Nancy Dixon
- Born: 7 Nov 1777, Calcutta, Bengal
Presidency, India 5
- Baptised: 12 Feb 1786, St
Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster, London 6
- Marriage (1): Samuel Forrester Bancroft on 10
Dec 1798 in Staveley, Derbyshire 1 2
- Marriage (2): Revd. Denny Ashburnham on 20
Feb 1802 in St Laurence's Church, Guestling, Sussex 3 4
- Died: 1 May 1818, Eltham, Kent aged 40 7
- Buried: 9 May 1818, St John the Baptist
Church, Eltham 8
Nancy and her brother Henry were the natural
children of Joseph Dixon, an East India Merchant and his bibi (Indian
mistress) who is named as Inkey Inkey in his Will. Joseph, was the son
of a churchman, the Rector of Brigham near Cockermouth in Cumberland,
and his brother Fletcher Dixon, later became the Rector of Staveley in
Derbyshire. Sometime before he died in December 1785, 9 Joseph brought Nancy, then c. 7 or 8 years
of age, back to England leaving her brother in the hands of Inkey Inkey
in Bengal. 10 By then, Joseph seems to have acquired a
English wife called Mary11 who, presumably, looked after Nancy as she
grew up in England. Joseph had taken a house in Duke Street (now John
Adam Street), St Martin in the Field, and it seems that Nancy and her
stepmother remained there during the next 12 years or so as Nancy was
living in that parish in 1797.
Unsurprisingly, Nancy had not been baptised in India and her stepmother
must have arranged for this to happen after her father's death because
her baptism took place in St Martin in the Fields parish church in
February 1786. 6 Interestingly enough, in the entry in the
parish register recording the event, her mother is named as Susanna,
which is clearly fictitious as Mary Dixon must have known about Nancy's
real mother.
Nancy's family home in Duke Street was close by Villiers Street where
the Bancroft family lived during 1785 and 1786 and it may be that she
and Samuel first got to know each other then. Whatever the case may be,
they later became romantically attached and in 1797, when Nancy had
still not attained her majority, the banns for their marriage that year
were read on three occasions in the church of St Martin in the Field. 12 However, the planned wedding did not take
place, at least not until a year later, and, this time, it was held in
Derbyshire in the church where Nancy's uncle the Revd Fletcher Dixon
was the Rector.
It is possible that the postponement of Nancy's and Samuel's wedding in
1797 was caused by her legal guardians, her father's executors and
trustees of his Will, George Thompson and Richard Parkins. 13 Nancy stood to inherit £5000 from her
father's estate (£10,000, if her brother Henry did not live to attain
his majority), and possibly more besides, so who she married was
clearly an important issue to them. 14 In the event, she and Samuel waited until
November 1798 when she attained her majority and then got married in
her uncle's church the following month by licence.
Newspaper reports at the time suggested that Nancy had inherited
£30,000, this was a typical newspaper exaggeration. Moreover, she and
Samuel were involved in a series of court cases against the executors
of her father's Will and the many beneficiaries of it, also the Bank of
England and, rather surprisingly, Edward Bancroft and one, John
Henniker Major, the MPs for Steyning in Sussex at the time of her
father's death. The court papers have not been examined but the breadth
of the actions suggest that after all the annuities and legacies had
been paid there were insufficient assets 12 years later to pay Nancy
her "just dues", but there was probably more to the actions than just
that issue. 15 16
After Samuel died, Nancy married again this time to Denny Ashburnham,
son of Sir Wm. Ashburnham, Bart. of Broomham in Sussex. 4
At
that time, Denny had not taken holy orders, he did not do that until
after Nancy had died, and it's not been discovered whether he had any
occupation during the years he was married to her. Rather surprisingly,
they had no children and Nancy died at Eltham in 1818 aged 40.
Nancy married Samuel Forrester Bancroft, son
of Dr Edward Bancroft, M.D., F.R.S. and Penelope Fellows, on 10 Dec
1798 in Staveley, Derbyshire.1 2 (Samuel Forrester Bancroft was born on 18
Apr 1775 in 4 Downing Street, Westminster, London,17 died on 16 Dec 1799 in Duke
Street, Manchester Square, London 18 19 and was buried on 24 Dec 1799 in St
Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster, London 20.)
Nancy next married Revd. Denny Ashburnham on
20 Feb 1802 in St Laurence's Church, Guestling, Sussex.3
4 (Revd. Denny Ashburnham was born in 1773,
baptised on 1 Jul 1773 in St Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster, London 21
and died on 2 Mar
1843 in Warren-Street West, London 22.)
