Sankey Family Pedigree, showing Sarah (1773 - 1847), daughter of Thomas Sankey and Sarah Woodruffe, who married Richard Symons Gowlland (1771 - 1807) on 31st August 1792.

 

 

 

The postscript implies that a Gowland/Gowlland pedigree had been lodged in the same MS collection; but unfortunately Geoffrey Gowlland could find out nothing about it, and today there is no trace.

 

In 2010 a descendant of Samuel Sankey (see below), Thomas' brother, very kindly provided us with up-to-date and checked details of Thomas's three marriages and the progeny therefrom and, as will be seen below, it appears that the story of his having fathered thirty children, of whom eleven survived, was not one of Geoff Gowlland's exaggerations (as his children uncharitably suggested!) but may well have been correct.  Specifically, so far the tally is twenty-seven children born (5 + 12 + 10 from the three marriages), of whom eleven survived past their early infancy (2 + 5 + 4).

 

1        Thomas married Dorcas KIDDER on 7 Oct 1759 at St Andrew's Church, Canterbury.  Their children were:

 

 

1.1.     Dorcas - bap 22 Aug 1760 St Andrew’s, Canterbury m Richard COLLINGTON on 30 Jan 1786 St Andrew’s, Canterbury. 

 

1.2     Samuel - bap 16 Aug 1761 & bur 19 Apr 1762 St Andrew’s

 

1.3     Susanna - bap 13 Sep 1762 St Andrew’s & bur before 1764 [see 1.5 below]

 

1.4     Thomas - bap 31 Jul 1763 St Andrew’s & probably bur 15 Sep 1768 -

 

1.5     Susanna - bap 30 Sep 1764 St Andrew’s m Henry KEMP 3 Oct 1786 at St Andrew’s,Canterbury.  Four children known.

 

First wife Dorcas SANKEY was buried 25 Nov 1764 at St Andrew’s.

 

 

 

2.  Thomas married Sarah WOODRUFF in Deal in 1765, probably in September [10 months after Dorcas' death]: their children were:

 

 

2.1       Matthew William, a Brewer,  bap 3 Aug 1766 St Andrew’s, d 22 Dec 1849,  m Hannah SIMMONS on 3 Jan 1792 at St Mildred’s, Canterbury

 

2.2      Thomas bap 25 Oct 1767 St Andrew’s and bur 15 Sep 1768 St Peter’s, Canterbury.

 

2.3       Mary Hester bap 7 May 1769 St Andrew’s and bur 9 Apr 1793

 

2.4      Thomas bap 13 Aug 1770 and bur 24 Aug 1770 St Andrew’s

 

2.5      Sarah bap 18 Dec 1771 St Andrew’s died 7 Feb 1847 at 64, Gibson Square, Islington m Richard Gowlland 30 Aug 1792 at St Andrew’s. 

 

2.6      Thomas bap 1 Mar 1774 St Andrew’s.

 

2.7        Samuel bap 24 May 1775 and died before 1792  -  twin to Elizabeth 2.8 below

 

2.8        Elizabeth bap 24 May 1775  and prob married John Dean 26 Sept 1797 of St Alphage - twin to Samuel 2.7 above

 

2.9        Richard bap 26 July 1776 St Andrews and bur 4 Aug 1776

 

2.10      Frances Amelia bap 10 Nov 1777 St Andrew’s and possible bur 10 May 1778 - there may be another France born later

 

2.11      Hester Rebecca bap 28 Jan 1779  and bur 10 Sep 1781 St Andrew’s

 

2.12     Richard bap 25 Aug 1780 and bur 5 Oct 1780 St Andrew’s

 

 Second wife Sarah Woodruffe was buried 10 Sep 1780 at St Andrews

 

 

 

3    Thomas married Ann Friend  on 8 Oct 1781 at All Saints, Canterbury [13 months after Sarah's death]: their children were:

 

 

3.1  Charles, a Grocer, bap 22 Aug 1782 All Saints, Canterbury, d 1841 Brixton, Surrey

 

3.2  John, a Miller, bap 8 Jan 1784 St Andrew’s m (i) Mary SMITH 1807 at St George’s and (ii) Harriett LANDON 1825 at St Peter’s

 

3.3  Anne Friend bap 20 May 1785 and bur 21 Jun 1786 St Andrew’s.

 

3.4  Anne Amelia bap 25 Aug 1786 and bur 10 May 1793 St Andrew’s.

 

3.5  Sophia - bap 17 Aug 1787 St Andrew’s and m  John TOWSEND and had a son John.   [Click here for a further note on Sophia]

 

3.6  Richard - bap 30 Jan 1789 St Andrew’s, died pre-1841 m Mary HARVEY on 2 Feb 1818 in Chartham, Kent and had 8 children.

 

3.7  William Henry - bap 10 Jan 1790 and bur 20 May 1790 St Andrew’s.

 

3.8  Hester Elizabeth - bap 10 Apr 1791 and bur 29 May 1791 St Andrew’s.

 

3.9  Samuel - bap 15 Apr 1792 St Andrew’s and bur 15 Dec 1799

 

3.10  William Henry - bap 14 Aug 1794 and bur 18 Aug 1794 St Andrew’s.

 

The above details were kindly amplified and verified in March 2010 by a descendant of Samuel Sankey, the brother of Thomas Sankey, to whom we are greatly indebted  -  for any information regarding the Sankey family she may be contacted via sue.slater11@btinternet.com. 

 

To return to biography of Richard Sankey Gowlland, click here

To return to biography of Richard Symons Gowlland, click here

To return to Glossary, click here

To return to Gowlland Family Home Page, click here

 

 

Re Sophia Sankey bap 17 Aug 1787 (3.5) above   -    we have been told she married John TOWSEND and had a son John.  There is a marriage of a John Towsend, a Dissenting Minister, at Jamaica Row Independent, Bermondsey, Surrey and a Sophia, with one child named John b 16 Dec 1809 chr 1 Mar 1810.  This is interesting since Stephen Gowlland was a dissenting minister (from 1769) and there were strong non-conformist leanings in the Gowlland family.  We had already noted the presence of the Sankey surname in Baptist records from Canterbury, Deal., Dover and Eyethorne - click here.