| Notes |
- John Fendall (born 1729 in Gloucester, will proved 1791) of Gt Portland St, St Marylebone, London, named three children in his will (8), John, Mary & Harriett as well as his wife Sarah and his friend Edward Rogers of Gloucestershire for whom he had been the London agent (9). He left his property at Dudshill Court, Upper Sapey, Herefordshire, in trust for his wife and successive children for a term of 500 years, but little else. It was a very short will for a London gentleman, however that may, in the circumstances, be understandable for I believe that John Fendall was the father of those siblings mentioned by William Fendall and that bankruptcy proceedings were indeed begun against him in 1778 but would not be completed until after his death. He wrote his will in 1786 not knowing the outcome of his bankruptcy nor indeed that it would take the 'Fendall v. Nash' case to sort out his will.
The one-line obituary for John Fendall published in the Gentleman's Magazine 1791 I'm sure confirms he was the father of William and his siblings by simply stating "At his son's house in the City of Gloucester, John Fendall Esq."
John Fendall, referred to as 'Dr' in The Times (10) and listed as a surgeon in the 1763 (11), appears to have had money to invest in 1777. With the trading of commodities doing well, he chose to invest large sums of money in a partnership with James Lodge, a merchant, packer, dealer and chapman of Little St Helens in the City of London (12)(13). However, Fendall "... who knew nothing about the business ..." (10) made a grave error of judgement, for without Fendall's knowledge Lodge immediately paid off a number of personal debts using these new funds from the business - possibly £36,000 (14). In March 1778, bankruptcy proceedings began against Lodge & Fendall (12). "Lodge v Fendall, 1 Ves. Jr. 166" shows that Fendall considered himself a creditor of the business with Lodge's use of company money an act of fraud, but Lord Thurlow found otherwise - "that those who, being in partnership, are themselves, or some of them, debtors to the creditors of every class, cannot come in competition with the creditors" (15).
Correspondence (16) between Fendall's friends William Burford in London and Edward Rogers in Gloucester reflect their concern ...
1778 Mar 26 - "Mr Lodge has seen some of the creditors in Lancashire who were averse to the commission ... he is the most compleat villain - I'm sure there will be sufficient to hang him ... more than thirty thousand is sunk and passed to his private account ... villainous partner ... I wish I could tell you our friend's private fortune was secure - I fear it is not."
1778 Mar 31 - "First meeting at Guildhall this morning ... both there ... he [Lodge] will brazen it out, plead ignorance ... a bad man ... maybe a deficiency of fifteen to sixteen thousand pounds at the end of it."
1778 Oct 14 - "Saw Mr Fendall - very well as they all are."
1780 Jan 22 - "Friends from Gt Portland Street dined with me on Friday ... very well ... little Harriett in high spirits."
8 His will TNA Prob 11/1204
9 Gloucester Record Office D269/F11/9-24
10 The Times 13 Aug 1813 (report of another case)
11 Mortimer's Universal Directory 1763
12 London Gazette 24 Mar 1778
13 Kent's London Directory 1777
14 bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F1/0001/0001.f1.0802.pdf (p.813)
15 Lodge v. Fendall, 1 Ves. Jr. 166 (1790??)
16 Gloucester Record Office D627/33
see http://home.clara.net/mawer/loc-glouc.html
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1729 - 1791 (62 years)
