Robert WELDON was a tailor from Syston, County of Leicester.
He married Anne UGDEN of Barkby Thorpe in Barkby church in September 1709.
They baptized 5 children including twins Anne and Sarah who were buried 6 days after their baptisms. The first of these children was recorded as "Wm WELDING" in October 1710, but with no other "WELDING" baptisms and this being a good fit between marriage and their next child, William is thought to be Robert and Mary's.
The will of Robert WELLDON the Elder, tailor, of 1719 (see below) references Robert as a nephew and his second son Robert as a beneficiary. It also tells us that Robert was also a tailor.
It is possible that Robert's wife Ann nee UGDEN died in 1718 and Robert re-married, but the following events may relate to other WELDONs in Syston:
- An Anne WELDON was buried August 1718. No reference to Robert (or any father, husband or widowhood) suggesting an adult spinster.
- A William WELDON was buried in October 1720, although no reference made to Robert. This may have been Robert's brother or a cousin.
- In the following January (1720/21), Robert married Hannah KILBERT in Syston. Again possibly a cousin, e.g. Robert son of Robert and Eliz BERIDGE born 1696/7.
A possible sixth child, "William WELDING", was baptized by Robert and Anne in March 1720/21. This could be the first child of Robert WELDING and Hannah KILBERT, or perhaps it was a later child for Robert WELDON and Anne UGDEN. The latter scenario would need their first son William to have died before March 1720/21, making the burial of William WELDON in October 1720 more relevant.
Robert made a will of 1740 in which he left a messuage cottage and tenement and some land in Syston to his son Robert, unless his he died without issue in which case his it would be split between his brothers John and William WELDON. Robert's wife Anne got another cottage in Syston which was to pass to son William on her death, together with Robert's remaining land in Syston, which would pass to son Robert on her death. Son William received Robert's "Engen or Frame to Knitt or make Stockings upon with all the Implements and Appurtenances thereto belonging." Sons John and William also received £20 apiece. Everything else went to his wife Anne.
One clue in this will is that second son Robert gets the bulk of the estate (not the first-born William), and his other children are "John and William" in that order. While this is not proof it does suggest that his first son William had died prior to 1720/21 when he baptized a second William.
Unfortunately the will does not clarify whether Ann nee UGDEN had died and Robert had remarried Hannah "Anne" KILBERT and they'd baptized the second William only two months later. This extremely short gap and the use of "Anne" in the baptism rather than "Hannah" used two months earlier makes this scenario less likely.
On balance I believe Robert and Anne WELDON nee UGDEN baptized a second William themselves, and assume that the William WELDON buried in October 1720 was their first son.
Other information:
A Robert WELLDON the Elder, tailor of Syston was buried in Syston in early October 1719. In his will of 1719 he left his land, stock and house to his wife. After her decease he bequeathed 1 1/2 acres of land to his nephew Robert WELLDON, tailor who was to pay £5 to his brother William WELLDON, he gave his dwellinghouse and homestead to his nephew Robert's second son Robert WELLDON (provided he reached 21 years of age). They were to pay his nephew John NOR[TH] 20 shillings. He then left his remaining land to his nephew Thomas FRANK son of Richard FRANK (in consideration of Frank having worked for Robert), out of which £15 must go to Thomas' brother John FRANK and £5 to be shared between his four sisters (Elizabeth RUDKIN, Mary RUDKIN, Anne FRISBY and Jane PEARSON) who also received household items. Richard FRANK had married the testator's sister Anne WELDON in 1677.
The fact that this Robert WELLDON didn't leave anything to his nephew Robert WELDON's first son William suggests that William had either already died or was unlikely to survive into adulthood. That is unless Robert simply wanted to pass his estate to another Robert.
