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SANDERS/ SAUNDERS OF BRENTFORD, MIDDLESEX – A LINK TO THOMAS CROMWELL?

My family in Brentford:

I have recently scanned some really old parish records via Ancestry.com, searching for my SANDERS and SAUNDERS relatives from Brentford, Middlesex. These records are not indexed and can be difficult to read. In particular, the St. Lawrence New Brentford records proved fruitful.

With the help of Celia Cotton and her Brentford High Street website we had already established a Brentford lineage of SANDERS through early records and wills. Three generations of bootmakers all lived and worked in High Street, Brentford, namely:

Joseph (died 1778-9) shoemaker (made a will, left 20 pounds each to 4 children, and the remainder of his personal estate – unspecified – to his son Daniel.)

Daniel (1747-1824) cordwainer (made a will, owned at least a dozen freehold and copyhold properties in Brentford and Isleworth, and 300 pounds, divided amongst 11 descendants.)

George (1782-1850) cordwainer and tax collector (made a will leaving money and property to his five children. George appeared to be very wealthy and in 1850 he owned 60 freehold and copyhold properties in Brentford, had two thousand pounds in the bank, and another three thousand six hundred pounds owing to him. He stated that he had inherited two properties from his father Daniel. By today’s standards, George would have been a multi-millionaire. Unusual for a bootmaker, so read on!)

In the earliest records from St. Lawrence, New Brentford, I found baptism dates for all of Daniel’s children (we previously only had their names from his will – see Appendix for details). Daniel died 1824 age 77 and is buried at St. Lawrence, New Brentford.

It was interesting that in the early records Daniel’s name is consistently spelled SAUNDERS, but the names of his children exactly tally with the will of Daniel SANDERS, and in early records the names SANDERS and SAUNDERS seemed interchangeable.

SANDERS/ SAUNDERS from Brentford who might be connected:

I found three generations of Gideon SANDERS/ SAUNDERS in the St. Lawrence records, with their children being baptized 1694-1730. A check of PCC wills turned up a Gideon SAUNDERS senior, a cordwainer of Hanwell, who died in 1716 and is buried at St. Lawrence. In his will, Gideon senior named his wife Elizabeth, two sons Gideon and John, a brother Edward, and a kinswoman Mary [CUTHBERT/ CUTBEARD] who married Samuel SANDFORD. Witness to the will was Thomas CUTHBERT.

Probably Gideon senior’s son, another Gideon SANDERS, bachelor, married 1690 at St. James, Dukes Place to Elizabeth GISBY, spinster, witness was Thomas CUTBERT/ CUTBORT.

In a third generation yet another Gideon SANDERS of Brentford, a butcher, married Elizabeth GOMB, spinster of Barnes, Surrey, at St. Benet, Pauls Wharf, London in 1716. See Appendix for details of their children.

A fascinating article of 1828:

A Google search turned up an intriguing mention of two brothers, Gideon and John SAUNDERS. The Gentleman’s Magazine volume 98, 1828 (available free online) reported on a current court case. It mentioned that the brothers Gideon and John had married two sisters who were descendants of Thomas Lord CROMWELL (he who was beheaded by Henry the Eighth in 1540). I’m not sure if the sisters had the surname CROMWELL or not, but their nephews apparently did.

Gideon and John for some reason had custody of their two young CROMWELL nephews, Robert and William, who as part of their Cromwell inheritance owned property in Brentford, Isleworth and inner London. The article says that Robert and William were sent, when young, to the West Indies. Robert died unmarried and William (born 1687) lived in the West Indies for some years, during which time the SAUNDERS uncles Gideon and John ‘received the rents of the estates to their use; and that great part of the property is now possessed by their descendants’ (i.e. as of 1828).

William CROMWELL returned from the West Indies to England and married Abigail BLABY (1721 London, confirmed by IGI records). William and Abigail had one daughter Ann who married William GRAHAM, and had a son James Montrose GRAHAM. This branch of the family did not pursue their property entitlements until the current court case of 1828. (Further details can be found in the article.)

