The lives of William Ince and John Mayhew

Place of Ince & Mayhew weddingSt George's Hanover Square: T. Malton 1787 Aquatint British Library
The two partners married the sisters Isabella and Ann Stephenson in a joint wedding on 20th February 1762. Both families lived in Marshall Street, opposite the end of Broad Street.

They both bought property in Crouch End/Hornsey, which would then have been country residences.

They both served as Directors of the Westminster Fire Office, serving for two years each time. Mayhew was elected in 1763 and 1790 and Ince in 1771, 1780, 1789 and 1798.

They were both members of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) and they were also both Freemasons. William Ince was a member of the Lodge of Felicity, which included a number of their neighbours and John Mayhew was a member of the Lodge of Antiquity.


William Ince

  • Baptised 31st March 1737 in St Paul's Church, Covent Garden, London, son of John Ince, a glass-grinder and his wife, Mary Edwards. 
  • 1752 Apprenticed to John West, King Street, Covent Garden  for £40 following court case
  • Last week were married at St George's, Hanover Square, Mess Mayhew and Ince to Miss Isabella and Miss Nancy Stephenson London Chronicle 20/23 February 1762
  • 1763-1785 Thirteen children born to William and Ann, only six outlived their parents
  • 1780 Country house in Crouch End
  • 1793 Church Warden of St Mary's Hornsey
  • 1800 Wrote his Will
  • 4 Jan 1804 Died of apoplexy
  • 17 Jan 1804 Buried in Ince Family Grave in Whitefield Memorial Church

John Mayhew

  • Baptised 26th February 1736 in St George's Hanover Sq
  • Apprenticed to William Smith Bradshaw
  • 20 February 1762 Married Isabella Stephenson, one child Isabella, other child died 6 months after mother
  • Widowed December 1762
  • 23 December 1765 married Bridget Winsley - ten children of whom five outlived him
  • 1768 Father left him property in Westminster
  • 1798 Paying Rates in Hornsey
  • Church Warden at St James Piccadilly
  • 1811 in his will begged his executors to come to an agreement with the Ince family
  • 11 May 1811 died and was buried in St James Piccadilly on 18 May.