Person:Benjamin Hornet (2)

Benjamin Hornet's origins are unknown. If the age quoted when he died is correct, he was born around 1693.

Benjamin's first confirmed sighting is on 14th January 1728 when he married Elizabeth Warner at Chesfield in Hertfordshire. Chesfield was a small hamlet which had once been a parish in its own right but had been absorbed into the neighbouring parish of Graveley in 1445. St Etheldreda's church at Chesfield was therefore a chapel subordinate to Graveley church by the time Benjamin and Elizabeth married there. Three years after their marriage Chesfield church ceased to be used completely and a licence for its demolition being granted in 1750. The demolition was only partially carried out and the ruins of Chesfield Church still stand in the 21st century.^[3]

After their marriage, Benjamin and Elizabeth's next sighting is at Walkern, a few miles to the south-east, where they had a son named William baptised four months after their marriage although that baptism says they lived at Shephall, a couple of miles to the south-west, where they would go on to have another five children between 1730 and 1739.

At least 22 grandchildren were born in Benjamin's lifetime, with his first known grandchild being born in 1754.

Benjamin worked as a labourer and when he died was said to be the remarkable age of 89 years old. He was buried at Shephall on 3rd March 1783.

1.   Church of England. Parish Registers of Benington. (Hertford: Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies).

   1700 / Benjamin Fil. Hug. & Al. Hornet Nat. Jun: 3d. bapt. Junij 16.
   Benjamin son of Hugh & Alice Hornet born June 3rd baptised June 16th

   Possible baptism - further evidence needed to be sure.

2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Church of England. Shephall Parish Registers, 1560-1935. (Hertford: Hertfordshire Archives & Local Studies).

   1783
   March 3 Benjamin Hornet 89 Years Labourer

3. ↑ Hertfordshire County Council, Historic Environment Record: Ruins of Church of St Etheldreda, Chesfield, Graveley, accessed 28 Mar 2013