

Charles Jecks, born Cranworth 1675
son of Isaac Jecks of Crownthorpe
married Mary Long
in 1701
Charles Jecks
of London
Map of St Johns Wapping and St Paul Shadwell. By Richard Brome, 1720.
From the British Library

Part D-2 ... continuing the story of Isaac Jecks of Crownthorpe, with : -
CHARLES JECKS (6/17) - his youngest son.
Charles (6/17), born 1675 in Cranworth, Norfolk, was the youngest of Isaac’s (5/17) children. He was only 16 when his father died. As was quite common at the time for the youngest son of a family, Charles set out to make a life for himself somewhere other than Norfolk, where his ancestors originated. At about the turn of the century Charles travelled to London, where he established a family of Jecks that grew in numbers initially in Wapping parish, many of whose descendants survive in England into the present day.
The Genealogy states:
"Charles the 3rd son of Isaac was a tallow chandler grocer & soap boiler at Wapping London, where he died 1750, leaving a son Charles and two daughters."
This Charles (6/17) was the first of at least 15 of Isaac's (5/17) descendants to be named Charles; he was Charles I of the London Jecks family. In previous generations Robert and Thomas were the common names within the family. The 18th century London Jecks often used Charles and Isaac as a Christian name.
Charles (6/17) lived at Wapping, east of the City of London, on the northern bank of the Thames. Soon after arriving in London, at the age of 26, Charles married at Canterbury. The marriage license reads:
"Jecks, Charles of St John Wapping Tobacconess batchelor and Mary Long of St Lawrence in Thanet maiden 20 at St Andrew Canterbury, May 6 1701."
At this point, Charles had founded the business of a tobacconist in Wapping. Ten years later, he returned to his original home in Wymondham when his brother Isaac died. Perhaps at that time, he took on business as a grocer, tallow chandler as well as a soap boiler, like his father in Wymondham, possibly taking on the inventory from his father’s business.
The registers of St John Wapping, a church destroyed in the last World War, contain many Jecks entries. This Parish was part of London’s dockland and the Registers bear many entries with local colour. The Vicars of the Parish made a habit of recording cause of death in the burials register, something not usually done, and at Wapping entries such as "fell into ships hold" or "hit by bale" or "found dead at docks" were all too common.
The following entries in the Register of Christenings are the earliest relating to the London Jecks family:
1703 27 August. Isaac, son of Charles Jecks distiller & Mary uxor in Wapping, 2 days old
1708 21 September. Charles, son of Charles Jecks distiller and Mary uxor in Wapping, 6 days old
1709 7 November. Elizabeth daughter of Charles Jecks Distiller & Mary uxor in Wapping
1711 15 November. Charles, son of Charles Jecks distiller & Mary uxor in Wapping, 2 days old
1716 10 July. Mary Daur of Charles Jecks Distillr & Mary uxor in Wapping 8 days old
1717 8 August. Isaac Son of Charles Jecks Distiller & Mary uxor In Wappin (sic) 2 days old
No baptismal entry has been found for Esther (7/34), the first of Charles’s (6/17) daughters. The Wapping Register of Burials, in relation to Charles’ (6/17) family, contains the following entries:
1703 13 Sept, Convulsion, Isaac son of Charles Jecks from Wapping
1708 24 Sept, Convulsion, Charles son of Charles Jecks from Wapping
1713 19 July, Abortux, a son of Charles Jecks of Wapping
1716 11 Nov, vomiting, Mary dau of Charles Jecks from Wapping
1717 31 Aug, Convulsion, Isaac Jecks son of Charles Jecks from Wapping
1719 21 Nov, consumption, Mary wife of Charles Jecks from Wappin (sic)
1753 18 March, Aged, Charles Jecks of Wapping 78 years old.
Thus, Charles (6/17) was survived by only one son, also Charles (7/38), born November 1711 (see extract below from October and November of St John of Wapping Register); the other four sons all died within only about a month of birth. One daughter died only months old, but two of his daughters survived.
Charles left a will dated two months before his death which was proved at PCC on the 30th March 1753, in which he declared he was of the parish of St John Wapping, as distiller by trade. He divided his estate between his son, his two grandchildren, and their guardian Esther (7/33) Jecks, his niece. His son Charles got the house next to his own dwelling, which went to his two grandchildren Mary Long and Martin Long and to his kinswoman Esther Jecks.
