be Mary's father-in-law.  If this was William his son then he can't have been Mary's husband because he died in 1763 when he left a will leaving everything to Mary.  I am going with the father-in-law.  It makes sense too.

And Elizabeth Squire buried 23 Sep 1744:

Now this could be husband-to-be William's sister Elizabeth.  That this Elizabeth was not named a widow could potentially point to that.  I don't know if women were only referred to as widows if they had lived by themselves without family.  After her husband's death two years earlier, Elizabeth née Stubbings would have still lived in Walthamstow with her surviving children.  I believe this is the entry of her burial.  I can't know for sure though.


I believe that William moved to gthe city of London after his parents' death but I have not been able to find information on this, let alone when it happened or if any of his siblings moved with him.  He was 20 years old in 1744.

I do know that in 1743 his brother Thomas started an apprenticeship at 15 (a year later than usual) and this is what I'll write about next.


If you are wondering why I am writing about Mary Squire's Almshouses then have a look at this first blog post.

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