FRANCKLIN HISTORY
Written
by JAMES ERNEST HOBBS who researched this family in the 1960’s
THE FRANCKLIN FAMILY OF WYE,
Thomas Francklin, gingerbread baker, of Wye,
who died in 1770, was the ancestor of Ethel Francklin, who married Ernest
Arthur Miles at Ramsgate in 1916. Her descent from Thomas is shown in the
family tree "The Francklin Family of Wye,
There seem to have been two main branches of
the family in
The Francklins of Chart Sutton, Wye,
(a)
through his son - John Francklin of Molash, gentleman, (1600-1677) who mentions
two sons in his will, Robert and Charles, but there is no evidence of either of
these having a son named Thomas. or
(b)
through his son - Thomas - who married Elizabeth
Simmons at Marden in 1628. or
(c)
through his son - Henry Francklin - woollen draper of
Ashford (1619-1703).
There are other possibilities. Arthur
Francklin of Badlesmere, gentleman (1601-1669), son of Arthur Francklin of
Badlesmere, gentleman (1570-1641), had inter alia two sons Thomas and John, who
were baptised at Badlesmere in 1646 and 1650 and who were alive when their
father died in 1666. Either of them could have been the father of Thomas of Wye
(ob.1770). He may have come from
No baptism of a Thomas Francklin between 1680
and 1690 has been found at Wye or at any of the nearby parishes including
Ashford, Molash and Badlesmere. Thomas of Wye (ob.1770) was probably a
Nonconformist in early life as his children were either recorded as "born
not baptised" in the Wye registers or were baptised later in life. Some of
the Francklins who were descended from John of Chart Sutton (ob.1500) may have
been Nonconformists. Members of the maidstone family
were officers in the Commonwealth forces in
The descendants of Thomas Franklen of
Rowling, Chillenden, (ob. 1528) are shown in the
family tree "The Francklin Family of Chillenden, Goodnestone, Petham and
John Francklin of Petham and Thanet
(1617-1666), the only son of Henry Francklin of Petham and Thanet (ob.1673) had
six sons but only three of them, Henry, John and James, were alive when their
grandfather died in 1673.
The eldest son, Henry, first lived in Thanet
after his marriage in 1666 but moved to Petham when his grandfather died in
1673. The Petham Manor records show that he and his brothers sold Dane Farm and
Copthall, which they had inherited from their grandfather, sometime between
1679 and 1683. Henry seems to have moved from Petham before 1679, but where he
went is not known. He could have been the father of Thomas Francklin of Wye
(ob.1770). His wife died at
1. MARY bur.
2.
3. JOHN bapt.
4. HENRY bapt.
(i)
(ii)
5. ANNA, spinster, of
John the second surviving son of John
Francklin (1617-1666) was not to inherit under his grandfather's will if he
married Mary, daughter of Richard Denies of Stelling, who his grandfather
judged "not to be afitting wife for him for some reasons not fitt here to
be expressed". The marriage did not take place. John, who had been
churchwarden in 1677, moved from Petham circa 1679 (the date of the
James, the youngest surviving son of John
Francklin (1617-1666), inherited from his grandfather some property in
A search of the Hearth Tax records for East
Kent in 1664, excluding Canterbury and the Cinque Ports, has produced only the
following house occupiers with the name of Francklin (other than Arthur of
Badlesmere).
Hundred of Bridge and
Henry Francklin iiii hearths
Hundred of Filborough Molish
Mr.Franklin iii hearths
Town of
Henry Francklin ii hearths (not charged)
Hundred of Ringslow
(Thanet) Wray Borough
John Franckling iiii hearths
These can all be identified as members of one
or other of the two families.
Perhaps one day some piece of information will
be turned up which will complete the jig-saw; the best guess at the moment,
bearing in mind his Nonconformity, the names of his children, his social status
and the later movement of his son John to Thanet, is that Thomas Francklin of
Wye (ob.1770) was the son of John Francklin who married Elizabeth Badcock, the
baptist, at Dover in 1679, and that his father was John, son of John Francklin
of Petham and Thanet (1617-1666), baptised at St.John Thanet 22nd January
1645/6.
