Person:Martha Brown (97)

Martha Brown's origins have yet to be established for certain. Her marriage record of 1780 tells us she was "of this Parish", being St Paul's Walden in Hertfordshire, although she need only have lived there a few weeks for that to be accurate. Her burial record suggests she was born around 1757. The parish registers for St Paul's Walden are known to be deficient around that time, with very few baptisms recorded between 1757 and 1761 compared to the years either side, and a note acknowledging there were omitted baptisms. Alternatively, one possibility is that Martha was the Martha Brown who was baptised at neighbouring Kimpton in 1761. This Martha did have a brother named William Brown, which was the name of one of the witnesses to the adult Martha's marriage. However, William Brown is a very common name and the brother of the Martha baptised in 1757 was only fifteen years old when Martha married.

Martha's first confirmed sighting is therefore on 18th October 1780 when she married a labourer named Edward Parsons at St Paul's Walden. After their marriage they stayed in St Paul's Walden, having seven children baptised there between 1780 and 1797. Their son George later gave his birthplace as Bendish, a hamlet in the parish of St Paul's Walden.

Martha and Edward later moved to Kimpton. Martha was buried at Kimpton on 1st November 1818. She was said to be 61 years old. Edward outlived her by five years.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Burials register, in Church of England. Kimpton Parish Registers.

   BURIALS in the Parish of Kimpton in the County of Hertford in the Year 1818
   No.	Name	Abode	When buried	Age	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   109	Martha Parsons	Kimpton	Nov[embe]r 1st	61 y[ea]rs [1756/7]	Cha[rle]s Chauncy, Curate