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I discovered free online index of births, deaths and marriages for NSW yesterday
and put together the attached family history. The Salwey information is from The
Plantagenet Roll of the Blood Royal that I found on ancestry.com. The
Salwey's go back to King Edward III. John Wilbraham Edwards of Cooma,
father of Amy Louisa Edwards is mentioned in this source. Descendants of Thomas EDWARDS 11 Nov 2002 Edwards’ Dysart Connection My great-aunt, Elizabeth Wilcox was inspired to learn more of her family history by some items in the family that suggested royal connections. She searched Burke’s peerage and other sources making notes on the family of the Earl of Dysart. Her interest in that family was likely inspired by silverware in the possession of the family. In early 1986, only a few years before her death, she wrote a letter to my mother, Marjorie McGee stating, " I found a paper that Aunt Bessie wrote mother I had not seen before. She wrote that their (Bessie and Amelia’s) fifth great grandparents were the Earl of Dysart and Grace Wilbraham." My mother, Marjorie McGee had continued that search. She has inherited a silver spoon and a silver fork (Figure 1) which my grandmother believed once belonged to her great, great grandfather, James (who we now know to have been Jeffery) Edwards. The initials CE and JE appear near the base of the handles on these items. Hallmarks on the fork indicate that William Tweedie of London made it in 1786. A figure that we have nicknamed "The Beast" appears on both items. It bears a strong resemblance to the animal in the crest of the Tollemache family (Figure 2).
Figure 2 For over a century some Edward’s children have been named Wilbraham and/or Tollemache – both are names connected to the Earl of Dysart. Following is some history of the Tollemache family. , 6th Earl of Dysart (1739 – Mar 9, 1821) married Anna Maria Lewis and died without issue. He was a contemporary of my 4th great grandfather, Jeffery Edwards. His parents were Lionel Tollemache, the 4th Earl of Dysart and Lady Grace Carteret. Lionel Tollemache the 4th’s parents were Lionel Tollemache, the 3rd Earl of Dysart and Henrietta Heneage, illegitimate daughter of William Cavendish, the Duke of Devonshire. Lionel, the 3rd’s parents were Grace Wilbraham (1656 – 1740), daughter of Sir Thomas Wilbraham of Woodkey Manor in the county of Chester, Bart and Lionel Tollemache, the 2nd Earl of Dysart (1648-1725). Edwards with the name Wilbraham and/or Tollemache
I have not been able to determine the name of Thomas’ wife, the mother of Wilbraham Tollemache Edwards. (Could he have been the Thomas Edwards who married Elizabeth Alleyne at St. Joseph, Barbados, Caribbean on July 7, 1759?). It is quite possible that Thomas Edwards married into the Tollemache family and that is why he named his son Wilbraham Tollemache Edwards but let us assume that the connection was prior to that. Thomas Edwards was born in 1733 and his son, Wilbraham Tollemache Edwards was likely born after 1755. Thomas Edwards’ parents were John Edwards (b 1709) and Mary Scoble (b. 1710). Let us rule out the ancestors of Mary Scoble because the names Wilbraham and Tollemache do not appear in the families of the other Scoble descendants. The Tollemache connection would need to be the mother of John Edwards who would have been born around 1690. Records I have seen show that Lionel Tollemache and Grace Wilbraham had four daughters: Mary born in 1685, Catherine born in 1687, Elizabeth born in 1689 and Grace born in 1691. Mary died unmarried in 1715. Catherine married James Bridges in 1724. He died in 1727 and there is no record of another marriage. Elizabeth married Sir Robert Cotton and died in 1745. Grace Tollemache died unmarried in 1719. If John Edwards’ mother were a Tollemache, I would expect children him to have named his children Lionel and/or Grace but his children were Joan, Thomas, John, Ann, Mary and Jeffery. Did Lionel Tollemache and Grace Wilbraham have a daughter named Joan who has not been recorded in historical records? Possible, but not likely. One source states that Grace Wilbraham remarried in 1735 – too late to have more children. The search continues.... The members of the Edwards family are in possession of a piece of fabric said to have been from the wedding gown of the Duchess of Devonshire and it has long been a mystery as to how that fabric came to be in the family. My theory is that is was from the gown of the most famous Duchess of Devonshire, Lady Georgiana Spencer (1757 – 1806) who was the daughter of Earl John Spencer and Georgiana Margaret Poyntz. She married Duke William Cavendish at Wimbledon to become the fifth Duchess of Devonshire on June 5, 1774. My fourth great grandfather, Jeffery Edwards (1741 – 1805) was about 16 years older than Georgiana and he bought land and an interest in an estate known as Painsford at Ashprington from members of the Poyntz side her family. Painsford is described in Whites Devonshire Directory of 1850 as follows: "an ancient mansion, on the banks of the river Harbourn… is the seat and property of Mr. Philip Mitchelmore, and has been successively held by the Piperell, Halwill, Somaster, Kellond, Courtenay, and other families . . ..". The genealogy of Edmund Boyle, 7th Earl of Cork (1742-1798), indicates that his wife, Anne Courtenay (1742-1785), daughter of Kelland Courtenay was born at Painsford in 1742 so after 1742 and before 1805, Philip Michelmore (1736-1806) and Jeffery Edwards (1741-1805) purchased Painsford and some surrounding land. In his will of May 18,1805, Jeffery Edwards of Rill, Buckfastleigh, leaves to his son John Edwards, his part, share, right, and interest of and in the remainder of lands which he purchased of Mr. Pontz and Mr. Michelmore and which are at present undivided between Mr. Michelmore and himself. In his will dated May 13, 1812, John Edwards of Stancombe, Harberton instructs that, as he is entitled unto the reversion in fee simple jointly with Mr. Philip Michelmore, the elder, of Painsford in certain third parts of certain estates which his late father and the said Philip Michelmore purchased of Lord Cork and Mr. Poyntz, that they be sold to apply in the liquidation of his debts and general welfare of his estate. It is clear that Jeffery Edwards was acquainted with the Poyntz family who had close ties with the Earl of Cork and with the estate known as Painsford at Ashprington. Through them, he may have acquired fabric from her wedding gown. END |
