The Keen Family and their Descendent

The following information was provided by Terry Sharp who is a descendent

William Keen and his decedents

William Keen -1 was born 1633 at Teignmouth, England, he was married to unknown. It is thought that he left England and went to seek his fortunes I. North America. He had one child
William Keen -2 was born in Concord, Massachusetts, USA 1667 -1731. These records were searched by others. He married Jane Keen (born 1660 d. 1737) The records show that they had the following children.

William Keen -3 . He was born 1686-1754. He became one of the first Justices of the Peace in Newfoundland and used his position to gain land and prestige. He was known as Judge Keen. He was thought to be quite wealthy and a group of people decided to rob him of his money and attacked him in his summer home in Quidi Vidi Village, a small fishing village in St. John's . He died from his wounds about nine days later. The perpetrators were hung near Keen's wharf.

1. 2. John Keene-1688-1691 Concord, Mass. USA.
2. Hannah Keene 1690-1715 April 25,1715
3. John Keene April 15, 1691-1715 Boston Suffolk, Massachusetts,USA.

William Keene-3 was born/ bapt. May 2,1686 Boston Mass. USA. He died Sept. 29,,1754 when he succumbed to wound during an attack/robbery on his home in Quidi Vidi.NL.

William married Elizabeth Bridgham on June 13,1710. At Boston Middlesex,Mass. USA. It is reported that he started to come to Newfoundland as a firm agent in 1704. He later started his own import export business. Elizabeth Bridgham and William Keene had one son. This is documented on his father 's will.

William Keene -4 only son of William and Elizabeth Keene.it is said that he was born Sept. 19,1712 West Teignmouth. He drowned on a trip to Labrador March 29,1775. He is buried West Teignmouth Exeter, England.

This William-4 married Elizabeth Drake 1730-1798. They had the following children.

1. Captain Robert Keen according to his father's will he also used the alias Robin Keen.28/12/1757 West Teignmouth death Dec, 9,1834 Guernsey Islands,Capt. Robert Keen late of Dawlish, Dev.

He married Ann Whitfield Whitborn an heiress. She was daughter of Thomas Whitborn and Ann Whitfield. Her grandmother Catherine left her part of an estate called Budda.

Capt. Robert Keen and Ann had the following children.

1. Arabella Keen 1785-1874 born West Teignmouth she married James Brett. They had one child Charles Edgar Keen Brett.1832-1869.
2. Catherine Keen 1786-March 13,1873 died in Chagford, England. She married Charles O'Bryen. They had no known children.
3. Lieutenant

William Keen -1 was born 1633 at Teignmouth,England, he was married to unknown. It is thought that he left England and went to seek his fortunes I. North America. He had one child
William Keen -2 was born in Concord,,Massachusetts,USA 1667 -1731. These records were searched by others. He married Jane Keen (born 1660 d. 1737) The records show that they had the following children.

1. William Keen -3 . He was born 1686-1754. He became one of the first Justices of the Peace in Newfoundland and used his position to gain land and prestige. He was known as Judge Keen. He was thought to be quite wealthy and a group of people decided to rob him of his money and attacked him in his summer home in Quidi Vidi Village, a small fishing village in St. John's . He died from his wounds about nine days later. The perpetrators were hung near Keen's wharf.
2. John Keene-1688-1691 Concord, Mass. USA.
3. Hannah Keene 1690-1715 April 25,1715

Information about this group.

William Keene-3 was born/ bapt. May 2,1686 Boston Mass. USA. He died Sept. 29,,1754 when he succumbed to wound during an attack/robbery on his home in Quidi Vidi.NL.

William married Elizabeth Bridgham on June 13,1710. At Boston Middlesex,Mass. USA. It is reported that he started to come to Newfoundland as a firm agent in 1704. He later started his own import export business. Elizabeth Bridgham and William Keene had one son. This is documented on his father 's will.

William Keene -4 only son of William and Elizabeth Keene.it is said that he was born Sept. 19,1712 West Teignmouth. He drowned on a trip to Labrador March 29,1775. He is buried West Teignmouth Exeter, England.

William Keen -4. Born 1712-1775, first wife Mary, maiden name unknown, in England.

