Nicholas Kendall and Jane Carew

Rev Nicholas Kendall was born on 28 January 1656 in Lanlivery, Cornwall, England to parents Barnard Kendall (1634-1704) and Anne Snell(1634-1706). His father Barnard was described as a gentleman of Lostwithiel (2 miles from Lanlivery).

Nicholas was baptised on 10 February 1656 in the parish church of St Brevitas, Lanlivery, Cornwall.

The Lanlivery parish church has a tower that is 100 feet high and is reputed to be one of the finest in Cornwall.

In the church tower, there is the “ringers rhyme” which is pictured below. The bells still ring out over the modern day parish, and they make a splendid sound. Note that Nicholas eventually became the vicar of this church, and you can see his name on the plaque.

Lanlivery is a parish in the union of Bodmin, situated just 1.5 miles from Lostwithiel.

At the age of 17, Nicholas studied at Oxford University graduating with a Doctor of Divinity allowing him to practice as a Church of England clergyman (clerk).

Nicholas appears in the Oxford Alumni listing with his sons both Charles (Doctor of Laws) and  Walter (Town Clerk of Plymouth and portrait artist). His father is listed as Barnard Kendall of Lostwithiel –

Nicholas enrolled at Oxford university in 1673 at the age of 17 and obtained his BA in 1677. Upon his leaving Oxford he became the rector of Sheviocke, Cornwall from 1680 until 1740. He was ordained at Exeter in 1680.

While Nicholas was employed as the vicar at Lanlivery, Cornwall  on 14 October 1686 he married Jane Carew of Harrowbarrow (Harroborro).

Jane Carew was born on 1 November 1664 in Helston, Cornwall to parents Thomas Carew (1640-1684) and Wilmot Lampen (1635-1692). Thomas was described as a gentleman of Harrowbeare (Harrowbarrow) on her baptism record on 22 November 1664 at St Dominicks, Calstock. Thomas was a wealthy, aristocrat, son of Alexander Carew, 2nd Baronet of Anthony House, Torpoint near the village of Calstock.

Nicholas and Jane had a large family of 12 children –

1. Penelope b 1687 Lanlivery d 1708 Lanlivery. Marr James Youge, gent of Plymouth. 4 children. (Marriage Settlement)
2. 

   Walter Kendall 1689-1744, town clerk of Plymouth and artist

   Walter b 1689 Lanlivery d 1744 Lanlivery. Marr Mary Fletcher. Attended Oxford University. Town clerk of Plymouth and artist of 7 family portraits. 3 children.

3. Charles b 1691 Lanlivery d 1731 Exeter. Attended Oxford University. Bachelor of Civil Law. Marr Elizabeth Northmore. 6 children.
4. Jane b 1693 Sheviock d 1694 Sheviock
5. James b & d 1695 Sheviock
6. Mary b & d 1696 Sheviock
7. James b 1697 Lanlivery d 1733 Exeter. Marr Margaret Worth. 2 children. Vicar of Altarnun, Cornwall (near Bodmin).
8. Nicholas b 1699 & d 1702 Lanlivery
9. Elizabeth b 1701 Lanlivery d 1749 Phillack. Married Rev Edward Collins. 4 children.
10. Katherine b 1703 Lanlivery d 1756 Woodleigh. Marr Thomas Hurrell. 1 child. (marriage settlement of £1000 and further sum of £300 Plymouth Archives).
11. Emblyn b 1705 & d 1719 Lanlivery
12. Nicholas b 1707 Lanlivery d 1742 Dittisham, Devon. Marr Joane Narracott. 2 children.

It appears out of 12 children, only six survived until adulthood.

Jane died in September 1717 aged 52 and was memorialised in the floor of the church of Lanlivery on 4 September 1717, and under her Kendall coat of arms.

“Jane, wife of the above Nicholas Kendall, of Pelyn, clerk, bom 1st Nov., 1664, married Uth Oct., 1686, and buried 4th Sept.”

After the death of his wife Jane, the Rev Nicholas Kendall married again to Hannah Snell, daughter of John Snell of Exeter. They married at Withycombe Raleigh in Devon on 21st May 1720.

Hannah Snell was born in 1675 in Exeter, the daughter of John Snell, and was baptised in Exeter Cathedral on 9 May 1675. Nicholas’s mother’s maiden name was also Snell, so Hannah maybe a cousin?

Nicholas was the Archdeacon of Totnes in Devon between 1713-1739 succeeding George Fleetwood, and followed by George Baker (Some account of the barony and town of Okehampton: Its antiquities and institutions” Bridges, W. etc,1889).

