John de la Field PHELPS 1734 - 1771
John was the eldest son of John Phelps (1711–1755) and Elizabeth FOWLER (1708–1791) who was an heiress
Born 28th December 1734, Dursley
Died 21st April 1771, Dursley. Buried in Dursley
Married 25 November 1759 to Esther GULLY (1730–1789) of Bristol
John and Elizabeth had five children
Children
Esther (1762–1767)
John Delafield (1763–1842)
James (1766–1829)
William (1767–1812)
Esther Sophia (1770–1835)
Memorials
The Memorial in the picture above is in St James the Great Church, Dursley. It is very high up and difficult to decipher. With the help of a good camera lens and a bit of shared work we have the following -
Sacred to the memory
of the four younger children of
John Delafield Phelps Esq and Esther his wife
namely:
John Delafield born July 26th 1763
died Dec 19th 1842
James M.A. Rector of Alderley and of
Brimpsfield and Cranham in this county
he married Marianne eldest daughter of
John Blagden Hale of Alderley Esq
and Anne his wife
was born July 8th 1766,
and died April 11th 1829'
and was buried at Alderley
William born Nov 23rd 1767 died Aug 26th 1812
Esther Sophia born Jan 2nd 1770
died Feb 23rd 1835
It is supposed when the memorial was new it had gold lettering and would have been easier to read.
The second memorial (below) we have already seen on John PHELPS (1711–1755) page, the father of John Delafield PHELPS. It is worth revisiting.
Memorial in the church of St James the Great, Dursley
From the informative memorial in St James the Great, Dursley, whilst dedicated to the memory of John PHELPS (1712–1755), we read more about his son John de la Field PHELPS and his family. The memorial is on the south wall of the church, and we can assume his body was interred on the other side of the wall in the family vault in the graveyard.
We read that –
Near this place lies interred, JOHN DE LA FIELD PHELPS Esq. who died April 21st, 1771, 37th year of his age.
He was many Years in the Commission of the Peace for this Country, and served the office of High Sherrif in the year 1761.
Also ESTHER his daughter who died April 8th 1767 in the 5th Year of her Age.
In the same Vault are deposited the remains of ESTHER his Widow. Daughter of I.A. GULLY of the city of Bristol. She died January 10th 1789. Aged 59 years.
Death
From the above we learn he died as a comparatively young man who would have been at the height of his career. He leaves a young family of four children, the oldest child being only eight. Esther his wife was forty-one, being some four years or so older than John. Their first child Esther had died aged five, four years before him.
John de la Field Phelps’ name.
We know that his mother Elizabeth FOWLER was an heiress of the families of Field and Fowler and brought with her much fortune. John de la Field was chief beneficiary of his parents’ wealth. This put him in a good position to be High Sherrif to manage all the entertaining a High Sherrif was expected to do. We cannot find (at this time of writing) anything of the name Field but it is obvious the de la Field (shortened and anglicized to Delafield) came from John de la Field PHELPS’ mother’s family. In some places, as in the Will written for his younger sister Mary de la Field Phelps (1745 – 1812), the name Field is spelled Ffield.
The name PHELPS continues to John de la Field’s two grandchildren but thereafter disappears from this branch of the family.