Marriage record for Richard White and Mary Hall in Watlington:
"Richard Whyte junr & Mary Hall were married by bannes November ye 25th"

The Whites were a prominent family in Watlington: "The overseers were usually prominent parishioners: in the 17th century the Nashes, Tooveys, Whites, and in 1664, Robert Parslowe, the donor of a charity, who like many others was unable to sign his name....The parish was noted for its nonconformity. In addition to the Roman Catholic Stonors and Simeons there were the humbler families of Protestant nonconformists, the Quaker Whites and the Baptist Oveys....There were Quakers in Watlington in the 17th and 18th centuries. The Quaker, Thomas Ellwood of Crowell, who was an old friend of John Ovey, visited him in 1661 with a London Quaker, also an old friend, who 'declared the truth' to a meeting in Ovey's house. He was attentively heard and not opposed, which was an unusual experience. The chief Quaker families lived outside Watlington: they were the Whites, who owned a brick kiln at Christmas Common, and the Tooveys of North End, who also owned land at Christmas Common. Both families were regularly distrained on for failure to pay tithes: the Whites from 1699 to 1792 and the Tooveys from 1700 to 1716. In both families women were outstanding for their resistance." (British History Online:Watlington)

Burial record for Richard White in Watlington:
"Richard Whyte jun was buried Aprill ye 19th"

Burial record for Mary White in Watlington:
"Mary White wid. buried Sept: 4th Afid. 9th 1716"

In the name of God Amen, the eight & twentieth day of January in the nineth yeare of the reigne of our Soveraigne Lord King William the Third, over England, and in the yeare of our Lord God, one thowsand six hundred ninety & seven: I Mary White of Watlington in the County of Oxon, widowe, beinge weake in body, yet of sound and perfect memory, thanks bee to God, doe make and ordaine this my last will & testament in manner & forme ffollowing, First I give and bequeath my soule to Almighty God my maker, assuredly hopeing to bee saved through the meritts and passion of Jesus Christ my Saviour & Redeemer. And my body to be buried in decent manner in ye churchyard of Watlington aforesaid. And as for my worldly estate I give & dispose ye same as followeth: Imprimus, I give & devise unto my sonne in law John May of Watlington aforesaid maultmaker all that my one acre of arable land with the appertences lying & being in a certain field called Edgingdon feild in the liberty & precinctes of Watlington aforesaid, and there heading a ffurlong called Sandy Ffurlong and shooting by Sheepbrooke gutter and thereunto adjoining and was lately purchased by me the said Mary White of  & from my sonne Richard White together with all ways, easements, commons, profits and hereditaments whatsoever thereunto belonging or appertaining to have and to hold my said one acre of arrable lands with ye appertences unto my said son in law John May and his heirs & assignes for ever. Item I give & bequeath unto my grandsonn Richard White the sume of twenty shillings of lawfull money of England to be paid when he shall attain to ye age of ffifteene years for & towards the apprenticing of him my said grandson or providing of him apparel. Item my debts & funeral expences being paid and discharged I give & bequeath ye lease and beqeath ye lease and term of and in the cottage or tenement wherein I now dwell and which I hold of the ffeoffees of Watlington aforesaid and all the rest and residue of my goods, chattels, corne and household stuffe unto my loveing daughter Mary May whom I make whom I make and ordain sole & whole executrix of this my last will and testament desiring her faithfully to perform the same. And I do hereby revoke and make void all former & other wills of mine whatsoever. In witness whereof I ye said Mary White have sett my hand and seal hereunto ye day and year first above written.

The mark of Mary White,




Signed, sealed, published and declared by the said Mary White as her last will and testament in ye presence of us who also subscribed & named in ye presence of the said Mary White – Alice Dobinson her mark, Thomas Hall junr, Thomas Lucas junr.

Probated 24 September 1716



Richard and Mary had the following children:


*1. Mary, christened 13 October 1667 in Watlington; married John May

buried 24 June 1726 in Watlington.




Baptism record for Mary White in Watlington: "Mary ye daughter of Richard White & Mary his wife baptized October ye 13th"



2. Richard, christened 27 March 1670 in Watlington.

SOURCE: IGI; Watlington parish register, FLH# 887489; www.ancestry.co.uk; will of Mary White of Watlington, 1716; www.findmypast.co.uk; The People of Watlington, The Eureka Partnership.

The Town Hall, Watlington:
"The delightful brick Town Hall at Watlington was built at the expense of Thomas Stonor in 1665"  (Oxfordshire Brickmakers)
Perhaps these bricks were made by the White family?

FAMILY GROUP RECORD OF
RICHARD AND ELLINOR WHITE

Richard White was born in about 1610 of Watlington, the son of John White. He married Ellinor. Richard was a brickmaker in the hamlet of Christmas Common in Watlington.

