Known for Heiress Name Sarah Coysh | ||
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Predecessor Uncle, Henry AllenBrother, Richard Coysh Died September 7, 1801, Bermondsey | ||
Sarah Coysh (c. 1742 – 1801) was the heiress to the estates of the Coysh, Allen, and James families. Her marriage to John Rolls (1735–1801) illustrates one of the methods by which the renowned Rolls family of Monmouthshire, Wales, and London, England, accumulated and improved their properties and advanced their social rank during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. By 1830, her son John Rolls of The Hendre in Llangattock-Vibon-Avel, Monmouthshire, near Monmouth, had made the estate his country seat and undertaken the first of several expansions of the mansion. By 1892, two expansions later, his grandson John A Rolls had been elevated to the peerage and had become Baron Llangattock of The Hendre. At the turn of the twentieth century, following the mansion's fourth enlargement, the family was honoured with a visit from the future King George V and Queen Mary, then the Duke and Duchess of York. The royal visit included a ride in the automobile (pictured) of Lord Llangattock's son Charles Stewart Rolls, future aviation pioneer and co-founder of Rolls-Royce. This article explores the genealogy of Sarah Coysh's branch of the family tree, starting with James James (died 1677), one of the earliest identified Rolls ancestors with substantial property in Monmouthshire and London.
Genealogy
James James, a native of Llanvihangel-Ystern-Llewern, Monmouthshire, acquired property in Southwark, London, and resided in London. Between 1639 and 1648, he also bought several Monmouthshire properties, in Llangattock-Vibon-Avel and Llanvihangel-Ystern-Llewern. James was buried on 26 May 1677 in the churchyard of St Olave's Church, Southwark, London. In his will of that year, he left his estate to his daughter Sarah; his successor was his sole surviving child.
Prior to her father's death, Sarah James had married Elisha Coysh (1631–1685), a prominent physician from London. Elisha Coysh, the only son of Richard and Mary Coysh, was born on 30 January 1631. He was baptized on 5 February 1631 at St Mary Aldermary (pictured at left and link below) in the City of London. He began his studies at the Merchant Taylors' School in London in 1647, and at Pembroke College, Oxford on 27 November 1650. Coysh became a Doctor of Medicine on 30 June 1657 and a Fellow of the College of Physicians on 3 December 1673. By 1657, his homes included one at Swain's or Swine's Lane, Highgate then in Middlesex now a London suburb. In 1665–66, during the Great Plague of London, he and his family resided at the Swain's Lane address. According to the Court Rolls of the Manor of Cantelows, Coysh "was very famed for his medical practice and advice in cases of that dreadful malady, and was much resorted to at this his copyhold residence." Dr. Elisha Coysh died on 11 January 1685, and was interred at St Mary Aldermary on 19 January 1685. His father Richard Coysh had been buried at the same church on 20 January 1651. His mother Mary Coysh died on 27 January 1672, and was buried on the 31st of the month, also at the parish church. His wife Sarah James Coysh was buried on 25 March 1703 at St Mary Aldermary.
Sarah and Elisha Coysh had at least seven children: James, Elisha, Richard, John, Bridget, Joseph, and Sarah. The first five survived their father; the last two predeceased him. James Coysh was baptized on 14 February 1661 at St Michael, Highgate (link below) He died on 23 September 1695, and was buried on 25 September 1695 at St Mary Aldermary. Elisha was born about 1664. Richard was baptized on 16 October 1665 and John on 21 Aug 1667, both at St Michael. Bridget was baptized on 18 July 1669 at St Michael. Joseph died on 15 March 1673, and was buried at St Mary Aldermary on 17 March 1673. Sarah died on 3 April 1682, and was buried on the 5th of the month, also at St Mary Aldermary. At age 28, Elisha married Hannah Fox in London on 24 December 1692. Elisha and Richard survived their mother's death in March 1703, and both were successors to the estate. Richard married Ann Denton two months later, on 20 May 1703. Elisha died in 1725, leaving a widow, Hannah. The remaining successor to the estate, his brother Richard, was widowed in 1735, and buried at St Michael on 21 January 1740, survived by his sons Elisha and Thomas Coysh. Thomas survived his brother Elisha, a cooper, who was buried on 12 May 1751 at St Michael.
Sarah and Elisha's daughter Bridget Coysh had married William Allen who, like James James two generations previously, purchased property in Monmouthshire. Bridget and William's daughter Rebecca Allen, heiress to the family estate, married Thomas Coysh, her first cousin. Rebecca and Thomas Coysh had at least five children: Richard, Elizabeth, Sarah, Rebecca, and Elisha. Elizabeth Coysh was baptized in 1739at St Saviour, Denmark Park in Southwark, now Herne Hil. and married John Busby on 17 December 1761 at St Giles, Camberwell (link below). Sarah was born about 1742. Rebecca was baptized on 2 February 1743, and buried on the 18th of the month, both at St Saviour. Elisha Coysh was buried on 13 February 1744 at St Saviour, his father recorded as a butcher. Thomas Coysh was buried on 4 February 1761 at St Giles, Camberwell in Southwark. His widow Rebecca Allen Coysh died in 1765. Their son Richard was heir to the family estate. Richard was buried at St Giles, Camberwell on 10 December 1784. Following his death, his sister Sarah succeeded him.
Sarah Coysh, however, inherited The Hendre estate from the Allen side of her family. Her uncle Henry Allen (1691–1767), son of William Allen and Bridget Coysh Allen, bequeathed it to his nieces Elizabeth and Sarah Coysh. Sarah survived her sister Elizabeth and, thus, inherited The Hendre. Sarah Coysh, the second daughter of Thomas and Rebecca Coysh, signed a marriage contract with John Rolls on 19 October 1767. They were married the following day at St Mary Magdalen, Bermondsey (pictured at left and link below) in Southwark. The heiress to the Coysh, Allen, and James estates, she brought a substantial amount of property in Monmouthshire and London to the Rolls family as a consequence of her marriage to John Rolls. A monument in the chancel of St Mary's Priory Church, Monmouth (link below) commemorates Sarah's uncle Henry Allen.
Sarah and John Rolls had at least four children: Sarah Allen, Elizabeth, Henry Allen, and John. Their children were baptized at St Mary Magdalen, Bermondsey; on each of their records their father's occupation was recorded as "cowkeeper."
Sarah Allen Rolls was born on 15 July 1768 in Bermondsey, and baptized on 2 August 1768. She married Felix Whitmore on 3 August 1793, and was buried on 13 June 1843, both at St Mary Magdalen. On 26 May 1770, her sister Elizabeth Rolls was born in Bermondsey; she was baptized on 20 June 1770. Henry Allen Rolls, presumably named after Sarah's uncle, was born on 22 May 1772 in Bermondsey and baptized on 18 June 1772. On 29 July 1777, at the age of five, he was interred in a vault in the churchyard of St Mary Magdalen.
John Rolls was born on 20 October 1776 in Bermondsey and baptized on 17 November 1776. Sarah Coysh Rolls died at age 59 on 7 September 1801 in Bermondsey; her husband died the following day. Both were interred on 15 September 1801 at St Mary Magdalen, and were succeeded by their one surviving son John Rolls.