Robert Jecks and the
Jecks descendants of Runhall
ROBERT (4/1) Jecks, born at Bunwell on or shortly before 19 February 1575/6, was the eldest son of Thomas Jecks of Bunwell. While the early part of his life was spent at the old family parish, in the early 1600s he moved to his new residence at Runhall. Until this time there is no record of any Jecks at Runhall, but from then, and for over one and a half centuries, one or more of Robert's (4/1) descendants were townsmen and women of the parish.
The Runhall Church itself is very old, as are a number of others in Norfolk. It has the unusual feature of a round tower, believed to be Saxon, which was originally added to an earlier church. Many parts of the current Church can be dated to the 13th and 14th centuries. The doorway into the tower, for example, is even older, and the door itself is undoubtedly the original item, with its decorative ironwork now well over 800 years old.
There is no town or village remaining at Runhall to mark the centre of the Parish. The Church itself stands alone, except for the vicarage nearby, among the farms of the area. There remains a group of headstones in the small churchyard relating to the Jecks family, some of which cannot now be read completely. However, the Church Register boasts a large number of entries relating to Robert and his family; indeed, scarcely a year seems to pass without at least one of the dozen or so entries of all types being from the Jecks family.
Robert married his first wife Agnes Kemp in 1602 at Bunwell – notwithstanding the variances in his wife’s Christian name as recorded in various baptismal entries. However, it is remarkable that the incumbent rector saw fit to record the name of Robert’s father, Thomas, in the register entry. Either Robert was a parishioner of some prominence or the rector sought to distinguish Robert (4/1) from another Robert Jecks who had a father of another Christian name, or both. Indeed, the father of another Robert Jecks who lived in Bunwell and died in Tibenham was named Robert, not Thomas, and his wife had the quite different name of Margery.
In the Bunwell register:
1602 Robert Jex sonne of Thomas Jex married Agnes Kemp the 29 November
Robert and his wife christened their first child at neighbouring Carleton Rode:
1603/4 Thomas filius Robti Jex bapt fuit 15 January
Robert’s first wife died at Runhall in 1623, but by 1617 she and Robert produced six more children, most or all born at Runhall. Unfortunately, the Runhall registers for the period 1605-1611 are now deteriorated and many entries are very difficult to read. This period may include entries for three of Robert’s children: Richard (about 1607), Anne (about 1609), and Mary (about 1611). Entries for Robert’s next three, John, Robert and Susan can be distinguished in the Runhall register. Nonetheless, the existence of all these children is known from three wills – two uncles and their father – through being given bequests. The wills also usefully listed the children in the order in which they were born. In addition, from these wills we know for example that Robert’s daughter Mary married John Pitcher.
The discernable christenings of the latter three children from Robert’s first marriage, and the burial of his first wife, read as follows:
1612/3 John filius Robt Jeckes et Ann uxoris baptisatus fuit March
1615 Robert the sonne of Robert Jeckes and Anne his wife was bap the 21st of May Anno dictus
1617 Susan the daughter of Robert Jeckes and Anne his wife was bap the 26th of August.
1623 Anne the wife of Robert Jeckes was buried the 20 day of July
Robert’s first wife Agnes, or Anne, as she was often known, died in July 1623, perhaps after a lengthy illness. She would have been nearly 40 years old when her last child, Susan, was born and about 45 when she died. Robert married again eight months later to a woman 23 years younger than himself. She was from Hempnall, which is near Bunwell, Robert’s parish of origin. They named their first child, a son, after her father, Henry. The marriage register of Norwich St Stephens includes:
1623/4 Robert Jeckes & Mary Dowe per lic, Feb 8.
Then again in the parish of Runhall:
1624 Henry the sonne of Robert Jeckes and Mary his wife was baptised the 28 of November.
1625/6 Elizabeth Jeckes the daughter of Robert Jeckes and Mary his wife was baptised the 7 day of January.
1626/7 Steven Jeckes the sonne of Robert Jeckes and Mary his wife was baptised the 20 day of March.
The sonne Steven Jeckes was buried the 22 day of March.
