The Newports and the Earl – 7 ‘The Coachmakers’

Perhaps the most confusing aspect of unravelling the many misconceptions surrounding the online genealogy of the Newport family that travelled to Nelson in 1842 has been the amount of ambiguity created through linking the Newports of Nelson to the Newports of St Martin in the Fields, Middlesex and their former family relationships in Surrey and Kent. This family, who I will describe as “the coachmakers” has also been bound incorrectly into the John Newport formerly John Harrison story.

Researching this family group has been the most onerous Newport task to date, with respect to obtaining coherence, and it has been extremely satisfying towards the current conclusion of this piece of research to find a single like minded researcher who had undertaken source based research over many years, and reached almost identical results. I would like to give public thanks to this person, whose sourced research has been published and is available to any serious researcher online. However they have asked me not to direct correspondence their way given time restraints on being able to respond. In any case their research speaks for itself and I was most grateful to finally have a place where I could take my independent research for the equivalent of some peer review.

Let us start this post by raising some more issues around John Newport formerly John Harrison apparently the natural son of Henry Newport 3rd Earl of Bradford. He is claimed across the world wide web as variously having;

• married Elizabeth Mitchell 1745 Dorset (Incorrect – refer to my post The Newports and the Earl – 4 “Elizabeth Mitchell, wife of John Newport)
• fathered Samuel Newport 1751 St Martins, Buckinghamshire with Elizabeth Mitchell (Incorrect – refer to my post The Newports and the Earl – 2 ‘Nelson’)
• married Bridget Wells 1763 London -Incorrect and for discussion in this post
• fathered Elizabeth Newport 1753 (sic)with Bridget Wells – wow 10 years before their marriage and 2 years before another marriage -Incorrect and for discussion in this post
• fathered Mary Newport 1764 St Martins, Buckinghamshire with Bridget Wells
• married Affra Dell 1771 Kent -Incorrect and for discussion in this post
• died in Sep 1778 at Holborn, London (incorrect – refer to my post The Newports and the Earl – ‘John Newport – buried Holborn 1778’)
• fathered Henry Newport Apr 1779 with Affra Dell at St Martin in the Fields, London.- Yes this would have been was physically possible regarding timing but Incorrect and for discussion in this post
• fathered another 9 children

In summary John Newport formerly Harrison has no established vital records relating to his birth recorded on any site that I can find, but he did get committed as a lunatic (whatever that entailed in the mid 1700’s), reportedly had three wives and 13 children, with some children born out of order the respective mother identified.

It is a mess, but in this post we can take another set of red herrings out of the discussion. I have assembled a coherent family group using publicly available data and incorporating many of the ‘facts’ misapplied on many many websites. One key difference, I have managed to provide verifiable sources to support my reasoning.

So here are the ‘coachmakers’ or Newports of St Martin in the Fields.There are 3 generations and 39 family members, so take a deep breath!

John Newport born approx 1710, died 1780 had three wives; Elizabeth (surname not proven), Sarah Ecclestone, and Elizabeth Worthington. We have three groups, one for each wife.

Group1

John Newport (ca 1710 – 1780) [1][2] partnered Elizabeth ( – 1741) [3][4] and fathered;

• John Newport (9 Dec 1738, Croydon – 1804)[5][6]
• Mary Newport (14 May 1740, Croydon – 1740 )[7][8]
• Alice Newport (13 May 1741, Croydon – 1741 )[9][10]

John Newport (ca1710 -1780) then married Sarah Ecclestone (1720 -1749,[11][12] on 17 Nov 1742, at St Martin in the Fields[13]. With Sarah , John fathered;

• Samuel Newport (1743, St Martin in the Fields – 1744)[14][15]
• Thomas Newport (1744 St Martin in the Fields- 1746, St Martin in the Fields)[16][17]
• Alice Newport (1745, St Martin in the Fields – before 1748 St Martin in the Fields)[18][19]
• Sarah Newport (1747, St Martin in the Fields – 1747, St Martin in the Fields)[20][21]
• Alice Newport (1748, St Martin in the Fields – )[22][23]
• Samuel Newport (1749, St Martin in the Fields – 1749, Croydon)[24][25]

