Person:James Copps (3)

Childhood

James Copps was baptised on 27th October 1751 in the small parish of Letchworth, Hertfordshire. He was the son of Elizabeth Copps, formerly Arnold, and her husband Henry Copps, a labourer. James was the third (and last) child the couple had together, although their eldest son had died as a baby, leaving just two boys, George and James.

James appears to have grown up in Letchworth. His father Henry died in 1763, when James was eleven years old. His mother Elizabeth remarried just two months after Henry's death to a John Collins. In 1770 James's brother, George, died aged 22.

Adulthood

As a young adult, James left Letchworth and moved a couple of miles east to the parish of Weston. He appears in the Weston Militia List for 1773 there as a servant, presumably indicating working as a servant on a farm. By 1775 he had returned to his native Letchworth, where he married a Mary Dearman on 9th December 1775, when he was 24 years old. James and Mary's first child, Elizabeth, was baptised at Letchworth 20 months later.

James and Mary then returned to Weston. In 1779 their second child, Hannah, was baptised at Weston, and in the same year James reappears in the Weston Militia Lists, having not appeared on the lists between 1773 and 1779. His appearances in the Militia Lists from 1779 to 1785 consistently describe him as a poor man. Back in Letchworth, James's mother died in 1781.

Over the course of the 23 years after their marriage, James and Mary appear to have had seven children, although one died as a baby. Their eldest daughter married just five months after their youngest son's baptism.

James's first known grandchild was born in 1801, and he had at least 34 grandchildren born in his lifetime.

James died aged about 78, being buried at Weston on 4th October 1829. It appears that Mary survived him by nearly four years.

1. ↑ Church of England. Parish Church of Letchworth. Parish registers, 1696-1937. (Hertford: Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies).

   Baptisms in the Year 1751 / James the Son of Henry & Elizabeth Cops was baptized October the 27th

   Whilst no named connection has been found, this baptism has been linked to the James Copps who married Mary Dearman on the basis that it is in the same parish that James was living in at the time of their marriage there, and is at about the time indicated by the age quoted at James's burial. No alternative burial or marriage has been found locally that could be the James baptised in 1751.

2.   Parker, Jack; Hertfordshire Family and Population History Society; Christine Hill; and John Hill. Militia lists, parish of Weston, 1758-1785. (Ware, Hertfordshire: Hertfordshire Family and Population History Society, 1993).

   1773 James COPPS, Weston, Servant
   not listed in 1775 or 1778 in Weston
   1779 James COPPS, Weston, Poor Man
   1781 James COPPS, Weston, Poor Man
   1782 James COPPS, Weston, Poor 3 Children
   1784 James COPPS, Weston, Poor 3 Children
   1785 James COPPS, Weston, Poor 3 Children

3. ↑ Burials register, in Church of England. Weston Parish Registers, 1539-1932. (Hertford: Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies).

   BURIALS in the Parish of Weston in the County of Hertford in the Year 1829
   No.	Name	Abode	When buried	Age	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   246	James Cops	Weston	October 4th	80	W. Wortham Curate