Will of John Colclough alias Rowley, Potter of Burslem, Staffordshire.

Testamentary Records. England. 07 May 1657. COLCLOUGH, John. Will. Prerogative Court of

 Canterbury: Will Registers. PROB 11/264/200. The National Archives, Kew, England. Will of John Colclough alias Rowley, Potter of Burslem, Staffordshire | The National Archives : accessed 10 March 2021.

In an earlier piece I noted the Colclough Wedgwood connection, here is a tangible glimpse, I have transcribed it so any errors or omissions in transcription are mine, but you can get the gist. I needed the transcribing practice. 

We can tease some genealogy out from it too...

An image of the original referenced from above.

So the transcript is:

In the Name of God Amen The

Seventeeth daie of November in the year of O^r Lord God. One

Thousand six hundred Ffifitie Six. I John Colclough als’ Row

Ley of Burslem in the countie of Stafford Potter. being

sick and weak in bodie but of good and perfect memorie bless

& praysed be the Lord therefore do make and ordayne this my last

will and Testament in manner following. Ffirst I commend my Soul

To Almightie God my most merciful Creator, Trusting by shorlie

meritts of Jesus Christ my saviour to have the same rec^d into Abrahams

Bosome, And my bodie to Christian buriall in the Parish Church or Chann:

Sell of Burslem in such ceremie and decent manner as my Executor

Hereafter herein named shall think fitt. And for such Lands Tenements

howses buildings monies goods debts cattles & chattles as it hath

pleased the Lord in great mercie to bestow upon me. I give devise

bestow and bequeath in manner & forme following. Ffirst I give devise

& bequeath to Thomas Wedgwood of the church yard in Burslem afore

said, his heirs and Assignies for ever. Both these my two Cottages or Pr

emisis in Burslem aforesaid. Th’ one heretofore called Machins howse &

the other Ormes howse now in the possession or occupation of me and

my assignes or under servants withall howses edifices buildings stables

outhouses gardens backsides Lands & app^y [fixure] to them and with to

them belonging together with all my right title interest claims &

domains to them and other of them. Also I give to the said Thomas

Wedgwood & his Assignes all my potting Boards, and all other necessarie

implements and materials belonging to the trade of potting (Lead and

Lead saw onlie excepted). Also I give and bequeath unto [indecipherable text] half

Brother William Colclough of Burslem aforesaid and Katherine

Colclough his wife and John Colclough their sonne the summe of [ten]

Ten pounds apiece to everie one of them. ALSO I give to the said John

Colclough six Silver spoones with everie one of them a J. C. upon them

Also I give devise and bequeath to the said John Colclough and his

Assignes. One Tenure or the remainder of a Lease which I have of in

or to one Close field or Croft called Little Elgreave situate in Burslem

aforesaid. Also I give to my reputed half sister Margaret Drakeford

alias Rowley Ffive pounds. Also I give unto Moses Wedgwood of Burslem

aforesaid Potter all such summe or summes of money as he oweth or

anie way handeth indebted unto me upon anie account whatsoever Also I give

unto William Wedgwood his brother All such monies as he oweth or

anie way handeth indebted to me. Also I give devise and bequeath

unto the aforesaid Thomas Wedgwood and his Asignes one Tenure

or remainder of a Lease which I have of, in or to that field Close or

Pastures called the Horse pastures He therefore paying to his

Brother Aaron Wedgwood and Marie and Sarah his sisters as it

is my will and mynd the summe of ffortie shillings apeece to every

one of them within the space of Six mon. this [niyt] after his Entry

upon the same. Also I give unto Margaret Wedgwood of Ashley

widow the summe of ffortie shillings over and besides the monie she

now oweth me. Also I give unto everie one of my servants Two

shillings six pence apiece. Also I give unto Clive Astburie of

Shelton one pound. Also after funerall expenses & Probate dis.

charged I give devise and bequeath All the rest residue remain-

der of all and singular my goods moveable and immoveable debts monies

Cattle & Chattles to the aforesaid Thomas Wedgwood for ever. Onlie it

It is my will and mynd That Gilbert Wedgwood his father shall have

the usage of all the goods of mine now standing in his howse at

Burslem aforesaid, Th’ aforesaid silver spoons onlie excepted. And

of this my last will and Testament I do constitute ordaine nomint.

& appoint my Loveing friend the said Thomas Wedgwood Sole

Executor, hopeing he will execute and perform the same according

to the dutie I repost in him. And I desire my Loving kinsman the

said John Colclough to see the same done accordinglie And I

doe herby utter admit and make voyd all former & other wills

whatsoever. IN WITNESS whereof my last will &

Testament. I the said John Colclough alias Rowley havg. putt my

Hand & seald. Dated the day & time above written. One Thousand &

Six Hundred Ffiftie Six (John Colclough alias Rowley) Sealed

Signed and published in the presence of Gilbert Wegwood John

Colclough John Shawe./

This will was proved at London

The seventh day of May in ye year of Our Lord One Thousand Six

Hundred Ffiftie seven. Before the Judges for Probate of wills &

Granting of administrations lawfullie authorized by th’ oath of

Thomas Wedgwood sole Executor named in the said will To whom

was committed Administration of all and singular the goods chattels

and debts of the said deceased. He being by virtue of a commission

trust Legallie serve well and truelie to Administer the same.

*****************************************************

So to find some genealogy in the will:

William Colclough married (date not apparent from this document, however if John Colclough the son was an adult as seems likely as he appears to have witnessed the will, the marriage could be estimated as around 1630 as a starting point for further research). Katherine (Maiden name not known from this document).

William and Katherine were parents of  John Colclough (see above) can be estimated birth as around 1630 as a start for research.

