John Kemball and Mary Talbot, Hintlesham

The second son of William Kemball and Elizabeth Burgess, John wasn’t left any property by his father, but was to inherit £50 instead when he reached 21. The fact that he inherited money, rather than property, perhaps explains why he moved away from Hitcham. Although he was living there when he married Mary Talbot of Brettenham in Brent Eleigh in 1725 (her sister Elizabeth had married his elder brother, William), and his eldest son was baptised there, by 1727, when their second child was baptised, they were living in Hintlesham.

They had ten children:

• John, baptised 9 Apr 1725
• William, baptised 16 Jan 1727
• Mary, baptised 3 Jan 1729
• Thomas, baptised 12 Jul 1730, died later that same year
• Elizabeth, baptised 5 May 1732
• Thomas, baptised 30 Dec 1733
• Anne, baptised 8 July 1735
• James and Edward, twins, baptised 2 May 1738. James died a month later and Edward passed away in the November.
• Sarah, baptised 11 Dec 1741

I’m not sure what happened to Thomas and Sarah, but John, William, Mary, Elizabeth, and Anne all married.

When John senior wrote his will in May 1761, he only mentioned his married daughters: Mary wife of Samuel Clarke of Crowfield, Elizabeth wife of Abraham East of Monks Eleigh, and Ann wife of Joseph Lott of East Bergholt. He made his wife Mary his executor.

It’s interesting to note that one of the witnesses to John’s will was Henry Hayward junior – I think this would’ve been his nephew, as it looks as if his sister was the Elizabeth Kemball who married “Henry Haward” in 1721. Then, when his widow wrote her will in 1782, one of the witnesses was Henry Hayward – presumably the same man.

Mary’s will mentions the three married daughters again, plus son William, who’d moved to Lavenham, and her grandchildren by her son John – he had lived in Monks Eleigh, and died there in 1773. Her executors were her son William Kemball, and local gent Thomas Vesey (a branch of the Hintlesham Veseys went to Wix in Essex).

As mentioned, one of her witnesses was Henry Hayward, and the other two were Thomas Kemball and (someone) D’Oyly junior. I couldn’t read the third witnesses’ forename but I think it could’ve been Thomas Thorowgood D’Oyly (1742-1798), husband of Ann Cardinall (1734-1794), from the family I’ve written reams about in the past.^[1]Ann Cardinall is my 1st cousin 8 x removed. His father, another Thomas D’Oyly, was still alive in 1782, so he would’ve been a “junior”. Thomas Thorowgood D’Oyly was born in Layham in Suffolk, but was living in Thorpe-le-Soken when he married Anne Cardinall in 1765. Their two children were also born in Thorpe-le-Soken, but presumably he’d returned to Suffolk by 1782.^[2]Thomas and Anne were both buried in Higham, Suffolk; Anne in 1794 and Thomas in 1798. They were both “of Hadleigh”. Thomas and Anne’s son, Thomas Cardinall D’Oyly, married Elizabeth Kemball – John and Mary’s granddaughter by their son William – in 1792. So the D’Oylys and Kemballs were acquainted for many years.

While it seems like I’ve worked out who that third witness is to Mary’s will, I’m not sure who Thomas was. If he was her son, why wasn’t he mentioned in the will along with his siblings? Could he have been her brother-in-law, Thomas born 1701? But if it was, it would mean he couldn’t be Thomas of Combs, who had died by the 1750s. Could he be her husband’s nephew, Thomas, who lived in Hitcham?

I’ll be talking about some of John and Mary’s children in more depth later.

First published: 11th February 2026