The Story of Mary Ayears (Airs)

My post this week tells the story of my paternal Great Great Great Great Grandmother, Mary Ayears  or Airs  (1770 - 1858).

Before proceeding with Mary's story, I'll add a cautionary note ... she has been a troublemaker when it comes to my ability to uncover loads of definitive, accurate information about her life.  

First of all ....

Researching an ancestor who was born in England the same year as Beethoven and Wordsworth can be a very hit and miss affair, as civil registration was only introduced in 1837.  

The period before 1837 is often referred to as the pre-Victorian era (as Queen Victoria ascended the throne mid-1837) and anyone attempting to trace their English ancestors during this period basically needs to rely on church registers.  

Unfortunately these church records contain far less genealogical information than the civil records and were handwritten, making them quite hard to decipher most of the time.  

Second of all ...

I've found that the surname Ayears appears to have different variations, spelt in a few different ways including 'Ayers' and 'Airs'.  This has led to a long, long road of assumption and guessing when it comes to records relating to my 4x great grandmother!  I've spent many, many, many months trying to cross-reference with family trees on Ancestry.com and as many records as I could find on several sites such as Family Search and Find My Past.  It's been a messy and confusing journey.

Thirdly ...

I've found that researching female ancestors going back two generations and more is always a little troublesome.  The details of their lives are rarely captured in the records that are available, unless you're fortunate enough to have treasures such as diaries or family stories passed down.  All I've managed to uncover are a few facts from a couple of very short periods of time - between 1797 and 1808, and then between 1851 and 1858.  So here's what I think I know about parts of Mary's story!

When Mary Ayears was born around 1770, her father Samuel Ayears was around 20 years of age, and her mother Mary Vicary was about the same age.  

Old Church of St Mary Major - with the square tower
By Beatrix F. Cresswell (1862-1940) - httpwww.archive,orgdetailsexeterchurches00cres, 
Public Domain, httpscommons.wikimedia.orgwindex.phpcurid=41190059

My research led me to a baptism record showing a Mary Airs was baptised at the Church of Saint Mary Major in Exeter, Devon, England in August of 1770.

I don't have an exact date of birth for this Mary, and I admit I followed information from family trees on Ancestry.com to track down this record.  

Whether or not it's really my 4x great grandmother is probably debatable, but other information leads me to believe it's quite likely.

Later records, which are definitely more reliable,  indicate that Mary was likely born around 1768, so that places the Mary Airs from this baptism record at approximately the right time.  Records of Mary's marriage later on and the baptism records for her children show that all these events happened in Exeter, so again I think it's highly likely that Mary herself was born and baptised in that same town.




Around 1770, Exeter was a economically powerful city with a very strong trade of wool.  The reigning monarch at this time was King George 111, and it was in August of 1770 that Captain James Cook claimed the entire east coast of New Holland for Great Britain.  It was of course later to become Australia, and the home for descendants of one of Mary's daughters Anne (known as Nancy) my 3x great grandmother, and for descendants of her grandson Joseph Hutton.


Apart from a possible birth year, baptism date, baptism place, and parent names, I have no information at all about Mary's childhood.  The next fact I do know, and am sure about, is that Mary Airs/Ayears married John Littlejohns in December of 1797 when she was around 27-29 years old.  On the marriage record, Mary's maiden name was spelt as 'Ayears'.

According to information sourced from other descendants' family research, Mary and John already had three children before they married.

Well, the assumption is that these are John's children as well as they were given the surname of Littlejohns.

Son Henry was born in 1794, but sadly died when he was less than a year old.
Daughter Frances, known as Fanny, was born in 1795.
Daughter Mary Ann was born in April of 1797.

Interestingly, Mary's father, Samuel Ayears, died on the 14th of December 1797; and Mary married on the 19th of December.

I could make all sorts of assumptions about this fact, one of which would be that Mary had been living out-of-wedlock with John for a number of years likely as a result of her father's objection to the match.  Mary was however old enough to marry without her father's consent, so I'm not sure that would be an accurate assumption.  Anyway, very shortly after father's death, Mary seems to have married the father of her children.

After the marriage of Mary and John in December that year, the family grew.

Jane was born mid-1800, but unfortunately passed away in September.
Anne, known as Nancy, Littlejohns (my 3x great grandmother) came along in November of 1801, when Mary was aged around 31-33.
John was born in May of 1803, but he died in February the following year.
John Edwin was born in 1807.  Mary was now around 37-39 years old.

