Person:William Fernihough (2)

William Fernihough was baptised on 4th February 1759 at Willoughby on the Wolds in Nottinghamshire, son of Elizabeth Fernihough, formerly Aram, and her husband John Fernihough, a farmer. When William was five years old his father died. Prior to moving to Willoughby, William's parents had lived at Flintham, about eighteen miles to the north, and at least two of William's older siblings later returned to live in Flintham, whilst his brother John lived at Hawksworth, a neighbouring village to Flintham, marrying there in 1776. William's mother died at Hawksworth in 1780.

William's next sighting is on 22nd October 1781, aged 22, when he was married at Bottesford in Leicestershire to Sarah Castledine. She must have been heavily pregnant when they married; their first daughter was baptised the following month. Between 1781 and 1796 William and Sarah had six children baptised at Bottesford. The youngest two were twins, and sadly one of the twins died as a baby. Some of the children's baptisms describe William as a labourer.

It would appear that William and Sarah's children all moved away from Bottesford; none of them seem to have married or died there. Their eldest daughter Elizabeth moved to East Stoke in Nottinghamshire where she married in 1800, with William and Sarah's first known grandchild born there in 1801. William and Sarah's son Thomas was married at Barnby in the Willows (also in Nottinghamshire) in 1812.

Sarah died tragically in the early hours of 3rd October 1830, when the ceiling and part of the roof of their house at Bottesford collapsed onto the bed where she and William were sleeping. A beam fell across William's legs in such a way as to allow him to escape, but Sarah was suffocated under the rubble, despite his attempts to pull her out. She was said to be 77 years old, and they had been married for nearly 49 years. William had apparently been warned about the poor state of the house before the collapse, but had said "it will last as long as we shall".

In 1834 William acted as trustee for his older sister Elizabeth Morton's will. She lived at Flintham and left her property to him, charged with making various payments to other family members. William was described as a farmer in his sister's will.

William died from dysentery at Bottesford on 27th September 1837. He was 78 years old. His death certificate describes him as a cottager.

1. ↑ Nottinghamshire Family History Society. Nottinghamshire Baptisms Database.

   ch. 4 Feb 1759, Willoughby on the Wolds: William son of John & Elisabeth Fernihough

2. ↑ Death certificate, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   Superintendent Registrar's District Grantham Union Registrar's District Denton
   1837 DEATHS in the District of Denton in the Counties of Lincoln and Leicester
   No.	When and where died	Name and surname	Sex	Age	Occupation	Cause of death	Signature, description and residence of informant	When registered	Signature of registrar
   23	27th September Bottesford	William Farneough	Male	79	Cottager	Dysentery	John Wilson Labourer Bottesford in attendance	30th September	Stephen Brice Registrar

3. ↑ Burials register, in Church of England. Parish Church of Bottesford (Leicestershire). Parish registers, 1563-1876. (Leciester: Leicestershire Record Office).

   BURIALS in the Parish of Bottesford in the County of Leicester in the Year 1837
   No.	Name	Abode	When buried	Age	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   576	William Farniough	Bottesford	30th Sept[embe]r	79 [1757/8]	I. Clifton, Curate