The blacksmiths of Thornbury
The Gayners are our deepest English line. The earliest we can name is William Gayner, a blacksmith of Thornbury, Gloucestershire, who made his will in 1630 and died that spring. We know his wife as Margaret.
His son William was baptised at Thornbury on 24 September 1615 and followed the trade. His will, dated 31 March 1681, leaves his shop tools and his house to his son John after the death of himself and his wife Anne. It names five daughters, one of them 'Anne Pearce the wife of George Pearce of the parish of Thornbury'.
That daughter, Ann Gayner, married George Pearce, a Quaker from Winscombe, Somerset, on 1 February 1679/80, using the old calendar, in which the year began in March. The certificate kept by the Frenchay Quaker meeting at Olveston carries the signatures of Richard, Alice and Joan Gayner and the mark of William Gayner himself, who signed with his mark. The couple's son Gaynor Peirce, named in his father's will, carried the family name forward.
George and Ann's daughter Betty was born in 1680. The family is said to have crossed the Atlantic to Pennsylvania about 1684, where their descendants include our Quaker ancestors of Chester County.
How we know
- Wills of William Gayner, 1630 and 1681, Gloucestershire Archives
- Baptism and burial registers of Thornbury
- Quaker marriage certificate, Frenchay Monthly Meeting, 1679/80
- Will of George Peirce, Chester County, Pennsylvania, 1733/4
Confidence: probable – William and his daughter Ann are proven by his 1681 will and the Quaker certificate; William Sr as his father rests on wills and parish registers, not one document that says so
Timeline
- 1615Baptized in Thornbury, Gloucestershire, England
- 1680Lived in Thornbury, Gloucestershire, England