Person:Joseph Puddephatt (6)

Joseph Puddephatt was baptised on 15th June 1703 at Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire, son of Mary Puddephatt, formerly Smith, and her husband Jeremiah Puddephatt, a farmer. In 1720, aged about seventeen, Joseph was apprenticed to a carpenter named William Rickson of Caddington, a few miles north of Hemel Hempstead on the Hertfordshire / Bedfordshire border. Joseph settled in Caddington after his apprenticeship.

Joseph was married on 6th October 1734, aged 31, to Mary Roe at the White Horse Inn in the 'Liberty of the Fleet' in the City of London - an area where irregular marriages were allowed. Joseph was described as being a bachelor and carpenter of Caddington in Hertfordshire, whilst Mary was a spinster of Caddington. Caddington parish is about 34 miles north-west of London. At that time (and until 1897) it straddled the counties of Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire; the parish church was in Bedfordshire but two thirds of the parish was in Hertfordshire. The Hertfordshire section of the parish included part of the village of Markyate on the Watling Street, then an important stage coach route from London to the north-west, so getting from Caddington to London would have been relatively straightforward.

Joseph and Mary returned to Caddington after their marriage; between 1735 and 1754 there are seven children baptised to the couple at Caddington. Of Joseph and Mary's seven children, their daughter Ann died at the age of fifteen in 1755. Their sons Jeremiah and John both stayed in Caddington and had families there. The other children, Mary, Elizabeth, Samuel and Susan, do not appear in the Caddington registers again after their baptisms.

Joseph's son Jeremiah was married at Caddington in 1765 to Ann Puttman with whom he had six children between 1769 and 1780, who are Joseph and Mary's first known grandchildren. Jeremiah worked as a carpenter, following Joseph's trade, and lived in Markyate.

Joseph's son John married Elizabeth Briden. John and Elizabeth had banns read at Caddington in 1775, but then did not marry until 1778, when they were married at Kimpton, a few miles east of Caddington. John and Elizabeth returned to Caddington after their marriage and would go on to have seven children together there, but Joseph did not live to see them.

Joseph was buried at Caddington on 22nd October 1780. He was 77 years old. Mary outlived him by four years.

1. ↑ Church of England. Hemel Hempstead Parish Registers, 1558-1949. (Hertford: Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies).

   Baptized 1703
   June 15 / Joseph son of Jeremiah & Mary Puddefoot

   This baptism has been linked to the Joseph Puddephatt who married Mary Roe on the basis that the adult Joseph settled in Caddington and was described on his marriage record in 1734 as a carpenter. He is therefore presumed to be the same Joseph Puddephatt who had been apprenticed to a carpenter of Caddington in 1720. The apprenticeship indenture records that Joseph was the son of Jeremiah Puddephatt of Hemel Hempstead. The Joseph baptised in 1703 would have been sixteen or seventeen years old at the time of the apprenticeship record. No evidence has been found to suggest that there was another Joseph son of Jeremiah of Hemel Hempstead who could be the boy who was apprenticed, nor has any evidence been found to suggest that the child baptised in 1703 died young.

2.   UK. Registers of Duties Paid for Appentices' Indentures, 1710-1811.

   1720 23 May
   Master: W[illia]m Rickson of Caddington Bedf[or]d[shire] Carpent[e]r
   Apprentice: Jos[eph] son of Jeremiah Puddephatt of Hemelhempsted Hert[or]d[shire]

3. ↑ Bedfordshire Family History Society. Caddington Parish Register Transcript 1538-1812. (Bedford).

   bur. 22 Oct 1780: Jos PUDDIFOOT

   Needs to be confirmed at Bedfordshire Archives.