Person:Mary Whitford (14)

Mary Whitford was baptised on 12th July 1752 at Broadway in Worcestershire, daughter of William Whitford and his wife Ann. Mary’s father died in 1769, when Mary was sixteen years old. It is not clear when Mary’s mother died.

Mary’s next sighting is on 8th July 1774, when she married Isaac Spire, a weaver, at Didbrook in Gloucestershire, about six miles south-west of Broadway, although their marriage record notes that Mary still lived in Broadway at the time.

Mary and Isaac settled in the parish of Buckland, in between Didbrook and Broadway. They had two children baptised there: a daughter called Elizabeth in 1775 and a son called William in 1776.

Mary died in 1778, aged just 26. She was buried back in Broadway on 22nd July 1778. Isaac survived her by 46 years, but does not appear to have remarried.

1. ↑ Church of England. Parish Registers of Broadway, 1539-1966. (Worcester: Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service).

   1752: Mary Da[ugh]t[e]r of William & Ann Whitford, July 12

2. ↑ Church of England. Parish Registers of Broadway, 1539-1966. (Worcester: Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service).

   1778: July 22nd Mary Spires buried