Person:John Berridge (4)

John Berridge was baptised on 26th April 1764 at Uppingham in Rutland, son of Elizabeth Berridge, formerly Underwood, and her husband Thomas Berridge. John’s parents had married the previous year at Harringworth in Northamptonshire, about four miles south of Uppingham. John had a younger brother baptised at Uppingham in 1766, after which the family returned to Harringworth, where John’s youngest two siblings were baptised in 1769 and 1771.

On 16th January 1787, aged 22, John married a widow called Mary Fowler, formerly Bunning, at Benefield, about nine miles south-east of Harringworth. She had two children from her first marriage, although her younger son died in 1788 aged four.

John and Mary went on to have four children baptised at Benefield between 1787 and 1793. Back in Harringworth, John’s father died in 1791.

Mary seems to have died either giving birth or shortly afterwards – her youngest son was baptised on 28th October 1793, and she was buried two days later on 30th October 1793. The baby did not long outlive his mother, being buried a couple of weeks later.

Nine months after Mary’s death, John married again. His second wife was Elizabeth Wright and they married at Benefield on 27th July 1794.

John and Elizabeth went on to have another seven children baptised at Benefield between 1795 and 1809, although the youngest died when he was only three years old.

John’s mother died in 1827 at Harringworth.

The 1841 census finds John and Elizabeth living at Upper Benefield, along with a servant and their daughter Lydia and her husband. John was described as a grazier.

Elizabeth died in 1847, when she was said to be 83 years old.

The 1851 census finds John still living at Benefield with Lydia and her husband. John’s son John died in 1852 aged 56.

John lived to be nearly 89 years old. He was buried at Benefield on 19th February 1853.

1. ↑ Uppingham, Rutland: Parish Registers (Leicestershire, Leicester & Rutland Record Office, Wigston).

   1764 / John the Son of Thomas Berridge was baptized April the 26 1764

   Whilst no named connection has been found linking the John son of Thomas baptised at Uppingham in 1764 to the adult John who settled in Benefield, this is nevertheless believed to be the correct baptism. John claimed in the 1851 census to have been born in Harringworth around 1764. The Harringworth parish registers have no trace of a John Berridge being baptised around that time, although there were other Berridges in the parish. One of those other Berridges was a William baptised in 1769, who appears to have also later moved to Benefield. That William appears to have been the son of Thomas Berridge and Elizabeth Underwood, who had married at Harringworth in 1763, but do not appear to have had any other children baptised at Harringworth before William in 1769. There were, however, two Berridge baptisms at Uppingham between Thomas and Elizabeth’s marriage in 1763 and William’s baptism at Harringworth in 1769: John in 1764 and Thomas in 1766. There do not appear to have been any other Berridge baptisms at Uppingham around that time. Whilst Uppingham and Harringworth are in different counties, they are only about four miles apart. It therefore seems reasonable to conclude that the John Berridge and William Berridge who both later settled in Benefield were brothers, both being children of Thomas Berridge and Elizabeth Underwood, and that John was baptised at Uppingham, but the family later returned to Harringworth.

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 808; Book 2; Folio 3; Page 1, 6 Jun 1841.

   Address: Upper Benefield, Benefield, Northamptonshire
   John Berridge, male, 75 [1761-6], Grazier, born in county
   Elizabeth Berridge, female, 75 [1761-6], born in county
   Elizabeth Roe, female, 15 [1821-6], F[emale] S[ervant], born in county
   William Spencer, male, 40 [1796-1801], Ag[ricultural] lab[ourer], born in county
   Lydia Spencer, female, 40 [1796-1801], born in 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 1746; Folio 251; Page 3, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: Upper Benefield, Benefield, Northamptonshire
   John Berridge, head, widower, male, 86 [1764/5], Formerly Agr[icultura]l Lab[oure]r, b. Harringworth, Northamptonshire
   W[illia]m Spencer, son in law, married, male, 54 [1796/7], Agricultural Laborer, b. Oundle, Northamptonshire
   Lydia Spencer, wife, married, female, 50 [1800/1], b. Benefield, Northamptonshire

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

   d. John BERRIGE, March Quarter 1853, Oundle Registration District, Volume 3b, page 141, aged 89 [1763/4]

5. ↑ Burials register, in Church of England. Parish Church of Benefield (Northamptonshire). Parish registers, 1570-1904. (Northampton, England: Northamptonshire County Record Office, 1994?).

   BURIALS in the Parish of Benefield in the County of Northampton in the Year 1853
   No.	Name	Abode	When buried	Age	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   398	John Berridge	Upper Benefield	February 19	89 [1763/4]	C.C. Spencer, Rector