John Byatt and Sarah Poulter

St Mary the Virgin Elsenham - East end
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © John Salmon - geograph.org.uk/p/3285903

John Byatt (bap. 30 Sep 1753 in Elsenham, Essex), son of Edward Byart and Ann Brown, married Sarah Pewter (sic) (bap. 4 Apr 1754 at St Mary's Church, Ware, Hertfordshire) daughter of George Poulter and Grace Calvert, at St Mary's Church, Elsenham, Essex on 17 Nov 1775. Various records spell his surname as Byart or Biatt and one erroneously calls him James, but Byatt becomes consistent and all other records are for John. The original of Sarah's baptism record reads Powtor, but was transcribed Pewter. In many previous generations of her ancestors the name was consistently spelt Poulter.

John and Sarah had ten children, baptised at St Mary's Church, Elsenham:

1. William Byat (sic) bap. 21 Apr 1776
2. John Byatt bap. 3 May 1778
3. James Byat (sic) bap. 15 Mar 1780
4. Elizabeth Byatt bap. 10 Dec 1782 and again on 6 Mar 1783 (There isn't time for this to have been a different child, so the most likely explanation is if the first is a private baptism at home and a second one - although not strictly necessary - took place in the church.)
5. Mary Byatt bap. 17 Jul 1785
6. Susan Byatt bap. 23 Nov 1788 (Died/buried 31 Dec 1788)
7. George Byatt bap. 28 Feb 1790
8. Thomas Byatt bap. 26 Aug 1792
9. Samuel Byatt bap. 3 Jul 1796 (Buried 8 May 1797) The baptism, as Sal, specifies the sex as male. On the burial, the child is described as a daughter. We may have found our first transgender relative.
10. Joseph Byatt bap. 25 May 1800 

Sarah Byatt died, at 69, and was buried on 8 Feb 1824, in Elsenham.

Not yet been able to identify a death or burial for John Byatt.

George Poulter and Grace Calvert

Photo © John Salmon (cc-by-sa/2.0)

St Michael, Bishop's Stortford, Tuesday, 9 August, 2011

Photo available for reuse under this Creative Commons licence.

George Powter (sic) (bap. 30 Oct 1730 at St Michael's Church, Bishop's Stortford), son of John Poulter, Bricklayer, and Elizabeth Nicholls, married Grace Calvert (bap. 12 Jan 1730 Julian calendar, 1731 on the Gregorian calendar, at St Mary's, Standon, Hertfordshire), daughter of Samuel Calvert and Martha Faircloth, at St Michael, Bishop's Stortford on 6 Aug 1753.

On George's baptism, his and his parents' surname was spelled Powlter; he married as Powter, but on his burial record, he was listed as Poulter. The last of these seems like the most reasonable option and is the consistent spelling of the name in previous generations. Grace was baptised with the surname Colver, as was her sister Martha, but her brother was baptised Samuel Culver. Upon marriage her surname is listed as Calvert, and in 1765, both Grace, his daughter and George, his son-in-law, were beneficiaries to the will of Samuel Calvert. Clearly these were written as each clerk imagined upon hearing.

On 1 Jul 1745, when he will have been about 15, George Powter, son of John Powter, was apprenticed to Master Crips Northage of Bishop's Stortford, as a Pattenmaker, then, a skilled craftsman making patten shoes (outdoor clogs or overshoes to raise feet out of the mud ... and horse poo). 

George and Grace had seven children:

1. Sarah Powtor (sic) (reads as Powtor, transcribed as Pewter) bap. 4 Apr 1754 at St Mary's Church, Ware, Hertfordshire
2. George Poulter bap. 19 Jun 1757 at St. Cecilia, Little Hadham
3. Samuel Pewter (sic) bap. 7 Dec 1760 in Little Hadham
4. Martha Pewter (sic) bap. 25 Sep 1763 in Little Hadham
5. Edward Powtor (sic) (again, reads as Powtor, but has been transcribed as Pewter) bap. 21 Sep 1766 in Little Hadham
6. John Pewter (sic) (this time, reads as Pewtor, but has been transcribed as Pewter) bap. 6 May 1769 in Little Hadham
7. Mary Pewter or Pauter (sic) (original record reads as Pauter and transcribed as both) bap. 15 Aug 1773 in Little Hadham

As we can see, they were still having immense trouble with the surname, but all are clearly listed as the children of George and Grace.

George Poulter was buried at St. Cecilia, Little Hadham on 26 Dec 1779.

Grace Powter, aged 80, was buried in Standon, Hertfordshire on 26 Jun 1810. Whilst it's tempting to imagine she had merely been sent back to be buried in her parish of birth, son George was then living in Standon.