FAMILY GROUP RECORD OF JOHN GELL AND
ELIZABETH WILLOUGHBY
John Gell was born 22 June 1593 in Hopton Hall, Derbyshire, and
christened 2 July 1593 in Carsington, Derbyshire, the son of Thomas
Gell and Millicent Sacheverell. John's father died when John was
still an infant, just before the birth of his younger brother
Thomas. John's mother married again, to Sir John Curzon. Elizabeth
gave birth to another son, John Curzon, in 1598.
"John Gell grew up with his new half-brother, John
Curzon, at Kedleston rather than at Hopton Hall. That may partly
account for his early marriage and service abroad, though he
returned to live at Kedleston until 1628. He remained in contact
with his mother and stepfather but at a quarrelsome rather than
affectionate level. His papers contain some religious writings but
also a large corpus of love poetry which modern stereotyping
associates more easily with a Cavalier than a Roundhead."
(Nonconformity in Derbyshire: A Study in Dissent, 1600-1800,
Stephen Orchard)
John attended Oxford University: "He matriculated as a
commoner of Magdalen College, Oxford, on 16 June 1610, but left
the university without a degree." (Dictionary of National
Biography)
Gell married in January 1609, at the age of 15, to Elizabeth
Willoughby, the daughter of Sir Percival and Bridget Willoughby of
Wollaton in Nottinghamshire. “At Wirksworth the Gell family of
Hopton Hall were the local proprietors and their tombs sit in the
parish church to this day…Sir John Gell of Hopton (1593-1671) was
not favoured by a comtemporary biography, complimentary or
otherwise…Almost all we know about him concerns battles – actual
combats in the war and legal wrangling over property. As a young
man he was a soldier in the Netherlands c1610 and is said to have
acquired his Puritan sympathies there. However, it was before then
that he married Elizabeth Willoughby on the 22 January 1609/10,
daughter of Sir Perceval Willoughby, members of a known Puritan
family."(Nonconformity in Derbyshire: A Study in Dissent,
1600-1800, Stephen Orchard)
Sir John Gell
"John and Elizabeth Gell had six children born between 1611 and
1620, two sons and four daughters. The marriages of these children
extended kinship and its mutual obligations, sometimes far beyond
Hopton. The oldest daughter, Millicent, married Richard
Radcliffe, son of a rich Manchester merchant, later a supporter of
Parliament in the Civil War. The younger daughters all married
locally. Elizabeth married Henry Wigfall of Renishaw, Eleanor
married Anthony Alsopp of Allsop-in-le-Dale, and Bridgett married
John Wigley of Wigwell Grange. These three Derbyshire sons-in-law
were to be critical in supporting Gell through the next decade and
their families would maintain the Puritan cause long after 1662.
The Wigleys were perhaps the most important allies. An old lead
mining family from Wirksworth, they had acquired land in the
Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire by shrewd marriages. The John
Wigley who married Bridgett Gell was the son of Richard Wigley,
who had inherited Wigwell Grange from his brother Henry. Two of
Richard Wigley’s daughters married into Puritan families. Faith
Wigley married Thomas Shelmerdine, Vicar of Crich, and was
therefore the mother of Daniel Shelmerdine, who led the 1689
Nonconformists to Bakewell. Anne Wigley married Henry Buxton of
Bradbourne, who would play a role in the Presbyterian Classis at
Wirksworth during the Commonwealth. Moreover, the Wigleys were
already related to the Gells through the second marriage of John
Gell’s grandfather, Ralph Gell, to Emma Beresford. One of their
daughters was married to Henry Wigley, Richard’s older brother.
The Wigley family were friends of Martin Topham, Puritan rector of
Wirksworth. These are the classic models of country squires and
their families who would support Parliament in the Civil War.
