Woodgate
The Woodgate family is associated with my Streatfield family from Chiddingstone, Kent
See the Woodgate Family Tree
Robert Streatfeild of Cransted (1608 – 1654) married Sarah Woodgate (1615 – 1681), daughter of William Woodgate and Joanna Combridge in 1636. There are, in fact several instances of a marriage between Streatfield and Woodgate amongst these ancestors. I have attempted to trace Sarah’s ancestry and some of her Woodgate descendants with the help of the sources stated below.
The Woodgate family can be traced back into the 1370 in Penshurst 1,2
John Woodgate of Penshurst born abt 1365 and married Joan Darkynall, the daughter of Sir Walter Darkynall of Penshurst and Agnes Slighter, in 1386 at Penshurst 2. They had two sons; John of Chiddingstone and William of Edenbridge born about 1494 and 1396. Both of these sons had sons called John and all four served with Jack Cade 1 , the leader of the Rebellion against Henry VI in 1450. They marched on London and on 4th June 1450 delivered a 12 -point list of demands which included the lowering of taxes and free elections. However, Cade’s demands were not met and he was eventually arrested.
John Woodgate of Chiddingstone born abt 1420, son of John, married Margaret in 1445 at Chiddingstone 2 and they had four children 1:
William Woodgate b abt 1450, married Mary ? d abt 1520 John Woodgate b abt 1450 m Thomasin Wickenden d 1520? Alexandra Woodgate b abt 1459 m William Potkyn of Sevenoaks d 6.12.1501 Sevenoaks Walter Woodgate of Penshurst b abt 1455 m Julian d 1535 Penshurst
William Woodgate held lands in the manor of Chiddingstone Burgersh. He and his wife Mary had at least two sons:
William Woodgate b abt 1475 d 1540 will
Thomas Woodgate of Truggers b abt 1520 m 1539 to Elizabeth Knapp bur 8.2.1566 Chiddingstone (will dated 20.1.1565)
William was the Steward of lands of the Duke of Buckingham, which included Penshurst Place and Tonbridge Castle. He received £7 11/- per year for keeping Penshurst Manor and Parks alone. William left a will dated 28th February, 1540 in which he leaves his estate to his three children John, Christoper and Joan 1.
His brother Thomas Woodgate, a clothier of Truggers at Chiddingtone married Elizabeth Knapp, daughter of John Knapp in 1539. They had four children;
Peter Woodgate of Truggers b 1540 m 16.11.1652 to Joanna Bassett Thomas Woodgate of Watstock b ? m 1566 to Albia bur 23.7.1577 William Woodgate b abt 1549 Chiddingstone d Oct 1570 Daniel Woodgate b? d 1584
Thomas purchased Truggers at Rendsley Heath in 1544. This included about 50 acres of land. He died in 1566 and was buried on 8th February. He left a will dated 20th January, 1565 in which he left Truggers to his eldest son Peter and a property in Rendsley to his third son William 1.
The eldest son Peter Woodgate of Truggers married Joanna Bassett, daughter of John Bassett on 16th November, 1652 and they had seven children. In 1570 he was described as a clothier as was his father 3 . This family went on to build a great house at Summerhill near Trowbridge.
Walter Woodgate (of Truggers) b abt 1563
Thomas Woodgate (of Watstock) bp 15.1.1569 Chiddingstone
bur 3.1.1648
William Woodgate bp 18.2.1574/5 Chiddingstone m 5.10.1602 to Joanna Combridge bur 27.8.1638 Chiddingstone
John Woodgate bp 22.3.1578
Henry Woodgate bp 20.8.1800 Alice Woodgate bp 14.7.1585 Joseph Woodgate bp 30.3.1589
Peter’s third son William born in 1575 married Joanna Combridge, daughter of Andrew Combridge, on 5th October, 1602 at Chiddingstone. They had six children:
Andrew Woodgate bp 13.11.1603, d ? Thomas Woodgate b 1610, d 1617 Chiddingstone
John Woodgate bp 4.3.1611/2 Chiddingstone m 27.6.1637 Tonbridge to Sarah Streatfield 4 bur 1.7.1643 Chiddingstone Sarah Woodgate bp 13.3.1615 Chiddingstone m 1636 to Robert Streatfield d 1681 Thomas Woodgate bp 9.6.1617 Chiddingstone Andrew Woodgate bp 23.6.1619 Chiddingstone
William died in 1638 and was buried on 27th August at Chiddingstone. His will was dated 13th August, 1638 and in it he left small legacy to his grandson William Streatfield.
