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)
RICHARD DENMAN and JANE/JINNY TURNER (7)
RICHARD TURNER was the second of the six children of John Denman and Philadelphia Tilly of Worth in West Sussex. He was born shortly before the end of the 18th century.
Baptisms. St Nicholas, Worth.
1794 May 18 Richard son of John and Philadelphia Denman.
His older brother died in infancy, leaving Richard the eldest son.
Richard became an agricultural labourer, and it is highly likely that his father was one too.
We know from the baptismal register that his wife’s name was Jane. The only plausible wedding we have found is in the village of Burstow, 3 miles north of Worth, where Richard Denman married Jinny Turner in 1818. Both were of this parish when they married, but its nearness to Worth makes it quite plausible that Richard would be working there.
JANE TURNER. The censuses say consistently that she was born in Horley in Surrey, and the majority give her a birth date of the around 1797-8. The last census, which would have been answered by her daughter, makes her birth date 1793-4, and the age given at her burial puts it at 1793-4. These last two are probably less accurate. We have found no baptism that matches any of these dates. The nearest is the baptism in Horley in 1804 of Jane, twin daughter of William and Jane Turner and the seventh of their fourteen children. But this date is outside the margin of error, and would make her only 14 at her wedding. – which would be very young in the 19th century.
Another nearby baptism is of Jane daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Turner in East Grinstead in 1796. This is 7 miles from Horley, and there is no evidence that the family ever lived there. Also, this Jane would have been 22 at the time of the wedding. It took place with consent of parents, meaning that one of the parties was under 21.
She was a spinster when she married Richard, so Turner is her maiden name.
She is sometimes known as Jinny or Jenny, and sometimes as Jane.
She, too, was living in Burstow at the time of the wedding. This parish is adjacent to, and east of, Horley.
The couple had grown up in the shadow of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, when there was a real fear that southern England would be invaded by French troops from across the Channel. This ended with the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815, shortly before their wedding.
Marriage. St Bartholomew, Burstow.
1818 Sep 30 Richard Denman bachelor of this parish and Jinny Turner spinster of this parish, by consent of parents.
Both sign their names with a X.
Witnesses: William Denman X, Philip Francis.
‘Consent of parents’ means that at least one of the partners was below the age of consent, which at this time was 21.
Jane gave birth two months later, so was heavily pregnant at the time. If she is indeed the Jane Turner of Horley born in 1804, this would be a reason for her early marriage, but it does not explain the considerable difference in age given for the rest of her life..
This early birth raises the question of why the couple did not marry earlier, and whether Richard was really Elizabeth’s father. The Overseers of the Poor would sometimes pay a man to marry a pregnant single woman, so that her child would not become a burden on the Poor Rate.
Elizabeth is Alan March’s ancestor and there remains this significant question mark over her origins. We have pursued the Denman line further back, on the assumption that Richard is her father, but we cannot be certain this is so.
The couple made their home in Richard’s birthplace of Worth. Ten children were born there.
Baptisms. St Nicholas, Worth, Sussex
1818 Nov 15 Elizabeth. Worth. Labourer.
1821 Feb 25 Sarah. Worth. Labourer.
1823 Dec 7 Anne. Worth.Labourer.
1826 Jan 18 Richard
1829 Apr 26 Jane. Worth. Labourer.
1831 Jul 22 William
1835 May 31 Amelia. Worth. Labourer.
1838 Jan 21 Amey. Worth. Labourer.
1840 Aug 4 Eliza. Worth. Labourer.
Times were hard for agricultural labourers in the 1830s. New inventions like threshing machines were putting men out of work. The New Poor Law Act of 1834 required most of the poor to go into the workhouse, rather than receive relief in their own homes.
In 1836, 50 labourers from Worth and Ardingly, armed with ‘very fat sticks’, marched to Cuckfield, further south, where the Guardians of the Poor Law were meeting. They complained about a lack of employment and a consequent want of food.[1]
We have no way of knowing whether Richard was among them.
Their protest made no difference to their conditions.
When we first find the Denmans in a census, they are living in Copthorne. This was then part of Worth parish. It lies NE of Worth village. It acquired its own church in 1870s.
1841 Census. Copthorne, Worth, East Grinstead, Sussex.
Richard Denman 45 Ag Lab Y
Jane Denman 40 N
Richard Denman 15 Y
William Denman 9 Y
Amelia Denman 6 Y
Amey Denman 3 Y
Eliza Denman 1 Y
The Yes and No answers mean that all the family were born in Sussex except Jane, who was born in Surrey.
Their tenth child was born two years later.
Baptisms. Worth, Sussex
1843 Jan 15 Caroline. Worth. Labourer.
The next census shows them living at Copthorne Bank, which straddles the border between Sussex and Surrey.
1851 Census. Copthorne Bank, Worth, Sussex
Richard Denman Head Mar 58 Ag lab Sussex, Worth
Jane Denman Wife Mar 53 Surrey, Horley
William Denman Son U 17 Ag lab Sussex, Worth
Eliza Denman Dau 10 Scho Sussex, Worth
Caroline Denman Dau 8 Scho Sussex, Worth
Richard remained at Copthorne for the rest of his life.
We have not found the family in the 1861 census.
1871 Census. Copthorne, Worth
Richard Denman Head Mar 78 Ag labourer Sussex, Worth
Jane Denman Wife Mar 73 Surrey, Horley
The church of St John the Evangelist was built in Copthorne in 1877.
1881 Census. Copthorne St John’s, Worth
Richard Denman Head Mar 87 Farm labourer Sussex,, Worth
Jane Denman Wife Mar 82 Surrey, Horley
Things improved from the mid-19th century onwards, with the fast-growing population increasing the demand for food. Richard remained in work throughout his long life. He is never recorded as a pauper.
Both Richard and Jane lived to a ripe old age.
Burial. Copthorne.
1886 Jan 18 Richard Denman 96 yr.
As often happens with old people, his given age is not quite accurate. He was really 91.
In the 1891 census we find Jane living with her widowed daughter Caroline Snelling and her 6 children
1891 Census. Wallage Lane Road, Worth.
Jenny Denman Mother Wid 97 Surrey, Horley
Her age, too, was overestimated. She was about 94.
She died five years later, and was buried back in Copthorne with Richard.
Burial. St John the Evangelist, Copthorne.
1896 Apr 6 Jennie Denman. Crawley Down. Aged 101 yr.
Her true age was about 99.
Crawley Down is south of Copthorne. Jane may have gone to live there with another of her many children
[1] Griffin, Carl James, As lated tongues bespoke: popular protest in south-east England, 1790-1840. University of Bristol. 2001.
NEXT GENERATION: 6. TOWSE-DENMAN
PREVIOUS GENERATIONS: 8. DENMAN-TILLY