Talk:Bourchier Cleeve

Name Confusion
There is confusion over the names of his wife and daughter. This article here has always stated, from the outset, that they were both called Elizabeth, and gives as reference the DNB.

The DNB for Bourchier Cleeve says "Cleeve, Bourchier ... married Mary Haydon about 1740; she died on 28 December 1760. ... His daughter and heir, Ann, married Sir George Yonge ..." suggesting his wife's name was Mary and his daughter was Ann. Subscription required for that link, I'm afraid.

The DNB entry for George Yonge says "On 10 July 1765 he married Elizabeth (d. 1833), the daughter and heir of Bourchier Cleeve (1715–1760), of Foot's Cray, Kent, a wealthy London pewterer." So the DNB contradicts itself, because this suggests that Bourchier's daughter was Elizabeth.

The Memorial of the parishes of Greensted-Budworth, Chipping Ongar and High Laver, with an account of the families of Cleeve and Budworth, By Philip John Budworth is a fascinating account but it seems to have multiple errors, and may be the source of the two Elizabeths, mother and daughter, that are confused in the DNB and in very many places online. That author actually says "Who his wife was I have not ascertained, ..." but then goes on to talk of Bourchier's wife and daughter as Elizabeth.

In fact, Bourchier's will is available as an image and as a free transcript (disclosure: I made the transcript) and definitely states that Bourchier's wife was Mary and his daughter Ann. So, I have modified the article to eliminate the Elizabeths.

Emrys2 (talk) 17:00, 12 August 2017 (UTC)

Date Confusion
Some of these dates are in the period leading up to the switch to the Gregorian Calendar in England, when people often used New Style years (new year on Jan 1) instead of Old Style years (new year on March 25) which were the ecclesiastical, legal and civil norm. In particular, his marriage allegation is dated 1740-02-09 and it is not clear whether the marriage a little later would have been in March 1740 or March 1741. Emrys2 (talk) 17:07, 12 August 2017 (UTC)