The Transatlantic Connection

This page: [Top of the Tree] [About John WINDETT] [Parents & Siblings] [Wife] [Children]

This is a fragment of a very large tree which goes back to 1725 and expands into a very large number of branches. For more information on this family tree please go to the Staverton Tree introduction.

This section of tree shows the ancestors of emigrants to Canada and the United States. William and Mary Ann (French) emigrated to Canada and many descendents. William had a brother, John H[ollet] Windeatt, whose son James went to Chicago and had his own photographic studio there.

Top of this part of the tree

This section of the tree starts with John WINDETT who was christened in Staverton on 27.12.1778, the son of John WINDETT and Jane HOLLETT.

      
John WINDETT(1778-?) = Margaret(?1781-1835)
      |_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
      |            |                |             |                  |                 |                 |                   | 
 Jane(1802-?)  ?John(1805-?)  William(1806-?) Anne(1809-1832)  Mary J(1817-1826)  Dorothy(1817-18)  Dorothy M(1820-?)  John H[?ollet](1823-1900)

NOTE1: You will probably need to scroll to the right to see all eight children.
NOTE2: Linked names lead to more information further down the page. Arrows (e.g. from the last son, John) lead to the next section of the tree on another page.

About John WINDETT (1778-1835)

We know very little about the John WINDETT of Staverton who married a Margaret of Buckfastleigh. The information has been pieced together from secondary data and needs further investigation. John seems to have been christened in Staverton, Devon, England on 27 DEC 1778. His first child was christened in Staverton while subsequent children were christened in Buckfastleigh. Anne, Mary and Dorothy all died in infancy and were buried in Staverton parish but described as "of Buckfastleigh".

Where are these places?

Link to the map of Staverton and Buckfastleigh
This map shows Buckfastleigh a couple of miles to the west of Staverton. Why did they live in one parish but bury their children in another? Could they have had a burial plot in Staverton churchyard/
Link to 1813 etching of houses at Buckfastleigh, Devon
Link to 1820 etching of Buckfastleigh and Austin's Bridge
Link to 1853 etching of Dart Bridge, near Buckfastleigh
Link to Genuki page about Staverton
Link to Genuki page about Buckfastleigh
Link to Buckfastleigh Online Parish Clerk website

Parents and Siblings

His parents were John WINDETT and Jane HOLLETT. He had a brothers and a sister (that we know of). He may have had an older brother called William who was baptised on 22.11.1772 in Staverton and possibly buried there on 08.06.1788. His sister, Jane, was christened on 03.10.1775 and buried on 10.12.1782 also in Staverton. He also had a younger brother, James, baptised on 3.06.1781 in Staverton and who was the paterfamilias of the large branch of this tree and who moved to London and had many descendants.

Wife - Margaret ? (1780/1-1835)

We don't know her surname nor her birth date but from her age when buried she must have been born in either 1780 or 1781. She was buried on 20th September, 1835 aged 54 in Staverton but recorded as "of Buckfastleigh". John and Margaret appear to have had children over a period of 20 years and may have had more that we don't know about. Only Jane, William, Dorothy and John H[ollet?] appear to have survived into maturity.

Children

Jane: Christened 02 MAY 1802 Staverton, Devon, England. In 1841 she was recorded in the census as being aged between 35 and 39 (ages were rounded down to the nearest five years) and working as a Warper.
Link to the 1841 census transcription
William: Christened 17.08.1806 in Buckfastleigh, Devon, England and died on 24.03.1867 in Ascot, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. William was the paterfamilias of the large branch of this tree that emigrated to Quebec and had many descendants who spell their name: WINGET.

Link to a Photo of William's wife: Mary Ann FRENCH . . . ]

Anne: Christened 26.02.1809 at Buckfastleigh. Buried on 1st July, 1832 in Staverton but recorded as "aged 23 years of Buckfastleigh".

There is a big gap between Anne and Mary. Either some more children were born and didn't survive or it is possible that the second lot of children listed below were actually grandchildren.

Mary: Christened 07.12.1817 at Buckfastleigh. Died in 1826 and buried in Staverton on 25.07.1826 : "Mary Wingait (sic) "aged 8 years of Buckfastleigh"
Dorothy: Christened 07.12.1817 at Buckfastleigh. Buried on 4th January, 1818 in Staverton but recorded as "an infant of Buckfastleigh".
It looks as though Mary and Dorothy were twins? Dorothy appears to have survived only a few weeks.
Dorothy M: Christened 07.12.1817 at Buckfastleigh. A 'replacement' for the Dorothy above. She was probably given a middle name to distinguish her from the previous Dorothy. If the middle initial is indeed M. then her middle name was probably Margaret after her mother. But perhaps this middle initial is a mistranscription and her middle name was Hollet or Hallet as with her brother below? Then she was probably the same Dorothy Hallet WINDEATT who was married in the June quarter of 1845 in Totnes to a John THORNE.
John H[ollet?]: Christened 15.06.1823 at Buckfastleigh. Died 16.12.1900 in Plymouth where he had become a hairdresser. Married Mary MACEY of Buckfastleigh.
[More about John H[ollet? . . .]

These pages are being put together by Sandra Windeatt with a lot of help from many correspondents and in particular
Peter Windeatt, e-mail: windeatt@windeatt.demon.co.uk -Staverton tree.
Phil White, e-mail: whitepg@nobbys.net.au - Torquay tree.