Waymouth and Weymouth family of England

The Waymouth family origins

There are over 40 different spellings of the name Waymouth or Weymouth. According to the book "The Waymouths - Devon Venturers" by David C R Waymouth, the name is Celtic. It was first reported 130 years before the Norman invasion of 1066. The early Waymouth families lived mainly in the Southern coastal strip of Devon, often called the South Hams. The main towns were Exeter, Totnes, Dartmouth and Plymouth.

The family followed in this website are descendants of John and Ann Waymouth of Maker, on the border of Cornwall and Devon. The first records that we have of John and Ann at Maker are entries in the baptism register of Maker Parish Church as follows:

Elizabeth, daughter of John and Ann Weymouth, 15 October 1758.
Mary, daughter of John and Ann Waymouth, 21 September 1760.
John, son of John and Ann Weymouth, 25 August 1765.

We are not sure of the origins of John and Ann Weymouth. We know their approximate years of birth from their ages at death. Their grave beside the East wall of Maker Church is inscribed:

Here lie deposited the remains of Ann the wife of John Waymouth of this parish who departed this life the 15th day of February 1803 aged 80 years. Also the remains of the said John Waymouth who departed this life the 22nd day of April 1807 aged 81 years.

From the gravestone we calculate that the approximate year of birth of Ann was 1722 and the birth of John was about 1725.

The marriage of John Weymouth and Ann Porter at Dartmouth on 17 Sep 1752 is the most probable answer, but that has to be confirmed.

There might be another clue as to the origins of John and Ann Weymouth. Four years after the entry of the birth of their daughter, Elizabeth, in the Maker Parish registers there were entries for two other Weymouths, possibly sisters:

Baptism of Charles Martin, son of Rebecca Waymouth, 7 Mar 1762
Marriage of Mary Weymouth to Richard Snell, 4 May 1762

On 18 Oct 1767 Rebecca married William Burnerd, a husbandman. The witnesses were Richard Snell and Josias Brown. Richard Snell was probably the husband of Mary. As yet, we do not know the parents or place of birth of Rebecca and Mary.

We do not know where John Waymouth and Ann lived within the parish of Maker. Their son, (who was a cooper) was living at Millbrook when his children were born between 1795 and 1804. Witnesses to Cooper John's will were from Kingsand when the will was signed in 1819. Millbrook is at the head of an inlet of Plymouth Sound opposite Devonport. Nearby on the same inlet is Anderton. David Waymouth, in his book "The Waymouths - Devon Venturers", discusses the possibility that the Waymouth family lived at a house at Anderton. A possible relation, a merchant of Exeter, John Waymouth, sold a house and 18 acres at Anderton in 1788.

For convenience we have distinguished between the John Waymouths in three generations by adding their location or occupation to their names:

John Waymouth (1725-1808) is Maker John. He married Ann
John Waymouth (1765-1826) is Cooper John. He married Mary Penn
John Waymouth (1795-1868) is Timber John. He married Eliza Glanville

Timber John was so named because he was a Timber inspector at Devonport Naval Dockyards in the last part of his career.

Outline family trees that show descendants of the Waymouths of Maker are shown on other pages: Maker John and Cooper John
Timber John
William and Catherine