Anne Richards - Dunk

Anne Dunk Montagu-Dunk

• BIRTH 1725
• DEATH 13 Oct 1753 (aged 27–28)
• BURIAL St Mary Magdalene Churchyard, Horton, South Northamptonshire Borough, Northamptonshire, England
• MEMORIAL ID 201001281 · View Source

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/201001281/anne-montagu-dunk

George Montagu, 1st earl of Montagu, to whose title he succeeded in 1739. He assumed the name of his wealthy wife, Anne Dunk, whom he married in 1741. See below:

Story of Change in Surname per will of Sir Thomas Dunk Sir Thomas Dunk (died 1718) was an English ironmonger and benefactor. He was appointed Sheriff of London in 1711 and served under Mayor of London Sir Richard Hoare.[1]

Dunk lived at Tongs in Hawkhurst, Kent, England, Kingdom of Great Britain, and was from a family of 'great clothiers'. His family's wealth derived from centuries of textile production and diversification into ironmaking.[2] The forests of Hawkshurst provided wood for smelting iron from local sandstone. In his will, Dunk endowed for Hawkhurst six almshouses, a school for twenty boys, and a house for a schoolmaster.[3][4]

In 1704 Thomas married Cornelia Palmer (1668–1717), the daughter of Ralph Palmer and Alice White and sister-in-law to John Verney, 1st Viscount Fermanagh. There were no surviving children from the marriage.

In his will Thomas named William Richards (1690–1733), presumed to be an illegitimate son, as his executor; he left William his estate in Chieveley, Berkshire, on condition that William and his heirs took the name and arms of Dunk.

William's daughter Anne Richards (1726–1753) - by his wife Ann Davis (1704–1727), eldest daughter of John and Elizabeth Davis of Hawkhurst, Kent - married, in 1741, George Montagu, 2nd Earl of Halifax who took the name Dunk and became George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax.[1]

Lord Halifax conveyed a lease on Tongs wood to Jeremiah Curteis of Rye for one thousand years, for a yearly rent of sixpence. Curtis was one of the leaders of the notorious gang of smugglers – The Hawkhurst Gang.[2] Dunk's former manor, known as Tongswood, was eventually purchased in 1945 and placed in trust in 1958 for use by Saint Ronan's School.[2]