PICTON FAMILY, NORTHERN BRANCH

Picton of Newport, Nevern, Whitechurch, Meline, Bridell, Llanboidy, Trelech, Penrith, Llanvihangel a’r Arth, Llanelly, the USA and elsewhere

This is the oldest and most senior Picton line, which can probably be traced back to around 1270 at the small town of Newport in Pembrokeshire. The likelihood is that all other Picton lines in Pembrokeshire have their ancestral roots here, but it will prove very challenging to establish this just by documentary examination and pedigree reconstruction. This information is taken from the Picton pedigree available in the Golden Grove Books, now at the Carmarthen Record Office; and which is a fair copy made around 1765 of the same pedigree in the Protheroe V MS Collection at the College of Arms. This was compiled by David Edwardes around 1685.

The pedigree here shows that a Jenkin Picton owned approximately one-fifth of the houses (burgages) of the town of Newport, as recorded in a 1434 survey.

There are a limited number of sources available for Welsh pedigree research before 1600, when Welsh wills proved in the Archdeaconary Court of St. Davids become available and are now online at the National Library of Wales (NLW). Parish registers for Pembrokeshire do not survive in any great numbers before the middle of the 18^th century. However there is an extensive series of Manorial Records relating to the Barony of Cemais (Kemes) at the NLW in the Bronwydd MS, some of which pre-date 1600 and have never been examined systematically. Some work has been done on the Pembrokeshire Records in the Court of the Great Sessions, which go back to 1542 – but again this represents a vast, un-indexed resource at the NLW.

All proven lines of descent down to the present day go through William Picton of Whitechurch [d. 1696] and his only known son, Owen Picton [d. 1738] and his grandson John Picton [d. 1793]. All later members of this family also descend from Thomas Picton (1749-1836), with the exception mentioned immediately below. Descendants migrated from North Pembrokeshire into rural Carmarthenshire and on to towns like Llanelly and Swansea in the nineteenth century. One branch, headed by Stephen Picton (1825-1896), emigrated to Kansas in 1870.

Another branch of the family in the USA was started by Thomas Picton (1775-1861), grandson of Owen Picton [d. 1738] and the only son of Owen Picton [1744-1780], older brother to Thomas Picton (1749-1836). He emigrated to New Jersey in 1796 and undertook training to become a Presbyterian Minister from May 1798. His first position was as a Minister at Woodbury, New Jersey, from 1799. He received an MA degree from Princeton University and taught at West Point Military Academy as Professor of Geography, Law and Ethics from 1811 to 1823. He left one son, John Moore White Picton (1799-1859), who went on have a large family, and to form a group of Picton descendants in Louisiana, Texas, Tennessee and elsewhere in the USA; and one daughter, Mary Barton Picton, who married Edwin A. Stevens. She died in childbirth in 1845 and Edwin Stevens remarried. When he died in 1868 he was worth over $18 million dollars, because of the family’s interests in shipping, manufacturing and railroads. Strictly this is the most senior line of all the Picton families and stems from John Picton, son of Jenkin Picton of Newport, fl. 1434.

Owen Picton of Nebraska, USA, DNA analysed.

Living Picton descendants from English family identified and DNA analysed: Living Picton

Male descendants of Owen Picton of Eglwyswrw (1744-1780) and Rev. Thomas Picton (1775-1861) identified. Rev. Thomas D. Picton of Denver, DNA analysed.

All identified living descendants of this branch come through John Picton of Whitechurch (1713/4-1793), even though a document trail exists back to Jenkin Picton of Newport, fl. 1434.

Other Picton descendants would be nice to test. From documentary reconstruction it would appear that Thomas D. Picton represents the oldest surviving male Picton line of this global family.

PICTON FAMILY, SOUTHERN BRANCH

Picton of Martletwy, Rudbaxton, Carew, Ewenny and the USA

This is the second most senior branch, and can be followed back to about 1543 in the parish of Martletwy. At Martletwy, the farm they occupied was known as Pescaverne, but also as The Bush or just Bush, which lies on the southern boundary of the parish, adjacent to its boundary with the parish of Carew. One line of this Picton branch moved from Martletwy to Rudbaxton around 1650, and continued there until the nineteenth century. Sir Thomas Picton (1758-1815) comes from this family. Although his father, also called Thomas Picton (1723-1790), High Sheriff of Pembrokeshire in 1749, had 14 children including 7 sons, all the direct male line descendents became extinct by 1861, the last male heir being Gervas Powell Turbervill of Ewenny in Glamorganshire.