There is no known record of her death.

They had the following children.

4. William -5 born 1739 died 1786.
5. Benjamin Keen 1741-1802.
6. Silence Sarah Keen 1745 -1831
7. Mary Ann Keen 1747-1821.
8. Jane Keen 1750-1775

Information on this branch of the following is as follows. All of this is substantiated by William's will. William 4 married Elizabeth Drake between 1750-1757.

William-5 1739-1786 married 1. Elizabeth Escott, (possibly Arscott as per Martha Ann Keen's 1867 will.) He married her against his father's wishes. His father later relented but specified that William was to compensate his common law wife in Newfoundland, Mary Carter.

Their children were

1. William -6 (1774-1817)
2. Elizabeth 1778-1792
3. Martha Ann Keen 1780-1867 spinster.

William Keen -5 (1739-1786) also had a common law wife in Newfoundland. This is confirmed in his father's will. It is from this Union that my Keen line descends. They had the following children.

1. Samuel Keen 1772-1822 . The spelling of the name in Newfoundland can be found in the records as Keen,Keene,Cain,Caines, Keynes, Kean to name but a few. This was due to the fact that there were few people that could read or write and names were spelled as they sounded.

Samuel was my gggrandfather. He married a lady called Mary Bule. The spelling of her last name is not known for sure as the record was hard to read. 1778-1852. Nothing is known about her. They married in St. John's about 1795-96.

Mary Baker Kean 1796 she married Captain Stephen Baker and they had 1 child Christopher Baker a Mersey Pilot.

William Keen 1810-May 2, - 1887. may 1. He married Ann Jeanes/Janes. they had the following children.

1. Mary A. Kean 1833-1834
2. Ann Kean. 1834-1835
3. Eleanor Kean 1836-1919
4. Benjamin Kean 1838-1906
5. Louisa Ann Keen 1840-1844
6. Thomas Cull Kean 1841-1844
7. Job Kean. 1843-1914
8. Mary Kean. 1845-1926
9. William Kean. 1847-1880
10. Louisa Ann Kean 1849-1930
11. Caroline Kean. 1851-1930
12. Esther Jane Kean 1853-1940
13. Frederick T. Kean 1858-1860
14. Priscilla Kean 1860
15. .Jane Kean. 1863

3. John Kean 1813-1826

4. Joseph Kean 1814-1883. He married Jane Knee 1817-1867. They had the following children.

1. Samuel Kean 1837-1853
2. Joseph Kean 1837-1885
3. John Kean 1839-1866
4. Hannah Kean 1840-1894
5. William Kean 1841-1880
6. Joseph Kean. 1843-1885
7. Anne Kean 1845
8. Esther Kean 1849
9. Samuel Kean 1853-1925
10. Abraham Kean - 1855-1945. Captain Abraham Kean OBE. Known as the millionaire sealing captain.

5. Hannah Kean 1817-1857. Only daughter of Samuel and Mary Bule Kean. She was my great great grandmother. She married Francis Stokes October 23,1834. At Greenspond Nl. They had the following children.

1. Catherine Stokes she married George Geange/Genge originally from England
2. Ann Stokes she married Charles Dewey.
3. Mary Stokes. She married Thomas Dyke
4. France's Stokes. George Dyke
5. Susannah Stokes. She married Elias Osmond a widower.
6. Sophia Stokes. Died 1857.
7. Benjamin Stokes 1849-1931 He married 1. Esther Jane Spurrell,2. Sophia Wicks Sturge.
8. Joseph Stokes 1852-1924, He married Mariah Dyke.

Benjamin Stokes 1849-1931 was my great grandfather. He had 2 wives. His first wife was Esther Jane Spurrell. She died of Typhoid Fever. She left Benjamin with a young large family.

1. Hannah Mathilda Stokes named for the two grandmothers. Hannah Kean and Mathilda Spurrell.
2. Simeon Stokes named for his maternal grandfather Simeon Spurrell.
3. France's Stokes named for her paternal grandfather
4. Paulina Stokes 1883-1920. She married Thomas Wheeler and died of Bright's disease.
5. Iretta/Rita/Retty Stokes. 1887-1978. She married Abraham Benjamin Winter from England and moved there about 1917. She died there.
6. Belah Stokes 1888-1965 October 22.
7. Samuel Stokes 1891-1893
8. Muriel Stokes 1893-1988. She was only a baby when her mom died.

