Gleson/Glisson Family of Brislington

I have heard from Peter Wynn who has published two articles in the Genealogists’ Magazine about his Glisson family of which one is entitled “The Glissons of Bristol & North Somerset: a Family in Decline”. I am pleased to say that Peter found the appearances of the family, as Gleson or Glisson in ‘Brislington Bulletins’ useful. To read more see the indexes and entries in editions 1601-1774, Nos. 2, 3, & 4. It is always gratifying to find that my musings are of help to somebody in their family history research, especially if years afterwards! (The booklets were compiled in the latter decades of the 20th Century.) Peter has very kindly acknowledged my contribution in print in his article in the magazine. The article is incredibly detailed and tells a good story. I am sure he would be happy to supply a full copy to anyone interested.

In the meantime, Peter has sent the following resume:

“I started to investigate my father’s family history about 20 years ago. And managed to make contact with two researchers, one on my grandmother’s side and one on my grandfather’s. The former told me that her mother had said that my grandfather’s family had Dutch connections. That was news to me, and I put it to one side as likely to be a misunderstanding. The other contact sent me a GED file that suggested my 4 x great grandparents were William Wynn and Sylvia Gusson who had married at Loxton in 1803. The 1851 census showed them as living in Christon, with Sylvia listed as Silvestra and William shown as a pauper aged 73. I was not able to find Silvia Gusson on any sources.

A family of little significance I thought. How wrong I was! Eventually visiting the Somerset Record Office, I found that Sylvia’s surname was actually Glisson, baptised at Loxton in 1778 with parents Henry Hebdon Glisson and his wife Mary. Armed with the Glisson name I was able to work back through the registers at the record office to find the 1729 marriage at Kewstoke of Mr William Glisson of St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol and Mrs Silvestra Hebdon of Loxton, the use of Mr and Mrs prefixes indicating families of some influence. The Heralds’ Visitations of Somerset and Dorset 1623 indicated that the Glisson family were important within Bristol. It was time for me to start investigating the parish registers, Apprenticeship and Burgess documents at Bristol Records Office.
I cannot now recall how I first became aware of Pat’s ‘Brislington Bulletins’, but I looked at the paper copies at Bristol Central Library. They provided a framework around which I could fit my subsequent research which I have published in two articles in Genealogists’ Magazine, one dealing with the Dorset branch, including the famous physician, Francis Glisson, and one with my own North Somerset branch.

Turning now to Silvestra Hebdon: she was descended from Sir John Hebdon’s son, Richard, and his wife, Silvester nee Baynham. Sir John was a merchant in Russia. Records show him being paid out of both the Russian and English Secret Service budgets. Silvester Baynham was daughter of Theophilus Baynham, a Royalist Merchant in the Netherlands, who drowned in a canal in Rotterdam, possibly with the aid of a shove by Parliamentarians. He was born in Yate. His mother was Sylvester Bourne, a great niece of the last Roman Catholic Bishop of Bath and Wells. I have also published two articles on the Baynhams and one on the Hebdons in Genealogists’ Magazine. The unusual female use of the forename Silvester has been very useful in tracing the family back to Silvester (nee Carter), wife of John Tybolde, who was steward to Anne Boleyn’s father.

So quite different to what I expected from investigating my pauper ancestry and there was final Dutch connection after all!”

As a bonus it was interesting for me to see the surname “Baynham” which makes me suspect Theophilus may have been a connection of Sir Baynham Throckmorton who makes a brief appearance in a recent blog. He too was a Royalist and was once the leaseholder of Kingswood Chase, and the immediate predecessor to Francis Creswicke.

By the way, I am the “Pat” mentioned above. I have played about with my given names for years, not being partial to either. You may find me as Doreen, Pat or Patricia, as well as D.P. Sorry for the confusion. They are all me!