It was a condition of the inheritance of the Ewenny Estate, that the occupier should change their name to Turbervill. Gervas Powell Turbervill’s father was Richard Turbervill Picton (1751-1817), eldest brother of Sir Thomas Picton. He inherited the Ewenny Estate in 1797 from his second cousin on his wife’s side of the family. After the death of Elizabeth Turbervill in 1867, sister of Gervas Powell Turbverill, the Ewenny Estate passed to the descendants of the marriage of Catherine Picton, sister to Sir Thomas Picton, to John Warlow. They assumed the hyphenated surnames of Picton-Warlow or Picton- Turbervill.

The Picton surname after 1840 was also adopted by the heirs and descendants of the Iscoed Estate acquired by Sir Thomas Picton in 1812 from the Mansel family, through various female lines as they took over the ownership and management of the estate at Ferryside, Carmarthenshire, from 1840 onwards, following the death of the Rev. Edward Picton (1760-1835), younger brother of Sir Thomas Picton, and of his wife, Charlotte Maria Picton (1755-1840) without any children.

No known male descendants, except perhaps via illegitimate children in Trinidad and Mauritius. The Trinidad children come from Sir Thomas Picton (1758-1815) and his mistress, Rosetta Smith, whilst he was Governor there (1797-1803).

The will of Sir Thomas Picton mentions 4 children born to him and Rosetta Smith over this period, 2 of whom were males, Thomas Rose and Richard Rose. The sex of a third child, named in Sir Thomas Picton’s will in 1815, was unknown to him at least.

Recent research developments have dramatically transformed knowledge in this area and it is clear that he had two or possibly three sons, Thomas Richard and Frederick Rose. Also a girl called Riquelina Rose. Richard Rose was married and living in Trinidad in 1836.

Picton of Martletwy, Rudbaxton, Carew, Ewenny and the USA (contd.)

One sister of Sir Thomas Picton, Charlotte Picton (1759-1853), married John Beete in 1798 and they emigrated to New York. After his death, she remarried to James Gardner in 1814. She had two children, a son and a daughter. Her daughter’s son took the surname of Picton in lieu of Gardner, and became known as Colonel Thomas Picton of New York (1822-1891). Upon his death this branch of the Picton surname in America became extinct. An account of his life and career appears in the Dictionary of American Biography. A long letter survives written by him to Charles Thomas Picton of New Orleans in 1876 in which they were unable to establish they were related (Randall MSS, NLW). In fact they share a common ancestor in John Picton of Whitechurch (1713/4- 1793).

The only son of John and Charlotte Beete, John Picton Beete (1799-1886), eventually succeeded to the Iscoed Estate in 1883, when he took the surname of Picton and became John Picton Picton. He was followed by his son, Francis Picton Beete (1842-1909), who took the surname of Picton when he succeeded his father in 1886, and daughter, Caroline Beete, who married James Brogden. Francis Picton died unmarried in 1909 and the Iscoed Estate was in the hands of Caroline Brogden when it was eventually sold off in 1921. This particular branch of the family became extinct with the death of their only daughter, Lucy Eleanor Brogden, in 1954. After her death, the surviving Picton family papers found their way into the Archive Collection of the National Library of Wales.

A cadet branch of this Picton family remained at Martletwy, occupying the same property where they had lived in the 16^th and 17^th centuries at ‘The Bush’ or Bush Farm, also known as Pescavarne. This Picton branch at Martletwy was represented by William Picton, gent. (d. 1764) and his only surviving son, John Picton (1732-1809). Upon his death, this branch became extinct. It is mentioned here to ensure that it is not confused with a number of other, more humble Picton families, who lived at Martletwy at various times from the mid-18^th and during the 19^th centuries.

His younger brother, Major-General John Picton (1761-1815), died in January 1815. He left a son by his mistress when he was serving with the 12th Foot in India (1798-1810), and he was aged about 15 in 1817, when he was growing up at Mauritius. A couple of letters concerning him are in the Randall MSS at the NLW, written to the Rev. Edward Picton (1760-1835), his brother by the Army Agents in Mauritius.

The fate of Edward Picton of St. Issells, fl. 1622 to 1636/7, son of Morgan Picton of Martletwy still needs some investigation, but there is no evidence he was the ancestor of the other Picton families listed below.