1628 Steven Jeckes the sonne of Robert Jeckes & Mary his wife was baptised the 30 day of March.
1629 Peter Jeckes the sonne of Robert Jeckes & Mary his wife was baptised the 28 of October.
1631 Sarah Jeckes the daughter of Robert Jeckes & Mary his wife was baptised the 16 day of Aprill
1632 William Jeckes the sonne of Robert Jeckes and Mary his wife was baptised the second day of September
1633/4 Daniell the sonne of Robert Jeckes and Mary his wife baptised the 9 day of January.
1636 Jeremy the sonne of Rbto Jecks & Mary his wife was baptised the 25 day of May.
1637 Isack the sonne of Rbto Jecks & Mary his wife was baptised the 2 day of October.
1638 Rebecca the daughter of Rbto Jecks & Mary his wife was baptised the sixce day of November
1639 Jeremy the sonne of Robto Jecks was buried, the 6th of June
1639 Rebecca the daughter of Robto Jecks & Mary his wife was buried the last day of November.
1639/40 Jeremy the sonne of Robto Jecks & Mary his wife was baptised the 2d day of January
1640 Jeremy the sonne of Robert Jecks &, Mary his wife was buried the 25th day of March
1641 Ann daughter of Robto Jecks was buried the 16 day of Jun (or Jul)
1641 Rebecca the daughter of Robto Jecks & Mary his wife was baptised the 20 day of September
1643 Samuel the sonne of Robert Jeckes & Mary his wife was baptised the 20 day of August
1643 Robert Jeckes was buried the 23rd day of September
Thus Robert (4/1) christened a total of 21 children, more than any other known person in the Jecks family. What’s more, his last child was christened only a month before he died, when he was 67 years old. After Robert's death there are further entries relating to some of his children:
1644 Henry the sonne of Mary Jeckes widdow was buried 1st day of August
1646 Sammuell Jeckes was buried the 20th of May
1653/4 Steven Jeckes & Elizabeth Bunn was married 4 February
1654 Richard Brown & Sarah Jeckes were married the 3 day of October
1698/9 Rebecka Jecks was buried March the 12
Robert (4/1) and his second wife Mary had their 14 children during the reign of King Charles I. Robert would have witnessed the buildup to the Civil War in England in his later years at Runhall. The wars began in 1642 when he was 66 years old; however, he died 5 years before Charles I was beheaded on January 30, 1648/9. Whether Jecks sympathies lay with the cause of the King or the Parliamentarians remains unknown.
Unfortunately, the Protestation Rolls of 1641 for Norfolk have not survived to the present day. These documents were signed by all citizens loyal to the King; thus they might have answered the question as to Jecks loyalties. Equally important, they were one of the few documents which came close to being a census of the population between the Domesday Book and the first public censuses in the early 19th century.
Of interest, however, Robert (4/1) proclaimed Charles as his Sovereign in the preamble to his will, which was dated at the time the wars began. He had inherited lands from his father, including some in Bunwell. By the time he died he had assembled an estate enabling him to leave cash legacies totalling £720 and properties in Runhall, Bunwell, Norwich, Deopham, and Wymondham. The will was dated 20 January 1641/2, a few months after his eldest daughter, 32 year-old Ann, had died and Rebecca, his youngest daughter, was born.
“In the name of God Amen the twenty day of January in the yeere of the reigne of our sovereign Lord Charles by the grace of God of England Scotland France & Ireland Kinge defender of the faith of the seaventene anno dm 1641 I Robert Jeckes of Runhall in the county of Norfolk ...”
His will then proceeds first to share out a large part of the estate amongst each of his sons alive at the time the will was written. This was done in an order similar to their seniority, except for the two eldest, Thomas (5/1) and Richard (5/2), and the youngest, Samuel (5/21). Thomas (5/1) had already been designated his part of the estate, which was confirmed by a codicil to Robert's (4/1) will. Richard (5/2) had been very well set up by his Uncle Richard's (4/4) bequest and received further cash via his father's codicil.
