Early Lears of Bitton - (Last Updated January 2009)

The Lears were established in the district of Bitton since the late 1600’s. They are likely to have come into the Parish from Wiltshire, Dorset or Somerset (There were LEARS in Gillingham, Cucklington and Motcombe pre 1700). Humphrey and William Lear were living in Oldland in 1747 when they attended the annual Court Leet, and William and John Lear are named on "A Plan of Mr Player's Manors and Sir John Newton's in Bitton and Mangotsfield" dated 1750. The following families are the first three generations of LEARS mentioned in the parish records of Bitton and Hanham. However, some years are missing from the parish records and not all marriages and baptisms appear to be recorded, so a lot of this is guesswork.

Generation No 1

(1) William LEARE married Sarah SWEET at Bitton on 19 October 1685. He could be William Lear "an ancient man, his labour done" who appears in a list of the poor of Oldland for 13 May 1743. Possibly buried at Bitton on 15 Mar 1747. The marriage entry in the parish registers looks more like “William LEARE and Mary SWEET, but the 1687 Will of Francis SWEET mentions his son in law William LEER and his daughter Sarah. He also mentions his son Francis and daughter Rose.

Likely children of William and Sarah are:

Humphrey son of William LEARE or LEERE, baptised at Bitton on 9 May 1688. Possibly buried at Bitton on 5 Feb 1703/04.

• A childe(sic) of William LEAR was buried at Bitton on 22 March 1690/91.
• Mary LEAR buried at Bitton on 30^th March 1695.
• (2) John LEAR who married Catherine FRANKHAM in 1719.
• (3) William LEAR who married Mary WHITE in 1725/26.
• Richard son of William LEAR, baptised at Hanham on 14 Aug 1698; possibly buried at Bitton on 16 Oct 1724.
• (4) Edward son of William LEAR baptised at Hanham on 2 Feb 1700/01.
• (5) Sara daughter of William LEAR, baptised at Hanham on 22 Nov 1702.
• (6) Mary daughter of William and Sarah LEAR, baptised at Bitton on 8 Apr 1705.

• “LEAR’s Wife” was buried at Bitton on 17 Apr 1711 and William LEAR marries Sarah WILMOT at Bitton on 27 Oct 1712. This could be the second marriage of this William or the first marriage of his son

Generation No 2

All the 2^nd generation LEARs are likely to be the children of William LEARE who married Sarah SWEET in 1685

(2) John LEAR married Catherine FRANKHAM at Bitton on 10 Dec 1719. Children of John and Catherine are:

• Ann daughter of John and Catherine LEAR, baptised at Bitton on 5 Aug 1720
• (7) William son of John LEAR baptised at Hanham on 9 August 1724.

(3) William LEAR (a coal miner) left a will dated 1766 and proved in 1770. The Will mentions his wife Mary and his children: Humphrey, William, Richard, Betty Harris and Mary Powell and grandchildren: Phebe, daughter of Humphry, William son of William, Sarah daughter of Richard and Esther, Hannah and Anne, daughters of Mary Powell. His grandson William and Soloman Lenoard were the executors of the will.

William Married Mary White on 6 Feb 1725/26 at Bitton. I think that this is his second marriage. His first marriage could have been to Sarah WILMOT at Bitton on 27 Oct 1712 or to another Mary, as Mary, wife of William LEAR was buried at Bitton on 22 Nov 1724. A Sarah Lear was buried at Bitton on 4^th April 1725. William may have been buried on 14 March 1768 at Bitton.

Likely children of William are:

• (8) William; Possibly buried at Bitton on 23 May 1764, or he may be William Lear who died on 19 June 1781 aged 70 (from a memorial inscription at Bitton)
• (9) Humphry.
• Betty daughter of William LEAR, baptised at Hanham on 11 Apr 1717; married William HARRIS on 7 Oct 1744 at Bitton.
• Mary daughter of William and Mary LEAR, baptised at Bitton on 4 Mar 1722/23; Possibly the Mary LEAR buried at Bittion on 17 Aug 1727.
• (10) Richard son of William LEAR, baptised at Oldland on Feb 12 1726/27; Buried on 10 May 1772 at St Agustine's, Bristol.
• Mary daughter of William LEER, baptised at Oldland on 29 Jun 1729; Married Matthew POWELL (Witnessed by William HARRIS) at Bitton on 23 Oct 1757.
• Francis son of William LEAR, baptised at Hanham on 3 Sep 1732.
• Abraham son of William and Mary LEAR, baptised at Hanham on 29 Jul 1738.
• Ann daughter of William LEAR, baptised at Oldland on 17 May 1740.

