William Kemball and Elizabeth Burgess

Like thr Thomas Kemball who married Grace, I haven’t traced William back. He may have been Thomas’s brother or cousin; it would make sense. There is a birth for a William Kemball recorded in Hitcham on 30 Dec 1655, but it doesn’t include his parents’ names.

But I want to start with William because he’s the source of several Kemball families. And in my attempts to work out where my ancestor John Kemball came from, working out who William’s descendants were helps to me to include or exclude my ancestor from his many progeny.

William and Elizabeth

William’s marriage to Elizabeth was very short, but in that time, they had four children – three sons and a daughter. They married at Shelland in Suffolk in early 1694/5. It looks as though Shelland’s parish register for this period is lost, but it survives in the Bishop’s transcripts, and fortunately a marriage licence survives, dated 4 March 1694/5. William Kemball, a yeoman, and Elizabeth Burgess, a single woman, were planning to marry at Shelland. Their bondsman was Matthias Warren of that place – was he a relative or a friend? I don’t know.

Their four children, all baptised in Hitcham, were:

• William, baptised 18 May 1695 (so not long after his parents’ marriage)
• John, baptised 16 Sep 1696
• Elizabeth, baptised 10 April 1699
• Thomas, baptised 13 Jan 1700/1

Only a year after the birth of their last child, William fell ill. On 2 June 1702, he wrote his will. He was a yeoman, and owned several properties, which he left between his eldest son, William, and his youngest, Thomas. One property, bought from Mr Robert Manistree was to be sold to cover his debts and help support his family. His son William was to pay second son John £50 when he was 21, and Thomas was to pay the only daughter, Elizabeth, £30 when she was 21. And while William and Thomas were under age, William’s widow was to take the profits from the properties to support the family; and he left everything else to her.

William was buried only four days after his will was written.

Only a few months later, Elizabeth remarried. On 24 Sep 1702, Elizabeth Kemball, widow, married Joseph Cooper in Hitcham. They had two children: Elizabeth in 1704 and Mary in 1706. It must’ve been confusing having three Elizabeths under the same roof!

Daughter Elizabeth

I think William and Elizabeth’s daughter was the Elizabeth Kemball, single woman, who married Henry Haward (or Hayward) in Hitcham on 26 Oct 1721. When William junior (born 1695) wrote his will, one of the witnesses was Henry Hayward, so it would make sense that it’s her marriage.

Henry and Elizabeth had three children baptised in Hitcham between 1723 and 1729: Elizabeth, Thomas (who died an infant) and Samuel.

Son Thomas

I’m not sure what happened to Thomas, the son who was born in 1701. He may have had some children in Hitcham in the 1720s and 1730s, although most of them seem to be accounted for by Thomas, the son of Thomas Kemball and Sarah Ranson.

I do wonder if he could be the Thomas Kemball who lived in Combs and was married to a Margaret (I think she was Margaret Wayman before they married, going on her will). They had one son, Thomas, who was born in about 1731 and, after marrying Eleanor Cock and having five children, died young in 1762. Several memorial headstones were recorded in Combs for their family, and I’ll write about them soon. There was a John and Mary Kemball in Combs in the 1730s who had two children baptised there: Marty in 1736 and John in 1738. I don’t know yet if they’re connected with the Hitcham Kemballs, but I assume so, seeing as Combs is so near to Hitcham.

Sons William and John

I’ve found out quite a lot about William and John and their descendants; William remained in Hitcham, and had five children, whereas as his brother John moved to Hintlesham and had ten children. William’s daughter married Richard Kemball from Felsham, which ties the Hitcham Kemballs to the Felsham branch. William and John married sisters Elizabeth and Mary Talbot from Great Cornard.

And, when I come to write about William and his family, I will be disputing a line of descent that’s mentioned in a printed book from the 1890s about the Kimballs/Kemballs/Kembles.

First published 10th February 2026.