Ancestors of Mandy Willard

George ESTMOND (1623-1667)

and Mary PITFIELD (c1630-?)

George Estmond and Mary Pitfield were my 9x Great Grandparents.  (Click here to see their place in my pedigree chart.)

George Estmond may have been baptised on 12 October 1623 in Shroton, Dorset, the son of Rev. 5 366 John Estmond (c1590-1645) and 5 366 Ann Twyniho (c1590-1635), but there is some doubt about this.  He was buried on 13 November 1667 at the parish church of St. Mary's in Westham, Sussex.  He was Captain of the Band and Jurate of the Corporation.  George left a will dated 14 October 1667, which was proved in 1668.

Mary Pitfield may have been the daughter of Robert Pitfield (?-1657) and Mary Pinson (?-1666).  A marriage licence was issued to them on 31 January 1624/5, when they were both of Mountfied, Sussex.  (Robert Petfield was a husbandman and Mary was the daughter of Matthew Pinson a miller of Herstmonceaux.)  Robert left a will in which he mentioned his granddaughters, Marie, Elizabeth and Anne the 3 daughters of his son-in-law George Eastmond, a woollen draper and citizen of London.  (See Pitfield family history.)

After George's death, Mary may have married Edward Miller on 22 October 1674 in Westham.  He was the a Bailiff of Pevensey and she was of Westham.  (Why do I think the mother rather than the daughter married Edward?  Need to check the original registers.  The daughter may have been about 20/21 in 1674.)  Mary was named as the sole executrix of her first husband's will.

A document dated 23 June 1665 (ref. AMS6610/24/2) recorded that George Estmond, esq. was in occupation of a messuage, barn and 34 acres of land, late Alwarkes at Hankham Street in Westham in the liberty of Pevensey, and 56 acres of marshland also in Westham.

If Robert Pitfield died in 1657, did George and Mary move from London to Westham to take over his property?  As George and Mary had 3 daughters by 1657, might they have married in about 1653?  If George was born in Dorset, how did be become a citizen and linen draper of London?  Did he serve an apprenticeship?  The next problem is that Robert Pitfield was said to have descended from the Dorset Pitfields, but how did he become a husbandman of Mountfield, Sussex?  Also, in George's 1667 will he mentioned his cousin Robert Hayes.  How and where does he connect?  Father or mother's side?

George Estmond and Mary Pitfield had 5 known children:

1. Mary Estmond was mentioned in her father's 1667 will at which time she was under 21 years old.  By her father's will she was to receive a legacy of £200 on the day of her marriage or her 21st birthday, which ever happened first.

2. Elizabeth Estmond was born before 1657.  She was buried on 19 May 1659 in Westham.

3. Ann Estmond was born before 1657.  She was buried on 3 April 1658 in Westham.

4. Ann Estmond, my 8x Great Grandmother, was baptised 11 December 1660 in Westham.  She married William Stickland in 1681.  (They have their own page.)

5. Elizabeth Estmond was baptised on 20 October 1661 in Westham and buried there on 11 March 1661/2.

6. Elizabeth Estmond was born sometime between 1662 and 1667.

On 20th June 2008 I helped to arrange flowers for a wedding reception in a barn at Peelings Manor in Hankham Street.  For the moment I don't know anything about the history of Peelings Manor, nor do I know if it was close to the property George Estmond was said to have occupied in 1665.

On 8th July 2008 I took part in a flower festival at St. Mary's in Westham, which was open from Wednesday 9th July to Saturday 12th July.  All the arrangements were done by students following City and Guilds Floristry courses run by the Sussex Downs College in Eastbourne and Lewes, and by a few students from Redhill, Surrey.  My title was the Second Day of Creation:  water separated from the sky.

ESTMOND          PITFIELD