I haven’t found a baptism record for William or Humphrey and I’m not sure it the last three baptisms belong to this William.

 (4) Edward LEAR married MARY HAINS at Bitton on 05 Apr 1724.

Edward and Mary are the parents of:

• (11) Thomas son of Edward and Mary LEAR baptised at Oldland on 4 April 1725; buried at Bitton on 3 Dec 1768.
• Edward son of Thomas LEER baptised at Hanham on 5 Sept 1736

(5) Sarah LEAR married Richard LYNTER at Bitton on Oct 27 1729. She is Probably the mother of Frances (baseborn) daughter of Sarah LEAR, baptised at Hanham on 24 Jan 1724/25.

(6) Mary may have married Samuel SIMMONS on 11 Feb 1738/39 at St Mary’s Bitton. She may be the mother of

• John LEAR(13) baptised at Oldland on 7 March 1730/31. (This may be the John LEAR who married Joanne HARRIS in 1748 – See tree for more details.)

I think that it is likely that John(2) and Edward(4) had other children as the following LEARS who married or had children between 1740 and 1760 do not appear to have been baptised:

Mary LEAR married George BATMAN on 11 Aug 1743 at Bitton

Mary LEAR married George PALMER in 1744/45 at Bitton

Catherine LEAR married Samuel JEFFERIES on 16 Sept 1746 at Bitton

John LEAR married Hester CHAPMAN on 28 Feb 1746/47 at St Thomas, Bristol

Hester LEAR married William LEWELLIN in 1752 at Bristol

Catherine LEAR married John PILLINGER on 7 Sept 1760 at Bitton

??James LEER baptised William on 10 Jan 1748 at Hanham – (This may say James LEE not James LEER). (If it does say LEER, this may be the William LEAR who married Hester WILLIS in 1776 – See tree for more details)

Generation 3

William(7) son of John LEAR(2) was possibly buried at Bitton on 18 Oct 1724 or he may have married Sarah PEACOCK at Bitton on 22 May 1749 or Hannah PEACOCK at Bitton on 30 August 1752 . He may be the father of

• John son of William LEAR, baptised at Hanham on 9 June 1754

William(8) son of William LEAR(3) may have married Sarah PEACOCK at Bitton on 22 May 1749 or Hannah PEACOCK at Bitton on 30 August 1752. He is the father of:

• William (This may be the William LEAR who married Hester WILLIS in 1776 – See tree for more details)

William(7) or (8) will be the William LEAR (Widower) who married Betty Fry at Bitton on 23 Jan 1774.

Thomas(11) son of Edward LEAR(4) married Hannah GARLAND at Bitton on 10 May 1747. Thomas and Hannah were both buried at Bitton on 3 Dec 1768. They are the parents of:

• Thomas son of Thomas LEAR, baptised at Oldland on 07 Mar 1756
• Ann daughter of Thomas LEARE, baptised at Oldland on 1 Apr 1759
• Richard son of Thomas and Hannah LEAR baptised at Hanham on 07 Sep 1760.This could be Richard from this apprenticeship record: 1771 Dec 11 Apprentice Indenture. Richard LEAR aged 12 years, a poor child of Bitton Hamlet, Co.Glos, apprenticed to Aron WEBB of Tormarton, Co.Glos, cordwainer, to be instructed as a cordwainer, until the apprentice shall reach the age of 24 years. Signed Aron WEBB
• Nancy daughter of Thomas and Hannah LEAR baptised at Bitton on 23 May 1763; Buried on 19 Dec 1768 at Bitton
• Edward son of Thomas and Hannah LEAR, baptised at Bitton on 26 May 1765.

Richard(10) son of William LEAR(3) could be Richard from the following apprenticeship record. FC/AB/1(p)3 frame 3 A 1741: Richard LEAR son of William LEAR of the parish of Bitton, horsedriver, was apprenticed to Nathaniel DANIEL, mason and his wife Briget for 7 years.

Bristol Burgesses index shows:

Volume 11, Page 34, date 13/01/1752, Number 25.

