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)
WILLIAM MARCH and SARA GREENFIELD (8)
WILLIAM MARCH. We have traced the Marches back to the birth of William March, son of William March and Sara Greenfield in 1741. This couple married in Billingshurst in Sussex in 1738. We should expect William senior to have been born around 1713. The nearest baptism we have found is in Billingshurst in 1706, making him a little older than expected.
Baptism. Billiingshurst.
1706 May 12 William son of William March.
He had an older sister. Her birth date of 1703 makes it likely that his parents are the couple who married in 1702, in Stopham, a village 5 m SW of Billingshurst. This would make William’s mother Elizabeth Repus/Reeves.
SARA GREENFIELD was the daughter of John Greenfield and Sara Vaughan, from a well-established Billingshurst family.
Baptism. Billingshurst.
1717 Sep 25 Sara Greenfield d of John and Sara.
She was the oldest of 5 children.
Billingshurst is a large Sussex village 10m SW of Horsham, known for its timber-framed buildings. The church of St Mary stands on a prominent knoll.
Marriage. Billingshurst
1738 Jan 23 Wm March and Sar G
William and Sara had twelve children.
Baptisms. Billingshurst
1739 Dec 9 Sara March
1741 Jul 5 William March
1743 Jun 5 Betty March
1744 Jul Sarah Marsh
1744/5 Mar 3 Nan March
1747 Nov 22 John March
1749 Jun 25 Mary Marsh
1751 Apr 28 James March
1754 May 12 Thomas
1755 Jul 20 Bythia March
1757 Apr 3 Arthur March
1759 Apr 22 Levi March
A number of the children had apprenticeships arranged by the Overseers of the Poor. This means that William’s income must have been among the lowest in the parish. We do not have a record of his occupation, but it is likely that he was an agricultural labourer.
Sarah died in 1773.
Burial. Billingshurst.
1773 Apr 20 Sara wife of William March.
This implies that William was still alive.
There is a burial in for William March in Billingshurst on 3 Nov 1779, but he was aged 77, which would make him 36 when he married Sara. It is probably an older William. There was one born in nearby Wisbourough Green in 1702. He is probably the husband of Mary, who was also raising a family in Billingshurst at much the same time.
Sara’s husband may have left Billingshurst to live with one of his children in his later years. There are burials for William March in other places in West Sussex.
[1] Gravelroots.
NEXT GENERATION: 7. MARCH-LILLIOTT
PREVIOUS GENERATIONS: 9. MARCH-REEVES
9. GREENFIELD-VAUGHAN