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John TRANT



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Name John TRANT Relationship with Teresa Ann GOATHAM Born Est 1715 - Estimate from dates of children's baptisms
Gender Male Occupation 1749 Sherford, Devon, England Carpenter - There is a reference to a John Trant, a carpenter of Sherford, in a Quarter Sessions document. (DHC ref. QS/4/1749/Easter/RE/53 - so far I have only seen the catalogue entry, not the document itself).
I think this John is the only one who could have been working in Sherford at this time, and the baptisms of his children suggest the family moved to Sherford Parish between 1746 and 1752.
Occupation 1769 Sherford, Devon, England Carpenter and Cooper - In 1769 the tax was paid on an apprentices indenture, showing a Robert Pearse was an apprentice to 'John Trant & Son', who were described as 'Carpenters & Coopers'.
Died Abt Oct 1781 Sherford, Devon, England - (assumed from burial)
Buried 7 Oct 1781 St. Martin’s Church, Sherford, Devon, England - John and Dorothy not only had children baptised in Sherford but were living in Sherford when their infant son James was buried their in 1759, so I guess that this was John's burial.
Siblings
1 brother Notes - I think that the John who married Elizabeth Foal was probably the so named son of John and Dorothy - see my research notes on son William's page for reason I think he was a brother of that John. John (and Elizabeth nee Foal) had a grandson and gt grandson Philip Trant. Philip was an unusual name at this time, so this may suggest that this John was closely related to the Philip who married Sarah in West Alvington in 1741 they could have been brothers. And / or Philip may go back much further as a Trant family name.
If I am right that John and Philip were brothers:
1. Did the two brothers move to the South Hams from elsewhere?
OR
2. Had the family been around longer - probably not a lot longer, due to the lack of 'stray' events, but they could have been baptised in East Allington, a neighbouring parish of Sherford, and not far from either South Pool or West Alvington, or possibly they were baptised in Malborough - a neighbouring parish of West Alvington, and, across water, meets South Pool at a point.
At the time of writing although PRs for most parishes in the area have been digitalised and indexed on FMP, unfortunately East Allington have withheld permission, and Malborough have yet to be added, hence if the family had been in the area longer these are the most likely parishes. They may well also be Sherford events missing, as the PRs only survive from 1714, although it is probable that John and Philip's parents were still alive at this time and no burials of potential parents have been found.
Where were the Trants before they were in this area?
The FMP index shows that there were Trants in Dawlish. Strangely, there is just one baptism, although a number of marriages, and quite a few burials. I think the most likely explanation is that the children were being baptised in a non-conformist church, but subsequently that the male lines failed. Or moved away. Did John and Philip, or their father, move from Dawlish?
I have heard that the Trants are supposed to have moved to Devon from Ireland. This seems quite possible, they are found near the coast of Devon and there were regularly Irish seafarers to be found in the area.
Unfortunately I was sent an article about this in my early days of having a home computer, and like so many failed to keep backups at that time, and lost the contact and article in a computer crash. - (Research):Researching TRANT: this name seems unusually consistent in spelling, although I'm sure other versions have been used at times.
However, it is prown to mistranscribing.
Two particular names may be found -
'Frant', where the T combined with the start of the r creat the appearance of an F;
'Traut', where the letters u and n were indistinguishable, as they often were (or the transcriber hadn't looked hard enough at the particular hand)
I have not submitted corrections for the above as I'm not sure that I could justify my reading other than by study of the families / names occuring in the area.
One clear error is in the DFHS transcription of a Trant in Staverton as a Grant. But in their copy of this data FMP didn't offer a correction link!
Possibly Trant event - excluded:
Charleton burial (m/f 3) "William Trant(?) was buried April the 22" (under heading 'Anno Domini 1684')
Seeing this on the clearer digital image now on FMP I think this is Trut. Although not a Charleton name, there were plenty of events for the name Trute (presumably what became Trout) in the neighbouring parish of Stokenham at this time, so I think this was a stray Trout not an early Trant.
Person ID I840 All | Teresa's direct ancestors Last Modified 23 Nov 2023
Family ID F10287 Family Group Page | Family Chart
Family Dorothy SYMONS, b. 10 Mar 1717/18, Blackawton, Devon, England , d. Sep 1766, Sherford, Devon, England
(Age 48 years)
Married 22 Jan 1740/41 St. Andrew’s Church, East Allington, Devon, England - From transcribed data on South Hams website (viewed 12 Mar 2016)
Shown as 1741 and says date converted to NS.
Assuming this is correct it is unlikely the John Trant baptised in 1740 was the son of this couple, unless an error was made in when he was baptised.
Children
9 children Last Modified 13 Mar 2016 Family ID F640 Family Group Page | Family Chart
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Event Map Click to hide Child - John TRANT - 28 Nov 1740 - St. Andrew’s Church, East Allington, Devon, England Married - 22 Jan 1740/41 - St. Andrew’s Church, East Allington, Devon, England Child - William TRANT - Abt 1746 - South Pool, Devon, England Occupation - Carpenter - 1749 - Sherford, Devon, England Child - Philip TRANT - 26 Mar 1749 - St. Martin’s Church, Sherford, Devon, England Occupation - Carpenter and Cooper - 1769 - Sherford, Devon, England Died - Abt Oct 1781 - Sherford, Devon, England Buried - 7 Oct 1781 - St. Martin’s Church, Sherford, Devon, England = Link to Google Earth (if installed; see link below to install)
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