, dated 2 October 1762, was made when she was in Wingham, but she was "of Frinsted" when the will was proved on 23 August 1774.
She named her daughter Sarah Baker as her executrix.
She was buried at Wingham on 14 July 1774.
This is very much a work in progress. Edward Baker married Margaret Castell, née Woodcock in 1822. He was 56, she was 38, widowed, with a nine-year-old illegitimate daughter, who subsequently married Thomas Pettman. Edward was a customs officer, but also an undischarged bankrupt. His story is still being unravelled!
Edward's grandparents were Edward Baker of Wingham and Mary Bing of Wickhambreaux, Kent. Edward was born in 1667 or 1668. He married Mary in Canterbury Cathedral on 23 March 1716/7 shortly before the birth of their son, Thomas, in 1718.
Mary was the sister of John Bing, and daughter of Henry Bing of Wickhambreaux. Henry Bing had inherited the manor of Witherling, in the parish of Molash, through his wife Mary, née Thatcher, from his father-in-law, Thomas Thatcher, who had bought it in the reign of Charles II. Henry sold the manor to Edward as part of the marriage settlement, and it later passed to Edward's four sons, who sold it around 1771.
According to the records of St John's College, Cambridge, Edward was a maltster.
Edward died in 1751. His headstone, south of Wingham parish church, is decorated with a cherub’s head, book and crown at the top. It reads Here lieth the body of Edward BAKER who died ye 11th day of June in the year of our lord 1751 aged 83 years, and his burial is recorded as 15 July (perhaps a transcription error).
Mary's will, dated 2 October 1762, was made when she was in Wingham, but she was "of Frinsted" when the will was proved on 23 August 1774.
She named her daughter Sarah Baker as her executrix.
She was buried at Wingham on 14 July 1774.
Edward and Mary had at least eleven children, among whom were four sons who survived him:
1 THOMAS BAKER (1718-1779), baptized at Wingham on 13 February 1717/8. He attended school in Canterbury, and was admitted to St John's College, Cambridge as a pensioner on 12 May 1736, aged 19. He gained the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1740, and was ordained deacon at Bangor on 21 September 1740. He was priested at Canterbury on 14 March 1741/2, and served a curacy for a time in his home parish of Wingham. He became Rector of Frimstead (now Frinsted) in Kent and was inducted on 1 April 1748. (The Bing and Thatcher families owned considerable property in Frinsted, and Thomas' grandfather, Henry Bing, was patron of the living.) He married Elizabeth Wright of Snave. The licence, dated 2 October 1752, stipulated that the marriage should take place at Snave, St Martin's or All Saints, Canterbury, or at the cathedral. Thomas also became Vicar of Detling on 6 March 1764.
It seems that Thomas' mother also moved to Frinsted some time between 1762 and 1774. Thomas' wife, Elizabeth died and Thomas married again, to Mary Grayling on 22 September 1777. Thomas died some sixteen months later and was buried at Frinsted (late Rector of this parish) on 1 February 1779.
Thomas and Elizabeth had at least eight children, all baptized at Frinsted:
1.1 JOHN WRIGHT BAKER (1754-1780?), known as Righty, born on 12 March 1754 and baptized on 25 March. He had gone to Bengal and died there around 1780.
1.2 HENRY BAKER (1755-18??), born on 8 September 1755 and baptized on 28 September. On 17 January 1770 he was apprenticed to William Elliott of the Upholders' Company. Evidence was given in the Chancery proceedings that he had been born around 1750. He had left home around the time of his father's remarriage. Around 1801 he had called at the house of a farmer in Frinsted, one John Hudson, "in a deplorable stage seeking charitable relief." The court agreed that by 1830 he was probably dead.
1.3 CHARLOTTE BAKER (1756-1757), also called Elizabeth, born on 21 August and baptized on 19 September 1756. She was buried on 12 April 1757.
1.4 BENJAMIN BAKER (1758-17??), born on 3 January 1758 and baptized on 22 January.
1.5 GEORGE BAKER (1758-1759), born on 20 November 1758 and baptized on 14 December. He was buried on 14 May 1759.
1.6 THOMAS BAKER (1760-1760), born on 4 January 1760 and baptized on 29 January. He was buried on 22 February 1760.
1.7 ELIZABETH CHARLOTTE BAKER (1761-17??), born on 24 August 1761 and baptized on 10 September.
1.8 MARY SOPHIA BAKER (1763-17??), born on 27 January 1763 and baptized on 21 February.
1.9 ELIZABETH BAKER (1777-18??), baptized on 26 June 1777, before her mother's marriage.
1.10 THOMAS THATCHER BAKER (1778-18??), baptized on 9 October 1778. The Thatcher and Bing families were prominent Frinsted landowners. He became foreman of the carpenters at the Custom House in Tooley Street, London. He features in the Chancery proceedings subsequent upon his cousin Edward's bankruptcy, and also in a criminal trial, R v Thomas Hurley (11 January 1827) where he gave evidence that he was in charge of the Custom House yard where Hurley stole two hundredweight of iron. Hurley was sentenced to be publicly whipped.
