11. NEALE-HINDMARSH

 

JAMES NEALE and MARGARET HINDMARSH (11)

 

JAMES NEALE. James brought up his family in Sandwich. There is an appropriate baptism for him in Eastry, three miles from Sandwich.

Baptism. St Mary the Virgin, Eastry.
1623/4 Feb 22   James Neale sonne of James Neale.

His mother was Susan Beer.

James senior and Susan were also from Sandwich, but they had their first two children baptised at Eastry. James junior was the oldest of six children. By the time he was three, the family had moved back to Sandwich, where four more children were born. James seems to have spent the rest of his life there.

 

We have no information about James’s occupation, but one of his sons became a labourer. This may well have been true of James.

 

MARGARET HINDMARSH.  There is a baptism for Margaret daughter of Josua Hindmersh at St Mary the Virgin, Sandwich, on 21 Sept 1628. Her mother was Susan Manwell.

She had a brother born eight years later. His father’s name is given here as Joshua.

 

James’s mother died in 1641. The following year his father married Margaret Itell. A stepsister was born.

This was the year that the Civil War broke out. James would have been 18. It is possible that he fought in this war, but we have no details to confirm this.

The first phase of the war ended in 1646 with the capture of Charles I.

On 26 May 1645, James Neale married  Margaret Hindmarsh at St Peter’s church, Sandwich.

 

There follow a series of baptisms for children of James Neale. Three of them are at St Peter’s, where Elizabeth, daughter of James senior, had already been baptised. Four are at St Mary the Virgin. The first two of these are said to be the children of James Neale junior. It is reasonable to assume that the St Peter’s baptisms are for James’s father’s children by his second wife, and that all the baptisms at St Mary the Virgin are for children of James junior and Margaret.

Baptisms. St Mary the Virgin, Sandwich
1647  April 15  Susanna
1649  Dec  9   Margaret
1651/2  Mar 4   James. This James died aged 7 in 1659.
1653 Aug 16   John

St Mary the Virgin, Sandwich [1]

 

In January 1649 King Charles was executed, and the republican Commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell began.

Five year later we have the burial of James Neale of St Thomas Hospital at St Peter’s church. This is almost certainly James’s father. The baptisms for children of James Neale at St Peter’s cease after this.
St Thomas Hospital was an almshouse.

The baptisms at St Mary’s for James Neale’s children continue.

Baptisms. St Mary the Virgin, Sandwich.
1658 Elizabeth  born Apr 22, bapt May 2
Elizabeth lived less than a year. She ws buried on 12 Feb 1658/9.
1659/60 Joseph  born  Feb 24, bapt Feb 29
Joseph was buried 3 months later on 4 May
In 1660 the monarchy was restored under Charles II.
1661/2 Jan 5  Andrew
Andrew lived four years. He was buried on 1666 Jul 26.
A second son James was born.
1664 Jun 14  James. He too died the following year.
1666 May 2  Michael.
Michael did in 1688 at the age of 22. He was then a labourer. This makes us think that perhaps his father was too.
Their final child was named after Margaret’s father.
1669  Sep  26  Josua
Josua lived to the age of 21. He was buried at St Mary’s on 24 Jun  1690.

If we are right about limiting James and Margaret’s children to those baptised at St Mary’s, then they had ten children. Only five of them survived infancy. The two youngest boys died in their early twenties. This points to the likelihood that they were a poor family.

The tragedies continued in the next generation. James and Margaret’s eldest daughter Susanna lost four of her eight children in infancy.[2]

James Neale was buried at St Mary’s on 22 Sep 1670. He was 46.

Margaret survived him by nineteen years.
Burial. St Mary the Virgin, Sandwich
1689 May 24  Margaret Neale  widdow

She was 60.

 

[1] Open Sandwich Kent
[2] 10. FROST-NEALE

 

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12. HINDMARSH-MANWELL

Baker Tree