All the other fairly numerous Picton families, located almost exclusively in southern Pembrokeshire, cannot be traced backwards beyond the mid to late 18^th century because of the poor survival of parish and nonconformist registers in Pembrokeshire. There are scattered references further back to the surname in a number of parishes in southern Pembrokeshire before 1760, but nothing that can be linked together to any meaningful extent as yet. Examples include Alban Picton (1677) and Philip Picton (1694) of Dale, who both left wills proved in St. Davids Archdeaconary Court. Further back there is a John Picton of Marloes, who left a will (1613) but with no male heirs or Picton relations mentioned. Philip Picton had children baptised at Haverfordwest St. Mary in the early 1700s and a Lewis Picton, militiaman, born about 1730/1, married at Haverfordwest in 1761 and died at Llangwm in 1813, aged 82. There is a family based around Llandisilio and Llandewi Velfry, who descend from a David John Picton (1670), who left a will. There was also John Picton who married Ann Key at Steynton in 1745 and David Picton who married at Walwyns Castle in 1770 and who said he was from Marloes. More research needs to be done in the various Manorial Documents, Estate Papers and Court Rolls to see if anything further can be gleaned on these Picton families in the 18^th century. A summary compilation of these miscellaneous, unplaced Picton entries is available. Alongside this, it is necessary to document carefully what does, and what does not, survive for parish registers and transcripts for the relevant parishes. Frequently too the parish register entries are incomplete or missing for various years, again especially for the pre-1800 period.

As the DNA results become available it may be necessary to recruit at least two and possibly more members in any given branch and increase the number of STR markers to be examined. At present FTDNA offer a 111 marker STR test at the top of their range. This is to enable proper interpretation where DNA STR changes in the Y-DNA patterns may have occurred in the various male lines. This process is known as triangulation and is controlled to some extent by how many male lines survive down to the present day. Eventually it should be possible to build up a pattern of DNA Y-STR results which will enable confident predictions to be made on how these humble Picton families connect together and how the branches separated in time, just on the basis of their Y-DNA signatures alone.

PICTON FAMILIES IN PEMBROKESHIRE, OTHER LINES, 1757-1851 AND BEYOND

Picton of Martletwy I, Picton of Martletwy II, Picton of Martletwy III, Picton of Martletwy IV, Picton of Martletwy V and of the USA

(1)

These families lived at Martletwy from 1767 onwards, the earliest entry being the burial of a John Picton, collier. His son, Joseph Picton (d. 1846), was the ancestor of an extensive family of five sons, all of whom left male Picton descendants down to today. Family members migrated and spread out into Neath, Swansea and into the mining valleys of Glamorganshire during the 19^th century.

Two members of this family, John Picton (1824-1903) and George Picton (1837-1898) [Picton of Martletwy I] emigrated from Martletwy to the USA, via a short residence in Aberdare, where they settled initially in Plymouth and Nanticoke in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, a key centre of the coal-mining industry of that State. Four members of their family back in Martletwy had died in the Garden Pit mining disaster in 1844 – the worst accident in the history of the Pembrokeshire coalfield. All Picton descendants of the Picton of Martletwy I line now only survive in the USA.

There are few living male descendants of the Picton of Martletwy II line, which comes from John Picton (1803-1836) but the Picton of Martletwy III line, coming from Thomas Picton (1805-1843) has left many descendants. Some later members have settled abroad in the 20^th century, including Australia.

Descendants of the two youngest sons of Joseph Picton, namely Mark Picton (b 1809) [Picton of Martletwy IV] and William Picton (1811-1863) [Picton of Martletwy V] are being pursued. Mark Picton migrated to the Upper Swansea valley, but William Picton remained at Martletwy. Both left male Picton descendants.

There should be many living male descendants. Picton of Martletwy III has several candidates: Living Picton has been tested.

George Picton (1837-1898) emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1863 and left several US branches of the Picton surname, who can be traced and are being actively pursued. Living Picton is being tested. An American descendant of the older brother, John Picton (1824-1903) would be good to recruit. This is the Picton of Martletwy I line and only survives in the USA.

A male descendant of the Picton of Martletwy II line, Living Picton, has been tested. Work has begun on trying to find living descendants of brothers Mark and William Picton to test [Picton of Martletwy IV and V].