The Gell daughters married successfully from their father’s
point of view. What of the sons? The younger son, William, proved
a disappointment to the family. Put into business in London, he
fell into dissolute ways and was reduced to having his money
rationed out to him by agents. Though his drinking is not given as
the specific cause of his woes he shows a classic pattern of
dependency, always owning his sins and promising to live a better
life. He came back to Hopton to die in 1642, a mere 27 years old,
as the political crisis deepened. The son and heir John Gell (1613-1689)
was everything William was not. He was shrewd, dependable and a
good landlord. He made a good marriage, to Catherine Packer."(Nonconformity in Derbyshire: A Study in Dissent, 1600-1800,
Stephen Orchard)
John became involved with local and national politics: "Gell's
next public appointment was shared with his brother, Thomas, who
was a well-connected barrister in London. This was the office of
Receiver and Supervisor of the Honour of Tutbury, granted in 1632
successively, for life, to Thomas, and to John and his son, John
Gell the younger. The Honour of Tutbury was the name given to the
Derbyshire and Staffordshire estates of the Duchy of Lancaster, a
royal possession, and Thomas was responsible for collecting Duchy
rents and dues, including fees payable whenever a Duchy tenancy
was transferred by sale or inheritance. Armed with a schedule of
property on which inheritance fees were outstanding, Thomas Gell
ordered that defaulters' property should be seized in lieu of
unpaid Duchy rents. At a time when the king, Charles I, was
governing without a Parliament, and was desperately short of
money, the Gells' revenue raising earned them royal favour. John
Gell was rewarded by appointment to the post of High Sheriff of
Derbyshire for the year 1635.Gell's record of service to the crown
was rewarded by the grant of a baronetcy in 1642, after payments
made on his behalf by his brother Thomas, in London, which
included "a warrant for a Baronett £300". (www.wikipedia.com)
John's feisty nature caused problems in his later life: "Gell
had an irascible nature and a dictatorial way with both his
regiment and his colleagues in the county administration which
made enemies and provoked complaints to Parliament. He also became
disaffected with the Parliamentary commanders in the Northern and
East Midlands regions and was out of sympathy with the political
direction taken by the regime which emerged after the king's
surrender in 1646, as he argued in a petition to the king at
Charles II's restoration A further cause of disillusionment for
Gell was Parliament's reluctance to compensate him for losses he
incurred in fighting the war. In 1646 his regiment was disbanded
and in 1648 he was relieved of all appointments. He moved
permanently to London, having previously transferred his estate to
his son John, with whom he kept up a regular correspondence on
politics, family matters and the running of the estate. In London
he made contact with the king, asking pardon for his part in the
war and making a gift of £300. In 1650 he was tried and found
guilty of misprision of treason, in other words of knowing of a
royalist plot and not revealing it to the authorities. He was
sentenced to life imprisonment and confiscation of his estates.
The authorities were thwarted in their attempt to confiscate the
Hopton estate since John Gell the younger was able to prove its
transfer to himself. Gell was imprisoned in the Tower of London
but released in 1653 on grounds of ill health; he took no further
part in politics during the Commonwealth period. He was pardoned
by Charles II at the Restoration in 1660 and given an appointment
at the royal court." (www.wikipedia.com)
Elizabeth died in 1644. John married again to Mary Stanhope, the
widow of Sir John Stanhope.The marriage lasted less than a year and
the couple separated in late 1648. : "Gell's wife Elizabeth had
died in 1644 and in December 1647 Gell had remarried. His second
wife was Mary Stanhope, widow of one of his Derbyshire enemies,
Sir John Stanhope of Elvaston. Gell had harried Stanhope for
payment of Ship Money in events described by Mary in a petition to
Parliament. This unlikely alliance lasted less than a year and the
couple separated in late 1648. Mary died in 1653. Gell died in
