Early Life
Given the birth of his daughters around 1720,
Josiah Webbe most likely was born c. 1690. Whether this was in Nevis, or back in Cornwall where the family appears to have originated from, I don't know. I have not yet identified Josiah's parents, but see the bottom of this note for some speculation about the Webbe family origins in Cornwall.
Family Life
Josiah had two known daughters by an unknown wife:
- Frances, b. c. 1716, who married William Maynard in 1737
- Mary, b. c. 1723, who married Walter Nisbet
Given the age gap between the two sisters, it's probable that other children were born too, but perhaps they did not survive to adulthood.
Death
As per the memorial inscription for his daughter
Mary Webbe,
Josiah must have died before 1752, but confusingly there are
references to a Josiah Webbe of New River who was alive in 1763. It's possible that Josiah of this page passed on his New River estate briefly to his nephew, also called Josiah, who was more properly 'of Stoney Hill' (in Nevis). This latter nephew died c. 1767 and may have then passed on the New River estate to his cousin Frances Webbe, daughter of Josiah of this page. But this is all speculation at this stage.
Footnotes
The Webbe family was well established in Nevis in the 1700s; amongst others, we find George Webbe of Westbury-upon-Trym (near Bristol, so an absentee landowner) , his brother Josiah Webbe of Stoney Hill, and their nephew George Webbe (first 'junior' later 'senior'). The father of the nephew George Webbe is not known.
The Josiah Webbe of Stoney Hill (
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/2146651847) was probably a nephew of Josiah of this page, along with George Webbe of Westbury-upon-Trym, and that the father of this latter (who was also called George Webbe, possibly of Falmouth) was the brother of Josiah of this page.
The
Visitations of Devon has a pedigree for a Webbe family of Exeter (p. 775), with the youngest sons being born in the 1620s and 1630s. No idea if/how they are connected but the Webbe surname seems to be strongly connected with the Southwest counties of England.
An email from a correspondent on the subject of the Webbes reads as follows:
I don’t believe the Webbes originated from Cornwall but more likely Wiltshire and perhaps Salisbury as that is where they resided when back from Nevis. There were the Webbs of Odstock from that area but I haven’t found a connection. There were also Webbes in Montserrat who I believe came from Somerset but again I haven’t found any connection between the two families.
Abt 1690 - 