Picton of Freystrop I, Picton of Freystrop II, Picton of Freystrop III, Picton of Freystrop IV and Picton of Burton

(2)

These families descend from an Edward Picton (ca 1757-1817), whose eldest son, John Picton, was baptised at Martletwy in 1780 and died in 1869 at Freystrop (Picton of Freystrop II line). John Picton was in the Royal Navy for 10 years and served at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 on board HMS Africa. Further sons and daughters of Edward Picton were baptised at Jeffreyston (1784-1798) and later at Freystrop (1802-1807), both coal-mining parishes at this time. An extensive Picton family developed from 4 of these sons, and one branch, descending from the youngest son, Edward Picton (1807-1848) settled at Burton from 1826 onwards, but no members of any of this extended Picton family emigrated to the USA in the 19th century. Again, many of the early members were miners in the coal mines at Jeffreyston and Freystrop. Several families migrated into the coal-mining valleys of Glamorganshire from the mid-nineteenth century onwards.

DNA has been tested for Living Picton [Picton of Burton]; Picton of Canada [Picton of Freystrop IV]; Living Picton of Pontypool [Picton of Freystrop II] and Living Picton [Picton of Freystrop IV].

Possibly one more carefully targeted descendant in the Picton of Burton line may be required.

Picton of Cosheston

(3)

These families descend from a John Picton, who married at Lamphey in 1785. His children were born between 1790 and 1805 in the parishes of Nash and Cosheston, and later members of this family are to be found at Pembroke, Pembroke Dock, Monkton and elsewhere. John Picton was buried in 1815 and his wife, Jane Picton, in 1848, both at Cosheston. Living male descendants have been identified. Current efforts have traced a small number of living male descendants of John Picton (1789-1879), the eldest son, and greater numbers from James Picton (1806-1876), the youngest son.

Living Picton, descended from James Picton (1806-1876), tested. Living Picton descended from John Picton of Pembroke (1789-1879), tested.

Picton of Haroldston West, Lambston, Cosheston, Herbrandston, Llanstadwell and the USA

(4)

These families descend from a Thomas Picton (1769-1849), a labourer at Williamston farm in the parish of Haroldston West, who was probably baptised in 1769 at Pembroke St. Mary, the son of Lewis and Mary Picton. Thomas Picton died at Lambston in 1849, with his age given as 77. He left 12 children, six of whom were sons, and his descendants dispersed into several parishes in southern Pembrokeshire. The second daughter [Ann Picton] and two sons [Thomas and Joseph Picton] emigrated to America between 1844 and 1858. Both these sons left extensive Picton families in the USA. The daughter had important Mormon connections and settled in Utah. Henry Picton (1811-1885), another son, remained in Pembrokeshire and also left an extensive network of male Picton descendants, including a family who migrated north to Barrow-in-Furness, via Bermuda.

Living Picton USA and Living Picton USA, both descendants of Thomas Picton (1816-1855), tested. Living Picton of Barrow-in-Furness from the Picton of Herbrandston line, tested. A descendant of Joseph Picton (1824-1901), who emigrated to America in 1844, should be recruited.

Picton of Carew, Llawhaden and Anglesey

(5)

These families descend from a Philip Picton of Williamston in the parish of Carew, who died in 1820, aged 64. One branch moved from Carew to Anglesey, via a marriage in 1846 [George Picton].

Living descendants in the UK have now been traced and are being recruited. One Picton descendant in the USA has been tested.

Picton of Camrose, Haverfordwest and the USA

(6)

These families descend from a David Picton of Marloes, labourer, who married in January 1770 at Walwyns Castle. David Picton was living at Keeston in the parish of Camrose in 1793 and died in 1820 at Camrose. He had an eldest son, John Picton, bapt. in June 1770 at Roch, and who died at Haverfordwest in 1837, aged 67. He was the gateway ancestor to a significant family of Picton descendants. David Picton was also probably the father of Richard Picton of Camrose [d. 1849] (see 10 below).

Living descendants identified and the recruitment process is underway. This is a key missing family now.

Picton of Llandissilio, Lampeter Velfry, Llandewi Velfry and Kiffig

(7)

These families all descend from a David John Picton of Llandissilio, who died in 1670 and left a will. They are to be found in the parishes listed, which lie on the border of Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire. There are several living male lines of descent from about 1800 downwards.

Living Picton tested. High potential for other living male Picton descendants. Analysis of pedigrees for potential DNA testing is in progress.

