Early beginnings of the
Haultain Family in London, England. The story of Theodore Haultain and his
son, James Haultain are listed on this page. Two hot links
in red highlight
the Great Fire and a map of Queen Hithe.
1. Theodore1
Haultain was born circa 1665, possibly in France but perhaps in England
as his name, or a variation, does not turn up in known Huguenot
records.
Theodore
died March,
1749 in London, England, at 83 years of age.
He
married
Mary Leigh
in London, England, July 6,
1689. Theodore and Mary Leigh Haultain were married
in the Anglican Church of St.
Mary's, Marylebone, London. After
their marriage, they settled in the
Queen
Hithe district beside the Thames
and not far from St. Paul's Cathedral.
This medieval area had been completely destroyed in 1666 by the the
Great Fire of
London but had been
rebuilt by the time of the Haultain's
marriage.
Great Fire of London, 1666
Nine children were born in the following nine years, all of whom died
as infants except for the last two brothers, William and James who lived to
adulthood.
Theodore Haultain became a wealthy merchant and businessman. Knowledge of his life can be found in court cases involving Theodore
over a number of years. He appears to have been a
silk merchant in the 1690s and was a member of a group of Huguenot merchants
who were illegally importing luxury silks from France. At the time, England and
France were at war, and imports from any enemy were not allowed. Theodore
was arrested in April, 1698, and charged with receiving two consignments of
silks. Although the full story of this arrest has not been traced, it is
probable that he was fined, as were those who were more deeply involved in
the smuggling.
In the early 1700s, Theodore and Mary with their youngest sons, William and
James, moved to West Ham in Essex.
This community, a parish in county of Essex, was 4 miles northeast of London,
and comprised the wards of All Saints, Church-street, Plaistow, and
Stratford-Langthorne. Mary died in this community on November 6, 1707.
Theodore was appointed as a Surveyor of Highways in 1706, and as an Overseer
of the Poor in 1712. He became a Church Warden in 1714 for the West Ham
Anglican Church.
While in Essex, he set up a calico printing business, which involved
printing designs on linen or calico with engraved wooden or metal blocks
faced with felt. The material
was washed after the dyes had set and spread on the meadows to dry. He also
set up a rape and linseed oil business in West Ham, which was unsuccessful
and had to be disbanded.
As his sons grew up, both William and James were apprenticed to the textile trade, William as a
cloth worker in 1715 and James as a draper in 1717.
Theodore must have had stature in the community as he was appointed executor
for several wills and was involved in court cases on behalf of the
beneficiaries. He loaned large
sums of money and had to go to court in order to be repaid.
After Mary Leigh's death, Theodore married Anne who has not yet been
traced.
In 1741, Anne Haultain, the wife of Mr. Theodore Haultain, aged 68,
died and was buried at Wandsworth, Surrey, England, south of the River Thames.
In those days, Wandsworth was a village but it is now part of Greater London.
The name, Haultain, was spelled correctly in the Wandsworth Parish Register
which also contains the names of the baptisms of three of James' children
and the burial of one of them between 1740 and 1745.
Theodore was buried on March 16, 1749 at All Hollows London Wall, London. He left no will, but in the official administration of his
affairs, it was stated that James was the "natural and lawful son and
only child of the deceased." William
clearly had died before 1749.
Theodore must have been in his early eighties at death as he had first been
married in 1689 and lived for sixty years after that, dying in 1749.
Theodore Haultain and Mary Leigh
had the following
children:
2. i.
Peter2 Haultain
was born in London,
Middlesex, England on April 15, 1690. Birth
site: Queen Hithe District/Queenhithe (London). The district
was named for a hithe, or strand, for loading and unloading barges and lighters
from the Thames River. It was called "queen" as this area of
London was part of the dowry of Eleanor, Queen of Henry II. He
was baptized at St. Stephen's Wallbrook, London on the same day.
Godparents were Mr. Hue Mermyon, Mr. Francis Roberts, and Mrs. Catrina Dothwaite,
Godmother. Peter died at four years of age and is buried at St. Michael's,
Queenhithe, London..
3
ii. Thomas
Haultain
was born in
London, Middlesex, England March 15, 1691.
4
iii.
Leigh Haultain
was born in
London, Middlesex, England March 15, 1691. "Born about 8 in ye
morning upon a Sunday and were christened ye same day." Godparents
were Mr. Thomas Brotherton, Mr. Peron, and Mrs. Eliza Leigh, Godmother.
"The sainted children departed this Life one upon ye Thursday following ye
the on ye Saturday the same week and both buried in one coffin at St. Stephen's
Wallbrook, London.
