Person:Elizabeth Ingram (16)

Elizabeth Ingram was born on 15th April 1787 and baptised two days later at Grantham in Lincolnshire, daughter of Mary Ingram, formerly Tow, and her husband John Ingram, a miller. The family lived at Spittlegate, being the area to the south of the town centre of Grantham.

For a time, Elizabeth's father had his own post windmill at Spittlegate, although he had to sell it after a few years. In the mid-1790s the family appears to have needed to claim relief under the poor laws. The parish authorities in Grantham clearly felt they were not responsible for the family, and a removal order was obtained from the local magistrates to remove the family from Grantham to the neighbouring parish of Londonthorpe, where it would appear that Elizabeth's father had previously gained his place of legal settlement. The authorities in Londonthorpe appealed the removal order and the case came to court in 1795. It would appear that had the windmill that Elizabeth's father used to own been attached to the ground it would have counted towards the value of the land he rented and would have given the family their legal place of settlement in Grantham. Because the windmill had not been physically attached to the ground it was not considered to count towards the value of the land and so the family's legal settlement was indeed held to be Londonthorpe.

Despite being removed to Londonthorpe around 1795, the family appears to have later returned to Grantham, as Elizabeth's younger siblings continued to be baptised in Grantham right through to 1800.

In 1811 Elizabeth had a son, William Nicksom Ingram, baptised at Long Bennington, a few miles north of Grantham on the Great North Road. She was married there the following year, on 30th November 1812, to a widower named William Singleton, whose first wife had died the previous year and who had three children from his first marriage.

One of Elizabeth's stepsons, George Singleton, died tragically in 1813, being burned to death aged five.

Elizabeth and William had a son, Robert, baptised at Long Bennington in 1814, but sadly he died of smallpox when just over a year old.

Elizabeth's mother Mary died in 1815 at Londonthorpe.

Elizabeth and William went on to have a daughter Mary in 1816 also at Long Bennington, before moving to the neighbouring parish of Foston. Elizabeth's widowed father John appears to have come to live with them; he was buried at Foston in 1817. Elizabeth and William had three more children baptised at Foston: another Robert in 1818, Samuel in 1820 and Sarah in 1823. Some of the children's baptisms describe William as a huckster, an old term for a pedlar or hawker.

William was buried at Foston in 1828, aged 50. They had been married for less than sixteen years.

Elizabeth's first known grandchild was born in 1839, being her daughter Mary's daughter, although the baby died the following year.

Elizabeth's son Samuel died as a young man of 20 in 1841, after an accident in which the horses pulling a cart ran away and he was dragged behind them and under the cart.

The census later that year finds Elizabeth still living in Foston. In 1846 Elizabeth's son Robert was married, and Elizabeth's next known grandchild, who was called Samuel, was born later that year in Foston.

The 1851 census finds Elizabeth living in Foston with her son William Ingram, who was also a pedlar. At this time Elizabeth was on parochial relief, being supported by the parish.

Elizabeth died in 1859, aged 71. She was buried at Foston on 9th April 1859. She had outlived William by 31 years. She had seen at least ten grandchildren born in her lifetime.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Church of England. Parish Church of Grantham (Lincolnshire). Parish registers, 1562-1990. (Lincoln, England: Lincolnshire Archives Office, 1993).

   Baptisms 1787 / April / 17 Ingram Elizabeth D[aughter] of John & Mary Spittlegate [born April] 15

   Whilst no named connection has been found, this baptism has been linked to the Elizabeth Ingram who married William Singleton on the basis of her answers to the 1851 census, in which she said she had been born at Spittlegate, whilst the ages she gave suggest she was born around the 1780s. This baptism is therefore in the correct parish, specifies the right hamlet within that parish and is at the right time. Moreover, no evidence has been found to suggest that the Elizabeth baptised in 1787 died young or married anyone else.

2. ↑ England. 1841 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class HO107; Piece 618; Book 13; Folio 7; Page 9, 6 Jun 1841.

   Address: Foston, Lincolnshire
   Elizabeth Singleton, female, 55 [1781-6], Widow, b. in county
   Maria Kemp, female, 15 [1821-6], F.S., b. in county
   Thomas Archer, male, 15 [1821-6], Bricklayer, b. outside county
   N.K., male, above 20, b. outside county

3. ↑ England. 1851 Census Returns for England and Wales. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class HO107; Piece 2138; Folio 130; Page 24, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: Foston, Lincolnshire
   Elizabeth Singleton, head, widow, female, 73 [1777/8], Parochial relief, b. Spittlegate, Lincolnshire
   William Ingram, son, unmarried, male, 39 [1811/2], Pedlar, b. Bennington, Lincolnshire

4.   Deaths index, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   d. Elizabeth SINGLETON, June Quarter 1859, Newark Registration District, Volume 7b, page 213, aged 73 [1785/6]

5. ↑ Burials register, in Church of England. Parish Church of Foston (Lincolnshire). Parish registers, 1776-1940. (Lincoln, England: Lincolnshire Archives Office, 1993).

   BURIALS in the Parish of Foston in the County of Lincoln in the Year 1859
   No.	Name	Abode	When buried	Age	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   362	Elizabeth Singleton	Foston	April 9	71 [1787/8]	Richard Maltby, Curate