John Rowsell (1771 - 1813)

St. George Church, Wilton

John Rowsell was born in West Monkton, Somerset, in September, 1771.

John was a child of James Rowsell, butcher (1751-1796) and Mary Kidner (1751- ), also of West Monkton.

We believe that John became the father of up to 3 children by Mary Challis (1771- ), who had been brought into his parents' home from Devon as a young servant girl.


The parish birth records for the Church of St. George, Wilton, Somerset record the birth of John Rowsell on February 15, 1792 to Mary and John Rowsell.

Those same Wilton records also show Mary Rowsell (pauper) as the mother of:

Mary Rowsell (baptised June 9, 1787)
Elizabeth Rowsell (baptised July, 1790)

John Rowsell is recorded as having died on October 21, 1813. It is not known where or when Mary died.
It is worth noting that no marriage record has been located for John Rowsell and Mary Challis, in West Monkton, Wilton or Taunton. Further, both Mary and John would have been very young (only 16) when the first child was born in 1787. Further, as no father is listed in the parish record for the first two children, it is also quite possible that John is not the father -- and Mary may have taken the name "Rowsell" for the first two children simply because she was in James' household at the time. It is therefore only by geographic proximity and chronological convenience that we have connected John Rowsell and Mary Challis of West Monkton with the above 3 children, whose baptisms were recorded in the Wilton registers. If that connection is incorrect, then all of the family connections described in this website previous to 1792 are also incorrect. We are confident, however, about the the family connections we have drawn subsequent to 1792.


St. George baptisms

1890 Transcription

1890 Transcription p.2