Charles (6/17) evidently owned shares in a ship called the New Phillis. The vessel is recorded in 1750 with its cargo of yarn and wool, captained by George Long, bound for London from Smirna (Izmir, Turkey). Charles gave his shares to his grandchildren:
"Item I do hereby give and bequeath unto my two grandchildren Mary Long and Martin Long all that my one two and thirtieth part or share of and in that good ship or vessel called the New Phillis to be equally divided between (them) ..."
Charles then disposed of his distillery business and the stock in trade associated with it. He wished that "all (his) stock in trade be valued and appraised" and half of the total value be paid in money to his son Charles (7/38) by his executrix. The whole of the stock in trade should then be given to and shared in three equal parts between his two grandchildren and Esther (7/33) Jecks his kinswoman. Charles (6/17) also expressed his "desire that the trade of a distiller which I now occupy may be carried on soully by" the two Long children and Esther Jecks "in the house wherein I now dwell", which he had previously bequeathed to them.
All of the household goods and all the remainder of the estate was given to the four beneficiaries, half to his son Charles and the other half to Esther and the two grandchildren. The final provision was to appoint "my said kinswoman Esther Jecks sole executrix and also guardian of my said two grandchildren Mary Long and Martin Long".
ESTHER (7/34), and ELIZABETH (7/37)
The ‘Esther Jecks’ referred to in Charles (6/17) Jecks’ will was his niece Esther (7/33), and not his daughter Esther (7/34). In his will, when referring to Esther, Charles several times used the word “kinswoman”, to distinguish her from his daughter of the same name. Strangely, Charles makes no reference to his daughter Esther (7/34).
The Jecks Genealogy provides some information relating to Charles’ (6/17) two daughters:
"Esther the 1st daughter died soon after [her brother]. Mary the 2nd girl, married a Captain Long of Ramsgate."
In a rare mistake made by Isaac when writing the Genealogy, the 2nd daughter he referred to who married a Captain Long was Elizabeth (7/37), not Mary (7/40). Elizabeth and the Captain took out a marriage license at the Vicar General’s office on 14 June, 1732. Thus the origin of the two grandchildren Mary, born 1734, and Martin Long, born two years later, becomes clear. Elizabeth died before either child was 10 years old. And her husband, Captain Martin Long, died when son Martin was only 15, leaving them to be cared for by the family. This is where Esther (7/33), Charles’ niece, stepped in. Charles appointed his niece guardian of the two grandchildren, and she remained connected to them for the rest of her life.
On the second of January 1801 the will of Esther (7/33) Jecks was proved at PCC, when she was 93 and still in touch with the Long family.
"I Esther Jecks of the parish of East Ham in the County of Essex Spinster ... give and bequeath to Mrs Margaret Long of East Ham aforesaid widow her heirs and assigns my house situate in Vere Street in the Parish of St Mary le Bow ..."
Mrs Margaret Long, nee Jones, was the widow of the grandson Martin Long, married in 1761. When Esther (7/33) died, Mrs Long was a widow living nearby in East Ham. She was appointed executor and the main beneficiary of the estate, being the house on Vere Street in St Mary le Bow and £300 of India bonds. The four daughters of Margaret – Mary, Margaret, Elizabeth & Rebecca – were to receive 5 guineas each.
Charles’ 1st daughter, Esther (7/34), appears to have been ignored by Charles in his will. However, this may be due to the fact that for whatever reason she returned to Wymondham in Norfolk, near her father’s home of Crownthorpe, where she married Stephen Cooper in 1726. The couple appear to have had no children. He died in 1748 and Esther, in 1773, just shortly before her brother, not “soon after” her brother, a minor discrepancy in Isaac’s (9/7) genealogical knowledge.
CHARLES (7/38)
Charles’ (6/17) sole male heir, Charles II (7/38), is referred to in The Genealogy as follows:
"The son was a mariner, but retired & entered the wine and spirits trade at Wapping. He died about 1774 aged 63. This Charles (the mariner) left 2 sons, Charles & Isaac."
At the age of 27 on the l8th of April 1738 Charles (7/38) married Elizabeth Robinson in the Church of St Benet Gracechurch in the City of London by authority of a license. Four days before, Charles had taken out the marriage license. Although he signed as Charles Jecks, he seems to have allowed his name to be spelt Jacks on the license.
He continued to live at the parish of St John Wapping, part of Tower Hamlets in London, where six christenings can he found, including Charles, christened at the age of one day on 5 September 1742. Charles and Elizabeth were resident at Well Alley in Wapping.