It has been a puzzle to us family historians as to how George SANDERS, a cordwainer, came to be so wealthy, so perhaps there is just a little bit of truth in the above account, and which would therefore link George to Gideon SAUNDERS senior, a cordwainer of Brentford who had died in 1716. I decided to research this story, and the claims made in the Gentleman’s Magazine article of 1828.

Firstly, here is a summary of those claims:

Thomas Lord CROMWELL – beheaded in 1540

Lord’s son (not named) had properties of his father restored to him, also title of Lord CROMWELL

Property descended to William Lord CROMWELL, grandson of Thomas. William had two sisters who married two SANDERS brothers.

William had two sons Robert and William [Wm. supposedly born 1687 and died ‘about 80 years ago’] and a daughter. Robert was older and died unmarried in the West Indies. William also went to the West Indies when young. William returned to England, married Abigail BLABY [1721], had daughter Anne [1722] .

Anne CROMWELL born 1722 London, married 1743 William GRAHAM, and died 1761 [aged about 39].

Their son James Montrose GRAHAM was born roughly 1753 (‘aged about 75’ in 1824). In about 1814 James was claiming to be heir to several properties in central London, claiming rents from several houses in Vine Street and Millbank Street in Westminster whose occupants had never paid any rents. James also claimed that his relative William CROMWELL had at one time owned Boston House in Brentford.

My findings:

The lineage of Thomas CROMWELL as given in the Gentleman’s Magazine article is incorrect. Names are muddled and generations are missing. I checked online sources e.g. www.tudorplace.com for a comprehensive lineage of Thomas CROMWELL but there was no grandson of Thomas named William, nor two brothers anywhere in the CROMWELL tree, with names of William and Robert, nor any William anywhere who was born circa 1687, not that I could find anyway. Nor could I find any obvious evidence of a CROMWELL link to Boston House.

However, some truths still remained!

John SANDERS, shopkeeper of Hanwell who died 1731 and is buried in St. Lawrence, New Brentford, made mention in his (PCC) will of ‘Anne CROMWELL daughter of William CROMWELL’ (to receive one hundred pounds when she turns 21). Total value of his will was about 700 pounds. John also mentioned his brother Gideon SANDERS, and Gideon’s daughter Katherine (who was baptized St. Lawrence, September 1730). No wife or children of his own were mentioned, maybe they had died. So here at last was a link for SANDERS and CROMWELL!

I found a William CROMWELL of London who married Abigail BLABY in 1721, and they had a daughter Ann who was baptized 28 September 1722 at St. Andrews Holborn, London (from IGI and parish records).

Possibly the same person, a William CROMWELL, was born 24 April, 1693, Cripplegate, London, died in 1772 age 79 and is buried at Bunhill Fields in London. He practised law at Grays Inn and lived nearby in Kirby Street, Westminster, London (which is near St. Andrew’s, Holborn).

This William was the great grandson of Oliver CROMWELL the Lord Protector (1599-1658). (Oliver was the great-great grandson of Katherine CROMWELL who was the sister of Thomas CROMWELL Earl of Essex who was beheaded. Katherine had married Morgan WILLIAMS but her son Richard had reverted to the surname CROMWELL and that surname carried on down through successive generations.)

William CROMWELL married late in life to a widow Mary WESTBY. No mention is made in online sources of an earlier marriage for this William, nor of any offspring, and none were mentioned in wills of William, his wife Mary, nor his mother Hannah CROMWELL. Brothers of William CROMWELL who survived infancy were Richard, Henry, Thomas and Oliver – no Robert was mentioned. I found no mention of any connection to the West or East Indies, although some CROMWELL family members did go there.

William CROMWELL’s will of 1772 was fascinating, he seemed very wealthy and owned amongst other things, a painting of Thomas CROMWELL, Earl of Essex, by HOLBEIN, also a ‘valuable powder flask’ which had belonged to ‘my Grt. grandfather O. Cromwell’.

William CROMWELL’s wife Mary who pre-deceased him, also left a fascinating will. She died in 1752 in Essex. She was very wealthy, leaving 1500 pounds to William and another 1500 pounds for almshouses in London, to be administered by her sister Margaret BROMSALL.

