1st Generation - Peter NEWTON (c.1620-1683)
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Peter is the earliest generation of the NEWTON family that has been traced at this time. He was married to Joan or Johanna, whose surname is unknown.
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The couple had children as follows:
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1. Johanna baptised 23 May 1643, Branscombe.
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2. Radagand baptised 29 September 1645, Branscombe.
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3. Elizabeth baptised 7 August 1648, Branscombe.
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4. Peter baptised 21 December 1651.
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5. Mary born 15 January 1654/5, Branscombe.
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6. Roger born 29 August 1656, Branscombe, baptised 20 September 1656, Branscombe.
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The first entry in the Branscombe parish registers concerning Peter & Joan and their offspring, is that of the baptism of their first child in May 1643. If we assume that Peter was between 18-40 years of age, then this would place his birth within the span of 1603-1625, probably toward the latter end of the range.
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The first NEWTON baptism recorded in the registers is the one mentioned in 1643, but they are missing between 1614 and July 1633. This could mean that Peter had been baptised in the village between the years of 1614-1625, but the entry has been lost.
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If we now turn to the marriage of Peter to Joan/Joanna, which must have taken place before May 1643, and probably within the preceding ten years.
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No marriages took place in Branscombe, with any NEWTON participants, between1580 & November 1641, although, again the registers are missing for a crucial period between November 1641 & 1652. Therefore there is a chance that the marriage took place in the 18 month slot between November 1641 & May 1643.
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Taking the above into account, and the fact that there is only one NEWTON entry, a marriage in 1578, in the Branscombe registers in the period between 1539-1643, it seems almost certain that Peter NEWTON was born to a family that lived in a different parish.
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The 1992 edition of the IGI, which is by no means comprehensive, shows a possible baptism in 1620 for Peter, and ancestry for a further three generations, in the nearby parish of Colyton.
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Peter and his family were obviously very poor, for in the Hearth Tax returns of 1674 there is only one entry for a family of the name NEWTON, this being Peter, who was living in a dwelling with one hearth and was a pauper at the time.
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1674 Hearth Tax (Lady Day) for Branscombe parish
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Name .............................................. Number of Hearths
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Peter NEWTON (pauper) ............................. 1
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Edw. BARTLETT (pauper) .......................... 1
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Of the six children of Peter & Joan, three married children of Edward & Sarah BARTLETT, also of Branscombe. Radagand married William BARTLETT in 1673, Mary married Thomas BARTLETT in 1676 and the following year, Peter married Elizabeth BARTLETT.
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Joan died in 1683, and was buried 7 October 1683, Branscombe. Peter probably died two years later in 1685, and was buried 12 July, also in Branscombe churchyard.
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