espinet/ espenett - Our Huguenot Ancestors
CHAPTER 16
The Ballards of Tenterden
My great, great grandmother Sarah Espenett born 20 October 1793, in Tenterden married George Ballard on 6 May 1819 at Hawkhurst, and so this chapter is about the early Ballards who lived in Tenterden in Kent.
The Ballards have been around in England for at least 800 years; the earliest reference I know of is that of Peter Adam Ballard, who lived in Northamptonshire in 1196, moving to Cambridgeshire by 1210. There was a John Ballard, a Roman Catholic priest, educated at Rheims, almost certainly was French, who was involved in the Babbington conspiracy. During the reign of Elizabeth I, there was continual plotting for the re-establishment of “Popery” (Roman Catholicism) under the auspices of the Jesuits, and many conspiracies against the life of Elizabeth. Anthony Babbington was the leader of one such plot in 1586, but John Ballard was the main instigator. The plot was to assassinate Elizabeth I, free Mary Stuart the captive Queen of Scots, and bring England back to the Catholic Faith. The gang was detected, eventually captured and condemned through the efforts of Elizabeth's minister, Walsingham. On 20th September 1586, the condemned men were drawn on hurdles to St. Giles-in-the-fields, to meet their tormented ends in a skilful execution which was prolonged for three hours. They were first racked then hung, but cut down quickly while still alive, ripped open from neck to groin, their entrails were burnt, and castration followed the removal of lesser organs. Ballard, brave to the end, was first to die, followed by Babbington. The name could have a French connection; one of the Metro stations of Paris is called “Ballard” and there was a Jean Ballard who worked on the windows of Chartres Cathedral in 1249. Looking through the Soubise parish register for Dansays I noticed that there was a Ballard family living there. Or “Ballard” could just mean one who is bald. Of course none are connected to our Ballards of Tenterden. Ballard still seems to be quite a prevalent name in Kent. If only it was possible to make a connection with our Ballard family and a Richard Ballard of Wadhurst, Sussex then we would have a pedigree going back to Fulco de Ballard who was living in 1347, in the reign of Edward III, with the right to bear arms, but that is a very big “IF”.
Our Ballard family first came to light in Tenterden, a village in the Weald of Kent, at the end of the seventeenth century. John Ballard was probably born around 1650, at the time England was being governed by the Commonwealth, under Cromwell. The first reference is the baptism of a daughter, Elisabeth, to John and his wife Allis on 20th July 1679 at St. Mildred’s church, Tenterden, Kent. In the Tenterden Surveyor's Accounts of 1679 (KAO. P364/12/2), John started paying 1s 8d a year “Highways Composition” (highway maintenance), which he then paid every year thereafter, which would give him settlement in Tenterden under the Poor Law Act of 1691. It would seem that John and Allis had moved from another parish and settled in Tenterden in 1679. I have been unable to trace the marriage of John and Allis; all marriages in surviving parish registers for Kent and Sussex have been indexed and there is no record of a marriage in East or West Kent or the Sussex indexes between John and Allis other than one recorded at St. Mary Bredin, Canterbury but this was in 1655, too early to be our John and Allis. So although the Monarchy had been restored in 1660 and records were much more complete, it would seem that the records in another parish relating to their marriage have not survived.
I am indebted to Paul Ballard born in Hastings, Sussex and living in County Mayo, Ireland for his dedicated research on the Ballards of Tenterden. Much more can be found of the extended Ballard families on his website www.paul.ballard.com
My 6x great-grandfather, John Ballard, was probably a farmer but there is no direct evidence of this. We do know that he was buried at St. Mildred’s, Tenterden on 16 December 1704. Allis his wife, was buried, exactly 19 years later, on 16 December 1723, and the burial entry gives her age as 72 years, although the diary of Dr. Cliffe of Tenterden (KAO P364/28/4) gives her death of dropsy aged 70 years.
John and Allis had five known children, who were baptised at St. Mildred’s Church, Tenterden:-
Elisabeth bapt. 20 Jul 1679 bur. 9 May 1706
Aliss bapt. 25 Dec 1681
John bapt. 2 Mar 1683 bur. 4 Aug 1752
Judith bapt. 24 Apr 1687
Ede bapt. 13 May 1688 died after 1714
They may have had three other children born to them before they arrived in Tenterden, but no direct evidence as to these being the children of John and Allis. These three were living in Tenterden when they married at St. Mildred’s Church, but had not been baptised there. They were:-
Thomas Ballard born abt. 1672 married Mary Packham 20 Apr 1697
Mary Ballard born abt 1675 married Edward Clinch 12 Feb 1702
Ann Ballard born abt 1677 married Anthony Lewis 22 May 1715
Anthony Lewis, the husband of Ann Ballard was recorded as having received payment of 12 shillings and six pence for the rent of Widow Ballard (probably his mother-in-law Allis). Both Anthony Lewis and his father-in-law John Ballard rented property in the Castweazle ward of Tenterden and jointly paid a yearly rental of £30 to the same landlord/owner. The three births away from Tenterden fit very nicely as the older children of John and Allis. So although there definitely looks like a family connection, there is still no direct evidence of them being the children of John and Allis.
Daughter Aliss, born 1681, married aged 41 to Richard Waters at Tenterden on 27 Nov 1722 with no issue.
Daughter Judith born 1687, married aged 35 to John Hook at Tenterden on 9 January 1722 with no issue.
Daughter Ede born 1688, was apprenticed to Daniel and Margaret Iggulden as a women’s taylor (sic) until her 21st birthday. She was unmarried and still living in 1714 (from the Tenterden Overseers Accounts).
