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Research notes re the antecedents of Joseph and Ann Strettell
As indicated on "The Strettle Family" page, there is a lack of positive corroboration within the available records regarding Joseph's ancestry - specifically details of his parents and date of birth, which might be thought to be quite important! There could also be confusion regarding Joseph's wife, although I'm sure that she is correctly identified as Ann Alexander. The available records, however, strongly suggest Joseph's antecedents and these notes describe the reasoning behind the research.
Re: Joseph's marriage
The fundamental issue is that the Parish Registers show that there were 3 families headed by a Joseph Strettle procreating in the area in the late 17thC - in Warburton, Mobberley and Witton, therefore there were 3 marriages and 3 Josephs! "Our" Joseph was, of course, the head of the Witton family.
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There are 2 "Joseph" marriages in Cheshire in this timescale that fit:
1. Joseph (of Agden) married Athell Holt (of Bollington) in 1676 - I think that these can safely be assumed to be the "Warburton" family given the locations (Athell died 1684, and it seems probable that Joseph remarried at some point as there is a further christening at Warburton with him as father in 1694 - overlapping the dates when "Witton Joseph" was having children christened.)
2. Joseph (of Mobberley) married Hannah Alexander (of Knutsford) in 1678 - for a long time I was misled by the fact that an IGI contributor had identified Hannah as the mother of the Mobberley family (presumably because of Joseph's home location and the fact that a child Alexander (son of Joseph) was christened at Mobberley in 1680). I originally just accepted this as "fact", leaving the Witton family's mother unidentified (although later research of Burials at Weaverham identified that her name was Ann!).
There was a 3rd Joseph marriage in this time period - to Judith Mosley at Prestwich in 1683 - for a period I'd thought this to be too far away from Mobberley to be considered, but some wider research about the family in Mobberley made it clear that Mobberley Strettells married in and around Manchester in this period (not just in North Cheshire).
So, putting Joseph and Judith into the mix with Joseph and Hannah (or Ann)........
The Mobberley christenings start in 1680 (with Alexander), but then there is a break to 1685 from when there are 8 children christened in Mobberley until 1696 - the 1685 child's name is Judith and the 1696 child's name is Mosley - that's an unreal coincidence if the Mobberley mother is Hannah (Alexander) as opposed to Judith (Mosley). I'm now of the opinion that the Mobberley family (with the exception of Alexander, who is born too early) is, in fact headed by Joseph and Judith (Mosley) - this fits with the 1683 marriage, and the Witton family is headed by Joseph and Hannah (Alexander) - they could have lived in Mobberley when they first married which would explain Alexander being christened there in 1680 (or maybe Joseph just wanted his first son christened at the "family seat" as it were) - all other children are christened at Witton (and after all, the only other reference to Ann being the wife of Joseph is her burial at Weaverham, along with Joseph). Added to this an Alexander Strettall was buried at Witton in 1704 (I've only found one Alexander Strettell christening and that's the one in 1680!!!!) An Anne Alexander was born in Knutsford in 1660 and there appear to be quite a number of Alexanders in the Witton Parish Registers (and other local churches) at the time.
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As mentioned above, Joseph and Ann were buried at Weaverham (the parish church serving Onston, where they lived) - Joseph and Judith were buried at Mobberley.
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I don't think that there can be any doubt that "our" Joseph was married to Anne Alexander!
Re: Joseph's birth and parentage
The only evidence of where Joseph came from is given in his marriage licence which identifies him as being “of Mobberley” – although the actual marriage register at Rostherne doesn’t give any “Groom’s Residence” details (unlike the 1681 marriage at Rostherne of John Strettell which clearly gives his Residence as Mobberley!).
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Whilst we know (from the marriage and christening records described above) that there were at least 3 Joseph Strettells of the right sort of age living in the area at the time, the only christening of a Joseph Strettill in Cheshire in the right timeframe in the “available” Parish Registers is that of Joseph, son of Roger, christened at Mobberley on 9th April 1648.
The only other references in formal records re Joseph in the right timeframe (that I’ve found!) are contained in various Wills:
In the 1671 Will of Hugh Strettell of Saltersley, he makes a small bequest to Joseph Strettell of Mobberley – from detail contained in “Burkes Landed Gentry” it can be seen that this Joseph was a schoolmaster, the son of Joseph Strettell of Bleakney (who was “Saltersley Hugh’s” brother). Although his precise date of birth is unknown, this Joseph would be of the right sort of age to be "our" Joseph, but given that this Joseph was a schoolmaster (at some point in time) it is unlikely, although not impossible, that he is the Joseph (a Yeoman) who married Ann Alexander.
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All other references to Joseph Strettell in Wills clearly refer to Joseph, the son of Roger, and all are relating to Mobberley.
