John ALSTON of Pavenham BDF [15900]

  General Notes:

John's birth and baptism record has been checked in the Felmersham Register it reads quite clearly: "John Alston the son of John Alston gentleman and Anne his wife 31st of December 1673: Was baptised & born ye 29th Dec aforegoing at 3 oclock in the morning"
April 2013.

Apprenticeship Indenture.
John Alfton the son of John Alfton of Pavenham in the County of Bedfordshire doth put himfelf apprentice to John Seer citizen & Barber Surgeon of London to learn his art: and with him to ferve from the date of thefe prefents until the full end and term of Seven years from thence next following to be fully compleat and ended. . . . . . etc
Dated 1 November 1698 His Admission published 4 Feb 1706/07.
Ref: London, England, Freedom of the City Admission Papers, 1681-1925 Ancestry London Metropolitan Archive; Reference Number: COL/CHD/FR/02/0230-0235. Document: ELJL/230/24

John was a legatee under the Will of his cousin John Alston [3080] dated 20 Jan 1704/05 proved Feb 1705

Marriage Licence Application
Die 14 Sept A.D. 1707
Then appeared personally John Alston of St Mildred, Poultry in ye city of London. Bachelor aged twenty & three years alleged ye he intends to marry with Elizabeth Shone of ye parish of St Dunstan in ye wall's spinster aged twenty & three years and at her own consent He not knowing nor believing any Lawful Lett or Impediment by reason of any Precontracts Consanguinity Affinity or otherwise, to hinder ye said intended marriage Of ye truth of all which he then made Oath & Subjected Himself praying licence for them to be married in ye parish church of St Botolph without Aldgate London
Surety. Jn Alston John Alston
. . . . .
. . . . .
Ref: London Marriage Bonds & Allegations.

Marriage Bond & Allegation (first section in Latin)
Know all men by these presents, Johannes Alfton ye Par St Mildred & Poultry in Civit London Perriwig maker et Abraham Bush ye Par St Dunstan in ye Walls Merchant 14 September 1707 . . . . . the above bounden John Alston & Elizabeth Shone . . . . . etc
See image

London Metropolitan Archive 2013
"We then found a marriage of a John Alston on 14 September 1707 at St Botolph Aldgate. In the marriage register the bride's name is omitted, but as St Botolph Aldgate was a popular choice for marriage by licence we checked the bishop of London's marriage licence records (also on Ancestry). A marriage licence allegation (or application) and bond survive for this marriage; the parties were John Alston of St Mildred Poultry, 23, a periwig maker, and Elizabeth Shone, 23, of St Dunstan in the East."

John appears to have lived in Basinghall Street 1708/09/10 a street parallel to Coleman Street, his residence in Basinghall St became over time the Gresham lecture room and library, which is now buried under the Guildhall London Ref: M Terbrack data from tax records. 2013

The researcher E L Fenn has taken the view that John was buried on the 12 Feb 1710/11 in the churchyard of St Mary Colechurch City LND

Will of John Alston Barber/Surgeon of London
20 Jan 1710
In the name of God Amen I John Alstone citizen and Barber-Chyrurgeon of London being weak of Body, but of Sound and perfect Mind Memory and Understanding, Praised bee Almighty God for the Same, Doe make this my last Will and Testament in Manner and form following IMPRIMIS I Commend my Soul into the Hands of Almighty God who Gave it, Hoping through the Meritts Death and Passion of my Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to have full and free pardon and fforgivenef of all my Sins And to Inheritt Everlasting Life, And my Body I commit to the Earth, to bee decently buried at the discretion of my Executrix herein after named And as Touching the dispofition of all such Temporal Estate as it hath pleased Almighty God to Bestow upon me, I Give and dispose thereof as followeth. First I Will That all my Debts and Funeral Charges shall be paid and discharged.
Item I give devise and Bequeath all the Rest and Residue of my Estate whatsoever and wheresoever unto my dear and loving wife Elizabeth Alstone And I doe hereby make Ordain Constitute and Appoint her my said wife my full and solo Executrix of this my Last Will and Testament And I doe hereby revoke disanull and make void all former Wills and Testament's by me heretofore made. In Wittnesse Whereof I the said John Alstone to this my Last Will and Testament I have Sett my hand and Seale the Twentieth Day of January In the Ninth Yeare of the Raigne of Our Sovereign Lady Anne by the Grace of God of Great Britaine Ffrance and Ireland Queene Defender of the ffaith &c Annogue Domini 1710.
John Alston¹ (seal²)
Signed Sealed Published and Declared by the above named John Alstone the Testator for and as his Last Will and Testament in the presence of us whose names are hereunder written.
George Ratcliffe
Robt Dodge
Robt Young
Proved by Elizabeth Alstone 19 February 1710.
¹ John Alston signs clearly Alston inspite of the Will spelling his name Alstone
² The seal shows clearly the 10 stars of the Alston Crest