By the year 1808, out of the seven children that Mary gave birth to, there were three daughters and one son who had survived their infancy.  

It's very difficult to glean information about Mary's adult life around the time of and after the birth of her children, but clues from records later on point to the fact that it's likely Mary, her husband John and their family of four, had a hard life and were probably amongst the poorer class in Exeter society.

John worked as a 'fuller', often referred to as a 'tucker', which was not a well-paying job and the conditions of employment were very tough.  A fuller (tucker) worked long hours every day.  It was their job to clean wool cloth during the cloth making process to eliminate dirt and oil, and make it thicker.  Before the cloth got to the fullers (tuckers) it was soaked in urine!  John's job would have been back-breaking and extremely unpleasant.

I imagine Mary worked in some lowly, poorly paid job in the mills of Exeter as well, but I have not yet found any proof of that, and likely never will. Records of women's working life from that era are rare.

Mary and John were married for about 44 years until John died sometime around 1841.  Mary was aged around 71-73 at that time.

By then, Mary's eldest daughter Fanny was a widow as well.  She had married Joseph Perkiss Hutton, and had given birth to three children, but only two had survived into adulthood.  Fanny's son Joseph, Mary's grandson, had been transported to the colonies ten years earlier at the young age of 17.  He had in fact been sentenced to death, but his conviction had been commuted to transportation for a period of 14 years.  In reality, transportation to Australia really was a life sentence.  He lived out the rest of his life in Australia and probably had very little contact with either his mother or his grandmother Mary.

Mary's youngest daughter Anne (known as Nancy) had married William Henry Browning almost twenty years before, in the same church as Mary and John.  By 1841 though, Anne was in Australia, having migrated with her husband and six children.  She lived the rest of her life in the colonies, far away from her mother.

By 1851, ten years after the death of her husband, Mary was living in the Almshouses in Exeter, with another daughter Mary Anne Harris (nee Ayears).

1851 Census - St David's, Exeter, Devon, England

Mary was recorded as being an "Almsperson / Tucker's Widow".  Almsperson basically meant "one who is dependent on the receipt of alms", a "a pauper". The census record indicates she was now aged 83.  She was living in the Atwills Almshouses on New North Road in Exeter, with her daughter Mary Anne who was listed as an "Upholstress".  It seems that daughter Mary Anne's husband had died by this time, as she was now living with her mother.

An excerpt from the book 'A Topographical Dictionary of England' published in 1833 states:

"Atwill's almshouses were founded and endowed by the corporation, with the arrears of Mr. Atwill's charity in 1717, for fifteen aged woollen manufacturers, appointed by the corporation:  the annual income of this charity amounts to about £320."

Almshouses were generally houses or property left to a parish by a community-minded benefactor who was acting philanthropically, and were outside government control.  People who were accepted into these almshouses were approved in some way.  They would no have been vagrants or outcasts, but were likely to have been regarded as respectable and part of a network of obligation which ensure their admission.  

In Mary's case, she was the widow of a 'tucker', another name for a fuller, and the Atwill's Almshouses were by that time earmarked for "poor and aged" woollen trade workers as mentioned in the excerpt from information on the website Genuki: Almshouses, Devon, Exeter, 1850:

ATWILL'S ALMSHOUSES, in New North road, are neat stone dwellings on an elevated site. In 1588, Lawrence Atwill left about 320 acres of land, and several houses, &c., in the parishes of St. Thomas, Whitstone, and Uffculme, to the Corporation of Exeter, upon trust to apply the yearly profits thereof in setting the poor to work. As the charitable intentions of the testator could not be strictly or beneficially carried into effect, a new scheme was sanctioned by the Court of Chancery in 1771, directing that in future the rents and profits of the charity estate should be applied in the erection and support of almshouses for the reception of poor aged woollen weavers, &c., of the city, who should be provided with looms, &c., and small weekly stipends. Accordingly, 12 almshouses were built in 1772. In consequence of the increased income of the charity, these almshouses were enlarged in 1815, at the cost of £425; and again in 1839, at the cost of £160. They are now occupied by 24 almspeople, who are provided with coals in winter; but only 16 of them have weekly stipends of 2s. 6d. each, and none of them are provided with looms. The charity estate is let to fifteen tenants, at rents amounting to about £250 per annum, and large sums are occasionally received for the renewal of leases and the sale of timber.

