17.3 7xgreat grandparents James Wales & Mary Turner; early death and bigamy

It is possible that my 6xgreat grandfather John Wales was baptised at Pakefield, Norfolk/Suffolk, in 1740, son of James Wales and his wife Mary Turner. This couple – both single and resident at Pakefield – were married there on 21 December 1731 and had baptised four children at Pakefield (including John Wales) between 1732 and 1740. Their last three children were all baptised at Carlton-Colville, Suffolk, which my 5xgreat grandfather Aaron Wales claimed in his examination at Holt in 1791 was the legal settlement of his parents.

James Wales ‘a married man’ was buried at Carlton Colville on 10 May 1751, leaving his widow with 4-5 surviving children of eleven years or younger. Mary Turner (Wales) married for a second time a couple of months later on 26 August 1751 at Carlton-Colville. Her groom was Thomas Stewart. The marriage record is annotated to show that rather than the ‘single man’ he posed as at the time of the wedding, it was ‘found afterwards that he had another wife living’ – so the marriage was bigamous.

They appear to have had one son, who was baptised as Robert, son of Mary Wales, on 28 April 1752 and was buried there aged just a few months on 18 July 1752. It is therefore likely that Thomas was the father of Mary’s son Robert, and that she was pregnant at the time of their bigamous marriage.

It seems that Mary Turner and Thomas Stewart stayed together regardless, as her burial record at St Mary, Redgrave with Botesdale, Suffolk, of 27 March 1790 gives her name as ‘Mary Turner Wales, wife of Thomas Stewart’ on the transcript at FamilySearch. She was 84 years old (b1706).

For the sources mentioned in bold, see blogpost: MyRoots: Lesly's family history: Sources and resources: A quick view

17.2 6xgreat grandparents John Wales & Mary Riches, widow

When my 5xgreat grandfather Aaron Wales was ‘examined’ by the poor law guardians of the Parish of Holt, Norfolk, on Boxing Day 1791, he claims that he was born at Harleston [Redenhall with Harleston] of lawful parents ‘under a certificate from Carlton’ (‘On the Parish’ by Jane Hales and edited by Susan Yaxley, 1994). His baptism did indeed take place in Harleston in 1769, where he is shown as son of John Wales and his wife Mary.

The ’certificate’ mentioned possibly relates to his or his parents’ settlement in Carlton [Carlton-Colville] at some point after his birth.

Carlton-Colville is “a parish in the hundred of Mutford and Lothingland, in the county of Suffolk, 3½ miles to the S.W. of Lowestoft, its post town, and 137 from London by rail, or 110 by road. It is pleasantly situated on a height near the sea-coast, on the S. side of the river Waveney, and is about 1½ miles from the Mutford station on the East Suffolk railway. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Norwich, value £345, in the patronage of W. Andrews, Esq. The church is dedicated to St. Peter, and is an ancient edifice with square embattled tower and south porch. …The old register was destroyed by fire, so that the earliest date is about 1715. The Wesleyans have a chapel in the village, and a National school was erected in 1843. Sir Samuel Morton Pete, Bart., is lord of the manor." Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)

In his examination, Aaron Wales also says that he was apprenticed in 1784 to John Riches of Holt by ‘the director and acting Guardians of the poor for the Hundred of Mutford and Lothingland’, which would suggest that Aaron Wales’ family had settled at Carlton-Colville near Lowestoft by then.

The Genealogist and FindMyPast both have a transcription from Boyd’s marriage index for his presumed parents John Wales and widow Mary Riches. The wedding 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 Redenhall’ in the record. Unfortunately I have not been able to find a digital copy of the register online, so we have only various printed transcriptions to rely on.

A search for births/baptisms of the children of a John Wales and his wife Mary in or around Mendham or Redenhall with Harleston at FindMyPast and Ancestry reveals:

·       Ann Wales, d. of John and Mary, Thornham, 17 Jun 1764 (this couple had a son baptised in 1761 in Thornham, so have discounted them as prior to the 1763 marriage, and wrong parish).

