John Vertue

Simon Vertue was the eldest son of George by the time of writing his will in 1669 - see attached images

Simon was a Merchant Tailor living in London according to attached will believed to be his which also shows he married Hannah Roberts in 1733. At that time (1733) he subscribed to poems on several occasions according to records on Ancestry.

In the will he also mentions cousins Stephen Abbott and John King.

Gearing Roberts. The Mark of Bridget Couttier. Benja Cooke - the last line of the will, witnesses. Gearing Roberts died in 1783 at the age of 78 and was presumably a relation of his wife, see also attached burial record and FMP have probate records for him.

See also attached Indenture, in Ancestry’s Freedom of the City section. For the cost of £35, quite a large sum at the time, Simon signed 7 years of his life away to become an apprentice Merchant Taylor. 

”This indenture witnesseth, That Simon Vertue son of Simon Vertue late  of Doabauch in the County of Suffolk Yeoman deceased (the sum of thirty five pounds being paid or secured to the Master ...) ... to Philip Glass – Citizen and Merchant Taylor of London ... 7 years ... He shall not commit Fornication nor contract Matrimony within the said Term. ... He shall not haunt Taverns or Play-houses, nor absent himself from his said Master’s Service Day nor Night unlawfully: But in all Things, as a faithful Apprentice, he shall behave himself towards his said Master, and all his, during the said Term...” Extract - view image for full story.

Presumed to be the brother of Gearing Roberts, from names of cousins, nieces, etc named in his will. Also, Gearing was mentioned in Simon’s will of 1742. Parents assumed to be the same, due to burial in the 'middle', inside St Margaret Lothbury church in London. In his will he expressed his desire to be buried close to them.

Hannah Vertue left a sizeable will, see attached. Also was named in will of Gearing Roberts as his niece, see attached.

Gearing Roberts was buried in St Margaret Rothbury and asked to be buried near his mother and father and was located in the middle. John Roberts also named on his will but died shortly before him aged 72 was also buried in the middle. The only matching Roberts buried in the middle who could have been their parents were James, buried 3rd June 1723 and Ann, widow, buried November 1st 1729 - both in the middle - see attached images.

I originally thought Ann Vertue was a pseudonym for Marie Anne L’Heureux. But further evidence shows this not to be the case. From the baptism records of her second husband Peter Guillebaud, the church was the French Church of Threadneadle Street and Peter Guillebaud’s name was “Frenchified” to Pierre — hence the mistake in thinking she had been Frenchified too.

Hannah Roberts in her will of 1818 describes Peter Guillebaud as her brother-in-law, even though by then he had remarried. Gearing Roberts describes Ann as his niece in his will of 1782. Both these factors make me sure Ann is daughter of Simon Vertue and Hannah Roberts.

Ann’s burial at non-conformist Bunhill Fields, 10th May 1813, put her age as 71. This is how I arrive at her birth in 1742.

Baptised 23 Mar 1736, familysearch - also gives birth date.

John Vertue would have been 40 when John Constable was born in his birthplace. Attached pictures of East Bergholt by Constable.

“John Constable was born in East Bergholt, a village on the River Stour in Suffolk, to Golding and Ann Constable. His father was a wealthy corn merchant, owner of Flatford Mill in East Bergholt and, later, Dedham Mill. Golding Constable also owned his own small ship, The Telegraph, which he moored at Mistley on the Stour estuary and used to transport corn to London. Although Constable was his parents' second son, his older brother was mentally handicapped and so John was expected to succeed his father in the business, and after a brief period at a boarding school in Lavenham, he was enrolled in a day school in Dedham. Constable worked in the corn business after leaving school, but his younger brother Abram eventually took over the running of the mills.”

“...Constable adopted a routine of spending the winter in London and painting at East Bergholt in the summer. And in 1811 he first visited John Fisher and his family in Salisbury, a city whose Cathedral and surrounding landscape were to inspire some of his greatest paintings.

“From 1809 onwards, his childhood friendship with Maria Bicknell developed into a deep, mutual love. But their engagement in 1816 was opposed by Maria's grandfather, Dr Rhudde, Rector of East Bergholt, who considered the Constables his social inferiors and threatened Maria with disinheritance.

