Gilborn in Devon

A number of baptisms, marriages and burials are found in East Stonehouse, Devonport and Plymouth at the end of the 18th Century. These parishes are typically associated with army, navy and marine personnel and it seems likely that all these events are associated with GILBORNs serving in the armed forces, indeed it is known that a number of the events are associated with the family in Tree 4. The position is complicated by there being at least two of the males called William. The known events are listed here, followed by some comments and a number of unanswered questions.

No. Forename Surname Type  Date Church County   Father   Mother     Spouse Comment
 1 Eliz GILBORN Chr 22 Jan 1759 Plymouth St. Andrew Devon William Elizabeth    
 2 Elizabeth GILBORNE Bur 11 May 1760 Plymouth St. Andrew Devon       child
 3 Thomasin GILBORN Chr 25 Feb 1761 Plymouth St. Andrew Devon William Elizabeth    
 4 Elizabeth GILBORN Bur 15 Mar 1761 Plymouth St. Andrew Devon        
 5 William GILBORN Marr 28 Jun 1761 Plymouth Charles Devon     Hester Campbell  
 6 Andrew GILBOURN Chr 27 Feb 1764 Plymouth St. Andrew Devon William Esther    
 7 William GILBOURNE Marr 15 Nov 1764 East Stonehouse Devon     Elizabeth Bary  
 8 Richard Williams GILBURN Chr 14 Dec 1764 Stoke Damerel Devon William Elizabeth    
 9 Richard Williams GILBURN Bur 30 Jan 1765 Stoke Damerel Devon        
10 Mary GILBOURN Marr 16 Sep 1765 East Stonehouse Devon     Thomas Ainslie  
11 John GILBORN Chr 16 Dec 1765 Stoke Damerel Devon William Esther    
12 Samuel GILBORN Chr 29 Dec 1765 Stoke Damerel Devon William Eliz.    
13 Jane GILBOURN Bur 24 May 1766 Plymouth St. Andrew Devon        
14 Henry GILBORN Chr 08 Apr 1767 Stoke Damerel Devon William Esther    
15 Thomasine GILBORN Bur 17 Nov 1767 Plymouth St. Andrew Devon       child
16 [Blank] GILBORNE Bur 2 Mar 1768 Plymouth St. Andrew Devon       child
17 Elizabeth GILBURN Chr 03 Dec 1768 Stoke Damerel Devon William Elizabeth    
18 Jane GILBURN Chr 05 Jul 1769 Stoke Damerel Devon William Esther    
19 Martin GILBORN Bur 22 Oct 1769 Plymouth St. Andrew Devon        
20 John GILBURN Bur 13 Jan 1770 Stoke Damerel Devon        
21 William Richard GILBORN Chr 4 Mar 1770 Princes St. Independent,
Devonport
Devon William Eliz.    
22 Susanna GILBORN Chr 11 Apr 1771 Princes St. Independent,
Devonport
Devon William Elizabeth    
23 Esther GILBOURN Bur 19 Nov 1771 Plymouth St. Andrew Devon       wife of Wm. (The former Esther Campbell?)
[ William GILBORNE Died 27 May 1772           Discharged Dead
from Royal Navy]
24 Mary GILBORN Chr 10 Jan 1773 Princes St. Independent,
Devonport
Devon William Elizabeth    
25 Jane GILBORN Bur 31 Mar 1773 Plymouth St. Andrew Devon       Child
26 William GILBORN Bur 13 Mar 1774 Plymouth St. Andrew Devon        
27 Mary GILBURN Bur 29 May 1774 Stoke Damerel Devon        
28 William GILBORN Marr 4 Jan 1775 East Stonehouse Devon     Hannah Raskett WG a musician in the Marines.
29 George GILBORN Chr 31 Jan 1776 Princes St. Independent,
Devonport
Devon William Elizabeth    
30 Jane GILBOURN Chr 05 Feb 1776 Princes St. Independent,
Devonport
Devon William Hannah    
31 Thomas AINSLIE Chr 21 May 1777 Stoke Damerel Devon Thomas Mary    
32 Elizabeth GILBORN Chr 18 Jan 1779 Princes St. Independent,
Devonport
Devon William Hannah    
33 Ann GILBORNE Chr 17 Oct 1780 Plymouth St. Andrew Devon William Hannah    
34 Ann GILBOURN Bur 28 Sep 1781 Plymouth St. Andrew Devon       child
35 Elizabeth GILBOURN Bur 21 Jan 1784 Plymouth St. Andrew Devon       child
36 Andrew GILBORN Marr 25 Mar 1786 Plymouth St. Andrew Devon     Margaret Prideaux  
[ Hannah Phlarket GILBORN Bur 13 Apr 1787 Grouville, Jersey Channel Islands.       Wife of Wm. - The former Hannah Raskett? ]
37 Samuel GILBORN Bur 02 Jan 1791 Lambeth St. Mary Surrey        
38 Rebecca GILBORN Bur 01 Nov 1792 Lambeth St. Mary Surrey        
[ William GILBOURN Disch    Nov 1793           Naval discharge aged 61
10 years service]
39 William GILBARN Bur   13 Aug 1809  Stoke Damerel         Aged 63
40 William Prideaux GILBORN Marr 20 Nov 1817 Stoke Damerel Devon     Jane HORTON  

