This is the second part in my series where I connect George Elkington, gateway ancestor, to his supposed ancestor, the illegitimate son of King Henry I. Last time I introduced George Elkington and went over his life, from a blacksmith in a small Oxfordshire village to a landowner in Colonial New Jersey. This part will focus on his father, Joseph Elkington (1608-1689), a blacksmith of the village of Mollington.

Joseph Elkington was baptised at the Church of All Saints in the parish of Mollington on 12th June 1608.^[1] He was the son of William Elkington and Alice Woodhull, who had previously married in 1588.^[2]

His father, William Elkington, died a year after Joseph was born. He wrote his will on 14th July 1609^[3] and was buried the following day.^[4] William bequeathed to his son Edward his blacksmith tools, provided he educated his brother William in “the trade of a Blacksmith”.

In 1637, Joseph’s mother, Alice, wrote her will.^[5] She appointed the then 29 year old Joseph to be the executor, and she died two years later.^[6]

During the Civil War, in 1645, Joseph's horse was stolen by soldiers under Colonel Dalbear. He was later paid 8s for the loss.^[7]

When Joseph was 33, the parish curate of Mollington took a document to him requiring him to swear an oath of loyalty to the Protestant faith, which he himself signed along with his brothers and cousins.^[8]

No marriage record can be located, after looking in Mollington’s parish register and other surrounding parishes, but from his childrens’ baptisms, we can infer that Joseph married a woman named Anne before 1647.^[9]

Looking at the parish register, we can find multiple of Joseph and Anne’s children:

1. Joseph Elkington, baptised 3 Aug 1647.
2. George Elkington, baptised 7 Dec 1650.
3. Elizabeth Elkington, baptised January 1653.
4. Mary Elkington, baptised 31 Mar 1661.
5. Richard Elkington, baptised 5 Apr 1663.

Joseph’s brother writes in his will regarding two more children: William and Ann.^[10] There is a large gap between 1653 and 1661, so they must have been born during this period.

In 1662, King Charles II enacted the Hearth Tax, which required every household in the country to pay two shillings per year for every hearth in their home; one shilling at Michaelmas (29 September 1662) and one shilling on Lady Day (25th March 1663).^[11] For the village of Mollington in the Kingston Hundred of Warwickshire, no Elkington can be found.^[12] This likely means that Joseph’s home and property were worth less than £1 a year.^[13]

Four years later, by 1666, Joseph’s brother William Elkington wrote his will. William gave his house and “purtynances”, its furniture and ornaments, to Joseph’s son, also named Joseph.^[14] William died in 1670, and so his house passed to his nephew Joseph. One clause in the will stipulated that if Joseph were to die without children, the property would pass to Joseph’s younger brother George.

Neither Joseph nor his wife Anne ever wrote a will. Anne would die in 1674^[15], and Joseph would die in 1688-9, aged 80, being buried on 4th February.^[16] Due to the Burying in Woollen Act passed in 1680^[17], an affidavit was sworn that his body was wrapped in pure English wool before he was buried.