John Dickins of Leaton and Preen, died 1744?

John Dickins of Leaton and Preen, married Mary Fowler, the daughter of Sir William Fowler. I am not sure when he was born. Mary Fowler was decended from Edward III in direct legitimate descent.

He appears to have inherited estates in Church Preen, Leaton, and Bobbington that were already heavily encumbered with debt. This seems to have been the result of having a lot of children, and many of them surviving.

Things were already back before he inherited and they didn't get better, although the fact that his wife had an annuity of £150 from her father must have helped.

John Dickins and Mary had a number of children:
Richard Dickins
Mary Dickins, who married John Moreton of St Giles, weaver
Hester Dickins, who married Mr Wilson
Diana Dickins who married Francis Jones of Lindion, Denbighshire.

Things seem to have gone from bad to worse for John Dickins. The estate at Preen was mortgaged, and there were debts outstanding. He tried all sorts of schemes to raise money, including a plot to sell shares in the common land on his estates on the grounds that there was iron and all sorts of things in them there...commons. He abandoned that scheme when he was imprisoned for debt. He had owed a Joseph Girder £1056 in 1709.

The creditors seem to have taken his inheritors to court in 1744 to try to get their money out of the estate. Eventually the estates were sold in 1749 to the Mortgagee Elizabeth Price.