The burials register of St Johns includes the burials of three of the children, Elizabeth, Anna [Hannah] and Francis.
Undoubtedly, it was Charles II who was an expert witness on February 12, 1752, concerning a ship that had sunk on a return trip from Virginia. He stated the “Cumberland” was an old vessel but in quite a good state of repair.
Perhaps Charles’s (7/38) "retirement" occurred after 1753 when his father died, and he became involved in the distillery trade his father had owned and left to his cousin and a niece and nephew.
Again, we see in parish burials at Wapping:
1774 1 September, Hanged Himself, Charles Jecks, Well Alley Age 63
1778 15 October, Consum, Elizabeth Jecks, Well Alley, Age 64
No will can be found for Charles (7/38), perhaps due to a rather sudden and unexpected death, but his widow left a will dated 1 October 1777, proved at PCC on the 22 October 1778. Elizabeth, described as of St John Wapping, left a number of small mementos to various members of the family. The will illustrates the extent of the family at the time – limited to only two surviving children, Charles & Isaac, of the six born to Charles and Elizabeth.
Charles (8/14) was left £10 and a diamond ring, and Isaac (8/17) received similar items. Other personal effects were left to Anna Ann (9/17) Jecks and Phillis (9/20) Jecks her granddaughters, children of Charles (8/14), and to Digby (9/29) another grandson, a son of Isaac (8/17). The remainder was left to Isaac (8/17), and both Charles (8/14) and Isaac (8/17) were appointed executors. The will was witnessed by Chas Digby and Chas Digby Jnr, obviously close family friends – two of Elizabeth’s grandchildren were given the name Digby.
CHARLES (8/14) (Charles III)
The Genealogy has the following comments about the two sons of Charles:
"Charles is a cashier in the Bank of England & has 2 sons Charles & William & 3 daughters. Isaac now lives at Deptford & has one son named Digby (who has a place in Deptford Yard) & 4 daughters
The elder son, Charles (8/14), Charles III, married in 1764. His marriage licence was granted at the Bishop of London’s Registry on January 19, 1764: "Charles Jecks of Wapping Middx 21 Batchelor, Ann Friday of Stepney Middx Spinster l8, with consent of father John Friday". The marriage took place at Stepney St Dunstan Church and is recorded as follows:
“23 January 1764 Charles Jecks of the Parish of St John Wapping Middlesex Batchelor and Ann Fryday of this Parish Spinster a minor were married in this Church by licence with the consent of John Fryday father of the said minor this twenty third day of Janry in the year one thousand seven hundred & sixty four.
Charles Jecks
Ann Fryday"
At the age of 16 in 1758 Charles (8/14) had been apprenticed to Christopher Scott, surgeon, of St Georges Hanover Square, at a cost of £73/10/0, in those days a considerable sum to pay when the cost to be apprenticed to a butcher for example might have been only £3.
The Wapping registers show the christening of three of Charles’s daughters.
Between 1769 and 1772 Charles permanently changed his address from Well Alley in Wapping to Pen Street in the parish of St George, Stepney. It was also about this time that he changed his occupation from surgeon to a Clerk in the Bank, in accordance with the way he was described in the Genealogy.
The records of the Bank of England on London’s Threadneedle Street show that Charles Jecks “Entered the service of the Bank 21 March 1771. Worked in:- Out Tellers Office 1771, with a salary of £50 per annum. In Tellers Office 1773-1794. Cashier’s Office 1795 – 1799, with a salary of £190 per annum. Died 2 June 1799.”
Christenings at St George, Stepney, include five more children, including:
1780 21 January, Chas James, s of Chas Jecks Gent, by Ann, Pen St 19 days old
Charles James Jecks (9/24), baptized 1780, was the third son of Charles III and Ann to be named Charles; the first two died young. Thus, Charles James Jecks can be ascribed Charles IV. Charles James Jecks (9/24) left many Jecks descendants; his family is detailed in Book 3 Section 1, elsewhere on this website.