Robert's (4/1) youngest son Samuel missed any mention in the will because he was not yet born when the will was written. This inequity was corrected by Thomas's (4/5) will, which was written after Robert's (4/1) death. Thomas gave an amount to “the youngest sonne” of Robert (4/1) “by what name soever … [he] is named” - meaning Samuel (5/21). Robert (4/1) appointed his wife Mary the sole executrix. He also nominated his brother Thomas Jeckes and two friends as Supervisors, to assist his wife with their advice and counsel.
The remaining eight sons were left legacies of land in Runhall, Deepham, the City of Norwich, while Isaac received £60 cash. Three daughters were given £80 between them. And of his £400 in stock held in copartnership by John Pitcher his son-in-law, £80 should go to Mary his daughter and the remainder to his executrix, along with the residue of the estate.
A month after Robert wrote the will he made a codicil, in which he gave another £20 each to two of his sons. But the main provision of the codicil concerned the upcoming marriage of his eldest son, Thomas, to Dorithy Buxton, of Wreningham. Robert confirmed:
"there is a feoffement to be made unto that said Thomas & Doritha of all that his capital howse & howses lands tenements & hereditments being freehold or charterhold lyinge & being in Bunwell & Wymondham"
Although Thomas was obliged to pay £100 to two of his siblings out of his estate.
Obviously, Robert (4/1) died as a comfortably off yeoman farmer, as indeed he needed to if was to see his large family well provided for. He was the first of many Jecks to live virtually all their lives at Runhall.
Concerning the children of Robert (4/1). His sons were:
THOMAS (5/1), the eldest son, continued to live at Bunwell. His story has been encompassed within Part B of this genealogy.
RICHARD (5/2)
Richard (5/2) was well taken care of through the wills of his family. In 1630, his uncle of the same name left him lands in Great Moulton after his aunt Thomazon died. His father left him £60 to be paid to him by his elder brother Thomas (5/1) as part of the substantial marriage settlement for Thomas. Thirdly, another of Richard’s uncles, Thomas (4/5), in 1649 bequeathed Richard the considerable sum of £140.
Richard left the family home parish of his father. In 1635, in Norwich, he married Ann Staple, the daughter of Tristram Staple, and settled at her home parish of Scarning, some distance northwest of Wymondham. Tristram Staple went bankrupt, although Richard had acquired his father-in-law's personal assets before Trisrtam died in exchange for assuming Tristram's debts. Richard died in Scarning in 1673.
JOHN (5/5)
John's was the first readable baptismal record of Robert’s children at Runhall. John inherited property from his father in an unnamed parish which may have been New Buckenham. Later, he signed the Register there as "John Jaques" during the Parliament to identify the Registrar. Under the same name he married Elizabeth Hadman at the parish church in 1657. They had five children, of which all but one, and Elizabeth, had died by 1679. In l68l John died in Wymondham making a deathbed declaration of his will, naming his only surviving daughter, Mary (6/4).
ROBERT (5/6),
Robert’s fourth son by his first wife, also named Robert, died at an unknown date or place. Apparently he was a relatively young man when he died, leaving one son, Thomas (6/5), who was to become a prominent member of the Jecks family remaining in Carleton Rode in the Bunwell area. Accordingly, his story has been told in Part B of this Genealogy.
HENRY (5/8),
Robert’s fifth son, and first by his second wife, died at Runhall aged 20, only a year after his father was buried. Robert had left an interest in his Norwich properties to Henry, but given Henry’s early death he is unlikely to have received any benefit from them.
STEVEN (5/11)
The sixth and seventh sons of Robert (4/1) Jecks, were both named Steven. The first Steven (5/10) died only a few days old, and the second Stephen (5/11) was born two years later. He was left part of his father's estate in Runhall in 1643. It is hardly surprising to find Stephen living there and the Runhall Registers containing details of his family. The first entry was his marriage to Elizabeth Bunn in 1653/4, followed by four baptisms of their children and the burial of one of the sons.