He then married Sophia Wicks Sturge. Her first husband was born on Flowers Island ,home of the Kean and Sturge families. James died while fishing/birding with the Kean family. She was pregnant with their 4th child. Her Sturge relatives took 3'pf her son's, Robert Absolom, and Lewis Sturge as she could not afford to keep them and Alfred born just after James died stayed with her in his early years. She bravely took on Benjamin and his crew. They then had 4 more children together.

1. Hester Jane Stokes 1897-1981. She married William Jerdon Blackwood of the famous Newfoundland Blackwood Mariner family.

They had the following children.

1. Benjamin Blackwood
2. Edward Colton Blackwood
3. Bertram Blackwood
4. Berta Blackwood
5. Shirley Blackwood
6. Emily Blackwood

2. Nelson Feltham Stokes 1898-1978. My grandfather. Married Ellen Colton Attwood. Daughter of Elias Attwood and Caroline Jane Wells. All of which can be traced back to England.

They had the following children.

1. Kenneth Wesley Stokes 1922-2002. My father.
2. Hubert Waldegrave Stokes
3. Norman Seymour Stokes
4. Annie Marie Stokes
5. Mary Alvina Jane
6. Leslie Nelson Stokes
7. Wilfred Edward Lorenzo Stokes
8. Esther Sadie Marina Stokes died at age 10 months, deaf.
9. Signa Geraldine Stokes

3. Joseph Stokes 1904-1994?Married Lillian Rebecca Burry.

1. Cyril Stokes
2. Madeline Frederica Stokes
3. Yordis Gwendolyn Stokes
4. Wilfred Spencer Stokes .died as a young child.

4, Emily Stokes 1906 died child.

This William-4 married Elizabeth Drake 1730-1798. She was his second wife. They had the following children.

This William 4 married Elizabeth Drake 1730-1798. She was his second wife. They had the following children.

1. Captain Robert Keen according to his father's will he also used the alias Robin Keen. 28/12/1757 West Teignmouth death Dec, 9,1834 Guernsey Islands,Capt. Robert Keen late of Dawlish, Dev.
2. Samuel Keen 1760-1763
3. George Keen 1763-1763

1. Captain Robert Keen the o nly surviving child of this Union owned property in Newfoundland. He married Ann Whitfield/Whitefield Whitborn daughter of Thomas Whitborn and Anne Whitfield. She was an heiress of property from her grandmother Catherine Whitefield, Moreton Hampstead, a property called Buda.

Their children were as follows.

1. Arabella Keen1785-1874
2. Catherine Keen 1786-March 13,1873 died in Chagford, England.
3. Lieutenant William Robert Keen 1794
4. Susan Arabella Keen. 1794
5. Ann Keen 1797- 1867
6. Charlotte Keen 1798-1843

This is information about his family.

1. Arabella Keen 1785-1874 born West Teignmouth married James Brett. They had one child Charles Edgar Brett 1832-1869.
2. Catherine Keen 1786-March 13,1873 Chagford, England. She married Lieutenant Charles O'Bryen a Lieutenant in the Royal Marines. He died 1840 April. She did not remarry.

They have no children that I know of.

3. Lieutenant William Robert Keen 1794 death unknown. He is mentioned in his sister Catherine's will but he never ever claimed the estate she left to him. While he was stationed in Nova Scotia he married a widow named Mary Ann Ridgeway Robinson. Their children were Elizabeth b. 1822, Arabella born 1825,William birth date unknown but thought to have died in New Brunswick,Canada but I have been unable to find documentation to prove this.
4. Susanna Arabella Keen 1794- . She married Matthew William Walbank. Their son Matthew William Walbank a lawyer, came to Newfoundland and became Attorney General. Have more info on him.
5. Ann Keen 1798-1867 married Samuel Tyndall. They had one son Joseph Tyndal who married Anne Shute, they had two children Clara and Theodore Henry Tyndall. She divorced his for incestuous adultery. He married her younger sister and they moved to New Zealand.