Richard LEAR, Trade: Mason, Patron Nathaniel DANIEL

Richard married Sarah and had the following children:

• Mary Ann LEAR, Baptised 08 Apr 1750 at St Agustine’s, Bristol; Buried 02 Sep 1752 at St Agustine’s, Bristol
• Sally LEAR, Baptised 05 Apr 1752 at St Agustine’s, Bristol
• Sarah LEAR, Possibly buried 5 March 1780 at St Agustine’s, Bristol
• Mary LEAR, Baptised 04 Apr 1753 at St Agustine’s, Bristol
• Richard LEAR, Baptised 07 Sep 1755 at St Agustine’s, Bristol; Buried 15 Oct 1759 at St Agustine’s, Bristol
• William LEAR, Baptised 22 May 1758 at St Agustine’s, Bristol; Buried 15 Oct 1759 at St Agustine’s, Bristol

Humphrey(9) son of William LEAR(3) is likely to be the Humphrey LEAR, coalminer (widower) married Betty FUDGE (widow) Oct 21 1759. Humphey and Betty are the parents of

• Betty LEAR daughter of Humphrey and Betty LEAR, 31 May 1762 at Bitton

• It looks like there were two Humphries baptising children in Bitton and Hanham beween 1735 and 1762 – The other Humphrey is likely to be the son of John(2) or Edward (4) - I think he may have married Hannah of the 1802 will (see tree for details of her descendants) as the following baptisms fit with the names of Hannah’s children mentioned in the will.

• William son of Humphrey LEAR, 1 May 1737 at Oldland
• Francis son of Humphrey LEAR, 3 Jan 1745 at Oldland

• However, I haven’t found a marriage record for Humphrey and Hannah, or the first marriage of Humphrey(9).

It is not obvious which Humphrey that the following children belong to:

• Humphrey son of Humphrey LEAR, 13 July 1735 at Hanham
• Grace  daughter of Humphrey LEAR, 13 May, 1744 at Bitton; Married James Iles on 28 Oct 1765.
• Humphrey son of Humphrey LEAR, 17 Apr 1745 at Hanham
• Richard son of Humphrey LEAR, 26 Dec 1747 at Hanham
• Sarah daughter of Humphrey LEAR, 6 March 1747/8  Oldland; Married John PEGLAR on 22 May 1768 at St Philip and Jacob, Bristol
• Phebe daughter of Humphrey LEAR, 12 Aug 1750 at Hanham
• Phebe?? daughter of Humphrey LEAR, 15 May 1758 at Bitton

John LEAR(13?) who married Joanne HARRIS on 14^th April 1748 may be the son of Mary(6)

The children of John and Joanna were taken from the will of Elizabeth HARRIS of Oldland, widow written July 26 1764, proved Sept 22 1764. She names her daughter Joanna LEAR and grandchildren:

• William LEAR; Possibly married Mary PRICE (widow) at Bitton on 18 May 1778 at Bitton
• Betty LEAR; Married John FRY at Bitton on 27 Sept 1773
• John LEAR; Married Mary CAINES at Bitton on 24 Mar 1788
• Anne LEAR; Married William FUDGE
• Fanney LEAR; Married John HUDD at Bitton on 3 Aug 1789
• Christain LEAR; Married William TRUBODY, 1 May 1787 at WICK & ABSON
• Hester LEAR; Thomas TRUBODY at Bitton on 26 Sept 1781
• James LEAR; Married Sarah

Most, if not all of these grandchildren were not baptised. All would be born between 1748 and 1764 (see the tree of John LEAR and Joanne HARRIS for details of their descendants)

The following LEARS who married or baptised children between 1760 and 1790 are also likely to be the children of third generation LEARS, but they do not appear to have been baptised or named as relatives in any wills.

George LEARE married Ann FRY on 1 March 1761 as ST John the Baptist, Bristol

*John LEAR married Sarah JONES on 20 Feb 1764 at Bitton

Hannah LEAR married Thomas HARVER on 3 July 1768 at Bitton

Nancy LEAR married Thomas BRITTEN on 14 June 1762 at Bitton

John LEAR married Betty JAYNE on 3 July 1774 at Stapleton

Hester LEAR married Joseph Rawlins on 23 April 1775 at Bitton

Elizabeth LEAR married Joseph DAVIS on 3 June 1781 at Clifton

Mary LEAR married George GINGELL on 10 Oct 1782 at Siston

Ann LEAR married William LEWTON on 8 Aug 1784 at Bitton

Mary LEAR married James WHITE on 8 Aug 1784 at Bitton

Susanna LEAR married John STANDLY on 6 Dec 1789 at Bitton

John and Ann LEAR baptised William at Hanham 22 Mar 1767 at Hanham

Samuel and Rachel LEAR baptised Hannah at Hanham 23 Sept 1770 at Hanham

Isaac and Sarah LEAR baptised Isaac on 23 Feb 1772 at Bitton

* A Sarah LEAR witnessed the Issac BRITTON will of 1787. This is likely to have been Sarah PEACOCK  or Sarah  JONES.