James Dengate
KEY DATES:
Baptism: 14 September 1764, St John the Baptist Church, Wittersham, Kent
1st Marriage to Elizabeth Ruffin: 23 April 1787, St John the Baptist Church, Wittersham, Kent
2nd Marriage to Mary Weeks: 15 November 1791, Beckley Parish Church, East Sussex
Death: 24 April 1851, Dartford, Kent
Burial: 1 May 1851, St Edmund's Church, Kingsdown, Kent
BIOGRAPHY:
James Dengate was baptised 14 September 1764 in St John the Baptist Church, Wittersham, Kent to William and Susannah Dengate.
St John the Baptist Church, Wittersham, Kent, 2002
Aged 22, James Dengate married Elizabeth Ruffin on 23 April 1787, in St John the Baptist Church, Wittersham. Witnesses to their marriage were William Dengate (probably his brother) and James Gibly.
James and Elizabeth had 2 children together; James Dengate, baptised 11 April 1788 and Harriet Dengate, baptised 6 August 1789, both in St John the Baptist Church, Wittersham. Within 10 months of Harriet's baptism, on 23 June 1790, aged 25, Elizabeth Dengate had died. She was buried 29 June 1790 in St John the Baptist Church, Wittersham.
Elizabeth Dengate's grave, St John the Baptist Church, Wittersham, Kent, 2004
The grave inscription reads, 'In memory of Elizabeth Dengate the wife of James Dengate who died 23rd June 1790 aged 25 years.'
On the 15 November 1791, James Dengate married Mary Weeks in Beckley Parish Church, East Sussex. One of the witnesses to the marriage was Stephen Weeks. The couple had their first son, John Dengate who was baptised 9 January 1793 in St John the Baptist Church, Wittersham. At some point over the next 11 months, James and Mary moved some distance across Kent to Ash. Whether James' first two children from his previous marriage were taken with them, however, is unknown. Thus far no records exist of their living in the area, and on James Dengate's marriage entry in 1812 his parish of residence is listed as Wittersham.
James and Mary had three further children whilst living in Ash; Mary, William and Eleanor. The baptism entries for these three children give Mary Dengate's maiden name of Weeks and confirm their marriage date and place. At this time James is working in Ash as a farmer, living at Terry's Lodge in Ash in 1793. Between 1797 and 1801 the family were living at Pells Farm where James Dengate was the tenant farmer. Also in 1801 James was a churchwarden of St Edmund's Church. In 'West Kingsdown - The Story of Three Villages in Kent', Zena Bamping writes, "Whilst the tithe award was being compiled in 1841, he [James Dengate] was shown as the tenant of 'the Cottage, Mill and Yard, 1 acre and 3 perches in all', belonging to John Lightfoot, a large landowner in Ash and Stanstead." 1 James evidently raised and trained his sons to work in the milling trade, for James, William and George went on to become millers in various parts of Kent.
James' great great granddaughter Ellen Comfort Weight wrote about him in 1935, "My mother's great grandfather appeared to have lived at one time in the neighbourhood of Wrotham, Kent and was known to be rather extravagant keeping his own hounds for hunting..."
In 1797 the family were living in Kingsdown, the next parish to Ash, where over the next few years James and Mary had a further 14 children, most baptised or buried in St Edmund's Church, Kingsdown.
St Edmund's Church, Kingsdown, Kent, 2003
James Dengate is mentioned in his brother William's will - to view the original in pdf format, click here (you will need an Adobe Acrobat reader to do this) To view a transcript of this, click here
Mary Dengate died in November 1840 in Kingsdown aged 69 years and was buried 27 November 1840 in St Edmund's Church, Kingsdown.
The 1841 census shows James Dengate working and living in the mill at Kingsdown with his son George Dengate and three of his daughters Caroline, Charlotte and Louisa.
The 1851 census shows James Dengate living at 3 Ebeneezer Place in Dartford as a 86-year-old widower with his daughters Caroline and Charlotte. He died soon after on the 24 April 1851 at Lowfield Street, Dartford aged 86 of marasmus. One of his daughters, either Caroline or Charlotte was present at the death.
CENSUS:
EXTERNAL LINKS:
Information about West Kingsdown
1 West Kingsdown - The Story of Three Villages in Kent by Zena Bamping, 1991 p. 254
© Copyright N. Goodwin MMII