5

March Tree

 JOHN GRIMES and ABIGAIL WHYERSON (10)

 

JAMES GRIMES. In 1809, Elizabeth Grimes married Doyley Dennis in Beeston Regis on the north Norfolk coast. We have traced her Grimes family back to the wedding of John Grimes in 1727 in Roughton, 3 miles further south.

We have been unable to find a convincing baptism for him. The early registers have pages with faded ink, and his baptism may be on one of these.

At the time of his marriage, he had been living in Sustead, a village 4 miles south of Cromer.  In the early 1700s, Robert and Mary, Robert and Sarah, and John and Elizabeth Grmes were having children baptised in Sustead. One of these couples could be John’s parents. 

 

ABIGAIL WHYERSON. We have not been able to find Abigail’s baptism either, or other instances of her unusual surname.

There is a baptism in 1704 in Lamas with Little Hautbois, a place which ties up with her marriage record. The first name cannot be read, and is probably not Abigail, but the date is about right. It may be one of her family

Baptism. St Andrew, Lamas with Little Hautbois.
1704Apr 7  ? daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Worsham.

We have not found other members of this family.

John and Abigail were probably born in the early 18^th century. They were still children when the last Stuart monarch, Queen Anne, died in 1714. Since all of her children had died, she was succeeded by her second cousin George, Elector of Hanover, a German who spoke no English. The were six people more closely related to Anne, but all of them were Catholics, and debarred from the throne by the Act of Settlement. John and Abigail became the first generation to live under a Hanoverian king.

The marriage between John and Abigail took place in Roughton, two miles west of Sustead, and tells us more about where they had been living.

Marriage. St Mary, Roughton,
1727 Aug 27  John Grimes late of Susted now of Hautboys and Abigail Whyerson of the same.

Little Hautbois lies on the River Bure ten miles south of Sustead.

Their first child was baptised in Wickmere, 4 miles SW of Roughton.
Baptism. St Andrew, Wickmere.
1729 Oct 7  Johannes (John)

The couple evidently moved a great deal in their early years, but they then settled in Felbrigg, less than 2 mile south of Cromer, where they stayed for the rest of their lives.

Baptisms. St Margaret, Felbrigg.
1731 Apr 11  George
1732/3  Feb 18  Charles
1733/4 Feb 17  John. The first John had evidently died, though we have no record of his burial.
1735 May 25  Mary
1737 Nov 27  Joseph and Andrew
On 26 Jan 1738/9 there is a burial for Joseph Grimes, but it is not clear whether this is a child or an adult.
1738 Nov 20  William
1742 Jun 6  Abigail.
Abigail was buried on Jun 14, having lived only a week.  This left just one daughter in a family of boys.

Felbrigg is known for Felbrigg Hall, a Jacobean mansion built in the 1620s. The church of St Margaret stands in its grounds.

When their son William died, aged 72, his burial record says that he was the son of John Grimes. This is highly unusual for an adult, let alone on of advanced years. No other burial on this page has this information. It makes us wonder whether John Grimes was a notable member of the Felbrigg community. We have found no information to explain this.

We do not know John’s occupation, but most people worked on the land. Norfolk was rich agricultural farming country.

The mid-18^th century saw a move away from strip-farming, where pieces of land were allotted to villagers and each could graze a few animals on common land. Instead, land was enclosed to make larger farms. The poor lost out by this, but farmers prospered. We do not know which group the Grimes fell into, or whether John was a craftsman.

The older Abigail lived only four years after the death of her daughter Abigail.
Burial. St Margaret, Felbrigg.
1746 Oct 19  Abigail Grimes.
She was probably in her forties.

John survived her by 34 years. He does not seem to have remarried.
Burial. St Margaret, Felbrigg.
1780 Nov 12  John Grimes.
He was probably in his late 70s.

 

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