  Research Notes:

John has been widely thought in the United States of America to be one and the same as John Alston of North Carolina [543]. This is completely incorrect, for more details refer John Alston [543]

The London Metropolitan Archives advises regarding John Alston's apprenticeship:
"We checked the records of the Barber-Surgeons' Company regarding the apprenticeship of the younger John Alston (born 1673) to John Seer. These confirm the apprenticeship of John Alston to John Seer, and also record his admission to the freedom of the Company on 4 February 1706 (copies enclosed).
A further search of the freedom admission register showed a John Seares [sic] admitted to the freedom of the Barber-Surgeons' Company on 6 September 1698 following apprenticeship to Nicholas Wilcox. We could not find any references to a John Seer, so this may be the man. It is not possible to find out if there was any reason why John Alston served his apprenticeship with John Seer, as the Company records do not record this sort of information."

Concerning the writing on the bottom of John's Apprenticeship Indenture the London Metropolitan Archive further advises:
"With regards to the hand written words at the bottom of the apprenticeship indenture, the left hand side is in Latin and we believe it is a standard phrase along the lines of 'presented at the date and time of George Minnikin' (Master of the Barber Surgeons' Company in 1698) and the right hand side of the page reads 'being first stampt w[i]th a double six penny stamp according to the Act of
Parliam[en]t." "The blue stamps show Stamp Duty has been paid."

2013
The researcher E L Fenn has been searching for a marriage for John & Elizabeth Alston. While the evidence as to John's birth, apprenticeship in London, and Will is sound, his marriage details have inconsistencies which put it in the category of unproven. These are his age given on his application for a Licence to marry, and to a lesser extent his description as a Periwig maker on the same licence.
Apart from entry errors by a Church clerk age entries on Marriage Licence's vary widely in their accuracy it is also quite likely John's training as a Barber/Surgeon enabled him to make a wig (peruke).
For further background: http://www.historiccoventry.co.uk/1605/main/surgery.php

John Alston of Pavenham
Forrest King (fkroots@yahoo.com) provides the following comments:
Some have argued that this John Alston is the same John Alston who came to Chowan, North Carolina about 1711 and left a will dated 20 Feb 1755 and recorded 2 Dec 1758 and had a wife named Mary at the time of his death. As one can see from the document provided by Mr. Fenn, this John Alston of Pavenham left a will dated 20 Jan 1710 and could not be the John Alston who went to North Carolina. There are other supporting documents as well documenting John Alston of Pavenham.
Furthermore, some have stated that this John Alston of North Carolina married Mary Clark in the Colony of North Carolina. This could not have happened for two reasons. First, probably one half of John's children were born before 1711 which means he was in North Carolina much earlier than any previous record shows or his children were born in England before coming to North Carolina. Second and more importantly, William Perry Johnson, editor of the "Journal of North Carolina Genealogy, " published an article in Volume XI, number 3, pp. 1527-1530, (Fall 1965) showing that Mary Clark could not have been the wife of John Alston.
2014.

  Other Records

1. Apprtenticeship Indenture, 1 Nov 1698.

2. Marriage Licence, 14 Dec 1707.

3. John Alston's Will, 20 Jan 1709/10.

4. Apprenticeship bindings book: John Alston to John Seer.

5. Barbers Company Freedom of City of London, Admissions Book 4 Feb 1706.

6. Marriage Allegations: Alston - Shone.

7. Marriage: John Alston & Elizabeth Shone, 14 Sep 1707, St Botolph without Aldersgate LND.

8. Alston Seal on John Alston's Will.

9. Probate of John Alston's Will: dorse.

10. John Alston Burial, 12 Feb 1709/10, St Mary Colechurch City LND.

11. Baptism John Alston: Felmersham, 31 Dec 1763.

John married Elizabeth SHONE [14159] [MRIN: 2229], daughter of Thomas SHONE [18729] and Catherine [18730], on 14 Sep 1707 in St Botolph without Aldersgate LND. (Elizabeth SHONE [14159] was baptised on 17 Jul 1685 in Burstow SRY and was buried on 21 Dec 1740 in Pavenham BDF.)