Person:Dorothy Beard (2)

Dorothy Beard was born around 1620-1632. Her baptism record has not yet been found and it's not known who her parents were. There were a number of Beard families living within 5 miles of Cowden in the early 1600s: George Beard and Marie Bread were married in Cowden in 1617 and had 8 children baptised between 1617 and 1637. In East Grinstead a Richard & Anne Beard had three children baptised between 1605 and 1611, a son of William Beard was baptised in 1607, a son of Goodman Beard was baptised in 1608, and a daughter of Edward & Elizabeth Beard was baptised in 1611. A Mabell Beard married Richard Thomas in East Grinstead in 1630. It's not known whether Dorothy was related to any of these families.

The first record found for Dorothy is her marriage on 19 Oct 1648 to Silvanus Greenwood Jr. in the small village of Cowden, Kent, England. Silvanus was about 22 years old and the eldest son of Silvanus and Dorothy Greenwood. Silvanus Jr. had at least three siblings who lived to adulthood and lived in Cowden, East Grinstead (Sussex) and other nearby towns with their families. Just a few weeks after Dorothy and Silvanus were married his father died and was buried on 3 Nov 1648 in Cowden.

Dorothy and Silvanus Jr. had two children baptised in Cowden:

• Silvanus bap. 29 Jul 1649
• Dorothy bap. 2 Feb 1650

The family then moved 6 miles west to the market town of East Grinstead where three more children were baptised:

• Mary bap. 22 Nov 1652. She must have died before 1656 when another child was named Mary
• Elizabeth bap. 23 Mar 1654, bur. 4 Apr 1657
• Mary bap. 10 Jan 1656 d. 7 Oct 1657

Silvanus' mother Dorothy was buried in East Grinstead on 28 Oct 1675. She wasn't buried in Cowden with Silvanus Sr. so it's likely she was living in East Grinstead at the time. Her only child known to be living in East Grinstead was Silvanus Jr. so it's likely she lived with him and his family. She was probably in her late 70s at the time. Her burial record comments that she was "poor".

Dorothy's husband Silvanus Jr. died and was buried in East Grinstead on 9 Jan 1676, aged in his early 50s.

Dorothy lived to see their eldest children grow to adulthood and give her grandchildren:

• Silvanus (III) married Ann Skiner in Wivelsfield, Sussex in 1679 (14 miles south of East Grinstead) and had 5 children baptised in East Grinstead. He named his eldest daughter Dorothy and his only known son was named Silvanus (IV).
• Dorothy married surgeon John Cressey in 1678 and had six children baptised in East Grinstead

Dorothy died and was buried in East Grinstead on 1 Jun 1689, likely aged in her early 60s.

Geographical and Historical Context

Cowden is a small village (2011 population 818) on the northern slopes of the Weald. Cowden lies between East Grinstead (6 miles to the west), Royal Tunbridge Wells (10 miles to the east) and the market town of Tonbridge (12 miles to the northeast). There is iron ore in the area and Cowden had its own blast furnace from the late 1500s which produced guns for the Army and Navy as well as domestic and agricultural ware. The tiny parish church is dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene and the nave was built during the 13th century. Its slender wooden shingled spire is noticeably crooked.

East Grinstead has been an important market town since the early middle ages. St. Swithun's Church was rebuilt after it was struck by lightning in 1772. Near the entrance to the church, stones mark the supposed ashes of three martyrs who were burned on 18 July 1556 during the reign of Mary I because they refused to renounce the Protestant faith.

Dorothy was likely born during the reign of James I or his successor Charles I. She lived through the tumultuous interregnum period and into the restoration era of Charles II and James II. She died early in the reign of William & Mary.

DNA Genealogy

If you are a descendant of Dorothy Beard and would like to compare autosomal DNA results please contact Jocelyn_K_B (at) yahoo.com for kit numbers

St. Mary Magdalene's Church, Cowden

St. Swithun's Church, East Grinstead

East Grinstead High Street

1. ↑ Church of England. Parish Church of Cowden (Kent). Parish registers for Cowden, 1566-1987. (Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1979-2003)
   Marriages 1648, Silvanus Greenwood Jun & Dorothy Beard October 19th.
2. ↑ England. Births and Christenings, 1538-1975. (FamilySearch, Ancestry.com, Findmypast)
   Eliz. Greenwood daughter of S. Greenwood & Dorothy bap. 23 Mar 1654 in East Grinstead, Sussex.
3. ↑ England. Births and Christenings, 1538-1975. (FamilySearch, Ancestry.com, Findmypast)
   Mary Greenwood daughter of Silva Greenwood & Doro bap. 22 Nov 1652 in East Grinstead, Sussex.
4. ↑ England. Births and Christenings, 1538-1975. (FamilySearch, Ancestry.com, Findmypast)
   Mary Greenwood daughter of Silvanus Greenwood & Dorothe bap. 10 Jan 1656 in East Grinstead, Sussex, d. 7 Oct 1657.
5. ↑ ^5.0 5.1 England. Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991. (FamilySearch, Ancestry.com)
   East Grinstead, Bishop's Transcripts, 1689, June 1: Dorothy Greenwood widd.