The Minters of Suffolk

The exact history of the Minters of Assington is difficult to work out. The family tree shown in this site is the best estimate that can be made - further research is needed which may result in a different picture. There seems no doubt however that Minters lived in Assington in the late 1600s.

Acknowledgements:

William Minter, who married Hannah Garrod in 1803 is the first Minter to have appeared in Boyton. His origins are unknown - some researchers have suggested that he was the William Minter who was born in Campsea Ash in 1758, a member of the Eyke group. This seems unlikely for the reasons set out in William's notes. From Boyton, branches of the family moved to Walton near Felixstowe, to Ipswich and to Yorkshire. A website for Boyton is at www.btinternet.com/~fred.stentiford/boyton/index.html. It includes pictures of some of the Minters who lived in Boyton in the early 1900s and with Fred Stentiford's permission they are reproduced in the Boyton scrapbook.

Acknowledgements:
P D Kedge, Chris Malyan, Steve Irwin, Stella Herbert, Sue Claydon, Helen Brown, Fred Stentiford, John Reach, Janice Wold, Gary Heathcote, Fred Haskins, Janet Tidman, Stuart Lee, Angela Capon

John Minter was originally John Minter HAILL, one of the children of William & Anna HAILL of Earl Stonham, Suffolk. He appeared with his parents in the 1851 and 1861 censuses. It's unclear why John's second name was Minter; his mother's surname was Pawsey.

In 1864, as John Minter HAILL, John married Jane Elizabeth Haskell in London. This marriage cannot have lasted since in 1871 Jane was living (shown as 'married') as a boarder in London and John had become John MINTER and was living in Bolton, Lancashire with Mary Bates as his housekeeper. John and Mary eventually married. It's not known whether John and his first wife divorced, or whether Jane died before John remarried, or what became of Jane otherwise.

John (39), Mary (38) and their children Ellen (15), Annie (14), William (12), Lois (11), Arthur (8), John (1) and Bertha (infant) left Gravesend on 26 August 1884 on the steamer 'Dorunda'. They arrived at Brisbane, Australia on 21 October 1884.

Acknowledgements:
Ann Doyle, Amanda Abbott

The earliest known Minter in this part of Suffolk was Robert who was born about 1630; he married in about 1651 in Eyke. The family was also connected with Campsea Ash, Suffolk and later generations appeared in Sussex and parts of London, mainly around West Ham.
One of the members of the Eyke group, Elizabeth Mary Hurren (daughter of Lydia Hurren nee Smith who married John Minter in 1840) married Matthew Minter in 1873. Matthew was one of the two sons of Samuel Minter who was born between 1806 and 1807 in Boyton, Suffolk. Samuel's other son John, born about 1829 in Butley, Suffolk, went to Australia and married Arabella Piercy and is the ancestor of one of the Australian branches of Minters.

Acknowledgements:
Ron Sawbridge, Sally Cunningham, Gina Sanderson, Malcolm Spiers, Tony Gooding, Zoe Haddock, Sandra Presley, Stella Herbert, Cheryl Moore (Australia), Graham Minter, Penny Minter, Dee Hall, Colin Minter (Australia)

William Flood Minter of Ipswich died in 1850, having married Charlotte Susannah Harvey in 1819 and had five children. His father is believed to have been William Minter who married Martha Flood and his grandfather, Jonathan Minter. William Flood Minter inherited his grocery business in Bethnal Green from his aunts, Elizabeth and Mary. One of William Flood Minter's grandsons was Frederick George Minter who founded the once well-known building company, F G Minter Ltd.

Acknowledgements:
David Minter, John Minter, Ed Cookson, Peter Minter, Pat Bartlam, Belinda Minter, Robert L Wright, Theo Minter, Caryn O'Reilly

The origins of the Minters of Marlesford, Suffolk are unknown. The most senior member of the family is taken to be George Minter, who lived in Marlesford until 1852. For reasons which are explained in his notes, it's believed that George had two sons, William and John. However, the evidence for this is circumstantial and more research is needed.

Acknowledgements:
Tinch Minter, Peter Gane, Halina Pludowska, Lynn Sharpe, Thom Fowler, John Grimsey, Monica Tyler, Nicky Bentley, Tracey Suggate, Joy Dean

The North Suffolk Minters have been traced back to William Minter who died in 1690 and whose children were baptised in Eye, Suffolk. The family has become widely dispersed, having fanned out from Eye via two main paths:

• through the Suffolk villages of Hoxne, Yaxley, Wortham and Palgrave, then to Barnsley and Wakefield in Yorkshire and Chesterfield in Derbyshire and on from there to other parts of the UK and to Australia
• through other Suffolk villages, Billingford, Dickleburgh, Wetheringsett, Brockdish, Needham, Framlingham, Chediston, Thornham Magna and Huntingfield, and from there to London and many other locations in the UK and to Canada.

