This is an examination of one of the Hampshire families of RAMPTON, a family which lived in the same small village for at least 250 years, from the earliest sighting in 1618. It is interesting to note that, although there are many generations of RAMPTONs in the village of Monk Sherborne, from the 17th Century onwards, there are few in the surrounding parishes, with the exception of Tadley. This study therefore dovetails very neatly with my own family tree found elsewhere on this website.

Monk Sherborne is a small linear settlement on the road between Sherborne St John and Charter Alley. At the present day, the village has a pub (The Mole) at one end and the church, All Saint's, at the other. Monk Sherborne Wood sits to the east, Grove Croft Copse to the north, and Privett Copse to the West, witness to the fact that Pamber forest covered much of this area for centuries and gave employment to the people of North Hampshire. The name Kiln Green is given to one of the more recent areas of the village, indicating, perhaps, the former existence of brick manufacture in the village.

Map of 1610		Present Day Monk Sherborne		Parish Relationship Map

After the Norman invasion of 1066, William the Conqueror put his warrior knights in charge of the lands of England, and the knight who held much of Hampshire for William was Hugh de Port. Hugh built a great manor at Basing, amongst others, and his descendent, Adam de Port a century later is famous for rebuilding Warnford Church, and for marrying the lady of Warnford Park, Mabel de St John (from whence come the name for the village Sherborne St John). In the reign of Henry I, around 1100, the de Port family founded the Priory at Pamber, a cell of Cerisy Abbey in Normandy, and the village just to the south became known later as Monk Sherborne in its honour. The Priory Church is now known as Pamber Priory, and Monk Sherborne has its own church, All Saint's, founded about the same time. Further information can be found at Hantsweb

All events listed below have been checked, as far as possible, against primary sources. Occasionally, secondary sources, such as Phillimore's Index of Marriages in Hampshire or the International Genealogical Index (IGI), have been used where it has not been possible to view original material, and this is always mentioned in the text with a caveat. Monk Sherborne has been abbreviated to MS, but all other places are given in full. Unless otherwise stated, all places are in Hampshire.

Parish Registers have been kept in the Parish of Monk Sherborne since 1618, when a small leather-bound book was adequate to record the comings and goings of the residents for nearly a century. It looks like the curate attempted to bring some sort of order to the register in the early days, as the entries, in a tiny cramped hand, are in date order within letter of the alphabet, with many gaps left on pages to allow for later entries. Thus it is easy to find the births marriages and deaths of the Ramptons merely by looking at the pages headed "R". However, as the population grew, and space began to run out, so the entries were jumbled into every available nook and cranny, marriages jostling burials, and in no sort of chronological order.

There are a number of early records which it has not been possible to relate to other contemporary records. They are presented here in the hope that a link may be found in the future.

• The earliest Rampton record I could find in the MS registers was for the marriage of Ann RAMTON to Robert BARLOW on 9 Jan 1618.
• Thomas Rampton, son of Thomas, was baptised at MS on 29 Jun 1619, the earliest Rampton baptism entry in the register. No other baptism records could be found for a father named Thomas.
• In 1659, Eleanor, the wife of James Rampton was buried at MS. A John Rampton married Eleanor VOOKE on 1 Nov 1655 at MS - could these be the same Eleanor, and the name of the husband has been mistaken in one or other entry?

The main Monk Sherborne family appears to stem from one man, Stephen RAMPTON who died at MS and was buried on 16 Oct 1670. His children included:

• Edward Rampton, bapt. 25 Feb 1623/4 at MS
• Agnes Rampton, buried 26 Dec 1624 at MS

A number of baptism's are listed for children of John and Elinor (or just John). Given the dates of birth of these children, John may have been the younger brother of Stephen, marrying some ten years after Stephen. John and Elinor Rampton had the following children, but I have as yet been unable to discover anything further about them (other than a possible link to Pamber - see Francis, below):

• Joseph, bapt. 30 Nov 1634 at MS
• John (son of John Rampton), was buried on 1 Apr 1635, at MS
• James, bapt. 10 Dec 1636 at MS
• Thomas, bapt. 15 Dec 1639 at MS
• Hellen, bapt. 27 Feb 1643 at MS
• Francis, bapt. 27 Feb 1645 at MS

A marriage by licence took place at Basingstoke on 30 Sep 1723 between John RAMPTON, a husbandman of West Sherborne, and Katherine (or Catherine) JEY, of The Soke, Winchester [information taken from the Marriage Allegation]. This couple lived in Monk Sherborne, baptised at least five children there, and died there, John in 1753 and Katherine in 1740. Could this have been the son of George and Jane, born in 1685? If so he married fairly late - aged about 38 years, and would have been 68 when he died (no age is given in the burial register unfortunately), but it is not impossible.

I have the will of John RAMPTON, Shovelmaker, of West Heath Monk Sherborne, dated 30 Dec 1674, in which he mentions his wife Edith but no children. Edward Patey and Richard Greene are named as Overseers of the will, and there is an inventory of goods amounting to £71 (worth about £6,632 today). I have not been able to find any marriage record, nor a burial record for this John, which might help to further identify them. There is, however, a burial record for "Edith Rampton, widow" at Monk Sherborne on 6 May 1683. No husband is identified, but the only other Edith in MS, the wife of Edward, had died 3 years earlier, so Edith widow of John the Shovelmaker is a likely candidate.

An alphabetical list of all Ramptons in Monk Sherborne can be found on the Index Page. Or you can begin your journey with Stephen Rampton.

The 1851, 1881, and 1891 censuses show how Monk Sherborne had changed by the latter half of the 19th century.

If you would like a copy of my research paper, please .