Stephen himself died in 1663, as gleaned from his will and probate proceedings, which was only a few years after the birth of his youngest son, James (6/8). He left most of the estate of lands in Runhall to his eldest son Robert (6/6) who was only 9 years old at the time, although Stephen's wife was effectively given use and custody of the lands during her lifetime. In typical fashion, Robert was obliged to pay cash sums to the other three children (before one died).
Little is known about two of Stephen’s children. On the one hand, given his son Stephen (6/7) died aged 24, it is unlikely he had any children. The fate of Stephen and Elizabeth’s son Robert (6/6) remains somewhat a mystery, although he may have made a life in Norwich, where a Robert Jecks died in 1738.
Stephen’s daughter Elizabeth Jecks (6/9) married her first cousin, Thomas Jecks (6/11). For details of their family, see the text following. Elizabeth Jecks, nee Jecks, died at Coston aged 47 in 1705 and was buried in her home parish of Runhall.
As regards James (6/8), Blomefield vol 4 p 68 recorded inscriptions in the Chancel of St Peter Southgate Church in Norwich (demolished 1887). These may concern this James (6/8), the son of Stephen. “There are stones here for Margaret wife of James Jeckes, daughter of John Gunton, ob 19 Sept. 1688, and also for James her Son.” Although nothing more, unfortunately, was written about the son, James (7/14). At the time of writing, there is no certainty this James, the father, was the son of Stephen of Runhall, although it is quite feasible. Similarly, a James Jecks who “died aged about 100 years” in 1781 and was buried at Hempnall, a parish near the old Jecks family home of Bunwell, may be the same James (7/14), son of James snr and Margaret. James the son, or James jnr., must be the James Jecks born 19 September 1688 and baptized a day later in Norwich. James jnr therefore would have been 92 years old, close enough to “about” 100, when he died in Hempnall in 1781.
When considering James jnr further, unfortunately one must speculate to some degree because there are several Jameses and little corroborating evidence is available. There is mention of a James Jecks marriage to Sarah Adcock in Norwich St Peter Southgate in 1707, but the Registers for this period are missing. On the other hand, two of the name James Jex were married in 1712 at Shelton (both on the same page of the Register), which with the parish of Long Stratton forms a close triangle with Hempnall, all three just east of Bunwell, Aslacton and Tharston, where many Jecks lived. One of the two was James Jex of Long Stratton, a widower, who married Elizabeth Lord. The other, a “James Jex jnr”, singleman, married Mary Burges, singlewoman, both of Shelton. The second of these seems more likely to be James (7/14), because as far as is known, his father was alive until 1737, so James would appropriately see himself distinguished with the “junior” tag. Furthermore, the other James Jex had recently buried his first wife, and therefore was a widower. James and Mary christened a number of children in a dozen or so years at Shelton and Long Stratton following the marriage. The other James, husband of Elizabeth, seems to be a grandson of John (4/13) Jecks and Susan Nudds.
PETER (5/12)
Robert’s eighth son, Peter (5/12) Jecks, was one of four sons left properties in Norwich.
Although the date of Peter's (5/12) marriage to Bridget is not known, the family continued to live at Runhall, where their three children (Mary, Thomas, Peter) were baptised and one child and both parents buried.
The reference in Peter's (5/12) burial entry, Peter Jecks "Junior", is a little confusing; in fact, the entry should have read "senior". The evidence for this is Peter's (5/12) will which co-incides with the date of his burial:
“I Peter Jeckes the elder of Runhall in the County of Norfolk yeoman doe this forth day of September one thousand seven hundred & nine make and ordaine & declare this my last will ...”
The will was proved by Norfolk Archdeaconry in 1709. One of the three witnesses was James Jeckes, probably his nephew James (6/8). His estate was evidently rather small by the standards of the Jecks of the time, as he made provision for the possibility that the estate would not amount to certain bequests totaling £300. The will was dated two years after his son Thomas (6/11) had died. Thus Peter (5/12) left his entire estate to his fatherless grandchildren, beginning:
“Item I give & bequeath unto Peter Jeckes my grandson the son of Thomas Jeckes my son deceased the sume of one hundred pounds which money is now in his hands for the stock & goods I sent him”.