My 5x great-grandfather, John Ballard, was baptised at Tenterden on 2 March 1683, into a country restored to the Monarchy, the eldest son who lived all his life in Tenterden. He married Margaret Stevens, the daughter of Ferdinando and Jane Stevens, on 7 October 1707 at St. Mildred’s Church, Tenterden. This John was a yeoman farmer, and was sworn a Freeman of Tenterden on 3rd November 1718. He held a farm situated in the Castweazle borough of Tenterden with a rateable value of £16 per annum, and for which he paid £30 rent. He also held property in the Town borough of Tenterden for which he paid £9 rent. There were six boroughs in the Hundred of Tenterden: Boresisle, Castweasle, Dumborne, Reading, Shrubcote and Town. John signed the Tenterden Association Oath Roll of 1723, whilst his wife Margaret who signed with her mark, as she could not write.
A yeoman was a freeholder of common birth who cultivated his own land. The beginning of the eighteenth century was a period of significant change for farmers and indeed for all rural England. Prior to this, farming was largely for subsistence where the land was owned by the feudal lord and worked by tenant farmers but by the beginning of the eighteenth century the farmer was starting to market his produce for profit. This was due in part to the Enclosures Act denying the peasants their traditional access to common lands and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution with its demand for factory labour. This period was known as the First Agricultural Revolution, which brought about the success of the yeoman farmer and John appears to have shared in this success.
John and Margaret had eight children all baptised at St. Mildred’s Church, Tenterden:-
Margaret baptised 19 Aug 1708 died 20 Jan 1732
Jane baptised 16 Nov 1710
Mary baptised 26 Dec 1712 bur. 1 Apr 1734
John baptised 2 Mar 1714 bur. 14 Nov 1776
Stephens baptised 28 Oct 1717 bur. 11 Jun 1788
Judith baptised 26 Dec 1719 died before 1764
Edward baptised 31 Aug 1722
Edmund baptised 10 Sep 1726 bur. 27 Jan 1783
Jane baptised 16 Nov 1710 married Thomas Stedman at St. Mildred’s Church, Tenterden on 4 May 1730 with no known issue.
Stephens baptised 27 Oct 1717 married Elizabeth Parton at St. Margaret’s, Canterbury on 4 September 1738. Children of Stephens and Elizabeth baptised at Tenterden:-
Stephens bpt. 2 Dec 1738 married Mary Waters 5 Jan 1765 Goudhurst.
Edward bpt. 5 Jul 1741 married Sarah Pike 8 Apr 1762 Tenterden.
Edmund, a husbandman, married Mary Boorner at St. Mildred’s on 8th June 1752 and they had eight children all baptised at St. Mildred’s, Tenterden:-
Stephen bpt. 6 Jul 1752 bur. 3 Mar 1772
Mary bpt. 31 Mar 1754 married Solomon Chacksfield a widower 5 Nov 1779 at Tenterden
Edmund bpt. 7 Dec 1755 bur. 2 Sep 1792
Elizabeth bpt. 4 Sep 1757 bur. 12 Jul 1759
Elizabeth bpt. 2 Sep 1759 bur. 30 Nov 1771
Judith bpt. 2 Aug 1761
Margaret bpt. 27 Dec 1766 bur. 3 Dec 1783
John bpt. 25 Oct 1770 bur. 10 Jan 1825
John Ballard who was born in 1683 died on 4 August 1752 aged sixty-nine years. His farm at Castweazle at the time of his will dated 6 May 1752, and probated 5 July 1753 [see Appendix - Wills], was in the occupation of his son Stephens Ballard. John’s wife, Margaret survived him by fourteen years, dying on 23 April 1766 at the age of seventy-three. She attached her mark to her will, dated 4 August 1764 [see Appendix – Wills], in which she left £5 to John, £5 to Edward, her clothes to Jane (married to Thomas Stedman), in addition to £10 to be expended on clothes for Jane. The property to be sold and the proceeds divided between John, Stephens, Edward and Edmund.
My 4x great-grandfather John Ballard, baptised 1714, was the fourth of his parent's children and their first son. Like his father, he was a farmer and also became a Freeman of Tenterden. He married Margaret Palmer at St. Mildred’s Church, Tenterden on 30 November 1737. Margaret, was born 27 Nov 1715 at High Halden, the daughter of John Palmer and Margaret. John Palmer and Margaret Jones were married at Smarden, Kent on 8th June 1712.
On 28 May 1750, John signed a petition, with others, that Freemen should not be Jurats without the approval of Session. A Jurat was similar to an Alderman and was a Justice of the Peace (you will remember that William Dansays was a Jurat of Rye). The Corporation consisted of a mayor, twelve Jurats, twelve common council men, a chamberlain and a town clerk. It is not certain whether John was a Jurat but I would think that he must have been of some note in the Tenterden Community.
John and Margaret Ballard had eight children all baptised at St. Mildred’s church, Tenterden:-
John bapt 22 Sep 1738 died 11 Feb 1819 Hawkhurst
Margaret bapt 26 Dec 1740 buried 6 May 1742 Tenterden
William bapt 27 Feb 1742
Margaret bapt 18 May 1746
Sarah bapt 23 Aug 1748 buried 1 May 1835 Hawkhurst
Joseph bapt 2 Jun 1751
Edward bapt 11 Jun 1753 buried 3 Nov 1758 Tenterden
Hannah bapt 6 Jul 1755
Joseph who was baptised 2 June 1751 married Elizabeth Mockford at St. Mildred’s Church, Tenterden on 4 Aug 1773. They had three children that were not baptised as they died soon after birth but buried at St. Mildred’s on 21 June 1774, 16 May 1775 and 7 April 1780.
John who was born in 1714 died and was buried at St. Mildred’s Tenterden on 14 November 1776, aged sixty-two years of age. His wife Margaret lived on for a further 24 years and was buried at St. Mildred’s on 2 Apr 1800.