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Sources
1 Parish
Registers of England and Wales,
Staveley Marriages & Banns 1754-1920 1798.
Samuel Forester Bancroft of the Parish of Pancras and Nancy Dixon of
the Parish
of Staveley Married in this Church by licence this 10th day of December
in the
year One Thousand Seven Hundred and Ninety eight by me Francis Foxlow -
Curate
This Marriage was solemnised by Us: [signed] Samuel Forester Bancroft,
Nancy
Dixon
In the Presence of: [signed] Jane Foxlow, Sarah Gisborne, Mary Taylor. ..
Francis & Jane Foxlow and Sarah Gisborne were resident at the time
in
Staveley Hall and it is likely that Nancy was living with one or other
of them
(there was more than one dwelling there) as she was connected with both
through
her uncle the Revd. Fletcher Dixon who had married Catherine Gisborne
Francis
Foxlow's mother was Catherine's sister, Dorothy.
2 The
Leeds Intelligencer (Published at Leeds
1754-1866), Monday, Dec. 17, 1798, Page 3. ...
On Monday was married at Staveley, in Derbyshire, Samuel Forester
Bancroft,
Esq., of London, to Miss Nancy Dixon, niece of the Rev. Mr. Dixon,
vicar of
Duffield, with a fortune of thirty thousand pounds. A memorial
plaque in
Staveley church records this of Nancy's uncle: "The Revd Fletcher Dixon
LL.D., son of the late Rev. Joseph Dixon, vicar of Brigham in the
county of
Cumberland, obiit Jan. 6 1819, ζtatis suζ 75".
3 Parish
Registers of England and Wales, St
Lawrence, Guestling Marriages 1802.
No. 140 Denny Ashburnham of this parish bachelor and Nancy Bancroft
of the
parish of St Clements Hastings widow were married in this church by
licence
this twentieth day of February in the year one thousand eight hundred
and two
by me
John Ashburnham [Rector]
This Marriage was solemnised by us Denny Ashburnham, Nancy Bancroft
In
the
Presence of William Ashburnham junr, Alicia Ashburnham.
4 Morning
Post and Gazetteer (London),
Saturday, March 06, 1802 Page 1, Col A MARRIED.
On Saturday last, at Guestling, by the Rev. John Ashburnham, Denny
Ashburnham,
Esq. third son of Sir Wm. Ashburnham, Bart. of Broomham, Sussex, to Mrs
Bancroft, widow of S. F. Bancroft, Esq. and the only child** of Joseph
Dixon,
Esq. late of Calcutta.
*Not correct it was on the Saturday before
last.
**Also, not quite correct, Nancy had a brother Henry.
5 Parish
Registers of England and Wales, St
Martin in The Fields Baptisms in February 1786 (see below).
6 Parish
Registers of England and Wales, St
Martin in The Fields Baptisms in February 1786.
12 - Nancy Dixon of Joseph & Susanna born at Calcutter[sic] in
Bengall - 7
Novr 1777.
7 The
Times (London), Thursday, May 14, 1818;
Page 3, Col F DIED.
On 1st inst. at Eltham, in Kent, in the 40th year of her age, Mrs
Ashburnham,
wife of Mr. Denny Ashburnham.
Nancy's husband Denny was not ordained until March 1820 so he is
rightly
referred to as Mr. Denny Ashburnham..
8 Parish
Registers of England and Wales, St
John the Baptist, Eltham - Burials - 1818.
No. 260
Nancy Ashburnham - Eltham - May 9 - 40 - J K S Brooke Vicar.
9 Parish
Registers of England and Wales, St
Martin in the Fields - Burials - December 1785.
22 - Joseph Dixon - M.
10
"Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills,
1384-1858" (English and Welsh Wills proved in the Prerogative Court of
Canterbury between 1384-1858 held in The National Archives.), Joseph
Dixon of
Saint Martin in the Fields, Middlesex dated 31 October 1785. National
Archive
Reference: PROB 11/1136/397.
my natural son Henry Dixon now at Bengal and my natural daughter Nancy
Dixon
now living with me who are my children by Inkey Inkey who lived with me
and who
now lives in my house in Bengal
.
11
"Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills,
1384-1858" (English and Welsh Wills proved in the Prerogative Court of
Canterbury between 1384-1858 held in The National Archives.), Joseph
Dixon of
Saint Martin in the Fields, Middlesex dated 31 October 1785. National
Archive
Reference: PROB 11/1136/397.