·       Mary Wales, d. of John and Mary, Redenhall with Harleston, 25 Dec 1764

·       Samuel Wales, son of John and Mary, Redenhall with Harleston, 8 May 1767-8, born 8 March

·       Aaron Wales, son of John and Mary, Redenhall with Harleston, 9 Jul 1769

·       John Wales, son of John and Mary, Redenhall with Harleston, 28 Dec 1771

·       Susanna Wales, d. of John and Mary, Redenhall with Harleston, 7 Jul 1775

·       Thomas Wales, s. of John and Mary, Lowestoft, 9 Feb 1779 (buried Oct 1779)

There are also children baptised in Redenhall over the same time period, children of Peter and Elizabeth Wales, and James and Elizabeth Wales, possibly relatives of Aaron’s father John Wales.

Although the widowed Mary Riches seems to have been living in Mendham at the time of the marriage, the couple appear to have set up home in John Wales’ home parish of Redenhall with Harleston, two miles away over the Norfolk border. A much later directory shows that the two areas had merged by late Victorian times:

HARLESTON, Norfolk “is a market town on the borders of Suffolk, head of a county court district and polling-place for the Southern division of the county, and station on the Waveney Valley branch of the Great Eastern railway, chiefly in the parish of Redenhall, that part of the parish of Mendham which is in the town is now added to Redenhall for parochial purposes, and on the north bank of the river Waveney, 19 miles south of Norwich, 10 north-east from Diss and 99 from London, in Depwade union, Earsham hundred, rural deanery of Redenhall, archdeaconry of Norfolk and diocese of Norwich. The church of St. Mary situated, in Redenhall, about a mile from the town, was rebuilt by Thomas of Brotherton, Duke of Norfolk, and is a very handsome gothic edifice . . . The register dates from the year 1558." [Kelly's Directory for Cambridgeshire, Norfolk & Suffolk (1883) - Transcription copyright © E.C. “Paddy” Apling]

After the births of five of their children in Redenhall with Harleston, they seem to have moved to Carlton-Colville near Lowestoft, where their last child, Thomas, was baptised on 9 February 1779, and buried there that October. Aaron Wales would have been about nine years old at the time. It is possible that their previous parish of settlement was Carlton-Colville and that they were removed back there from Redenhall with Harleston after daughter Susanna was baptised in 1775.

NROCat (Norfolk Record Office) has an index entry for the settlement of John Wales, his wife Mary and daughter Mary (PD 295/110/305). This is dated 3 December 1764 at Redenhall and Harleston, their parish of residence, and records that their ‘certifying parish’ was Carlton-Colville. Their daughter Mary was baptised on 25 December 1764, so it may be that her birth prompted this record in the poor law register to ensure that she didn’t become chargeable to the parish of Harleston if her parents were unable to support her.

Mary Riches was a widow (w.) when she married John Wales in 1763 in Mendham. A search for a Mary marrying a Mr Riches before 1763 produces no obvious results. Her son Aaron Wales, b1769, was apprenticed to a John Riches, Patten-maker of Holt, in 1784 and it is possible that he was a relative of her first husband. However, there are no likely marriages of a Mr Riches to a Mary in Holt either, so her maiden name and origins are likely to remain a mystery for now.

A Mary Wales was buried at Lowestoft in November 1779, one month after the burial of her presumed son Thomas. Her age at death is given as 47 (transcript), which would indicate a birth year of around 1732. It would seem quite late for her to have given birth to Thomas, and may be a mis-reading of '41' (b1738). I have not found any records other than baptisms for Aaron Wales’ siblings born in Redenhall with Harleston; they may have died young or married (in Suffolk or Norfolk) or been apprenticed like their brother.

As Aaron Wales was apprenticed in 1784 by the guardians of the poor of Mutford and Lothing, it is likely that his father John Wales had also died by then. Unfortunately I have not found a likely burial record for him, and have no idea what his occupation might have been. Without Aaron Wales’ examination, we would have had very little information about his early life and parents at all.

For the sources mentioned in bold, see blogpost: MyRoots: Lesly's family history: Sources and resources: A quick view

17.1 5xgreat grandfather Aaron Wales (1769-?): Norfolk patten maker

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 10^th 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