My 3x great-grandfather John Ballard, baptised John, as was his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. He was baptised at Tenterden on 22 September 1738, the eldest of his parents' eight children. He was living in the parish of Staplehurst when he married Elizabeth Wilmshurst of Shoreham at Shoreham on 22 October 1765. She was nineteen years of age at that time and John 27. They had six children (only baptisms for the two youngest were found in Staplehurst Congregational Chapel records) but all these children were recorded in the will of John Ballard, and on the gravestone as below):-
Philadelphia born about 1766 m 14 Aug 1785 Henry Harman @ Cranbrook
d after 1818
Vincent born about 1767 m 2 Apr 1786 (1)Susannah Knowles, Staplehurst
m 4 Jul 1806 (2)Maria Clark, Southwark
d 28 Apr 1845 Southwark, Surrey
William born about 1768 m about 1799 Sarah Reeves d 2 Aug 1843 Cranbrook, Kent
Phoebe bapt 1 Mar 1772 m Edward Chittenden d after 1818
Cherry bapt 1 Mar 1772 m 18 May 1803 William Parsons @ Maidstone d after 1818
John born about 1774 m 31 Oct 1796 Priscilla Day @ Maidstone d 22 Aug 1835 Staplehurst, Kent
Elizabeth Ballard wife of John died aged 46, on 20 October 1792 and was buried at St. Mildred’s Church, Tenterden. Were it not for the Monumental Inscription on her gravestone, we would know little about this family. It read:-
“Elizabeth, wife of John Ballard of Staplehurst, died 22nd October 1793, aged 46. Left issue Vincent, William, John, Philadelphia, Phoebe and Chary. John Ballard aforesaid died 11th February 1819, aged 80. Left issue by Sarah, his second wife, George, Isaac and Sarah.”
Aged 55 years, John married his second wife Sarah Heath on 8 May 1794 at Hawkhurst, Kent. Sarah was born Sarah Boorman about 1752 daughter of Thomas Boorman and Elizabeth Parks.
My 3x great-grandmother Sarah Boorman, married her first husband Samuel Heath 25 May 1780 at Biddenden, and they had three children born at Headcorn before Samuel died in 1788:-
Elizabeth born. c.1781 died 10 Jul 1789 Biddenden bur. Tilden Baptists, Smarden.
Jesse born. c.1783 died 11 Jul 1807 Headcorn bur. Tilden Baptists Smarden.
mar. 20 Mar 1806 Canterbury Elizabeth Worsley.
Rachel born. c.1786 died 31 May 1875 Worsenden, Biddenden, Kent aged 89
mar. 21 Nov 1802 Biddenden John Boorman.
(Rachel Boorman aged 75 a widow and fund-holder was visiting her step-brother George Ballard at West Cross, Tenterden in 1861)
148. All Saints Parish Church, Staplehurst, Kent
Before John Ballard and Sarah were married an Indenture was drawn up dated 19 April 1794 “being the settlement made before, and in contemplation of the marriage then intended and afterwards solemnized between them of £200 put into trust”. [See Appendix – Wills – Sarah Ballard 1829].
John Ballard and Sarah had three children born at Hawkhurst:-
Sarah born c. 1796 died 29 Jun 1835 Hawkhurst
George born c. 1798 died 24 Apr 1868 Tenterden
Isaac born c. 1799 died 22 Apr 1884 Lamberhurst
On 2nd November 1818 John made a will (proved 24 May 1819) in which he was described as a yeoman of the parish of Hawkhurst. All his children were named in his will. The will left three properties to his children. Two were in Cranbrook which were leased to others. The third was in the parish of Hawkhurst-on-the-Moor and was left to Isaac, who was already in occupation. John Ballard died at Hawkhurst on 11 February 1819, at the age of eighty and was buried on the 19th with his first wife in Tenterden churchyard. On 24 April 1829 Sarah made a will (proved 19 April 1830) whereas she was able to bequeath the trust and her personal estate to her three children by John and her two daughters by her first husband Samuel Heath [see Appendix – Wills]. Sarah died 25 September 1829 at Hawkhurst and was buried with her first husband Samuel Heath at the Tilden Baptist Churchyard, Smarden.
149. St. Laurence Church, Hawkhurst
Philadelphia (daughter of John and Elizabeth) born about 1766, married Henry Harman on 14 August 1785 at St. Dunstan’s, Cranbrook.
Vincent (son of John and Elizabeth), married Susannah Knowlden of Marden on 2 April 1786, at St. Dunstan’s, Cranbrook. At St. Dunstan’s church the following year on 27 June 1787 an unnamed child of Vincent Ballard was buried. Though not proved, it seems likely that Susannah died early, probably after this child and maybe she was buried at Marden, Kent where she lived previously. Nothing has been found of Vincent until 1841. The 1841 Census for Union Street, Southwark, Surrey (London) records Vincent Ballard aged 75, a labourer, not born in Surrey and Maria Ballard aged 55, also not born in Surrey. Living with them were a Sarah Brotherton aged 15 of independent means and Sarah Streaker aged 70 a nurse, both born in Surrey. In 1841 those over 15 their ages were rounded down to a multiple of 5 years. There was a Vincent Ballard, a carman, who died at 134 Union Street, Southwark of bronchitis on 28 April 1845, with Maria Ballard present at the death. Vincent Ballard married Maria Clark 4 July 1806 at St. Saviour, Southwark (he was wrongly recorded as bachelor of this parish). His death certificate gives his age at death as 78 and place of death as 134 Union Street, Southwark, which is almost surely enough proof of him being our Vincent.
William (son of John and Elizabeth) married Sarah Reeves (see below).
John born 1774 (son of John and Elizabeth) married Priscilla Day 31 Oct 1796 at All Saints, Maidstone. Descendants of John and Priscilla are now living in America.
A white marble tablet on the wall of Tilden Baptist Chapel reads:-
“Sacred to the memory of JOHN BALLARD, of Staplehurst, in this County; who died August 22nd 1835, aged 61 years. the deceas'd was for many years a faithful deacon of the church assembly here: he was the subject of severe and lengthened affliction which he bore with great resignation and even cheerfulness in his intercourse with society he was generous yet firm: as a Christian he was consistent and a man of fervent prayer: his memory will long be cherished with respect by all who knew him and with true affection by a bereaved wife and family. "Behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace!" Also PRISCILLA, wife of the above who died May 6th 1854, aged 76 years”.
