The Minters of Essex

Two families of Minters lived in Ardleigh in the 1840s, both headed by a Thomas Minter. They don't appear to have been related but it seems a strange coincidence that they ended up in the same small Essex village. In order to get the two families into the same section of the website an entirely fictitious entity, 'Ardleigh Minter' is used to bring them together.
Note, May 2009: One of the two families has now been moved to the Assington, Suffolk group and the fictitious 'Ardleigh Minter' has been dispensed with.

Acknowledgements:

This family comprises mainly people with the surname MIXTER. A few idividuals however used the surname Minter so the family headed by Joseph Mixter is included for reference.

Acknowledgements:

The first known Minter of Brightlingsea was Richard who is believed to have been born in St Osyth near Brightlingsea in 1740. One of his descendants, George Minter, born 1854, moved to Shoreham, Sussex, married Louisa Cripps and started the Sussex branch of the family. Cecil Reginald Minter, born 1924, married Doreen Fallows in Whitehaven and began the Cumberland branch.

There is a link between the Brightlingsea and the Ridgewell groups which arose when John Marrington Goff (Brightlingsea) married Alice Minter (Ridgewell) in 1907.

Acknowledgements:
Alf Wakeling (who did the original research into the Brightlingsea Minters), Cathy Fulford-Jones, Terry Minter, Clive Rea, Ken Porter, Steve Lilley, Ray Greenway, Chris Goddard, Anne Bradshaw, Ken Minter, Jay Glanville, Julie Bell, Paul B Minter, James Earley, Pam Smurthwaite, Nigel Ward

The origin of this family is obscure - the senior member of the group, John Minter, appears to have been born in Great Horkesley about 1780 (he married in Great Horkesley in 1800) and may be a member of the Great Horkesley group. But no evidence of this has been found. Unfortunately there do not appear to be any living descendants of the family who might be able to help clarify its ancestry.

Acknowledgements:

Research into Parish Registers suggests that that the first known Minter in Great Horkesley, Edward Minter, came to Great Horkesley from West Bergholt, a village a few miles away. It seems likely that he was a descendant of John Myntar, who was buried in West Bergholt in 1741.
One of the Great Horkesley Edward Minter's sons, also called Edward, appears to have moved to the nearby village of Boxted and became the ancestor of the Boxted Minters. The Boxted and Great Horkesley families were eventually (re-)united by the marriage in 1925 of Blanche Minter of Boxted and Charles Ernest Minter of Great Horkesley.

Acknowledgements:
Neil Minter (who produced the original Great Horkesley family tree), Sue McKiddie, Liz Sparkes, Donna Jenner, Linda McIntyre, Iain Storey, Suzanne Coverdale, Janet Rainbow, Nigel Kidd, Jim Boyle, Jane Moyer, Mhairi Cunningham, Cliff Hircock (Lake family), Graham Scott, Ivan Minter, Brendan Molloy, Ann Powell, Debbie Brookes, Susan Martin, Andrew Dockrell, Doreen Munson, Camilla Richfield-Wyatt, Geoff Phillips, Caroline Sanderson, Martin Minter, Darren Bedingfield, Sarah Minter, Pauline Taylor, Ruth Blackman, Alice Seaborne, Gladys Burgess, Traci Moy, Melanie Rigg, Jackie Lefranc, Georgina Howden, Daniel Parkinson and many family members.

The head of this group is Elizabeth Minter who had two illegitimate children, a girl and a boy. The latter was William Minter, born about 1765. As far as is known there are no living descendants carrying the name Minter - all the children born in the 1910s and 20s were girls.

Acknowledgements:
Sue Platt, Lesley Barnes

Little is known about this small family: George Minter was born about 1791 and was married twice. The marriage certificate for his second marriage shows that his father was Edward Minter, a butcher. This is the only known Minter family of this corner of Essex and is a candidate for further research. It's possible that the family is linked to the Rochford group.

Acknowledgements:

This group of Minters originated in Colchester, Essex but the main part of the family started when Daniel Minter, born about 1785, settled in Ridgewell. The move to Brightlingsea occurred around the 1850s. The family ran the Brightlingsea Post Office for many years.

There is a link between the Ridgewell and the Brightlingsea groups which arose when Alice Minter (Ridgewell) married John Marrington Goff (Brightlingsea) in 1907.

Acknowledgements:
Anne Bradshaw, June Smith, Mel Coley

At February 2006 four families have been identified whose head originated in Rochford, but no connection has been established between them. It's unlikely that the four heads were brothers because their dates of birth range from 1801 to 1825 but a father-son relationship may exist between some of them. In order to get the four families into the same area of this site, they have been assigned to an imaginary "Rochford Ancestry Minter". In addition to the four families, Thomas Minter, aged 24 of Rochford, appeared in the 1851 census and has not been accounted for. More research is needed and it is hoped that one day it will be possible to arrange the families properly.

Acknowledgements:
Roland Lee

A search of the Thorpe-le-Soken Parish Registers suggests that John Minter (or his father) came to Thorpe from elsewhere: John's is the first Minter marriage to be recorded in Thorpe and his son John's is the first baptism recorded in Thorpe. We know John senior's father's name only because it is recorded in the Parish Register entry for John's second marriage in 1838. Descendants of the family found their way to nearby Colchester, London, Sproughton (Suffolk), Grimsby (Lincolnshire) and Hartlepool (Durham).

Acknowledgements:
Julia Minter, Tony Gooding, Ron Minter, Howard Wingfield, Kate Minter, Martin Lewis, Dominic Moore (Dominic would like to acknowledge the generous help of Brenda Mills in obtaining some of this information), Ray Eyles, Moira Williams, Gina Urwin, Ruth Howell, Marilyn Corkill, Janice Taufana