Like many of his forebears and descendants Nicholas (and wife Hannah) were involved in various court documents found on the National Archives catalogue –

• 1700 Lanlivery Parish Church, Charities, Lease – 1. Nicholas Kendall and 12 governors of Lanlivery & Thomas Libby, churchwarden and 2. Henry Bartley of Lanlivery, blacksmith. Lease for 3 lives of house part of parish lands of Lanlivery late held by Nicholas and Jane. Rent 4s. Od. (Cornwall Record Office)
  1702 Accounts and Financial Papers – Bond in £14. Hen. Budley of Fowey, blacksmith, and Methusalem Parsons, glover, to Rich. Carew of Antony, Nicholas Kendall of Pelyn and Jn. Rashleigh of Menabilly. To secure payment of £7. 11 Jan 1702.
• 1703 Kendall Archives, Personal and Family Matters – Marriage Settlement – (i) James Yonge of Plymouth, Devon, gent and (ii) Penelope his wife (daughter of Rev Nicholas Kendall) On covenants. 30 June 1703. (Royal Institution of Cornwall).
• 1704 Court of Chancery Pleadings-Carew v Kendall.Plaintiffs: Richard Carew and Rachel Manaton widow. Defendants: Nicholas Kendall clerk, William Sparke, Richard Eare, Samuel Rolle, Henry Gregor, John Rashleigh and others.Subject: tithes of Antony, St Veep, and St Minver, Cornwall. Document type: bill, seven answers.
• 1711 Court of Chancery Pleadings- Kendall v Code. Plaintiffs: Nicholas Kendall. Defendants: Mary Code, Margaret Harte, Richard Stephen and Margery Stephen his wife. Subject: personal estate of Mary Kendall, Killigarth, Cornwall.
• 1714 Kendall of Pelyn, Lanlivery, photographs, miscellaneous papers – Transfer of trusts – Sarah Rashleigh of Tywardreath, spinster, to Philip Rashleigh of Menabilly, and Nicholas Kendall of Pelyn, clerk.
• 1717 Court of Chancery Pleadings-Kendall v Manaton. Document type: Bill and answer. Plaintiffs: Nicholas Kendall, clerk and Archdeacon of Exeter of Landlivers, Cornwall and Philip Rashleigh, esq of Menabilly, Cornwall (executors of Rachel Manaton, deceased, widow of Ambrose Manaton, esq deceased late of Kilworthy, Devon, and daughter of Sir John Carew bart deceased late of Antony, Cornwall). Defendants: Francis Manaton, esq.
• 1720 – Devon Deeds and Manors, Woodleigh -Marriage settlement
  1 Thomas Hurrell the younger of Bere Ferrers, clerk
  2 Nicholas Kendall of Talland, Co. Cornwall
  3 Katherine Kendall, his daughter
  Property as 149/126-127 Consideration: impending marriage and £1000 and further sum of £300 (Plymouth Archives)
• 1726 Court of Chancery Pleadings- Robins v Kendall. Plaintiffs: Benjamin Robins. Defendants: Nicholas Kendall and Hannah Kendall his wife and others.
• 1726 Court of Chancery Pleadings- Robins v Colleton. Plaintiffs: Benjamin Robins, gent of Exeter, Devon. Defendants: Sir John Colleton bart, Nicholas Kendall and Hannah Kendall his wife.
• 1729 County of Devon, Quarter Sessions, Sacrament Certificates – Nicholas Kendall junior, Totnes, Gentleman (held at Devon Archives).
• 1739 Kendall Archives, Personal and family matters. Bonds and Receipts. (i) Nicholas Kendall junior and (ii) Rev Nicholas Kendall, Archdeacon of Totnes father of (i). On £600. (held at the Royal Institution of Cornwall)
• 1739 – Kendall of Pelyn Deeds and Leases – will of Nicholas Kendall, clerk 1739, settlement deed 1733, Chancery bill Kendall v Coles 1753. (Cornwall Record Office)
• 1748 Court of Chancery Pleadings- Whittaker v Cullum. Plaintiffs: William Whitaker, brewer of St Saviour Southwark, Surrey (assignee of Sir John Colleton bart of Exmouth, Devon) and Charles Webber, gent of Exeter, Devon (executors of Hannah Kendall, widow deceased of Exmouth, Devon). Defendants: Sir Jasper Cullum bart of Hewstead, Suffolk.
• Kendall of Pelyn, Lanlivery – trunks containing deeds, leases, pedigrees, rentals, titles, marriage dissolution papers 1845, rock mill leases, settlements, estate duty, Mary Kendall 1710 will, taxes, estate correspondence, letters a total of 337 files. These records are held at the Archives and Cornish Studies Service, formerly the Cornwall Record Office.

Nicholas Kendall died on 3 March 1739, and is also buried in Exeter Cathedral with his first wife Jane. A memorial in the Lanlivery church records his burial –

Nicholas Kendall, M.A., vicar of Lanlivery, rector of Sheviock, canon residentiary of the cathedral church of St. Peter, Exeter, and archdeacon of Totnes. Bom 28th Jan., 1656, died 3rd March, 1739, and buried in the cathedral church of St. Peter, Exeter. He married first Jane, daughter of Thomas Carew of Harrobear, Esq., by whom he had issue six sons and six daughters. He married secondly Hannah, daughter of John Snell of Exeter, Esq., who survived him.

