In Sir Aurthur Vicar's Index to Perogative Wills of Ireland, 1536-1810 (published in 1897), there is a will dated in
1701 admitted in court of a John Stockton in Cuddington, Cheshire County, England. J&S go to great length to
show that there were many Stocktons in Cheshire County centered around the Manor at Malpas. A monument at
the Church in Malpas shows a John Stockton died at 56 years of age 18 Oct 1700. This may be the John Stockton
mentioned in Pender's book since he would have had to have property in Ireland for the will to be recorded in
Ireland.
Obviously, if this is the same John Stockton, he would have been only 15 or 16 at the time of the census.
Unfortunately, this will no longer exists as J&S received a reply to their request that "...all the Irish wills, marriage
licenses and many of the older Parish Registers, were destroyed in the burning of the Four Courts at Dublin, during
the political trouble shortly before the last War" (I believe this occurred in 1922).
In researching another Scots-Irish family, I came across additional information. Sir William Betham, Ulster King-of
Arms, indexed and took genealogical notes from each will filed with the Prerogative notes and formed them into
pedigree charts. The LDS apparently micrfilmed them under the title "Betham's Genealogical Abstracts, Pregative
Wills of Ireland." Has anyone of this group ever looked through these abstacts or used them? It will take several
weeks or more to get them from LDS -- perhaps local libraries might have a copy. It looks like it could be a
valuable resource.