Thomas Baynham ('The Wire Drawer') (1581- )
Thomas, my eight times great-grandfather, was born in 1581.
He married a woman named Mary and had three children: Elizabeth in 1634; John in 1636: Thomas, my seven times great-grandfather, in 1639.
Thomas was born in 1581 and was the ‘Thomas Baynham son of Thomas Baynham of Noxon‘ baptised on 6th September in All Saints church at Newland.
When his father died in 1587, Thomas was still a minor so under the terms of his father’s will two guardians were appointed to look after his inheritance of £24 until he reached the age of 21; they were his father’s trusted friends Christopher Aylway and George Partridge.
In around 1600 its is possible that Thomas began a goldsmith apprenticeship, found for him by the guardians of his inheritance.
Thomas married Mary; they had three children, all baptised at the church of St. Nicholas in Gloucester:
Their first child was Elizabeth who was baptised on 23rd August 1634; she was entered onto the register as the daughter of ‘Thomas Baineham’.
Sadly Elizabeth did not survive long and was buried at St. Nicholas church on 17th October 1634; she was entered onto the register as ‘Elyzabeth ye daughter of Thomas Bayneam’.
John was baptised on 16th April 1637, as ‘ye sonne of Thomas Baynham’.
My seven times great-grandfather Thomas was baptised on 25th August 1639, as ‘the sonne of Thomas Baynham’.
Notes:
The Aylways were an old Gloucestershire family with several connections to the Goldsmiths’ Company in London. Christopher Aylway’s son Thomas Aylway began his goldsmith apprenticeship in London in 1600.
George Partridge was a yeoman, but his family were nailers and George’s son was trained as a nailer.
Thomas was a similar age to Christopher Aylway’s son Thomas who was apprenticed as a goldsmith in 1600, at which time Thomas Baynham would have been about 19 years old.
Given that the Aylway and Partridge families were both involved in metal-working and that Christopher and George were guardians of Thomas’ inheritance until he reached the age of 21, it is likely that they found an apprenticeship for him in around 1600.
The 1626 will of a Richard Baynham, son of Christopher Baynham of Leominster and his wife Lucy, described him as a ‘Goldsmith and Citizen of London’.
It is not clear when Richard Baynham became apprenticed to Richard Langcastell but he completed his apprenticeship in 1602 and became a Freeman of the City of London in that year.
On 2nd May 1606, as ‘Richard Baynam’ he himself took on an apprentice named William Baynam of Leominster, also a son of Christopher Baynham of Leominster, for a bond length of ten years. It is possible that William was Richard’s younger brother.
Shortly afterwards, on 8th August 1606, again as ‘Richard Baynam’ he took on another apprentice named George Stringer of Whiston in Yorkshire, son of George Stringer of Whiston, for a bond length of ten years.
On 12th February 1613 he took on a third apprentice named Edward Tutt, son of Edward Tutt, for a bond length of eight years.
At some point during the 1620s Richard must have taken on a fourth apprentice Richard Henbery as Henbery gained his Freedom from Master ‘Richard Baynam’ in 1632. Stephen Langcastell (son of Richard Langcastell) is also mentioned as Henbery’s Turnover Master – presumably when Richard Baynham died in 1626 Stephen Langcastell took over his role as Henbery’s Master.
There are close family ties between the Langcastells and the Henburys but as yet no evidence beyond goldsmith apprenticeships can be found to tie the Langcastells to the Baynhams, despite Richard Baynham referring to Stephen Langcastell as ‘my cousin’ – in the codicil to his 1626 will, Richard Baynham bequeathed ‘unto my kinsman Richard Henbury my apprentice the sum of forty pounds’ and ‘whereas my cousin Stephen Langcastell is indebted and doth owe unto me the sum of one hundred pounds I do hereby freely discharge and forgive him’.
In 1631, Richard’s son ‘Robert Baynham of London’ applied successfully for the right to use the arms of the Gloucestershire Baynhams and by then Robert’s son Christopher was already well into his nine-year goldsmith apprenticeship with James Prince which had begun on 21st November 1628 and for which he was recorded as ‘son of Robert Baynham of Gloucestershire, gent’.
There is no evidence of the marriage of Thomas and his wife Mary.
It is possible that two unnamed infants who were buried in the churchyard of St. Nicholas’ at Gloucester were also children of Thomas and Mary:
- 17th July 1633, child of Thomas Bainham
- 17th February 1636, child of Thomas Baynham
There is no evidence of when Thomas died or where he was buried.
Acknowledgements:
- Baptism, marriage and burial records – Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) and family Search (www.familysearch.org)
- Genealogy of ‘The Wire Drawer’ – ‘The Life and Times of a Forest Family: the Ap Einion alias Baynham Family’ by Dr A C Baynham