The LEWTAS Families

APRIL  2024

mc.storey@btinternet.com

HAMBLETON

The earliest Lewtas found whose descendants can be traced to the present day with certainty is George Lewtas of Out Rawcliffe anf his wife Mary. George's children are the ancestors of many of the modern day lines of Lewtas families. George was buried at Stalmine church on June 22nd 1674 and in his will he is recorded as 'late of Out Rawcliffe'. His will gives the following information about his family:

GEORGE LEWTAS OF HAMBLETON died 1674
Children
1) William who was buried on 17th December 1679/80 in Stalmine; in his father's will William is described as ˜my eldest son';
2) John who married Jennet Anyon in 1686 Their children were George, Jane, Anne & Thomas
3) Elizabeth
4) Matthew the blacksmith, described in his father's will as ˜my younger son'. There is a record of a baptism of Mathew Leute to George of Stallinge at St Michael's on 23rd September 1666.
George's will says ˜when they shall reach the age of one and twenty' suggesting the children were minors when he drew it up

GEORGE'S SON MATTHEW LEWTAS - led to the Liverpool connection
Mathew was the blacksmith in Hambleton and George's youngest son. In his will dated 1719 - Matthew died the following year - he left the tools of his trade to his eldest son George and made financial provision for his younger children John, William, Thomas and Ester, who were minors. His wife mentioned in his will is Alice - the entry in the printed parish marriage registers names his wife as Anne Fox, who Matthew married in Garstang. presumably Matthew married twice. He left property in Stalmine and in Out Rawcliffe and a house with outbuildings in Hambleton.

Matthew descendants led to the Lewtas family's main Liverpool connection.

GEORGE'S SON JOHN LEWTAS - led to the Poulton connection
Their son Thomas moved to Poulton on the early 1720s and his descendants led to families in Manchester and Blackpool

GEORGE'S OTHER CHILDREN - WILLIAM DIED YOUNG AND ELIZABETH HAS NOT YET BEEN TRACED

An extract from the will of George Latwys of Out Rawcliffe who died in 1675

Wills & inventories
Collectively known as probate records, wills and inventories are among the most useful and interesting sources of information about individuals in the past, while collectively they can give crucial insights into the social, economic and cultural history of communities.

In his will George Lewtas, 'sicke in body yet of good and perfect memory' requested burial in the church yard of St Michael's, which was the parish church for al the area now known as Over Wyre. Then it was simply Out Rawcliffe and included the present day village of St Michael's. George had messuages and several closes of land in Out Rawcliffe and in 'Stallming Moss' His wife Mary and his 'eldest son William' were to be his executors. His daughter Elizabeth, and two other sons John and Matthew may have been quite young when George died as he ensured the financial support for the 'maintenance, education and bringing up of all my children'

Extract from the inventory of George Latwys who died in 1675

On the top line of the inventory George's name can be seen - but here Lewtas is spelt 'Lutas'. It was quite common for names to be spelt in a variety of ways even in the same document.

The inventory, which was required from the early 16th century in order to assess the charges of the probate court, was a detailed listing of all the goods and livestock of the deceased Inventories are the most important source we have for details of household goods and furnishings, farm animals and equipment, craft and trade items, the contents of shops, clothing of relatively ordinary people, and the money transactions which are represented by debts due and debts owed. Inventories were rarely made after the mid 18th century.