2 EDWARD BAKER (17??-1719), buried at Wingham on 29 September 1719.
3 EDWARD BAKER (1720-??), baptized at Wingham on 15 September 1720.
4 HENRY BAKER (1723-??), baptized at Wingham on 15 February 1722/3. On 30 June 1763, he married Mary Hogben by licence. The witnesses were Solomon Sprat and John Oldfield.
They had four children, all baptized in Wingham.
4.1 DAVID BAKER (176?-1766), buried at Wingham on 25 June 1766.
4.2 HENRY BAKER (1765-??), baptized at Wingham on 24 February 1765.
4.3 EDWARD BAKER (1766-1826), baptized at Wingham on 13 April 1766. He is the subject of this page.
4.4 BING BAKER (1767-1825), baptized at Wingham on 26 October 1767. He was of Fenchurch Buildings in the City of London in 1810. He died on 8 May 1825.
5 JOHN BAKER (1725-1730), baptized at Wingham on 11 May 1725. He died young, and was buried on 27 October 1730.
6 MARY BAKER (1727-??), baptized at Wingham on 11 October 1727.
7 ELIZABETH BAKER (1730-??), baptized at Wingham on 2 February 1729/30.
8 JANE BAKER (1732-1733), baptized at Wingham on 10 July 1732, and dying in infancy. She was buried on 4 May 1733.
9 GRACE BAKER (1735-??), baptized at Wingham on 12 March 1734/5.
10 BING BAKER (1737-??), baptized at Wingham on 29 August 1737. He is listed in Bailey's British Directory of 1784 in Faversham as a grocer, food and drinks supplier, tallow chandler and dealer in soap, candles, glue, etc. He married Francis Perkins of Faversham by licence on 5 January 1774.
11 JOHN BAKER (1740-1740), baptized at Wingham on 2 April 1740. He died and was buried on 15 June the same year.
A member of this second generation was also closely related. THOMAS BAKER lived in Chalk with his wife Mary. He was a farmer. He and their daughter Esther feature in the Chancery proceedings. Thomas Baker had married Mary Rose, the daughter of John Rose, at St Mary Magdalen, Bermondsey, Surrey, by licence on 14 February 1774. Their issue seem to have been:
0.1 MARY BAKER (1774-1844), baptized on 22 November 1774 at Chalk. She married John Swift Saxelbye at Chalk on 29 January 1810. She died on 27 April 1844, aged 69.
0.2 THOMAS BAKER (1775-1794), baptized on 13 December 1775 at Chalk. He was apprenticed on 6 September 1781 to John Rose, junior, of the Carmen's Company. He died on 30 July 1794, aged 18.
0.3 ANN BAKER (1777-??), baptized on 9 June 1777 at Chalk. She married John Stevens on 29 November 1800 at Chalk, and helped him in the setting up of the ill-fated brewery which features in the third part of this account.
0.4 ELIZABETH BAKER (1778-1830), baptized on 8 July 1778 at Chalk. She died on 1 October 1830.
0.5 ESTHER BAKER (1779-1845), baptized on 30 September 1779 at Chalk. She was one of the creditors of the bankrupt partnership which was the subject of the legal case referred to later. She died on 6 April 1845.
0.6 JOHN ROSE BAKER (1780-1847), baptized on 8 September 1780 at Chalk. He married Sophia Oakes, perhaps connected to the complainant in the Chancery case. They had sons William, Edward, George and seven daughters. John was a farmer in Chalk. He died on 20 August 1847. Sophia moved to Bath, with children George, Eliza and Marianna and was there in 1851. In 1871, Sophia was living with her daughter, Marian, in Bath - her son-in-law was a clergyman. She died the next year, aged 89.
