An extract taken from “Lincolnshire Notes & Queries”, Some 14th Century Lincolnshire is the earliest (known to-date!) reference to the Loke (Lock) name I have come across so far.
Roger Locke of Gretford, Lincolnshire is shown in the book “English Church Furniture, Ornaments and Decorations, At the Period of the Reformation. As Exhibited in a list of the goods destroyed in certain Lincolnshire Churches, A.D. 1566.”, as a signatory to the inventory of the church of Gretford during the reformation. The inventory is dated 1565, and the entry would indicate Roger Locke was a church warden. The earliest Parish Record to show a Roger Locke is a baptism for Roger’s daughter Mary dated 31 May 1566. Details from Roger Locke’s will (dated 1568) shows he had three children, Mary and two sons Edmund and Henry. The will also shows he was married to Jane, although no record for a marriage can be found.
Edmund Locke and Henry Locke are also mentioned in the will of Adlard Locke (a copy can be seen by clicking Will of Adlard Lock) of Dyke although there is nothing to indicate Edmund and Henry menitoned in Adlards will are the sons of Roger Locke, it has to be assumed they are one and the same. This would also indicate a relationship between the Locke’s of Gretford and the Locke’s indicated in Adlard’s will from Dyke and surrounding areas. The best possibility is Edmund and Henry are either cousins or nephews to Adlard Locke of Dyke, the strongest possibility is they are cousins, with Roger Locke’s will dated 1568 and Adlard Locke’s will dated 1587 some twenty years between the two, although not conclusive but the strongest possibility of any relationship between Roger and Adlard is that of Uncle and Nephew.
Another “early” Lock is Robert Lock buried 23 July 1593 at Careby, the records show he was married to Brydygt Weden on the 28 October 1588 at Careby; Brydygt Lock married Robert Andro on 21 Nov 1594 at Careby. Robert and Brydygt Lock are shown to have had two daughters Issabel, baptised 25 September 1589 and Susan baptised 15 September 1592 both at Careby. There is a record for a burial of Issabel Lock at Exton, Rutland on 18 August 1640, if this is the same Issabel it would indicate she died a spinster. As stated Robert was buried in 1593 but no baptism can be found but working on the assumption he married Brydygt at around about twenty years old this could give a date of birth around 1565. As Robert Locke is NOT mentioned in the will of Roger Locke it would indicate no direct relationship exists, i.e. father and son but due to the proximity of Roger Locke being from Gretford and Robert Locke being from Careby some form of relationship could be assumed i.e. as with Roger and Adlard Uncle and nephew being a strong possibility.
Adlard Locke of Dyke is shown in the Bourne Registers 1562-1650 as being buried on the 22nd December 1587, it’s not indicated exactly where he is buried. Adlards will is dated 1587 in which he mentions numerous people as well as Edmund and Henry Locke, he mentions Thomas Locke, Saunders Locke, John Locke, William Foldington and others. The only relationship he mentions is “my brother” John Locke. The mention of William Foldington is also of interest as this would also indicate a relationship to an Ellinor Locke. Again in the Bourne Registers 1562-1650 an entry shows Ellinor Locke married William Foldington on 24th Oct 1577. Any relationship between Adlard and Ellinor is unclear but given that Adlard mentions William Foldington in his will the possibility is Adlard and Ellionor are brother and sister. An interesting point regarding Ellinor Locke is that the registers show she marries William Foldington on 24th October 1577 there is then an entry for a marriage of Ellinor Foldington marrying a John Pell on 21st January 1577/78. This raises the question as to is this the same Ellinor, first marrying William Foldington then marrying John Pell, the one thing about this is timing with only three months between both marriages, finding William Foldington’s burial in the registers would clarify this.Adlard Locke’s will does not show any wife or children and from bequests would indicate he was a farmer of some kind or other.
A will for a John Locke formerly of the Deepings shows he has a wife Issabel. Although there are no other indicators it’s a strong assumption that this is the will of Adlard Locke’s brother John.
Another assumption that could be made is that the Thomas Locke mentioned in Adlards will is the same Thomas Locke from Moulton, Lincolnshire, no baptism date or marriage can be found for Thomas. Going through the registers there is a strong link between the Locke’s of Bourne and the surrounding area, Moulton and even through to the Locke’s of Ryhall going through some three hundred years only ending with the death Alexander Locke and William Locke in the 1850’s. Alexander Locke of Ryhall being buried at the church in Moulton, while his brother William Locke of Moulton is buried at Ryhall.
Thomas Locke from Moulton had a son Ralphe Locke, baptised Apr 1596 at Moulton nr Spalding, who in turn was married to a Repentance (H)Inman on 8 June 1618. Going through various records the “proper” name of Ralphe can only be guessed at as there are various spellings used including Rodi, Rodulphi, Rodus and Ralphe, the discrepancies of Christian name can only be put down to who ever filled the parish registers in and the information they given or interpreted at the time. For the purposes of this work I will use the name Ralphe. The Moulton Parish Registers show Ralphe and Repentance Locke had at least seven children, Anne 1620, Alicia 1623, Thomas 1626, John 1629, Rodus 1633, Robertus 1641 and Matthew.