Nicholas’s surviving wife Hannah Kendall died in 1748 in Withycombe Raleigh near Exeter, the same place as their marriage. She left a PCC will and in the Devon Wills Index is described as ‘Hannah Kendall of Littleham near Exmouth or Withycombe Raleigh’ (PCC Prob 11/760).  In her will she asks to be buried in Exeter Cathedral with her husband, which she was on 16 Dec 1747.

Nicholas inherited the family coat of arms  which are described as –

Arms of Kendall of Kingsbridge and of Cofton, Devon: Argent, a chevron between three dolphins naiant embowed sable (Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds’ Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.514).

 

 

 

The Kendall coat of arms is also found on a memorial in the Lanlivery parish church in Cornwall.

Pictured below is a memorial plaque to some of the Kendall family of Pelyn which can be found in Lanlivery Church.

The first Walter Kendall d 1696 is the Rev Nicholas Kendall’s uncle (Barnard’s brother). The wording on it reads as follows:

“In Memory of Walter Kendall of Pelyn Esq, who was Interr’d in the grave of his Father Nicholas Kendall of Pelyn aforesaid, Esq, the 5th day of 76r (September) Anno Domini 1696 AEtatis Suce 70. And also in Memory of Joan Kendall Relict of the said Walter Kendall, Eldest Daughter of Alexander Carew of East Anthony Knight and Barronet: She was married to the said Walter the 17th day of July 1650, and erected this monument in the 70th year of her age the 12th day of July 1703. Desiring She may be buried in the grave of Embline Kendall Mother of her dec’d husband. By the side of the said Walter Kendall lies interr’d Nicholas Kendall , son of the Rever’d Canon Kendall who dyed the 7th of 10ber 1702. To think of death, and duly to prepare for its approach, should bey’r Chiefest Care”

There is a book with a lot of information on the Kendall family (available on ebooksread.com) entitled “Heraldic church notes from Cornwall : containing all the heraldry and genealogical particulars on every memorial in ten churches in the deanery of East, with copious extracts from the parish registers, annotated with notes from wills” by Arthur John Jewers.

The books states –

This Mr. Nicholas Kendall took his degree, was ordained deacon in the Lady Chapel at Exeter 21st July, 1680, priest on the 30th, and instituted to the rectory of Sheviock on the 31st of the same month, thus bringing him to this parish, of which he rebuilt the rectory-house, over a mantelpiece in which the arms of Kendall still remain, though the house is no longer used for its original purpose.

The baptism of Penelope is recorded in the Register of Lanlivery, as are also those of Walter and Charles, with the statement that they were baptized at Sheviock. Walter was the eldest son, and became of Pelyn. He married, and was ancestor of the present Kendalls of Pelyn, &c. The second son, Charles, took holy orders, and attained the degree of d.d. He also married and left descendants.

Nicholas Kendall is buried at Lanlivery, where there is a mural monument to his memory. He is described as Nicholas Kendall, M.A., vicar of Lanlivery, rector of Sheviock, canon residentiary of the cathedral church of St. Peter, Exeter, and archdeacon of Totnes. Bom 28th Jan., 1656, died 3rd March, 1739, and buried in the cathedral church of St. Peter, Exeter. He married first Jane, daughter of Thomas Carew of Harrobear, Esq., by whom he had issue six sons and six daughters. He married secondly Hannah, daughter of John Snell of Exeter, Esq., who survived him. The inscription states that this monument was erected to his memory by his eldest son, “Walter Kendall, Esq., of Pelyn.

The monument is surmovmted by the following shield of arms; viz., the dexter, Arg. a chev. hetto. three dolphins embowed so. ; Kendall : the sinister, Per fesse, in chief or, three lions pass. sa. ; Carew: in base. Quarterly gu. and az., a cross Jlory, or; Snell.
A ledger-stone on the floor has the arms of Kendall imp. Carew finely cut and preserved, being, as the inscription tells us, for Jane, wife of the above Nicholas Kendall, of Pelyn, clerk, bom 1st Nov., 1664, married Uth Oct., 1686, and buried 4th Sept.,
1717. Another mural tablet commemorates the above-named Penelope, which gives the date of her birth as the 23rd July, 1687, and her marriage 9th March, 1702, to Mr. James Yonge, of Plymouth; but she died young, having been buried 28th June, 1708. According to these dates, she could not have been sixteen years of age at her marriage. But they cannot be far wrong; for in the Eegister of St. Andrew, Plymouth, is the burial,
12th Jan., 1705, of Penelope, daughter of Mr. James Young; while the second marriage of this James Yonge (as more correctly spelt on the monument in question), with Mrs. Mary Upton, is entered in the last-named Register as taking place 28th Sept., 1716.

It will be found that this account, beside giving some additional dates, &c., differs somewhat as to the benefices held by Nicholas Kendall. His institution to the Rectory of Sheviock is given on the authority of the original book of declarations on Institution signed by the Rector himself. Having given this explanation, it 1 See Visitations of Cornwall, p. 260 ; but most of the entries from these Registers are not given there.