Additional cash bequests of £100 each were left to Bridget (7/17) Jeckes, Thomas (7/18) Jeckes, and Elizabeth (7/19) Jeckes, the other three surviving children of his deceased son Thomas (6/11), when they became 21 years old. Peter (5/12) then specified that if his personal estate amounted to more or less than the £300 given to the latter three children, then the excess or shortfall should be equally divided among them. He appointed his son Peter (6/12) executor of the will, making no other mention of or bequest to Peter and no mention at all of his daughter Mary (6/10).
As to the family of Peter (5/12):
MARY (6/10): At present, no further information is available concerning Mary, the eldest child.
THOMAS (6/11) Peter's (5/12) elder son Thomas (6/11) initially lived at Runhall but died at Coston, nearby. Thomas (6/11) Jecks and his wife Elizabeth Jecks were married at the parish church of Deopham with Hackford. Deopham was a parish south of Runhall – although both Thomas and Elizabeth were born in Runhall. They were first cousins, and likely chose to be married at an independent location rather than their home parish … not the only marriage of cousins in this part of the family.
The Runhall registers include the christenings of four of their five children. Evidently, Thomas (6/11) and most of his family moved to Coston about 1692. His youngest child was born there and his wife died in the same place, but was brought to and buried in Runhall. Their third son Thomas (7/18) was probably christened in Coston about 1693. In 1718, at least, the first son Peter (7/15) lived at Kimberley, also very close to Runhall.
Thomas (6/11) died in 1707 aged 52. An administration of his estate was granted at Norfolk Archdeaconry, which indicates what happened to his children. The administration was granted to his father Peter (5/12) Jeckes (described as of Coston, in this case) and to James (6/8) Jeckes his cousin (also described as of Coston, and who also witnessed the will of Peter (5/12) Jecks the elder in 1709), each of whom signed the document:
Thus, when he died, Peter (5/12) Jecks the elder had left his estate to Thomas’s children over whom he had been given guardianship. However, Peter Jecks died only two years later, before he completed the administration of Thomas's (6/11) estate.
Elizabeth (7/19), one of Thomas’s children, died in 1718 aged only 24. The administration of her estate, which perhaps consisted of the remains of the £100 left by her grandfather, Peter the elder, was granted to "Peter Jecks of Kimberley" on the usual condition that "the abovebound Peter Jecks lawful brother and administrator of all and singular the goods rights credits and chattels of Elizabeth Jecks late of Coston ..." carry out a proper inventory and report on the estate to the authorities. Peter Jeckes signed the document.
Over thirty years later, on the 9th of February 1743/4, a further administration was granted to Thomas Jeckes of Runhall, Gentleman. This was Thomas (7/22), later of Bawdeswell, the son of Peter (6/12) Jecks. The document indicates that the beneficiary, Mary (8/1) Lacey, was apparently the only surviving grandchild of Thomas (6/11): The document was signed by Thomas Jeckes, the grantee.
PETER (7/15) & THOMAS (7/18), sons of Thomas (6/11)
Neither of the two surviving sons of Thomas (6/11) left any male heirs. Very little is known of the younger son Thomas (7/18), except that he died aged 37 and was buried at Runhall in 1730: no administration for his estate can he found to show who, if anybody, survived him.
Elder son Peter (7/15) married at the age of 21 at Norwich St Stephens Church – he was the first of two Jecks cousins to marry into the Stoughton family:
1708 Peter Jeckes of Coston & Isabell Stoughton of Runhall both single persons in the County of Norfolk were married Oct 14th
Peter Jecks and Isobel had two daughters, Mary (8/1) and Diana (8/2). Just over eleven years after he married, Peter died at Norwich although he was buried at his native parish of Runhall. An administration of his estate was granted on 14 March 1719 to his widow Isabell Jeckes of St Peter Mancroft Norwich and to Thomas Stoughton, Isabell’s brother, also of St Peter Mancroft. Isabell Jecks and Thomas Stoughton each signed the document.