Family lived Burslem Staffordshire.

William Colclough and John Colclough alias Rowley were half brothers so shared a parent it is likely that was their father but again not absolutely clear from the will.

John Colclough alias Rowley had a reputed (his words) half  sister Margaret it can be implied her maiden name was Rowley and she married a Mr. Drakeford. Margaret and John Colclough alias Rowley shared a parent, again the implication s that this was a different parent than William Colclough and John Colclough alias Rowley shared.

From this document it appears William Colclough and Margaret Drakeford were not related, but this also needs further research.

Onto the Wedgwood's. Gilbert Wedgwood is Thomas Wedgwood's father, Thomas is certainly an adult so born early 17th Century, Gilbert likely late 16th starting point for research, living in Burslem.

Gilbert's other children Thomas Wedgwood's siblings are Aaron a brother, Marie and Sarah sisters their ages are not clear but likely to be young adults.

Margaret Wedgwood a widow is mentioned, can be deduced she was the wife of  a deceased brother of Gilbert, needs to be checked, she lived Ashley in Staffs.

There are two more Wedgwood's mentioned Moses and his brother William, to start research a useful deduction would be they are brothers of Gilbert, uncles of Thomas, Aaron, Sarah and Marie, this would have to be checked and verified as cannot be proved from the document.

Finally a Clive Astburie of Shelton is noted,  of interest Astbury a potting name of  high status, viz. John Astbury born 1688 died 1743 Shelton in Staffordshire, English Potting technology pioneer, earliest of the great Staffordshire potters a precursor of Josiah Wedgwood. John Astbury | English potter | Britannica : accessed 12 March 2021.

Along with the Genealogy there is going to be a wealth of social history of the Potteries hidden in plain sight in the will just from the mention of an Astburie.

Muster a Colclough

 Who can resist a medieval Colclough Archer?

Following on from a piece on WW1 army officers I wrote elsewhere

Officer Ancestor WW1 – GenealogyandYou 

  I will outline a few more sources you might consider in your UK military ancestor search, I will just widen the time frame, and try to work logically.

First one to mention and the subject of this piece is:

 “The Soldier in Medieval England” a database formed out of a project headed by Professor Adrian Bell of the Henley Business School and Professor Anne Curry of the University of Southampton to challenge assumptions about the emergence of professional soldiery between 1369 and 1453. The database has grown with input from ‘citizen historians’ like you and I, among others. The datasets used are:

1.Musters Dataset, held in The National Archive a record of the army ‘mustered’ to leave the country between 1369 and 1450, kept and maintained to account for the money spent on overseas campaigns. A captain raised forces for the crown and had a contract specifying size of force, type of troops, length and location of service. The muster was to check if the captains had kept their side of the contract, if troops had not turned up, they had not ‘passed muster’. The database includes English garrisons in Calais, as well as garrisons in Wales, Scotland and England. There are also musters of ‘standing forces’, these would have been troops serving with the lieutenants of Gascony and Ireland.

2.French Garrisons. Data recorded for the soldiers who served in the English garrisons in Northern France, principally Normandy, at the end of the Hundred Years War from the capture of Harfleur by Henry V in 1415 to the fall of Lancastrian Normandy in 1450. Also holding data on garrison reinforcements, armies operating in the field or undertaking particular sieges in France during this period. These soldiers were regularly mustered and review on a monthly to quarterly basis dependent on the nature of service. The Musters occasionally include information on the geographical origins of the soldiers when the English rulers became concerned about the loyalty of local troops after the successes of Joan of Arc.

3.Protections Dataset, the letters of protection and appointments of attorneys granted and recorded on the Treaty (or French) Rolls , Gascon rolls and Scottish Rolls for the years 1369-1453. They are legal instruments that would be taken out by soldiers prior to undertaking military service outside England, in order to protect their interests whilst they were absent. The letter of protection protected an individual from prosecution or legal action whilst serving overseas; by letters of attorney an individual appointed legal representatives to act on his behalf whilst absent. However, both types of letter only indicate an intention to serve, and do not in themselves prove that service was actually given.

4. The ‘Agincourt roll’, was a part of the Musters dataset and now separate, it contains the names of some retinue leaders and men-at-arms (but no archers) who were with Henry V in the battle of Agincourt in 1415. Unlike the documents in the Muster dataset, created for accounting purposes, this list is a result of heraldic and genealogic interest of the Tudor age.

With many thanks to the project: Information on soldiers has been taken from the AHRC-funded ‘The Soldier in Later Medieval England Online Database’, www.medievalsoldier.org [1].

Given all the above what can you discover?

Raise your hand anyone wouldn’t search on their own name you don’t need to be a narcissist!

I searched for John Colclough with first name variations and there I was not.

Take John out…

I found one Colclough.

Thomas Colclough, Rank: Archer, Service: Garrison of Rouen, Captain: John of Lancaster (1389 - 1435) duke of Bedford, Lieutenant / Sub-Captain: Handford, John, Sir (b. 1391) seigneur de Maisons-sur-Seine. Service date: 15 06 1435, Source type: Muster Roll, Reference: BNF, MS. Fr. 25772, no. 954.

With background research opening up who knows where this might lead.

For further reading try:

Was your ancestor on the Agincourt ... - Medieval Soldier

English Knights at Agincourt

Exploring a medieval muster roll

Agincourt Carol - Wikipedia

The Battle of Agincourt - The National Archives

https://www.genealogyandyou.com/2021/03/03/mustering-a-post/

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[1] AHRC. The Soldier in Later Medieval England Online Database. www.medievalsoldier.org : accessed 03March 2021