5

Monk Tree 

THOMAS ABRAHAM and ROSE BANISTER (9)

 

THOMAS ABRAHAM. We find this generation in Lincolnshire parishes bordering the coast north of Boston.

Thomas married and raised his family in Benington. This is a village 5 miles NE of the market town of Boston. The village itself is a little way inland, but the parish borders the Wash.

There are two possibilities for Thomas’s baptism in nearby villages.

Baptism. St James, Freiston.
1697 Dec 26  Thomas son of John Abraham and his wife Mary

Baptism. St Andrew, Butterwick.1697/8 Jan 27  Thomas son of John Abraham labourer and Mary his wife.

There was a marriage for Thomas Abraham in 1720 in Butterwick, so this is unlikely to be Rose Banister’s husband.

There are no further entries for Thomas Abraham, or any other Abrahams, in Freiston. This boy did not die young or raise a family there. We have been unable to find what happened to John and Mary. They may have moved further afield, perhaps to Boston, while Thomas moved to Benington.

But there were Abrahams in Benington going back to the 1580s. It is possible that Thomas’s baptism is among them, but no longer legible.

We have no information about Thomas’s occupation, but the fact that he died a pauper suggests that he was from the labouring class.

Benington is fenland country. It has rich dark alluvial soil, reclaimed from the sea by drainage. Nowadays, it chiefly grows vegetables, but may have grown more cereals in Thomas’s time. 

There are two baptisms for children of Thomas Abraham before his marriage to Rose. This may be a different Thomas, but the dates, shortly before this wedding suggest that this was a previous marriage for Thomas.

His first wife was Mary, leading to the following marriage.

Marriage. St Guthlac, Fishtoft
1719 May 5  Thomas Abraham & Mary Tayler.

Fishtoft is a village 4 miles south of Benington.

The marriage was shortlived.

Baptisms. All Saints, Benington.
1722 Jul 1  Mary daughter of Tho Abraham and Mary his wife.
1726 May 19  Elizabeth daughter of Thos Abraham.
Elizabeth was buried on 11 Feb 1728/9 aged 2.

There is then a burial.
Burial. All Saints, Benington.
1726 Oct 25  Margaret wife of Thomas Abraham.

Despite the difference in name, this seems to be the same woman; There no other references to Margaret, and it seems to be a mistake for Mary.

There is also the burial of child whose baptism we do not have.
1727 Dec 25  Thomas the son of Thomas Abraham.

 

ROSE BANISTER.
Baptism. St Mary and St Nicholas, Wrangle.
1700 Nov 3  Rose the daughter of John Banister and his wife Sarah.
Rose was the fourth of five daughters, one of whom died in infancy, with two younger brothers.
Her mother was Sarah Hilton.
She too came from a poor family. Her father was a pauper when he died.

Rose was only 9 when her mother died and fifteen when her father died.

Wrangle is another Fenland parish bordering the Wash. It is 4 miles NE of Benington. But Rose appears to have moved to Benington before she married Thomas.

Marriage. All Saints, Benington.
1727 May 4  Thos Abraham and Rose Banister.

We have the baptism of five children, four girls and one boy. 

Baptisms. All Saints, Benington.
1729 Apr 1  Sarah
1730 Apr 17  Martha
1731 May 20  Rosamund
1734 Sep 27  Thomas
1741 Oct 16  Rose

In 1704, the local landowner Richard Cowell left a building in his estate which was converted into a schoolroom. We do not know whether any of the Abraham children attended this. They may have been wanted for other work.

There is just one burial that fits Thomas.

Burial. All Saints, Benington.
1774 Oct 5  Thomas Abrahm Pauper

We have been unable to find a burial or a remarriage for Rose.

 

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