William & Esther

Rows 5, 6, 11, 14, 18, 23, 36 and 40 are known to be the family of William and Hester/Esther GILBORN shown in Tree 4. It is likely that rows 20 and 25 also belong to this family, being the burials corresponding to the christenings in rows 11 and 18 respectively. Unfortunately, while the register for Plymouth St. Andrew's records when the burial was of a child, this was not the case in Stoke Damerel, so we cannot be sure of John's age. If we assume these are children of William and Ester then the burial (line 16) of a child whose forename is not given refers either to Samuel (line 12) or Henry (row 14), or, refers to a child who died unbaptised.

William & Elizabeth Bary

Rows 7, 8, 9, 12, 17, 21, 22, 24, 29 clearly refer to the family of William and Elizabeth Bary, while the burials of William (line 26) and Mary (line 27) may refer to the children christened on lines 21 and 24. The burials however were not in the same parish, making this less likely. The burial of William was also not marked 'child', so he was presumably an adult. Was the Samuel Gilborn who was buried in Lambeth in 1899 (line 37) their son?

The first four rows also refer to a William and Elizabeth, but is it the same William and Elizabeth Bary who married in 1764 and had two children before marriage? This seems unlikely and another explanation is that the Elizabeth buried in line 4 is William's wife and the mother of the two children in lines 2, 3 & 4. There are, of course, other possibilities - Elizabeth could be the mother, or sister of William. Thomasin, whose baptism is recorded in line 3 has her burial in line15.

Nothing is found for William and Elizabeth, or their children, after the christening of George in January 1776. Did William get posted. or retire, elsewhere?

William & Hannah

William and Hannah's family is recorded in lines 28, 30, 32, and 33, and probably 34 and 35 too.

Unassigned events

How many Williams?

We clearly have at least two Williams, as they were having children simultaneously. Were there more than two?

If we assume that the Elizabeth who was buried 15 March 1761 was the mother of Elizabeth and Thomasin, and the wife of William, then William was left a widower with Thomasin probably only a few weeks old. Did he remarry? The marriage to Esther Campbell was only 3 month after the death of Elizabeth, while the marriage to Elizabeth Bary was over three years later. Either are possibilities.

Was the William Gilborne who was discharged dead from the Royal Navy 27 May 1772 one of these Williams? Was he Esther's husband?Who was William who was buried in St. Andrew's 13 March 1774. Esther had already died, in 1771, was this her husband? Alternatively, did Esther's widower marry Hannah Raskett in 1775? This seems quite likely. When william married Hannah Rakett he was described as a musiciam in the Marines. As Marine Andrew Gilborn was descibed as a 'child of the Marines' - i.e. his father was in the Regiment -, it seems likely that his father is the same Wiiliam as married Hannah Raskett. Unless George GILBORN's christening in January 1776 was late, his father was not buried in 1774, nor did his father marry Hannah RASKETT. Also, no burial is shown for the former Elizabeth BARY.

This leads us to conclude that we probably have at least three William GILBORNs in the area at this time, and possibly more.


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