The family of Mould of Appleby Magna, Leicestershire, has long attracted my attention for several reasons:

(i) It is the largest 16th-18th century group of people with a comparable surname I have come across north of London.

(ii) Some members of the family are known to have migrated to the London area.

(iii) The family contained a large number of vicars, as do the descendants of my great-great-great-grandfather, George Moule.

(iv) It is linked to a PERCIVAL (or PARSABLE) family living there from 1650 to 1750. They came and left rather abruptly, but where they came from and where they went to are not known. A Richard Mould married a Mary Percival in 1715; they had a daughter Mary in 1721 and left the village. Mary's cousin Thomas Percival was born in 1697 and may have been the father-in-law of my earliest known ancestor, John Moule of Aldgate (father of George Moule) – John Moule married Elizabeth Parsable (or Percival) in 1765 at St Botolph’s Aldgate.

(v) The crest of the Dawson family, closely linked to the Moulds in Appleby, is identical to that used by George Moule.

The family lived in Appleby from 1500 or even earlier, and so has nothing to do with William Mole of Tingrith, and has its own arms and crest. No direct link has yet been established with the family of John Moule of Aldgate, but such a link seems quite feasible.

The earliest known record of the Mould family in Appleby is the will of William Mould, 1514, who mentions a son William. He may also have been the father of John (died 1544), who has a large number of descendants over the next two centuries, including Richard Mould who married Mary Percival in 1715. William junior is almost certainly identical to the William Mould "the elder" whose will was proved in 1555. This mentions a son Henry, doubtless the same as the one whose will was proved in 1561. Both these latter wills were witnessed by a son of John, which suggests the two lines may have been closely related.

Henry mentions in his will a son William, probably identical with the William Mould who in 1600 purchased the advowson (in effect the right to choose the rector), along with the patronage and parsonage of Appleby. On his death in 1611 these passed to his son Thomas, who became rector until he died in 1642. Three sons of Thomas were ordained: Thomas (the eldest), Abraham, and Jacob (also called James). Thomas senior left the vast bulk of his estate to Abraham, including the advowson, and relatively derisory sums to Thomas (and his children), and to Jacob. He left Thomas all his commentaries of Calvin, which suggests that theological arguments were behind his passing over his eldest son.

Thomas senior tried unsuccessfully to obtain a fellowship at Cambridge for Thomas junior, who is probably identical with the rector of Staverton and Helidon, Northants, who died in 1674. Jacob married Elizabeth BALCANQUALL in 1645, and the following year became curate of Tatenhill, Staffs, where his father-in-law John Balcanquall was rector. John Balcanquall died in early 1647, and nothing more is heard in either Tatenhill or Appleby of Jacob, or indeed anywhere else of a Revd Jacob Mould living about that time. He is probably identical with the James Mould, farmer, whose estate was administered by his wife Elizabeth in 1676 at Trentham, Staffs. A small piece of evidence in favour of that is provided by the value of his estate (£31) being of the right level of wealth, since Jacob was left £30 by Thomas in 1642.

Abraham Mould was vicar of Appleby from 1642 until his death in 1684, when he was succeeded by his son Isaac, who died in 1721. Isaac had no children, and left the advowson to his brother Joseph, who was not ordained. Jacob Mould, son of Thomas Mould (shoemaker) of Cheshunt, Essex, was vicar until his death in 1732, but did not own the advowson. Thomas, the brother of Isaac and Joseph, described Jacob in his will as a cousin and made him his heir when he died in 1730. Joseph died in 1733, leaving most things to his brother Thomas who was already dead. On a legal technicality the advowson, not mentioned in the will, passed to Joseph's brother Daniel (the only surviving brother) instead of Jacob's son Thomas (Jacob also being already dead). Daniel died intestate in 1735, and the advowson passed to his niece, the wife of Edward DAWSON (whose crest was identical to that used by George Moule). Jacob's son Thomas Mould, besides being ordained, was English master at Appleby Grammar School for many years. He sued unsuccessfully for the advowson in 1757. It must have been very galling for him to see it taken out of Mould hands after so many generations.

The Jacob Mould who was vicar of Appleby from 1721-33 is thus presumably descended from one of Abraham's brothers (since the will of Abraham’s son Thomas describes jacob as a cousin), but how is not known. His father, Thomas Mould of Cheshunt, may have been the husband of the Ann Mould who died in childbirth in 1718. There are several children of Thomas Mould baptised at Cheshunt after Jacob (1692) until 1718, but as there is a death of a Thomas Mould in 1710 as well as 1719 there are probably two families involved, most likely closely related. (Thomas and Ann have been shown to be different from the Thomas MOLE and Ann BEELANDS who married at Chebsey, Staffs, in 1682; also the Jacob MOULD who had a son Thomas by Jone (sic) at Cheadle, Staffs, in 1664 is different from the brother of Abraham so this latter Thomas is presumably not connected). Most likely Jacob is a great-grandson of Abraham's brother Thomas (known to have had children by 1642, according to his father's will). Also Staverton is not too far from Cheshunt. However the precise route of descent is not known.

Another Revd Thomas Mould (not the son of Jacob) was headmaster of Appleby Grammar School in the late 18th century (chosen for the post ahead of no less than Samuel Johnson), and a Revd John Mould was headmaster in the 1850s (his burial in 1894 is the last Mould entry in the Appleby registers, in fact the only entry after 1860). Their relationship with other branches is not known.

If there is a connection between the Appleby family and John Moule of Aldgate, it may well be via the Cheshunt branch. The most plausible possibility is that John Mould son of Thomas, baptised 1707 at Cheshunt, could be the father of John Moule of Aldgate, however no possible baptismal entry has been found to support this, and nothing further is known about the life of this John Mould. Contrary to what was previously thought, this is not the John Mould who married Sarah Underwood at Wanstead, Essex, in 1730. Whether Thomas the father of John (born 1707) is identical to Thomas the father of Jacob (born 1692) is unclear - one Thomas Mould was buried in 1710 and another in 1719; between them they had other children in 1700, 1704, 1711 and 1718. The two are probably father and son. It is interesting to note that Jacob's father is recorded in the Cambridge Alumni as being a shoemaker, as is John Moule of Aldgate in 1766.

A researcher listed on this web-site, Peter Phillips, is descended from Jeremiah Mold, who was baptised at Cheshunt in 1768, the son of Matthew and Mary. Whether this family (along with others living at that time in Cheshunt) is related to the Mould family living there some 50 years earlier (and consequently linked to the Appleby Magna Moulds) is unknown; it seems likely.

A family of Mould living in Ellastone, Staffordshire, has long caught my attention. They descend from a Thomas Mould who started having children baptised there in 1635. As one of his sons was called Abraham, it seems not inconceivable that Thomas was the brother of Revd Abraham Mould. A grandson of this Thomas, Richard Mould, had children including Robert (bap 1711), Lydia (bap 1706), and Ellen (bap 1703), by his wife Ellen. Richard Mould’s son Robert would seem to be identical with the Robert Mould of St Paul Shadwell, Middlesex, whose will was proved at Canterbury in 1763; he mentions his mother Eleanor and sisters Lydia and Eleanor, as well as his wife Elizabeth. He can be assumed to be identical with the Robert Mould who married Elizabeth Hicks at Wyddial, Herts, in 1735. The Ellen Mould bap 1693 at Therfield, Herts, daughter of Richard and Ellen, is presumably also from the same family (died in infancy ?), showing a migration to Hertfordshire.

Whether this family provides some kind of link between the Moulds of Appleby Magna and the earlier and later Cheshunt Moulds is worth further investigation.

Last updated: 14^th August 2011