I give and bequeath to my dear wife Mary Dixon the sum or legacy of
four
thousand pounds of lawful money of Great Britain for her own benefit
absolutely.
12 Parish
Registers of England and Wales, St
Martin in the Fields - Marriage Banns - 1797.
Between Forrester Bancroft and Nancy Dixon both &c [of this parish]
Oct 22, Oct 29, Nov 5 1797 [signed] J Webster, J D Shiniff, P
Dickinson.
13
"Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills,
1384-1858" (English and Welsh Wills proved in the Prerogative Court of
Canterbury between 1384-1858 held in The National Archives.), Joseph
Dixon of
Saint Martin in the Fields, Middlesex dated 31 October 1785. National
Archive Reference:
PROB 11/1136/397.
I do hereby nominate constitute and appoint the said George Thompson
and
Richard Parkins executors of my last Will and Testament and hereby
commit them
to the guardianship and tuition of my natural children during their
minorities
.
14
"Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills,
1384-1858" (English and Welsh Wills proved in the Prerogative Court of
Canterbury between 1384-1858 held in The National Archives.), Joseph
Dixon of
Saint Martin in the Fields, Middlesex dated 31 October 1785. National
Archive
Reference: PROB 11/1136/397.
shall and to pay transfer or assign the same sum of ten thousand
pounds and
the stocks funds and securities in or upon which the same shall be so
invested
unto and between my natural son Henry Dixon now at Bengal and my
natural
daughter Nancy Dixon
.
15 The
National Archives, Kew (Formerly known
as The Public Records Office), Records of Court of Chancery Bancroft
v Major
(1799) National Archives Reference: C 12/255/44.
Plaintiffs: Samuel Forrester Bancroft and wife - Defendants: George
Thompson,
Richard Parkins, Bank of England, Fletcher Dixon, John Henniker Major,
Edward
Bancroft, Mary Dixon, Ann Dixon, and Elizabeth Burkett [Birkett]
otherwise Mary
Burkett. The case was revived in 1800 after Samuel's death and again in
1802
and 1804 under the name of Ashburnham.
George Thompson & Richard
Parkins
were executors, Fletcher Dixon, Joseph Dixon's brother, was a
beneficiary, John
Henniker Major's interest undiscovered, Edward Bancroft's interest
undiscovered,
Mary Dixon, Joseph Dixon's wife, was a beneficiary, Ann Dixon and
Elizabeth
Burkett were Joseph Dixon's sisters and beneficiaries.
16 The
National Archives, Kew (Formerly known
as The Public Records Office), Records of Court of Chancery Bancroft
v
Thompson (1799) National Archives Reference: C 12/244/32.
Parallel case to one above with same plaintiffs and defendants; they
were
linked in the Court's ruling.
17 Edith
Bancroft, "The Bancroft Family"
(An unpublished family history of the Bancroft family by Edith Bancroft
(1862-1941) now in the possession of J R U Green (2023)), Page 78.
18 The
Times (London), December 21, 1799
Page 3, Col D DIED. ...
Lately, at his house in Dukes-street, Manchester-square, in the 25th
year of
his age, Samuel Fauster[sic] Bancroft, Esq., second son of Dr.
Bancroft.
19 London Gazette, Saturday, January 2, 1819,
Page 39 & 40
Pursuant
to the Decree of His Majesty's Court of Exchequer at Westminster, made
in a
Cause instituted Sydenham against Dixon, The Creditors of Samuel
Forrester
Bancroft, formerly of Duke-Street, Manchester-Square, in the County of
Middlesex, and of Plashently-House, Oswestry, in the County of Salop,
Esq.,
deceased (who died on or about the 16th day of December 1799)
20 Parish
Registers of England and Wales, St
Martin-in-The Fields - Baptisms, Marriages & Burials 1775-1802 -
December
1799.
24 - Samuel Forester Bancroft Esq M[ale].
21
Compiled by The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, "International Genealogical Index (IGI) (a.k.a.
Family
Search)" (First published in 1973; data as at December 2008), Parish
registers for St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church, Westminster, Baptisms
1751 -
1775.
22 The
Standard (London), Monday, March 06,
1843 DEATHS.
March 2, in Warren-Street West, Gloucester Gate, Regents Park, the Rev.
Denny
Ashburnham, Rector of Catsfield, and Vicar of Ditchling, in the County
of
Sussex.
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