1671 and his body was carried in procession back to Wirksworth
where he was buried in the church there." (www.wikipedia.com)
A history of Hopton Hall mentions John: "During the Civil
War, in 1644 the house was sacked by royalists and in 1650 Sir
John Gell, the commander of local parliamentary forces was
indicted for treason and imprisoned in the Tower of London for two
years. The Gell family had to pay heavy fines, the family fortunes
nosedived and there was no money to pay for repairs or improvement
to the house until ...the end of the eighteenth century" (Historic
Hopton Hall & Gardens)
John Gell died in 1671, leaving a will:
Will of John Gell, 1671
In the name of God Amen, I Sir John Gell of Hopton in
the County of Derby Barronett being not in health of body and yet
of sound and perfect mind and memory thanks and praise bee given
therefore to Almighty God now considering the uncertainity of this
present life doe make and ordaine this my last will and testament
in manner and forme following viz, ffirst and principally I comend
my soule into the hands of Almighty God my mercifull creator and
of his sonneJesus Christ my only Saviour and Redemer trusting
through his most piteous meritts to have fast and full pardon and
forgiveness of and for all my sinnes and offences and my body I
comitt to the Earth until the joyfull resurrection to bee decently
buried at the discretion of myne executors hereafter named. And as
for and touching and concerning the worldly estate wherewith it
hath pleased God to blesse mee with ffirst I give to the poore of
the parishe of Worksworth in the said County twenty pounds. Item I
give to the towne of Hopton in the said County ten pounds. Item I
give to the poore of the parishe of Carsington five pounds. Item I
give to my servant Thomas Smedley ffifty pounds. Item I give to my
servant Elizabeth ffive pounds. Item I give to Anne Bowring ffifty
pounds my servant alsoe I give to my loving friend Mr. Edward
Brooks a good gold ring desiring him to ware it for my sake the
motto within it to bee memento mori. I give to George Steeple of
Hopton twenty pounds. Item I give to my daughter Wigley
ffive pounds. Item I give to my daughter Alsop twenty
pounds. Item I give to my daughter Wigshill ffive pounds.
Item I give to Richard Stevens of Bath ffive pounds and I
earnestly desire my executor to present until my speciall good
friends Mr Edward and Mr William Hortone ether of them a good
gould ring. Item I give to every towne where the corpe doe stay
all night forty shillings to the poore of the parishe. And I doe
appoint my loving sonne John Gell and his sonne John
Gell sole executors of this my last will and testament and
doe revoke all former and other wills by mee heretofore by mee
made. In witness whereof I have hereunto put my hand and seale the
twenty fourth day of May in the yeare of our Lord one thousand six
hundred seaventy and one 1671. John Gell sealed published and
declared in the presence of John Wigley. A Codicell to bee added unto my last will the last of July
1671 under my hand. First I give and bequeath unto my loving
servant Thomas Smedley all my wearing aapparrell both linen and
wollen. Item I give and bequeath unto my servant Anne Smedley all
my household goods excepting my gold watch my pendulum cloke.
Alsoe I give unto my grandsonne Mr Henry Wigley twenty
pounds. Alsoe I give to my grandsonne Will Gell soe much
moneye as to make upp his twenty eight pounds one hundred pounds.
Alsoe I give unto my grandsonne Sameal Wigfall fifty
pounds. I give to George Steeple of Hopton the passing ware. Item
I give and bequeath unto Nicholas Buffer both my horses and the
roned mare. I give unto my gransonne Ffrances Gell the
little xxxware. I doe revoke the guift of those two things given
in my will to Mr Edward and Mr William Hornton. John Gell
Monumental inscription for John and Elizabeth
Gell
John and Elizabeth had the following children:
1. John, christened 7 October 1613; married Katherine
Packer; died 8 February 1689.
2. Millicent, christened 10 October 1611; married Richard
Radcliffe 13 February 1635.
3. Elizabeth, christened 27 April 1617; married Henry
Wigfall.
4. Bridget, christened 29 October 1612 in Kedelston,
Derbyshire; married John Wigley.
5. Eleanor, christened 14 January 1620; married Anthony
Alsop; died 1 March 1713.