His son John Woodgate of Stonewall was his sole executor and received the residue of his estate. John married Sarah Streatfeild, daughter of Robert Streatfield of Chested and Susan Everest on 27th May, 1602 at Tonbridge. While his sister Sarah Woodgate, born in 1615 married Sarah’s brother Robert Streatfield, the son of Robert Streatfield and Susan Everest in 1636. See the Streatfield family.
John and Sarah had three children:
Sarah Woodgate bp 15.10.1637 Chiddingstone 4 m 11.6.1663 to John Ashdowne of Rendsley Heath William Woodgate bp 26.8.1638 Chiddingstone m 1663 to Alice Streatfield John Woodgate bp 12.8.1641 Chiddingstone m Elizabeth Beecher
John Woodgate died in 1643 and was buried on 1st July at Chiddingstone. His widow Sarah married John Ashdowne of Hever on 3rd March, 1647. They had a daughter Sarah Ashdowne baptised on 24th March, 1648 who married Henry Streatfield of High Street House, on 22nd February, 1665. Sarah died in 1686 and was buried at Hever 1, p.27.
John and Sarah’s eldest son William Woodgate married Alice Streatfeild, daughter of Richard Streatfeild and Ann Terry of Chiddingstone in 1663. He became High Sheriff of Kent in 1699. They had four children 1:
John Woodgate bp 13.9.1664 Chiddingstone m 18.1.1693 Penshurst to Rose Birsty bur 21.8.1727 Chiddingstone William Woodgate b 1666 Chiddingstone bur 13.3.1718 Henry Woodgate b 1668 Thomas Woodgate b 1670
John Woodgate of Stonewall and Summerhill, was born in 1664.
Summerhill (Somerhill), Tonbridge ©Tonbridgehistory.org.uk
He married Rose Birsty, daughter of Francis Birsty of Hever on 18th January, 1693 at Penshurst 1. This marriage came with a considerable dowry with includes Stonewall.
John had already inherited Chested from his great uncle Richard Streatfield. He ended up with a large amount of real estate.
He had 13 children, all baptised at Penshurst up until Ann in 1711 1:
William Woodgate bp 11.6.1695 Penshurst Sarah Woodgate b 3.10.1696, bp 22.10.1696 Penshurst d 1761 Alice Woodgate b 30.12.1697, bp 29.1.1698 Penshurst m to Arthur Children (of Riverhill) will 1768 John Woodgate b 4.8.1699, bp 22.8.1699 Penshurst bur 17.4.1700 Henry Woodgate bp 27.3.1701 Penshurst, d 1.12.1787, bur 8.12.1787 Tonbridge
Rose Woodgate b 13.11.1702, bp 19.11.1702 Penshurst m to George Swayne Thomas Woodgate bp 18.11.1704 Penshurst bur 1705
Rev Francis Woodgate bp 25.12.1706 Penshurst m 12.9.1734 to Mary Thompson d 10.5.1790 Tonbridge Elizabeth Woodgate bp 8.3.1708 Penshurst bur 5.11.1766 Ann Woodgate bp 21.5.1711 Penshurst bur 21.9.1792 John Woodgate bp 20.12.1712 Chiddingstone bur 20.3.1770 Penshurst Stephen Woodgate bp 21.5.1716 Tonbridge bur 7.8.1716 Mary Woodgate b May 1718 Tonbridge bur 25.10.1718
In 1712 John went to Tonbridge and bought Summerhill House (now known as Somerhill) 5 . He died on 17th August, 1727 aged 68 and was buried in Chiddingstone on 21st August. There is a marble tablet on the north wall of the church dedicated to him 1. He left a will dated 28th March, 1727 in which he mentions daughters Sarah, Alice, Rose, Elizabeth and Ann ogether with sons William , Henry, Francis and John. We also know from this will that he had a sister Sarah [Durrant] and a brother Stephen 1.
His eldest son William, was his sole executer and received all lands in Chiddingstone and Penshurst plus Stonewall. John’s second son Henry inherited Summerhill Manor. His fifth son Francis inherited Howgreen and lands in Hever and Brasted.
William Woodgate, the eldest son of John and Rose was baptised on 11th June, 1695 at Penshurst 1. He inherited the ancient family seat of Stonewall from his father in 1727. He remained unmarried and died intestate in 1743 and was buried at Chiddingstone on 18th August.
On 17th September, 1743 his brother Henry inherited William’s lands at Stonewall to add to his Summerhill inheritance. Henry lived at Summerhill with his three unmarried sisters Ann, Elizabeth and Susan. Henry was also childless and made his nephew William Woodgate, born in 1743, his heir. William was the son of his brother Rev Francis Woodgate of Mountfield, Sussex. 1,5. [Amongst the the Rev Francis’ 11 children was his youngest son Henry Woodgate, born in 1747 who became owner of Riverhill at Sevenoaks, originally owned by the Children family].