Much confusion has arisen because of the use in the family of the surname Buckingham. This arose from the illegitimate birth in 1778 of Abraham the son of Fynn Minter and Rose Buckingham: Abraham was baptised as Abraham Minter Buckingham. His descendants used the surnames Minter and Buckingham interchangeably in the first half of the 19th century but Buckingham eventually fell into disuse and present-day descendants are known as Minters. One of the results of the work done, mainly by Rod Minter and Dick Moore, in unravelling the Minter/Buckingham story has been that the families previously known in these pages as the Suffolk/Huntingfield and London/Kennington groups have been assimilated into the North Suffolk group.
As of November 2006, North Suffolk includes the family previously shown under Thornham Magna.Susanna Minter, who was the head of the Thornham Magna group, turned out to be a descendant of William Minter who died in 1690, the head of the North Suffolk Minters.

Acknowledgements:
North Suffolk, South Norfolk, Barnsley, Wakefield, Bendigo (Australia): Rod Minter, Judith Kinnear, Annette Fullman, Allan Green, Derek Minter.
North Suffolk, South Norfolk, Barnsley: Dick Moore.
Barnsley, Wakefield: John J. Minter.
Wakefield: Wendy Hadley.
Huntingfield: Bob Dunnett, Alan Peak. From Canada: Mike Minter, Margaret Minter, Joan Smirl.
Other help from: Colin Sinclaire, Paula Clark, Geoff Wyvill, Roy Minter, Patricia Filley, Mary Moffitt, Bev Busiko, Amanda Pryar nee Minter, G Petrin
Thornham Magna: Donna Barry, Michaela McCrohon, Jocelyn Westfall, Andy Kerridge, Dean Smith, Anna Batt, Jan Minter

It's not known where the head of this family, Abraham Minter, originated. He was probably born in the 1770s or 1780s. His grandson John moved to London and then to Brighton where he and his wife raised a family of seven children, most of whom were remarkably long-lived, including daughter Florence Rose who lived until the age of 102.

Acknowledgements:
Richard Scrivener, Stephen Baker

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There are indications on the IGI that there were Minters in Stoke by Nayland and nearby Polstead before Abraham Minter:

• a Jeremiah Minter married Caroline (or Carolinea) Corbey in Stoke by Nayland on 28 July 1771. They had a daughter Carolinea who was baptised in Stoke by Nayland on 20 October 1771. Jeremiah and Caroline could have been Abraham's parents.
• a Jeremiah Minter was baptised in Polstead, on 10 or 30 July 1738. He could have been the Jeremiah who married Caroline Corbey in 1771.
• Jeremiah' parents were William and Hannah Minter, nee Freeman, who married on 3 November 1726 in Polstead; William may have been born about 1706 in Polstead (parents unknown).
• Hennevel Minter married John Fryatt in Polstead on 25 July 1759.
• a Jo. Minter appeared in the Suffolk Hearth Tax Returns, Stoke by Nayland in 1674 (source ancestry.com).

George John Minter was born in 1834 or 1823, depending on which census, 1861 or 1871, is to be believed. Despite much searching, no trace of him has been found before 1861, even though his father's name, George Minter, a bricklayer, is known from George John's 1858 marriage. Although George John was in Chelsea, London in1861 he gave his birthplace as Suffolk so it's reasonable to assume that both he and his ancestors came from there.

Acknowledgements:

These three Suffolk villages are very close together and appear to form a centre for Minter families possibly as far back as the mid-1300s. A note describing as much as is known about the lives of the Minter families who lived in this area can be found here.

Acknowledgements:

John Minter, born between 1823 and 1827, is the first reliably known Minter from Wickham Market - his parents seem likely to have been Matthew and Mary (Foreman) Minter. It hasn't been possible to link this group with the second Wickham Market group below.

Acknowledgements:
Charmian Lawrence, Linley Cooper (Australia), Robert Norrie, Teresa Champ, Geoff Gooding, Tim Minter, James Earley, Judy Adams, Kim Trench, Melissa Minter, Suzanne Spencer nee Minter

Robert Minter was born in Wickham Market in 1761 and it's tempting to think there must be a connection between him and John Minter above. But no connection has been found. Robert appears to have been a well-known member of the community: a schoolmaster and later a wine merchant, he acted for a number of townspeople as executor of their Wills. Although Robert left no male descendants there are living relatives from the female side.

Acknowledgements:
Debra Jackson