Our Kingsley ancestors came from Pirton near Hitchin and it is generally agreed that we are descended from John Kingsley b1761 and Mary Furrian who were married there in 1780. During 2017 it was confirmed by ancestry.com DNA test results that we are definitely descended from Mary Furrian and that connection is backed up by various ‘on paper’ trees that ancestry members have posted. Interestingly ancestry.com has NOT made a DNA connection between us and John Kingsley.
So who fathered our 3rd great grandmother Sarah Kingsley?
Either Mary was playing away or John Kingsley’s ancestors are not the ones commonly found in Kingsley family trees.
Where did John Kingsley’s parents come from?
As family historians we should use the three-legged-stool principle and be looking for three supporting pieces of research before someone can be included in our ‘on paper’ family tree. Otherwise their position is unstable. We must remember that most parish records from the 18th century and before have been lost. With DNA evidence we know who we are related to, gold-plated, but exactly how needs to be verified using two more extra pieces of evidence.
Researchers suggest that the parents of the above John b1761: John Kingsley b1740 and his wife Mary nee Cain moved from Sandon or Rushden on the eastern side of Hertfordshire (not Rushden, Northamptonshire) to Pirton on the western edge of Hertfordshire. The Rushden records include Kingsleys:
- Jonathan married Elizabeth Crouch on 28 April 1728
- William baptised 1734 daughter of Jonathan
- Sarah baptised 1738 daughter of Jonathan
- Martha baptised 1741 daughter of Jonathan, possibly William Pirkins’ wife, above.
- Elisha and James baptised 1745 sons of Jonathan and Elizabeth
- Catherine baptised 1747 daughter of Jonathan and Elizabeth, a good candidate for Robert Primet’s bride in 1768, above.
But the family’s entries in the available Sandon registers go back to 1668 and include a tantalising Jonathan, son of John and Margaret baptised 29 December 1700.
A John Kingsley married Mary Cain on 4 October 1756 at Rushden
- BUT is there any proof that the John in Rushden is the same as the John in Pirton?
- and is there any evidence in the Pirton records that Mary’s maiden name was Cain?
At the moment I see the link to the Rushden marriage making a very unstable stool with one ill fitting leg, not to be trusted. I guess that someone has looked for a record that fits the dates not realising that too many records have been lost.
Kingsley family at Pirton prior to 1780
Looking at the other Kingsleys in Pirton who were mentioned in the parish registers before then they were:
***** More than these on ancestry.co.uk TO BE ADDED and reassessed *****
- Cath Kingsley married Robert Primett in 1768, the first Kingsley entry in Pirton. Unless this Robert was born in 1714, son of Robert and Elizabeth he was not baptised at Pirton, or at least a record of his baptism at Pirton has not survived. The Primetts were well established in Pirton as the parish registers show them living there by 1614. Robert and Cath(erine) or Katherine had these offspring baptised in Pirton:
- Mary 1769
- Elizabeth 1771
- Ann 1773
- Thomas 1775
- George Peirson 1777
- Mary 1781
- Margaret 1788
There is a record of a Robert Primett, labourer being buried in 1788 in Pirton, but none for Catherine Primett.
- John and Mary who had four offspring baptised in Pirton:
- William b.1762 bpt 7Jan1771
- Edward b.1767 bpt 7Jan1771 *** see below
- Elizabeth b.1769 bpt 7Jan1771
- Richard 1774
- John and Elizabeth had one child baptised:
- James b.1771 bpt 7Jan1771
- Martha married William Pirkins in 1774 later the registers show baptisms of:
- [Sarah do William and Mary Perkins 1774]
- [Elizabeth do William and Mary Perkins 1776]
- William so William and Martha Perkins 1778
A further important question is where is the baptismal record of John Kingsley who married Mary Furrian in 1780? If it has survived. …. maybe in ancestry record to be added .. fingers crossed!
Mary Furrian’s baptism was probably in Pirton on 23 May 1760, daughter of Thomas and Ruth and sister of Thomas (1755) and Fanny (1772). By then the Furrian family had lived in Pirton for a couple of generations, but no sign Thomas’ baptism in the available records.
Sources:http://www.pirtonhistory.org.uk/data/ , ancestry.co.uk by subscritpion and familysearch by free membership. https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk has a good search by surname facility for Hertfordshire marriages.
- Edward b.1767 bpt 7Jan1771 Pirton so John and Mary, probably younger brother of our John m. Mary Furrian. Maybe died 1798, Pirton no age of Edward buried given. Married 23 Apr 1792 at Shillington, Beds. Also noted in Pirton banns register.
- +Ann Twydell 1766-?[also Twidale etc] bapt 28 Sep 1766 at Shillington do Edward and Ann.
- John bapt 1795 Pirton may have married Sophia Daniels. Some ancestry trees suggest her husband John Kingsley was born 1793 Southill, Bedfordshire (as that was where their son was born) but DNA suggests Pirton as does sheilalumsden. Could they have used the family name Kingsley Daniels to differentiate from another local Kingsley family?
- +Sophia Daniels
- George Kingsley Daniels 1825-1904 born Southill, married Harriet born Clifton, Offspring born Clifton, Henlow, Stondon, Arlesey, Shillington. In Shillington in 1861. Arlesey in 1871. He was an agricultural labourer moving around the area!
- Sarah bapt 1798 Pirton [same year as father died??]