5
Alan March’s Family History
This site is a work-in-progress. There is a massive amount to cover. I have included both male and female lines, and some go back many generations. Keep coming back for more.
I have numbered the generations working backwards from Alan’s as (1)(1)
JOHN WILSON and SARAH HARDY (6)
JOHN WILSON. Unusually, the 1841 census for Moulton gives the exact ages of adults. These are usually rounded down to the nearest 5. This tells us that John Wilson was born around 1793-4. But this is at variance with his age given at death, which puts his birth date around 1801-2.
We do not have access to the original parish register for his burial, so the age may be an error in transcription. If it were 53 instead of 43, this would give a birth date of 1791-2.
Unfortunately, the 1841 census does not tell us his birth parish.
The nearest baptism in age to tally with the census is in Holbeach, 3 miles east of Moulton.
Baptism. Holbeach.
1793 Mar 6 John Wilson son of James and Jane Barker Wilson.
His mother was Jane Barker Hempstock.
If his age at his burial is correct, then the nearest birth is recorded at the Society of Friends (Quakers) in Spalding.
Birth. Spalding Meeting.
1800 1mo (Jan) 4 John Pearson son of Thomas and Elizabeth Wilson of Bennington, Grazier.
This would put him in the same class as Sarah.
Bennington is 10 miles north of Moulton, making this one unlikely.
Between these two dates is a baptism in Moulton.
Baptism. Moulton.
1796 Jul 5 John Wilson son of James and Elizabeth Wilson
This James Wilson was a farmer, and in later baptisms a gentleman. Younger sons of farmers might become labourers, but it is very unlikely that the second son of a gentleman would
This leaves the Holbeach baptism, matching the census, as the most likely one..
John died before the 1851 census, which would have given us more details.
Assuming that the Holbeach baptism is correct, then John was the last of three children. His mother was buried 6 days after his baptism.
He had a sister and a brother.
John became a labourer.
SARAH HARDY was baptised in Crowland in the closing days of the eighteenth century.
Baptism. Crowland.
1799 Dec 12 Sarah daughter of Benjamin and Sarah Hardy.
Her mother was Sarah Congreve.
Sarah was the fourth of nine children. Her father was a farmer. For most of her childhood they lived in Crowland.
Her father died when Sarah was 10. He was buried, not at Crowland, but in Whaplode. But this is long thin parish, reaching south to outskirts of Crowland.
He was then a farmer at Postland, an area just north of Crowland.
They were married in Crowland Abbey on 30 Sep 1823. John Wilson was of Moulton, and Sarah Hardy of Crowland. Both sign their names.
Witnesses: William Wilson, Elizth Jackson.
Crowland Abbey was a Benedictine abbey at the time of the Reformation. The majority of it was demolished, but the north aisle became the parish church.
John and Sarah had 5 children, baptised in a variety of places. It was common for agricultural labourers to move frequently, often being taken on for a year at a time at annual hiring fairs.
Baptisms.
Moulton. 1828 Oct 19 William. His father was of Moulton and a labourer.
Crowland. 1831 April 4 Jane Hesther, of Moulton Bank, labourer.
Whaplode. 1834 Jul 13 Stephen, of Whaplode
Whaplode. 1836 Jun 12 Susan, of Whaplode Drove, Labourer.
Moulton. 1839 Nov 3 Abraham, of Moulton, Labourer.
Abraham was buried in Moulton on 21 Apr 1841, aged 1.
The 1841 census finds John, Sarah and their four children on the Eaugate Road, Moulton. Molton Eaugate is a smaller village south of Moulton and north of Crowland.
1841 Census. Eaugate Road, Moulton, Spalding.
John Wilson 47 Ag. Lab. Y
Sarah Wilson 40 Y
William Wilson 12 Y
Jane Wilson 10 Y
Stephen Wilson 7 Y
Susanna Wilson 5 Y
John died in 1845 He was buried in Whaplode, between Moulton and Holbeach, on Sep 1845, aged 43.
Sarah became a nurse. We find her in the 1851 census in the household of Robinson Elsdale, surgeon and apothecary, at Main Street, Moulton. With him are his wife and two children, a governess, a cook, a housemaid, a groom and Sarah Wilson, widow, aged 51, nurse, born in Crowland.
She moved from this to become a housekeeper.
The impression we have of Sarah is that she was a cut above the average labourer’s wife, as befits the daughter of a farmer.
1861 Census. Garner Dike, Moulton.
Clara Moody Head Un 42 Land Proprietor Moulton
Sarah Wilson Serv Widow 60 House Keeper Crowland
Her daughter Jane is living nearby with her husband Aaron Beeken and their children.
Sarah is still with Clara Moody in 1871. This time, the address is given as Garmandyke Road, but is probably the same as Garner Dike.
1871 Census. Garmandyke Road, Moulton.
Clara Moody Head Unmar 52 Annuitant Moulton
Sarah Wilson Servant Unmar 69 General Servant Crowland
Sarah is mistakenly entered as unmarried, instead of widowed.
In 1881, she is living with her daughter Jane and her large familly in Moulton Eaugate.
1881 Census. Moulton Eaugate, Moulton, Spalding.
Aaron Beeken Head Mar 54 Ag. Lab. Spalding
Jane Beeken Wife Mar 50 Moulton
Stephen Beeken Son Unm 18 Ag. Lab. Moulton
Susanah Beeken Daur Unm 15 Scholar Moulton
Thomas Beeken Son 13 Scholar Moulton
Robert H Beeken Son 11 Scholar Moulton
Mary A Beeken Daur 9 Scholar Moulton
Fred Beeken Son 7 Scholar Moulton
Rose A Beeken Daur 5 Scholar Moulton
Sarah Wilson Wife’s mother Wid 80 Boarder Crowland
Sarah died two years later.
Burial. Moulton.
1883 Jan 29 Sarah Wilson of Moulton Chapel, aged 82.
NEXT GENERATION: 5. BEEKEN-WILSON
PREVIOUS GENERATIONS: 7. HARDY-CONGREVE