Person:William Mason (65)

William Mason was baptised on 21st July 1771 at Exton in Rutland, son of Ann Mason, formerly Webster, and her husband Joseph Mason.

On 21st October 1795, aged 24, William married Elizabeth Gamble. She was from Barnack in Northamptonshire, about eleven miles south-east of Exton, but they married in the western suburbs of London, at the church of St George, Hanover Square.

The following April they had a baby son. A couple of weeks later, Elizabeth's father died back in Barnack. The following month William and Elizabeth's son was baptised in Westminster, and they named him William Gamble Mason after her father. By November 1796 the family had returned to Barnack, with their son sadly dying as a baby and being buried at Barnack.

Elizabeth's parents appear to have run a business in Barnack to do with the quarries there. Following their deaths, a newspaper notice in 1800 reports that William was running their business along with Elizabeth's sister Sarah Gamble. Sarah would go on to marry William's younger brother Thomas in 1804.

William and Elizabeth went on to have another eight children baptised at Barnack between 1801 and 1813. The baptism of their youngest child describes William as a farmer. William appears to have worked as a small scale farmer, being described as a cottager on his eldest son's marriage certificate.

Back in Exton, William's mother died in 1813, and his father died three months later in early 1814.

William's first known grandchild was born in 1827. He had at least 32 grandchildren born in his lifetime.

The 1841 census finds William and Elizabeth living in Barnack, with William described as an agricultural labourer.

Elizabeth died in 1842 at Barnack, aged about 71. William outlived her by eight years, dying at Barnack on 6th March 1850, aged 78.

1. ↑ Exton, Rutland, England. Parish Registers (Leicestershire & Rutland Record Office, Wigston).

   Baptisms 1771 / William Son of Joseph & Ann Mason July 21st

   This baptism has been linked to the William Mason who married Elizabeth Gamble and settled in Barnack on the basis that William was one of the witnesses to the marriage of Elizabeth's sister Sarah Gamble in 1804 at Barnack to a Thomas Mason from Exton in Rutland. That Thomas appears to have been the younger brother of this William Mason baptised in 1771 at Exton. The William who lived as an adult in Barnack indicated that he was born around 1771 and not in Northamptonshire.

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 815; Book 2; Folio 9; Page 13, 6 Jun 1841.

   Address: Barnack, Northamptonshire
   William Mason, male, 69 [1771/2], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer], not born in county
   Elizabeth Mason, female, 69 [1771/2], born in county

3. ↑ Deaths register, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   Superintendent Registrar's District of the Stamford Union / Registrar's District Barnack
   1850 DEATHS in the District of Barnack in the Counties of Northampton Rutland Lincoln & Huntingdon
   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
   159	Sixth March 1850 Barnack	William Mason	Male	78 years [1771/2]	Labourer	Old Age Not Certified	Catherine Cox Present at the Death Barnack	Sixth March 1850	John Martin, Registrar

4. ↑ Burials register, in Church of England. Parish Church of Barnack (Northamptonshire). Parish registers, 1695–1974. (Northampton, England: Northamptonshire Record Office).

   BURIALS in the Parish of Barnoack or Barnack in the County of Northampton in the Year 1850
   No.	Name	Abode	When buried	Age	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   616	William Mason	Barnack	March 9 1850	78 [1771/2]	Sam[ue]l K. Webster, Curate

5.   Stamford Mercury, in United Kingdom. The British Newspaper Archive
   Page 2, 8 Aug 1800.

   ALL Persons having any Claim or Demand on SARAH GAMBLE, and SISTERS, the Daughters and Executrix of WILLIAM and ANN GAMBLE, of Barnack, in the County of Northampton, are requested to send an Account of their Demands immediately to the said SARAH GAMBLE, or to WILLIAM MASON, that the same may be discharged.
   And all Persons indebted to Sarah Gamble, and Sisters, are desired to pay the same as above.
   Sarah Gamble, and Sisters, return their most sincere Thanks to their Friends and the Public in general for the liberal Encouragement conferred upon their late Father and Mother, and beg Leave to acquaint them, that the Business in future, at the Pits, of Pendat [sic] and Slabs, will be carried on by Sarah Gamble, and William Mason, and earnestly solicits a Continuance of their Favors and Support, which will ever be gratefully acknowledged.
   BARNACK, August 5, 1800.