I believe that Mary and her daughter Mary Anne were two of the 24 almspeople mentioned as living in the Atwill's Almshoues in 1850, and it's likely neither of them were receiving the weekly stipend.  It's more likely that Mary was relying on the income of her daughter to provide food and other essentials.  On a positive note though, at least they had a home, more or less guaranteed, and were provided with coal in winter!

This is photo of the almshouses from around 1900, which is a little while after Mary was living there but certainly gives an idea of what the almshouses looked like during Mary's time as a tenant.

There were 24 houses (more akin to flats) in 3 blocks that were designed in a gabled Tudor style.

The 'houses' were likely to have consisted of one or two rooms with a fireplace.  It would have provided Mary and her daughter with a private space so they would have been able to live quite independently, despite their economic dependence.

Mary died at the Almshouses in April of 1858 at the age of 90, as indicated on her death certificate.  The cause of death was listed as "natural decay", so it sounds as though she was not ailing in any way or suffering at the end of her long tough life.

She was buried five days later in the Parish of St. David and her death notice, albeit brief, does describe her as "greatly respected by all who knew her".

Mary was survived by her three daughters, Frances Hutton nee Littlejohns, Mary Anne Harris nee Littlejohns, Anne (known as Nancy) Browning nee Littlejohns; and her son John Edwin Littlejohns.

The Story of John LittlejohnS

First of all ... what a fabulous name!  This is the story of my paternal Great Great Great Great Grandfather, John Littlejohns  (1772 - 1865).

I'll start by talking about that surname!  In the long list of my ancestors' surnames, this particular one certainly stands out.  Compared to all the other surnames in my family tree, this one does feels out of place.  There's an immediate association that comes to mind when hearing this surname ... Robin Hood's rather large companion!

Little John was Robin's lieutenant, his second-in-command, and his name was one of three mentioned right at the start of the story-telling, in the earliest ballads about Robin Hood.  His surname was simply a whimsical reference to his size.

So what about the surname of my ancestor, and his father before him?  The information is scant on the topic of the origin of this surname, other than mentioning that it's one of a large number of surnames dating from the Medieval Period with the prefix 'Little'.  It supposedly was used as a means of endearment or explanation, to suggest a younger son or daughter who was much loved.

Another interesting point is that apparently those with the surname Littlejohns (with an 's') lived mostly in the West Country of England; whereas those with the surname Littlejohn (without the 's') resided in Scotland.  My ancestor has the 's' on his surname and did indeed hail from the west country.

There is one other fascinating fact that I can't resist sharing.  The year of my 4x great grandfather's birth was the same year that Captain Cook began his second voyage aboard the ship The Resolution in search of Terra Australis ... the great southern continent where I was born!

A rare photo of the old Church of Saint Mary Major

When my 4x great grandfather John was born in 1772, his father Henry Littlejohns was 31 and his mother Sarah Cleave was 27.

John was baptised in February of 1772 at the original Church of Saint Mary Major in Exeter, Devon, England.  It no longer stands, as it was demolished in 1865.


There was only one sibling alive at that time of John's birth.
Elizabeth had been born in 1767.
Sally came along in 1769, but had died in 1771.

When John was aged 4, another sister Sarah was born in 1776.  Sadly, she died the following year.
In 1778, Mary was born, when John was 6 years old.
So it seems that John grew up with just one older sister, and a younger sister.

Exeter sits on the River Exe in Devon, south-west England.



At the time of John's birth, it was an economically powerful city based on a history of strong trade in woollen cloth.  This industry employed thousands of people.

In the early 1770s, Celia Feinnes (A Scotswoman who kept a journal as she journeyed on horseback around England) remarked on the "vast trade" and "incredible quantity" in Exeter, recording that "it turns the most money in a week of anything in England", between £10,000 and £15,000.  

Celia stated that the "whole town and country is employed for at least 20 mile around in spinning, weaving, dressing and scouring, fulling and drying of the serges (woollen cloth)."

This was certainly true for John.  By the age of 13, the U.K. Register of Duties Paid for Apprentices' Indentures (1710-1811) record shows an entry for John Littlejohns in February of 1785.  He was apprenticed to a man named Edward Pim in Exeter, Devon as a 'fuller'.  John had followed in the footsteps of his father Henry, who was also a 'fuller', and (according to family stories) worked right up to the day of his death when he was aged 89.