6. William
7. Thomas
SOURCE: Wikipedia.com; The Gells of Hopton, by
Philip Lyttelton Gell; will of John Gell of Hopton, 1671,
Prerogative Court of Canterbury; Nonconformity in
Derbyshire: A Study in Dissent, 1600-1800, Stephen Orchard; Dictionary
of National Biography.
FAMILY GROUP RECORD OF THOMAS GELL AND MILLICENT SACHEVERELL
Thomas Gell was born in about 1532 in Derbyshire, the son of Ralph
Gell and Godeth Ashby. He married late in life, to Millicent
Sacheverell 14 April 1588 in Kirk Ireton, Derbyshire.
Thomas owned a large estate in the Wirksworth area, and had lead
mining interest in the area.
Thomas died 11 November 1594, just before the birth of his second
son. Millicent married John Curzon soon afterward.
"Gell’s father, Thomas had married late in life. His first wife,
Margaret Needham, died childless and he then married in 1588
Millicent Sacheverel, daughter of a prosperous lead merchant and
smelter. This was a strategic alliance for a proprietor of lead
mines. Thomas died within a few months of his son John’s birth in
1593 and his pregnant widow was safely delivered of another child,
Thomas. Thomas Gell (1594-1656) was to live a single life in
London as a lawyer, where he proved of great service to his
brother John. Millicent did not wait long to find a father for her
two infant orphans and remarried well, to John Curzon of
Kedleston, one of the oldest families in Derbyshire, bearing him a
son and heir. The Curzons were rather greater land-owners than the
Gells but, like them, they too had lead mining interests in the
county." (Nonconformity in Derbyshire: A Study in Dissent,
1600-1800, Stephen Orchard)
Thomas and Millicent had the following children:
*1. John, christened 2 July 1593; married Elizabeth
Willoughby 22 January 1609; died 26 October 1671.
2. Thomas
SOURCES: Nonconformity in Derbyshire: A Study in
Dissent, 1600-1800, Stephen Orchard; Kirk Ireton parish record;
www.ancestry.com.
Hopton Hall
FAMILY GROUP RECORD OF RALPH GELL AND GODETH ASHBY
Ralph Gell was born in about 1491, the son of John Gell. He marrid
Godeth Ashby. Godeth was the daughter of Nicholas Ashby of
Willoughby on the Wolds. (Oxford Dictionary of National Biography)
"At a Court held at Wirksworth on November 6th 1532 George
Hennage, Dean of Lincoln admitted the surrender of a fourth part
of the lands of Roger More, a draper of Derby, to Richard Wigley
of Middleton. In this transaction Ralph Gell of Hopton was one of
Roger More's attorneys."(Some Notes on the Wigley Family
of Derbyshire, by Derek Wigley; Derbyshire Miscellany, Vol 3)
Ralph purchased the manor of Hopton in 1553.
Godeth died, and Ralph married again to Emma Beresford: "After
the death of Godeth Ashby, his first wife, Ralph Gell of Hopton
married Emma Beresford, by whom he had four daughters, Elizabeth
who married Henry Wigley of Middleton, Helena who married John
Wigley of the Gatehouse in Wirksworth, Mary who married Thomas
Hurt and Lucy who married Edward Lowe." (Some Notes on the Wigley
Family of Derbyshire, by Derek Wigley; Derbyshire Miscellany, Vol
3)
Ralph died in about 1562, leaving a will:
Will of Ralph Gell, 1562
In the name of God Amen, I Ralfe Gell late
of Hopton in the Countie of Darby being of good an
perfecte memory considering I am certain to dye and the tyme
most uncertain trusting and beleving to have everlasting life
and salvacon by the merits of the passion of my Saviour Jesus
Christ doe make and ordeine the xij daie of August in the yere
of our saide Saviour Jesus Christe 1562 by this writing my
testament and and laste will of and for all my goodes cattells
lands tenements and hereditamentis in manner and fourme
hereafter following/ ffirst I bequeath my soule to almighty
God the father the sonne and the holie goste. And my bodie to
be buried where God appoynte and at the place thought
convenient by my executours in decent manner according to
there discretions/ Item I bequeathe to the poore mens box of
Worksworth twenty shillings/ Item I give to every of the poore
mens box of Bakewell Tyddyswall Hope and Chappell in the ___
every one of them vjs viijd. The poore mens box of Taddyngton
Monspe Longefarn Assheforde Baslowe and Beley every one of
them iijs iiijd/ Item I give devise and bequeathe to Anthony
Gell my eldest sonne all my lands tenements
hereditaments rents reversions and farmes with their
appurtenances in Hopton Karsington Wirkesworth Iblegriff and
