John Aaron Rowsell (1789 - 1831)

St. Pancras Church, West Bagborough

John Aaron Rowsell was born December, 1798 in Staplegrove, Somerset.

He was the only child of Aaron Rowsell (1766-1852) and Betty Hill (1773-1790), of West Monkton.

John married Mary White (1783-1861) of Oake, Somerset on November 1, 1815 at St. Michael and All Angel's Church in Taunton. She was the daughter of John White (1734-1820) and Ann Winter (1740-1801).

John and Mary had 4 children, all in West Bagborough, Somerset:

John Aaron Rowsell (Sep 1816-1861)
Thomas J. Rowsell (Dec 1819-Dec 1892)
Elizabeth Rowsell (Apr 1823- Oct 1831)
Martha Rowsell (Jan 1829- June 1831)

John passed away in August 1831 at Cheddon Fitzpaine, Somerset. Mary lived for another 30 years, passing away in Taunton in October 1861.

Aaron Rowsell (1766 - 1852)

St. Augustine's Church, West Monkton

Aaron Rowsell was born in 1766 in West Monkton, Somerset.

He was a son of Richard Rowsell (1720-1772) and Elizabeth Cure (1729-1770), of West Monkton.

Richard married Betty Hill (Feb 1773 - Dec 1790) of Cheddon Fitzpaine in 1789. She was the daughter of John Hill (1729-1809) and Sarah Collick (1747-1806). They had one child, born later that year, John Aaron Rowsell (Dec 1789-Aug 1831).

Betty died shortly after John was born. Aaron Rowsell died in January, 1852 in Taunton, Somerset.

Joel Rowsell (1764 - 1844)

St. Augustine's Church, West Monkton

Joel Rowsell was born in March, 1764 in West Monkton, Somerset.

He was the son of Richard Rowsell (1720-1772) and Elizabeth Cure (1729-1770) of West Monkton.

Joel married Amy Taunton (1764-1841), of Edmonton, Middlesex, on June 27, 1784 at Edmonton All Saints Church.

Joel and Amy had 9 children, all in Enfield:

Joseph Rowsell (June 1786- )
Sarah Rowsell (July 1788- )
William Rowsell (Nov 17 1790 - )
Charles Rowsell (Nov 1794 - )
Elizabeth Rowsell (May 1797 - )
Peter Rowsell (1799-1880)
Mary Ann Rowsell (1801 - )
James Rowsell (Feb 1804 - )
Richard Rowsell (Nov 1805 - )

Joel is believed to have passed away October 18, 1844. Amy pre-deceased him, having died prior to 1841.

John Rowsell (1748 - 1775)





St. Michael's Church, Creech St. Michael


John Rowsell was born in West Monkton, Somerset, in 1748.

He was the son of Richard Rowsell (1720-1772) and Elizabeth Cure (1729-1770), also of West Monkton.

John married Hannah Hurcott (1750 - ) at St. Michael's Church in Creech St. Michael, Somerset on December 3, 1771.

They had 2 daughters, at Smokey Farm, Staplegrove:

Sarah Rowsell (Sep 1772 - Nov 1856)
Betty Rowsell (Oct 1774 - Feb 1780)

John is believed to have passed away at Smokey Farm, Staplegrove in May of 1775. Hannah appears to have subsequently remarried, to William Harris (1750 - ), later that year. She passed away 5 years later, in 1775, in Biddesham, Somerset.

Daughter Sarah subsequently married Robert Hill in 1791, at Creech St. Michael, with whom she had 2 children: John Hill (Dec 1795 - ) and Elizabeth Hill (Feb 1799 - ). Both were born at at Smokey Farm, Staplegrove.  The deaths of both Sarah and Betty are subsequently recorded at Taunton, St. James parish.

James Rowsell (1751 - 1796)

St. Augustine's Church, West Monkton

James Rowsell was born in August, 1751 in West Monkton, Somerset.

He was a child of Richard Rowsell (1720-1772) and Elizabeth Cure (1729-1770).

James was apparently a butcher. He was married to Mary Kidner (1751- ), also of West Monkton. They had 4 children:

John Rowsell (1771-1813)
Mary Rowsell (1777- )
James Rowsell (July 1780- )
Sarah Rowsell (1782- )

In 1783, Mary (nee Kidner) was under investigation locally for having employed a 13 year-old pauper girl from Devon, named Mary Challis. It is unclear from the record why Mary Challis was in West Monkton or how the investigation was concluded, and more importantly whether this Mary Challis was either deported back to Devon or found some way to stay in James' home. What we do know, however, is that James' household in West Monkton included this young woman, Mary Challis, for at least some period of time, and that Mary would have been essentially the same age as James' first son, John, who was by then a young man.

James died in West Monkton, in 1796. We do not currently know how long Mary lived, or where she died.

Richard Rowsell (1720 - 1772)

St. Augustine's Church, West Monkton

Richard Rowsell was born in 1720, in Shepton Beauchamp, Somerset.

He was the only child of William Rowswell (1720-1772) and Sarah (unmarried name, unknown) (1704 - )

He married Elizabeth ("Betty") Cure (1729-1770) on December 28, 1745, at the Church of St. Augustine in West Monkton, Somerset. She was 16 at the time, having just pass her last birthday in March. Richard was 25. She was originally from Barnstaple in Devon, the daughter of John and Elizabeth Cure.





Richard and Betty had 8 children, all in West Monkton:

John Rowsell (1748 - May 1775)
James Rowsell (August 1751 - March 1796)
Mary Agnes Rowsell (Jan 1754 - )
Sarah Rowsell (July 1756 - )
Richard Rowsell (Feb 1759 - )
Amos Rowsell (Dec 1761 - 1793)
Joel Rowsell (Mar 1764 - Oct 18 1844)
Aaron Rowsell (1766 - Mar 14 1852)

(It seems to have been in West Monkton that the surname was changed from "Rowswell" to "Rowsell". Perhaps in the hands of a new community, where the Rowswell name was less common than it was in Shepton Beauchamp, it was simply transcribed differently in the Parish records. Or perhaps Richard deliberately changed the name for a particular reason. If anyone runs into Richard, please ask him, for me, won't you?)

Richard died in Staplegrove, Somerset, in 1772. Elizabeth pre-deceased Richard by 2 years, having passed away in 1770. Perhaps Richard was staying with one of his children in Staplegrove, in his declining years.

William Rowswell (1694 - 1738)

St. Michael's Church, Shepton Beauchamp

William Rowswell was born on May 19, 1694 in Shepton Beauchamp, Somerset.

He was the child of Henry Rowsell (1658-1720) and Dorothy England (1665 - ), both of Shepton Beauchamp.

William married Sarah (unmarried name, unknown). They had only the one child of which we are aware:

Richard Rowsell (1720 - 1772).

William passed away on August 22, 1738, in Shepton Beauchamp. It is not know where or when he was joined by Sarah.

The above information is taken from undocumented, secondary online sources and has not been verified with reliable, promary records.