Thomas Francklin (ob.1770) married Barbara,
daughter of Cosman Ertzberger, at Wye church on
"Here lieth the body of Cosman Ertzberger
of this town. He was a native of ye City of
..................... the
Body of Mary first wife of the aforesaid Cosman Ertzberger by whom he had one
................. daughters. She died
The marriage licence of
Cosman Ertzberger when he married Mary Smith of Smeeth in 1679 gives his name
as Adsberry and describes him as a gentleman of Eastwell, the home of the Earl
of Winchelsea. When he married again in 1692 to Elizabeth Sanford of
Ashford, the licence gives his correct surname and describes him as tailor of
Wye. In his will (dated
Thomas Francklin's name appears among the
freeholders in the polls for the knights of the shire to represent
Barbara, wife of Thomas Francklin died in
1758 and her gravestone in Wye churchyard reads:
"In memory of
Barbara the wife of
Thos Francklin of this
Town. She died December
the 10th
1758 aged seventy two years,
left
issue six children viz
Thos. Sarah John Elizabeth
Barbara
and Mary. Thomas
and
John are not."
The son Thomas died in 1761 and refers in his
will to "the son and sons of my late brother John Francklin deceased"
and he gave "unto the widow of my late brother John Francklin deceased the sum of Twenty pounds". So John died before
1761 and this explains the comment at the end of the inscription on his
mother's grave. The other son, William who was born in 1713/14, must have died
when young.
Their father died in 1770 and his gravestone
at Wye reads:
"In loving memory
of
Thomas Francklin Sen,
late
of this town
who died
aged
8- years
He left three daughters viz
Sarah Elizabeth
Barbara"
There are also gravestones nearby for Thomas
Francklin (1708-1761). Barbara, wife of John French,
(d.1786), John French (d.1790) and James Oliver (d.1791).
In 1750 the family was subject to some
national notoriety arising from the marriage of
Thomas senior in his will, left his copyhold
property to his executors, his sons-in-law John Laming of Wye gentleman and
John French of Wye wheelwright, with instructions to sell and divide the money
between his four daughters: Sarah wife of John Laming, Elizabeth wife of Fleet
Eldon, Barbara wife of John French and Mary wife of James Oliver. (Mary Oliver
must have died between the time the will was written in 1765 and her father's
death in 1770). He gave five pounds to Sarah the widow of his late son John
Francklin deceased, five pounds to his granddaughter Mary daughter of his late
son John Francklin deceased to be paid when she reached the age of twenty one,
and ten pounds to his granddaughter Sarah Collington together with "the
cherry coloured bed in my middle chamber as the same now stands with the
furniture and appurtenances thereunto belonging"
Details of the copyhold property owned by
Thomas Francklin senior and by his son Thomas Francklin (1708-1761) are given
in the records of the Courts Baron of the Royal Manor of Wye. On 16 October
1738 Thomas, senior, surrendered to the use of his will "one messuage
formerly called Zeals, one kitchen, one garden, one orchard containing one rood
abutting to the messuage of Thomas Pope, formerly called the Saracen's Head to
the south, to Wye churchyard to the north, to lands called Churchfield to the
west, and to the Common Marketplace of Wye to the east, now in the tenure of
Thomas Francklin with the right to use the well at the Saracen's Head paying
proportion of the repairs". The manor rent was two shillings yearly. At
the Court Baron on
On 14 May 1756 it was recorded that Thomas
Francklin the younger of Wye, plumber and glazier had purchased from Elizabeth
Court (formerly Elizabeth Simmons now widow of Stephen Court of Waltham) a
piece of land called Dungeon in Wye which adjoined the Kings Highway to east
and south, abutted to the vicarage land to west and south, and to the lands of
Thomas Dobson to north and west. When Thomas died in 1761 this land was
inherited by his son and heir Thomas Francklin of Wye, tailor, but at the Court
Baron on 21 April, 1763 he surrendered it to the use of his grandfather, Thomas
Francklin of Wye gingerbread baker, the Rev. Nicholas Brett of Springgrove,
Wye, clerk and David Hughes of Wye, carpenter who were trustees of his father's
will. This was the land which Thomas Francklin (1708-1761) had left on trust to
"the son or sons of my late brother John Francklin deceased."
Little is known of the freehold land
mentioned in the poll records but in 1746 Mr. Francklin paid land tax on a
cottage in Challock rated at one pound and occupied by widow Clerk and Thomas
Francklin Senior paid tax on property in Wye rated at four pounds and occupied
by himself. In the same year Sarah Francklin owned property in Wye rated at two
pounds and Thomas Francklin junior occupied property there rated at six pounds.
It was not until 1798 that the copyhold
property left on trust by Thomas Francklin junior (1708-1761) was sold and the
proceeds divided among the son's of his brother John. John, whose birth does
not appear in the registers, must have been born in 1712 and was apprenticed in
1726 to Dan Besum of Kennington tailor, the fee being eight pounds. In 1734,
John Francklin (married Sarah Reynolds at St.Lawrence Thanet. Their first child
Elizabeth was baptised at St.John Thanet in 1735. Their second child was
baptised at Wye in 1738 and six others at St.John Thanet, the last there being
named Mary in 1752. They then seem to have moved away from Thanet.
