Thomas Ley

Male Abt 1667 - 1743  (~ 76 years)


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  • Name Thomas Ley 
    • Hypothesis.
    Born Abt 1667  East Putford, Devon, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    • No surviving baptism - Baptism records for East Putford do not exist for this time period.
    Gender Male 
    Occupation Monkleigh, Devon, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    yeoman 
    Residence 1694  moved from East Putford to Monkleigh Find all individuals with events at this location 
    _UID 2AB4B5C1E8A7D3479332C147BA9373E56FF4 
    Died Oct 1743  Monkleigh, Devon, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Buried 7 Oct 1743  Monkleigh, Devon, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I597  Victoria Boutilier's Genealogy Pages
    Last Modified 21 Aug 2023 

    Father Stephen Ley,   b. Abt 1620, East Putford, Devon, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. May 1686, East Putford, Devon, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 66 years) 
    Mother Grace Smyth,   b. 1628, Great Torrington, Devon, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Married 13 May 1651  Frithelstock, Devon, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Notes 
    • No baptisms found for any of Stephen and Grace's children. Probably all born at East Putford.
    Family ID F226  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Margarett Mill,   b. 28 Nov 1671, East Putford, Devon, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Apr 1731, Monkleigh, Devon, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 59 years) 
    Married 23 Feb 1692  East Putford, Devon, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    • Note that Margaret Mill was the stepdaughter of her husband Thomas Ley's older brother Stephen Ley.
    Notes 
    • (The marriage date would be 23 February 1693 by our reckoning)
    Children 
    +1. Thomas Ley,   b. 1693, East Putford, Devon, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Yes, date unknown
    +2. Margaret Ley,   b. 1695, Monkleigh, Devon, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Yes, date unknown
     3. Stephen Ley,   b. 1697, Monkleigh, Devon, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Yes, date unknown
     4. James Ley,   b. 1699, Monkleigh, Devon, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Yes, date unknown
    +5. Grace Ley,   b. Oct 1700, Monkleigh, Devon, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Jan 1774, Frithelstock, Devon, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 73 years)
    +6. Mary Ley,   b. 1701, Monkleigh, Devon, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Aug 1767, Monkleigh, Devon, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 66 years)
     7. Elizabeth Ley,   b. 1703, Monkleigh, Devon, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Jan 1704, Monkleigh, Devon, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 1 years)
     8. John Ley,   b. 1705, Monkleigh, Devon, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Yes, date unknown
     9. Alexander Ley,   b. 1708, Monkleigh, Devon, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Between 1777 and 1779, Main-à-Dieu, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 69 years)
     10. Hugh Ley,   b. 1709, Monkleigh, Devon, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Apr 1731, Monkleigh, Devon, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 22 years)
    +11. Dorothy Ley,   b. Feb 1710, Monkleigh, Devon, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Jan 1795, Frithelstock, Devon, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 84 years)
     12. William Ley,   b. 1713, Monkleigh, Devon, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Yes, date unknown
     13. Jeremiah Ley,   b. 1714, Monkleigh, Devon, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Sep 1760, Monkleigh, Devon, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 46 years)
    Last Modified 21 Aug 2023 
    Family ID F110  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • Qualification "Mr" in the Monkleigh parish registers. Buried as Thomas Ley Sen.


      Thomas Ley left a will in Archdeaconry Court of Barnstaple (date 3 Feb 1743 [1744]).


      [no title] 956 M/T47 1723
      These documents are held at North Devon Record Office
      Contents
      Release
      1. Hon. Richard Annesley of Bideford esq. and Anne his wife
      2. Thomas Down of Bideford gent., Charles Cutliffe of Bideford, gent., and John Graham of Bideford, mercer
      3. Thomas Ley of Monkleigh, yeoman
      Premises: the tithe of corn and grain arising from the barton of Annery
      Consideration: £42
      ["barton of Annery" = the manor lands of Monkleigh; Anne Prust Annesley was the granddaughter of Thomas Ley and Elizabeth Vigures; Mary (Ley) Prust m. 1706 Thomas Downe at Monkleigh - see notes on Ley family in Monkleigh below]

      According to Stephen Ley's will (died 1727), Thomas Ley and Rev. Adam Flexman were appointed trustees to manage the annuity for Stephen Ley's daughter Susanna Cory, and sell Stephen's real estate to pay Susanna her annuity. The property in question was Stephen Ley's property in East Putford called "Orchard," which was inherited by Stephen from his father Stephen. Rev. Flexman appears to have been the brother of Mr. James Flexman, husband of Stephen Ley's daughter Mary; Mary was the Executrix of her father's estate.

      Devon Record Office Z16/1/28/4 26 September 1672 24 Charles II
      These documents are held at Devon Record Office
      Former reference: DD. 47273
      Contents: East Putford, Bargain and sale
      (1) John Gifford of Halsbury, esq., and John Vigures of the Middle Temple, London, esq.
      (2) Stephen Ley the younger of Eastputford in Buckland Brewer, gent.
      Tenement with appurtenances called Orchard in the possession of (2)
      Consideration: £100

      Devon Record Office Z16/1/28/12 20 March 1730
      These documents are held at Devon Record Office
      Former reference: DD. 47282
      Contents: East Putford, Case and opinion
      On the title of Adam Flexman to fields or parcels of land called Orchards under the will of Stephen Ley

      Devon Record Office Z16/1/1/63a-b 13 April 1730 3 George II
      These documents are held at Devon Record Office
      Former reference: DD. 47102; 47103
      Contents
      Buckland Brewer: East Putford,
      Final concord both indentures
      Abraham Barnfield, querent [buyer]
      James Flexman, Mary his wife, Thomas Ley and Adam Flexman, clerk, deforciants [sellers]
      30 acres of land, 20 acres of pasture and 30 acres of furze and heath with appurtenances in Eastputford, Buckland and Orchard.
      Consideration: £60

      Devon Record Office Z16/1/28/13 19 and 20 June 1730 4 George II
      These documents are held at Devon Record Office
      Former reference: DD. 47283
      Contents: East Putford, Lease and release:
      (1) James Flexman of Wear Gifford, gent., and Mary his wife
      (2) Thomas Ley of Munckleigh, yeoman, and Adam Flexman of St. Giles [-in-the-Wood], clerk
      (3) Abraham Barnfield of East Putford, gent.
      Tenement and closes called Orchard
      Consideration: £260
      www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a

      note- James Flexman married Mrs. (a social class qualification not necessarily indication of widowhood) Mary Ley 5 April 1711 at Weare Giffard; children baptized at Weare Giffard included Stephen (1715), Adam (1717), Margaret (1719), John (1724), and Susanna (1722)


      Why did Thomas Ley, move to Monkleigh after his marriage? Stephen Ley moved to Wear Giffard around the same time. Rev. Alexander Ley [Jr]'s family at Monkleigh were only 2nd cousins.The Leys in Monkleigh stem from the Ley family in East Putford (Buckland Brewer)

      The spelling "Ley" was used in Monkleigh to refer to a particular family distinguishable from the name "Lee," "Lea" and "Leigh," but this distinction was not maintained outside of Monkleigh's clerks. Thomas Ley was not born in Monkleigh. There are actually no "LEY" baptisms in Monkleigh, which has unusually good records, between 1660-1669. There are a few "LEE" baptisms, but no Thomas. Thomas Ley was likely baptized in East Putford chapel, however these registers survive in fragments only before the 1670s, although some events were recorded at the parent church, Buckland Brewer, notably burials; some baptisms before the 1650s.