Matlocke to him and to the heirs of his body lawfully
begotten. And for default of suche yssue they to remaine to Thomas
my seconde sonne and to the heires of his bodie lawfully
begotten And for default of suche yssue to the righte heirs of
me the saide Ralf/ Item I will devise and bequeathe to the
said Anthony Gell and to the heirs of his body lawfully
begotten all my fee farmes rents and hereditaments of the
tyethe wene and here and either the hereditaments within the
parrishes of Bartwall Tyddswall Hope and other places
thereabouts and all my lands called Wielerslie mere Beallper
saving suche parte of any of them as be otherwise devised by
this my will/ Item I will devise and bequeath to Anthony Gell
my farme called Wildersley nere Cromforde/ Item I will that is
the saide Anthony die without heires of his bodie lawfully
begotten then I devise all the saide fee farmes hereditaments
and the saide lands in Wellersley to Thomas Gell my second
sonne and to the heires of his bodie lawfully begotten
in the manner as Anthony shoulde have them/ Item I will give
and desire to Anthony my sonne and to his heirs my
bole of Barrelodge next unto the bole of Thomas Leake gent
with a sufficient blocke covering after a convenient tyme
allowed and had to my executours to have the same bold and
blackworke ther to them as is hereafter mentioned for my ore
to be burned which I shal have at my deathe And also after all
my blackworke be fulled and after all my ore and blackeworke
about my saide bole and smiltinge be sholed swepte smilted or
made into leade to the behoof of this my will saving the said
blocke covering/ Item I give devise and bequeathe to the saide
Anthony and his heires all my groves and also all my woodes to
bring withal/ Item I will give and devise to the said Anthony
my best bedd and featherbed with thappurtenances my beste cup
of silver with the cover of silver and gilt my best silver or
salte with the covering percell gilt my beste covert my best
weyne my beste ploughe my best pott and my best panne/ Item I
give devise and bequeath to Thomas Gell my seconde sonne
all my lands and fee farmes which I have in townes or
townshipps of Blackwell Holmesfelld Tyddswill medow Babwell
and whatsoever thappurtenances there And also my
hereditamentis there which purchased of one peyse and one
winsowe or of eyther of them with thappurtennces to have to
hym and the the heires of his body lawfully begotten yeldinge
and paying therefore the rent reserved or due out of the same
for fawlte of suche yssue to remaine to John Gell my
thirde sonne and to the heires of his body lawfully
begotten/ Item I give and bequeath to every of my
daughters not being married at my death two hendreth
poundes of lawfull money of England to be paied out of my
goodes at uttermost when such daughter ys xxi yeres olde or
before if such daughter be married before that age Dorithie
my daughter ever excepted. And if any of my saide
daughter doe decease out of this worlde before her marriage
Then I will that her two hundrethe pounds shall goe amongst
the reste of her sisters that ever live Dorathye my daughter
ever excepted/ Item I give and bequeathe my parte of the farme
of the hytge wooll and lambe in the parte which is half to Anthony
Gell and Thomas Gell my sonnes to take the proffites
thereof for and towards the bringing upp and sustenance of my
naturall daughters till they be married. And if the profits
therof mounte to more then the saide sustenannces then I will
my two sonnes shall make an ___ of therof to my
daughters behove/ Item I give and bequeth to John Gell my
third sonne one hundrethe poundes to store and occupy
his lands withal/ Item I give and bequeath to the ij sonnes of
Robert Bersforde late of London deceased for the kindenes
whiche I founde in there father one fodder of leade to be
delivered at London. Item I give and bequeath to Elize Cadman
my servant the houses with thappurtenannes that I have
purchased of one Layton nowe in the holding or occupation of
George Robinson and Will Adam or of eyther of them in
Wirkworth. And if he cannot have these houses or that he
cannot lawfully have and occupy them then I will the saide
Elize shall have my house late in the occupacion of William
Abell with a close adjoyninge to the same and that house he
dwelleth in nowe with appurtenances for terme of his life.