Chary or Cherry (daughter of John and Elizabeth) married William Parsons on 18 May 1803 at Maidstone, Kent (they were both unmarried and of the parish of Maidstone).
Phoebe (daughter of John and Elizabeth) married Edward Chittenden (actual marriage record not found).
Sarah (daughter of John and his second wife Sarah) remained single, lived at Lamberhurst and was buried at Hawkhurst 29 Jun 1835 aged 39. She made a will dated 10th June 1835 and proved 23rd Oct 1835 [See Appendix – Wills]
My great, great grandfather George Ballard (son of John and Sarah) married Sarah Espenett 6 May 1819 at Hawkhurst (See Chapter 17).
On 15 June 1825, Isaac Ballard (son of John and his second wife Sarah) married Catherine Russell at Lamberhurst Parish church. Catherine had been baptised Catherine Caroline Russell on 25 December 1793 at Lamberhurst, the daughter of Benjamin and Mary Russell. There is a grave at Lamberhurst for Catherine Ballard who died 9 January 1831 aged 38. In the 1841 Census Isaac was a widower and farmer, living at Down farm, Lamberhurst, with only three farm servants. Then on 23 December 1845, Isaac, yeoman, married Mary Anne Manwaring at Lamberhurst Parish Church. George and Sarah Ballard (his brother and sister-in-law) were two of the witnesses. Mary Anne Manwaring was baptised 7 May 1819, at Brenchley, Kent, the daughter of Thomas Manwaring and Elizabeth (née Barton).
In the 1851 Census, Isaac aged 51 years and Mary Anne aged 31 years, were living at Down farm, farming 103 acres and employing 15 labourers and with seven servants living in. In the 1881 Census, Isaac Ballard was still at The Down Farm, Lamberhurst with his wife Mary Anne. He was a farmer, aged 81 years and deaf, farming 200 acres, employing 14 labourers and 2 boys. His wife was aged 60 years and they also had his wife’s aunt as assistant house-keeper with two servants who were living in.
The inscription on his gravestone at Lamberhurst church reads:-
“Died 22nd January 1884 Isaac Ballard, 59 years tenant of Downs farm, after five years of mental suffering” and “Mary Ann Ballard widow of Isaac late of Downs farm died 9th February 1896 souccourer of many”.
An inquisition taken at Down Farm, Lamberhurst, on 20 June 1883 found that Isaac Ballard was of unsound mind so “that he is not sufficient for the government of himself his manors, messuages, lands, tenements, goods and chattels”. His will of 1858 was probated 21 Feb 1884 and left an estate worth £6,350 all to his widow Mary Anne. Mary Anne died twelve years later on 9 Feb 1896 at Lamberhurst. Her rather lengthy will of 1892 probated 18 March 1896 left an estate worth £5,311 to various relatives. A bequest of £200 was made to “Emma Lingham, widow of Isaac Ballard Lingham of Hope, Indiana, U.S.A a grandson of Isaac Ballard”. Downs Farmhouse, Downs, Lamberhurst was sold in 2004 for £1,105,000.
Now this came as quite a surprise that he must have had a daughter at some time who married a Lingham and they had a son named Isaac. I had always thought that Isaac Ballard had no issue. In 1841 Isaac was a widower living at Down farm alone except for three servants and in 1851 he was living at Down farm (183 acres employing 15 labourers) with his second wife Mary Anne and seven servants and no children. In 1861 he was living at Downs farm (190 acres) with his wife Mary Anne and Edwin Haines a steam thresher lodging there.
I would guess that in 1841 as Isaac was a widow he would have been unable to look after his farm and also bring up his daughter. On looking at the marriages for a female Ballard and a male Lingham I found Elizabeth Ballard married Thomas Dodge Lingham and the marriage certificate told me Elizabeth was the daughter of Isaac Ballard.
I believe I have found Elizabeth at Goudhurst in 1841 but at a rather unusual household consisting of five females of different surnames – two aged 20 and 15 were of independent means, a governess aged 20, two servants aged 15 and 13 and Elizabeth Ballard aged eleven. Well her husband lived at Goudhurst and I have not found any other Elizabeth Ballard that would fit. Again in 1851 she was not at home but visiting at the home of Lieutenant Colonel Edward Kingsley, late of the 3rd Regiment of Foot, at Peckham in London. Also at home was Edward’s wife Mildred and son Eugene Kingsley aged eighteen who was a student at Guy’s Hospital in London.
Later that year Elizabeth Ballard, spinster of full age, daughter of Isaac Ballard a farmer was married on 22 October 1851 at the Parish Church Lamberhurst to Thomas Dodge Lingham, bachelor of full age, a farmer of Horsmonden, son of John Lingham a farmer. Thomas, born 4 Jan 1825 at Goudhurst was the son of John Lingham and his wife Ann, née Lewry of Goudhurst.
The will of Mary Anne Ballard, widow of Isaac Ballard, gives the information that
Thomas and Elizabeth Lingham had a son, Isaac Ballard Lingham. The United States Social Security Index supplied the information that he died on 25 February 1892 at Hope in Indiana age 39, so he was born in 1852 (confirmed on his gravestone). No birth was registered in England for this son so it would seem that Thomas and Elizabeth left England for North America shortly after their marriage. The Passengers List for the SENATOR that arrived in New York on 27 February 1852 lists Thomas Lingham aged 26, a farmer, and Elizabeth Lingham aged 22, although Elizabeth travelled separately as a gentleman’s servant. The US 1900 Census for Walter Ballard Lingham, son of Isaac Ballard Lingham, gives the information that his father was born in Canada (English speaking) so Thomas and Elizabeth must have travelled overland to the Canadian interior (the St. Lawrence river would be frozen over at that time of year), and later moved south to Indiana, U.S.A. Hope is a town in the Haw Creek township, Bartholomew County, Indiana, the population of which was only 2,140 in the 2000 Census.
The 1900 US Census for Haw Creek, Bartholomew County, Indiana records:-
Emma Lingham, head, born 1858? Indiana, occupation millinery – 3 children (2 living)
Walter B. Lingham, son, born 1878 Indiana.
