Person:Ann Bedford (11)

Ann Bedford was baptised on Christmas Day 1793 at Simpson in Buckinghamshire, daughter of Mary Bedford, formerly Smith, and her husband John Bedford. Ann's mother died in 1812, when Ann was 18 years old. It is not clear when Ann's father died.

On 17th October 1817, aged 23, Ann married a labourer called Thomas Robinson at Bow Brickhill. They were both living in Bow Brickhill at the time of their marriage, but shortly afterwards moved to Aspley Guise in Bedfordshire. They had three children baptised at Aspley Guise between 1819 and 1823, then another two children baptised at nearby Salford in 1830 and 1832. There are also a couple of burials of children born in the late 1820s at Aspley Guise and Salford, who may also have been their children.

In 1823 Thomas was convicted for a breach of the game laws. He was described as a labourer of Hogsty End, being a hamlet which straddled the parishes of Aspley Guise in Bedfordshire and Wavendon in Buckinghamshire. Hogsty End would later become known as Woburn Sands. Thomas was said to be five feet ten inches tall, with light brown hair and sandy whiskers. He was sentenced to three months in Bedford Gaol.

In the 1841 census, Ann and their two youngest children were living at Husborne Crawley with Ann's brother, Barnard. Thomas was not with them on census night. Ann was described as a lace maker.

In 1850, Thomas was again sent to Bedford Gaol. He had been an inmate of the Woburn Union Workhouse, but had refused to do the work he was given of breaking stones. He was sentenced to 21 days hard labour. Three months after his release he was again back in the Woburn Union Workhouse. On 6th March 1851 he assaulted the master of the workhouse and was sent to Bedford Gaol again for two months hard labour. He appears in prison in Bedford for the census taken later that month. Ann and their daughter Ruth appear in the 1851 census living at Bow Brickhill. Ann was described as a bobbin lace maker in 1851.

Thomas appears to have died in 1856 in the Woburn area. He was probably in his late 60s or early 70s. Ann survived him by three years. She died in the Newport Pagnell district in 1859, aged about 66.

1. ↑ Simpson, Buckinghamshire, England. Parish Records (Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies, Aylesbury).

   1793 / Ann Daugh[te]r of John & Mary Bedford Dec[em]b[e]r 25

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 5; Book 20; Folio 7; Page 8, 6 Jun 1841.

   Address: Town, Husborne Crawley, Bedfordshire
   Barnard Bedford, male, 45 [1791-6], Tailor, not born in county
   Charles Inwood, male, 10 [1830/1], Tailor Ap[prentice], born in county
   Ann Robinson, female, 45 [1791-6], Lace M[aker], not born in county
   Ruth Robinson, female, 10 [1830/1], born in county
   Jane Robinson, female, 9 [1831/2], born in county

3. ↑ England. 1851 Census Returns for England and Wales. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class HO107; Piece 1723; Folio 116; Page 19, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: Bow Brickhill, Buckinghamshire
   Ann Robinson, head, married, female, 61 [1789/90], Bobbin Lacemaker, b. Simpson, Buckinghamshire
   Ruth Robinson, daughter, unmarried, female, 20 [1830/1], Straw Plaitter, b. Salford, Bedfordshire

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

   d. Ann ROBINSON, December Quarter 1859, Newport Pagnell Registration District, Volume 3a, page 299, aged 68 [1790/1]