Item I will and bequeath that there shalbe ever yere during my
terme of the ffarme of the parke of tythe woole and lambe be
forty shinnges yerely distributed by my executours amoungste
the poore people of the parrishe of Workesworth and
Karsington/ Item I give to every one of my godchildren that
will demande hit iijs iiijd/ Item I bequethe five poundes
towards the amending and repayringe of the highe waies from
the Pinfold in Hopton to the gate that ledethe forthe of
Karsington towards Assheborne and from the highe waye at the
gate that leadeth forthe of Hopton felde to Cawlow/ And to
Thomas Marlege John Marlege and Margaret Marlege every of them
my lambes/ And to the sonnes of James Marledge to every one of
them iiij lambes/ Item I bequeath to my sister Joynfelde
six poundes thirteen shillilngs and four pence/ And to my
sister Alsope six poundes thirten shillings and four
pence/ Item to Anthony Tunsforde all the debts that he owethe
me. And to him and to everyone of his brethren iiij ewe shepe
a pece/ Item to Elizabeth wiff of Thurston All my round gold
ringe/ Item to Anthony Gell my gold ringe with the red stone
in hit/ Item to Thomas Winfelde one mare colte/ Item I will to
my brother John Beresforde and my brother Thurston
Allev every one of them xs iij golde/ Item to Margaret
Gell daughter of John Gell xx lambes. And to every of my
servanntes iijs iiijd/ Item I will that there shalbe
distributed amongst the poore peple of Workesworth six score
yards of wollen clothe/ The residue of my goods unbequeathed
my debtes and duties being paied I will shalbe devided amonge
my naturall children. Item I name make and constitute Anthony
Gell John Gell Agnes Fferne and Lucy Gellmy
daughters executors of this my laste will and testament
whereupon I doe also devise ordeine and will that the saide
Agnes Ffllint shall have the sole and whole occupacion
possession medling and disposicion of and for all my boules
and smiltings to brine and ___ suche one blackworke and flages
and make leade of all the premises or of suche leade oore as I
have at my decease or shalbe bought to the behoof of this my
will within half a yere next after my decease so that she may
occupy and have therefore my saide boules and smiltings for
and during two yeres next after my decease to the behoof of
this my laste will. And that she shall take sufficient wood to
make all of my woodes of William Charles and Thomas Spencer
and other groundes there that my son John Gell hathe in
Shottle parke and that shee souly shall sell and use the saide
leade to the perfourmannce of my will. And I devise and will
that none of any other saide executours shall meddle halt to
doe or interrupte in any wise in anny of the premises
concerning the said blackworke flags boole smiltings or leade
saving the said Agnes Fferne/ And that such of them as
disturbe or interrupte her in any of the premises for the
saide booles smiltinges oore leade or blackeworke shall
thereforthe be no one of my executours but have executours
hereforth utterlie to cease be determined and voyde and the
same disturber or interrupter to be chardged and expensable to
my other executours as thoughe the disturber or interrupter
had never ben made or named executor by me/ And I doe ordeine
and make Richarde Walter of Richfelde preste Richard Blackwell
of the Calte and Laurence Bersforde my brother in lawe
supervisors of this my will and testament. And I will that my
exectours shall make a plaine and perfecte accompt to and
before the saide supervisors or the supervisor of them or
thear assignes of the estate of all things touching this my
will within one yere next after my decease and one other
accompte within tow yeres and a half next after my decease and