According to Wikipedia:  "Fulling was a step in woollen cloth making which involves the cleansing of cloth (particularly wool) to eliminate oils, dirt, and other impurities, and to make it thicker. The worker who does the job is a fuller."

https://www.tuckershall.org.uk/hall/history/processes/14-fulling-or-tucking

Fulling Mill 1764

A quote taken from the website 'Exter Memories: Exeter's Woollen Industry'.

The Fulling Mills
The finishing of the cloth was centralised at Exeter - the abundance of water power in a small area allowed the mills to finish the cloth, ready for export. Before fulling, the cloth was soaked in stale human urine, which contains ammonia and fuller’s earth to aid the process. This process would cleanse the wool of oils, dirt and other impurities and thicken the fibres by matting the surface texture. Every night, urine was collected from taverns, inns and houses by men from the 'piss cart'. The wool was pummelled with large square wooden hammers, or fulling stocks, tripped by wooden cams, directly driven by the water wheel. 


The more I read about the occupation of 'fuller' (sometimes referred to as 'tucker'), the more I became convinced that it would have been hard, laborious work in an environment that would have reeked with the stench of urine.

In 1788, when John was 16 years old, his mother Sarah died.  She was only aged 43 at the time.  It must have been a devastating blow for John's father Henry, as well as John's sisters Elizabeth (aged 21) and Mary (aged 10), and indeed John himself.  I imagine the small family became even closer.

It seems John was still apprenticed to Edward Pim (spelt Pym this time) in 1792, at the age of 20!  That does seem like rather a long apprenticeship, but perhaps that's how it was back then.  The record states that John Littlejohns was of the St. Edmund Parish in Exeter, Devon.

St. Sidwell's Church, Exeter

Just a few years later, John married Mary Ayears at St. Sidwell's Church in Exeter, on the 19th of December 1797.



John was 25 years old, and his bride was 27.



I have found records for, or evidence of (from other family descendants), seven children born to John and Mary.  I have also found records that show at least four were baptised at St. Sidwell's Church.






Henry was born in early 1794, but sadly died before he was one year old.
Frances (known as Fanny) was born in 1795.
Mary Ann came along in 1797.
Jane was born on the 15th of June in 1800, but sadly passed away a mere three months later.
Anne (known as Nancy), my great great great grandmother, was born in November of 1801.
John was born in May of 1803, but sadly, he too died in 1804 when he was less than a year old.
Another son, named John Edwin, was born in July of 1807.  At that time, my 4x great grandfather was aged 35.


I know very little of John's adult life beyond these facts.  I have not yet been able to find evidence of his year of death, or where he was buried; nor have I found out what happened to his wife Mary, or his only surviving son John Edwin.

His three surviving daughters included Anne (known as Nancy), my 3x great grandmother, who emigrated to Australia with her family in 1840, and the immigration record indicates that both her parents were alive at this point.  John would have been in his late 60s by that stage.


Special Note to any family members:  If you have memories to add, photos or information to share, can I graciously ask that you do so.  Please use the comments box below or email me.  It may prove to be invaluable to the story and provide future generations with something to truly treasure.

The Story of John Fullagar

This post tells the story of my paternal Great Great Great Great Grandfather John Fullagar (1757-1803). 

Records for this period are a little light on, and it took me quite a lengthy period of time before I had any details of John at all.  Thankfully, I now have enough to at least put together a little bit of a story.

John was born on the 24th of March 1757, in the small village of Woodchurch, in Kent, England.

England during the time was reigned by King George 11, and British rule was beginning to be established in India.


John was christened at All Saints Church in Woodchurch, Ashford Borough, Kent.

All Saints Church, Woodchurch, Kent  (Etching by Charles Miles 1847)

When John was born his father John Fullagar was 30, and his mother Sarah Gilham was 34.


There were already three children in the family.

Mary was born in 1748.
Elizabeth was born in 1752.
Joseph came along in 1754.






John's father had been running the Bonny Cravat Inn in the village since 1750, after the birth of the first child Mary, although the family had in fact been associated with the inn since the early 1730s.

The modern Bonny Cravat Inn

John's grandfather had been the innkeeper for the Bonny Cravat for twelve years from 1734.

When he died, John's grandmother took over and ran the inn for four years.

John's father then took over from John's grandmother after he had married.





In 1758, the year after John's birth, John's sister Sarah was born.  It was at this point in time that John's father, for some reason I have yet to uncover, stopped being the innkeeper of the inn that had been in the Fullagar family's hands for 24 years.  I wonder why?

The inn was then kept by members of another family, the Hukins family, for the next 24 years until my 4x great grandfather John took over, and it was in the hands of the Fullagar family once more.

