9. BUSHELL-THRUM

Baker Tree

 RICHARD BUSHELL and JANE THRUM (9)

 

RICHARD BUSHELL. James Bushell was born at Minster in Thanet, in the South-East corner of Kent, in 1743. We believe his grandparent to be Richard Bushell and Jane Thrum, who were of the smaller village of Monkton, a mile west of Minster, when they married in 1696.

We should expect Richard to have been born around 1671. There is just one baptism which fits this in the surrounding area.
Baptism. St Mary Magdalene, Monkton.
1673 Jul 1  Richard son of John and Jane Bushell
This makes his mother Jane Rogers.

He was the youngest of three known children. Since we do not have access to the original parish register, there may have been others who do not appear in the indices of baptisms.

We have no certain information about the type of family he came from, but there is a will for John Bushell, husbandman, in 1671, and Richard himself became a yeoman farmer. He probably came from farming family.

The church of St Mary Magdalene in Monkton is an early one, the smallest of the seven remaining ancient churches in Thanet. The present church dates from circa 1190 and was extensively rebuilt in the 15th century. It stands north west of the village, on just about the highest ground within the village confines.

 

JANE THRUM. Although she was of Monkton at the time of her marriage, we have not found a single Thrum in the Monkton register. It would appear that Jane came from elsewhere. Nor have we found her baptism in another parish. It was probably in a register that does not go back that far.
The word “thrum” means an unwoven end of a warp thread or a waste thread. The  surname may come from an old English or Old Norse word meaning “Thorn”.
In the 16^th and 17^th century, the overwhelming majority of results for Thrum are from Sandwich. It is likely that Jane’s family originally came from there.

The reason her wedding does not appear in the Monkton register is because, though both were from Monkton, the couple married in Canterbury, nearly 10 miles away.

They would have had to go to Canterbury to obtain their marriage licence, and decided to be married while they were there. Or Jane may have been working in Canterbury, but had not been there long enough for it to become her parish of settlement.

 

Marriage. St Mary Northgate, Canterbury. (Marriage Licence)
1696 Oct 9. Bushell, Richard, ba, and Jane Thrum, spr, (whose father consents), both of Monkton. At S. M. Northgate, Cant. Oct 9, 1696.
Since parental consent was necessary, it would appear that Jane was under 21.

 

Their first child was baptised in Monkton.
Baptism. St Mary Magdalene, Monkton.
1696/7 Feb 28  James

From there, they moved to Birchington, a village on the North Kent coast, just west of Margate.
Baptisms, Birchington.
1699 Apr 23  Jane
1701 May 10  Richard
1702 Jul 12  Mary. Mary lived only two months, and was buried on Sep 23.

Their final move was to Minster, a larger village a mile east of Monkton.
Baptisms. St Mary the Virgin, Minster.
1703/4 Jan 6  John
1706/7 Mar 2  Thomas
1709 Apr 24  Elizabeth

Although they were using the church at Minster, Richard’s will and burial record show him to be living recently in Monkton

Jane died in 1750.
Burials. St Mary the Virgin, Minster.
1750 Sep 18  Jane wife of Richard Bushell

Richard Bushell, Yeoman of Minster, made his will on 13 April 1751. At the foot of the page it says “late of Monkton”

It was another three years before he died.
Burials. Minster.
1754 Oct 5  Richard Bushell  Yeoman from Muncton
“Muncton” is Monkton.

His will left his two married daughters, Jane Fennell and Elizabeth Webb, £20 each. Wills of this time made it clear that the money was for their personal use, and could not be claimed by their husbands. The remainder of his estate was to be divide equally between his four sons James, Richard, John and Thomas, as tenants in common, not joint tenants. (Joint tenants had a share in the whole property, together with the other joint tenants. Tenants in common each had their own share of the property, distinct from that of the other tenants.) The three younger sons, however, must pay their eldest brother James £60 from their shares, in equal amounts.

Richard was not sufficiently literate to sign his name in full. Below his seal he manages the initials RB as his mark.

Richard appointed all four sons joint executors. It was James who took the will to Canterbury to be proved in January 1754/5.