“...Constable painted several oil sketches of the view towards East Bergholt Rectory, showing the fields where he walked with his beloved Maria Bicknell. He painted this lively impression of the rising sun glowing over and through the fields from an upper floor window at the back of his family home. His response to the scene is expressed through energetic brushstrokes and the use of intense reds and greens - the expanded chromatic range that Constable was using in his oil sketches at this time.

“Constable's description of East Bergholt appeared in the letterpress to the second edition of Lucas-Constable mezzotints, English Landscape:

“East Bergholt, or as its Saxon derivation implies, 'Wooded Hill', is thus mentioned in 'The Beauties of England and Wales' … It is pleasantly situated in the most cultivated part of Suffolk, on a spot which overlooks the fertile valley of the Stour, which river divides that county on the south from Essex.

“The beauty of the surrounding scenery, the gentle declivities, the luxuriant meadow flats sprinkled with flocks and herds, and well cultivated uplands, the woods and rivers, the numerous scattered villages and churches, with farms and picturesque cottages, all impart to this particular spot an amenity and elegance hardly anywhere else to be found.”

http://hoocher.com/John_Constable/John_Constable.htm

Gravestone inscription at Woodbridge Church:

In memory of Sarah the wife of Jacob Sizer who departed this life November 27th 1821 and is buried in a vault opposite this stone. And of the said Jacob Sizer who died June 8th 1837 aged 64 years.

Also of Charles Vertue Lankester son of Thomas and Ann Lankester of Stowmarket who died 24th June 1837 aged 9 months.

Also of Ann widow of the above Jacob Sizer who died April 27th 1852 aged 69 years.

See http://www.woodbridgechurch.org.uk/Records/quay/q-graves-alpha.htm

Mentioned in the will of cousin William King Byles

See also tree at Also, see tree at http://awt.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=cyanda1&id=I2514&ti=5538

Woodbridge Quay Church, buried 19th March 1860 Quay Burial Grnd

Woodbridge Church inscriptions:

In the adjopining vault are deposited the remains of Simon Vertue, who died March 16th 1860, aged 87 years.

Also those of Ann, his beloved wife who died Nov 29th 1852, aged 79 years.

See http://www.woodbridgechurch.org.uk/Records/quay/q-graves-alpha.htm

“In memory of Hannah Stuart. Widow. Formerly Hannah Vertue. 21st August 1826 aged 90 years.” - http://www.woodbridgechurch.org.uk/Records/quay/q-graves-alpha.htm.

Mentioned as an aunt in the 1811 will of William King Byles, see attached images.

George, the Son of Mr John and Mrs Esther Vertue of Woodbridge (late of Maningtree in Essex) was born March 25 1741 and baptized at their House April the 17th following - from parish record (click on book icon). Was a cabinet maker before his death, see attached newspaper cutting.

Was a tailor. Buried Norwood Cemetery, Norwood Road, Lambeth, Surrey

Born (after the Father’s Decease) May 31 and baptized at the Mother’s House in Woodbridge June 20 1768 - see baptism record (book icon)

Baptised 16 DEC 1773, Independent, Cambridge, Cambridge, England - IGI

Male Christening: 21 NOV 1775 Independent, Cambridge, Cambridge, England - IGI

Female Christening: 18 March 1778 Independent, Cambridge, Cambridge, England - IGI

Male Christening: 30 SEP 1778 Independent, Cambridge, Cambridge, England - IGI

Male Christening: 18 MAY 1780 Independent, Cambridge, Cambridge, England - IGI

On igi, christened 20th May 1781, Pavement Chapel New North Road-Independent, Hoxton, London.

On igi, christened 18 Jul 1782, Pavement Chapel New North Road-Independent, Hoxton, London.

On igi, christened 16th Sept 1784, Pavement Chapel New North Road-Independent, Hoxton, London.

On igi, christened 14th Feb 1787, Pavement Chapel New North Road-Independent, Hoxton, London.

On igi, christening recorded 8th Oct 1789, Pavement Chapel New North Road-Independent, Hoxton, London. However, the event was also recorded in Norwich, Norfolk on the same day - and so is probably a recording of the same event, showing that Ann’s parents had an interest in both places at that time.