Carl D. Lingham, son, born 1888 Indiana.
Gertrude Lingham, daughter law, born 1877 Indiana.
150.
Tombstone of Isaac Ballard Lingham & wife Emma Frances Lingham
Isaac Ballard Lingham died on 25 February 1852 and was buried at the Moravian Cemetery (known as God's Acre) at Hope. You did not need to be a Moravian to be buried here as it was a community cemetery. A plot was free to Moravians, to others it cost $12. Isaac's widow lived on for another sixteen years and was buried with him in 1908.
151.
Moravian Cemetery, Hope, Indiana
The eldest living son of Isaac and Emma Lingham, Walter Ballard Lingham, was born 26 July 1877 at Hope, Bartholomew County, Indiana and he married on 27 June 1900 in Shelby County, Indiana to Gertrude E. Wood. She too was born 1877 in Indiana.
Gertrude must have died some time later as Walter married again on 28 March 1909 to Margaret Kirsch at Kenton in Kentucky (less than 100 miles from Hope). Margaret was in 1877, ten years Walter's junior. They had just one child, Marion Charlotte Lingham born in Indianapolis, Indiana. In the 1910 US Census Walter was a floor-walker in a departmental stores residing at Marion in Indianapolis with his wife Margaret and daughter Marion.
In early 1917, the United States declared war on Germany. In the first months of the American participation in World War I, enthusiasm was strong but volunteer enlistment into the army was modest. Consequently a draft was instituted to bring in the needed number of men. On three designated registration days in 1917 and 1918, approximately 24 million civilians completed a WWI draft registration form though about 80% of these received exemptions or deferrals, and they were thus never called for military service. Walter’s WWI Registration Card gives the information that he was living at 1300 South 53rd Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, aged 41, working for Metropolitan Stores, 1006 Market, Philadelphia. His nearest relative was his daughter Marion Charlotte Lingham of the same address. His WWII Registration Card states his name Walter Ballard Lingham, aged 64, born 26 July 1877 Hope Indiana of 317 East 111 Hotel Linden, Indianapolis, and his employer the Linden Hotel. The person who would always know his address was his brother Carl Lingham of the same address.
The other son of Isaac and Emma Lingham was Carl Dewitte Lingham born 12 June 1887 in Hope Indiana, and with his middle name being Dewitte, it makes me believe that his mother was Emma Dewitte. He married Delores (surname unknown) and was living with her in the 1920 Census when he was hotel manager of the Linden Hotel on 311 South Illinois Street, Indianapolis. Delores must have died as he married Margaret Alice Golden on 23 October 1935 in Lafayette, Indiana. His WWI Registration Card recorded him as a bookkeeper living and employed at the Linden Hotel, whilst his WWII Registration Card records him as employed by Stubbins Hotel Co. Carl died on 21 January 1973 at Fort Lauderdale, Broward, Florida, U.S.A.
William Ballard the son of John Ballard and Elizabeth Wilmshurst born about 1768 at Staplehurst, Kent moved to Cranbrook, about five miles south of Staplehurst and was a watchmaker of that parish. There was a bastardy bond issued in 1799 for William Ballard, watchmaker and Sarah Reeves on account of their son born in 1798. When an unmarried woman was expecting a child, parish officials would pressurise her to reveal the father’s name, so the father, not the parish, had financial responsibility for the child’s care. A bastardy bond was the father’s guarantee of responsibility for the child. This child was Levi Ballard Reeves, the natural son of Sarah Reeves baptised 9 Dec 1798 at St. Dunstan’s church, Cranbrook. William, and Sarah Reeves who was baptised 8 Oct 1773 at Staplehurst, must have been married as they had another child (to date marriage not found), not baptised but buried soon after birth at St. Dunstan’s on 28 Jan 1800, child of William and Sarah Ballard. They had the following further nine children (including Levi before marriage):-
Levi Reeves born 29 Oct 1798 m. Jane Lavender 1836 died 16 Oct 1886 Lewes
Harriott bapt 6 Feb 1801 buried 9 Jan 1803 Cranbrook.
Joseph bapt. 10 Oct 1802. m. Elizabeth Avery 30 Jul 1823 East Farleigh, Kent.
died 22 Apr 1883 Lamberhurst (watchmaker)
Harriett bapt. 29 Sep 1804. (1) Isaac Chittenden 21 Feb 1827 St.Saviour, Southw’k
(2) Rev. George J. Stonehouse 1833 Clerkenwell, Sry
Frederick bapt. 27 Mar 1807. died 8 Nov 1866 Cranbrook - unmarried
William bapt. 31 Mar 1809 buried 1 Jul 1810 Cranbrook.
William born 24 Jan 1811. married Jemima Wilmshurst 1 Feb 1830 Lamberhurst.
died 11 Dec 1877 Cranbrook (jeweller/silversmith)
John born 21 Aug 1814. m. Amelia Frecker 26 Jan 1857 Peter Port, Guernsey CI,
Ironmonger of Cranbrook in 1851.
died 21 Dec 1888 Islington, London
Henry born about 1818. married Rhoda Elizabeth Boulton 14 Apr 1848 at
St. James, Clerkenwell, London (a custom’s official)
died 3 Jun 1896 N. Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia
152. Cranbrook High Street, Kent
Out of the blue one day I received an email from a gentleman who had been given a beautiful George III mahogany long-case clock with the maker’s name engraved on the face. This grandfather clock had obviously been sold at some time, probably in the 1960s, as there was a sale ticket inside “An outstanding George III Mahogany Longcase Clock by William Ballard of Cranbrook about 50 miles from London. William Ballard was recorded in several places including London in 1780, a maker of good repute. The silvered brass dial with lunar movement is in a beautiful panelled case of figured Mahogany. A typical London type of clock – Circa 1775”. Although the dates are not correct they are close as William would have been the clock-smith of Cranbrook from about 1790 to 1843.