William Francis Woodgate 1770-1828 ©Tonbridgehistory.org.uk
William married Frances Hooker, daughter of John Hooker of Tonbridge Castle, on 30th March, 1769. He bought a new house (built by his brother-in-law Thomas Hooker) attached to Tonbridge Castle in 1793 for his son William Francis Woodgate born in 1770 5 .
William died on 28th May, 1809 and was buried on 3rd June 1. His son William Francis then moved to Somerhill and made improvements to it. In 1794, when he was just 24 years old, William Francis commanded a troop of about 55 cavalry volunteers, as part of the West Kent Yeomanry, who were raised from among local inhabitants. His father had been one of three founders of the Tonbridge Bank in 1792 but in 1816 the Bank failed, and William Francis was forced to sell Somerhill 5.
Walter Woodgate born about 1460, the youngest son of John Woodgate and Margaret of Chiddingstone, married Julian. They settled in Penshurst, at least by 1513 when he was listed as one of the 14 inhabitants for the subsidy. He and Julian had five sons 1:
Edward Woodgate b abt 1484 Penshurst m1 ? to Bridget Downes? m2 ? to Alice Rivers d 28.1.1575, bur East Peckham
Walter Woodgate b ? m to Joan Bassett
John Woodgate of Penshurst living 1546 Reynold Woodgate b ? died by 1584 Peter Woodgate of Hawkhurst b ? d 1581
Edward Woodgate was born abt 1484 in Penshurst. He was living in Chiddingstone in 1543 and in Penshurst from 1544 to 1566 1. According to the Pedigree 1, he first married Bridget in 1512 at Penshurst and that she was the mother of his first six children. She died in 1560 and was buried in Penshurst on 23rd July [“Bridget, wife of Edward Woodgate”] 4 , 6. Edward would have been about 76 by this time. He then married Alice Rivers, the daughter of Richard Rivers and Alice (brother of Sir John Rivers and sister of Joan? who married Robert Streatfield). She was born about 1546 so would have been younger than his first four children. Edward and Alice then had at least nine more children up until at least 1572 when he would have been 88 years old!. Edward died in 1575. However, there is also some confusion as it is also stated that John Woodgate of Benchley for example, Edward’s second son was the son “of Edward Woodgate of Penshurst and Alice Rivers his wife” 1, p.588. Therefore, not son of Edward and Bridget?
In any case, Edward with Bridget and Alice had at least 15 children in total 1:
with Bridget:
Edward Woodgate b abt 1514 m to Elizabeth Ackworth d by 1589 John Woodgate of Brenchley b abt 1520 d 1591 Walter Woodgate b 1518 Penshurst m to Ann Mills bur 18.2.1619 Thomas Woodgate of Penshurst b 1526 m to Alice d 1619 Hadlow
William Woodgate bp 26.7.1558 Penshurst, bur 21.8.1558 Penshurst 6
Benjamin Woodgate bp 25.7.1560 Penshurst
With Alice: William Woodgate bp 13.12.1562 Penshurst bur 25.12.1562 Penshurst
George Woodgate bp 4.3.1564 Penshurst bur 1.4.1564 Penshurst Mary Woodgate bp 24.11.1566 Penshurst Susannah Woodgate bp 20.3.1568 Penshurst Peter Woodgate bp 15.6.1570 Penshurst bur 3.7.1571 Penshurst Edward Woodgate bp 11.6.1572 Penshurst William Woodgate b ? (under 16 in 1575) Margaret Woodgate b ?(mentioned in will of 1575) Ann Woodgate b ?(mentioned in will of 1575)
Edward died in 1575 and was buried at East Peckham on 28th January. His will was dated 28th January, 15741 . He left his lands at East Peckham to his son John (whose descendants were the Woodgates of Brenchly) , the residue of his goods and chattels to his son Thomas and his lands at Penshurst to his son Walter (the Woodgates of Penshurst), who resided there.
Walter and Thomas were both left a black coat by their uncle Sir John Rivers in his will of 1583.
1 History of the Woodgates of Stonewall Park and of Summerhill in Kent, and their connections – Gordon Woodgate, 1909 (pedigree page 20)
2 Michael Jefferies family History
4 baptisms, marriages and burials from ancestry.co.uk
5 Woodgates of Tonbridge from Tonbridge History
6 Penshurst baptisms, marriages and burials