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)
ISAAC HARRIS and SUSANNA/SARA KERR (9)
ISAAC HARRIS. In1745, Isaac Harris married in the Essex village of Writtle, a mile east of Chelmsford. The Harris surname goes back in the Writtle registers to 1637, but we have not found Isaac’s baptism there. We believe him to have been baptised in neighbouring Chelmsford in 1723.
Baptism. Chelmsford.
1723 May 19 Isaac son of John Harris, Labourer, and his wife Jane.
This is the only plausible baptism in the vicinity of Writtle. We have not found an early burial for this Chelmsford Isaac, nor an alternative marriage.
His mother was Jane Adams
He was the fourth of five children baptised in Chelmsford. At his baptism, his father was said to be a labourer, but seven years earlier he is described as a “maker of malt”.
SUANNA/SARA KERR. We do not yet have access to the Writtle parish registers, and have to rely on indices of baptisms and marriages. In the marriage index she appears as Sara Kerr, but at the baptisms of all her children she is Susanna.
There are baptisms for both in Writtle.
Baptisms. All Saints, Writtle.
1723 Jan 30 Sarah daughter of Abraham and Elizabeth Car
1724 Feb 22 Susanna daughter of Abraham and Susanna Carr.
Clearly, there were two Abraham Carrs raising a family at the same time.
The repeated occurrence of Susanna in the baptismal register, compared to a single reference in the marriage index, makes this more likely to be correct.
Sara’s mother was Elizabeth Lash, but Susanna’s was Susanna Clary. Both her parents were from Writtle.
At her marriage her surname is given as Kerr, but in earlier entries on the Writtle register, the name is is almost always spelt Carr.
Isaac and Susanna were born in the 1720s and grew to adulthood in the 1740s under the reign of the first Hanoverian kings. This period was marked by the Jacobite rebellions of 1715 and 1745, when supporters of the ousted Stuart dynasty sought to bring James II’s descendants back to the throne. It led to a sharp national divide, with Catholics widely coming under suspicion.
Marriage. All Saints, Writtle.
1745 Dec 26 Isaac Harris and Sarah Kerr
It was usual for couples to marry in the bride’s parish, but Isaac and Susanna brought up their family in Writtle, suggesting that Isaac had already settled in the village by then
Baptisms. All Saints, Writtle.
1746 Dec 21 Mary
1748 May 8 Isaac. This first Isaac lived only a year. He was buried on 4 Jul 1749.
1749 Dec 17 John
1752 Apr 12 Isaac
1754 Aug 18 Susanna
1759 Apr 22 William
We do not yet have access to the Writtle registers. The index of burials does not tell us the relationship with other family members, and whether the deceased is a child or an adult. Mary may also have died young.
In 1751 the Harrises saw the reformation of the calendar from the Julian to the Gregorian. The adjustments that year led to people complaining that they had had 11 days stolen from their lives.
Susanna appears to be the first to have died.
Burial. All Saints, Writtle.
1793 Jun 22 Susannah Harris.
There are two possible burials for Isaac.
Burials. All Saints, Writtle.
1799 May 26 Isaac Harris
1805 May 15 Isaac Harris
The first would make him 76, the second 82.
NEXT GENERATION: 8. HARRIS-CARTER
PREVIOUS GENERATIONS: 10. HARRIS-ADAMS