153. George III mahogany long-case clock by William Ballard of Cranbrook c.1800
A member of the British Horological Institute and antique clock restorer dated it no later than 1795 and the movement of a distinctly London or South-East style. This clock had been sold by Sinclairs of Sheffield (still in business today in the same premises) and I wonder how it came to be in this area from Cranbrook some 240 miles away. By the end of the 17th century in keeping with it having become one of the richest counties in England, Kent had a rapidly growing number of clock-smiths. In the 18th century an appreciable number of apprentices indentured to London craftsmen moved into the county to supplement the locally trained clock-makers. Though many Kentish clocks have a style similar to those from the capital a distinctive Kentish style developed both for simple country clocks and more particularly in the east of the county. In thee late 18th century and early 19th century numerous high quality long-cases were made with a very distinctive Kentish cresting. There were probably three master clock-smiths in Cranbrook in the 1780s when William must have been apprenticed, namely Abraham Body, Owen Jackson and Thomas Ollive, but we do not know to which one he learned his trade.
154. The dial of a 30-hour birdcage movement
by Abraham Body of Cranbrook
Worth noting here is the fact that Thomas Ollive's sister Elizabeth Paine moved to Cranbrook to live with her brother after her marriage failed and was buried in St. Dunstan's churchyard. Elizabeth was the wife of Thomas Paine the British pamphleteer, revolutionary, radical, inventor, intellectual and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He emigrated to the British American colonies at 37 years of age in time to participate in the American Revolution. Later Paine greatly influenced the French Revolution. At President Jefferson's invitation in 1802 he returned to America but died seven years later at Greenwich Village, New York in 1809 at the age of 72.
William Ballard signed his name to two marriage bonds (maybe more) along with the grooms, as written guarantee swearing to the legality of the planned marriages. He made his will in 1843 (proved 25 Oct 1843) in which he mentions his wife Sarah and seven children - Joseph, Harriett, Frederick, William John and Henry (all to inherit) and his son Levi Ballard (bequeathed nothing having already made advances to him) . His half brother George Ballard (son of John and Sarah) was one of his executors - see Appendix Wills.
Levi Ballard, always known as this rather than his baptismal name of Levi Ballard Reeves, he was born 29 October 1798 at Cranbrook, Kent the son of William Ballard and Sarah Reeves although his parents weren’t married at that time. Levi was a farmer at Sandhurst and married Jane Lavender on 2 November 1836 at St. James, Clerkenwell, London. Actually this was a double marriage as Jane's sister Ann married Thomas Tribe and the witnesses to both marriages were Henry Ballard and Sarah Lavender.
Levi was a farmer, first farming at Hawkhurst and later at Sandhurst, Kent. Levi and Jane had two sons, Thomas Henry born 29 Jul 1837 and Francis Albert born 23 Jan1839, both at Hawkhurst. By at least 1871 Levi had retired from farming and moved to London, living at 64 Camberwell New Road, Lambeth with Jane and his two unmarried sons and this is where Jane died on 5 June 1883. After the death of his wife Levi went to live with his youngest son Francis Albert who was married and living at Lewes in Sussex. Levi died on 16 October 1886 at Claremont, Lewes, Sussex
Joseph baptised 10 October 1802 followed his father’s occupation as watchmaker, moving to Lamberhurst after the birth of the first child. He married Elizabeth Avery at East Farleigh, Kent on 30 July 1823 and they had ten children. Elizabeth died 28 January 1869 and Joseph died 14 years later at Lamberhurst on 22 April 1883.
John Ballard was born 21 August 1814 in Cranbrook and christened when he was nineteen years old on 6 July 1834 at the Wesleyan church, Sandhurst, the son of William Ballard the clock-maker and Sarah Reeves.
In the 1841 Census John was an unmarried ironmonger living at home with his parents in Cranbrook, Kent. In the 1851 Census John was still unmarried and an ironmonger of Cranbrook but employing 14 men, with a living-in 18 year old apprentice and a domestic servant.
A snippet from the Star newspaper on Guernsey in the Channel Islands gave “Mr Ballard and friend arrived in Guernsey from Southampton on 17 April 1855 by Courier”. It looks as if John had up sticks, retired and come to live in Guernsey. Guernsey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy in France. Guernsey is not part of the United Kingdom but rather a separate possession of the Crown and is also not part of the European Union.
Two years later John married Amelia Frecker at St. Pierre du Bois (a small village five miles west of the capital St. Peter Port) on 26 January 1857. Amelia born 6 March 1828 at St. Peter Port, Guernsey, was the daughter of James Frecker a market inspector for the government, living at Fountain Street, St. Peter Port (a well known Guernsian family) and Mary Washington, his wife. The birth of four sons to John and Amelia Ballard followed soon after, all born in St. Peter Port, Guernsey:-
John Farrow Ballard 17 Jun 1859 died 24 Mar 1944 Tunbridge Wells Kent
William Washington Ballard 27 Apr 1861 died 12 Jan 1913 Islington, London
Henry Herbert Ballard 6 Aug 1862 died 2 Nov 1925 New Norfolk, Tasmania
Albert Casanova Ballard 9 Jul 1866 died 10 Aug 1942 Teignmouth, Devon
In 1861 John and Amelia Ballard with their one year old son John were living with Amelia's widowed sister Mary Bell (actually Marie Rachel Bell) at 50 Claremont Street, St. Peter Port; John was recorded as a fund-holder so he had retired early from his ironmongery business and living on money invested.
In 1871 John left his wife and family at the home of Mary Bell in Guernsey whilst he had returned to England. He was a boarder of independent means staying at a coffee-house at 43 Chandos Street, St. Martin-in-the-Fields in central London. Boarding along with John was another gentleman, Edmonde Albo, who was a merchant of foreign goods. Coffee-houses were popular meeting places for men (women were actually banned in France and England) where business could be carried out and politics discussed in congenial surroundings over a cup of coffee, and an excellent way to keep abreast of the latest news. Maybe these two boarders had met here in the city by arrangement to discuss some mutual business.