Picton of Steynton

(8)

This family descends from a William Picton of Hill Moor in the parish of Steynton [d. 1836]. He is almost certainly the son of Lewis Picton, married at Haverfordwest in 1761, and had a son, William Picton, baptised at Martletwy in 1764. This family connects into the family of Thomas Picton of Haroldston West (see 4 above) with William Picton being an elder brother to Thomas Picton. He had one surviving daughter at the time of his death in 1836.

No living male Picton descendants known or anticipated.

Picton of Dale and Marloes

(9)

There is a fairly disjointed pedigree going back to a William Picton of Dale in 1543. John Picton of Marloes and Philip Picton of Dale were both living at the beginning of the 17th century. Later there were an Alban Picton of Dale (1677) and Philip Picton of Dale (1694), a mariner, who both left testamentary documents. It may be worth noting that there are children of a Philip Picton baptised at Haverfordwest around 1710 and the Christian name Philip occurs later in the Picton family of Carew and a marriage at Burton in 1808. The Christian name Alban is unusual but there were an Alban Owen and an Alban Stepney [Stepneth] both living at this time-period, which is probably significant. It might reflect the name of the owner of the land upon which this Picton family was living at the time, and give a clue to the Estate Records to be examined.

No living male Picton descendants known.

However this could be the possible ancestral lineage to all other Picton families recorded here. More research is needed in the records of Dale, Marloes and Haverfordwest to begin with.

Picton of Camrose and Roch

There are Picton events occurring in these parishes from about 1780 to 1836, notably several female Picton marriages, but the families involved do not seem to have survived into the time of civil registration in 1837 and the 1841 and 1851 Census Returns of Pembrokeshire.

Families probably linked into either the Picton of Haverfordwest branch (6) or the Picton family below (10).

Picton of Tredegar, Gelligaer, Bedwellty, Mountain Ash, Trehafod and the USA

(10)

Richard Picton is the earliest ancestor, who married Mary Rees in 1814 at Camrose, Pembrokeshire, and died in 1849 at Heol Evan Gwyn in the parish of Gellygaer, Glamorganshire, aged 66. He had at least two sons and probably three daughters. The eldest son, Job Picton, was born in 1823 and was living at Back Row, Tredegar, in the 1841 Census. He emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1848 and has left male Picton descendants in the USA.

He. Richard Picton needs to be traced in the 1841 Census. Mary Picton died in 1869, aged 72. A careful search of the 1841 Census Returns for Tredegar and Bedwellty in Monmouthshire, and Gelligaer and Merthyr Tydfil in Glamorganshire is required, but some 1841 Returns for Merthyr are missing [see also Picton of Camrose and Roch, above].

Thomas Picton, the younger son, was born in 1830. He cannot be located yet in the 1851 Census. He was a miner of Rhymney and married Charlotte Apryel in 1855 at Bedwellty. In the 1861 Census he was living at Bedwelly and his parish of birth was given as Coedcenlas in Pembrokeshire. His place of death has yet to be located and it might be in America with his brother, Job Picton.

Contact established with Living, descended from Thomas Picton (b 1830) and with Living. Picton and Living Picton of Wyomissing, both descended from Job Picton (b 1823), DNA tested. Family probably comes from David Picton of Camrose (6) and then migrated to Coedcanlas. Camrose baptism registers missing before 1795.

Picton of Monmouthshire

(11)

There is a marriage of a John Picton and Mary Edwards, both of Newport, on 28 June 1829 at Newport. The earliest Picton births in Newport, Monmouthshire, are for a Mary Picton in 1852 [Newport, December 1852, 11a 140] and a John Jenkins Picton in 1859 [Newport, March 1859, 11a 161]. One Picton familiy in Monmouthshire in the 1851 Census, headed by Jesse Picton, comes from the parishes of Little Kimble and Monks Risborough in Buckinghamshire. Family reconstructions from the Census Returns and other indexes is in progress.

No likely connection. It could be useful to DNA test one member of this family for completeness.

Picton of Cheshire and Lancashire

(12)

There are numerous families based in this region; Sir James Allanson Picton (1804-1889) of Liverpool, son of William Pickton is from this area. Work will need to document how many families there were in this area in the 19th century from the Census Returns and draw up the various family trees. The spelling variation Pickton is common in this branch of the surname. The origin of the surname could lie in the hamlets of Picton, which lie about five miles north-east of Chester and in Flintshire. There is also a village called Picton in Yorkshire.

DNA testing completed Living Picton which shows no significant overlap with the DNA from Welsh families with the Picton surname.