The Moulton Registers also show a marriage for Emma Locke to Willm Rawlings on the 25 Oct 1598 no link between Emma and Thomas Locke can be established as yet but if you take the date Emma married 1598 and the baptism date of Thomas’ son Ralphe 1596 this could indicate a relationship possibly brother and sister.
One stage further in the Moulton Registers gives marriages for the children of Ralphe (b.1596) and Repentance Locke as follows, Alicia Locke (b.1623) married Gulilemus Harber on the 1 February 1665, a second marriage for Alicia followed to John Prest on the 12 April 1675. Thomas Locke (b.1626) married Mary Waters on the 8 May 1654, at Whaplode, Thomas and Mary then in turn had a son also Thomas Locke (bap. 21 Dec 1655).
Another of the “early” Locke’s recorded is that of Alexander Locke from Thurlby By Bourne with records showing he was buried 4 June 1598 at Thurlby by Bourne again no baptism or marriage can be found to give any indication of age when he was buried.Using the following link to search for Alexander Locke:
Gives the following results:
Name: James Locke; Gender: Male; Christening Date: 21 Sep 1594; Christening Place: Thurlby near Bourne, Lincoln, England; Father’s Name: Alexander Locke;Name: Johan Locke; Gender: Male; Christening Date: 21 Sep 1594; Christening Place: Thurlby near Bourne, Lincoln, England; Father’s Name: Alexander LockeThe above two are batched as follows:Indexing Project (Batch) Number: C03247-1; System Origin: England-ODM; GS Film number: 508062, 508102
Name: Elen Locke; Gender: Female; Christening Date: 28 Sep 1590; Christening Place: Thurlby (near Bourn), Lincoln, England; Father’s Name: Alexander LockeName: James Locke; Gender: Male; Christening Date: 06 Sep 1594; Christening Place: Thurlby (near Bourn), Lincoln, England; Father’s Name: Alexander LockeThe above two are batched as follows:Indexing Project (Batch) Number: C03247-3; System Origin: England-EASy; GS Film number: 1450476; Reference ID: item 3
Although not easy to read this does not correspond to the actual parish records for Thurlby By Bourne they read as follows:
Baptised in Ano dm 1594:James Locke son of Alexander Locke Baptised the xx(??) day of SeptemberJohan Locke daughter of the sayd James Locke Baptised the xx(??) day of December.(Exact dates are difficult to determine)
Buried in Ano dm 1595:Johan Locke daughter to Alexander Locke Buryed the 25 Apr 1595
My interpretation of this would be that James Locke was baptised as an adult at the same time as his daughter Johan, the record definitely states Johan daughter of James Locke, however there is a burial record for “a” Johan Locke daughter to Alexander Locke in 1595. For this to be true it would mean Alexander had a daughter Johan, no baptism found as yet, a son James and a daughter Elen. James then went on to have a daughter named Johan. Either way it means the records on the FamilySearch website have either be transcribed incorrectly or are just plain wrong. The parish records for Johan in both cases clearly state “Daughter” and the date for baptism is xx(??) day of December. They also clearly show two records for Johan, the baptism record shows father as James and the burial record shows father as Alexander. The record for James Locke baptised on the 6 September 1594, is just a wrong date. Elen Locke’s entry would appear to be correct but would lead to the conclusion that she was not the eldest child of Alexander Locke as previously thought but James was and if he was baptised an adult he would be around twenty years older than previously thought making him born around 1574. That being the case there is nothing to suggest any age for Elen when she was baptised.The only direct link that can be positively made between these “early” Locke’s is that of Adlard and John Locke as previously mentioned Adlard states “my brother” John Locke in his will. With no indication of any baptisms for the early Locke’s Roger, Robert, Adlard, John, or Alexander it’s not possible to say how old any of these were when they died or if they are related.
But it is possible to assume they are all related and even brothers, if for arguments sake you say Roger Locke was 33 years old when he died his will is dated 1568. Next Robert buried in 1593 possible age of 58 yrs. Adlard buried 1587 possible age of 52 yrs. Alexander buried 1598 possible age 63. John’s will dated 1616 possible age 81. If you take all these dates and possible ages they give a year of birth for each of 1535, if you stretch this for a period of say 1530-1540 it has to be possible that they are siblings this could even be argued if you add, Ellinor, Thomas and Saunders Locke into the equation. Seven siblings over a 10 year period is not uncommon, and given the proximity of known places i.e. Greatford, Careby, The Deepings, Thurlby by Bourne and Dyke places where each are known to have been buried not baptised it would not be too much to suggest a relationship of some kind.
Wayne and Sandra's Family History 