When my 4xgreat grandfather Aaron Wales was baptised on 12 December 1794, his parents are named as Aaron Wales and his wife Elizabeth (late Burgess). By the time Aaron Wales junior was apprenticed to blacksmith Charles Hewitt of Holt in 1808, he is described as ‘son of Elizabeth Wales - father absconded’ (notes provided by another family researcher who was in touch some time ago).
I purchased a booklet on eBay called ‘On the Parish’
by Jane Hales and edited by Susan Yaxley (1994). It includes a transcription of
the ‘examination’ of Aaron Wales of Holt by the guardians of the parish
on 26 December 1791:
“Who saith on his oath that he is about 22 years of
age and was born .... at Harleston, of lawful parents, under a certificate from
the parish of Carlton in the County of Suffolk. That on or about the 30th day
of March 1784, he was bound out an apprentice by indenture properly stampt and
executed by the director and acting Guardians of the poor for the Hundred of
Mutford and Lothingland to John Riches of Harleston, heel and patten-maker, for
the term of five years and a quarter. That he ... served with John Riches at
Harleston about 2 years when his master removed to Lynn Regis where this
examinant served him ... about 11 months when his master came from Lynn to the
parish of Holt ... when he (with the consent of his master) put himself
apprentice to William Waller to serve him from the 25th March then last for the
term of 6 years. That he served the said William Waller in the parish of Holt
... about three years and six weeks when he ran away from William Waller's
service and worked in different places in the neighbourhood of London about 11
months, when he returned to Holt where he is now serving the said William
Waller under the said indenture which is not yet expired, and he has heard his
master say he was a certificated person to Holt. And this examinant further
saith he was married by license in the parish church of Holt to Elizabeth
Ringer [should be Burgess – the original license document is hard to read],
singlewoman of the parish. Sworn before Z. Girdlestone. Signed Aaron Wales, his
mark.”
The author makes a note below the above extract: ‘Aaron was
a 'parish apprentice', that is he had fallen 'on the parish' as a child and, on
reaching the age of 14, was bound apprentice by the poor law officers. In some
parishes the master was chosen by ballot and had no choice but to take the lad,
but in Norfolk this seems to have been achieved by negotiation’.
This account suggests that my 5xgreat grandfather Aaron
Wales was born around 1769 in Redenhall with Harleston, Norfolk and that
his parents had at some point been settled in Carlton (Carlton-Colville) in
Suffolk. It also suggests that he was orphaned or otherwise ‘on the parish’ by
his first apprenticeship in 1784, when he would have been about eight years old.
There is a baptism record at Ancestry for 9 July 1769
at Harleston with Redenhall, for Aaron son of John Wales and his
wife Mary.
The Genealogist has
a transcription of a marriage record for his presumed parents John Wales
and widow Mary Riches. It took place at Mendham, Suffolk, on 12 June
1763, around six years before their son Aaron Wales was baptised. John
Wales is described as ‘of Harleston’ in the record. There is more research
to be done on this couple and their family, but it seems that they had moved
from Harleston to Lowestoft by 1779, when Mary Wales died, shortly after
their youngest son Thomas.
Redenhall with Harleston lies south of Norwich, on the
Norfolk-Suffolk border. By the time of his marriage in 1791, Aaron Wales has
travelled some distances for work. After starting his apprenticeship to John
Riches (possibly a relative of his mother’s first husband?) in about 1784, in
Harleston, he then moved with his master to ‘Lynn Regis’ (now Kings Lynn), 50
miles to the North West, and subsequently 35 miles North East to the town of
Holt, Norfolk.
In around 1787, aged about 18, he was bound to a new master,
with John Riches’ consent. William Waller was also a Patten and Heel Maker. Pattens
were used from early times to protect peoples’ shoes from the mud and dirt of
basic roads, either as overshoes or, more often, as a wooden platform attached
to the wearers’ feet to raise them from the ground. Aaron Wales seems to
have got itchy feet again (no pun intended), as after about three years’ service
with William Waller, he then travelled over 100 miles to London, living and
working there for nearly a year – presumably without his master’s consent - before
returning to Holt.
He applied to marry Elizabeth Burgess by license there on 17 December 1791, aged 22. An extract from the marriage license shows that Aaron Wales was of the Parish of Holt and a Patten Maker. The other person providing security for the license was William Jeckel or Jeckell, a Cordwainer from the same place. Both parties to the marriage are declared as ‘of twenty one years and upwards’ (extract below).
The couple married at Holt by license on Boxing Day 1791, the same day on which the examination transcribed in ‘On the Parish’ is said to have taken place. The bondsman William Jeckell was also one of the witnesses to the marriage, a copy of the Register entry for which is available at The Genealogist. Neither bride nor groom could sign their names.
Five months later, on 13 May 1792, their son Jonathan was born, and baptised at three days old. His mother is described as ‘Elizabeth, late Burgess, sp[inster]’ on the baptism record. Their second son, my 4xgreat grandfather Aaron Wales, was born just over two years later, in December 1794.
Ancestry has an Archdeacon’s transcript of burials at
Holt which for 10th October 1804 includes ‘Jonathan son of Aron
Wales and Elizabeth his wife, late Fox, sp. Aged 12 years, a pauper’. This may
refer to Jonathan, son of Aaron Wales and his wife Elizabeth Burgess;
Jonathan would have been 11-12 years old, so the mother’s maiden name may be a
contemporary transcription error. If this is the correct child, it is possible
that his father had already left the family (‘absconded’ as he is described on
his youngest son’s apprenticeship record four years later), and the abandoned family
has had to turn to parish relief.
I have found no further records of Aaron Wales born
around 1769 in Norfolk in any online records – including using many variations
of his names. He may have changed his name, or it may have been mistranscribed
or perhaps even unknown, especially if he moved away from Norfolk. It seems he
spent some of his own early life ‘on the parish’, and left his wife and young family
to the same fate.
For the sources mentioned in bold, see blogpost: MyRoots: Lesly's family history: Sources and resources: A quick view
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