10. JOBSON

Bray Tree

MARY JOBSON (10)

 

MARY JOBSON. In 1651, the unmarried Mary Jobson gave birth to a son,

Baptism. Barton upon Humber, Lincolnshire.
1651 Sep 13  Anthony son of Mary Jobson.

The rest of her life is a mystery. A search for her possible baptism yields only one result.

Baptism. North Ferriby.
1628 Apr 23  Mary daughter of Rychard Jobson.

North Ferriby is only three miles from Barton upon Humber, but it is on the other side of the estuary separating Lincolnshire from Yorkshire.

Mary could have made this crossing, but it is more likely that she was baptised in a Lincolnshire village whose early registers have not survived, or where the ink has become too faded to read.

There had been Jobsons in North Lincolnshire since at least as early as 1538, when George Jobson was baptised in Habrough, 9 miles SE of Barton upon Humber. This is immediately after Henry VIII decreed that every parish should keep a register of baptisms, marriages and burials, so the Jobsons are likely to have been there long before that.

In the 1590s the Jobsons were concentrated in Worlaby by Brigg, 5 m south of Barton upon Humber. Worlaby is one of the five “Low Villages” between Brigg and the Humber, below the Lincolnshire Wolds.

The first record of the surname in Barton upon Humber itself is the baptism of Margaret Jobson in 1599. Her parents’ names are not given.

In 1627, we have the marriage in Barton upon Humber of Richard Jobson and Margaret Bradley. This is a credible date for them to be Mary’s parents.

Four children were baptised in Barton upon Humber between 1630 and 1636. It is possible that Mary is another of these, born, say in 1628 or 9.

Their daughter Elizabeth gave birth to two children who are recorded in the baptismal register as “bastards”. She could be Mary’s sister.,

Richard Jobson also has a possible baptism across the Humber in South Cave, but again there may be a Lincolnshire baptism that has been lost.

When Anthony was born in 1651 the Civil War was over, and Charles I had been executed. During the war, Lincolnshire had been on the dividing line between Royalists and Parliamentarians, but no great fighting took place there. Oliver Cromwell now headed a Republican Commonwealth as Lord Protector.

After this, the trail goes cold. We have been unable to another baptism, a marriage or a burial for Mary Jobson. Whatever happened to her has probably fallen victim to the faded ink. We do not know whether she lived to see Charles II take the throne in 1661 as the restored Stuart king.