Charles III (8/14) again moved, this time to Mile End Old Town, and accordingly christened his last three children at a different church, Stepney St Dunstan, including daughters Mary and Sarah, as well as:
1789 25 November, William Sn of Charles Jecks of MEOT Gent & Ann 30 days old
The youngest son of Charles III, William Jecks (9/28) is the only other Jecks whose immediate descendants numbered among the Jecks in London. However, unlike his elder brother Charles James (9/24), ultimately no male Jecks survived William Jecks beyond 1930. William's story is detailed in Book 3 Section 2, elsewhere on this website
London Apprenticeship records also note the address of Charles III as Mile End Old Town. If the Genealogy was wholly correct in its summary of the family, then it would seem that only five of Charles (8/14) twelve children survived beyond the year 1795. Two sons with the names Charles and Charles Digby died, although the third Charles, named Charles James (9/24), and another son, William (9/28), both lived to establish families as described in Book 3-1 and 3-2, later in this volume. Four daughters also lived and married, although one died very soon after marriage.
The family recorded the deaths of six children at St John Wapping, aged from a few months to 9 years, and Charles III himself died in the same place in 1799:
1799 6 June, Charles Jecks, Mortification, St Dunstan’s Stepney, age 56
Four of Charles’ daughters survived and were married at Stepney St Dunstan Church:
1793 10 February Anna Ann Jecks to William Christmas
1796 14 February Elizabeth Robinson Jecks to Charles Christmas
1796 14 April, Phillis Jecks m Reuben Deare, baker, at Bromley. Witnesses (Chas or Wm) Christmas & Elizabeth Christmas
1797 3 June Sarah Jecks to Thomas Forsee
The last of the four daughters, then Sarah Forsee, died not far away, at Spitalfields, also in Tower Hamlets, in 1794. She was the seventh child of Charles III to pass on before the turn of the century, leaving Charles (8/14) with two sons and three daughters, as stated by the Genealogy.
Charles (8/14), or Charles III, was the first in the family to be employed in the business of banking. Several of his sons and grandsons were to follow in his footsteps. The two Christmas brothers noted above, who married two of Charles’ daughters, were also employees of the Bank of England.
Through his two sons, Charles James Jecks and William Jecks (see next page on this website "Book 3: London"), Charles III holds the distinction of being the ancestor accounting for 64% of all Jecks (excl. “Jex”) children registered as born in England and Wales between July 1837 and December 1913. Together with another 12% registered that relate to the family of Isaac (9/7) Jecks of Wisbech and Norwich, the descendants of Isaac (5/17) Jecks of Crownthorpe account for a total of 76 of the 100 Jecks children registered in this period. Virtually all of the remaining 24 children registered were of other families, such as Jex and Jakes, mis-spelt at the time of registration.
Ten years after the birth of his last child, Charles (8/14) died. In 1799, a brief and uninformative administration of his estate was granted at PCC:
"Administration of goods and chattels of Chas Jecks of St Dunstan Stepney granted to Ann Jecks widow."
Charles was 57 years old.
The marriage of eldest daughter Anna Ann Jecks (9/17) to William Christmas was witnessed by her father, Charles Jecks. They had three children. Witnesses to Elizabeth Robinson Jecks’ (9/21) marriage were Charles Jecks and Charles Jecks jnr. Elizabeth and her husband Charles Christmas had a much larger family of nine children. The second of Anna Ann’s children, William Christmas, like others in the family, worked at a London bank. However, he was caught for embezzling, tried and sentenced in 1825 to 14 years’ transportation in Australia. Eventually he returned to England, where he continued to live for many years. Anna Ann Christmas and Elizabeth Robinson Christmas died in 1854 (Hendon) and 1857 (Stepney), respectively.
Sarah Jecks (9/23), the youngest surviving of Charles’s daughters, married Thomas Forsee without family present in June 1797, but she died only 18 months later. At the age of 25, Phillis Jecks (9/20) married in the presence of her sister and brother-in-law, Elizabeth and William Christmas. Phillis had five children by 1804, although sadly, the children were left without parents after their father, Reuben Deare, died in 1806 aged only 32, and Phillis, in 1809 aged 38.
ISAAC (8/17)
The 1772 register of marriages of St Mary in Westminster, London, records that Isaac (8/17) Jecks married Mary Atkinson on the 26th April. Several changes occurred in the family around this time. Charles (7/38), Isaac's father, died leaving his wine trade, while Charles (8/14) moved out of Well Alley to Stepney and became an employee of the Bank of England. Isaac (8/17), meantime, got married and moved into the Well Alley address in Wapping and took over the wine and spirits trade of his father and grandfather. It is, perhaps, not unreasonable that Isaac should benefit from the family business, since his elder brother Charles (8/14) had already been set up with a respected profession via an apprenticeship.