Somewhere there must be a burial record for the Abigail who married a William CROMWELL in 1721, but it is hard to know where to start looking in the unindexed records of that era. Perhaps she died soon after giving birth to her daughter Ann?

And just who was this James Montrose GRAHAM who made all the claims about the CROMWELL-SANDERS connection? He turns up in the parish registers for St. Giles, Cripplegate, being born and baptized in July 1748, which would make him 80 years old in 1828. His father was William GRAHAM a bookkeeper and mother Ann. There were no other GRAHAM children baptized at St. Giles in this period.

Ann died supposedly 1761, so her son James would have been only about 13 years old. James claimed that the William CROMWELL who was cared for by the SANDERS brothers had died ‘about 80 years ago’ so circa 1748. But perhaps this was mistaken reporting and should have read ‘died about 80 years of age’? This would tie in with the William CROMWELL who died in 1772 aged 79.

Further searching of the St. Lawrence New Brentford registers turned up another William CROMWELL, who could be our man. This William CROMWELL was baptized November 6, 1687, his father was also William CROMWELL (mother’s name not mentioned). The date is spot on for the William CROMWELL claimed as a relative by James Montrose GRAHAM. I could find no siblings in a 10 year search prior to 1687.

Celia found a William CROMWELL, possibly linked to the above record, in the London Metropolitan Archives indexes. This man was a citizen and merchant tailor of London and had taken out a 200 year mortgage ‘of messuage etc’ in Ealing/ Brentford, June 1660. Details of the exact properties involved might be worth following up, from the original documents, to see if there is a link to property later owned by the SANDERS family in the 1800s. Of interest was a burial record in 1718 at St. Lawrence New Brentford of Elizabeth CROMWELL, child of coat-maker of St. Giles, London. I wonder if the name of the coat maker was William, and if so, what was he doing in Brentford in 1718?

I also tried to find a link between my ancestor Joseph SANDERS (died 1778-9), and Gideon and John SANDERS, but so far without success. There were no SANDERS/ SAUNDERS in the St. Lawrence registers for a period of about 40 years (1730-1768), a time when such a link might be found. John SANDERS in 1731 and his brother-in-law Samuel SANDFORD in 1746 had both made bequests to ‘the congregation of dissenting protestants and their place of worship at Old Brentford and Reverend Joseph BAKER’.

This would have been the Congregationalists group, and there is a mention via British History Online that there was a meeting house in Ferry Lane, Old Brentford, and that this group attracted many legacies ‘notably those of John Sanders c. 1731....” (John SANDERS left 200 pounds to this church, according to his will). Some baptism and burial records of this group may be held with those of Albany Church, at the London Metropolitan Archives, and I am currently looking into this lead.

As to the question of two SANDERS brothers marrying two CROMWELL-related sisters, I have yet to find a reference. Gideon SANDERS no. 3 married Elizabeth GOMB but I could not find a wife’s name for his brother John who died 1731.

After extensive searching I do feel sceptical about the lineage and inheritance claims of James Montrose GRAHAM, but there are just enough truths in his claims to be worth pursuing the research. The burning question remains, did the SANDERS/ SAUNDERS family truly gain wealth from a link to the CROMWELL family?

Perhaps there are some Cromwell scholars out there who could help unravel this mystery? Or if anyone has some good ideas on this puzzle, I’d love to hear from you!

SOURCES:

British History Online per http://www.british-history.ac.uk
Gentleman’s Magazine volume 98, 1828 (online) pages 209-210
International Genealogical Index per http://www.familysearch.org
London Metropolitan Archives, Diocese of London Consistory Court wills (LMA)
Middlesex Parish Registers extracts (Phillimores) per http://www.angelfire.com/fl/Sumter/Middlesex.html
Parish registers of Brentford and London per http://www.ancestry.com
Prerogative Court of Canterbury wills (PCC) per http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/
‘The House of Cromwell: a genealogical history of the family and descendants of the protector”, James Waylen, John Cromwell, London 1897 (online, http://archive.org/details/houseofcromwells00way/).
Tudor Place per http://www.tudorplace.com
Visitation of England and Wales Notes, 1906 (online) ‘Pedigree of Cromwell’
"The House of Cromwell: a genealogical history of the family and descendants of the protector" London 1897 (online)

APPENDIX

I found the following records for SANDERS/ SAUNDERS in online parish registers via ancestry.com. Specifically, I searched ‘London, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials 1538-1812’ and ‘London, England, Deaths and Burials 1813-1980’, from which I chose ‘Borough, Hounslow’ and ‘Parish, St. Lawrence, New Brentford’. Those marked with an asterisk are my known ancestors, not sure about the others. Early records for St. Lawrence, New Brentford go back to the 1500s where the entries are written in Latin.