5
iv. Elizabeth
Haultain
was born in London, Middlesex, England March 22, 1692.
Christened on April 6, 1692 in Holy Trinity the Less. Godparents were Mr.
Jno Costantine and Mrs. Elizabeth Purritt? and Mrs. Dorothy Taylor,
Godmothers. Died October 1692 and is buried at LIttle Ealing, Old
Brentford, Middlesex.
6
v. Theodore
Haultain
was born in London, Middlesex, England February 26, 1693. He was
christened on February 26 1693 at Holy Trinity the Less. His godparents
were Mr. Roberts, his father, and Mrs. Cousin, godmother. He died October
8, 1694 and is buried in St. Michael's, Queenhithe.
7
vi.
Mary Haultain
was born in London, Middlesex, England January 26, 1694.
Christened at Holy Trinity the Less. Godparents were Mr. Charles Goupy,
Mrs. Myrmyord and Mrs. Nix? Mary died February 5, 1694 and is buried at
St. Michael's, Queenhithe.
8
vii.
Apolonia
Haultain
was born in London, Middlesex, England July 29, 1695.
Christened the same day at Holy Trinity the Less. Godparents were Mr. Jno.
Nicks, Godfather, Mrs. Roberts and Mrs. Stout, Godmothers. Apolonia died
August 18, 1696 and was buried at Queenhithe Church.
9
viii. William
Haultain was born in
London, Middlesex, England 1697. William
died
before 1749.
+ 10
ix.
James Haultain
was born October 11,
1698.
Generation
2
2. James1
Haultain, son of Theodore Haultain
and Mary Leigh, was born in London, Middlesex, England October
11, 1698, in the QueenHithe
District. James died April 29, 1754 in Banstead, Surrey,
England, at 55 years of age.
He
married
Martha
Wells
in London, Middlesex, England, August 14, 1739.
The following individual is also linked to this event: Reverend Dr.
Letson (minister). Martha was the daughter of Jane
Wells. Martha
died March 1, 1796 in Weybrigde, Surrey,
England, at 82 years of age. She
was baptized in Farrington, Berkshire, England,
December 25, 1713. Religion: Anglican.
James was baptized in London,
Middlesex, England, October 23, 1698. Religion: Anglican.
James' godparents were Hui Mermyon, Peter Leigh and "my mother
Rutter."
On
October 11, 1698, Theodore Haultain noted in the family bible the following for
the birth of his youngest son, James: London,
October 11, 1698, my son, James, was born about 1 o’clock in the morning upon
a Tuesday and was christened on the 23rd instant.”
James
was christened at Holy Trinity the Less Church* (see note at end of section)
and his godparents were Hui
Mermyon, Peter Leigh (perhaps his mother’s father or brother), and “my
mother Rutter.” This last
godparent seems to indicate that Theodore’s mother had died and his father
remarried Mrs. Rutter.
When
he was still a young child, James, with his older brother, William, moved with
their parents to West Ham in Essex. On
November 5, 1717 when James was nineteen years old, he was apprenticed to
William Kingston, a citizen and draper of London for the usual term of seven
years. On March 24, 1724, he had
fulfilled his apprenticeship and was made a free man by Mr. Kingston.
Little
is known of James’ life for the next fifteen years.
The Draper’s Company records show that he was a “linen draper of
Cheapside,” which is near his old home on Queenhithe and near St. Paul’s
Cathedral. The Draper’s records
also note that he “lives in the country” so perhaps his family continued to
reside in West Ham while his business was established in London.
On
August 14, 1739, James Haultain, age 40, was married to Martha Wells at St.
George’s Church, Hanover Square, London, by license.
The
ceremony was performed by the Reverend Dr. Letson.
Martha Wells had been baptized at All Saint’s Church, Farringdon in the
Berkshires, on December 25, 1713. She
would have been twenty-six at the time of her marriage to James.
The newly married
couple settled in Wandsworth, Surrey, England, south of the Thames River where
their eldest son was born in 1741. It
appears the family moved to Sutton, Surrey, England where their second child,
Benjamin, was born in 1741. James
and Benjamin both appear to have been born the same year and unless they were
twins, James would have had to be born early in 1741 and Benjamin in the latter
part of the year. Their only
daughter, Mary, was also born in Sutton and baptized there as well.
James
and Martha moved back to Wandsworth for the birth of James, 1744, and William,
1746. The community of Wandsworth, at
this time, was known as a Huguenot district which specialized in felt hat
making. James would probably been
involved in this enterprise or in some other textile or drapery business.
He
now appears to have some standing in the community and to have prospered as in
1747, James and Martha Haultain moved their family to Banstead, Surrey, and
leased a large home and probably some land surrounding the house.