There was another child after Mary whose
baptism has not been found. Isaac Francklin, greengrocer, of
On 12 October 1798 the Court Baron at Wye
recorded that of the original trustees of the will of Thomas Francklin
(1708-1761) only David Hughes survived and that John Francklin, brother of
Thomas Francklin, had died leaving four sons William, John "now of
Margate, gent", Thomas and Isaac "now of Margate, gent", of whom
Thomas and William were since dead Thomas without issue, and William leaving
two sons, William Francklin now of Sheerness labourer in the King's Yard there,
and John lately intestate without issue. The property called Dungeon was in the
occupation of William French and was described as messuage barn garden orchard
etc. The claim to ownership was successful and John Francklin, his wife Ann
Isaac Francklin, his wife Sarah, and their nephew William sold it to William
Ladd of Wye, wheelwright.
John Francklin (born at Wye in 1712) died
some time between 1752 and 1761 and most likely between 1758 and 1761 if one is
to explain the inscription on his mother's gravestone at Wye. His wife, Sarah
died some time after 1765 and she is mentioned in her father-in-law's will).
Where they moved to and the children grew up
is not known. Isaac came back to
Early directories of
"Two persons living in
In 1662 I find complaint made to the Duke of
York, then Lord Warden or Admiral of the Cinque Ports, that this Pier and
Harbour was much ruinated and decayed, and that the Moneys formerly collected
and received for the repair thereof had not been duly improved for that End,
and that for a long time past there had been no due Accounts given, nor
elections made of successive Pier Wardens yearly, is by ancient customs and
Orders of former Lord Wardens ought to be. On which Colonel John Stroode, then
Lieutenant of Dover Castle, wrote to the four Captains of the Companies in the
Liberties of the Cinque Ports in this Island (Thanet) to summon Edward Taddie,
Thomas Wheately, John Franklyn, Jeffrey Tomlin, and the Widow Bishop, late Pier
Wardens, to produce the Writings and Orders touching and give up their
accounts: Which Summons is dated March 6th 1662. But what was the effect of
this I don't find; I suppose the Persons summoned obeyed the Summons, and did
as they were required."
The position regarding the collection of
Droits and the repairs of the Piers continued to be unsatisfactory intil 1724
when the Pier Wardens petitioned for and obtained an Act of Parliament to
legalise their duties. Further act were passed in 1787 and 1799, the former
also providing for the pier income to be used for the paving, lighting,
cleaning and widening of the streets in Margate-hence the mention of John
Francklin in the local Directories under the heading "Pier and Pavement
Officials". After considerable damage to the old wooden Pier by a heavy
storm in 1808, another Act was obtained in 1812 for separating the management
of the pier and harbour from the paving and lighting and vesting the future
harbour of Margate in a joint stock company, who were enabled by an increase in
the droits and pierage to pay the interest of a large sum which was lent for
constructing a new pier.
In 1812, John Francklin (1741-1820) was
seventy one years old and was, no doubt, ready to
retire when the joint stock company was formed. He had had an assistant, Thomas
Holness, for years. He executed his will on
Their son John Charles Francklin (1779-1825)
was licensee of the Bull's Head tavern in the Market Place at
Little is known of John Edward Francklin
(1801-1843) except that he was a sailor. His son, John Charles Francklin
(1826-1904) was living with his parents in "Garden Row",
Their son, Frederick Charles Francklin
(1863-1924) was a printer, and according to his obituary notice in the
"East Kent Times", was first employed at Ramsgate by
He met his future wife Jane Beer Hyne in
SOURCES:
History
of
History
of
History
of Thanet John Lewis 1st. Ed. 1723
2nd. Ed. 1736
History
of Four Families C.A.H.Francklyn 1932
Kentish
Sources II "
17th
Century
Visitation
of
Visitation
of
Visitation
of
Probate
and other records Kent
Archives Office,
Census
Returns Public Record Office,
Parish
Registers
Alumni
Oxoniensis
1715-1886
Local
Records
Universal
British Directory
1796
Kentish
Companion
1797
Holden's
Directory 1811
Pigot's
Kent Directory
1823, 1839
Pigot's
Post
Office
Kelly's
A
Second Kentish Patchwork
R.H.Goodsall 1968
Records
of the Royal Manor of Wye The Library,
MR. JOHN COLLINGTON
In March 1749/50 during the Kent County
Assizes at
JOHN STONE late of Challock Lees for
maliciously and wickedly setting fire to the Barn Corn and Hay Ricks of Mr.
