Person:Ann Alce (1)

Ann Alce was born on 29th March 1758 and baptised the following month at Wheathampstead in Hertfordshire, daughter of Rachel Alce, formerly Bigg, and her husband Joseph Alce, a labourer. In November 1771 Ann, her parents and five siblings obtained a settlement certificate allowing them to live in the neighbouring parish of Harpenden.

Ann's next sighting is on 19th October 1776, aged eighteen, when she was married in Harpenden to John Perry. They had a son, Thomas, baptised at Harpenden in 1777. He was followed by Jonathan, for whom no baptism has been found, but who claimed in the 1851 census to have been born at Harpenden around 1780.

Some time around the early 1780s the family left Harpenden and moved about seventeen miles north to Eversholt in Bedfordshire, which appears to be where Ann's husband John was originally from.

Meanwhile, Ann's parents appear to have returned to Wheathampstead, where Ann's mother was buried in 1787.

Between 1783 and 1800 Ann and John had seven children baptised at Eversholt and one baptised at neighbouring Woburn, giving ten children all together.

Ann's father died at Wheathampstead in 1803.

John died in 1820, being buried at Eversholt on 28th September 1820. He was said to be 62 years old when he died. Ann survived him by over 23 years, and appears in the 1841 census working as a lacemaker and living at Hills End in Eversholt. She had two of her grandsons living with her, being her son Edward's sons.

Ann died at Eversholt on 16th February 1844. She was 85 years old.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Church of England. Wheathampstead Parish Registers. (Hertford: Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies).

   Parish Register:
   From L[ady] Day 1758 to L[ady] Day 1759
   Ann - D[aughte]r of Joseph Alce & Rachell his wife born Mar[ch] 29th Bapt[ize]d Aprill 23d
   
   Bishop's Transcript:
   1758-9
   Ann D[aughte]r of Jos[eph] Allce & Rachell his Wife Apr[il] 23

   This baptism has been linked to the adult Ann Alse who married John Perry on the basis that it is at about the time indicated by the age quoted on her death record, and in the parish which Ann is recorded as having moved to Harpenden from five years before her marriage. The Ann and John Perry who were having children in Eversholt from 1783 onwards can be linked to the couple who had married in Harpenden in 1776 on the basis of the 1841 census, in which Ann said she was born out of county, and their sons Jonathan and George, who were living together in the 1841 census, whilst in 1851 Jonathan gave his place of birth as Harpenden.

2.   Hertfordshire Settlement Certificates.

   Name: ALLIS, Joseph
   Date: 22 Nov 1771
   From Wheathampstead to Harpenden
   Wife Rachel, sons James and Edward, daughters Ann, Rachel, Ellen and Jane
   Reference: Off Acc 1108/2/70

3. ↑ 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 5; Book 13; Folio 9; Page 12, 6 Jun 1841.

   Address: Hillsend, Eversholt, Bedfordshire
   Ann Perry, female, 80 [1756-61], Lacemaker, born outside county
   George Perry, male, 15 [1821-6], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer], born in county
   Adam Perry, male, 14 [1826/7], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer], born in county

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

   Superintendent Registrar's District Woburn Union / Registrar's District Woburn
   1844. DEATHS in the District of Woburn in the County of Bedford
   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
   393	Sixteenth of February 1844 at Eversholt	Ann Perry	Female	86 years [1757/8]	Widow of the late John Perry, Labourer	Decay of Nature	The X Mark of Eliz[abe]th Chance Present at Death Eversholt	Seventeenth of February 1844	J. Dexter Registrar

5. ↑ England. National Burial Index.

   bur. 20 Feb 1844, Eversholt, Bedfordshire: Ann Perry, aged 87 [1756/7]

   Needs to be confirmed at Bedfordshire Archives.