Introduction
There were two John Rogers baptised in Modbury in 1779:
- The son of John [Rogers-34602, MDK5-QXP] and Mary [Lyndon-80, M6G4-92R]
- The son of William [Rogers-34607, MDKY-RHL] and Mary [Farleigh-15, M6GH-9JJ]
As the two fathers, John and William, were brothers, this makes the two young Johns first cousins. One of them is my known ancestor, who married Grace Kerswell [Kerswell-134, LKNP-296]; the other married Mary Bardons [Bardons-1, MDKK-38G].
As the marriage registers from this era do not show the father's name, there is no direct evidence to show which John had which parents. However, there is enough indirect evidence to show with reasonable certainty which is which.
Signatures on Marriage Records
The John who marries Grace Kerswell signs the register as "John Rogers Jnr", and one of the witnesses is "John Rogers Senior". This use of suffixes implies that the one is the son of the other.
Similarly, on the record of the marriage of Agness Rogers [Rogers-34605, MD2Q-3P8] and Richard Sheriff [Sheriff-373, LDLG-F96], the witnesses are "John Rogers" and "John Rogers Jnr", both in handwriting that appears to match John Rogers Senior and John Rogers Jnr above. This suggests that they were both close relatives of Agness – presumably her father and brother. Certainly this is much more likely than uncle and first cousin.
The Will of Mary Ann Stoneman
Mary Ann Stoneman's extensive will mentions a large number of relatives, mostly cousins. The ones that can be positively identified include (among many others):
- George Rogers of East Leigh Farm, Modbury, the son of testatrix's cousin John Rogers
- Richard Rogers, also the son of her cousin John Rogers
- Agness Paige (née Sheriff), the wife of William Paige
- Francis Symons and John Symons
The various relationships stated in this will only make sense if the John Rogers, son of John and Mary, is the one who married Grace Kerswell.
Conclusion
Based on all of this evidence, we can conclude that the son of John [Rogers-34602, MDK5-QXP] and Mary [Lyndon-80, M6G4-92R] is John Rogers [Rogers-34595, MDK5-QGB], my ancestor, who married Grace Kerswell [Kerswell-134, LKNP-296].
By a process of elimination, the son of William [Rogers-34607, MDKY-RHL] and Mary [Farleigh-15, M6GH-9JJ] is therefore John Rogers [Rogers-34609, MDK5-QK3] who married Mary Bardons [Bardons-1, MDKK-38G].