In 1881 John had moved back to England with Amelia and their four children and were living at 4 Alexandra Road, Hampstead in north London.
155.
An old coffee-house, today, close to the one in Chandos Street
Amelia died of a heart disease which she had had for several years at 3 Sea View Terrace, Margate in Kent on 30 July 1884 and her son John Farrow Ballard who lived at Sidcup, Kent was the informant. After the death of his wife Amelia, John Ballard must have gone to live with his youngest son Albert as John died on the 21 December 1888 of old age and a urinary suppression problem due to loss of energy at 10 Tytherton Road in Islington and his youngest son Albert of that address informed the registrar of his father's death. All four sons remained unmarried and all seem to have been fairly wealthy.
John Farrow Ballard was born 17 June 1859 at Peter Port, Guernsey and christened 18 December 1859 at St. Pierre du Bois on Guernsey. He went into to brewery trade, articled to a brewer and living with his parents in Hampstead in London in 1881, then a managing brewer lodging at Cornwall House, Cookham, Maidenhead, Berkshire in 1891. He was a brewer and had moved again, living at 30 Trinity Road, Handsworth in Staffordshire with his housekeeper and a domestic servant in the 1901 Census. In 1911 he was recorded as a professional brewer living at 75 Yews Hill Road, in Huddersfield, Yorkshire with a housekeeper and housemaid. John Farrow Ballard, a retired brewer, died of exhaustion and hypostatic pneumonia on 24 March 1944 at 82 Mount Ephriam, Tunbridge Wells, Kent.
William Washington Ballard was born 27 April 1861 at St. Peter Port, Guernsey and christened 24 May 1861 in the Church of St. Peter, Peter Port. He was articled to an architect and living with his parents in 1881. By 1891 he had become an architect lodging at 63 Waterford Road, Fulham, London. I was unable to find William in the 1901 Census but he turned up in 1911 when he was an architect living alone at 26 Thornhill Crescent North, Islington in North London. Two years later, a land surveyor, he died on 12 January 1913 aged 51 at 167 Hemingford Road, Barnsbury, Islington in north London.
Henry Herbert Ballard was born 6 August 1862 at St. Peter Port, Guernsey and christened on the 5 September 1862 in the Church of St. Peter at Peter Port. At 18 years of age he was a cloth woollen merchant residing with his parents in 1881. In the 1891 Census he was a farm pupil aged 28, along with two other male farm pupils aged 27 and 24 residing with Henry W Hawkins, a farmer and family at Manor House, Main Road, Winterbourne, near Dorchester in Dorset.
I was unable to find Henry in the 1901 Census but was able to find some of his possible movements:-
Mr. H.H. Ballard single left Liverpool aboard the S.S. CIRCASSIAN on 15 May 1893 bound for Montreal.
Mr. H.H. Ballard, single gentleman departed from London on 22 March 1894 aboard the S.S. IONIC (Shaw Savill & Albion Co. Ltd) bound for Auckland, New Zealand.
Mr. H.H. Ballard a farmer aged 30 left Lyttleton, New Zealand aboard the S.S. DORIC and arrived in London in July 1895.
Henry must have left England again as he was found on the Outward-bound Passengers List for ships departing Victoria, Australia.
Mr. H.H. Ballard aged 39 aboard the PATEENA II, leaving Victoria for Launceston in Tasmania in December 1899. The Union Steam Company ran a ferry service between Melbourne, Victoria and Lauceston.
Both Henry and his brother Albert returned to Southampton from New York aboard the RMS Oceanic as First Class passengers arriving on 4 September 1907, though no trace of Henry's outward journey to New York.
I would love to find out what happened after this last date as there was a patient file (HSD284/1/164) for Henry Herbert Ballard, date of birth c. 1861, with a start date 15 December 1899 and end date 2 November 1925 at the Derwent Hospital, Tasmania. This was a Psychiatric establishment at New Norfolk on the Derwent river called the “Hospital for the Insane” and the only mental hospital in the state. It was a terrible place which lacked appropriate buildings, adequate trained staff, palatable food or activities. Every few years an inquiry was called for, but little was done due to a lack of government funding. A new hospital near Hobart was frequently promulgated but was strenuously opposed by the New Norfolk community. Now abandoned it is reckoned to be the most haunted place in Australia. Henry spent twenty-six years here in this awful place and died there on 1 November 1925. He had contracted influenza with an impairment of the blood supply to the brain (fainting) caused by his heart disease.
156.
Union Steam Ship Company ferry PATEENA II - Melbourne to Tasmania
The youngest son of John and Amelia was Albert Casanova Ballard who was born on 9 July 1866 at St. Peter Port and christened there in the Church of St. Peter on 24 August 1866. His sponsors at his baptism were John Norbet and Albertina Casanova.
Now Albert who was known as 'Archie' was much luckier than his brother Henry. At the age of 23 he had no occupation as he was living on his own means at Nally House, Valley Road, Streatham (close to Streatham Common) and with a servant. In the 1890s the mineral wells in Valley Road contributed to the growth of Streatham village which expanded rapidly once the fame of the medicinal properties had spread. Boarding with Albert was Francis Bell, an imbecile aged 77 who was also living on his own means and a relative of Albert's aunt Mary Bell.
The Ballard family seems to have come into money at some time, as John Ballard the ironmonger had been able to retire early. His son Albert also had enough income at 23 years not have had to work. Maybe this Francis Bell was the source of Albert's money then, and again it could have been Albert's god-parents at a later date. John Norbet Casanova, more correctly Spanish born Juan Norberto Casanova (1801-1871), was an orthodox physician in early years, later a homoeopathic physician and also a textile mill owner in Lima, Peru. Juan married at St. Peter Port Guernsey in 1855 French born Albertina Agnes Jane d'Eberstein, the daughter of Ernest Albert Baron D'Eberstein of Saxony, Captain of his Britannic Majesty's 60th Regiment of Foot. Juan and Albertina died childless; Juan died in the early part of 1871 at Hove, Sussex and Albertina died at Streatham in 1906. Although it is not known for certain Albert could have benefited quite handsomely after 1906. What is certain is that he had plenty of money. He lived in Streatham in south-west London until 1923 in which time he endowed scholarships at Westminster School and Dulwich College and reputedly owned many properties in Walthamstow and Leyton in east London and Wimbledon and Crystal Palace in south London, giving rise to an assumption that he had been a slum landlord.
