Melior Joyce, my great (x5) grandmother, was born in Winterborne Houghton in 1731 to George Joyce and an unnamed mother.
The parish records of Winterborne Houghton have not been fully transcribed. Transcriptions exist for baptisms between 1740 and 1837; marriages between 1558 and 1847; and burials between 1700 and 1812. The pedigree for Melior shown here is conjectural and based upon records covered by the transcripts available as of January 2024. A future trip to the Dorset Archives to examine the original Parish Registers might provide further insights into Melior’s pedigree.
The aliases Chalker and Chalcot seem to have been used to differentiate between two branches of the Joyce family. The name Chalker has both occupational and locational origins. Occupationally it was used for a man who was whitewasher. In Dorset and Somerset it was also used for someone who lived on the chalk. Winterborne Houghton is situated in a valley in the chalk downlands of central Dorset and is dotted with chalk pits. Chalcott is Old English for “the cold house” i.e. a house in a cold place. As a name it was given to people whose home was in a cold place such as the windy uplands to be found to the north and south of the village. The two surnames appear in the Parish Registers from Elizabethan times.
George Joyce is a name which recurs over the generations both in the village and in the wider area. The 1641 Protestation return for Winterborne Houghton references a George Joyce Senior as does the Parish Register in 1721 so there were at least two men with that name in Winterborne Houghton at the time.
Melior married the widower William Down in Winterborne Whitchurch on 19th August 1754. A few weeks later Melior, William and his young son, also called William, were in Charlton Marshall. On 22 October 1754 an Order was made for the family to be removed from the Parish of Charlton Marshal to the Parish of Holdenhurst.
Melior and William had several children all of whom were born in Holdenhurst:
- John born 1756, died 1757
- Betty born 1758
- Mary born 1762
- Anne born 1764
- Twins George and John born 1869
- Milyer born 1771, mar. William Ayles 31 May 1789, died after 1806.
- Hannah born 1774
No burial record has been found for Melior.