yeovil people
John Tomkins
Attorney at Law
John Tomkins was the fifth of the eight children of the Reverend Thomas
Tomkins (d1839,
Yeovil) and Mary
née Messiter
(d1830, Yeovil).
He was
born on 22 August 1795 and baptised on 24 August 1795
in Piddlehinton,
Dorset. Thomas
and Mary’s
children were –
Elizabeth Mary
(1789-1806),
Edwin
(1790-1861),
Thomas (b1792),
Moulton
(1794-1812),
John
(1795-1858),
William
(b1799), Letitia
(1800-1801) and
Letitia Messiter
(b1803).
Elizabeth,
Edwin, Thomas
and Moulton were
all born in
Blackford, while
William, Letitia
and Letitia
Messiter were
all born in
Yeovil.
Indeed, it appears that
Rev Thomas
Tomkins moved
his family to
Yeovil around
1798. He moved
to Thornfalcon
in 1836, where
he was
“... instituted by
the Bishop of
Bath and Wells
(on the petition
of
John Batten
Esq) to the
rectory of Thorn Faulcon...”.
John Tomkins oldest brother Edwin, was a solicitor of Princes Street while his younger brother, William, was a doctor and surgeon, also of Princes Street.
On 21 January 1810, John
Tomkins’ older
brother, Moulton, took
articles of
clerkship with
Edmund Batten
and
John Batten
of
Yeovil, to which
John Tomkins
attested as a
witness. Sadly,
Moulton Tomkins
did not complete
his clerkship as
he died in 1812
at the age of
18. He was
buried in Yeovil
on 26 March
1812.
On 15 June 1812, John Tomkins
himself took
articles of
clerkship with
Edmund Batten
and John Batten
of Yeovil as
“Clerk in the
practice and
profession of
attorney
solicitor and
conveyancer”. It
is assumed that
he would have
completed his 5
year clerkship
in 1817.
John Tomkins was working
as a solicitor
in London by
1825, where he
lived for the
rest of his
life.
John was a member of the Somersetshire Society of "Gentlemen connected with the County of Somerset". The object of the society was noted as "... confined to the apprenticing of children of the deserving poor belonging to the county of Somerset, resident in London, and afterwards to assist them in beginning business".
John died,
aged 62,
on 5 February
1858 at King's
College
Hospital,
London. He was
buried in
Hackney,
Middlesex, on 8
February 1858.
gallery
Courtesy of Ryan
Weller
The 19 February 1811 witness statement of John Tomkins attesting that he had witnessed the signing of his brother Moulton's Articles of Clerkship to the Battens. John signed this in the presence of Yeovil solicitor, William Lambert White.
Courtesy of Ryan
Weller
John Tomkins' signature, enlarged from the previous image.
Courtesy of Ryan
Weller
The 16 June 1812 witness statement of John Hilborne attesting that he had witnessed the signing of John Tomkins' Articles of Clerkship to the Battens, again signed in the presence of Yeovil solicitor, William Lambert White.
