Person:John Keyte (5)

John Keyte’s origins have yet to be established. His first confirmed sighting is on 6th May 1760, when he married Mary Higgins at Shipston-on-Stour, which was then in Worcestershire.

John and Mary went on to have ten children baptised at Shipston between 1762 and 1778, including twins in 1767. Sadly, five of their children died young: three as babies, one when three years old and another when eight years old. Two of their children were buried in January 1777.

In 1772 John bought some copyhold property on Chipping Norton Street in Shipston. The conveyance papers describe him as a wheelwright.

John died in 1781, being buried at Shipston on 22nd July 1781. His burial record does not say how old he was. He and Mary had been married for 21 years, and their youngest daughter was only three years old. In 1788 Mary went on to convey some property in Shipston to a Samuel Keyte, presumably a relative of John’s. Mary survived John by nearly 47 years.

1.   Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Catalogue
   ER3/5857.

   9 Jul 1772
   Conveyance by Richard Hodgkins of St Peter's Lane in St Sepulchre's, Middlesex to John Keyte of Shipston, wheelwright, of copyholds in Chipping Norton Street, Shipston. Signed and sealed. Witnesses: None.

2. ↑ Shipston-on-Stour, Worcestershire: Parish Registers (Warwickshire County Record Office, Warwick).

   Buried A.D. 1781 / July 22d. John Keyte… Aff[idavit]