John Clarke of Throwleigh and JOHN COLLINGTON a gentleman farmer of
considerable Estate for councelling, abetting, aiding and hiring the said John
Stone to commit the said wicked Act. Likewise the Trials of STEPHEN BARRETT and
JOSEPH GREGORY for going in disguise to the Barn of the above mentioned John
Clarke of Throughleigh and forcibly taking him from thence, beating him and
firing a Carbine and Pistol at him-for which purpose they were hired by the
above Mr. John Collington.
The story of the events leading up to the
trial and consequent execution of John Stone and John Collington at Penenden
Heath, Maidstone on Saturday 7 April 1750 is told in full by R.H.Goodsall in
his book "A Second Kentish Patchwork" (1968). The trial created much
interest at the time and there was sensational reporting of John Collington's
reputedly sadistic life in various periodicals including "The Universal
Magazine" Volume 6 (April 1750), the Newgate Calendar" Volume II, and
the "Ladies Magazine" Volume I (April-June 1750). In these it was
reported that John Collington after the death of his first wife remarried in
1741, his new wife being the daughter of a Mr. Franklin, "a Tradesman of
an Exceeding good Character" of Wye in
This second wife of John Collington was
Elizabeth, the daughter of Thomas Francklin, gingerbread baker of Wye (circa 1690-1770).
John Collington's worthy parentage added
spice to the lurid magazine stories of his life. He was reputed to have
ill-treated his first wife, and even to have murdered her, after she had borne
him ten children of whom only four survived, "and
the six that died were buried in his own orchard, to save the charges". If
the stories were based on local heearsay it is surprising that Thomas Francklin
allowed his daughter to marry such a man. It was even more surprising that, if
John Collington was really guilty of the crime he was reputed to have
committed, his second wife's father and sister should have accompanied him in
the coach to Penenden Heath on the day of execution. Goodsall points out other
discrepancies between Collington's reputation and the reported facts and it
seems possible that he was an unfortunate firebrand who was not as black as he
was painted and may well have been a victim of local prejudice. Possibly some
of the evidence against him was "rigged"; certainly hanging, even in
that brutish age, was extreme punishment for his
crime. Right up to the last moment he hoped for a reprieve but on the Gallows
he received a message that "no respite could on any account be obtained
for Mr. Collington there having been interest made against him by noblemen and
gentlemen in the country round where he lived."
John Collington, whose address at that time
in the marriage licence records is given as
One of the accusations made against him was
that he did not have his children baptised and gave them a name himself. It
seems likely that he was a non-conformist and this could have been one reason
for his unpopularity in Throwley. Thomas Francklin (seems also to have been a
non-conformist for the Wye registers, although they record the births of his
children, do not record any baptism until 1744 when two of his daughters,
Barbara aged 23 and Mary aged 19 were baptised. This however may have been due
to the puritan inclinations of the incumbent at that time as Thomas Francklin
was married in Wye church and the baptisms in 1744 followed the entry of a new
curate, Heneage Dering, in 1743.
Certainly Thomas Francklin appears from the
contempory reports to have borne no grudge against his son-in-law and there is
no suggestion in records of the Francklin family that
1 2
Grace
Wheeler ====== JOHN
====== Elizabeth Francklin
of Charing 1728 COLLINGTON 1741
daughter of Thomas
|
| Son of Nathaniel |
gingerbread baker
| Collington M.A. | of Wye and Barbara
| Clerk, Rector of |
formerly Ertzberger
| Pluckley |
born circa 1716 Wye
| born 23 March |
| 1696/7. Pluckley |
later married 1755
| | Fleet Elden, barber
| executed 7 April |
of Charing
| 1750. Penenden |
| Heath |
| |
| |
issue |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sarah
Collington ====== Edward Boys
died.16Mar1787 | Gentleman of
buried in
| Boys Hall
Willesborough | Willesborough
Church |
and the Moat,
Mentioned
in | Sevington
will of grand-
| bapt.20Jul1744
father Thomas
| died.19Mar1796
Francklin
dated | buried in
27Jun1765. | Willesborough
pr.Archd.Ct. | Church
|
|
---------------------------------------------------
| | | |
Edward Boys twin of Sarah Boys William Boys |-John
of
Ashford bapt.25Sep1768 b.10Aug1775
|-Mary
bapt.25Sep1768 at Willesborough Willesborough|-Margaret
at
Willesborough mar.1789 to m.9Nov1794 |-
mar.17Sep1793 William Knowles to
at
Smeeth of
to
Susannah
dau.of
William Hobbs yeoman
of
Aldington, yeoman