The christening of Isaac's (8/17) and Mary's seven children between 1773 and 1785 were the last of any Jecks entries to be seen at St John Wapping, after eight decades of Jecks presence in the parish.
Isaac (8/17) died in the Parish of St Mary Newington, as per the register of burials:
1819 17 January, Isaac Jecks of Meadow Row, aged 71 years
Other than his only son named Digby, Isaac (8/17) Jecks had six daughters, all born in Wapping. According to the genealogy, two of the six daughters must have died young.
One of those was Isaac’s eldest daughter, Anna (9/30), who died aged less than two years. Another Ann (9/32) was born a few months after the death of her sister in 1778. She married William Marrows in 1816 in the City of London, and died in Newington in 1854.
The next daughter, Mary (9/33), married James Howard in Southwark at the age of 22. They lived in Deptford, like Mary’s father, where they had at least five children, one of whom was named Charles Digby Howard – another of the family remembered with this unusual name. Next was Sophia (9/34), whose husband was George Penston, also married in Southwark, where their daughter Sarah was born in 1823. Sophia married a second time to John Grice, and died in Newington in 1843. Youngest was Sarah (9/35), who never married and seems to have lived with her niece of the Penston family in the Southwark area, where she died in 1872.
What happened to Elizabeth (9/31) remains uncertain. However, a combination of the lack of later records for an Elizabeth and the fact that Isaac Jecks (9/7) in his Genealogy suggests Isaac had four surviving daughters, not five, gives credence to the conclusion that Elizabeth was the second daughter who died young.
DIGBY (9/29)
The son, Digby (9/29) Jecks, according to his third cousin Isaac (9/7) in 1795, had a "place in Deptford Yard". He is one of the few in the family to sometimes use the variant spelling “Jacques”.
Digby (9/29) and his wife or partner must have initially chosen to live in Rotherhithe St Mary Parish, not far west of Deptford, even if his place of business was Deptford. Here, his son was christened in 1802 under the name of William Jacques.
Later entries in the Register of St Mary Rotherhithe indicate that Elizabeth was no longer Digby’s wife. Content in Digby’s will suggests he and Elizabeth must have divorced or separated. At this time, Digby and his wife named Ruth christened two more children, also under "Jacques" - Charles and Sarah.
The Registers of St Mary Newington contain only one entry relating to the children of Digby: Isaac, born 1813. This church is west of Rotherhithe, itself west of Deptford, all three places being on the south bank of the River Thames where it winds its way through old London.
Apparently, Digby moved to Yorkshire for some reason. The eldest son died there, as recorded in the burials at the parish of Bowes, although this time Digby declared William’s mother to be Ruth:
1814 29 Dec William Jecks, s Digby & Ruth Jecks, of the Victualler’s Office, Somerset Place, London, a scholar at Mr Adamthwaite’s School, [age] 12.
The above christening dates appear to give rise to an anomaly. These records suggest Digby christened children whose mother was Elizabeth both before and after he christened children of his union with Ruth. One probable explanation, not uncommon at the time, is that Isaac was christened some years after his birth, which later records suggest occurred six years earlier in 1807. By that time, perhaps Digby was better established, and wished to regularize his affairs, including provide his son Isaac with a recorded legitimacy.
The will of Digby (9/29) Jecks, however, is a little more informative. Digby was described as of 3 Villiers Street, Walworth Common and of Somerset House. Evidently, Digby’s connection to Somerset House in London was the Victualler’s Office, rather than genealogy. Digby had £200 in Navy 5 percent consul shares, which, together with all his books debts and money in the house, and all else he possessed, was given to his three surviving children, Charles, Sarah and Isaac, to be used to further their education. The executrixes were Mrs Mary Jecks, Isaac’s mother, co-jointly with Mrs John Holford jnr, "now in the service of the children". The estate was to be divided between “Mrs Mary Jecks and Mrs Elizabeth Smith the mother of the children" for their use. The will was dated 30 September 1818.
Digby’s son Charles, a carpenter, never married. He is found living with various members of the family in Deptford and Camberwell until he died in 1873. Digby’s other son, Isaac, was an undertaker, who married in 1854 to Catherine Green, nee Parker, but appears to have had no children of his own. They lived in Newington. Digby’s youngest child, Sarah, married George Cornford, and had three children. She died in Camberwell, London, in 1888.