0.7 EDWARD BAKER (1781-1783), baptized on 28 October 1781 at Chalk.
0.8 WILLIAM HOLDER BAKER (1782-??), baptized on 1 December 1782 at Chalk.
0.9 CHARLOTTE BAKER (1784-1799), born in 1784 at Chalk. She died on 13 October 1799.
0.10 SARAH BAKER (1786-??), baptized on 1 January 1786 at Chalk.
0.11 SOPHIA BAKER (1787-??), baptized on 25 March 1787 at Chalk.
0.12 BING BAKER (1789-1790), baptized on 29 March 1789 at Chalk. He died in infancy.
0.13 EDWARD BAKER (1788-1788), baptized on 28 March 1788 at Chalk. He died in infancy.
0.14 EDWARD BAKER (1790-??), baptized on 9 May 1790 at Chalk. He died in infancy.
0.15 MATILDA BAKER (1792-??), baptized on 12 March 1792 at Chalk.
As his headstone confirms, Edward Baker was born in 1766 in Wingham. He served as a customs officer from the age of 20.
In 1803, he was witness at Margaret Woodcock's marriage to Thomas Castell, and his relationship with Margaret deepened over the years.
He is listed as a Customs Officer in Sandwich in Holden's Directory for 1811. Between July and October 1812, he moved to a large house, with a rental value of 6/5, with a stable and garden (both with a rateable value of 1/-) next to the Customs storehouse in Strand Street, Sandwich. William Woodcock (earlier given as Lieutenant Woodcock) lived nearby, and so did William Pettman, the deputy controller of Customs.
In 1813, he was clerk to the Collector of Customs in Sandwich, Isaac Slaughter. He received a salary of £100 p.a. Isaac Slaughter was paid £300 p.a. Interestingly the Comptroller that year was a Frederick Pettman (who received £225.) There was also a Tide Surveyor, Coast Waiter and Landing Searcher, a Joseph Cocking, who earned £150 p.a.
Prior to 1813, the Collector's clerk is not listed by name. In 1808 and 1811, Isaac Slaughter was paid an additional £2/10/- per quarter "for a clerk". (Isaac was paid £15 per quarter, and William Pittman (sic) was paid £2/10/- as deputy controller. In 1813, salaries appear to have been adjusted to five or tenfold what they were.)
On 24 July 1822 Edward Baker married Margaret Castell by licence. He is described as a bachelor, and she as a widow. She had a nine-year-old daughter, also Margaret Castell.
Edward's wife Margaret had been born Margaret Woodcock.
She had been christened on 18 March 1784 at St Peter's, Sandwich, the daughter of Francis Woodcock and Mary, née Graham.
On 2 May 1803, she had married Thomas Castell, the son of William Castell of St John the Baptist, Margate.
The wedding had taken place at St Peter's, Sandwich.
Thomas' father, William Castell, had made his will in 1807, but on 17 August 1815 had added a codicil:
Whereas since the date and execution of my will before written and bearing date the fourth day of April 1807 my son Thomas Castell has been for a considerable time in His Majesty's service and absent from this kingdom and during this time the wife of the said Thomas Castell cohabited with another man and has been delivered of a child
Now I do by this codicil to my will direct and declare that neither such child nor any other child which may be born to the Wife of the said Thomas Castell unless they shall hereafter habit together as Man and wife ... shall take any interest in or benefit under my said Will.
The will was proved on 29 October 1816.
By 1833, Margaret's father, Francis Woodcock, had died. Her mother made her will on 7 January 1833, and after her death in 1835 her property was divided among her son, Thomas Graham Woodcock, her daughter Mary Andrews, wife of John Andrews ("an inspecting commander in His Majesty's Customs"), her daughter Harriet Chard, wife of Edward Chard ("of Clifford's Inn, Navy Agent"), and her granddaughter Margaret Pettman, wife of Thomas Pettman ("of Ramsgate, Music Master"). There was no bequest to Margaret Baker herself because she was involved in the law suit that resulted from Edward's death as an undischarged bankrupt.
By Lady Day 1826, the Customs Office had moved to Ramsgate.
William Stiles Roe had just been appointed Collector from 6 February.
Edward was still clerk, and Frederick Pettman had been reappointed Comptroller (after being suspended in 1823).
Joseph Cocking was Landing Searcher, at £150 p.a., and Horace Frisby was paid £100 p.a. as Tide Surveyor.
On 4 August 1826, Edward Baker 'gentleman of Ramsgate' made his will.
He left his estate to his "dear wife Margaret", and to Richard Harrison of Sandwich, and after her death in trust "into the proper hands of Margaret Castell spinster aged thirteen years or thereabouts the child of my said wife who now resides with me."
Edward died on 20 September 1826 and was buried at St Clement's, Sandwich a week later.
His gravestone (which we know from his wife's accounts, preserved because of Chancery proceedings, cost £14/10/8) reads:
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to the memory of Edward Baker who died at Ramsgate on the 20th September 1826 aged 60 years ...illegible... this last 40 of which had been devoted to the ...illegible... Also of Margaret wife of the above who died 10th April 1868 aged 81 years ...illegible... the power of God | 
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The Customs Pay Book records that his estate was paid £19/16/4 to 20 September.