The origin of Christmas Common's name is unclear: "The hamlet's unusual toponym is of uncertain origin. It is variously ascribed to a 1643 Christmas Day truce between combatants in the English Civil War, local holly tree coppices or the Christmas family, which had local connections." (www.wikipedia.com)

Christmas Common

Richard's occupation was mentioned in a history of the area: "Although most of the land is now used for grazing, it has been used for arable in past centuries and normal farming activity would have exposed the sub-soil. The clay was used to make bricks at various times; for example, Richard White of Watlington was a brickmaker in 1665 with a kiln near Christmas Common and a brick kiln as shown on the enclosure map in I815."  A footnote adds: "Mentioned in the will of his father John White, brickmaker and farmer: J. Bond, S. Gosling, J Rhodes. Oxfordshire Brickmakers (Oxon Museum Service Publ. no. 14), 13." (The Anglo-Saxon Estate of Readanora and the Manor of Pyrton, Oxfordshire, by Madeleine Hammond) The red clay subsoil in Christmas Common was used to make bricks.


In Oxfordshire Brickmakers: "The great flowering of brick at Watlington is matched by a brickworks there. In 1665, Richard White, brickmaker, is mentioned in the will of his father, John White, brickmaker and farmer. Another John White was a brickmaker in 1681.The Watlington Enclosure Map of 1815 marks Brick Kiln Yard, with a house occupied by John White at Christmas Common on top of the Chiltern scarp. The Whites were one of the leading Quaker families of Watlington, and were regularly distrained for not paying tithes; the vicar, however, had a novel way of collecting what was due. In 1738 he reported: "A Widow woman and her children at Christmas are Quakers, people of some little substance, carry on a brick kiln and some small matter of farming. Named White. They refuse to pay Ecclesiastical dues, nor have I at any time prosecuted them, but when I want kiln ware I send and they deliver it, ana so I stop payment of which I find to be due to me". The Whites owned land in Marsh Baldon, where Plot mentions the making of pottery some time prior to 1676. In 1680 one Richard Spindler leased a plot of land there called Furze Close from John White for 21 years, agreeing to 'level and fill up all such pitts that he shall dig or cause to be digged'  (Oxfordshire Brickmakers)

Ellinor, the wife of Richard White was buried 20 March 1662 in Watlington.

  Burial record for Ellinor White in Watlington:
"Ellinor Whyte ye wife of Richard Whyte was buried March 20th"

Inventory for John White of Christmas Common, 1665, showing
Richard White of Watlington brickmaker as an appraiser.

John White of Christmas Common, another brickmaker, died intestate in 1665. Richard White was one of the appraisers for his inventory. His widow was Mary White, and another John White, his son, also signed the administration probate record. This is likely Richard's brother, as both John and Richard were having children christened from the beginning of the parish register in 1635.  

Old brick kiln in nearby Nettlebed

                         Signature of Richard White

Richard White senior was buried 8 September 1680 in Watlington.

Burial record for Richard White in Watlington:
"Richard Whyte sen was buried September ye 8th & was interred according to ye directions of ye Act abovesayd
whereas Affidavit was made before Emd. Gregorye & by him vertefied September ye 11th"

Richard and Ellinor had the following children:

1. A daughter, buried 19 July 1639 in Watlington.

*2. Richard, born in about 1635 of Watlington; married Mary Hall 25 November 1666 in Watlington; buried 19 April 1670 in Watlington.

3. Robert, christened 29 January 1636 in Watlington. Robert is found in an apprenticeship record in 1652, when he was apprenticed to a vintner: "White Robert son of Richard, Watlington, Oxfordshire, husbandman to Jeremiah Hutchins, 1 Jun 1652, Vintners' Company" (London Apprenticeship Records)

SOURCES: Watlington parish register; www.ancestry.co.uk; Watlington parish register on CD, Oxfordshire Family History Society; The Anglo-Saxon Estate of Readanora and the Manor of Pyrton, Oxfordshire, by Madeleine Hammond; London Apprenticeship Records, www.findmypast.com)

    

Map of Watlington and Christmas Common

FAMILY GROUP RECORD OF
JOHN WHITE

John White was born in about 1585 of Christmas Common in the parish of Watlington. He was a brickmaker and farmer.


John and his wife had the following children:


1. John, married Mary; had children John (1635), Mary (1637), Robert (1640), and Joan (1642); buried 30 January 1664 in Watlington, leaving an administration.


*2. Richard, born in about 1610 of Watlington; married Mary; buried 8 September 1680 in Watlington.




SOURCES: Watlington parish register on CD, Oxfordshire Family History Society; The Anglo-Saxon Estate of Readanora and the Manor of Pyrton, Oxfordshire, by Madeleine Hammond.