(Interestingly, many years later, one of John's daughters, my Great Great Great Grandmother Susannah, married the grandson of one the Hukins brothers, so it seems there was no bad blood between the families!)

Well now, back to my great great great great grandfather John's story ... 

His sister Sarah was born the year after John, in 1758.
Thomas was born in 1759.

I have no information to share about John's childhood years, and what it might have been like growing up in the village of Woodchurch.  I have wondered what his father's occupation was during this time though?  Was John's father still involved in the day-to-day running of the Bonny Cravat Inn, even though he was no longer the innkeeper?

John's father, John Fullagar Snr., passed away in 1775, when John was aged 18. I wonder how the family got along after this.  It's likely both of John's older sisters were married by this time or married soon after, as they were aged 27 and 23 respectively.  John's other brothers, Joseph now aged 21 and Thomas aged 16 were perhaps working and bringing in an income to help support the family.  No doubt, John himself was also working by this time.  His sister Sarah, aged 17, was most likely helping out with the domestic duties at home, alongside her mother.

In May of 1782 John's mother Sarah died, just after John had turned 25. As it turned out, this happened just two months before John's wedding, which meant neither of his parents witnessed his marriage.

John married Elizabeth Bourne on the 7th of July in 1782, when he was 25 years old.  Elizabeth was a daughter of a well-known family in Woodchurch, so it appears John married well.

A view of Woodchurch early 1900s -  the Bonny Cravat Inn is on the left.

As mentioned previously, John took over as innkeeper of the Bonny Cravat Inn that same year, 1782, when he was 25 years of age.  He was to be the innkeeper for the next 20 years.

The Bonny Cravat Inn had been in the hands of other members of the Fullagar family before John became the innkeeper, and there were to be other Fullagars who followed in the same occupation later on as well; but it was John who ended up being the Fullagar who worked the longest as an innkeeper of the Bonny Cravat over its long lifespan.

Interestingly, the Bonny Cravat is still standing and is still operating today on Frone Road in Woodchurch.

Given John's long career as the innkeeper of the inn, it is likely that he made a comfortable enough living and provided a reasonably substantial place of residence.  It also seems likely that he would have become quite a well-known, if not prominent, member of the community in that time. 



Indeed, the Kent Poll Book record of 1790 shows John Fullagar's name recorded in the village of Woodchurch as a 'freeholder' of a home and land.  This also meant that he was now qualified to vote as a consequence of being a home and land owner.  It seems that he was one of the prominent members of the village community.  He was 33 years old.



The Poll Book record of 1802 shows John Fullagar's name once again, now aged 45, still a landowner and still qualified to vote.

During my research of the years John spent as an innkeeper, I stumbled upon this photo ...

 ... two of the tankards pictured in this photo have an inscription - 'Bonny Cravat Inn' - which was quite a nice surprise to find.  Then I noticed the other part of the inscription!  Surely not, I thought!  What were those initials?  Half in hope I looked into the details of this photo.  Apparently these tankards were up for auction, and had been identified as original "George 111 pewter pint tankards" that had been used at the Bonny Cravat Inn, with the initials "J.F." inscribed above the name of the inn.  Well!  Guess who was the innkeeper at the inn during the reign of George the Third?  Yes, that would have been John Fullagar.  I wonder where these tankards had ended up?

At the same time, I was doing a little reading up on Woodchurch, and I was left with an impression of the quintessential English village. Back in the late 1780s to early 1800s when John was working as an innkeeper and raising his family, the village was surrounded by forest.  Although most of that is now gone, there are still woodland areas to be found nearby.

To the north stood a pair of Kentish smock windmills and mills.



If you had climbed to the top of one back in the late 1780s or 1800s, you would have had an expansive view over the marshes to the coast.


To the south-west was a large area of moor, a wetland area and low wooded hills.


One of the windmills still stands today.

Within the village there was a very large village green (which is still there today).  It was (is) almost the size of an English Common! 

On the north side of the village green stood Kentish houses, typical of  the time.


Many can still be found standing.






On the west side of the green stood (and still stands) the remarkable and distinctive looking All Saints' Church, dating back to the 13th century. Built of Kentish ragstone, it has three aisles, three chancels and a shingled spire steeple in which hangs six bells.

A short video about the church:  History of All Saint's Church in Woodchurch

Surrounding the church is the graveyard, where many Fullagars are buried. When I first began researching my Fullagar ancestors, I discovered sketchy information from other family trees on Ancestry.com, but there was little in the way of factual evidence or records attached to these trees.