In 1923 Albert or Archie as he was known then, arrived in Plymouth in Devon and was apparently struck by the poverty, hooliganism and rough behaviour of boys, half of whom were fatherless, the men having been killed in WWI. Dismayed by this he asked a couple of Royal Marines to help him start a boys' club. This was started in the Ebenezer church hall in Treville Street but soon moved to larger premises in Athenaeum Lane. Finally an old soap works in Millbay Road became available so he bought the premises, had them demolished, and designed and built a wonderful new purpose-built building in its place, known as the Ballard Institute. That new building, some five stories high and with a lift capable of holding 50 people, was opened on 12 May 1928 and attended by 2,500 guests.. It was said that the builders went bankrupt because Mr. Ballard refused to pay their bill when the cost went over the £60,000 he had been quoted for it. The Ballard Institute provided activities such as ping-pong and boxing for boys.
Archie Ballard the multi-millionaire philanthropist gave every boy a Christmas present and any poor boy was provided with clothing, but he refused point blank to admit girls. At first he seems to have been friendly with Lady Astor but she was very critical of the fact that the club was only for boys. Nancy Witcher Astor, Viscountess Astor, usually known as Lady Astor, was the first woman to sit as a Member of Parliament and was a prominent hostess for the social elite. The Astors put their own money into various projects in Plymouth, most of them contributing in some significant way to improving the provision of local education, sport, health and housing.
Archie encouraged the boys to attend Sunday service by giving them sixpence each when they turned up. This worked so well that the regular churches were devoid of young males as a result so to pacify the local clergy, Mr. Ballard gave them £40,000 for scholarships. Contributions made by a donor for an endowed scholarship would be prudently invested and managed with the interest expended each year to provide financial help for students and their families, so these scholarships could be awarded in perpetuity. To celebrate the coronation of His Majesty King George VI in May 1937 many boys were suddenly presented with a National Provincial Bank book each, with an entry for £5 already in them. This was perhaps double the average weekly wage for a grown man in those days. He omitted to tell the boys that if the fiver remained untouched for twelve months he would add an additional ten shillings. Such was the poverty at that time that few boys earned the extra ten shillings although it has to be said that the £5 was mainly spent on new clothes.
In 1932 Mr Ballard became president of Plymouth Argyle Football Club and president of Plymouth Speedway. The Ballard Institute was closed at the outbreak of WWII in September 1939 and the building, along with Archie's home at Holland House were bombed in March 1941.
At some time Archie went to live at his house called 'Mount Everest', Exeter Road, in Teignmouth, a fashionable resort of some note on the south Devon coast. This is where he died of a brain haemorrhage at his home on 10 August 1942.
158.
The Ballard Institute, Millbay Road, Plymouth about 1928
For more about Albert Casanova Ballard you should read “The Pied Piper of Plymouth: Archie Ballard” by George Male.
Henry the son of William and Sarah Ballard was born in 1818 (no baptism found) at Cranbrook and was a watchmaker and silversmith at Cranbrook after the death of his father. On 5 October 1863, Henry, his wife Rhoda and 10 children (the youngest Gerald Oliver was born on board) set sail from London aboard the clipper SWIFTSURE (1,326 tons Captain M.B. Mayhew) and arrived almost three months later in Melbourne, Australia on 29 Dec 1863. Henry worked in the Customs Department after arriving at Victoria (his occupation given as Customs Official 1883, Clerk H.M. Customs 1867, and Accountant 1896). He died of heart failure on 3 June 1896 at his home 59 Alfred Crescent, North Fitzroy, Victoria and was buried three days later at Kew Cemetery. Rhoda taught French at a school in East Melbourne to help support their large family (listed in 1875 as schoolmistress). Rhoda’s cousin, Richard Heales was Premier (Chief Secretary) of Victoria in 1861 and was able to help establish the family in the new colony. However he died six months after their arrival. Rhoda died 4 April 1914 at her home at 17 St. John’s Avenue, Camberwell, Victoria and was also buried along with her husband.
The property left to Isaac in his father’s will was Whitelimes Farm, shown on the OS. Landranger map (Ref 748 337), it is approached by a private road through Bedgebury Forest. There are two buildings, the old barn and the farmhouse. The old barn, built in the late sixteenth century, was a listed building in a bad state of disrepair but was converted in 1985 into a beautiful private residence. It was originally a five bay barn, with the middle bay being accessed through very large doors on either sides, which would have been used for threshing, using the draught through the open doors. The old farmhouse was owned by the Forestry Commission, the western section being rented to an old couple since 1953 and the other half has recently been sold and is used as a week-end cottage. The upper storeys are partly jutted out from the ground floor and it was suggested that it could have been a thirteenth century Hall House. The farmhouse and barn are about forty yards apart and define two sides of the farmyard with the outline of foundations of other buildings now demolished on the other two sides.
Whitelimes is right in the centre of Bedgebury National Pinetum and Forest which is now a top national attraction with the finest collection of conifers in the world. It was devised jointly by the Forestry Commission and the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew and established in 1925, an unlikely offspring of London’s notorious smog. The poor soil conditions and air pollution from London made Kew an unsuitable site. The manor of Bedgebury was first mentioned in a deed of Kenwulf, king of Mercia in AD 815. Its large woodland area has remained continuously under forest until the present day. The manor was owned by six generations of the de Bedgebury family from Norman times until about 1450 when it passed to the Culpeppers.
159. Whitelimes Farmhouse, Hawkhurst - occupied by Ballards 1788-1831+
(16th Cent. or earlier)
160. Bedgebury National Pinetum and Forest