that the same accmpte be put in writing indented to remayne
with my supvisours/ And I will that every of my executours and
supervisors shall have four markes a pece besides their costes
and chardges/ And although my daughter Dorithie
aforesaid have offended me and the world yet for Christes sake
I bequeath unto hir two hundrethe markes of goods ymmediatlie
after my decease/ Item I will devise and bequeathe that
Anthony Gell shall not have the possession of the farme called
Woldersley nor Cromfelde except he the said Anthony doe paie
therefore to my executours a hundrethe markes after my
decease/ And that then the said Anthony to have hit in such
manner and fourme as is aforesaid in this my will/ Item I
devise will and bequeathe to John Gell my third sonne
and to his heires males of his body lawfully begotten all the
personagel of Knyveton and other my hereditament with
thappurtenannces/ And I devise and will that if Thomas Gell or
the heires of his bodie or any other person in his name doe
disturbe or interrupte the saide John Gell or any of the
heires males of his bodie lawfully begotten in any of the
premises aforesaid that then and thenceforth the saide Thomas
and his said heires shall forgo and forfeyt to the said John
and his heires that they may enter into and have so much of
the said lands hereditaments and fee farmes with
thappurtenannce which I have devised to the Thomas or his
heires in the said Backwell Holmesfelde Tyddswall medowe and
others in recompense of the said personage of Kniveton and
hereditaments aforesaid which I have geven John Gell and the
said Thomas dothe holde him fully satisfied contented and
agreed to all the premises/ And for witnesses of all the said
things and that this is the testament and last will of me the
saide Ralf Gell I caused this testament to be red to and
before me the said Ralfe Gell Richard Blackwall Edmond Holme
preste Elize Cadman Thomas Eliot and others.
Ralph and Godeth and Emma are remembered on an alabaster tomb in
Wirksworth church: "Here lyeth RAFF GELL of Hopton sun of JOHN
GELL of Hopton and GODYTHE and EMME his wyffes,which RAFF deceased
ye VIIth day of June Anno Dmi M'V'LXIIII/This body whych of kynde
we have ----- to earth it must/A gostly bodye shall at length be
raised out of dust/What harm at all recyveth man by yeldyne uppe
his brethe/Synce he unto a dyryng lyffe hath passage throughe
dethe/God of His mercy meer us those in a lyves booke us writ/Dy
must thou onced then yelde thyselfe and dred not deathe a wyt."
(Wirksworth Parish Records)
Ralph and Godeth had the following children:
1. Anthony, occupation: legal reporter; died in 1583.
*2. Thomas, born in about 1532; married Elizabeth
Willoughby; died 12 November 1593.
Ralph and Emma had the following children:
3. John, married Agnes Robertson.
4. Lucy; married Edward Lowe
*5. Elizabeth, married Henry Wigley of Middleton.
6. Helena, married John Wigley of Wirksworth.
7. Mary, married Thomas Hurt.
8. Dorithie, married John Balidon 1564 in Ashbourne,
Derbyshire.
9. Agnes, married John Ferne.
SOURCES: Will of Ralfe Gell of Hopton, 1562; Wirksworth
monumental inscriptions, www.wirksworth.org.uk; The Old
Halls, Manors and Families of Derbyshire, Vol. 2, by Joseph
Tilley; Some Notes on the Wigley Family of
Derbyshire, by Derek Wigley; Derbyshire Miscellany, Vol 3. .
FAMILY GROUP RECORD OF JOHN GELL AND
MARGERY BLACKWALL
John Gell was born in about 1465. He married Margery Blackwall, the
daughter of Robert Blackwall and Isabelle Lytton of Blackwell,
Derbyshire. John died in about 1521. Margery died in about
1522 in Wirksworth
John and Margery had the following children:
*1. Ralph, married 1) Godeth Ashby, 2) Emma Beresford.
SOURCES: The Old Halls, Manors and Families of Derbyshire, Vol.
2, by Joseph Tilley.