This is the key assumption.... the fact that I've only found one Joseph Strettell christening in the right timeframe doesn't automatically mean that this MUST be the right one. However the age is right, the place is right, the occupation is right and there are other potential links between Roger's family and Ann Alexander's possible antecedents (described below) - I believe that there is a strong likelihood that this is "our" Joseph and if this is the case then the two earlier generations are not in question. I am therefore presuming this to be the correct Joseph, whilst continuing to look for other evidence - either corroborating this, or disproving this!
Re: Ann's antecedents
Whilst there is only one identified Joseph Strettill christening in the right timeframe, there are three Ann Alexander christenings in the area: one in Knutsford on 8th May 1660 (the daughter of Peter and Maria Alexander (nee Bradborne)), another in Witton on 20th October 1660 (the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (nee Stringfellow)), the third in Davenham on 7th December 1661 (the daughter of Charles and Dorothy (nee Cooke)). Unfortunately the christening locations give no clue as to which Ann might be the right one - Witton being the parish in which most of Joseph and Ann's children were christened, Davenham being close to Hartford where Joseph and Ann lived, and Knutsford being part of the Rostherne parish at that time, Ann's place of residence at the time of her marriage.
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Re: "Knutsford Ann"........ Peter Alexander and Marie Bradborne were married at Rostherne on the 22nd October 1657 – Marie died in 1663 and was buried at Knutsford on 28th June 1663. Peter re-married (to Margaret Widther) on 2nd August 1664, but he died in 1665, being buried at Knutsford on 24th February 1665 – which would have effectively left Ann orphaned. Peter did not leave a Will – the Probate records contain only an Admon certification by Margaret Alexander (the widow of Peter Alexander, Yeoman, of Nether Knutsford) – there is no mention of Ann although “John Alexander of Knutsford” is referenced on the document – this could be Peter’s father or brother. No details of Ann’s upbringing are known – was she cared for by her step-mother of 6 months (Margaret) or was she looked after by other family members? Ann (whichever Ann it was!) was 18 years old when she married Joseph Strethill in 1678 (it is also noteworthy that a John Bradbourne married an Elizabeth Strethill at Rostherne in 1672, suggesting the possibility of an existing family connection). Ann's father, Peter, was the son of John Alexander and was baptised at Witton on 29th June 1633 (nb the same church where Joseph and Ann Strettle’s children were christened!).
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It isn’t possible to have absolute certainty about the antecedents of Marie Bradborne: there were 2 Marie’s christened at Rostherne in this timeframe - in 1642 and in 1645, the fathers being John and Roger respectively – perhaps coincidentally each of these fathers also had sons named John, raising the possibility that the John Bradbourne who married Elizabeth Strethill was, in fact, the uncle of Ann Alexander who married Joseph Strethill (who also coincidentally had a sister named Elizabeth!). Further supporting evidence of this family connection is found in the 1653 Will of Margaret Bradbury of Mere, where she makes a bequest to Ellen Strettill, wife of Roger, and also names Roger Strettill as an Executor – Margaret was the wife of Roger Bradburn, married at Rostherne in 1616, and therefore potentially the grandmother of Marie and great-grandmother of Ann (it should be understood that the surnames Bradbury, Bradburn and Bradborne (with their spelling variants) were seemingly interchangeable in the Parish Registers of the time). From the foregoing information, the most likely scenario is that Marie was the daughter of John Bradborne (himself the son of Roger), and was christened on 30th January 1642 at Rostherne (=age 16 at the time of her marriage to Peter Alexander); John’s son John was also christened at Rostherne in 1655 (the Parish Register identifies John as being “of Mere”) which would have made him 18 at the time of the marriage to Elizabeth Strethill.
Re: "Witton Ann"........ Thomas Alexander and Elizabeth Stringfellow were married at Great Budworth on 28th August 1659. There are a number of burials of Thomas and Elizabeth Alexander's in the area in the decades that follow and, given the paucity of information provided in the Burial Registers of the time, it isn't possible to know whether any of these burials relate to Ann's parents. One interesting burial occurred at Great Budworth in 1701 - that of Thomas Alexander. Christening records suggest that Ann's only sibling was a younger sister (Jane) therefore Ann would probably have been Thomas's major legatee on his death - this could be the reason that Joseph & Ann moved to Onston around that time... unfortunately Thomas's Will does not survive, so this can only be speculation.
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Re: "Davenham Ann"........ Charles Alexander and Dorothy Cooke were married at Whitegate on 31st May 1655. Charles was buried at Davenham in 1709, Dorothy at Davenham in 1703. If either of these made a Will, neither have survived and therefore there is no proven link to "our" Ann.
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Given the foregoing, the currently-available evidence strongly suggests that “our” Joseph was the son of Roger, and grandson of Hugh, and whilst there might be more circumstantial evidence to suggest that "our" Ann was the daughter of Peter, it's a long way from conclusive! The research goes on!!!
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