Person:John Drake (112)

John Drake was baptised on 31st January 1790 at Bere Ferrers in Devon, son of Celia Drake, formerly Foot, and her husband John Drake. He was one of five children, and the only boy to live to adulthood. When he was seven years old his mother died. In 1802 young John was apprenticed to a William Toll of Gnatham, a hamlet on the banks of the River Tavy.

In 1814, aged 24, John married Mary Harris. John and Mary had seven children baptised at Bere Ferrers between 1815 and 1829. Several of their children's baptisms gives an abode of 'Monks Castle', which is presumably the same place as the 'Monkeys Castle' in which John appears in some of the censuses. Monkeys Castle was an isolated cottage on the road between Bere Ferrers and Bere Alston, near the track to Well Farm. John's wife Mary was buried at Bere Ferrers on 26th November 1832, with her burial record giving her age as 48, implying that she was born in 1783 or 1784. The burial record also records that she had lived at Monks Castle. At the time of her death, her youngest son was only three years old. Mary and John were married for eighteen years. John outlived Mary by nearly 45 years, but appears never to have remarried.

John appears to have raised the children on his own after Mary's death. In each of the censuses from 1841 to 1871 he was living with some of his children - with Mary and Christopher in 1841, with Jane and Christopher (and next door to Mary) in 1851, with Mary in 1861 and with Elizabeth in 1871.

John was described as a husbandman on most of his children's baptisms and in most censuses as an agricultural labourer. However, in the last two censuses in which he appears he was also described as a sexton - meaning he was responsible for maintenance of the church and other related duties possibly including bell-ringing and grave digging. He is described in a twentieth century history of the parish as the parish clerk: "There is a tale that has been told to me by more than one parishioner. It is about Mr Drake, clerk at the parish church, who lived at Monkey's Castle. In the 19th century the services were very long and especially the sermons. The church had box pews with high sides, which provided ample opportunity for the children to have great fun, as they hoped, unseen. During the sermon, if Mr Drake saw any boy misbehaving he would come round and hit him on the head with a stick. I have often thought this tale had been related to me by the relatives of those who suffered from these escapades!"^[9]

John died in 1877, aged 87. He was buried at Bere Ferrers on 27th August 1877.

1. ↑ Church of England. Parish Registers of Bere Ferrers. (Exeter: Devon Heritage Services).

   Baptisms 1790
   Jan[uar]y 31st John Son of John [&] Sicilia Drake

   This baptism has been linked to the John Drake who married Mary Harris on the basis that they had a son named Christopher Foot Drake, who appears to have been named after the John baptised in 1790's maternal grandfather, Christopher Foot. John and Mary also gave one of their daughters the relatively unusual name of Celia, which was the name of the mother of the John baptised in 1790. The 1790 baptism also is in the same parish John gave in the censuses as his place of birth, and is very close to the age he claimed to be. Also, one of the witnesses to John's daughter Mary's marriage in 1846 was a Celia Spry, who was the daughter of Matthias Spry and Mary Drake, with Mary being the sister of the John baptised in 1790.

2. ↑ England. 1841 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class HO107; Piece 240; Book 5; Folio 11; Page 17, 6 Jun 1841.

   Address: Church Cot, Beerferris, Devon
   [listed between Well and Woolacombe]
   John Drake, male, 50 [1786-91], Ag lab, b. in county
   Mary Drake, female, 20 [1816-21], b. in county
   Christopher Drake, male, 13 [1827/8], b. in county
   Mary Drake, female, 18m [1839/40], b. in county
   William Drake, male, 14m [1840], b. in county

3. ↑ England. 1851 Census Returns for England and Wales. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class HO107; Piece 1883; Folio 79; Page 18, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: Monkeys Castle, Beerferris, Devon
   [households listed in order: ...Wallers, Hole Farm, Monkeys Castle, Well...]
   John Drake, head, widower, male, 65 [1785/6], Ag lab, b. Beerferris, Devon
   Jane Harry, daughter, married, female, 27 [1823/4], b. Beerferris, Devon
   Christopher Drake, son, unmarried, male, 22 [1828/9], Labourer in Lead Mine, b. Beerferris, Devon
   Mary Ann Harry, granddaughter, female, 1m [1851], b. Beerferris, Devon
   ~ [2nd household at Monkeys Castle]
   Jacob Hooper, head, married, male, 28 [1822/3], Ag lab, b. Stoke Damerel, Devon
   Mary Hooper, wife, married, female, 31 [1819/20], b. Beerferris, Devon
   Mary A. Hooper, daugher, female, 2 [1848/9], b. Beerferris, Devon
   John Hooper, son, male, 7m [1850], b. Beerferris, Devon
   Mary Jane Drake, daughter in law, female, 11 [1839/40], b. Beerferris, Devon

4. ↑ England. 1861 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG9; Piece 1457; Folio 54; Page 7, 7 Apr 1861.

   Address: Monkeys Castle, Beerferris, Devon
   John Drake, head, widower, male, 71 [1789/90], Sexton, Farm Labourer, b. Beerferris, Devon
   Jacob Hooper, lodger son in law, married, male, 38 [1822/3], Farm laborer, b. Stoke Damerell, Devon
   Mary Hooper, daughter, married, female, 41 [1819/20], Laborers wife, b. Beerferris, Devon
   Mary Jane Drake, daughter in law, unmarried, female, 21 [1839/40], House servant, b. Beerferris, Devon
   Mary Ann Hooper, daughter, female, 12 [1848/9], Scholar, b. Beerferris, Devon
   John Hooper, son, male, 10 [1850/1], Scholar, b. Beerferris, Devon
   William Richard Hooper, son, male, 8 [1852/3], Scholar, b. Beerferris, Devon
   Jacob Hooper, son, male, 6 [1854/5], b. Beerferris, Devon
   Edwin Hooper, son, male, 4 [1856/7], b. Beerferris, Devon
   Amelia Elizabeth Hooper, daughter, female, 1 [1859/60], b. Beerferris, Devon

5. ↑ England. England and Wales. 1871 Census Schedules. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG10; Piece 2142; Folio 41; Page 3, 2 Apr 1871.

   Address: Well Farm, Beerferris, Devon
   William Cole, head, married, male, 54 [1816/7], Kind, b. Thornbury
   Elizbth. Cole, wife, married, female, 49 [1821/2], Kind wife, b. Beerferris, Devon
   John Cole, son, unmarried, male, 19 [1851/2], Kind son, b. Beerferris, Devon
   Jane Cole, daughter, female, 10 [1860/1], Scholar, b. Beerferris, Devon
   John Drake, father, widower, 82 [1788/9], Sexton, b. Beerferris, Devon

6.   Deaths index, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   d. John DRAKE, September Quarter 1877, Tavistock Registration District, Vol. 5b, page 224, aged 88 [1788/9]

7.   National Archives Discovery Catalogue.

   1237A/PO68/52
   Devon Heritage Centre
   1802
   John Drake, apprenticed to William Toll for Gratham [presumably a mistranscribed "Gnatham"]

8. ↑ Burials register, in Church of England. Parish Registers of Bere Ferrers. (Exeter: Devon Heritage Services).

   BURIALS in the Parish of Bere Ferrers in the County of Devon in the Year 1877
   No.	Name	Abode	When buried	Age	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   1189	John Drake	Berealstone	Aug[ust] 27	88 [1798/9]	Frederic J.W. Winters, Rector

9. ↑ A History of Bere Ferrers Parish, Beddows, 1975 - 6th edition 2010, Plymouth