John Newport (ca1710 -1780) then married Elizabeth Worthington (1719 -1789) [26][27] on 9 Jan 1750 at Canterbury, Kent 1742 [28]. With Elizabeth, John fathered;

• Samuel Newport (1751-1754)[29][30]
• Elizabeth Newport(1753 – 1758, Croydon)[30A][30B]
• Ann Newport (1754-1757)[30C][30D]
• Samuel Newport (1755 , St Martin in the Fields – )[31]
• Stillborn (1756][32]
• Mary Newport (1757, St Martin in the Fields – )[33]
• Benjamin Newport (1759, St Martin in the Fields – 1759) [34][34A]
• Jane Elizabeth Newport (1761, St Martin in the Fields – possibly 1765, St Martin in the Fields) [35][35A]
• Possibly Stillborn (1763)[36A]

We are beginning to see how confusion has reigned. There were two partner Elizabeth’s in John’s lifetime. The story of the wives and children looks absolutely tragic from our current world view, however it is clear that John persevered with his desire for a child name Samuel. (Was this to honour his own father, as yet unknown to us?). By ordering the family group we can see quite clearly how the family developed. We can also discern a gradual move from the east, perhaps initially from Kent through to Surrey and on to Middlesex. Perhaps this was as wealth or business grew? It is not clear to me that John owned his business, but he was certainly a substantial shareholder in both business and property as testified to in his will. And he was a coach master. I suspect this title did not fully describe his role or position.

In the will of John Newport (ca 1710 – 1780) dated 1778[36], we have identified provision for his third wife Elizabeth Worthington and 4 of his earlier living children at that time; John (1738 -1804 ) and Alice (1748 – ), Samuel (1755 – ) and Mary (1757 – ). This helps to further tie the correct allocation of his children to his direct family.

Group 2

John Newport ‘s (ca1710 -1780) eldest son, John Newport (John Newport (9 Dec 1738, Croydon – 1804) also took three wives; Bridget Wallis, Affra Dell, and Louisa Barbot. Again we have three groups, one for each wife.

John Newport (1738 – 1804) married Bridget Wallis(1740 -1770) [37][38]. They married in 1763 [39]. With Bridget, John fathered;

• Mary Newport (1764 – )[40][41]
• Elizabeth Newport (1764 – 1765 )[42][43]
• John Samuel Newport (1766 – )[44]
• George Newport (1767 – )[45][46]
• Charlotte Newport (1769 – )[47][48]

John Newport (1738 – 1804) then married Affra Dell (1746 – 1783). [49][50][51] With Affra, John fathered;

• Ann Newport (1772 – )[52]
• Affra Newport (1773 – )[53]
• Alice Newport (1774 – )[54]
• John Newport (1775 – 1815)[55][56]
• Elizabeth Newport (1776- )[57][58]
• Harriet Newport (1778 – 1845)[59]
• Henry Newport ( 1779 – )[60]
• Thomas Newport (1780 – )[61]
• Benjamin Newport (1781 – 1797 )[62]
• Maria Newport (1783 – 1783)[63][64]

John Newport (1738 – 1804) then married Louisa Barbot [65][66][67]. I have not identified children to this marriage. It would seem that the Barbot family would make an interesting line of research, given the extensive will of Louisa’s brother Paul Barbot.

Summary

As always I would welcome other’s thoughts. comments, tips and suggestions. This family was extremely interesting, however they also highlighted the tragedy of life at that time. This piece of research, although not personal to my family, has easily brought a fair bit of feeling. I can only wonder at the circumstances and lives of these families.

I may add more detail if there is sufficient interest, or if there are interested researchers I am happy to share my non-published research on this family. As always loose ends abound; Was this family related to the coachmaker G Newport in Holborn or John Newport buried in 1778 at Holborn? What was the coach business like? What did the fields, including Moor’s Yard situated around St Martin church look like? What was this family’s migration story and origin?

References follow on page 2