As you leave Stratton in north Cornwall and drive south, the ground rises quite steeply before falling again to cross the line of the old Bude–Holsworthy canal. At the top of the rise is a junction with a turning west for Bude. This area is called Hill Head.
John Yeo was buried in the churchyard at Stratton in 1691. The entry in the parish register reads ‘John Yeo of Hillhead, husband of Martha’ – the extra details distinguish him from other men in the parish of the same name. In his will, written a month before his death, John named his daughter Elizabeth as his executor, but she was still a minor (under 21) when John died and could not act as executor, so the will failed probate. Martha was granted administration of his estate.
John’s parents were Bernard Yeo and Emmet Thorne of Stratton. No record of his marriage to Martha has been found, but a licence for them to marry was issued at Exeter on 7 March 1667/8, in which her surname was written as Hambling (it has also been recorded as Hambley and Humbley).
John and Martha’s seven children were baptised at Stratton:
– John Yeo (baptised 1668)
– Philip Yeo (see below)
– Robert Yeo (see Robert Yeo and Rose Cory)
– Mary Yeo (baptised 1673, married Stephen Call)
– Martha Yeo (baptised 1675, died as a child)
– Elizabeth Yeo (baptised 1678)
– Emling Yeo (baptised c1680).
Martha survived John, and married William Orchard at Stratton in 1696.
Philip Yeo (baptised 1670 at Stratton, son of John and Martha Yeo) married Margaret Bond (also recorded as Margaret Bonet) at North Tamerton in 1704 [note 1]. Their twelve children were baptised in the same parish:
– Rose Yeo (baptised 1704, died as an infant)
– Philip Yeo (baptised 1705, married Elizabeth Hopgood at Kilkhampton in 1730, three children) [note 2]
– Richard Yeo (baptised 1707) [note 3]
– Rose Yeo (baptised 1709, died as an infant)
– Rose Yeo (1710–1721)
– John Yeo (see below)
– Symon Yeo (1715–1739)
– Robert Yeo (see Robert Yeo and Elizabeth Elliot)
– William Yeo (see William Yeo and Bridget Rundle)
– Samuel Yeo (see Samuel Yeo and Elizabeth Johns)
– Peter Yeo (baptised 1727, died as an infant)
– Peter Yeo (baptised 1728, married Ann Ivemay at St Mary Magdalene, Launceston on 29 January 1748/9 [note 4], six children including Simon Yeo).
John Yeo (baptised 1712 at Stratton, son of Philip Yeo and Margaret Bond) married twice. He married Elizabeth Rodd at Alwington in 1738; they had three children:
– Mary Yeo (baptised 1738 at at St Andrew, Plymouth)
– Margaret Yeo (baptised 1741 at Stoke Damerel)
– Philip Yeo (baptised 1743 at Stoke Damerel) [note 2]
after Elizabeth’s death [note 5], John married Elizabeth Hawke at Bodmin in 1750; they baptised nine children at Stoke Damerel:
– Elizabeth Yeo (baptised 1752)
– Simon Yeo (baptised 1754)
– George Yeo (baptised 1755, died as a child)
– Joseph Yeo (baptised 1757)
– Mary Yeo (baptised 1757)
– Rose Yeo (baptised 1759)
– Abraham Yeo (baptised 1762, married Elizabeth Soper at Stoke Damerel in 1791, no recorded children)
– Sarah Yeo (baptised 1762)
– George Yeo (baptised 1764)
John’s second wife Elizabeth survived him, and married John Hazell at East Stonehouse in 1773.
Please use the Contact Us page if you can add anything to these lines or are a descendant.
Sheila referred to John as a cordwainer, the occupation of his brother Walter Yeo of Stratton, but there is no evidence for this. He is described elsewhere as a butcher but the evidence for this also appears to be lacking. John’s brother Walter had a grandson Richard Yeo who married Katherine Prout in 1745 and has a line of descent in Ontario from Richard Yeo and Rosina Victor, documented by Alan Richards
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Notes
1. Jean Ajin has traced her line of descent through John and Martha’s son Philip Yeo, who married Margaret Bond at North Tamerton in 1704. Tanya Kloessel, with Sheila’s help, found that she too is descended from Philip, as are former Conservative MP Tim Yeo and his son Jonathan Yeo, an accomplished portrait painter.
2. The Philip Yeo who married Catharine Bagland at Parkham in 1766 might have been a son of Philip or of his brother John. The evidence is inconclusive, and it is possible that there is no link.
3. Possibly the father of the Richard Yeo who married Grace Symons at Launcells in 1753.
4. For double-dated years see Dates before 1751.
5. Buried at Stoke Damerel in 1749.