William Tullett and Elizabeth Wolf.
My 6th great-grandparents.
William Tullett’s origins are unclear. Several children by this named were baptised around 1711 including the son of William and Mary Toolet baptised on 2 April 1711 in Horsham, Sussex; the son of Peter Toolet on 2 February 1713 in Horsham; the son of Henry Tolet in Charlwood, Surrey, on 20 May 1711. The lack of Peters and Henrys among his offspring could point to the real ancestor.
Whoever he was, William had a complicated family life… In 1737 he was listed as the husband of Ann Toolet when their daughter Sarah Toolet was baptised at St Mary’s in Rusper, Sussex. The same happened in 1739 with their daughter Rebecca. But William and Ann were not married for she was the wife of a William Beedle, who she married at St Peter’s Church in Newdigate, Surrey, on 20 May 1717. The truth emerged in a Bastardy Bond in the sum of £50 from the parish of Newdigate in 1742, signed by William and that basically meant the parish wouldn’t have to pay out to support the two illegimate children if the need arose.
In the same year, on 26 April, William married Elizabeth Wolf or Woolf at St Peter’s in Newdigate. In 1743 a Settlement Certificate was issued by the churchwardens and overseers of the poor in the parish of Rusper, acknowledging William, Elizabeth and his child, who I assume would be his new son William, as being of Rusper. Despite this, William and Elizabeth had further children in Newdigate and continued to live there.
Elizabeth (whose surname was also spelled Wolph) came from Newdigate, where she was baptised on 3 February 1716 to parents John Wolf and Mary Bennett.
It’s possible William died in 1788 and was buried back in Rusper, described as a pauper, on 18 May. A pauper would’ve been on poor relief so it makes sense that he was in the parish that had claimed responsibility for him. However, Elizabeth was buried in Newdigate on 5 January 1791 and noted as the wife of William rather than a widow. This suggests he was still living – or the clerks made an error. I’ve not found an alternative burial that fits.
William’s children with Elizabeth were:
- William Tullett (1743-????), my 5th great-grand uncle. William was baptised on 1 January 1743 (or 1742 in the old calendar) at St Peter’s in Newdigate. It’s possible he married Elizabeth Pledge in Ockley, Surrey, on 3 February 1769 but by no means certain.
- John Tullett (1744-1811), my 5th great-grandfather. John married Sarah Charlwood, daughter of Quakers.
- Richard Tullett (1748-1810), my 5th great-grand uncle. Richard was baptised on 25 February 1748 at St Peter’s in Newdigate. He married Ann Brown there on on 26 May 1772 but where she came from is unclear – there are too many candidates. They stayed in Newdigate to begin with but later moved a few miles east to Charlwood in Surrey, where they had most of their children baptised. It’s likely that Richard was a tenant farmer as various land tax records for Charlwood from the 1780s to the year before his death show him as occupier of property in the parish belonging to a variety of proprietors including Benjamin Flint, Charles Edwin and the Duke of Norfolk. Richard died in 1810 and was buried at St Nicholas’s in Charlwood on 26 December. Ann died the following year and was buried there on 14 July 1811. Their children were:
- Sarah Tullett (1773-1773).
- Elizabeth Tullett (1776-1818). Born and raised in Charlwood, Elizabeth married George Round in the village in 1797 and had children with him. He was a successful farmer who owned his own land, a man who would therefore be known as a yeoman. Elizabeth died young, George remarried and died in 1851.
- Sarah Tullett (1778-????) was baptised in Charlwood.
- Richard Tullett (1780-1797) was born and died in Charlwood.
- John Tullett (1782-1797) was baptised in Charlwood and married Philly or Phyllis Miller in 1804 but she died in 1817 after having had several children with him. Baptism records for at least one noted that he was a publican. In 1822 he married widow Ann Brown in Dorking and in both the 1841 and 1851 censuses he was listed at the Star in Hookwood Common, an ale house. He died in 1858 and was buried in Charlwood. Ann died in 1875.
- Edward Tullett (1785-1873) was baptised in Charlwood and worked as a farmer for many years. His first wife died and he married Jane Foreman in Ifield, Sussex, in 1835. He went on to be the publican at the Norfolk Arms pub in Holmwood, Surrey. He was buried in the village in 1873 while Jane had died in 1863.
- Ann Tullett (1789-1852) was baptised in Charlwood and married Richard Edwards there in 1810. He worked as an agricultural labourer and they lived for some years in Balcombe, Sussex. He died a year after his wife.
- Henry Tullett (1791-????) was baptised in Charlwood.
- James Tullett (1756-1764), my 5th great-grand uncle. James was baptised on 3 October 1756 at St Peter’s in Newdigate and buried there on 29 May 1764.
William’s illegitimate children with Anne were:
- Sarah Tullett (1737-1814). Baptised in Rusper, Sussex, on 3 October 1737, Sarah married farm labourer Henry Barker at St Peter’s in Newdigate, Surrey, on 5 November 1756. They went on to live in Betchworth, Surrey, and had a family. At the end of their lives both were in the poor house or workhouse there. Henry was buried in the parish on 7 November 1810, Sarah on 22 October 1814.
- Rebecca Tullett (1739-????). Baptised in Rusper, Sussex, on 29 July 1739, she then disappears from the records.
Sources: BMDs, census, land tax and other records at Ancestry.co.uk, Findmypast.co.uk, Familysearch.org. Surrey History Centre bastardy and settlements: P37/3/52, P37/3/183.