Valentyne SANDERS, son of Edward baptized April 1577
Edward SANDERS, son of Edward baptized September 1581

Richard SAUNDERS, labourer, tanner (buried at St. Lawrence December 1680) mar. Elinor/ Eleanor (she died a widow in 1703 and was buried inside the church at St. Lawrence.)
Seven children born 1651 or earlier – 1666
(Thomas, Suzanna, Hannah, Mary, John, Daniel who ‘died 1665 the year of the great plague’, Elinor)

Elizabeth SANDERS, daughter of John SANDERS of Old Brentford, baptized 1665

Edward SANDERS, husbandman, married Elizabeth CHURCH, a widow, 1655

Gideon SAUNDERS senior, cordwainer, died 1716 [his will names wife Elizabeth, sons Gideon and John, brother Edward and sister Mary who mar. Samuel SANDFORD]

Gideon SAUNDERS [would be son of Gideon senior]
Three children born 1694 – c 1698
(John possibly the one who died 1731, Edward, Hanna). Possibly a son Gideon also.

Gideon SAUNDERS, butcher
Five children born 1717 – 1730, four died in infancy.
(Lawrence, Elizabeth, Mary, Mary, Katherine)

John SANDERS, labourer
Four children born 1695 – 1702 (three died in infancy)
(John, Sarah, Jane, William)

*Daniel SAUNDERS (1747 – 1824), [son of *Joseph. mar. 1. Ann (died 1775) mar. 2. Sarah TONGUE and 3. Mary WARD.] Nine children born 1768 – 1789.
(Anne bp. 1768; Elizabeth bp. 1770; Maria bp. 1773; Sarah bp. 1777; Joseph bp. 1779; William bp.1780; *George bp. Dec. 29, 1782; Mary Ann bp. 1786; James bp. 1789).

George SAUNDERS, leather cutter, married to Sarah
Six children born 1771 – 1782
(George, Sarah, Susannah, Lora, James, Sarah)

I found the following records for CROMWELL: in the 1600s there was a group of CROMWELLs living in Ealing, Little Ealing/ Eling, who are not immediately or obviously connected to the famous CROMWELLs. Perhaps James Montrose Graham was trying to trace back his CROMWELL lineage and came across some 'famous' names, and put two and two together and came up with five?

The PCC will of one Walter CROMWELL yeoman of Little Ealing who died 1632 names his children as Walter, Robert (who had 3 children Anne, Walter, Robert), and Parnell? a daughter who married Geo. LIDGOLD of Hanwell. Walter senior's wife was Anne. He had two sisters Agnes (Thomas) and Elizabeth (WOODS).

In various other records there were a few more Ealing CROMWELLs: John CROMWELL of Eling, husbandman aged about 25 married Joan BENNETT of Heston in 1661 [parish register, married St. Leonard, Heston April 18, 1661]; Walter CRUMWELL mar. Margaret POLLORD or POLLET, June 1630, at Ealing [parish register entry St. Mary, Ealing]. George CROMWELL of Eling married Elizabeth BOLLES 1663. Walter CROMWELL of Ealing, yeoman, non-PCC will dated July 16, 1668, wife, son John, and 'several monuments to this family in Feltham Churchyard'. St. Mary's Ealing original parish records show up Jane, Walter and John born to Walter CROMWELL 1632-1636, with another Walter, son of Robert, baptized St. Mary's 1627.

I had been hoping to find a William CROMWELL but did not, however William CROMWELL son of William bap. 1687 could have descended from this extended group of Ealing CROMWELLs.

Page published April 2010