Thankfully one record source came up trumps with loads of information which enabled my research on my Fullagar ancestors to move forward considerably.  This is where I digress for a second and mention the prompt for this weeks's '52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge': Cemetery.

The 'UK and Ireland Find A Grave Index' has proven to been invaluable in determining family relationships and family members on the Fullagar side of my family.  I began searching this source with quite limited information about John, primarily his name, possible dates of birth and death and his spouse's name. 

I quickly found this record which matched the birth and death dates and place of birth that I already had.  Further research led me to a record of the inscription on the headstone that can be seen in the photo above.  The words were obviously worn away with age and weather by the time this photo was taken, but the text of the inscription had been kept in the church's cemetery records.

There was a list all of my 4x great grandfather's children, in the order of their birth, no less!  I also found confirmation of my 4x great grandmother's name and date of death.

Where to from there?  Knowing that all of my 4x great grandfather's children were born in Woodchurch, back I went to the 'Find A Grave Index'. That's when I noticed the section on the left hand side of the screen: "Find all the Fullagars in: All Saints Churchyard".  I wasn't sure that all of the children would have stayed in the village and therefore died in the village, but I presumed that would have been the case for most of them.  So, using the list of children's names from the inscription record, off I went on my hunt.

Success!  These cemetery records led me to some of the details of John's children, especially details of the children who had died in Woodchurch.  I then continued my search elsewhere for details about the children who had moved away.  Eventually, I was able to pull together the story of John and his children and unfortunately it was rather a sad tale.

My great great great great grandfather John and wife Elizabeth had 13 children over a span of 19 years, seven sons and six daughters.

Richard was born in 1782, seemingly rather early given that his parents had only married in July of 1782.  He married Elizabeth Goldsmith, had seven children and emigrated to the U.S. when he was in  his mid 40s.

John came along in 1784, when my 4x great grandfather was aged 27.  Sadly, the son named after John died just a few months later, in July of 1784.  💔

Mary was born in 1785, but also died just a couple of months later in August of 1785. 💔

Another son was born in 1786, and also named John, after my 4x great grandfather.  Tragically, he died just a few months later in December of 1786. 💔
 
George was born in 1787, but also died a few months later in November of 1787. 💔

Sarah was born in 1788.  She went on to live for 41 years, married Harry Hook and had nine children of her own.

Susannah (my Great Great Great Grandmother) came along in 1791.  She married James Hukins, had nine children and emigrated to Australia in her late 40s.

Elizabeth was born in 1793, but died a couple of months later in September of 1793. 💔

Thomas was born in 1794.  He lived for 62 years in the village of Woodchurch, married Elizabeth Coomber and had twelve children.  He did take over the Bonny Cravat Inn after his mother in 1816 and was the innkeeper for four years.

Josiah was then born in 1796, but tragically, he died just one year later. 💔

Josephus came along in 1799, and died in January of 1800, aged 2 months. 💔

Sophia was born in 1801, but only lived for five days. 💔

Ann was born in 1802.  She lived for 55 years, married John Mannering and had two children.


After finding out these details, I had to sit and ponder this for quite a while. The gravity of it really hit me, and even though I was taking it all in some 200 years later, my own feelings of sorrow were quite palpable.

Imagine having 13 children in the space of 19 years, but losing 8 of them, including the two boys who had been named after you!

I can not begin to comprehend the anguish and grief that must have filled the life of my 4x great grandfather and grandmother, given these circumstances.  How do you live through that?

I guess working as an innkeeper would have kept John very busy, and perhaps there wasn't enough time to spend grieving and experiencing the sorrow and heartbreak. 

I'm not entirely convinced of that however, as John died quite young, in 1803 at the age of 46.

He was survived by his wife Elizabeth aged 42, his son Richard aged 21, daughter Sarah aged 14, daughter Susannah (my 3x great grandmother) aged 12, son Thomas aged 8, and daughter Ann who was not yet 1 year old.


The All Saint's Church cemetery is on my bucket list of places to visit one day.  That list doesn't include many cemeteries I have to admit, but this one holds a special place in the family story and therefore is on my list. 💔







Special Note to any family members:  If you have memories to add, photos or information to share, can I graciously ask that you do so.  Please use the comments box below or email me.  It may prove to be invaluable to the story and provide future generations with something to truly treasure.