William Gresham 1770-1823

Family 1 Ancestry tree- Jan Mcfarlane- in contact since 13/1/2020: her husband descended from Thomas Gresham 1844-1920

Much of the info on his life comes from Jan's PDF files on the Greshams. A huge Thank You to Jan

I do have a lot of information on my ancestry tree about the family including the house of Ivy farm where the Gresham family lived in the 1700s before they moved to Dunstable for John Gresham to take up the position of Headmaster of Chew's school. I have some newspaper cuttings about this. They seemed to have actually reside in Soulbury after Swanbourne and this is where his wife Mary died and his eldest daughter Ann married. They are very close villages. Im not sure if you can see the records i have on my ancestry tree but i think i have a photo of Ivy farm there and we actually went inside on a trip there in 2008.I bought a historical book about swanbourne and theres a page there that states that John Gresham owned Ivy farm. I'll photograph the page and send it. I have a copy of the administration of John Gresham's will and he states on this that his money is left to his children William Gresham , Ann Gostelow and  Catherine Leonora Puddephat.  The psalmodies that are still played in the churches in Dunstable and around were written by John and William Gresham so both must have been musical. William who married Martha brown played the organ in the priory and taught music. Although John was headmaster William also taught at the school and after him William Gresham Puddephatt [Catherine Leonoras son] was a master at the school. There were a number of newspaper articles on FMP about them. William and Martha lived at Priory house. 
in the early 2000s Paul's sister Jenny and i hired a professional genealogist and she traced the family back further and found wills which confirmed the information i have on my tree.  John Gresham uncle a William Gresham was  a headmaster in Shenley and he left property to his nephew John Gresham of Swanbourne. there are quite a few photos of my ancestry tree under John Greshams gallery of the churches and houses and school. One of the Gresham family in New Zealand has the portrait of John Gresham with the dates of his birth and death on so we know its correct. I didnt even know about the portrait when i did the research so it was lovely to find out about it after.
is there any other information you would like. Some of the wills are large and too big to scan and not very legible but i can send you the letters from the researcher if thats helpful and attach some photos from a letter if you like.

 

1770. William Gresham was baptised to John Gresham & Mary Warr on 30/12/1770 in Swanbourne, Buckingham

ivy-farm .ivy-house

Ivy Farm, Swanbourne- Jan has him living here

gresh-swan

1794. William Gresham, attorney at law, of Ampthill- from FMP Marriage licences- married Martha Brown on 17/8/1794 in Dunstable parish church - ?? not found on Ancestry/Fs/ FMP with details like church & date!! - just details, not the certificate, from Ancestry tree

1801. William Gresham was born to William & Martha on 20/5/1801 in Dunstable - FMP

He was the only surviving male child

They lived in Dunstable 1803-1823- Ancestry Land tax records . He originally leased the Prory House but then bought it from George Maddison in 1809, borrowing the money from William Frederick Brown, Martha's brother . He later mortgaged it for £600; this was paid off on his death in 1823 by his son, William 1801, and the house was sold

He was involved , and served as an overseer, in the parish church, where he was organist, appointed in 1793 at a fee of 10 guineas annually, increasing to £15 by 1802, and in 1823 was advertised as £20.

priory

William and Martha Gresham lived here at Priory House, Dunstable . William was the organist at the church and taught

 

1823.William Gresham was listed in Pigots as professor of Music

1823. William Gresham died Dunstable - no burial on FMP .Family 1 Ancestry tree: burial records Dunstable library provided by Stella Watkin. His death was recorded in the Northampton Mercury

1830. Martha declared that their son William Gresham, of Hawke Street, is the only surviving heir of her late husband, 2 other sons born pre 1801, having died soon after birth, without even being baptised

Steer Index

"We did visit Dunstable library and also the Priory and Priory house. We got talking to a chap when we visited the poor boys school. We were just taking some photos outside as we knew that John Gresham (William Gresham organists father ) had been the headmaster there. Anyway he came out of the school building and we got chatting. It’s now church offices and he invited us in to look and take some photos . We ended up having a coffee together at the Priory House which is now the information centre so we got to see though that. William and Martha Gresham lived there when he was organist and taught music. William Gresham and his father John wrote a psalmody which is still played in churches today and we got a copy of it. So it was all so exciting to see! We also visited Swanbourne a small village not far from Dunstable where John Gresham had lived and was born. We were taking photos of the farmhouse and the lady came out and invited us in to look after we explained the connection. Weren't we lucky?!! People were so kind. I bought an interesting little book from the only shop in Swanbourne written a small about the history and the Grisham’s are mentioned in it. I’m not sure how much Catherine knows of the family history but I did a lot of research along with my sister-in-law Jenny in the early 2000 s . We were trying to see if there was any truth in the family story that the Greshams were descendants of Sir Thomas Gresham. We read many genealogies and old wills and followed them down the generations and were unable to find any links with Sir Thomas’s family. His only son died without issue. I know Hugh Gresham's family have some portraits, one of John Gresham the headmaster 1745-1812, and a couple of Sir Thomas which we believe were purchased by auction by William Gresham who was born 1801 to William and Martha. He was Thomas Gresham (coroner’s) father and a barrister in London. Thomas and he were in practice together till 1875-6 when Thomas went bankrupt and was cut out of the practice. We don’t know what happened exactly but it was then he and his wife and daughter emigrated to NZ and set up practice in Te Awamutu. I have some of the wills of the family, William Gresham, Stafford Henry Northcote and Emily Crosti , Thomas’s sister and it seems he did something dodgy with money as he was not left any money directly by anyone, just to his wife and children and with trustees to manage. Not sure if we could find out more?? I’m happy to share these wills with you if you want. Martha Gresham also had other children who died. I have a document written by her. Also a document when John Gresham died leaving his money divided between his son William , daughters Ann Puddephatt and Catherine leonora Gostelow"- Jan