#52 Ancestors 2022 Week 25 Broken Branch: Benjamin Scrivener, The Missing Link?

 

As far as I have been able to discover, the Scrivener family was in Anne Arundel County at least by the early 1700's when my 6X great-grandfather, Richard Scrivener, about whom I have previously written, appears in the Register of St. James Parish. I believe that he came from England, but I have never been able to find evidence for this.

However, there is another Scrivener in Anne Arundel County even earlier than Richard.  Benjamin Scrivener first appeared in Maryland in 1684 when he witnessed the will of his brother-in-law, Nathan Smith. Now, what are the odds that two men named Scrivener (not all that common a name) should end up in the same part of Maryland and not be related?  Not very big odds, I would say.  But, I have banged my head against a brick wall for many years trying to find a connection between Benjamin and Richard.  

Benjamin Scrivener married Grace Burrage, the daughter of John Burrage and sister of Margaret Burrage Smith who married Nathan, above, sometime between 1681 and 1686, when Benjamin drafted his will, naming his wife Grace. 

In 1688, Grace and Benjamin Scrivener witness the marriage of Samuel Thomas and Mary Hutchins at the West River Meeting of Friends, indicating that they may be Quakers. In the same year, they sell Grace's share of her father's property to her sister Margaret and her second husband Thomas Tench, the 9th Royal Governor of Maryland (1702). 

In 1692, Benjamin was the Sheriff of Anne Arundel County, following his brother-in-law Thomas Tench in that office.  

St. Botolph's

Benjamin Scrivener died about November 1698, when letters of administration on his estate were issued to his brother-in-law, Thomas Tench.  Benjamin's will identifies him as a merchant of St. Botolph-without-Aldgate, Middlesex, an ancient parish that lies partly in London and partly in Middlesex.  Since this was the only clue I  have found about a Scrivener connection back to England, I worked on tracing Benjamin in this parish.  Fortunately, his will also names some other relatives including his sister Rhoda and his brother-in-law, Thomas Freeman.

Following these clues, I was able to find Benjamin's family.  Benjamin Scrivener was the son of Benjamin Scrivener Sr., a mariner and cutler of St. Botolph's Parish, who was born about 1630.  Thus he came to maturity during the English Civil War and the rule of Oliver Cromwell (1642-1658), you know, that time when the English decided they didn't want a monarchy anymore and chopped off the head of King Charles I.  But that also means, unfortunately, that records like births, marriages and baptisms, were lost, destroyed or never written down at all in the general turbulence of the times. So, even though I have hired a British genealogist to research Benjamin, she was not able to find such records for Benjamin, although she did add details about him and his profession. 

Worshipful Company of Cutlers

Benjamin was a cutler, that is, someone who makes or sells cutlery.  In Benjamin's case, it was fairly high-end cutlery since court records show him importing ivory, a costly material used only in decorating very expensive knives and swords. As a mariner, he may have traveled himself to India and West Africa in search of costly materials. The Coat of Arms for the Cutler's Company shows elephants and swords. Their motto was "To succeed by good faith."  Court records and records of the Worshipful Company of Cutlers indicate that Benjamin was living in London or the vicinity at least by 1669 but it was the records of the Hearth Tax that confirmed he had lived in Aldgate since September 1666; he was taxed for three hearths (that is, he had three stoves or hearths in his house, fairly well off)

Benjamin and his first wife, whose name I have not been able to discover, had at least four children: Benjamin, Mary, Rhoda and Hannah. (Probably one of those girls was named for her mother.) Benjamin's Sr.'s daughter Mary Scrivener married Thomas Freeman, a brewer, at St. Botolph's in 1677, when she was 16 years old, putting her birth at about 1661.  Benjamin Jr. and his other sisters were born at about the same time period, which means that they lived through the Great Fire of London in 1666. Fortunately, Aldgate was outside the city walls, so they probably would not have been directly impacted by the fire. (See map below.)

Mary Scrivener and Thomas Freeman had at least three children--Frances and Elizabeth Freeman--who are named in their uncle's will as well as Mary Freeman, who is named in her grandfather's will. Mary Scrivener Freeman died about 1689 and her husband married again in 1690. Rhoda Scrivener married John Kinsley/Kingsley in 1680 and had at least one child--Benjamin Kingsley (1685)--who was named in his uncle Benjamin's will.  Rhoda Kinsley witnessed her brother's will in 1686. 

At age 44, Benjamin Sr. married for a second time in 1675 to Elizabeth Wooley, age 33.  Benjamin and Elizabeth had a daughter Ester. 

Benjamin Scrivener Sr. died in 1679 and was buried at St. Botolph's in November of that year.  Benjamin Sr. left a will written in October 1679 in which he names his wife Elizabeth and children Mary Freeman, Benjamin, Rhoda, Hannah, and Ester, the last four not yet 21 years of age. He also names his granddaughter, Mary Freeman. Benjamin's bequests indicate that he was fairly well off, (He leaves 100 L sterling to his son Benjamin and generous amounts to his daughters as well.) but unfortunately his will does not provide a clue as to his origins or parentage. 

Benjamin Jr.'s 1686 will leaves his property in Maryland to his wife Grace as well as property in the parish of Hartley-Wintney in Southampton, an area a little south and west of London.  My British genealogist was able to turn up some record that Benjamin Scrivener Sr. owned property there, apparently inherited by Benjamin Jr.  Unfortunately, there were no Scriveners found in parish records, court books, or hearth tax records of that area, so no indication that the Scriveners actually lived there.  

Despite the diligent research of my genealogist, there are gaps in the available records that have kept me from finding any more about the origins of the Scriveners in England, although I have gotten some interesting new details about Benjamin Scrivener. 

  

Maryland genealogist Robert Barnes, whom I greatly respect, has suggested in one of his many books (Colonial Families of Maryland) that Benjamin and Grace Scrivener might have been the parents of John and Richard Scrivener, the two men who show up in the St. James Parish register in 1709.  The dates would fit, and John Scrivener does name his son Benjamin, which certainly suggests a connection.  But I think that if Benjamin had children in Maryland, he wouldn't be leaving property to his nieces and nephews in England. I think it is more likely that Benjamin is an uncle or cousin to John and Richard.  

I am absolutely certain that Benjamin Scrivener is related to my 6X-great grandfather, Richard.  And someday I am going to find that missing link.  Even if I have to travel to England myself to find it.  It's a tough job, but someone has to do it! Meanwhile, I have reached a dead-end, for now.  I hope that there will someday be a new clue to follow.