Origins of the Glamorgan Loveluck Line



The origins of the Glamorgan Loveluck Line can be traced back to John Lovelock/Loveluck who married Ann John at St Mary, Margam on 23 Nov 1765.

Janet Hearle suggested (see the notes on The Early Loveluck Family of Glamorgan) that John Lovelock moved from Wiltshire to Glamorgan and that this move was associated with the fact that the Talbot family had estates in both areas. She also suggested that he changed his surname from Lovelock to Loveluck on moving to Wales, due to the Welsh pronunciation of his name. No conclusive evidence to support this hypothesis has been found, either in Janet's notes or elsewhere, although it is certainly the case that several Lovelucks rented farms and land on the Margam estates and, according to Janet, Margam Estate accounts for 1788-9 record that John L. held land in Kenfig and a cot and garden in Margam.

A number of people, and in particular Janet Hearle, have attempted to trace the origins of John Lovelock/Loveluck in Wiltshire (or elsewhere) but no-one has succeeded so far in establishing with certainty where he came from. However, some likely candidates have been identified. In particular, the Parish Register for Ramsbury Wilts. includes the following baptism record:

1739 Oct 21, John son of Thomas & Mary Lovelock

as well as a baptism record for the Thomas Lovelock, probably the father of this John Lovelock:

1704 July 21 Thomas the son of Thomas Lovelock, Labourer, was baptised same day 

We have the transcript of the will of John Lovelock (bap Ramsbury 9 Oct 1707, d Feb 1790), who was almost certainly the brother of the above Thomas Lovelock. In his will, John left one shilling to John, son of his brother Thomas, which seems a rather miserly sum, considering that he bequeathed fifteen pounds to an Edward Johnson of Burbage and a similar sum to John Andrews, blacksmith of Ramsbury, neither of whom appears to have been related to him. Could it be that John was punished for having left the village and moved to Wales?

However, there are a quite a few John Lovelocks born in Wiltshire and surrounding counties at about this time, and it is far from easy to sort out which of them belong to other Lovelock lines, and which are potential candidates for the progenitor of the Glamorgan Loveluck line. Robert Sterry has produced a collection of John Lovelocks born about 1740 (revised in 2013), with some suggestions as to which of them might belong to the different Lovelock trees which have been constructed.