This property was called Yewlands. Twins Francis and Charles were born in Banstead in 1747, probably at this
home.
Two
years late in 1749, James’ elderly father, Theodore, died and was buried in
London. James, as the only
surviving child, inherited all his father’s chattels and goods.
We know of James’ prosperous life style as a letter survives from his
grandson, Terrick Haultain, written in 1854.
The letter, referring to the home in Banstead, states:
“…from whence he drove his carriage with four long-tailed black
horses.”
Unfortunately, James did not live long to
enjoy his life in Banstead. As
Terrick Haultain recorded, “he died young…through a cold caught by exposure
on the Banstead Downs after an accident from his gun. He left his wife a young
widow, very handsome, with six children.”
James
died on April 29, 1754. He was buried in the All Saint’s Churchyard at Banstead.
A Haultain family vault was erected for him over a plot where eventually
eleven members of the Haultain family were buried.
Like
his father before him, James did not leave a will.
Administration of his estate was granted to his widow, Martha. The
widow and her family had to give up Yewland and relocate to Mitcham, another small Surrey
village. In A History of
Banstead, Sir Henry Lambert records that in 1754, James Lambert carried “2
load goods to Mitcham for Madam Haltien.”
It
was in Mitcham were the youngest child, the twin, Charles, died in 1761 and six
years later, Martha’s 83 year old mother, Jane Wells, also died.
Both Charles and Jane were buried in Banstead.
Martha’s only daughter, Mary, married William Porter of Shepperton,
Middlesex, England, and the surviving twin, Francis, married Sophie Stainforth
at Mitcham in 1775.
Fifteen
years after the death of her husband, Martha Wells Haultain, age 84, died March
1, 1769, at the home of her son, Francis, in Weybridge, Surrey, England.
The Weybridge Parish Register notes:
Mrs. Martha Wells, relict of the late James Haultain and the mother of
the Reverend Francis Haultain, was carried from Weybridge the 17th
day of March 1796 in order for internment at Banstead near Carshalton in this
county.
Learning
from the business difficulties Martha Haultain encountered after the death of
her husband, she left a will leaving each of her five children the sum of 2,000
pounds if it had not already been advanced in-full or in-part to them.
This was a considerable inheritance for that time.
Perhaps because of worries of the influence of her son, James, habits or
friends, she tied up his inheritance. James
predeceased his mother as did all of her children with the exception of Theodore
and Francis.
*
Note regarding Holy Trinity the Less in Queenhithe, London:
Holy Trinity the Less was destroyed by the Great Fire of 1666 so therefore James
cannot have been baptized there. This church was never rebuilt. Parish records for this
church can be found in the Guildhall Library. St. Michael Queenhithe was
also destroyed in the Great Fire, but was rebuilt. Holy Trinity the
Less was united with St Michael in 1670, and when St Michael was demolished in 1875, both parishes united with St. James
Garlickhithe. Parish records are in the Guildhall Library. Later baptisms and marriages are in the registers of St James
Garlickhithe. A partial index to baptisms and marriages for the years, 1651-1875, is in the
IGI. Taken from an Internet search, August 1, 2003.
James Haultain
and Martha Wells
had the following children:
+ 2
i. Lieutenant-Colonel
Theodore2 Haultain
was born June 26, 1740.
3
ii. Benjamin
Haultain
was born in Sutton, Surrey, England 1741.
Benjamin
died Before 1796 at the home of his brother, Francis, in Weybridge, Surrey,
England..
4
iii.
Mary
Haultain
was born in Sutton, Surrey, England, 1742.
Mary died April 17,
1785, and is buried in the Haultain family vault at Banstead, Surrey, England.
She
married William Porter of Shepperton, Middlesex, England, who was born circa
1733 and died September 24, 1797. He is buried in Banstead, Surrey,
England. An unknown daughter was born of this marriage who married
Reverend Archibald Bruce. Two sons, William Adair Bruce and Reverend
Courtney Boyle Bruce of Bath were born of this marriage.
5
iv. James
Haultain
was born in Wandsworth, Surrey, England 1744.
James died June 11, 1790 and is buried in the Haultain family vault at
Banstead, Surrey, England..
6
v. William
Haultain
was born in Wandsworth, Surrey, England July 8, 1746.
William
died July 19, 1746 in Wandsworth, England.
.
+ 7 vi.
Reverend Francis
Haultain
was born September 16, 1747.
8
vii. Charles
Haultain
was born in Banstead, Surrey, England September
17, 1747. Charles
died 1761 in Mitcham,
Surrey, England, at 13
years of age and is buried in the family vault at Banstead, Surrey, England.
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