William THORNE

  General Notes:

Name from marriage certificate of son John

Searching for the baptism of John Thorn(e) in South Molton produced three likely entries.
20 April 1800 John, son of William Thorne and Ann his wife (Ann was Ann Kingdon mar 6 Apr 1792)
4 May 1800 John, son of William Thorne and Elizabeth his wife (Elizabeth was Elizabeth Crocker, mar 26 Mar 1799, probably baptised 11 March 1781 in South Molton)
10 August John, son of Grace Thorne (base child)

I tried to estimate which it might be by relationship to the names of John's daughters - the first was Elizabeth Ann, so not very helpful. Hence, either of these could have been "our" John
William and Ann had the following other children :- Ann(1 Apr 1793), William(1795-listed in 1797 as privately baptised 14 Feb 1795 and received into church 26 Feb 1797), Ann Philips(26 Nov 1797), James(8 Jul 1804)
There are no other children recorded for William and Elizabeth.
(there is a burial of an Ann Thorne 30 Nov 1836, aged 44 at South Molton - is this the 1793 baptism?)
There is no occurrence of the name Grace in future generations, so can probably ignore that entry

There was a burial at South Molton on 28 Oct 1800 of a John Thorne - no age given
Bishops Transcripts gave identical information

In Tawstock on the 1841 census is the following
HO107/221/18 F8 P11
Easticomb, Tawstock, Devon
William Thorn, 40, Glazier, Y
---
Elizabeth Thorn, 40, Ind, Yes
Ann Thorn, 85, Ind, Y
Could this indicate that "our" John was the April 1800 baptism?? And that he had a brother and sister called William and Elizabeth? - sounded promising.
In 1851 William, with "servant" Elizabeth was still in Tawstock - but stating they were born in Tawstock. No reference to Elizabeth on the South Molton registers.
- Now eliminated, see the will(T348) below

Wills at DRO
FILE [no title] - ref. 1078/IRW/T/336 - date: 1815
[from Scope and Content] William Thorne of Filleigh, Devon
(as John Thorne said in 1881 that he was from Filleigh)
This is very unlikely as there is no reference to a son John. Several other children are referred to who do not seem to match with those of William and Ann. The will was witnessed by Mary Rice and William Rice.

Will T348 - William Thorne of Tawstock (a mason), proved on 21 Feb 1837 - William died on 26 Jan 1837
There are bequests to sons William and John and to daughter Miriam Dalling. John was left the dwelling house occupied by Elizabeth Thorne and Ann Thorne. The will was witnessed by George Seader and Elizabeth Thorne
There was a fair likelihood that this was the correct William.
- John was living in Tawstock in 1841(HO107/221/18 F4 P3)
- William, Elizabeth and Ann are living close by in a house at Easticomb, Tawstock in 1841 (HO107/221/18 F8 P11)
BUT
- There was a William Thorne who married Miriam Nott in 1794, so likely that he named his daughter after his wife.
- Wife Miriam died in 1836, so unlikely there was also a wife Ann in 1800
- there is a baptism of Elizabeth, daughter of John and Margaret of Roundswill, in 1829. Also son George in 1826. There is a widow Margaret(63, born Landkey) with daughter Ann (15, born Tawstock) in Barnstaple in 1851. In 1841, John & Margaret plus children George, Elizabeth, Mary and Ann are in Litchdon Street Barnstaple.
- Miriam Thorne married Thomas Dalling in 1824. In 1851 Miriam Dalling says she was born in Tawstock
SO it is VERY unlikely that this is the correct family.

There is an MI at South Molton that might help to eliminate one of the two John's baptised in 1800
P21 Y42 Ann Thorne opposite this stone lies ANN the affectionate wife of W. M. Thorne who departed this life 26th April 1826 aged 39 years and her darling son John aged 7months.
- with no date for John's death and the fact that Ann would have only been 13 in 1800 make this only a vague possibility
- burial of Ann was 2 May 1826, aged 38 not 39
- W. M Thorne is likely to be William Mules Thorne who remarried in 1834
- However, there is a burial in Oct 1800 of a John Thorne. This could be the son of William/Ann as the age would be about right.

One other possible clue was that there is an 1843 burial in Filleigh (on the Genuki Devon/Filleigh web site) of an Elizabeth Thorne - the only Thorne burial in the 1838-1899 register.
page 26, Elizabeth THORNE Filleigh Feb 2 1843 65, approx birth = 1778
As John twice listed his place of birth as Filleigh on censuses is this the clue as to which of the two 1800 baptisms was him. i.e. is this his mother?
Death reference
Deaths Mar 1843 THORNE Elizabeth South Molton 10 149
- incorrect as death certificate states she was the wife of Thomas Thorne, farmer

There is an entry in the Probate Calendar for 1862
Thorne William 10 October. William Thorne late of Southmolton an Innkeeper who died 20 October 1860 - proved by oath of Ann Thorne widow and relict. There is a 41 year old William, a victualler, born South Molton, in King St on the 1851 "10% sample" of the census - indexed as Thome on the full census at Ancestry.co.uk. Brother of John?
another probate entry for a William Thorne was "late of Tawstock" and described as a bachelor. He died 1 February 1860 at Tawstock (presumably the son of William whose will is T348 above)

In Pigots directory of 1822/23 (on Genuki) there is an entry :
Thorne W, linen and woolen draper - East Street

Burial on findmypast
Surname:Thorne
Forename:William
Age:75
Year:1825
Month:Aug
Day:18
Notes:
Parish:South Molton
Town Or City:
County:Devon
Record source:Devon Burials - Transcripts
Data provider: Devon Family History Society
- transcript on Genuki says he was "of the poor house"

  Noted events in his life were:

• Occupation: Labourer, 1856.

William married Ann or Elizabeth.