Their daughter Diana (8/2) married in 1737 in Great Yarmouth, on the Norfolk coast. Her groom was James Boyd, a Major General in the Kew Regiment of the Army. Mary (8/1) Jecks married John Lacy, a worstead weaver, in Norwich by license in 1734 “aged about 23 years” according to the license. This was the Mary Lacy who in 1744 was granted another administration of the remaining assets of the estate of Thomas Jecks her grandfather. Peter Jecks, Mary’s great grandfather, had not completed the original administration before he died. A daughter of Mary’s, named Mary Lacy, died in Herringfleet, Suffolk in 1761.
PETER (6/12)
The other half of Peter (5/12) Jeckes the elder's surviving family, that relating to his second son Peter (6/12) Jeckes junior, initially centres around Runhall parish. Many entries appear in Runhall’s registers, as noted below. Peter (6/12) had married Muriel Brook of Hardingham by marriage licence in 1690. No fewer than 19 entries of baptism, marriage and burial can be identified in the Runhall registers that relate to the family of Peter and Muriel Jecks.
Norfolk Genealogies, concerning the Stoughton family of Bawdeswell Hall, gives details of some of that family. For one, John Stoughton of Runhall married Muriel, daughter of Peter Jecks of Runhall in January 1721/22, and after John died she married again in 1733 to Henry Spore of Kirby Cane. Muriel Jecks was a first cousin of Peter Jecks, who married a sister of John Stoughton. Furthermore, the Rev James Stoughton, in 1806 married Diana Lloyd, one of the daughters of Elizabeth Jecks, herself the daughter and heir of Thomas Jecks of Bawdeswell Hall.
Peter Jecks (6/12) survived two of his sons, neither of whom left issue. His eldest son, Edward (7/20), died in 1704, aged only eleven. The second son, Peter (7/21), died in 1714, a few months after his 21st birthday. Peter (6/12) himself died in August 1729 aged 71 and by his will made provision for his wife and spread his estate among his two remaining sons, Thomas (7/22) and Robert (7/27), and three surviving daughters.
Peter (6/12) Jecks’s daughter Elizabeth (7/23) never married. A memorial for her has survived the ravages of time in Runhall churchyard and reads: “In memory of Elizabeth, maiden daughter of Peter & Muriel Jeckes, who died Oct 1761.”
Muriel (7/24) Jecks was the cousin of Peter (7/15) Jecks who also married into the Stoughton family. She married John Stoughton, who unfortunately died only eight years later, leaving three children. After three years of widowhood, Muriel married for the second time to Henry Spore, with whom she had another five children between 1734 and 1741. Muriel died in 1786. Muriel’s Stoughton and Spore children received bequests from their uncle Robert, as noted below.
After Peter’s daughter Bridget (7/25) was born and died in 1701, another daughter was born the next year and given the same name, Bridget (7/26). When she married, Bridget’s husband travelled from his to her home parish as demanded by tradition. After their marriage in 1733 at Runhall, the pair returned to his home in Earlham, on the west side of Norwich. They had four children, after which they retired to Buxton (north of Norwich, near Coltishall), where Bridget died in 1769 and Joseph, in 1771.
Runhall All Saints Church
photo: by the author
Signature Thomas Jeckes, 1741
From NRO Marriage License: ANF 12-10-379
THOMAS (7/22) & ROBERT (7/27)
Peter’s (6/12) two surviving sons, Thomas (7/22) and Robert (7/27), each took part in some of the early recorded elections in Norfolk when eligibility to vote was determined by land ownership. In 1734 they both registered and recorded their vote by virtue of residence at Runhall:
Residence Freehold B C W M
Runhall:
Jecks Rob - -
Jecks Tho Hardingham - -
Thomas (7/22) Jecks married Muriel Bayes by license early in December 1741. On the license, Thomas declared both parties came from Runhall. In fact, Muriel Bayes came from Hardingham, where her mother Elizabeth Brooke also originated. Furthermore, Thomas Jecks’ mother was Muriel Brooke, sister to Elizabeth Brooke. So Thomas Jecks and Muriel Bayes were first cousins. And Muriel Brooke, nee Knyvett, the mother of Muriel and Elizabeth Brooke, was the origin of the name “Muriel”, often used in the Jecks family. Thomas alleged that his intended bride was “of the age of thirty years and upwards”. She was in fact, 35, and he was 46. They were married in Norwich and their only child was baptised just over a year later at Runhall:
1743 Elizabeth daughter of Thomas Jecks and Muriel his wife was born 27th February
Within seven years of his marriage, Thomas bought Bawdeswell Hall, a significant landmark in the parish of Bawdeswell, built by the Eglinton family in 1683.