His will was proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury on 7 November 1826.
The estate was valued for Death Duty at under £1500.
It consisted of his house and furniture, plate, linen, pictures, prints and books.
The Estate Duty register notes that the estate reverted to Margaret, the daughter.
Edward was replaced as clerk by Polling Smithett (who was appointed on 23 November 1826 and who by 1840 had moved to Dover).
Edward's relation Ann Baker married a John Stevens, and Edward and John were partners in a brewery, the Star Brewhouse, in Whitcomb Street (which runs from Leicester Square down to Trafalgar Square). More finance was provided by Edward's brother, Bing, and some other family members.
For some four years all went well.
But in 1810, the brewery fell on hard times, and was unable to pay its corn bill.
So Edward and John went bankrupt.
Stevens, Baker and Co. had also accepted bills to the value of £400, on which they defaulted.
In addition, the business had borrowed £1950 by a bond given to Bing Baker on 18 January 1809, and £270/10/- was owed to Esther Baker, spinster of Chalk in Kent.
Proceedings were launched in the Court of Bankruptcy on 10 April 1810, and two days later John Stevens and Edward Baker were declared bankrupt.
On 28 April Bing was assigned to administer the business with the aim of repaying the creditors, but the business never paid its debts.
But what was far more interesting were the details of the bankruptcy proceedings, all the records of which have survived. This is piece B3/4483 in the National Archives, and makes fascinating reading, especially the accounts of how both John Stevens and Edward Baker concealed themselves from their creditors. Charles Cole, the corn dealer, had called on Stevens at the brewery and was assured by a servant, Samuel Hogben, that he was not there, "although the said John Stevens was at home concealed." Edward had come up from Sandwich and told friends he was absenting himself. He went and hid in an inn, the Three Nuns in Aldgate High Street. Another creditor, John Wright, a hatter of Leadenhall Street, came to the inn, but Edward had given instructions to a waiter, Jonas Grout, that his whereabouts were not to be revealed.
The bankruptcy records include minute lists of Edward's possessions in 1810 - a list of all his books, for example, which show him as widely read.
There was apparently a certain amount of deviousness about the original bankruptcy. Brother Bing managed to pick up the brewing copper for a song, and there were queries about the freehold and leasehold of a couple of adjoining properties - in particular a freehold dwelling house at 15 St Martin's Street. Bing also failed to produce any accounts for the creditors.
Edward seems to have managed to lead a normal life down in Sandwich. He had a half-share in a sloop, the Grand Falconer of Margate, together with Thomas Castell. Some time between 1803 and 1813, Thomas Castell bought him out for £600. This sale was never registered, and Edward failed to pass the proceeds to his creditors. When Thomas Castell died in 1816, his son paid Edward an additional £200
Bing Baker died on 8 May 1825, and Edward Baker died bankrupt on 20 September 1826. Bing had no male heirs, and Margaret Baker and Richard Harrison entered into possession of Edward's estate on 7 November 1826.
So in 1829, the new administrators of the business published a notice in the London Gazette inviting the other creditors to join them in an action in Chancery to recover various sums and property they claimed had been concealed or unlawfully disposed of.
A meeting was held at the Bankruptcy Court on 28 January, and as a result a case was begun in Chancery between David Oakes of Oxenden Street, St Martin in the Fields, Coal Merchant, and Thomas Hunt of Hanwell, Victualler on the one hand, and Margaret Baker and Richard Harrison, Edward's heirs, together with Thomas Thatcher Baker and the 15-year-old Margaret Castell.
In the nature of things, the complainants and the defendants told different stories. There appear to have been two cases, both of which were won by the petitioners, with costs. Final judgment was given on 28 July 1832, but the case dragged on until 1837 with wrangling over costs and the extent to which assets could be attached. Some interesting facts came to light - Margaret Baker's accounts, for example, in 1832, showing her income and expenditure in the year Edward died (including 3 guineas for "Schooling Miss Castell", and, more significantly, 2 guineas for "Music Master").
Edward's widow, Margaret, subsequently moved to an almshouse at St Bartholomew's Hospital, Sandwich, and died there in 1868.
The daughter, Margaret Castle, was born in Strand Street, Sandwich, on 6 July 1813, and baptized at St Clement's on 7 July. Her father's name is given as Thomas Castell, but it seems from the codicil to William Castell's will that in fact Thomas was out of the country at the time of her conception.
Note that these Bakers have no direct connection with the Bakers of Danbury into whom Ernest Pettman married.