Last Will & Testament
of Thomas Lees the Elder 		A NNE DITHERIDGE first appeared in the parish records of St. Bartholomew, Wednesbury, Staffordshire, England in February 1768 when she brought for baptism her two illegitemate sons, John and Joseph. It is assumed that they were twins, but the record says nothing on that account nor does it record any ages for the boys, presumed infants. Nothing else is known about Anne before this time. She does not appear among the miscellaneous records at Wednesbury as might be expected for a woman in these circumstances: not among the parish Overseer's accounts, or the Bastardy Bonds, or among the Settlement Certificates. However, an interesting Examination can be found among the records pertaining to the Poor Laws of England that begs further investigation:
 
Examination of Joseph Ditheridge, taken 4 July 1781 before E. Best:
County of Stafford}   Joseph Ditheridge now residing in the Parish of Wednesbury in the said County under a Certificate from the Parish of Cannock in the said County maketh Oath, that on a Whitsun Sunday about thirty five years agoe he was married at a Place called Wirley Bank in the said County by a man who lived then at Wirley aforesaid, and who was named or usually called Abednego Meredith, to his present Wife Elizabeth Ditheridge, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Wilkinson, and that the said marriage ceremony was performed by the said Abednego Meredith in the presence of William Ditheridge, Father to this Deponent, and in the presence of a woman who was unkown to this Deponent.
The mark of Joseph X Ditheridge

     Banns of marriage between Thomas Lees and Anne Ditheridge, both of the Parish of Wednesbury, were published on the 22nd and 29th of May and on the 5th of June 1768; and the couple were married in the Parish Church of St. Bartholomew, Wednesbury by banns, on 12 June 1768.
     Thomas Lees was a Coach, Step, and Iron Harness maker in General and was the only one of such occupation listed on the 1783 directory for Wednesbury. He was also listed as a Gun-lock maker. Nothing is known of his parentage either; though, the name Lees appears in the records of St. Bartholomew's into the 17th century, no candidate baptism can be found for Thomas. He made his will 24 November 1803 with a codicil erected 6 June 1806. In it one finds:
  ...I give and bequeth all and every my shop tools unto Joseph Lees, otherwise Didderidge of Wednesbury aforesaid Coachsmith son of my wife Ann Lees and my children Enoch Lees and Thomas Lees the younger and by codicil my daughter Mary Kendrick wife of John Kendrick of Wednesbury aforesaid farmer equally to be divided between them share and share alike ...
  ... and it is my will and desire and I do hereby direct and require that the said Joseph Lees, otherwise Didderidge, and Thoma Lees the younger who are now in partnership with me in the trade or business of a Coachsmith, shall and to carry on use follow and exercise said trade of a Coachsmith in partnership to and for their mutual benefit and advantage from the time of my decease ...

  Thomas was interred in the parish churchyard 14 August 1806.
Children of Anne Ditheridge :
  1. JOHN LEES was baptized John Ditheridge, illegitemate son of Anne, 14 February 1768 at the Parish Church of St. Bartholomew, Wednesbury. He was not mentioned in the will of his father Thomas Lees but was, nevertheless, mentioned prominently in his brother Enoch's will of 1807: "... John Lees, otherwise Didderidge of the City of London, Plater, who is a son of my Mother born before her marriage." John appears to have died before 18 August 1826 when brother Thomas Lees the younger made his will.
     
      Children:   DIANA;   MARY, married ----- Carters before August 1826.
     
  2. JOSEPH LEES was baptized Joseph Ditheridge, illegitemate son of Anne, 14 February 1768 at the Parish Church of St. Bartholomew, Wednesbury. He married SUSANNAH SMALL 5 July 1789 and died 14 April 1820 at Wednesbury.
Children of Anne Ditheridge and Thomas Lees :
  1. ENOCH LEES was baptized 10 September 1770 at the Parish Church of St. Bartholomew, Wednesbury. His marriage to Elizabeth Ashmore on 26 August 1792 at Wednesbury was witnessed by his sister Mary. Enoch, a Victualler at the time of his death, made his will, with codicil, 18 April 1807 naming his wife Elizabeth and brother Thomas Lees executors. He died not long afterward and was buried in the parish churchyard 30 August 1807. By the time his will was filed at the Bishop's Consistory Court of Lichfield, Elizabeth had remarried one ----- Beddow. Enoch and Elizabeth appear to have had no children, although Enoch fathered a female child, born 13 November 1792, by Abigale Norton and was ordered to pay 1 shilling weekly to the Church Wardens and Overseers of the Poor "for and towards keeping, sustentation and maintenance" of the child "for and during so long Time as the child remains chargeable to the Parish of Wednesbury. Abigale was ordered to contribute sixpence weekly toward the same.
     
  2. CHILD LEES ? born about 1772.
     
  3. MARY LEES was baptized 24 May 1774 at the Parish Church of St. Bartholomew, Wednesbury and married firstly at West Bromwich, 30 May 1798, John Kendrick, farmer, in the presence of Thomas and Joseph Lees. John was buried at Wednesbury 15 July 1809 and Mary died sometime after 1827.
     
      Children:   JOSEPH, baptized 30 July 1801;   WILLIAM, baptized 5 December 1803;   ISAIAH, baptized 26 July 1806;   MARY, baptized 1 May 1808; all at Wednesbury. All but Isaiah were listed in the estate records of uncle Thomas Lees (1827). William became a partner with his cousin David Lees in the coachsmith firm of Thomas Lees & Company.
     
      Mary married secondly at West Bromwich, 4 July 1811, William Walton of Wednesbury, in the presence of Thomas and Elizabeth Lees.
     
      Children:   THOMAS;   ELIZABETH; both were listed in the estate record of uncle Thomas Lees.
     
  4. THOMAS LEES was baptized 28 July 1776 at the Parish Church of St. Bartholomew, Wednesbury. A Thomas Lees of Wednesbury married by license, 30 January 1799, Elizabeth Smith of West Bromwich in the presence of Samuel Yardley and Mary Kendrick. By the time of his death on 30 April 1827, Thomas had an estate valued near £14,000. Estates of this size were often handled by the Prerogative Court of Canterbury rather than the subsidiary Consistory Court at Lichfield. He was a Coachsmith who with his brother Joseph succeeded their father in the family business. He had also inherited property from his brother Enoch. The records for the disposition of Thomas' estate give an extensive listing of the Lees family. Elizabeth was born about 1780 and it appears they had no children.
     
  5. CHILD LEES ? born about 1778.
     
  6. BENJAMIN LEES was baptized 11 March 1781 at the Parish Church of St. Bartholomew, Wednesbury and was buried at Wednesbury 27 May 1781










DESCENT FROM ANNE DITHERIDGE:

VIII  
VII  
VI  
V  
IV  
III  
II  
I  
Ann Ditheridge. married Thomas Lees
Joseph Lees married Susannah Small.
David Lees married Elizabeth Beddow.
Elizabeth Lees. married Richard Davis
Mary Lees Davis married Walter William Whitehouse.
Horace Whitehouse married Emma Rempfer.
Philip Krein Whitehouse married Barbara Anne Lightner.
Paul Lightner Whitehouse married Barbara Lynn Giles.




   
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