Thomas (7/22) died at Bawdeswell but was removed to Runhall where he was buried:
1761 Thomas Jeckes Gent was brought from Bawdeswell and was buried in woollen at this parish according to Act of Parliament 13 Jan
Thomas left no will, as formally declared by his widow and brother. They were granted probate allowing them to assemble and administer Thomas’s estate. Muriel and Robert (7/27) Jecks both signed the document, and Muriel also had to sign an additional document, which was not part of earlier administrations. She "swore that Thomas Jeckes her late husband late of Bawdeswell died without leaving a will ".
Muriel Jecks (Thomas’s widow) herself died at Sparham, next to Bawdeswell, in 1777. The substantial part of her estate was left to their only daughter Elizabeth (8/3), by then married to Col. Richard Lloyd. Elizabeth brought to their marriage the title to Bawdeswell Hall. They had 11 children between 1766 and 1785.
In 1768, six years after Thomas’s (7/22) demise, his younger brother Robert (7/27) is again recorded in an election, when he was recorded at his residence in Little Brandon, and a voter by virtue of his freehold property at Runhall.
Robert (7/27) never married. Although he made his home elsewhere, Robert Jecks was one of the last of the Jecks family to be buried at Runhall. Both his gravestone and his will describe him as being a "gentleman". Clearly, Robert (7/27) was a local landowner of some wealth, able to help others of the family. In 1752 Robert stood guarantor for a debt of £312 owed by Henry Spore, a brother-in-law.
Like many of the earlier family, he died the owner of several properties – in his case in Runhall, Fundenhall, Hingham and Little Brandon, where he lived. These parishes are around Runhall, although Fundenhall is a little further to the southeast nearer Bunwell and Tharston.
Several of the few readable gravestones remaining at Runhall relate to this part of the family. The name Peter Jeckes is discernable on one stone, but not the details. Another is for "Muriel daughter of John & Muriel Stoughton". A third stone reads "In memory of Elizabeth maiden daughter of Peter & Muriel Jeckes who died Oct 1761".
A fourth stone, quite well preserved, reads "In memory of Robt Jeckes Gent who died Jany 19th 1779 aged 73 years". It must be a reflection of the quality of the stonemasonry that this stone has survived so well for over 200 years. There are other stones in the Runhall Churchyard, which because of their grouping could well relate to the Jecks family, but they are virtually unreadable or have sunk into the ground, or both.
Robert (7/27) died leaving no children of his own, and so left his estate to various nieces and nephews. The main beneficiary was Peter Stoughton, son of his sister Muriel, who was also executor. Peter was obliged to pay cash legacies of £100 each to 11 relatives of the names Jeckes, Spore, Rackham, and Stoughton.
This will, more than anything else, serves to show that there were no male Jecks descendants from the family of Peter (6/12) surviving at Runhall after Robert (7/27) died. This in turn means that there appear to be no Jecks descended from Peter (5/12) Jecks, and that Robert (7/27) was the last known Jecks with property at Runhall, after more than 175 years of continuous presence, begun by Robert (4/1) Jecks the elder in about 1600.
With due deference to his elders, Robert (7/27) also directed his "executor to be at the expense of fixing two gravestones in Runhall Churchyard in memory of my deceased father and mother". The will was signed by Robert Jeckes on the 7th December 1763, a few years after his brother Thomas (7/22) had died.
DANIEL (5/15)
Daniel (5/15), the tenth son of Robert (4/1) married at the age of 44 at Runhall:
1677 August the 23rd day Daniell Jecks and Elizabeth Goward was marid by a lisons
Unfortunately, Daniel (5/15) died at Kimberley only a few years later – in 1682 – according to the Admon issued in that year. Evidently, Daniell's wife survived with their one daughter but no male heirs. However, Elizabeth herself died in 1683 at Kimberley. Her will was dated the second of August 1683.
In those times it was unusual for a woman to make a will without a special reason, such as being left in charge of an estate with no readily available male heir. Elizabeth left a number of small bequests to relatives on both sides of her family, including three Jecks, three Gowards, two Ryders, two Smiths, and one Backher. The remainder of her possessions were left to her only child, Mary (6/13), when she reached the age of 21 or on the day of her marriage. However, if Mary died before benefitting from the residual, then Elizabeth listed six people to share the bequest equally: her brothers George and Richard, her sister Mary (wife of Myles Rider), her kinsman Thomas Jecks, kinswoman Mary Smith, and uncle-in-law Jarnagan Smith.
Mary (6/13) Jecks would have been a child of only four or five years when her mother died. Her mother’s will was proved a month after it was written by Jarnagan Smith, Mary’s uncle-in-law, and her brother Richard Goward. Jarnagan Smith was also charged with the responsibility of taking care of Mary and her education while she was growing up. As yet, we have no further certain information concerning Mary.
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One of the other five sons of Robert (4/1) was William (5/14), born in 1632. In 1643 at the age of 11 he was one of the four sons given an interest in his father’s Norwich properties. He appears to have returned to the old family ground of Carleton Rode, where he died in 1673. Two more sons, Jeremy (5/16), another Jeremy (5/19), and Samuel (5/21) the very last, all died in early childhood. Another son, Isaac (5/17), later lived at Crownthorpe, survived and became the ancestor of the only known Jecks of this part of the family surviving into modern times – see the following Part D.
Seven of Robert’s (4/1) 21 children were daughters.
The eldest was Ann (5/3), who was alive in 1630 when her uncle Richard left her a share of an amount divided between each of Robert’s surviving children at that time, whom Richard listed by name. However, she died and was buried in 1641 at Runhall, and so was not included in Robert’s will of 1642.
Next was Mary (5/4), who was alive in 1630, and also in 1643 when her father died, who left her £60. Furthermore, Mary was remembered in 1664, when the eldest brother, Thomas (5/1) died – she was named as the “widow” Mary Pitcher. Mary had married John Pitcher in 1635 and had at least three children, two in Runhall, and probably a fourth child, Isaac Pitcher. Clearly, however, John Pitcher had died before 1664. As a consequence, Isaac Pitcher was the beneficiary in the wills of some of the Jecks family. Mary Pitcher, nee Jecks, died at Runhall in 1686.
The next three daughters were Susan (5/7), Elizabeth (5/9), and Sarah (5/13). Susan and Elizabeth were both alive in 1630, and so were remembered by their uncle Richard, while another year had yet to pass before Sarah was born. Each of the three was alive in 1643. Their father, Robert (4/1), instructed his widow to pay each of Elizabeth and Sarah the sum of £30 to be given to them at their age of 24. Robert further instructed his eldest son Thomas to pay Susan, already well over 21 years old, £40 at the rate of £10 each year in September for the next four years. No more is known of Susan and Elizabeth.
Sarah Jecks (5/13) married Richard Brown in Runhall in 1654 at the age of 23 ½, just a few months shy of her 24th birthday when she would receive her inheritance. They had seven children over the next 14 years in Runhall. Although no burial entry has been found for Sarah, she may have died soon after the birth in early 1668 of her youngest child, Rebecca. Richard Brown and his apparently new wife of another name baptizes a child in Runhall only three years later.
Robert’s last two daughters were named Rebecca … the first Rebecca (5/18) born in 1638 died in 1639, just 12 months old. The second Rebecca Jecks (5/20) was born only two years before her father died, although Robert did not forget her – she was left £20 to be given to her at the age of 25. Rebecca died in Runhall in 1699, apparently never married.